Disclaimer I do not own Harry Potter and everything recognisable belongs to J K Rowling.
Thank you to all those who reviewed! Here's the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it!
Chapter Twenty Five
AU World
Harry opened the door to his dad's quarters as quietly and as gently as he could. He had knocked but received no response. He was only checking if the door had been locked when the handle clicked and the door opened. Harry peeked through the gap, scanning the empty room. His dad was nowhere in sight.
Harry felt disappointed. It was still early in the morning, just before eight, he was expecting to see his dad. Harry was about to leave when he heard the bathroom door open and saw a dark haired man came out, still rubbing sleep from his eyes.
Harry let himself in, so he didn't look like he was loitering in the doorway. He closed the door behind him, the noise making the dark haired man look up suddenly. Harry saw Sirius stare at him in surprise. Harry hadn't realised it was Sirius either; he felt a smile spread on his face at the sight of his Godfather. It was only a second later it registered that Sirius was staring at him with shock. His true appearance was of course the cause of it.
"Sirius, don't panic. It's me, Harry. I can explain this." Harry said quickly, not wanting the Auror to attack him, the way his dad had.
But Sirius never attacked him; he didn't even move to pull his wand out. He just stood there, gaping at Harry, his eyes travelling down Harry's skinny frame, taking in his glasses, his thin face and pale complexion. He finally managed to pull himself out of his self induced trance.
"Damn, Harry. It's really you." he gasped as he stared into Harry's eyes.
"Wow, that was fast. You believed me right away." Harry said, truly surprised. "Not that I'm complaining." He added.
"What? Oh, no you don't understand, I know about you. James told me, last night, about you and the alternate world and the swap and everything." Sirius said.
"Oh, okay." Harry said, a little let down. He had quite liked the idea of Sirius recognising him in his own.
Both wizards stood looking awkwardly at each other. Harry suddenly felt very foolish, standing in his dad's quarters, his pale blue pyjamas literally hanging off his skinny frame. He had to turn up the sleeves a few times so he could use his hands. The bottoms got the same treatment.
Sirius broke the tense silence.
"You want to sit down?" he said, gesturing to the sofa.
Harry looked in two minds, a part of him wanted to stay and talk but the other part was screaming at him to run from the awkward situation. Reluctantly, he nodded his head and moved to the sofa.
"Did you stay the night, here?" Harry asked, seeing the dishevelled clothes he was wearing.
"Sirius ran a hand through his untidy hair and nodded.
"I wasn't planning on it but after learning about you and…about…me," Sirius swallowed heavily before continuing, "I wanted to know everything. James told me as much as he could. Damien gave some, disturbing details he had learnt from Harry," he waved his hand distractedly towards the window, "the Harry in the other world, and before I knew it, it was three in the morning. Lily suggested I stayed here. I think she may have been worried about me." He looked up at Harry and then smiled; a small, sad smile. "The other me, but she had no choice but to take out her affection on me."
"Do you know where they are, mum and dad, I mean?" Harry asked.
"They went out, I don't know where. Lily was with James and both left about an hour ago." Sirius answered.
"Oh" Harry answered. He figured they had probably gone to get more information on the compass and how to get it fixed.
Sirius observed Harry closely.
"You hungry?" he asked, scanning his slight frame again.
"Not really," Harry began. "I haven't had breakfast yet, but…"
"You haven't. Well, let's not waste any time. Let's go to the Great Hall!" Sirius said, with exaggerated enthusiasm.
"I can't," Harry said with a shake of his head. "Not looking like this." he gestured to himself.
"Well get changed then." Sirius said with a frown. Then it hit him, Harry's different appearance. "Oh, right." He sat back down.
"You can go, if you want." Harry suggested. There was no reason why he should go hungry.
But Sirius shook his head and snapped his fingers. A house elf appeared next to Harry.
"Breakfast, please." He smiled at the house elf. "And quickly, we're really hungry."
The house elf bowed deeply before disappearing with a pop.
"How did you…?"
"It's the staff quarters. Anyone inside them can call and request from the house elves. They serve them, as they serve the staff of Hogwarts." Sirius explained.
Breakfast appeared in the next thirty seconds, startling Harry. He watched as four house elves laid the trays of food on the coffee table, along with two plate settings before disappearing with a pop.
Sirius gestured to Harry to join him and both wizards started their breakfast, in silence. Harry wondered if he should start the conversation, but he couldn't think of what he should say. He had spent almost three months in this world, and he had met Sirius on a number of occasions but only now did Sirius see the real him. So what should he say to him? Sirius appeared to be having similar thoughts and was caught giving Harry quick glances.
"James told me you love playing Quidditch." Sirius said finally, breaking the silence.
Harry swallowed his mouthful to answer.
"Yeah, I do."
Sirius smiled at him.
"He said that you were recommended to join the Gryffindor team by McGonagall in your first year." He looked expectantly at Harry. When Harry nodded his head, his eyes widened dramatically. "Really? That happened! I thought James was fibbing!"
Harry had to hold back his grin.
"No, it really happened." He assured him.
"Blimey!" Sirius sighed. "First years are never allowed to play in house teams. You must have been the youngest Quidditch player in…in…!"
"In a century." Harry finished for him, a broad smile on his face now.
Sirius looked at him, pride shinning through his eyes.
"Well, how about that?" he said with a smile.
Harry ducked his head and focused on his plate, his face felt warm all of a sudden.
"I always thought you would like Quidditch," Sirius continued, making Harry look up. "I mean, James got a toy broomstick the day he found out Lily was expecting!"
"Really?" Harry asked, smiling at the thought of how his mum reacted.
"Oh, yeah," Sirius said, leaning back in his seat. "James bought nearly half of Diagon Alley the day he found out he was going to be a father. Well, to be more accurate, he bought nearly half of every shop that dealt with toys, baby clothes and baby accessories."
Harry laughed at that, imaging his dad walking out the shops, surrounded by countless shopping bags.
"Wow, he must have been excited." Harry commented.
Sirius' smile saddened a little.
"Yeah, he was." He said quietly. He looked at Harry and then down at his feet. Clearing his throat, he continued. "Harry's not really into Quidditch, not as much as James would have liked. I think he likes flying, but not the game as much. I guess it's understandable; he never grew up playing the sport." Sirius said.
"Neither did I." Harry said before he could stop himself.
The look on Sirius' face was heartbreaking. He looked at Harry with guilt shining in his eyes. He dropped his head into his hands.
"Merlin, Harry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry for what happened."
"Why are you apologising, it wasn't your fault." Harry told him, confused as to how Sirius could hold himself responsible.
Sirius looked up at him.
"Yes, it is. If I had taken a moment to think, to figure out the consequences of what I was doing, you would never have had to grow up with the Dursleys." Sirius said the name with severe dislike. He looked guiltily at Harry again. "I'm so sorry, Harry."
Harry shook his head again. He had never blamed Sirius, not even for a moment.
"How could you have known Peter…" Harry faltered for a second at the look of rage on Sirius' face as he said the name of his ex friend. "…would trick you like that. He took you by surprise." Harry explained.
"I shouldn't have gone after him." Sirius said shaking his head. "You should have been my first priority. Your dad trusted me to look after you. I should have looked after you."
Harry found he couldn't argue with that. He stayed silent and watched Sirius.
"I don't blame you." Harry finally said, making Sirius look slowly up at him.
"Then you're either very kind or very stupid." He told him.
"It might be the latter. I've been told that a few times." Harry joked.
Sirius smiled but it didn't reach his eyes. He sighed heavily.
"Do you know what scares me, Harry? The fact that I can see myself doing what I did in your world." his eyes suddenly turned very cold. "The day I woke up in hospital and I learned what Peter had done. When I discovered he had taken Harry to…to Voldemort, I wanted to go after him. I wanted to find him and kill him, regardless of the consequences."
Harry sat in silence, listening to his Godfather.
"I think I would have killed him if I ever found him. I would have suffered the same fate as I did in your world." Sirius said.
"Well, then I'm glad you didn't find him." Harry said with a shaky voice.
Sirius let out a bitter dry laugh.
"Yeah, Harry got to him before I could."
Harry felt his heart jump uncomfortably. He knew what had happened to Peter. He saw the memory in Harry's pensieve; Harry hadn't killed Peter, he had gone with the intentions to kill him but he was already dead by the time Harry arrived. He didn't correct Sirius though. Partly because he wanted to talk about something else and partly because he knew Sirius found it comforting to think Harry took vengeance on the one who caused him to suffer so much.
"Can we talk about someone else?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, sure." Sirius said looking like he wanted to change the topic too. "Who do you want to talk about?"
"You," Harry said, making Sirius look at him in surprise. "I don't know much about you." Harry told him embarrassedly.
"What do you want to know?" Sirius asked with a relaxed smile.
"Did you ever want to be something other than an Auror?" Harry asked.
"A musician." Sirius told him with a devilish smile. "I wanted to play in a rock band. But I was talked out of it."
"By who?" Harry asked.
"Remus," Sirius answered. "Always the voice of reason; he was the one who suggested we become Aurors. I went along since James was up for it."
Harry smiled.
"Did you ever get married?" Harry asked, he knew it was a personal question but he was wondering about that.
Sirius held up two fingers.
"Twice," he told Harry. "Both times I messed up and my wives decided I wasn't worth the trouble and left."
"I'm sorry." Harry said.
Sirius waved his hands, brushing the apology away.
"Don't be, it was for the best." Sirius answered, nonchalantly.
Harry spent the next hour learning all about his Godfather, and about Remus and James. Their trio reminded Harry of himself and his two best friends.
It was then that the door opened and James and Lily walked inside, carrying numerous bags with them. They stopped at the sight of Sirius and Harry, dirty dishes in front of them, in the middle of an amusing looking conversation, if the smiles they had on their faces were of any indication.
"Hey, Harry, Sirius." Lily greeted. She dropped the bags near James' desk and looked at the two wizards.
"Where did you two go? You've been away for hours." Sirius asked as James carried over the rest of the bags and deposited them next to Lily's pile.
"Shopping," James answered and then eyed the significant collection of bags before him. "A lot of it!"
Lily ignored him and focused on Harry.
"Did you sleep okay, Harry?" she asked.
"Yes, fine, thank you." Harry quickly answered.
"You've had breakfast, good." James said, eyeing the empty plates. "I was trying to hurry back in time but when your mum's on a mission, she doesn't stop until she's reached her goal."
Lily smiled at James and elbowed him out of her way.
"That's why women are more successful in life." She told him, as she walked past him.
Harry was curious about the big shopping trip his mum had gone on but he knew better than to ask, it would seem very nosy of him. But for Sirius, this wasn't an issue.
"What did you buy me?" he asked as he walked over to the bags.
"Nothing, and shouldn't you be on your way? You have to get to work." Lily told him.
"Nah, I can go in whenever I want." Sirius told her. After seeing her hard expression he added. "As long as no one catches me coming in late."
Harry stifled his laughter and watched as Lily scowled at Sirius.
"Are the other up yet?" James asked.
Sirius looked confused before his eyes widened and he slapped himself across the forehead.
"Merlin! I forgot about Moony and Tonks!"
"Did they stay the night too?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, they were in Lily's quarters. Damn, I totally forgot about them." Sirius answered.
"I'll go and see if they're up yet and if they've had breakfast." James said and left the room.
"Did you sleep okay on the sofa?" Lily asked Sirius, as she looked through her shopping bags.
"Yeah, it was fine." Sirius told her.
Lily picked up three of the bags she had examined and pulled them to the side. The rest she levitated and brought to rest before Harry. The boy watched in silence as Lily started pulling out outfits and robes of every colour and place them on the sofa, next to Harry.
"I had to guess your size, I'm sure they'll fit though. I have a good judgement about these things." Lily told him. She picked up a set of blue coloured robes and stood up.
"Stand up, Harry."
Harry obeyed and stood, still not taking in what was happening. Lily held the robes next to him and checked the size.
"Perfect, I knew it." she smiled.
Harry looked back at the large pile of clothing on the sofa and the numerous still full bags sitting next to the sofa and realised all of this was for him.
"You bought all this stuff for me?" he asked.
"Yes" Lily answered, picking up another set of bottle green robes. "I couldn't stand to see you in those awful clothes you were in yesterday. I'm going to burn them later on." she said, her face showing her extreme anger just for a minute before she hid it.
"But, you didn't have to." Harry stuttered, completely blown away by the fact that she had gone shopping specifically for him and had bought him over a hundred different items of clothing.
Before Lily could respond, Sirius jumped in.
"Yeah, Lily. You could have just resized Harry's clothes for him." he said, eyeing the obscene number of shopping bags.
Lily's expression hardened and she gave Sirius a cold look.
"No, I couldn't have!" she snapped at him and turned to pick up another set of clothes, a pair of jeans and a jersey top.
"Why not?" Sirius asked.
"Because they're Harry's," Lily replied tightly. "He'll need them when he comes back."
Harry shifted uncomfortably and avoided looking at Lily. Sirius, however still didn't pick up the warning signs.
"You could just resize them when he comes back…" Sirius started.
"Shouldn't you be going now?" Lily asked, turning to face him.
"Oh, okay. Fine, I get it. I'm not welcome anymore." Sirius teased, winking at Harry. "I'll go then."
With that he strutted towards the door with an exaggerated huff. Before leaving he turned to smile handsomely at Lily. "I'll see you at dinner."
"Leave!" Lily commanded and Sirius did just that, chuckling at her annoyance.
Lily turned to face Harry who was smiling at their antics.
"I don't think he will ever grow up." She told him with a sigh.
"I hope he never does." Harry added.
xxx
The pub was completely full. Even though it was only the beginning of December, Christmas decorations were already in place, brightening up the cosy pub. All the tables were occupied and the owner, Madame Rosmerta was busy attending to all her customers. She placed two bottles of Butterbeer in front of the two boys and turned quickly to serve the large crowd gathered on the other side of the bar.
Draco opened his bottle and took a large sip. He held the cool bottle in his hands, feeling the cold penetrate deep into his hands and run through him.
"I don't know how Harry can drink this crap warm." He said taking another cold sip.
The boy next to him nodded in agreement.
"He is weird." Damien admitted.
"That's not saying much." Draco commented.
Damien looked over at him and then back at his drink.
"You know what else I find weird," Damien said, before glancing around. "The fact that I'm sitting here in the Three Broomsticks with you and it's not a Hogsmeade weekend. Everyone here knows I shouldn't be here but no one has said anything to me."
Draco chuckled deeply before turning his grey eyes onto the younger boy.
"You know exactly why that is." He challenged.
"I think I do, but somehow I can't believe it." Damien replied.
Draco stared ahead of him, his eyes following the busy barmaid and her workers.
"The Potters have become somewhat of a royalty." Draco explained. "No one is questioning your attendance, especially at this particular pub since Madame Rosmerta has literally made the Potters her guests of honour." Draco sniggered. "No one will question your attendance since no one wants to upset you, or more accurately, your big brother."
Damien scoffed at that.
"Not much he can do from where he is." He whispered.
Draco took another sip and didn't answer.
"Any luck with the compass." He finally asked.
Damien took a moment to answer.
"No, but dad's not exactly looking for ways to fix it. He and mum are too busy 'bonding' with their new Harry."
"Bitter, much?" Draco asked, smirking.
Damien shook his head.
"I don't have any problems with him spending time with mum and dad. I can understand his feelings. I'm not even mad at him, it's not his fault. Its mum and dad I'm mad at. They seem to have momentarily forgotten that their son is trapped in another world. All they seem to do lately is talk to Harry, spend time with him, eat with him, shop with him." Damien sighed deeply.
"Did you get the phone back from your dad yet?" Draco asked.
"No, he's still funny with me." Damien answered miserably.
"You Potters," Draco admonished. "You sure know how to keep a grudge."
Damien agreed whole heartedly. It had now been almost two weeks since Harry's truth had been revealed. Since then, his dad had barely spoken to him.
"I can tell it's going to be a lousy Christmas." Damien groaned.
"Ditto" Draco replied.
Damien looked at the blond haired boy and felt his heart skip a beat. His parents were still in hospital and there had been no improvement in their condition.
"Draco, are you sure you don't want me to tell Harry. He'll be mad if he finds out I kept it from him." Damien asked.
"What possible good will come from telling Harry?" Draco asked with a sigh. He had already explained why he didn't want Harry to know about his parents. "If you tell him my mother and father were attacked and are now in a coma, one which doesn't look like they will ever recover from, what can Harry do to fix it? He can't do anything. Even if he were here, there isn't anything he or anyone else can do." Draco's face showed the pain he was in for a moment. "It's best if he doesn't know. He'll only get upset and that's probably not a good thing."
Damien agreed but still felt bad for Draco. He couldn't tell his best friend about the possibly worst thing that had happened to him.
"Is there no change to their…condition?" Damien asked.
Draco shook his head.
"No, no change." He said quietly. "I just wish I could find out exactly what happened to them. The Healers still can't figure out what caused them to go into shock. The coma is self induced, as far as they can tell. I just wish I could find out who attacked my parents." Draco's hands clenched into fists.
"We'll find who it was, Draco. The Aurors are looking for the culprit." Damien tried to comfort him.
Draco sneered at the mention of the Aurors.
"Aurors, worthless waste of space they are!" his grey eyes turned cold and hard. "If I find whoever is responsible, I'll kill him!" he turned to Damien. "Or I'll tell Harry what happened and let him to the honours."
--
Canon World
Harry watched as the door to the Room of Requirement opened and a few more students wondered inside. He groaned slightly to himself as he watched Luna Lovegood skip her way into the room and join the large group of students sitting down.
There were now around twenty five students sitting before him, excluding Ron and Hermione. Harry recognised most of them. There was the Gryffindor Quidditch captain; Angelina, Ron's twin brothers; Fred and George, the boy that usually hung out with them; Lee, the pretty girl that kept trying to talk to Harry; Cho Chang, a curly haired girl that kept whispering to her, Dean and much to Harry's chagrin, Neville. The Patil twins were sitting next to Ginny, who was sitting with a boy Harry didn't recognise. Next to them were the two Creevey brothers. Harry eyed the youngest of the brothers and had the sudden urge to blast him from the room. The mousey haired boy smiled weakly at Harry making Harry forcefully look away from him. The rest, Harry knew by face but not by name.
Hermione cleared her throat catching everyone's interest. She shuffled to the front and stood up, standing next to Harry.
"Well, thank you for coming." She started in a nervous voice. "We all know why we're here. I'm sure you'll all agree that the current situation with our Defence Against the Dark Arts class is getting out of hand. If things continue as they are, we'll all fail miserably." Hermione had to take a breath to get a hold of herself. "I think the only thing we can do is take matters into our own hands. If the Ministry won't let us learn Defence properly then we have to study it ourselves."
There was a murmur of agreement from the crowd. Harry watched as the curly haired friend of Cho made a face at Hermione and turned to glare at Cho, who in turn was ignoring her.
"You do realise that what you're planning on doing violates Umbridge's Educational Decree, right?" Fred asked.
Hermione gaped at him, surprised that it was him raising this point.
"Yes, of course, but…"
"Alright, just checking." Fred interrupted, giving the girl a cheeky wink.
Hermione huffed at him and then continued.
"I know that this is risky and if caught, we all could be expelled. But this matter is more important that school." This caught everyone's attention. A few even dropped their mouths open in shock. Never did they think such words would come out of Hermione Granger's mouth. "This is more important because…because…" she took a deep breath, "because You-Know-Who is back,"
Harry watched amused, as the reaction rippled through the crowd. Neville let out a squeak, Angelina looked like she was about to faint. Parvati and Padma covered their mouths with their hands and looked outraged at Hermione.
"He is back and we need to learn how to defend ourselves, now more than ever." Hermione continued, looking at her fellow students.
"If he is back, then why is the Ministry not admitting it?" a blond haired boy asked.
"Because they are scared." Hermione answered simply.
The boy made a face, as if to say that was a stupid answer. Harry narrowed his eyes at him.
"So, how are we going to learn complex spells by ourselves?" Parvati asked.
Hermione looked nervously at Harry.
"Well, this is where…Harry, comes into the picture." She took two tiny steps nearer to him. "He can teach us."
The students all stared at Harry; some like Neville and Ginny were smiling and nodding their heads at him, others had sceptical looks on their faces.
"Do you know much more than us?" Dean asked, although the question was asked innocently and held no aggression.
"Just a bit." Harry answered.
"Well, just a bit more isn't going to help us, is it?" the same blond boy asked with a scornful look at Harry.
"Manners! and who the hell are you?" Ron asked with a glare.
"Zacharias Smith," the boy answered. "And I'm not being rude just honest." He turned back to look at Harry. "Either you know enough that will help us all pass Defence or you don't." he added.
Hermione looked worriedly at Harry and then back at Zacharias.
"Look, Harry knows enough to help us. You all remember the tasks he had to go through last year in the Triwizard Tournament! And the year before that, he had to learn how to cast the Patronus charm to fight off the Dementors that were targeting him."
"Is that true? I thought that was just a rumour!" Dean asked, his eyes wide with surprise.
"Yes, it is true. I saw his Patronus myself." Hermione said with a nod.
Harry prayed she shut up soon. If they asked to see his Patronus, boy would they be in for a surprise.
"Wow, I never knew you could do that!" Hannah Abbott said with a smile.
Harry avoided looking at her at all. It was only a few months ago that he had obliviated her and her parents after that Death Eater attack. Of course she didn't remember anything about that day.
"I really think we can learn a lot from Harry." Hermione said, her voice clear and strong now. "He's had a lot of couching and training during his past few summers. He can help us."
"Let's do this!" Lee yelled, making most of the others jump in surprise.
"Yeah, even if we learn squat, it'll annoy toad face!" George agreed.
There was a general agreement to this.
"So, what do we do?" Angelina asked.
"Well, we'll come up with a schedule and we'll meet here, in this room. It'll be perfect for our class." Hermione said with an excited smile.
"Just make sure it doesn't clash with our Quidditch practise!" Zacharias said.
"As if that will help you win." Angelina muttered loud enough for him to hear.
"And you have to make sure we have enough time off for other, commitments." Fred said with a wink to George and Lee.
"But, this is important…!" Hermione insisted.
"So is Quidditch!" a few voices echoed.
"We can't spend all our time doing something that is most likely pointless. There is no proof that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back. It's only his word." Zacharias said, with a nod in Harry's direction. "We don't know for sure. We could be just wasting our time!"
Hermione looked at Harry in time to see him give Zacharias a smile, not an innocent, sweet smile, but a smile that sent chills up her spine. His hand rose and he made a sweeping gesture with it. Suddenly Zacharias skid along the floor and smashed painfully into the wooden door. The blond haired boy let out a cry and lay dazed by the impact.
Every eye turned to stare horrified at Harry.
"Oops! My bad," Harry said dryly, lowering his hand. "I forgot to open the door first."
Hermione had to remind herself to breathe as she saw Harry's focus land on the remaining students, who were now eerily quiet and staring back at Harry.
"Let me just say one thing to all of you," Harry started, taking one step towards the sitting students. "This isn't a class, it isn't a club or a group or a society of any sort. This is purely and simply, learning how to survive. So it doesn't matter if it clashes with Quidditch or with some brilliant but dumb scheme to pull a prank." His icy emerald greens rested on the troublesome Gryffindor trio. "If you don't want to do this, join Smith there by the door and get out because I'm not wasting any time on you."
Hermione swallowed nervously and turned her head to look at the students. Zacharias had sat up by now and was glaring hatefully at Harry.
"If you believe that learning how to defend yourself is 'pointless' and is a 'waste of time', go and spend your time flying around on broomsticks and throwing a ball around. It doesn't matter. Because when the war truly starts, you'll be dead before long. That is if Voldemort isn't feeling bored, because then, you'll be tortured for months." the name sent tremors of fear down everyone's backs but not a gasp was heard. Everyone was too busy listening to Harry. Neville looked paler than before but his gaze was fixed on Harry.
"As for proof, the only proof you need to know that Voldemort is back is at Granule Cemetery, where the seventeen year old, dead, Cedric Diggory will tell you all you need to know about what Voldemort can do." Harry continued.
Hermione could feel the prickle of tears in her eyes. She looked at Cho and saw her silent stream of tears and had to look away.
"Learning how to defend yourself isn't an extracurricular activity. It's compulsory. Treat it as such and you'll survive." Harry finished.
Silence met the end of his words. Finally, Harry looked over to the door and saw Zacharias standing on his feet by now.
"You obviously have better things to do," Harry told him. "Get out."
The boy stood motionless for a moment, just staring at Harry. His face was pink with humiliation but his expression showed his confusion too. At last he reached for the doorknob and pulled the door open before leaving.
The door clicked closed and everyone brought their attention back to the two Gryffindors standing before them.
"Ahem, well, okay then." Hermione started, clearing her throat. "I'll work out a schedule then and I'll try to make it as fitting as I can, so you won't have to miss much."
The group gave small nods and whispers of affirmative.
"Was that wandless magic you used to throw Smith across the room?" Lee asked bravely.
"Yes" Harry answered simply. "I learnt it over the summer." He explained. He was telling the truth. He had learned wandless magic over the summer months. He just didn't specify which year's summer.
"That was…wow. That was cool!" the boy next to Ginny said with a nervous sort of grin.
"Michael!" Ginny whispered, looking surprised at him.
"What? It was cool!" the boy, Michael, whispered back.
"Are you going to teach us that?" Colin Creevey asked, wearing such a large grin, Harry was sure it hurt.
"Possibly." Harry answered. "It depends."
"On what?" Justin asked.
"How well you pick up the basics." Harry answered.
The group fell quiet after that. Harry could see the awe and surprise on their faces. Most looked excited at being taught by Harry, others looked almost afraid.
"We should have a name." Ginny suddenly said, staring at Harry.
"A name?" Parvati asked.
"For this group. We have to have a name." Ginny explained.
"It's a good idea. It will give us a sense of unity." Hermione said aloud.
"Okay, what about Umbridge-Is-Useless club? UIU?" Lee suggested.
"Hmm, tempting but I think it should be something that doesn't give us away." Ron said.
"How about, The-Ministry-Are-Idiots-Who-Can't-See-What's-Facing-Them-Unless-It-Hexes-The-Crap-Out-Of-Them-First!" Fred suggested.
"Eh? No!" Hermione said with an annoyed look.
Slowly the group started getting carried away, coming up with a name for their rebel group.
"How about something simple, like The-Defence-Association?" asked Cho.
"I like that; The DA. Sounds good!" Angelina said.
"Yeah, DA! But why don't we make it stand for Dumbledore's Army? After all, that is what the Minister is afraid of? It would be fitting." Ginny suggested.
Harry looked up at the mention of that. He smiled.
"Let's take a vote." Hermione suggested. "Dumbledore's Army?" Hermione asked.
Every hand shot in the air.
"Passed!" Hermione said with a smile. "We are Dumbledore's Army." She chuckled at that, making others join in. "It's perfect!"
Harry smiled to himself. It was perfect. Perfect name for what he was planning. Perfect indeed.
xxx
The days slowly passed by and before Harry knew it, it was a week later and he was to start his first lesson of the DA.
"Now, remember what I said, Harry. Be patient, be clear in your instructions and no matter what, don't knock anyone against the walls!" Hermione told him as they made their way to the seventh floor.
"Hermione, will you stop!" Harry asked for the fifth time in the last hour.
"I'm sorry, Harry but you really can't go around knocking people into walls." she admonished. "I 'm surprised Zacharias didn't tell on us. I half expected him to after the way he was humiliated." She looked upset for him.
"He probably knew he would be in more trouble if he did." Ron offered.
"He was only going to waste time. He wasn't really there to learn anything. I can tell his sort. It's better that he's gone." Harry said dismissively.
"Well, I'm glad he didn't tell anyone about what we're up to. I don't want to see what would have happened." Hermione said.
"Hermione, don't be so scared. Umbridge can't do anything to us." Harry told her.
"No, it's not like that. I'm not scared. It's just that I did this spell on the parchment that everyone signed their name onto. If anyone tells on us or exposes the group, then…well, let's just say they'll regret it."
Harry looked over to her.
"What spell did you use?" he asked, intrigued.
"Let's just say, they won't be able to face anyone." She smiled hesitantly at her own words.
"You know, you scare me a little, Hermione." Ron said from beside her.
The trio reached the Room of Requirement and Harry pushed open the door to see his 'students' already waiting inside.
They all looked up at Harry, eager and anxious all at once.
Ron and Hermione joined the rest and stood to face Harry, who was standing before them. After making sure that everyone was present, Harry turned to the door and locked it, giving them their privacy as well as secrecy.
He faced the twenty six students, his stomach flipped with nervousness. No matter if he admitted it or not, he was a bit nervous to teach so many people.
"Alright, let's start." Harry said. "Everyone; split into pairs."
The twenty six students obeyed at once and paired up; Ron with Hermione, Fred with Angelina, George with Lee, Ginny with Michael, Parvati with Lavender and so on. Harry waited patently until they were ready.
"Okay, the first thing I'm going to do is teach you to bring up your magical shields." he saw the faces fall of some of the students.
"We know the basics; can't you start with wandless magic?" Lee asked excitedly.
"No," Harry responded simply. He saw the way the students were looking at each other, disappointed and even annoyed. He took a step forward. "The basics are the most difficult. If you master them, you can build yourself to perform almost any spell, hex or charm."
They still didn't look satisfied.
"You can learn to perform the most complicated of spells, but it's pointless if you can't defend yourself from the simplest of them." Harry said.
That got their attention. They looked among themselves and realised Harry had a point.
"Alright, form two lines. Face your partners."
They did as he said.
"You guys," Harry motioned to the line on his right. "You are the attackers. You guys," he pointed at the line on his left, "you have to defend yourselves against the attack." He faced the 'attackers' and smiled at the smug looks they were wearing. "Cast the disarming spell only, okay. No Unforgivables."
Everyone laughed at that. Harry saw Hermione give him a smile.
"Okay, after three. One, two, three, Go!" Harry prompted.
The room was suddenly filled with shouts of 'Expellarimus!' and bright lights zoomed across the room. Out of the thirteen people defending themselves, only three managed to bring up their shield. The rest were now standing without there wands, looking dazed.
Harry grit his teeth. 'Pathetic!' he mentally berated them. He forced himself to relax. He should have expected this.
"Okay, that was…well, terrible." He said as the ashamed looking students collected their wands from their respective partners. "You guys know when the attack was coming; you knew exactly when it was happening and where the attack is coming from. You should be able to block that!"
"I'm only in second year; I don't know how to bring up a shield." Dennis told him.
Harry looked at him for a minute before looking away, offering no response.
"Well, let's try…again." He said. "Just concentrate on bringing up your shield. Imagine that your magic can become solid for a moment and you want it to protect you. Bring it out of your wand and shield yourself." Harry instructed, as clearly as he could.
They tried again. This time five got it right. The others looked frustrated and annoyed as they gathered their wands from their partners.
They kept at it, again and again, Harry tried to explain to them how to call forth their magic and how to perform the spell. Gradually the students began to pick up and take Harry's instructions on board. In a matter of half an hour, all thirteen students were able to bring up their shield. Some still got caught off by the speed of the spell. They could bring up their shield, just not in time to block the spell.
"Aright, swap over now." Harry told them. The previous 'attackers' didn't look too smug now.
"Harry, I don't see how this is of any help." Justin said as he prepared to defend himself. "I mean, it's not as if we will ever be attacked by just one Death Eater. I've heard that when they attack, they attack in groups. A small shield isn't going to block numerous attacks. So, really, when are we going to use it? A one-to-one duel? How likely is that?"
Everyone stared at Justin and then at Harry. Justin suddenly looked nervous.
"I'm…I'm just saying…." He mumbled.
"Justin, come here." Harry instructed.
Justin definitely looked scared now. He walked over to him regardless. Harry looked over at Ron and Hermione.
"Ron, Hermione, you too." They obeyed and joined Justin, looking confused. Harry surveyed the room again. "Fred, Angelina and Dean." He gestured them to join the small group. "Form a circle." He instructed. The six students looked at each other in growing confusion. The rest were watching without blinking an eye, engrossed in what Harry was up to.
Harry walked into the circle the six had formed.
"On my count of three, each of you throw a spell at me, at the same time."
"What?" Ron asked, perplexed.
"Is this a joke?" Fred asked a grin on his face, thinking Harry had finally lost it.
"Justin is right. Death Eaters do attack in groups. The six of you, attack me. Okay?" Harry said.
"Not okay." Angelina said, crossing her arms over her chest. "You can get hurt. And I'm not losing my Seeker. We need to win the cup this year!"
"Angie, shut up!" Dean said.
"Do what I'm telling you. On a count of three," Harry said. "One, two, three."
Despite their hesitance, the six reluctant teens threw the disarming spell at Harry. At once, six jets of light rushed to hit Harry. Before all of them, Harry flicked his wand and suddenly a shimmering blue bubble appeared, covering him from head to foot. The six spells hit the wall of the bubble and disappeared.
Harry stood in the middle of the circle, his full body shield still in place and covering him. Finally, Harry lowered his wand, ending the spell. He smiled at the gob-smacked expression almost everyone was wearing. No one had uttered a single word. Harry turned to face an open mouthed Justin.
"Once you've learned how to bring up your shield successfully, you can manipulate it so it protects you, no matter the number of attackers." Harry told him.
"That…that was…I never knew you could do that!" Lavender said breathlessly.
"Like I said, master the basics, you can do anything." Harry answered back with a smirk. He motioned to the six students still surrounding him to go back to their places. "Okay, let's get back to bringing up shields." He instructed, noting the sudden increased vigour from his students.
xxx
The weeks went by and Harry found himself getting caught up with his DA lessons. Hermione managed to work out a schedule where there was at least one lesson a week. It was now the beginning of November and the cold, wet, weather gave the students more of a reason to stay inside and practise their lessons from Harry.
Harry found that despite his 'aggressive' behaviour with Zacharias, no one showed any fear towards him. He found that quite annoying in all truth.
"They just assume you've had enough of everyone walking all over you." Hermione told him one evening, as they sat next to the roaring fireplace. "They believe that you did face…You-Know-Who and it's affected you to the point you've become aggressive and focused on becoming strong to fight him."
"Do girls have the answer to everything?" Ron asked in awe.
"No, I overheard Dean and Justin talking about it last week." Hermione said, scanning through her essay.
"Oh, right." Ron said slightly pink faced now.
"It is going rather well, though." Hermione said, facing Harry; her excitement showing. "I mean last week, nearly everyone managed to bring up full body shields. I mean it's still nothing more than a wisp of smoke that can't block anything, but it's something."
Harry gave her a look.
"Don't start congratulating yourselves just yet, Hermione. You've all got a long way to go before you can deem yourself as 'successful'. There's plenty to learn yet."
Somehow, this just seemed to excite Hermione even more.
"I can't wait!" she whispered, more to herself.
Ron shared a look with Harry before shaking his head and returning to his textbook. "Guess who I overheard talking about the DA?" he asked Harry, eyes still fixed on his Transfiguration textbook.
Harry shrugged.
"Zacharias Smith." Ron said, looking up at Harry with a smirk.
"Really? Who was talking to?" Hermione asked, dropping her foot long parchment.
"He was asking Dean how the classes were going and what they had learnt so far. Sounds like the git is regretting being thrown out." Ron sniggered.
Hermione bit her lip and looked pleadingly at Harry.
"Don't bother asking, Hermione. The answer is no." Harry said.
"But, he sounds like he's sorry." Hermione said.
"It doesn't matter to me." Harry said matter-of-factly. "He had better things to do, so he is welcome to doing them."
Hermione looked saddened but she didn't fight Smith's case any further. She went back to her essay and the next few minutes were spent in silence.
"To give Smith his due, I don't think a lot of people that turned up that first day, came to learn Defence." Ron said, breaking the silence.
Hermione perked up at once.
"That's true. A lot of students that came only did so to hear you talk about…about, him. I realise that now." she said, shooting Harry an apologetic look. "I mean, I know Fred and Gorge came to support you, Cho came, well, that's obvious" she shot Harry a sly look. "She can't seem to stop looking at you."
"I noticed." Harry said dryly, still looking at his parchment, adding final touches to his own homework.
Hermione pushed on.
"The Creevey brothers came since they both adore you, Luna came, probably thinking we were hunting Nargles or something. Michael came because of Ginny and Parvati came with…"
"Whoa! Wait a minute. Go back to Michael who came because of Ginny?!" Ron said, dropping his textbook completely. "Why would he do that?"
Harry was staring at Hermione too, his quill grasped tightly in his hand.
"You know, because he's dating Ginny." Hermione answered nonchalantly.
The quill in Harry's hand snapped.
"What!" Ron erupted. "She's dating! When did this happen?" he demanded.
"About two months ago." Hermione said calmly.
Ron's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
"Two months! Two months! I can't believe this! Why didn't she tell me?" Ron asked.
"She probably forgot." Hermione said.
"Yeah, right!" Ron snarled. "She knew I wouldn't let her, that's why she didn't tell me. Michael Corner! I don't like him! There's something wrong about him."
"What?" Hermione asked.
"I don't know yet." Ron answered heatedly.
"For goodness sake, Ron!" Hermione huffed. "This is why Ginny never said anything to you. There is nothing wrong with Michael. He is perfectly nice and Ginny says she's happy with him. It's not up to you when and whom she can date. She is old enough…"
"She's fourteen!" Ron said.
"Exactly! Fourteen. She is old enough to make her own dating decisions." Hermione told him.
"I heard that Michael liked Cho." Ron said in confusion.
Hermione looked over at Harry as the girl was mentioned. She noted the strange look on his face. It was almost like…anger?
"Yeah, well, every boy likes Cho." She said distractedly.
Harry's hands were balled into fists. He met Hermione's eyes and she saw his eyes had darkened, just by a shade.
"Harry?" Hermione asked, ignoring Ron for the moment. "Are you okay?"
"Fine" Harry bit out. He suddenly got up. "I need to go and make a call." He left the common room, disappearing up the steps.
Hermione turned to look at Ron, who was still wearing a scornful look.
"Oh my God! I know who Harry's girlfriend is!" she told him excitedly.
"What?!" Ron asked.
"In his own…world," Hermione whispered. "Harry said he had a girlfriend and that maybe we knew her. He got all upset when you mentioned how Michael liked Cho. Ron, Harry's girlfriend is Cho Chang!"
Ron looked like he couldn't care less.
"Big deal! I need to figure out how to get Ginny away from Michael." Ron hissed the name with fierce dislike.
"Oh wake up, Ron. You interfere and Ginny will eat you alive and you know it." Hermione told him.
Ron opened his mouth to argue but then quickly shut it again. Hermione looked back at the staircase leading to the boy's dormitory and smiled.
"He's probably talking to Cho right now." she gushed.
xxx
"What are you talking about?"
Harry grabbed the phone tightly in his hand.
"Michael Corner?" he asked again. "Know who he is?"
"Erm," came Ginny's voice. "I think he might be in Ravenclaw, why?"
"Because you're dating him." Harry told his girlfriend over the phone.
"What?" Ginny giggled. "I am?"
"Don't laugh, Ginny." Harry warned. "I'm really pissed off about this."
"Okay, I'll make it better. I'm so sorry I'm cheating on you in another dimension." Ginny said, her tone light and mocking.
"This isn't funny!" Harry insisted.
"Yes, it is." Ginny laughed. "You're getting all bent out of shape about something I have no control over."
"No, I'm not." Harry said. "I didn't call to blame you; even I'm not that stupid!"
"You had me wondering." admitted Ginny.
Harry ignored her.
"I called to ask if…if you ever did date Corner? You know, before me?"
Ginny was quiet for a few moments.
"Harry, I met you when I was fourteen. After the day you saved my life, I got so hung up on finding you, I didn't bother with any other guy, no matter how interested they were in me." She added for Harry's benefit.
"So, are you saying that I'm your first boyfriend?" Harry asked uncertainly.
"Oh, Harry!" Ginny laughed. "Merlin, no!" she laughed harder. "You are so adorable for thinking that!"
Harry pulled a face.
"So, you did have other boyfriends?" Harry asked.
"Of course I did. I'm normal." Ginny teased.
"That's what you say but I have my doubts." Harry teased back.
"Harry, before you flew spectacularly into me life, I did have other relationships. But they were just silly little crushes and infatuations. You know; the kind that every person has from the age of eleven."
Harry found himself smile despite himself.
"But after I met you, my life just changed. You may not have been my first boyfriend but you are my first love. First and last." She added softly at the end.
Harry didn't say anything to that but felt himself calm down considerably. He didn't know what happened to him, the thought of Ginny with anyone else but him made fire erupt inside him.
"You really thought you were my first boyfriend?" Ginny asked with a laugh.
"I never really gave it much thought, to be honest." Harry admitted.
Ginny giggled again.
"Well, at least I know about you. I know that I'm your first and last girlfriend." she teased. She knew she was. Taking in Harry's past, she didn't think Voldemort would allow Harry to have a social life or any opportunities that may have led to him dating.
Harry smirked.
"You sure about that?"
"Why? Did you have a girlfriend before me?" Ginny asked, sounding worried now.
"What do you reckon?" Harry asked.
Ginny didn't answer for a few minutes.
"You're messing with me, aren't you?" Ginny asked finally.
"Maybe." Harry teased.
"Whatever! It's not as if I care anyway!" Ginny said, sounding very much like she did care. "All that matters is that you love me now." she paused for a minute. "Um, Harry, this is the point you tell me you love me!"
Harry laughed.
"I love you, Ginny. I really do." He told her.
"I love you too." Ginny returned. "So, this Michael, is he the really cute one with dark hair?"
"Do you want me to hurt him?" Harry asked exasperated.
xxx
It was a cold, grey morning and the Great Hall was packed full of students and Professors, readily enjoying their warm breakfast. Harry was in deep conversation with Hermione and Ron, discussing the success of the DA.
"It really is going very well." Hermione said grinning widely. "Did you notice last night how much everyone had improved with their aim? Even Luna was paying attention to you and was doing rather well!"
Harry didn't respond and continued enjoying his porridge.
"You should be proud, Harry. I think you're doing a wonderful job." Hermione added.
"I told you before, a long way to go before you should congratulate anyone." Harry told her, irritably.
"Uh-oh, the Professor is in a foul mood, again. What's up?" Ron asked from beside Hermione.
"I'm not in a mood. I just don't agree that everyone has improved." He gestured to Neville, sitting about ten seats away. "He still can't hit his target, and it's only a yard or so away from him. It's pathetic."
Hermione looked at Neville with a sympathetic look.
"He's trying, Harry. Give him time." she whispered.
"He's not trying, and if he is then he's not trying hard enough." Harry answered.
"That's a bit harsh, mate." Ron said.
"That's life." Harry answered. "If he wants to learn, he better pay attention and try like his life depends on it. That's the only way he'll learn, the only way anyone will learn."
Hermione silently studied him, her lips pressed tightly together.
"What?" Harry asked, noting her stare.
"Nothing, I sometimes forget, you know, about you and where you come from." Her voice betrayed her sadness. "The reminder is always a little hard to take in."
Harry just stared at her before shrugging his shoulders, failing to find anything to say to her. It was at that moment the owls flew in over head, carrying the mail, all wet from the rain outside.
A brown owl landed before Hermione and dropped a copy of the Daily Prophet in front of her. Ron chuckled at the wet rolled up newspaper.
"I don't think you'll be reading much today, Hermione." He joked.
She only threw him an annoyed look before dropping a Knut into the owl leather pouch and letting the drenched owl fly back outside.
"Really, they should have a 'stay-dry' spell on the papers. This is just ridiculous!" Hermione muttered.
Ron whispered to Harry,
"Is there such a thing as a 'stay-dry' spell?" he asked.
"I'm pretty sure there isn't." Harry answered.
"Thought so." Ron muttered.
Harry looked over at Hermione and saw her looking at the front page with something akin to horror. A sudden hush fell over the hall, a stifling silence that was only punctuated by a few gasps and low whispers.
Harry looked back at Hermione as she stared at the newspaper in her grip.
"Hermione?"
She looked up at him and Harry could see the look of fear in her brown orbs.
"Harry! It's terrible." She whispered.
Without saying anything more, she lowered the paper flat on the table and turned it around so Harry could read it. Or he could have read it if the ink hadn't smudged with the rain. But Harry didn't need to read the headline or even the article to see what was causing the reaction.
Taking up most of the front page was individual pictures, snapshots, of ten people. The Headline had two words that were fairly easy to make out, 'Azkaban' and 'Escapees'.
Harry felt his stomach turn as he took a closer look at the escaped Death Eaters and saw familiar faces. There was Dolohov and Rookwood both looking ghastly, pale faces with wild, unkempt hair and beards.
Harry scanned the pictures of the nine men. But when he came to the tenth picture he felt like his heart had been wrenched out of his chest. He stared at the picture of a witch, with heavy lidded eyes. Her usually shiny dark hair was now long, straggly and unkempt. She had her usual arrogant, disdainful smile on her face although Harry could never have imagined seeing it on such a thin and pale face. It was only her eyes and smile that struck Harry hard so he was able to recognise her. Azkaban had taken away her beauty, as it had with Sirius, and left her looking ghastly and gaunt.
"Oh God!" Harry gasped as he stared at the photo.
"Bella!"
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Okay, so that's Lucius and Bella, only one more family member to go! Save the best for last, eh? ;)
Please review!! Cheers!!