Hogwarts 11 January 1995
Harry entered Snape's office again, his scar already prickling. As far as he was concerned, the Occlumency lessons were making it worse.
"Ready Harry?" asked Aaron as Harry closed the door behind him.
"Not quite" grumbled Harry. "I feel even worse than we started." he stated flatly rubbing his forehead.
Snape frowned. "I have a hunch as to why. But we need to be sure." he said drawing his wand. "This time, I want you to concentrate on a recent vision you had. Maybe the one where Arthur Weasley was attacked."
Harry surveyed Snape weighing his options. "Alright" he finally said and closed his eyes, immersing himself the memory of the events.
"Leglimis" whispered Snape and he too saw the memory in his mind's eye. He carefully probed around, alert for any anomalies. There! He felt it! A weak but clearly foreign presence in Harry's consciousness! He quickly broke off the Leglimency spell, causing Harry to fall to his knees again. "My suspicions were correct" said Snape as he helped Harry to his feet. "It is the connection between you and Voldemort that keeps your mind open whenever Aaron tries the leglimency spell. It's like shutting the front door but keeping a back door open."
"How do I deal with that?" asked Harry.
"Unfortunately I don't know how." said Snape. "The meditation should help block the Dark Lord's access through the connection but there is no way to know for sure unless you get another vision."
"Well I seem to get them only when I'm asleep." grumbled Harry.
Snape nodded thoughtfully. "The subconscious is a tricky thing. I think you could go for a while on dreamless sleep potion but I don't recommend overusing it. Lack of dreams is bad for your psyche"
Hogwarts, 14 February1995
Harry pressed a cool glass of pumpkin juice to his forehead in an attempt to soothe the pounding in his head. The past two weeks had been a living nightmare. He had hoped that the Azkaban breakout would give Fudge a wake-up call, but it had done the exact opposite and empowered Fudge to claim that it was Sirius and Amelia who had enabled the breakout to induce panic and fear in the Wizarding population, forcing them to flee to Order headquarters. The only good thing about it was that it had caused several students to become skeptical and turn to the explanation that he and Dumbledore had been expounding for the past year.
Ron and Hermoine joined him at the Gryffindor table.
"Any news on Sirius?" whispered Hermione as she sat on his right.
"He's safe in headquarters but is simply furious." grumbled Harry.
A large barn owl landed in front of Hermione, she quickly untied the grubby letter and scanned its contents.
"Finally!" she exclaimed and turned to Harry. "Can you work it into your Hogsmeade date to meet me and Luna in the Three Broomsticks? It's really important" she asked.
"Well… I dunno" said Harry uncertainly. "Cho might be expecting me to spend the whole day with her. We never said what we were going to do"
"Well, bring her along if you must," said Hermione urgently. "But will you come?" "Well … all right, but why?" "I haven't got time to tell you now, I've got to answer this quickly." And she hurried out of the Great Hall, the letter clutched in one hand and a piece of toast in the other. "Are you coming?" Harry asked Ron, but he shook his head, looking glum. "I can't come into Hogsmeade at all; Snape wants me for remedial Potions" With a sigh Ron departed for the dungeons and Harry, after attempting to flatten his hair while staring at his reflection in the back of a teaspoon, proceeded alone to the Entrance Hall to meet Cho, feeling very apprehensive and wondering what on earth they were going to talk about. She was waiting for him a little to the side of the oak front doors, looking very pretty with her hair tied back in a long ponytail. Harry's feet seemed to be too big for his body as he walked towards her and he was suddenly horribly aware of his arms and how stupid they must look swinging at his sides. "Hi," said Cho slightly breathlessly. "Hi," said Harry. They stared at each other for a moment, then Harry said, 'Well – er – shall we go, then?' 'Oh – yes …' They joined the queue of people being signed out by Filch, occasionally catching each other's eye and grinning shiftily, but not talking to each other. Harry was relieved when they reached the fresh air, finding it easier to walk along in silence than just stand about looking awkward. "Remember the first time we played against each other?" Cho asked Harry. "Yeah," said Harry, grinning. 'You kept blocking me.' 'And Wood told you not to be a gentleman and knock me off my broom if you had to,' said Cho, smiling reminiscently. 'I heard he got taken on by Pride of Portree, is that right?' 'Nah, it was Puddlemere United; I saw him at the World Cup last year.' 'Oh, I saw you there, too, remember? We were on the same campsite. It was really good, wasn't it?' The subject of the Quidditch World Cup carried them all the way down the drive and out through the gates. Harry could hardly believe how easy it was to talk to her – no more difficult, in fact, than talking to Ron and Hermione. 'So … where d'you want to go?' He asked as they entered Hogsmeade. The High Street was full of students ambling up and down, peering into the shop windows and messing about together on the pavements. 'Oh … I don't mind,' said Cho, shrugging. 'Um … shall we just have a look in the shops or something?' They wandered towards Dervish and Banges. A large poster had been stuck up in the window and a few Hogsmeaders were looking at it. They moved aside when Harry and Cho approached and Harry found himself staring once more at the pictures of the ten escaped Death Eaters. The poster, 'By Order of the Ministry of Magic', offered a thousand-Galleon reward to any witch or wizard with information leading to the recapture of any of the convicts pictured. 'It's funny, isn't it,' said Cho in a low voice, gazing up at the pictures of the Death Eaters, "remember when that Sirius Black escaped, and there were Dementors all over Hogsmeade looking for him? And now ten Death Eaters are on the loose and there are no Dementors!"
"Looks like they really are outside Ministry control now." Sighed Harry. The ten escaped Death Eaters were staring out of every shop window he and Cho passed. It started to rain as they passed Scrivenshaft's; cold, heavy drops of water kept hitting Harry's face and the back of his neck. 'Um … d'you want to get a coffee?' said Cho tentatively, as the rain began to fall more heavily. 'Yeah, all right,' said Harry, looking around. 'Where?' 'Oh, there's a really nice place just up here; haven't you ever been to Madam Puddifoot's?' she said brightly, leading him up a side road and into a small tea-shop that Harry had never noticed before. It was a cramped, steamy little place where everything seemed to have been decorated with frills or bows. Harry was reminded unpleasantly of Umbridge's office. 'Cute, isn't it?' said Cho happily. 'Er … yeah,' said Harry untruthfully. 'Look, she's decorated it for Valentine's Day!' said Cho, indicating a number of golden cherubs that were hovering over each of the small, circular tables, occasionally throwing pink confetti over the occupants. 'Aaah …' They sat down at the last remaining table, which was over by the steamy window. Roger Davies, the Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain, was sitting about a foot and a half away with a pretty blonde girl. They were holding hands. The sight made Harry feel uncomfortable…
'Two coffees, please,' said Cho. In the time it took for their coffees to arrive, Roger Davies and his girlfriend had started kissing over their sugar bowl. Harry wished they wouldn't; he felt that Davies was setting a standard with which Cho would soon expect him to compete. He felt his face growing hot and tried staring out of the window, but it was so steamed up he couldn't see the street outside. To postpone the moment when he would have to look at Cho, he stared up at the ceiling as though examining the paintwork and received a handful of confetti in the face from their hovering cherub. After a few more painful minutes, Cho mentioned Umbridge. Harry seized on the subject with relief and they passed a few happy moments abusing her, but the subject had already been so thoroughly canvassed during DA meetings it did not last very long. Silence fell again. Harry was very conscious of the slurping noises coming from the table next door and cast wildly around for something else to say.
"You know, we haven't really talked about the tournament last year" said Cho quietly as she stared out of the window at the pounding rain.
"I know" said Harry equally quietly. Cho turned around and faced him, tears shining in her eyes and her lip trembling, he stood up, came around to her and enfolded her in his arms.
"It was horrible Harry! At first I thought it would be fun signing up, but then they made us face dragons and merpeople and all those foul things!" she sobbed into his shoulder.
"Shh its OK Cho. Its over now" said Harry soothingly as he gently stroked her back.
"I wouldn't have reached the final stage if it wasn't for Cedric." sniffed Cho. She tightened her arms around Harry.
"I miss him Harry, I miss him so much!" she wailed.
Harry held her gently as her sobs subsided.
"I cannot replace Cedric Cho. No one can. I like you, I have since third year, but if being with me is too painful. I understand." he said quietly.
Cho looked up at him and gave him a wan smile.
"I like you too Harry. I'm sorry for dredging up the past." she said as she rested her head on his chest.
Harry steered her towards his chair, Cho couldn't help but giggle as he sat down and pulled her onto his lap.
"Have I ever told you how beautiful you look?" he whispered into her ear.
Cho blushed and shivered as Harry's breathy whisper sent tingles up her spine.
"No, I don't believe you have" she said coyly.
"Then let me correct that. You are the most beautiful girl I know. You are so smart and sexy"
said Harry as he trailed kisses down her delicate neck and behind her ear.
Cho struggled to suppress a moan as Harry kissed her neck. She wriggled on his lap to face him. She saw hot desire blazing in his green eyes before her lips were captured by his in a hot, searing kiss.
Cho's body responded to the kiss like dry wood to a flame. She moaned into his mouth and pulled him closer as lighting bolts of pleasure wracked her body. After what seemed like an eternity, they broke apart panting for air.
"That was amazing!" gasped Cho.
"Thanks" said Harry grinning at her.
Cho snuggled back against him with a contented sigh. "You know, this is the happiest I have been all year. I'm glad we did this Harry" she said.
"I'm glad we did this too." replied Harry. His stomach gave a large growl. "Hey, how about we get out of here and grab some lunch?" he asked her as she stood up.
"OK where shall we go?" she asked brightly as she gathered her bag.
"Lets go to the Three Broomsticks" said Harry as he paid for the coffees.
Harry felt much better and more confident than before as he entered the Three Broomsticks with Cho on his arm.
"Harry! Cho! Over here!" Hermione was waving at them from the far end of the bar. Harry and Cho made their way towards her through the crowded pub. They found her sitting with Krum, Luna and none other than Rita Skeeter, ex-journalist on the Daily Prophet and one of Hermione's least favorite people in the world.
"Hermione, what's going on?" asked Cho uncertainly as she and Harry sat down at the table.
"That is vot I vood like to know as vell" said Krum, his eyes boring into Hermione.
Hermione flushed scarlet. "Erm…. Well…. I thought it would be a good idea for us to put the truth out there. All the facts, just as Harry and you tell them." she explained.
"And who do you think would even publish it Missy?" scoffed Rita. "The entire Wizarding world thinks he's delusional. Now if you allow me to write a story from that angle..."
"We do not need another story about Harry losing his marbles!" said Hermione angrily. "I want to give him the opportunity to tell the truth!"
Rita glowered at her for several seconds. "And who is going to print it?" she spat.
"Daddy said he'll be happy to take the story" said Luna dreamily.
"And who is your daddy?" asked Rita scornfully.
"He's the editor of the Quibbler" replied Luna.
"The Quibbler?" cackled Rita "I could manure my garden with the contents of that rag! Do you honestly think anybody would believe his story if it was published in a crackpot magazine? They'll probably think him even more crazy!"
"That may be true but the Azkaban breakout story had some gaping holes in it. If there is an alternative explanation, even if it is in an unusual magazine, people might just accept it." replied Hermione.
Rita threw her hands up in defeat. "Fine!" she sighed and pulled out her quick quotes quill.
"What sort of fee am I getting?" she asked as she placed the parchment on the table and sucked the tip of the quill.
"500 Galleons" replied Krum before Hermione could speak. "And if you think that is not fair, I can throw in some broken fingers"
Rita gulped at his dangerous stare. "T-That would be just fine" she quavered.
Hogwarts February 15 1995
"I'm glad you decided to give an interview Harry. About time people got their heads out of the sand and accept Voldemort is back" said Neville thickly through a mouthful of baked potato.
Harry sighed and nodded in agreement, it had not been easy to talk about what happened at the Tournament. Rita had pressed him, Cho and Krum for every detail they could remember.
A large barn owl landed in front of him and stuck out it's leg. Before he could reach out to take the letter tied to its leg, 3 more owls swooped down in front of him, jostling each other to deliver their letters first. "What the hell?" asked Harry in confusion. "Oh my goodness! I didn't know Luna's dad would publish it so quickly!" said Hermione excitedly and fished a copy of The Quibbler from the mass of owls that had gathered around. Sure enough, on the front page was a picture of Harry, Krum and Cho. "Triwizard Champions speak out. The night of the Tournament and Lord Voldemort's return"
"Nice isn't it" said Luna dreamily as she approached the Gryffindor table. "Harry do you mind if we?" asked Hermione gesturing at the owls. "Please do" said Harry bemused as he started opening and reading the letters.
"This one says that you all should be checked into St. Mungo's for paranoia" grumbled Ron crumpling up a letter and tossing it away.
"This one's OK though" said Harry reading through a letter sent from a witch in Paisley. "Hey she believes me"
"Another one saying you've brainwashed Krum and Cho" snorted Fred.
"This one is good!" said Hermione. "After reading about your harrowing experience and the troubles you and your fellow champions have faced. I now know that the Ministry has treated you very unfairly"
"Harry! I think we've got a good number of people thinking if not convinced!" said Hermione glowing.
"What's going on here?" asked a falsely sweet girlish voice.
Harry turned to scowl at Umbridge. "Why have you got all these letters Mr. Potter?" she asked her voice dangerously sweet. "Is that a crime now? Getting mail?" asked Ron angrily. "Quiet Mr. Weasley or it will be detention" trilled Umbridge. "Well Potter?"
Harry sighed, he knew it would come to this sooner or later. "People have written to me because I gave an interview about what happened to me in June." he said calmly tossing her a copy of The Quibbler. She caught it and scanned the article, her toady eyes bulging. She looked at Harry incandescent with rage. "When did this happen?" she asked softly. "Last Hogsmeade weekend" said Harry.
"No more Hogsmeade weekends for you Mr. Potter, and another week of detentions for you and Miss Chang. How dare you publish such lies!" And with that, she stalked out of the great hall clutching the magazine to her chest.
Sure enough, by the time lunch rolled around, notices had been put up banning The Quibbler with threats of expulsion. Umbridge and Filch were stopping students at random and searching their robes and bags for the magazine but the students were several steps ahead of them, enchanting the magazine to look like notes or other such innocuous items.
By evening Hermione reported that pretty much everyone in the girl's bathrooms had been talking about the article. "I think we have got a fair number of them convinced Harry!" she said her face glowing. "About damn time" said Ron throwing down his quill. He moved to roll up his potion's essay but Hermione jerked it out of his hands. "Hey!" he protested but Hermione already had her nose in the parchment scanning its contents. "This is actually quite good Ron!" she exclaimed handing it back to him. "Thanks I guess?" he said uncertainly as he rolled it up. "Alright I'm off to bed" he said and left Harry and Hermione in the common room. Hermione stared after him suspiciously. "Something is up with him" she said. "He seems different somehow"
"Maybe he's finally got that maturity that you always said he lacked" chuckled Harry as he too packed away his homework. "No there is definitely something else going on with him" Insisted Hermione. "His potions essay was top notch! Don't think I could have done it better myself! How did he get so good so quickly?" she asked worry evident in her voice. Harry frowned. This was a side of Hermione that he hadn't seen before. "Is that a bad thing?" He asked her quietly. "You have been on our backs to take our studies more seriously now that it is our OWL year and it looks like he's finally listened"
Hermione sighed. "No I suppose its not. I was just surprised by his improvement." And with that she turned on her heel and stalked off to the girl's dormitories.