Chapter 24: Preparing for the Worst
March 13th, 1994
Harry woke slowly the next day. He did feel content wedged between his two friends. Ginny's hand was on his shoulder, while Hermione had put her arm around his neck. He'd managed to get one arm around Hermione's waist. All in all, it was a pretty nice way to wake up.
"You awake Hermione?" he asked.
"I've been awake for about half an hour," admitted Hermione, "you seemed comfortable though."
"Are you all right Hermione?" Harry asked. "I know we kind of rushed by things yesterday."
"I'm getting there," said Hermione, "It isn't every day someone says they're going to cut off your head and throw it at your best friend. Not to mention going through two separate dementor attacks."
"He threatened to kill you?" asked Harry, his voice very subdued.
Hermione nodded.
Harry somehow managed to get his other arm around Hermione and he pulled her as close to him as he could. Hermione rested her head on his shoulder contentedly.
"That's pretty fucked up," said Ginny.
"You been awake this whole time?" asked Hermione.
"Yeah," said Ginny, "I've been watching you two. You're rather cute together."
"Well I'm sure they are glad that you approve Miss Weasley," said the rather harsh voice of Professor McGonagall.
"Oh, hello Professor," Harry said lamely. This was, perhaps, not the best situation to get caught in.
"Care to explain what the three of you are doing?" asked McGonagall.
"We slept together," said Ginny, "Emphasis on slept." McGonagall's face seemed to go scarlet, whether, from anger or embarrassment, Harry couldn't tell. Probably some combination of the two.
"Not a bad idea either," said Madam Pomfrey as she hustled into the room, "It's a good way to keep away bad dreams the night after a single dementor attack, never mind two of them."
"Well, still..." McGonagall said, trying to regain her composure.
Harry very regretfully stopped hugging Hermione. "It was all three of us together ma'am. We weren't doing anything. We just didn't want to be alone."
McGonagall's compassion won out over her sense of decorum. "Oh, just don't make a habit of it Potter," she said finally.
"Is Professor Dumbledore available?" asked Hermione. Harry wondered that as well. He had a few things to discuss with the old man.
"Minister Fudge is expected shortly…" said Minerva, which prompted Harry to jump out of bed.
"Potter!" yelled Madam Pomfrey.
"I'm fine Madam Pomfrey, but I have to talk to Fudge!" said Harry as he ran out of the infirmary door.
He made his way down to the Entrance Hall. It was early enough that there were very few people here. Fudge was just arriving, flanked by two Aurors, Kingsley and another Auror Harry didn't recognize.
"Minister," said Harry with a wave, "Do you have a moment?"
Fudge gave Harry a shrewd look, then nodded toward a corner of the hall.
Once they reached the corner, Fudge cast several charms around them. Against eavesdropping Harry assumed.
"You had a busy day yesterday, Harry," said Fudge.
"Oh yes, Minister," said Harry. "My friends and I are all rather eager to talk about it too. Though, under the right circumstances, I might be able to convince people to keep quiet. For the moment at least."
"Oh?" asked Fudge.
"Let me be clear," said Harry, "The only reason I am willing to do this is that I don't want you removed as Minister for Magic. You're current politics are useful to me. That being said, I want Sirius to be alive more, so if you want my silence, I want the manhunt for Sirius Black to end."
"If you think I can pardon Black without evidence, you're crazy," said Fudge, "I've been playing him up in the press as You-Know-Who's right-hand man. I can't pardon him. Not without real evidence."
"I know," said Harry, "I'm asking you to call off the manhunt, not exonerate him. He's left the country for the moment, so it shouldn't be too hard."
"The dementors are already gone," said Fudge, "I suppose we could call off the Aurors as well. You'll agree to stay quiet on this if I call off the manhunt then?"
"Until I can prove that Pettigrew is alive, yes," said Harry, "If I do that, all bets are off."
The Minister smiled. "As long as you allow me to act completely surprised by it, I suppose that could work," said Fudge.
A thought occurred to Harry. "How did the dementors know Black was in the school though?"
Fudge smiled, "Come now Harry, you don't expect me to tell you that, do you?"
Harry shrugged. He'd suspected someone had blabbed on Sirius. He knew Sirius and Lupin thought it was Snape, but he couldn't rule out Dumbledore, could he? After all, with Sirius out of the way Dumbledore would stay in charge of Harry. But Dumbledore had helped Sirius escape. Though he supposed even if Dumbledore wanted Sirius out of the way, he didn't necessarily want him dead.
In any case, he'd at least bought Sirius a little time. That surely had to count for something.
XXXXX
Harry met up with Hermione and Ginny in the Great Hall.
"A month of detentions," said a dejected Ginny, "but Snape agreed that he wouldn't let this affect my ability to go to Hogsmeade next year. And Ron even kept my package."
"So was it worth sneaking out?" asked Hermione.
"I got Justin to forgive me and I saved your life, so yeah, I'd say so," said Ginny.
"What were you doing in Hogsmeade?" asked Harry, "No way you were just getting things for the twins."
Ginny tilted her head. "Can't slip one past you, huh? I decided to visit Aberforth Dumbledore."
"Who?" asked Harry asked.
"He's the owner of the Hog's Head," said Ginny, "He's also the Headmaster's brother. Let's just say that he has very few good things to say about his brother, and you might do well to make his acquaintance."
"Dumbledore has agreed to apparate my folks into Hogsmeade this afternoon," said Hermione. "We could probably arrange it so we can swing by the Hogs Head after."
"Aberforth wasn't interested in talking to me, but when I mentioned you he suddenly got very interested," said Ginny, "I'd go with you, but…"
"You're completely incorrigible, you know that, right?" said Hermione.
Ginny shrugged while grinning impishly.
XXXXX
"Everything will be okay," said Harry comfortingly as he brought two butterbeers over to the table he was sharing with Hermione at the Three Broomsticks.
"I know," said Hermione, "but I keep ending up in lethal peril every year."
"And your parents will be upset. But you'll be fine. They can't pull you from school though, you know that," said Harry.
Hermione nodded, but still looked nervous. Harry supposed he couldn't blame her.
"Before they get here," started Hermione, "There is something I want to talk about."
"Oh?" asked Harry.
"Do you think we're moving a little too fast?" asked Hermione, "I'm not talking about us kissing or anything like that. What I mean is, aren't we a little young to be getting together, especially if we want it too last?"
"That's a legitimate point," said Harry, "At the same time, I can't deny that I'm starting to feel something for you."
"I know I care about you, and I care a lot," said Hermione, "but my Mum tried to explain something to me, and once again, she's right. We're not ready for a real relationship yet. We're children, and we have no idea what we are doing."
"But…" started Harry.
"We just got done hurting each other more than we have ever been hurt before," said Hermione, "and we will do it again and again unless we are smart about this. I think we're too young to be seeing anyone exclusively. So I think we should just both do as we please. I think we should be willing to try to see whoever we want."
"And you, the girl who just wouldn't speak to me for over two weeks because she was jealous, is fine with this?" asked Harry skeptically.
"I was afraid I was going to lose you," said Hermione, "But I'm over that. When I summoned my Patronus I put that behind me. Here's the thing I realized. We can't just be dependent on each other. We have to be our people. And part of that means that we need to figure out what we mean to each other. I know you would die for me, but you would die for any of your friends. I just… if we go any further with our relationship, we'll be committed. And I am not ready yet. The fact that I was so worried about you being with someone else proves that I am not ready for that."
"What about me going on vacation with you?" asked Harry.
"Let's call it a summer fling," said Hermione, "that being said, we won't have a rule against us being together. That would defeat the whole purpose of this. I just think that we should… I think we should examine all of our relationships before we commit to anything. We both need to be kids for a while still. We aren't ready to be adults, are we?"
"No, we aren't," said Harry after a long time.
"So from here on out, no jealousy," said Hermione, "we just try to have as much fun as we can. When we are ready to move on, if we move on, we'll do it because it's right for us, and not because we chose to room together three years ago."
"All right, I guess I'm game," said Harry. He wasn't exactly thrilled by this, but it made a little sense. But deep inside, he knew the truth. Hermione was willing to do this for the same reason he was. He was terrified that if they started dating exclusively that they would accidentally go too far and trigger the penalties from the marriage contract. And they needed something to distract from the fact that they couldn't be together in the way that they wanted. If they hadn't been rooming together it wouldn't be an issue. But as they were, the temptation would be too great. They had to slow down.
"Thanks, Harry," said Hermione, who leaned over and kissed Harry on the lips.
"And what do the two of you think you are doing?" asked the voice of Hermione's father. Both of Hermione's parents had just walked up. Robert might have been a little amused, but it was hard for Harry to tell. Helen, on the other hand, seemed to be on the verge of laughing.
Harry blushed furiously. He had not intended for Robert Granger to see that. Hermione, on the other hand, was unperturbed.
"We were kissing Daddy. And it was a well-earned kiss," she said without a hint of embarrassment.
Albus Dumbledore was also present, having accompanied Hermione's parents there. "I also have a matter which I wish to speak to you about, but after we are done here," he said cryptically.
Harry managed to keep his face straight. Dumbledore's presence meant that they would have to be a bit more circumspect about what they revealed. While he had no intention of telling Hermione's parents about the marriage contract, he wouldn't even be able to hint at his knowledge of it. Worse, how would Hermione be able to explain their fight properly?
Hermione sensed this as well. "Headmaster, is there somewhere we could go that's a bit more private? There are some rather… personal things that I want to tell my parents."
A few moments later, Dumbledore had them ensconced in a private room. "Once you're done, I will be in the bar," he said. He gave a meaningful look at Harry.
"Harry can stay," said Hermione, "By which I mean I need him to stay. I won't get through this without him."
"If this is just for family..." began Dumbledore.
"As far as I'm concerned, Harry is family," said Hermione. Harry wanted to hug her but realized it wasn't the time.
Dumbledore bowed his head, then left the room.
"That could have been a little inconvenient," said Hermione.
"Oh?" asked Helen.
"Some of the things we'll be telling you are a bit critical of Dumbledore," said Harry, "It would have been awkward for him to be here."
"So everything kind of started because Harry and I fought," said Hermione, "Most of that rests on me, I was being a bit jealous. Though, you did rather adroitly fan my doubts over the break."
"I was trying to do the opposite sweetie," said Helen.
"I realize that now," said Hermione, "But I wasn't ready to hear it. In any case, I wasn't able to see how messed up the situation with Harry and Ginny was because I was too wrapped up feeling sorry for myself."
"Ginny and I had some real problems, problems largely caused by the Headmaster," said Harry.
"I barely spoke to Harry for two weeks before Ginny got fed up and agreed to tell me what was happening," said Hermione sadly, "And once I found out what they were facing, I was pretty ashamed. What Dumbledore is trying to do to them is just horrible."
"What is it?" asked Helen.
Harry shook his head. "I wish I could tell you, but Dumbledore doesn't know that we know about this yet. We can probably get out of it if we manage to play our cards right, but if he knew what we were planning…"
"Dumbledore can read your mind, Mum," said Hermione, "If we tell you what's going on, it will be all you can think about, and you can't defend your mind."
"Plus it's Ginny's secret as well," said Harry, "Which is why I couldn't tell Hermione."
"This doesn't sound like the reason we were brought here," said Robert.
"No, it's just the setup to prepare you for what comes next," said Hermione, "The two of us made up after Ginny explained things, but after that, it became hard to ignore the five thousand pound elephant in the room. So yesterday, we went to Hogsmeade together. On a date."
Robert narrowed his eyes at Harry. "Go on," he said dangerously.
"Behave," said Helen, smacking her husband on the shoulder.
"We did some errands together, then we decided to stop at a local teashop for a light lunch," said Hermione, "But it was...weird in there."
"There was a lot of rather vigorous public kissing," said Harry, "And while I have nothing against kissing, it was a little public for me."
"Oh?" said Helen, clearly remembering what she and her husband had just walked in on.
"We aren't talking about a quick peck on the lips Mum," said Hermione, "In any case, we decided to leave, and I went to the loo first. But while I was there I was kidnapped by Peter Pettigrew."
"WHAT?" said both of her parents at the same time.
Harry reached over and took Hermione's hand. This next bit was going to be difficult.
"He apparated me out into the woods, and then he…" Hermione paused, "He told me he was going to use me to lure Harry out and then he was going to kill us. Well, I assume he meant us, but he was only talking about killing me. And when I tried to talk my way around it, well he let me know he didn't need me alive."
"Oh, that's when he…" Harry started to say before trailing off. Her parents didn't need to hear that. Both of them were already clutching each other's hands.
"Yeah," said Hermione, "Anyway, Sirius Black and Justin Finch-Fletchley showed up, Pettigrew tried to use me as a shield. Moments later Harry and Ginny showed up and Ginny summoned me away from Pettigrew, and Sirius was able to capture him."
Both of her parents seemed very relieved at that. "So Sirius is cleared now?" asked Robert.
"No," said Harry, "That's when the dementors showed up."
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All in all, Harry thought the Grangers had taken the whole story well.
"Is there any action that can be taken against the dementors?" asked Robert.
"They're gone dad," said Hermione, "be happy about that."
"I have a mind to ban letting you leave the school," said Robert, causing Hermione's face to fall, "But I know that wouldn't be fair."
"As things stand, maybe you should consider transferring to another school," said Robert.
"No," said Hermione. Harry remained silent, though he rested his hand on her shoulder comfortingly.
"I don't think there is much to be gained here, dear," said Helen.
"We can invite Dumbledore back in now," said Harry.
Harry opened the door and waved the Professor in.
"I take it Hermione explained what happened?" asked Dumbledore.
"Yes," said Robert, "and my takeaway is not at all complimentary as to the stability and safety of magical society."
"It has not been our finest hour, I must admit," said Dumbledore.
"What did you want to talk to us about?" asked Helen.
"Ah, yes!" said Dumbledore, "Sirius Black wished me to do something for Harry, and while it is not necessarily what I would do, I feel I must respect the wishes of his godfather. Has Hermione asked you about Harry spending the summer with you?"
"We told Hermione we were going to try to go to France again," said Robert.
"So much the better!" said Dumbledore, "Sirius wanted Harry to take a vacation."
"I'm not sure we can afford that," said Helen.
"You wouldn't have to," said Harry, "I can pay for it."
"Harry, you shouldn't spend your parent's money like that," said Helen.
"Oh, that isn't the money I'd spend," said Harry, "I inherited Sirius's fortune thanks to Fudge, and while I'm sure that one day he'll want it back, he told me specifically that if I don't use his money to fund this vacation he'll disown me."
"He said that?" asked Robert worriedly.
"Sirius is a bit of a joker," said Harry.
"Harry would have to spend the first week off of school at his aunt and uncle's place," said Dumbledore.
"We can't get away then anyway," said Helen. She looked at Robert significantly.
"Pleeeease," asked Hermione, almost desperately.
Robert finally just shrugged.
"All right, Harry can come," said Helen.
Hermione leaped up and tried to hug both her parents at once. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she said excitedly.
Harry walked over to Dumbledore, "Thank you as well. I know that you are trying to lead me in... other directions, so this was unexpected."
Dumbledore sighed, "As your godfather pointed out, me trying to force your hand would likely be futile. I needed to give you space, so here it is."
Harry nodded in agreement. It was a small thing, but it felt like he had finally made some progress with the old man.
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The Hog's Head was, in Harry's opinion, a dive. Which probably meant that all sorts of unsavory types would come here. This opinion was confirmed when he saw Madam Zabini walking out of the back room. He gave her a very slight nod as she passed. She wasn't one of his favorite people, but there was no need to be rude.
"Is Blaise in Hogsmeade today?" she asked him. She was rather pointedly ignoring Hermione.
"I saw him at the Three Broomsticks a few minutes ago," said Harry, "They'd been there a while though so he might have been getting ready to leave."
She nodded. Then made for the door. A short somewhat disheveled wizard with ginger hair ran after her.
"Dung!" screamed the bartender, an older man with grey hair, "Get out of here! I told you that you aren't welcome here anymore!"
The short wizard fled.
The bartender glanced at Harry and Hermione. "I should kick out Zabini too, but she can cause me more trouble than it's worth," he said, "Harry Potter I presume? I'm Aberforth Dumbledore."
"My friend Ginny said you wanted to see me," said Harry as he took Aberforth's proffered hand.
"Where is the girl?" asked Aberforth.
"She's a second year, and she got caught when the dementors attacked yesterday," said Hermione, who took Aberforth's hand after Harry was done, "I'm Hermione Granger, by the way."
"I'm curious as to what you think of my brother Potter," said Aberforth, "I've found him to be a meddlesome annoyance, but he's my brother, so I assume that goes with the territory."
"Is there any reason you wonder this?" asked Harry.
"Cause he's your guardian now," said Aberforth, "Don't be surprised that I know. Despite everything he still comes and asks me for advice from time to time. He rarely gives me information in return, but he has been worried enough about you that he's mentioned you."
"He tends to interfere in my life in ways I'd prefer he didn't, it's true," said Harry, "Also in ways that I find completely inappropriate."
"I was afraid of that," said Aberforth, "He's been Headmaster for decades, but as far as sole personal responsibility for the health and welfare of another person, that's something he only had once. And it ended badly. I'll give my brother some credit, he doubts his abilities in that regard, which is why he's come here asking for help. But the accounts he's been telling have been troubling. As in it sounds like he's trying to justify controlling you."
"What do you mean?" asked Harry.
"He says you're accumulating power and establishing a faction within Hogwarts," said Aberforth, "I say you're trying to put paid to all the pureblood garbage, but you remind him a little too much of another student he had."
"Tom Riddle," said Hermione.
"I assume you know the significance behind that name?" Aberforth asked, only continuing when Harry had nodded, "Also he's worried that you don't know how to love. He thinks you are just using those around you for power, and only pretending to care about them. He's desperate to get you to show some affection for someone."
"Has he not paid any attention to our friendship?" demanded Hermione.
"Albus thinks he's using you for your brain," said Aberforth.
Harry was disturbed. This made too much sense. He'd suspected Dumbledore had thought he was turning towards becoming a dark wizard. But his was far worse. Had Dumbledore tried to force him to love Ginny through a marriage contract? The idea was ridiculous, yet Harry wondered if Dumbledore might have been desperate enough to try it. Was Dumbledore so clueless that he couldn't see how much Harry adored Hermione? Harry felt like he was missing several pieces to this puzzle, yet the whole thing worried him.
However, if this was the reason Dumbledore didn't trust him, then it made no sense that Dumbledore would sort him into Slytherin. Unless of course there was no more to the plan than to put Harry under the watchful eye of Snape. Still, Harry couldn't square this with Dumbledore being behind his sorting.
"Just for the record Hermione," said Harry, "I do love you, you know." He threw an arm around her shoulders.
"Oh?" Hermione asked. She sounded a lot like her mother when she said that.
"As my best friend and part of my family," he said.
"I don't doubt that you do boy," said Aberforth, "Albus has failed to see a Dark Lord rising twice before though. Once obviously with Riddle, but he was also friends with Grindelwald before his ascent to power. I'll give Albus this, at the end of the day he's always been on the right side. But he might see rather innocent things that you do as far more sinister, just because of his biases."
"So he's going to keep trying to save me then?" asked Harry unhappily.
"Almost certainly," said Aberforth.
"This explains why he let you go on vacation with me," said Hermione.
"Well, thank you Aberforth," said Harry, "this conversation has been most illuminating."
"One last thing," said Aberforth, "Take care with Snape. He's either entirely loyal to my brother or he serves himself. And I don't know which. Either way, he isn't to be trusted."
Harry sighed. Of course, that had to be the case.
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Later that day they discussed their conversation with Aberforth with Ginny.
"Something is very wrong here," said Ginny, "The excuse Aberforth says his brother gave him? That Harry doesn't know how to love? It's pathetic."
"Dumbledore does believe that love is the most powerful magic," said Harry.
"It doesn't fucking matter!" said Ginny, "Your adoration of Hermione is obvious. A blind person could hear it in your voice! Dumbledore would have to be an idiot to not notice it. And Dumbledore is not an idiot."
"This would explain the marriage contract though," said Hermione.
"How would Harry being in a marriage contract that he can easily get out of by marrying, shagging, and then divorcing me make Harry love me?" said Ginny, "No matter that he has found out about it early, Harry's reaction was the exact opposite. It killed any chance of us having a relationship."
"So what are you suggesting?" asked Harry, "That Aberforth lied to us?"
"No, not necessarily," said Ginny, "But maybe his information has been manipulated. Maybe Dumbledore is spreading a false trail, or…"
"Or?" asked Harry.
"I don't know!" said Ginny irritably, "But just because we don't know doesn't mean an alternative explanation doesn't exist. For fuck's sake, the two of you are such Gryffindors sometimes!"
And Harry had to admit that he hadn't been expecting and didn't know how to respond to that.
May 3rd, 1994
From that point on, the year went back to a semblance of normalcy. The biggest news was in mid-April when Draco Malfoy lost 50 points and got a month's detention for bullying Colin Creevey. Members of the IUC had seen Malfoy hexing Colin and not only had they reported him to the teachers, but they also stunned him to boot. Fred and George had managed to get to him as well, and his blond hair was briefly a rather vibrant red and gold.
By early May Harry and Hermione had finally concluded their house-elf investigation as well. They had set up a meeting with the older house elves to discuss what they had found. The spokes elf for the elders was named Jinxy, and he was the same elf who had spoken to Harry in the kitchens when they'd first met.
"Ultimately, we've found that a huge part of magical history has simply ignored the house elves," said Hermione, "That being said, house-elves in Magical Britain are treated very differently than elves in other areas of the world. Part of that is simply enforcement, the laws that protect House Elves in Magical Britain are just not enforced. But there is more."
Daphne had found their efforts to understand what was happening with the house-elves puzzling. She had one point tried to justify the status of the house-elves by saying they had been magically modified to make them enjoy their enslaved status. This had set Harry and Hermione in motion to find what magic had been used to modify the house-elves.
"Magical Britain has specific wards that modify house-elf behavior,' said Harry, "They are sustained wards, meaning it's a constant active effect. While elves in other countries still like to bond with families, they are willing to leave a family which abuses them, they don't refuse to wear clothes, and they accept payment for their services. Simply put, elves are naturally helpful, but the wizards in Britain are suppressing your self-preservation instinct."
Jinxy frowned. "Hows do we deal with this?" he asked.
Hermione shook her head. "We'll have to get someone to deal with the wards, not an easy proposition," she said, "you're able to resist the magic a little bit, otherwise you wouldn't even be able to conceive of trying to resist this magic. We think Dobby is so strange in this regard because of how badly he was abused. His mind was changed from that of a normal house-elf just enough that the magic doesn't affect him in the same way it does you."
"Poor Dobby," said Jinxy, "Elves has always been treated badly, but this makes sense."
"We want to change the laws, but doing so without input from elves is a bad idea. But you can't tell us what's wrong without getting this magic removed," said Harry, "So those controls have to go."
Jinxy smiled at Harry. "Harry Potter is noble indeed to give so much thought to us house-elves. Even if he is not successful, we will be in his debt."
Now Harry just had to find a way to convince people to revoke those magics. He added it to the list of reforms that Magical Britain needed.
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May 14th, 1994
The Hufflepuff/Slytherin Quidditch match was perhaps the most anti-climactic match of the season. The Hufflepuff team had improved a lot this year, but not enough for people to think they would win in any way other than Cedric Diggory catching the snitch. But as it turned out, Harry just got lucky this time and flew right by the snitch ten minutes into the match. The whole thing was a bit of a downer, even for the Slytherin team who had now swept their opponents. Slytherin was awarded the Quidditch cup again, but Harry privately wished things had ended a bit more excitingly.
As a result, the Gryffindor/Ravenclaw match was meaningless, though there was the redemption angle in play here. Colin's loss to Cho last year had been thoroughly embarrassing. It was obvious that Wood was looking for redemption.
Unfortunately, once Cho was out on the pitch, it immediately became clear that not only was Cho going to try the same thing she had last year, it was still working! She was blowing kisses at Colin, batting her eyelashes, and just being a general flirt.
"That's pretty shameless," said Hermione, watching the match next to Harry.
"Anything's fair game in Quidditch," disagreed Tracey.
Right as the match was supposed to start, Cho flew over and kissed Colin on the cheek, making him blush furiously. Wood tried to get Madam Hooch to call a penalty, but he was refused when Colin said he was fine with it, which led Wood to fly off angrily fuming over his stupid Seeker. Cho's antics had their intended effect. Colin was distracted for the whole match. It wasn't quite as bad as last year where he had missed the snitch solely because Cho flirted with him, but Cho was still consistently outflying him. Gryffindor did manage to pull out a 100 point lead before Cho caught the snitch. Colin did try to fight for the snitch, but the first time he bumped into Cho he seemed to decelerate a bit as if to avoid her. Cho managed to beat him to the snitch easily.
"Harry, you never seem to have trouble bumping into Cho," said Daphne faux-innocently.
"I like to win," said Harry, "though if I were Colin, and he thinks Cho is attractive, I'd want to bump into her more often."
"And do you think Cho is pretty Harry?" teased Ginny.
"Sure, she's good looking," he said, "But I don't have a chance. She's clearly into Colin."
That sent most of Harry's friends into fits of laughter. Hermione just shook her head at them, though she was smiling.
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June 8th, 1994
The last IUC meeting was another success. Ever since the dementors had left, the IUC had concentrated on other defense topics such as shielding and how to escape opponents who are magically stronger than you. Lupin had been a fantastic sponsor for the club, but he looked a bit glum when the last session was over.
"Another great job Professor Lupin," said Harry.
"Thanks, Harry," said Remus, somewhat dispiritedly. He looked out across the room. Harry followed his gaze to see students from all four houses socializing together. In particular, he noticed that Daphne and Tracey were talking to Ron. Harry had noticed that Daphne had been talking to Ron a lot all year. Tracey had been joining them a lot lately though. Harry wondered…
He shook his head. Remus was upset about something.
"What's wrong Professor?" asked Harry.
"My contract was not renewed for next year, at the urging of the Board of Governors," said Remus, "Apparently someone told them about my condition. They were polite about it, but they made it clear that they don't want werewolves at Hogwarts."
"Making their bigotry polite is so nice of them, don't you think?" asked Harry with a sad shake of his head. He looked over at Daphne. Her father had probably voted for this. When Harry told her what had happened she was probably going to go ballistic.
Harry patted Remus on the shoulder. "Keep in touch with me, all right? You've been a great teacher and mentor." And Harry meant it. The IUC had been a huge success, largely because of Remus' expertise.
"You know," said Harry, "I have the Marauder's map. If you wanted me to sow some chaos next year…" Harry noted in his head that Ginny still had the map. He'd have to get it from her one of these days.
"Not," said Remus, "Though you should ask me again after I'm not a teacher."
Harry laughed. This one sucked, but at least this one he couldn't put at the feet of Dumbledore. The old man supported Remus, as was shown by the many times he had given him a chance, both in letting him attend Hogwarts as a child and in letting him teach there. Harry suspected Snape, and he was sure Lupin did as well.
Harry was getting fed up with Snape's pettiness. Now if he could only figure out how to do something about it.
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June 11th, 1994
The train ride back to London was rather uneventful. In retrospect, Harry should have realized that boded poorly for what they would find on their return.
As the train neared London Harry moved between compartments, saying goodbye to all his friends. By pure chance, the last compartment he visited was the compartment that contained Justin, Susan, Ernie, Hannah, and a few other Hufflepuffs. It was then that the train reached its destination.
As the Hogwarts Express pulled in to platform 9 and 3/4 it was immediately obvious that something was very wrong. There was a crowd gathered, but not by the train. As Harry disembarked he heard a voice screaming, though he couldn't tell what over the sound of the crowd. Harry
"What's going on?" Harry asked a nearby adult, whom he recognized as Parvati and Padma's father.
"One of the muggle parents is yelling at the Weasleys," said the twins' father, "Apparently they aren't happy that their daughter was allowed to return to school."
Harry looked at Justin sharply, as the Hufflepuff let out a moan. "I told them I'd made up with Ginny," Justin said despondently, "I guess they didn't take that news well. Dammit! It's just like them to do something like this!"
Harry and Justin tried to forge their way through the crowd. They needed to stop this before it became a bigger incident than it already had. The magical opinion of muggles was already bad enough.
"I've had enough of this prevarication! I want some answers as to why your daughter, a dangerous individual, is still attending this school!" shouted a loud man's voice as Harry and Justin approached.
Harry and Justin pushed their way through to the center of the crowd where there was a clear space. Molly and Arthur Weasley were there, both looking positively mortified. Justin's mother Jillian also looked as if she wanted to crawl into a hole. Justin's father was there as well, a big man with an angry red face. He was glaring at the Weasleys. Harry vaguely recalled that his name was Harford.
"Stop this at once father!" said Justin, "You're making a scene!"
"How dare you…" started Harford, but Justin cut him off.
"The Weasleys have been supporters of muggle and muggle-born rights for generations," shouted Justin, "And Ginny has not only earned my friendship, but I owe her my life."
The crowd buzzed at this, as Ginny ran up followed by Percy, Hermione, and Luna.
"No!" shouted Ginny, "Don't say that!"
"Here she is!" shouted Harford, "The girl who petrified our son."
"Don't talk about her that way!" roared Justin, "She saved me from dementors, so I owe her my life!"
"Justin, please!" begged Ginny.
Hermione had a different tactic. She turned to Justin's parents and said, "You have to calm down! You have no idea what will happen if this continues! You have no idea what you are doing. Let Justin explain it to you!"
"I don't need to know what's going on to see that it stinks," said Harford, "That girl should be in prison, not school."
Ginny blanched and that just made Justin angrier. "She was being controlled," said Justin through gritted teeth, "That's something that can happen to witches and wizards! I didn't understand that before, but I do now. She's as much a victim as I was. So leave her alone."
"I'll not have you talking like that boy!" screamed Harford, "You're coming with us!"
Justin looked at Ginny apologetically. The look on his face said everything. Ginny shook her head sadly, but then she lifted her chin and nodded.
Justin turned back to his parents. "I owe Ginny Weasley my life," he said.
The entire crowd gasped. Molly seemed to look horrified, which nearly made Harry smile. Okay, she deserved that for what she was putting him and Ginny though.
Harford finally seemed to get it through his head that something was going on that he didn't fully understand. "What does that mean?"
"It means that your son owes my little sister a life debt now," said Percy.
"Unless Justin saves Ginny's life, he'll always feel the need to help her, and come to her aid," said Luna, "If he doesn't, he will constantly feel guilty about it. His magic will hold him to that debt."
Daphne had pushed her way through the crowd. "The feeling you get when you fail someone you owe a life debt to is beyond guilt. It feels as if you would rather be dead than fail them. I know. I owe a life debt to Harry. But since Justin is your son, your blood, if you treat Ginny poorly he'll feel it. Your actions are binding on him!"
Harford seemed taken aback by that, "But…" he started.
"But nothing," said Justin, "Ginny is my friend now. Lay off her and her parents."
"Honey," said Jillian, "We need to do what he says."
"Fine, we will be civil," said Harford, "But no more of this nonsense! Come now Justin, we're leaving."
"Goodbye, everyone," said Justin as he followed his parents. Harry noticed that most of the people in the crowd watched him respectfully. Justin had just shown a fine degree of knowledge of magical customs, and most of that watching must have seen him as a model muggle-born, even as they saw his parents as the very opposite in terms of muggle parents. Harry found the whole idea rather patronizing actually, but that was far from the first time he'd felt that way.
As the crowd cleared out, the rest of the Weasleys showed up as well as the Grangers.
"That was different," said Robert.
"Oh that poor boy," said Molly, "That he would go so far!" Harry tried not to snicker. The easiest way to repay a life debt to someone of the opposite gender was to marry them. She had to be terrified that this was what Justin had in mind. Harry was pretty sure Justin hadn't thought about Ginny that way, at least not yet. But Molly sure was worried about it. Harry had to admit that he had no idea of how a life debt would interact with a marriage contract.
"I told him not to do that," said Ginny angrily.
"He's a rich boy from a gentrified family that puts on airs of nobility," said Harry, "People like him tend to get obsessive about debts and honor. And he's young enough that he still believes in all that stuff."
"Oooh, maybe he likes you," said Daphne, who was trying hard not to look at Molly.
"Well I suppose a handsome, rich suitor wouldn't be entirely bad," said Ginny mischievously.
Percy had to cover his mouth so that his mother couldn't see his grin. Molly's eyes were bulging.
Harry had to admit that the fact that Molly was concerned about this was a good sign. As far as Molly knew, Ginny was doomed to marry Harry. She would only be worried about things if she was worried about Ginny's happiness. Maybe Molly wouldn't be so eager to sign another marriage contract if they voided this one.
Harry and Hermione waved goodbye to everyone and then followed her parents out of the platform. As they walked they finalized details for the summer. Harry again saw his aunt and uncle waiting for him along with Dudley.
"I'll see you in a week," Harry said to Hermione as he hugged her goodbye. Then he kissed her; a light peck on the lips. No need to get her father mad.
"A week," she repeated.
Harry walked over to his rather grumpy looking relatives.
"Are you done boy?" demanded Vernon.
"For the moment," said Harry.
"Your headmaster convinced us to take you back in boy, but if your godfather comes for you…" Vernon started to threaten.
"If he does, it will be to punish you for mistreating me," said Harry, "Turns out he's a rather nice bloke. He just hates people who treat me poorly."
"Are you saying…" started Petunia.
"I'm saying my godfather who was in prison for mass murder will pay you a visit if you mistreat me," said Harry.
Dudley whimpered. Harry felt a little bad at how good that made him feel.
Author's Note: Year 3 was mostly about Ginny and Hermione figuring themselves out. Year 4 will shift the emphasis back to Harry. The next chapter is Harry and Hermione's vacation, and the chapter after that has the Quidditch World Cup. For those of you still worried about Harry and Hermione going on dates, you really shouldn't be. Let's just say Hermione's plan is well intentioned, but it breaks down in a hilarious way.
So one note about Year 3, the original ending was far more bleak. Originally it was supposed to go down very similarly to canon, with Sirius being captured by the Ministry because of Snape and Fudge deciding to have the dementors kiss him. But Hermione wouldn't have had her Time Turner, so they would have reached Sirius too late. As I've said before, the original story was far, far darker. There are a lot of reasons I changed my mind on this, but a major one is that Harry simply wouldn't tolerate Fudge as Minister after that, and he would never, ever consider trusting Snape after that either. The original version didn't fit the tone the story had taken anyway.
Oh, and one last shameless plug! I have begun to publish Part 2 of Harriet Potter and the Guardians of Atlantis: Harriet Potter and the Holy Grail. Chapter 1 is up and chapters will be coming about once a week.