I don't own Harry Potter. I couldn't write that much if my life depended on it. Don't sue me. I have not money to give. Sorry for the wait, semi-rant at the end. Barely edited forgive mistakes. thx

Legacy of the Pendragons

Chapter 8- Friends…Good to Have Them.

"Well Harry I'm off."

Harry had woken early and caught Donovan at the door. He helped him bring his stuff out and loaded it onto Shannon's saddle.

"Will I see you again?"

"More than likely. The ministry is requesting that we patrol towns, muggle and magic ones. I'll put in for Hogsmeade. If not I'll let you know which knights are running around. They can show you a thing or two on "mapping"."

Donovan mounted Shannon and waved. Kicking his heels into her they left on a slow trot.

"See you later Donovan!" Harry waved after him and heard him call out in the distance.

"I told you my friends call me Donny!"

Harry smiled and watched his form become a silhouette against the rising sun. Donovan became a blur before Harry went back inside. He'd miss his traveling companion and could definitely call him a best friend. Just like Hermoine and Ron, there were times he couldn't stop laughing and of course there were times when he wanted to strangle him. A good sign of a best friend.

Ron came staggering downstairs, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and saw Harry walk inside.

"Blimey Harry you're done riding. You can sleep in you know."

"I know. I'm pretty sure that once were at school I will be."

"Yeah but you can do it here. And not have McGonagall on your ass."

Ron turned the radio on, letting some music permeate through the living room a little too loudly. Ginny came down looking wide awake and already had her robes on. Fred and George came down in the same fashion as Ron, not really wanting to come down. Mrs. Weasley came down, rushing straight into the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

"Where's Hermoine?"

Ginny shrugged. "Probably still changing. She was waking up when I left. I'll be back." And she left for her usual morning walk.

Harry turned to Ron, who seemed to be falling back asleep next to the blaring radio. His head would sag every few seconds before he would blink hard and regain his senses.

"You know you could just go back to sleep." Ron yawned and Harry followed up with his own.

"No. No can't, now that you're here, we can practice properly. I'm gonna need more than Ginny to throw quaffles at me."

"What about-?"

"Dad's got your trunk out by the car. I didn't touch your firebolt I swear." Ron looked guilty and ascended the stair to get dressed.

Ginny walked in moments later looking refreshed. She saw Harry and smiled, though not blushing as she usually would.

"Good day to practice. Trees have gotten a bit taller."

Harry smiled and noted how Ginny was growing up and maturing. The two sat at the table and one by one the rest of the family came down at the smell of breakfast. Hermoine came down, looking quite made up and drew stares from the table.

"What?" She asked.

"Where are you going?" Ron glared at her as he scooped another plate full of eggs.

"I'm going to see Viktor remember?" Ron dropped his spoon. "He said he was visiting family in Diagon so I told him I'd hang out for a while."

"Krum? You're still talking to him?"

"Oh honestly Ron it's not like we're dating or something! Am I not allowed to have friends who are guys?" Ron opened his mouth at the rhetorical question and promptly shut it when he realized he couldn't answer.

"Besides you three will be practicing all day. And I'm not about to spend another minute reading a book."

Harry did a double take when he heard Hermoine's refusal to read. She took it all in stride and left through the fire place shortly after everyone had finished eating.

They all grabbed their brooms, not bothering to change and opting instead for their regular clothes to play in. Ginny had been correct in her assessment of the day and the weather was perfect. A gentle breeze swayed the tops of the now taller trees and not a single cloud was in the sky.

The three of them kicked off and sped off around the open field. Ron looped around and through the three makeshift hoops that sat on one end of the field. Harry swooped around tossing the quaffle back and forth with a fumbling Ginny.

"Alright then. Lemme have it! Don't go easy on me!" Ron called out.

He tensed up once he saw Harry take the quaffle and sped towards him. With Harry's natural reflexes and the sheer speed of his broom, the red ball was sent past the red haired keeper and crashing into the woods.

"Um…yeah. Ginny I think you should do the shooting." Ron had barely flinched when the ball went past his head, letting sheer shock take over.

Harry shrugged. "Hey if you can block mine, you can block anything. Besides, I'm a seeker and on your own team. You won't have to worry about me."

He pulled a small golden ball from his pocket and let its wings unfurl. It was charmed to stay within the field and below the tree line so Harry wouldn't have to go after it and call out Mr. Weasley to obliviate whoever saw him.

He watched the seeker for a few moments then shut his eyes to lose it. Though it was an old snitch, it's tarnished shell made it just as hard to see around trees. Its tell tale glint hardly visible. He squinted hard to find it, flying in circles and zigzagging across the field. For some reason this snitch was determined to not get caught more so than in the past. A few times Harry would see it then blink at the wrong moment. He squinted harder and gritted his teeth. His eyes began to burn from keeping them open…and then he saw it.

It was tracing the wood line and was rounding up to the small goal hoops. Yet it developed a long bronze tail. A tail Harry had never before seen. Harry could follow the tail and follow its complex path as it swung around Ginny just as she was denied another goal. He stopped in place and watched the snitch fly around in its random flight. He could see the snitch wherever it was.

"Harry?"

Harry turned to Ginny who was looking at him with worry.

"I'm alright. Hang on a sec."

He had lost sight of the snitch but regain sight of its tail after a few minutes. Sweat slipped into his eye, but he grabbed a hold of the snitch with ease, not having to resort to his usual theatrics.

"Harry?"

"I'm fine. Just…..tired is all."

Harry waited for Ron and Ginny to go inside before setting down. He sat on the ground and released the snitch again. Closing his eyes he steadied his breathing and began the first stages of meditation. His aura began to grow brighter and fully revealed itself. He concentrated hard and tried to manipulate his vision. His eyes began to sting and it pained Harry to open them. Once he did the snitch was a like a small sun flying in the afternoon sky. It looked more like a comet than a snitch flying around the night sky. He could see the energy of the house again. The trees gave off small waves of energy and he could see the aura of animals roaming the woods. Even parts of the air itself pulsed with life.

A sudden burst of bright energy came flowing from the house. Beyond the bright aura Harry could make out Hermoine's face. She called his name, but her voice seemed far away.

"Dinner Harry! Come on then!"

He nodded and stood up shaking himself from his meditation after retrieving the snitch. He held it in his hand as he watched the glow fade away.

"Cool….."

***

The dinner table was covered with mouth watering plates as usual. Mr. Weasley had made an unexpected appearance just as everyone had tucked in.

"What are you doing home dear?"

"Dunno Molly. Lots of things going on. Decided I needed a regular night's sleep. I've had enough of Fudge trying to talk his way back to some position in the ministry. He's even asked me for a position in my department! Could do with a good nights rest so you kids keep it down."

The table murmured in agreement, just happy enough that he had come home for dinner in such a long time. Arthur Weasley was obviously stressed out as his hair was a jumble mess. More so than Harry's. And his robes were soaked in sweat. Harry had only seen him twice since he had arrived and according to Ron has been working into the late hours. Showing up for breakfast and a quick nap before leaving again.

Harry remained downstairs enjoying the warmth of the fire. It reminded him of the summer nights when it didn't rain. The flames flickered and danced across the logs and Harry felt himself drift into meditation. He shook his head once he heard Hermoine and onto the couch next to him.

"You alright Harry?"

"Um…..yeah fine. Why?"

"Well Donovan told us about those periods where you seem to zone out and stuff. I was just wondering you know. Is it Sirius? Cause' I know when my grandmother died I'd do the same thing I'd –. "

Harry raised his hand and cut her off.

"No it's not Sirius. I'm actually taking it better than I thought I would. Yeah it's depressing sometimes but that's not why I zone out."

"Then what is it?"

"Have you heard of meditation?"

"Meditation? Is that all?" Harry nodded.

"Helps when I'm thinking or working on aural projection."

"Aural Projection? Harry that's minor magic. Nobody bothers with it anymore except maybe those monks in Asia. You don't even get tested on it."

"I know. But it's not something everyone knows or can do. And I didn't want to carry any of my school books during the holiday. Obviously my load was heavy enough as it is."

She nodded and gazed back into the fire still recalling her shock at his weighted clothes, which he still wore with a weightless casual swagger.

"Still. You should practice regular magic all you can Harry. You never know what'll happen next."

Hermoine was back into her regular clothes and a light makeup was gone. Harry didn't think she needed it. He already knew that she was quite pretty and wondered if she knew that she turned a few heads at the Yule Ball and the school in general. Krum was a shock to both him and Ron, but obviously you can't judge a book by its cover.

"How was your day with Krum?"

"It was ok. He's a lot more different in person than when we write. We spent a lot of the time just talking. At least when people weren't asking for autographs. He's nice, but I don't think I'll be seeing him again. Probably just stay penpals."

"Oh that's cool. Ron was really worked up about it. After a few goals he was back in quidditch mode."

"Yeah I don't really get that. You don't think he likes me do you?"

She shifted nervously in her seat. Not really sure she wanted to hear any type of answer.

"I dunno. Want me to ask him?"

"No no. I just…..I don't think about Ron that way. You guys are like my brothers. It'd be weird. Besides, I'd rather fall for the infamous Harry Potter." Hermoine smiled flirtatiously before bursting into a fit of laughter.

"Yeah along with the rest of the world. But still, we've all grownup haven't we? I've gotten…..stronger I guess. Ron's taller. And you……well you're pretty. You can't help some things. If you're famous someone's going to like you."

"But I'm not famous! And this is Ron were talking about."

"Oh yes you are. Once you and Ron became my friends, fame was going to find you, good or bad, like it or not. And it's not just Ron. You know how many letters I get from guys asking for me to talk to you for them? That and your pictures in the Daily Prophet didn't hurt. Guys don't know your address but they sure as hell know mine. I swear I'll need a mail sorter soon."

"Oh Harry I'm sorry! You should just send those straight to me! You shouldn't have to deal with that."

"But I do because I know you wouldn't want a guy who doesn't have the guts to talk to you in person instead of a letter."

"You know me better than I thought." She smiled and the two quietly drifted into sleep next each other by the everlasting fire.

Bad ending I know. I'm not really stuck on the story, but I think I'm going to take a small hiatus. What I mean is from posting. I want to work up the chapters and make sure things tie in before posting it. Forgive me. Believe me when I say I'll post at least two chapters in thanksgiving since I'm not going home. Oh btw thanks to all for clarifying my mistakes concerning horses. I'll fix it…someday. I'm currently busy w/ Final Fantasy X-2 so I that's another reason for the break. That and I think I'm going to work on some other Ideas I had. Most based on songs but not song fics, just one or two shots. Based on songs by Rufio. Great punk band with great music. So yeah hope I can keep at this story for you and for me. Peace. And I just figured out how to do italics and all that good stuff w00t! but I still can't get the paragraphs to space out. I forget what its called in English class. You know space it away from the edge of the paper? God I know Im going to get reviews on just that so please help if u can