Author's Note: Hello all! Right now I'm singing along to my Moulin Rouge soundtrack (Favorite movie and CD) and pretending that I have a gorgeous man like Christian (Ewan McGregor) singing to me. What a beautiful voice! Of course, if I was pretending that I'm Satine (Nicole Kidman), then I would be pretending to be a prostitute, but oh well. It is also taking a great deal of imagination to pretend I can sing. LoL. Does anyone else see the HP similarity in the characters. Christian looks like an older Harry, Satine looks like Ginny, and the duke could be Draco!! Then again, maybe it's just me. I'm way too obsessed with HP. I think everyone reminds me of the characters. But especially Moulin Rouge. I'm obsessed with that movie too. Hey, if anyone owns the soundtrack or sees the movie, "Come What May" could be Harry and Ginny singing in this fic! I will love you 'til my dying day. Oh yeah, they haven't gotten together (nor will they in this fic) and we're not sure if Harry will die or not. Well, we can pretend anyways. This chapter's dedicated to Terence for telling her English class to read my fic!! How cool is that?!?!?! Righty-o, enough of my babbling, on with the chapter!
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When Harry got back to the Gryffindor common room, he quickly said the password to the Fat Lady, who told him he was looking a bit peaky before opening up.
"You need to start eating more, dear!" the painting shouted before closing behind Harry. Harry was slammed into by an orange blur.
"Ron?" he asked confusedly as Ron hugged him. His redheaded friend then stepped back with a huge grin and began jumping from foot to foot excitedly. Harry couldn't help but smile with him. "Ron, what's going on?"
"She said yes! She said yes!" he practically shouted.
"Who said…" Harry paused and his eyes widened. "Wait, you mean Hermione? You asked her?"
Ron nodded enthusiastically. "Yes!! She's going to be my girlfriend. Or she is my girlfriend, assuming it officially started when she said yes! Hermione's my girlfriend!"
Harry laughed with joy, thoughts of the Stensons being immediately shoved out of his head.
At that moment, Hermione came down the stairs, pausing for a moment as she saw Ron, her face lighting up and a blush creeping onto her cheeks. Ron immediately calmed down as his eyes fell upon her. He was still grinning broadly as he ran through his hair and fell victim to the famous Weasley blush.
"Hey, 'Mione," he said shyly.
Hermione rolled her eyes at their awkwardness and came up to them, standing by Ron's side. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and grasped his hand, causing Ron to both smile and blush even more.
"So I'm sure Ron's told you we're dating now," Hermione said happily before her expression turned slightly worried. "Are you all right with it, Harry? Really, is it okay?"
"Are you kidding? It's about bloody time!" Harry said with a laugh.
Hermione lunged forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. Harry hugged her back. "Oh, Harry, you're the best. Are you sure you're fine with this?"
"Of course. I'm so happy for you guys!" he said, making Hermione hug him harder.
They both looked over at Ron, and smiled.
"Oh come here Ron," Hermione laughed. Harry and Hermione opened up their hug and pulled in Ron too.
"Oh how cute, a group hug," Harry said with light sarcasm. His comment just made his two friends squeeze him harder.
Finally they all broke away when Harry dramatically claimed that they were crushing his lungs.
"Hermione! Is it true?" Ginny screamed gleefully as she raced into the common room from the girls' tower. "Are you seriously going out with my prat of a brother?"
Hermione nodded and Ginny hugged her. "You realize you're insane," she commented. She stepped back to look at the two, standing beside Harry.
"Oh no. I've just realized that poor Ginny and I are going to have to witness your snogging sessions," Harry said shaking his head. Hermione's jaw dropped as the pair both turned bright red.
"Harry!" she admonished.
"Oh Merlin, you're right Harry. This will definitely be psychologically damaging," Ginny said in mock resignation.
Harry sighed dramatically. "Well, you know what we'll have to do then, Gin."
"Yup."
"You do?"
"Er…well no."
"We'll just have to tease them mercilessly about it. Follow them around making kissing sounds and such," Harry said, ignoring the glares he was getting from Ron and Hermione.
"You wouldn't," Ron said crossing his arms.
"It's for our own mental health," Harry said clapping Ron on the back.
"Yeah, Ron, you wouldn't want your best friend and your favorite sister to suffer psychological damage, would you?" Ginny asked innocently.
"Yeah, that would be a real shame," Ron said sarcastically. "I think you two are already psychologically damaged."
Harry put a hand over his heart and put on an offended expression. "That hurts deep inside, Ron."
"Harry and I are going to have to go and cry now," Ginny said, sniffing and pretending to wipe away tears.
"Yeah, you know, the kitchens are a great place to go and cry, I hear," Harry said to Ginny, suddenly in the mood for food.
"Of course. The house elves will comfort us."
The pair walked toward the portrait hole, pretending to be comforting each other from tears as Ron sniggered behind them and Hermione rolled her eyes with amusement.
"Oh by the way, have fun snogging!" Harry called over his shoulder as they darted out.
"Harry!" his two friends scolded.
"Let's go get some food. I think the house elves can make banana splits," Ginny said cheerfully.
"Ooh, you're on," said Harry.
The two happily went to the kitchens and ate ice cream to their heart's content.
The next morning Ron woke up to find the dorm empty except for Harry who was still sleeping. He had noticed that Harry had come in late the night before, having spent a lot of time in the library and then pouring over his notes. He swore his former accomplice in procrastination was now turning into Hermione.
He decided to let Harry be woken by the sounds of Ron getting ready instead of braving the battle of ripping him out of bed. However, by the time he was nearly ready, Harry had still refused to wake. Ron sighed and walked over.
"Oi mate. Time to get up!" he called pulling back the bed curtains to Harry's bed, revealing his sleeping form.
"Go away," he mumbled into his pillow.
"I don't think so. You're going to be late!" Ron insisted.
"Mmmm…" Harry murmured unconcerned. He turned away from Ron as a statement of defiance to being forced from slumber. He was sleeping in his boxers because of the hot weather. In turning, the sheet slipped down, exposing his bare back to Ron.
Ron furrowed his eyebrows and looked closer at his friend's back.
"Bloody hell, Harry, what are all these?" he asked, horrified.
"All what?" Harry mumbled sleepily, not picking up on Ron's concerned tone.
"All these scars!" he whispered, shocked.
Harry's eyes shot open. It didn't take him long to realize what was going on. He immediately flipped over onto his back, strategically placing his arm over the stab wound scar on his stomach.
"Oh, those are nothing," he stated. As the words escaped his lips he mentally kicked himself for not coming up with a proper excuse. He racked his brain for a justification for having so many wounds on his back.
"Harry, what happened?"
"Nothing, I…er…fell off my bike," he stammered.
"You don't have a bike, and I know that your cousin wouldn't let you ride his." He studied his friend's guilty face. "Harry, did somebody do that to you?" he asked, aghast.
"Of course not! I— I was just being stupid and I fell into a glass table during the last holiday."
"You would have told me."
"I didn't want you to think I was an idiot," Harry persisted.
"I don't believe you, Harry. I know you too well."
"Well, believe what you'd like, I'm telling you the truth," Harry said red-faced, mentally berating himself for his carelessness.
"Fine, I'm not going to fight you about this. But, for the record, I don't believe your story, I think somebody did this to you and you're just too proud to tell. If you ever want to tell me about it though, I'm here, okay? But I don't like the fact that you're keeping secrets from me, especially since the last one ended up being so serious." He got up and began to leave.
"Please don't tell Hermione." The desperate plea unwillingly escaped. Ron turned back with a pained expression, full of concern. He cast a silencing spell on the room so nobody outside could overhear them. He bit his lip and walked back over to Harry. He scrutinized Harry's face for a few minutes, causing his friend to begin to squirm uncomfortably under his gaze.
"The Dursleys did this to you didn't they?" he asked with a gasp of comprehension without releasing his gaze. Harry's eyes slightly widened. He blinked in surprise.
"What? Of course not!" Ron didn't miss the slight waver in his voice and the expression on Harry's face told him the truth.
"You're uncle hurt you!" he said in disbelief.
"It was an accident!" Harry insisted desperately.
"Does anyone know about this?"
Harry bit his lip nervously. Finally he resolved that Ron had been a greater friend than Harry had ever hoped for and deserved to know at least part of the truth. He looked away and swallowed hard.
"Yeah."
"Who? Anyone who's going to help?" he asked softly sitting on the edge of Harry's bed.
"Dumbledore knows."
"Does he…er…hurt you a lot?"
"No, it was just an accident. It was just one time. He didn't mean to do it or anything…"
"He didn't mean to shove you through a glass table?" Ron asked disbelieving, trying to show Harry that his story wasn't making sense. A look of realization dawned over Ron. "The Stensons know, don't they? That's why they were trying to hide you from your uncle at the train station." He gasped and turned to Harry. "Was this why you were sick on the way back to school? Merlin, it was! That's why you woke so suddenly when we grabbed your shoulder, we were hurting you!!" Ron was beginning to look really upset. Harry was shaking his head no, but he could tell Ron didn't believe him and couldn't get enough control of his emotions to say the lie out loud.
"We're going to be late for class, I ought to get ready," he murmured trying to slip away, but Ron wouldn't allow it.
"No way, Harry. This is way more important and we have plenty of time. Harry, you need to tell me the truth. I'm your best friend. You can tell me anything."
"There's nothing to tell! What happened to not prying?"
"I abandoned that plan. I always thought your uncle was a total bastard, I just never thought…" he trailed off.
"Ron, don't think. You're jumping to conclusions."
"Well I'm jumping to the right conclusions. I can see it in your face. You're a hideous liar, Harry. I can see it just by looking at you. Dumbledore's not letting you go back there right?"
"I don't think so," Harry muttered.
"Harry, how long has this been going on? That cut and bruise on your face on the train ride after Christmas holiday," he recalled, "that wasn't from a scuffle with your cousin was it?"
Harry opened his mouth to deny it, but Ron cut him off.
"And you were staying with the Stensons a lot last summer. Was that because they knew?" He didn't let Harry answer. "Merlin, that's why your handwriting was so bad in your posts over the summer! It was all shaky and weird."
Ron finally stopped ranting and looked over at Harry, who was looking away, his face red with shame. Ron immediately felt sympathetic.
"You're not going to tell anyone are you?" Harry asked in a quiet voice.
"Of course not, as long as Dumbledore knows."
"Not even Hermione or your family?" he asked pleadingly.
Ron nodded. "All right. I promise I won't breathe a word to anyone." He paused. "I'm sorry Harry, I didn't know. If I had, I would have invited you round more often and…"
"Please, Ron," Harry interrupted, annoyed, "I know. I just don't want to talk about it okay?"
Ron nodded solemnly.
"Ever," he added as a warning for Ron not to bring it up.
"Harry, you'll need to talk about it eventually."
"No I won't."
"Yes you will. You can't keep this all bottled up inside or you'll explode!"
"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Harry snapped. "Since when is the world an expert on what I need to do! Maybe I don't want to talk about it!" He stood up and roughly threw on a nearby shirt.
"It's not good for you to shut everyone out, Harry. There are tons of people who care enough about you to want to help. You can't keep something like this all to yourself."
"Oh so I should go out and start pouring out my soul to everyone?" Harry yelled. Ron was thankful he had put up the silencing charm. "I don't need pity, especially from those who could never understand."
Ron stood up. "Then make me understand!" he yelled back, not really angry, just frustrated with Harry's stubbornness and the whole situation in general.
"That's impossible, you could never understand! I can't go around saying 'Oh pity me, my uncle beat me while my cousin and aunt encouraged him,'" Harry spat in a mocking voice. "'Oh, I grew up in a Cupboard and was taught that I was WORTHLESS from the day my parents died. Oh pity me please!'" His voice changed back to a screaming tone. "I'm supposed to protect the whole damn wizarding world and I can't even stand up to my own Muggle relatives! Everyone's counting on me!"
"No they're not! You're imagining that. Honestly, nobody cares about this!" He screamed. He realized that it had come out wrong too late.
"Exactly! Nobody wants to hear my sob story. Nobody cared when I said I didn't like the Dursleys. Dumbledore's ignored my requests to stay at Hogwarts for the summer for FOUR YEARS! He didn't want me as his burden! Nobody does! Nobody cares about me as long as I can save the school and defeat the bad guy to protect everyone else."
"You're not anyone's burden!" Ron insisted, still yelling if for nothing else than just keeping up with Harry's tone.
"Yeah RIGHT!" Harry raved. "I can't live with Sirius because I'd be in the way. I can't stay at Hogwarts because nobody wants to deal with me. I BEGGED Dumbledore to let me stay here when the school was attacked and he even TOLD me he had to get rid of me because I'd get in the way. So while you and the rest of the school got to spend a few days in a palace, I got to get the CRAP beaten out of me by my uncle. And guess what, Ron, if Snape hadn't found out earlier what had been going on, I'd be dead! If I'm not a burden, then why did my uncle stab me, Ron? Why did he try to kill me? Thank GOD I haven't killed Voldemort yet, or nobody would have bothered to stop him from finishing me off!" he ranted deliriously. He kicked his nightstand furiously and then grabbed his foot in pain. Ron would have found it comical if the situation hadn't been so dire. He couldn't believe what had happened to him, but worse, he couldn't believe that Harry thought that he was a burden.
"He stabbed you?" Ron asked in disbelief.
Harry shot him a glare as he nursed his foot. "Yeah he did, are you happy now?" he snarled. "Is this what you wanted, Ron? For me to "open up" and spill all my dirty little secrets to you? Well congratulations, now you can go soak in all your glory and…"
Ron cut him off by walking over and hugging Harry, shocking his friend into stopping his rant. Harry struggled to break away.
"Let go of me, Ron!" he yelled through angry tears, pushing at his friend, but failing in getting away. "I don't need your pity!"
"Harry, listen to me, it doesn't matter what all those blokes out there who think you're some type of idol. To me, you're just Harry, my best friend. I don't expect you to do anything spectacular. I personally think you should get as far away as You-Know-Who as possible. Your uncle was a total moron. He obviously didn't know what he was missing out on. And you've never been worthless because you mean the world to Hermione and me. And you can scream, cry, and make as many mistakes as you want and I'll never think less of you, and I would never think less of you because of what some asshole did to you," he said soothingly, and suddenly, Harry wasn't struggling anymore. His angry screams melted into tears.
"I'm so sorry. I couldn't get away," he sobbed.
"Don't apologize, Harry. You didn't do anything wrong. It was the Dursleys who were wrong."
"But I should've…"
"Don't think about it, mate. You can't do anything differently now. It wasn't in your control. Just know in the future that you have friends who you can tell anything to, okay?"
Harry nodded and quickly wiped away his tears, stepping away from Ron who finally let him go. "Thanks."
Ron nodded sympathetically.
"Er, how's the foot?" he asked with a smile.
"I think I killed it," Harry laughed.
"Hospital Wing?"
"Nah," Harry said waving a hand nonchalantly. "I've had enough of that place. I'll just walk it off." He limped over to his nightstand and picked up all the things he had knocked off.
"Well, if you want breakfast, you'd better hurry and get dressed because classes start in fifteen minutes."
"That's okay, I'm not in the breakfast mood today, but you go on ahead and I'll meet you in…" he trailed off trying to remember their schedule for the day as he grabbed his school robes.
"Transfiguration," Ron reminded him.
"Right. Transfiguration in fifteen minutes then," Harry called rushing off to the showers.
Ron watched his friend disappear behind the door and sighed, turning to leave.
What didn't Harry have to go through?
After dinner, that day, and after insisting to Neville that he forgave him for telling Kota ("Trust me, Neville, it was really for the best. Don't worry about it, I swear I'm not mad."), Harry slipped away, saying he had to do something or other. It hadn't been a difficult task as Ron and Hermione had been obviously itching to go somewhere for alone time, a.k.a. snog time. So while his two best friends slipped off to the astronomy tower, Harry went down to the dungeons to talk about his discovery with the only person who could make his plan work.
"Professor?" Harry asked cautiously, opening the dungeon door a crack.
"Potter?" Snape asked perplexed.
"I was wondering if I could have a word." Harry saw Snape's expression flicker to a look of both sympathy and panic.
"Not about that," he added, embarrassed.
"Come in and shut the door behind you," he said relieved and taking on an indifferent tone.
Harry did that and approached the desk. He handed the copy of the passage about the Daewarro Curse over. Snape read over it and then looked up with an eyebrow raised.
"I think that Voldemort's going to try another attack on Hogwarts this year."
"That's a viable assumption. He has eluded to that, but hasn't been specific about when."
"Well, what if you suggested that spell to him?"
Snape looked at him as if he'd gone insane.
"And why, in the name of Merlin, would I do that, Mr. Potter?"
Harry sat down in the chair facing Snape's desk and sighed, readying himself for the long version of the situation. "Well, when Madam Pomfrey says my cancer can't be transferred again, she's not entirely correct. It can be transferred to somebody else, but not without me dying, so it seems that there's no point. From what I've gathered, cancer is a Muggle disease because our magic energy won't let it into our bodies."
"Then how do you have it?" Snape interrupted. Harry looked up. It felt strange having a conversation with the potions master as almost an equal, not as a student being reprimanded or a weak boy with glass embedded in his back. He couldn't keep the eye contact, however. It felt too awkward. He looked down at the desk and continued his explanation.
"When I did the original spell, it forced the cancer to bond with my life energy to keep it in my body instead of going back to Mr. Stenson's. In Muggles, the illness doesn't actually bond with their life energy, it's more of an outside thing that's gotten inside, but separate from the life energy. There's no magical energy to chase it away. The spell I did actually connects the cancer with my life energy so my magical energy can't get rid of it. It's sort of like trying to sink a cork in a glass of water. The water won't let it stay under unless you glue the cork to the bottom, but then the cork's stuck and you can't get the cork out without destroying the whole glass. That's why it can't be transferred again; it would take my life energy with it, along with my magical energy since that's connected with my life energy. That's what this spell does. It takes the whole package and transfers it to someone else. Does that make any sense?"
"I'm not an ignorant student, Potter," Snape said indignantly. Harry refrained from rolling his eyes.
"I wasn't implying that. I wasn't questioning your ability to understand it; I was questioning my ability to explain it. You don't need to be so defensive," he said with slight exasperation. There was a long pause while Snape looked over article once again.
"Wouldn't the Dark Lord's magical energy fight away the cancer?" he asked coldly.
"According to that article it says it won't. What I think happens with that spell, if I'm correct, is that without my body, my life energy is practically dead. The other types of energies can only survive when attached to a living life energy. So my magical energy will attach itself to his life energy, creating a doubly powerful magical energy, but so will the cancer. My magic has already mutated a bit to adjust to having the cancer sort of connected to it, and will make it even easier for the cancer to attach to Voldemort's life energy."
"Why would you want to give the Dark Lord your powers and life? Just so that eventually, sometime after he's destroyed the wizarding world, he would die?"
Harry once again refrained from rolling his eyes. Snape must have thought he was really stupid.
"Well, I figure he's going to try to kill me anyway, but if he casts this spell on me, it would kill him, especially if I cast this one on myself first," he said, handing over the copy of Recnac Sunimoon. "Then it should kill him within minutes rather than months."
"But you'll die from this," Snape commented as if trying to inform Harry of it for the first time.
"Yes."
"That would be suicide," Snape said curtly. Harry sighed.
"It wouldn't matter much at this point, would it? Besides, he's going to have me killed. He might pull me into battle first. If he's determined to use this spell, he'll be defeated either way, whether I somehow win a duel with him, or if I lose in result of this curse. I guess it's an 'if I'm going down he's going down with me' type thing."
Snape contemplated this momentarily.
"So you want me to propose this to the Dark Lord?"
"Well, it's an idea. What do you think?"
He stared back down at the spell. "It just might work. But what stops him from performing it on a bunch of people before you just for power?"
Harry sat down in a chair facing Snape's desk.
"Hmm…maybe you could tell him about it at the last minute, but since he'll probably keep the attack really secretive, there's no way to tell when that is," Harry brainstormed.
"I could tell him that you can only perform it once," Snape threw out as an idea. Harry couldn't believe he and Snape were having an actual discussion. Snape almost seemed…normal.
"What if he looks into it though, he'd know you were lying."
"Well, if it's as rare as it seems, he may have difficulty proving that wrong. I could say it was a possibility, and if he couldn't prove that possibility wrong, he wouldn't want to take the chance of wasting it."
"Well, then, wouldn't he cast it on Dumbledore or at least someone that would give him more power?"
"From what I understand, you have become extremely powerful."
"That's just because I'm sick," Harry sighed.
"Well, the Dark Lord doesn't have to know that. All we need is the rumor of your power to reach him."
"Won't it be suspicious if you give him all of this information all of a sudden?"
"Well, the rumor can be fed through other sources as well," Snape said thoughtfully.
Harry gave him a quizzical look.
"Say in your next Potions class with the Slytherins, a potion explodes while I'm not here to contain it, so you demonstrate your ability to do powerful, wandless magic: an elaborate show of healing people, stopping fires, and so on. You're good at drawing attention to yourself."
Harry rolled his eyes. Snape ignored him and continued.
"So then, all the Death Eater children who have been instructed to keep their parents informed of any strange happenings, especially surrounding you, will mention the incident. Then several Death Eaters will support me on that claim making it less suspicious."
Harry nodded. "That could definitely work."
"Of course, it's more probable than it has ever been that you could defeat the Dark Lord, without killing yourself I mean. Your dueling is extraordinary and if I helped with your training, it's very possible this spell won't even be used."
"Better be careful professor. Wouldn't want to make my already over-inflated ego get any bigger. My head might explode," Harry joked, using the words he heard so often from Snape's mouth.
Snape let out a laugh and then froze along with Harry. Harry's jaw dropped as he stared at his professor, who had a horrified look on his face. They were both officially spooked and beginning to think they had temporarily lost their minds. There was no denying it though, Snape had laughed, not sarcastically, for one of the few times in his life.
Harry gulped. "Did you just…."
"No."
"Yes you did, you just…"
"No, I didn't," Snape growled.
"Okay."
Harry felt it wasn't a good idea to argue with a man in control of house points and detentions, especially when Harry wasn't sure if he had just been hallucinating. Snape cleared his throat.
"So, about this spell. We need to plan this little potions accident."
The two discussed the details of their plan for a while, planning the "accident" that would happen the next day that Harry felt up to it. They worked out that the sign would be Harry turning in his paper with his initials written at the top rather than his full name like usual. Snape figured out a potion that was explosive when two of the ingredients were switched. It would cause strange side effects, but no real harm. He'd talk with Dumbledore to make sure he approved and to work out a few small details.
Snape had told him not to tell anyone of their plan, even his two best friends. If he let them in on the plan, it could easily be ruined if one of them made any comment about it in front of the wrong person or at the wrong time. Snape gave him the scenario of facing Voldemort when the Dark Lord was about to cast the curse, and having one of them shout out the truth in a vain attempt to save Harry's life, causing Voldemort to just Avada Kedavra him. Apparently, Snape had witnessed a similar situation once before. Harry reluctantly agreed to a vow of silence on the subject.
However, the plan was on.
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A/N: I really hope this chapter cleared things up a bit, rather than making them more confusing. It's hard to tell. See, I know what I'm talking about, so it makes sense to me, but I don't know if I'm explaining it correctly. Here's what's happening. Take a sheet of white paper, then a small piece of red paper and a small piece of blue paper. The red is cancer the blue is magic energy and the white is Harry's life energy. Pretend that the blue is attached to the white but can move around. Pretend that each time you try to set the red piece of paper down on the white, the blue comes and blocks it, not letting it get in. What the spell that Harry did at x-mas did was take a glue stick and glue the red piece of paper to the white. Now the blue can't block it or take the red off of the white, because it's attached to there now. But it doesn't like the red and they're both stuck to the white so the blue kind of freaks out a little and mutates (Harry's increase in power) and turns purple! The cancer can't be transferred because it's stuck to the white and if you take the red, the white and the blue are coming along with it. So what the Daewarro Spell does is take the white paper, with the red and now purple stuck to it and gives it to someone else. This new person has to keep your white paper, but is more interested in the purple and glues the purple to their own piece of white paper, but in doing so, accidentally glues the red to themselves too. With the Recnac Sunimoon spell, the red gets bigger and wipes out the whites.
Erm, now that you all are super confused with bits of paper glued to your hands, try this. This spell will cause Harry to die!!! But he'll die anyways b/c of the cancer. This way, Voldie has his life and his magic and his cancer, but the plan is that the cancer will take over and kill Voldie too! You must all hate me now for addling your brains. If you're still confused, write so in your review. I give up for now.
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Eowyn of Ithilien: You, me, and lizhowHP liked that part the best in the chapter. LoL. I'm glad you liked it! Happy it made you sad! (You're getting to know me by now with my strange liking for making my readers emotional.) Harry has a plan that kind of sucks for him. Oh well, we will see. "Blindingly effective" eh? Not sure what it means, but it sounds cool. I'll take it as a compliment!! Yay! Hope you liked the chappy!
Dadaiiro: Of course I've read book five! I have an obsession to feed! This is AU though, you must remember, meaning that it doesn't include all the book 5 goodness. Otherwise, much of it wouldn't make sense. I don't think the Stensons would really care a whole lot that Harry's death happens to save the wizarding world since they are so close to him. They, like his friends, care more about the fact that he's going to die. Nothing can ease that pain. Yeah, poor Harry's getting more sick. I guess this chapter kind of responds to your whole 4th paragraph pretty well. I love your thinking! I'm so happy you find my story interesting. It surprises me every day that I have as many reviews as I do. It always puts me in a better mood and I never get sick of re-reading them.
Terence: Hey!! I don't even know what to say in my review responses to you anymore since we talk all the time anyways and I think I already responded to your review in an email. I'm glad you like Harry's character and I love the superb adjectives to describe the last chapter!! Thank you so much!! I told my Eng teacher you said he was an incompetent dick and he jumped out the window like Snape and everyone stared until I turned around and asked, "Was that supposed to happen?" Well, maybe not, but my imagination ran away with me and fused life with your wonderful chapter and reviews. LOL. Thank you for all the compliments. They comfort me whenever my English teacher gives me the "you dumbass, why are you in my class" look. Are you serious that you suggested that the people in your English class should read my fic? Wow!! That means so much!! I can't believe you would do that!! Thank you!! This definitely calls for a dedication. Anywho, I hope you like this chapter and I'll talk to you soon.
SubliminalMsgs: Thank you! Don't worry, I won't stop writing, so then you won't have to kill me! You wouldn't want to kill me anyways, because then, who would tell you what happens in the story? LOL. A poem sounds awesome!!! Unfortunately, I can't tell you whether or not Harry will die, but I hope I get a poem either way! LoL.
Stormstar_princess taria: Yay! I love making people cry. Through my story, that is, not in real life. That would just be mean. :) You'll have to see about the empty promises thing. Who can tell whether Harry will die or not before seeing them again. Well I can tell, but my lips are sealed. Hope you liked the chapter!!
LizhowHP: Why thank you! That's probably my favorite part of the scene too, and you and Eowyn of Ithilien are the only ones to comment on it! Lol. I think that means we all like angst! What can I say, angst is fun! Yeah, you have to love my wonderful, "cancer will save us all!" thing. Everyone's just reading it and scratching their head thinking I'm nuts, but I did have a plan see!! Hopefully this makes a bit of sense. It's hard to explain but easy to understand once you get an idea of what the hell I'm talking about. Sigh. With this spell, Harry won't become a squib, he'll die. The spell takes his life away along with his magic and the cancer. Please tell me this makes sense lol. If not, I'll explain further. Hope you liked the chapter!
Maximum Poofy-Pissed Off Queen: You gotta love the Cho bashing. Well, unless you actually like Cho I guess. *shudder* Anywho, Thank you for the lovely words of support. Yay!! I'm so glad I can toy with your emotions!! Thank you soooo much. That's the best compliment ever. I hope I can continue to do that. Hope you liked the chappy!!
Shawn Pickett: Harry's got a plan! A plan that's kind of lose-lose for Harry though. He dies either way. Of course, he will supposedly beat Voldie either way, if the plan works, so at least that's good. I can't wait for you to see more either!! LoL.
o Hell o Kitty o: Neville is clumsy, but I love him anyways. I'm a Senior in high school.
BratPrincess-187: Why thank you! Glad you enjoyed the drama!! Or else? Uh oh. *Locks doors and windows* Well, I hope you liked the chappy then!!
PussyKat: Thank you!! I'm so glad you like all those things about my fic!! Especially about Snape's character since he's one I've put a lot of thought and care into throughout the story! I love the flobberworms for brains comment as I am too obsessed with HP. I love your poem!!! I can't say whether or not Harry will die or not. I wonder what the general thoughts about it are out there. You know, do people think he is or isn't going to die. What do you think? Take a guess! I really like your poem again. It's really pretty! I'm putting it in my quotes collection if you don't mind! Anywho, hope you liked the chapter!!Catiechan: Oh yeah! Sad is good. Good catch on the Goodbye. Shows how much hope Harry has, huh? Well he might be right he might be wrong, only time will tell. Ok, Sirius scene in a few chapters!! I promise!! I have no clue what to write about with it, so it probably won't have any major events associated with it, but I'll figure out something to write about. Any suggestions?
Joe: Hehehe In English we say "kill two birds with one stone" but I like your way better! It was a hard scene to write, but I'm glad you liked it. Hope you liked the chapter!
Wandering Shadow: I'm adding another Sirius scene especially for Catiechan, and Remus will be in it a bit as well, with dueling and being teacherish and stuff. LoL. Maybe they'll have an outing if Harry survives until summer when he goes to live with Sirius. Whether he'll make it that far, who knows? (Except for me that is) LoL yes, Voldie should definitely die. I wonder if Harry will do it or not? Hehehe. And you've got to always love Sev and Drac. They're so much fun!
Romm: Of course Snape knows! He carried Harry to the hospital wing when he collapsed in the hallway and it was explained to him then. Lol. Don't worry, I always forget details in fics, I only remember this one so well b/c I wrote it! For the recap, see chapters 16 and 17. Hope you liked the chappy!
Leaps: HAHAHAHA!!!!! I love your review!! I should explain to my teachers that, "well one of my reviewers said that me entertaining people was way more important than school, so that's why I didn't do my homework, you see!"
Sam: Thank you! As you may one day see, I am never flattered more than when a reviewer says I made them cry.
LilynjamesAAF: I'm so happy you remember the plot! Probably b/c I update so often! Most of my fav authors update every few months or have stopped altogether. I'm glad I gave you a new saying! Ooh, "Heartwrenching" *squeals in delight* Thank you!! Lol, my plot to convert you to, or at least like, H/G, R/Hr, is not over yet!! Hopefully you didn't despise this chapter for the fluffiness at the beginning b/twn one of your least fav pairings, but hey, it's part of my evil plot and all so there. Lol. Hope you liked the chappy!
SiriusWolf: Really? You're righting your own fic now? I'll definitely have to read it! What chapter would you have flamed me for? I hate it when people stop writing their stories randomly!! My greatest pet peeve in the world. That's why I've vowed to always finish my fics before even beginning to post them. That way, I know I won't just run out of ideas for it and have it drop off the face of the earth. LOL. Zenon. Disney movies rock. Anyways, hope you liked the chapter!!
Jouve25: Seriously? Tears to the eyes? That's so great!! I think a lot of people misunderstood the fact that this spell won't save Harry, but will kill him. I'm glad you like the plot since that's an pretty key part to the story!! Lol!!
Luinlothana: No problem with the every other chapter reviewing system. You give such wonderfully long reviews, they can sustain me through the chapters you miss lol. I'm glad you approved of the Stensons scene since it was sooo hard to write! Yeah, poor Neville must feel a bit guilty, but we can assume that Harry has convince him that he's forgiven. Don't worry, one day, you will know the ending. LOL
ParanoiaIn2005: Thank you thank you. Lol. Er...I can't tell you b/c I can't tell you if Harry dies or not or when he dies if he does!! Poor Harry, but if he lives until summer, he'll get to stay with Sirius!! That should be comforting!
Darcy101: Thank you for putting me on your favorites and for reviewing!! Those dizzy spells really suck, don't they. Poor Neville really doesn't need anything on his shoulders like guilt, but I'm just mean and stuck it on him. I'm so happy I made you cry!!! Do I sound weird when I say stuff like that? Probably. Hahaha.
Arctic Wolf2: Good, good. You seem to have been one of the few to catch on to the fact that the spell will kill Harry too. A lot of people seemed to have missed that. I hope this chapter cleared up things a bit. If not, try my fun paper explanation. If it still doesn't make sense, tell me and I'll explain it using a bunch of fun similes until it does make sense. Lol.
Fantagal: *Does the I made someone cry dance* Oh I'm so happy to have mad you emotional. I'm just interesting like that. Here's a tissue! Unfortunately, what I will do to Harry will only be known to me until a later chapter, muahahaha!! Do I sound like Voldemort? Hahaha
Theauthorthatwrites: I'm glad you liked the angst. I definitely had to debate which to categories this fic fit in and I was going to make it drama/angst, but thought people should be warned that there is romance in here. I wanted to put in the "it's not goodbye" line so that when Harry whispers "goodbye" at the end, it would show that he hasn't got much hope for himself, that he's putting up a brave front for everyone, telling them that it'll be fine, when he doesn't believe it himself. Lol. Well, if Harry dies, I hope nobody kills me 'cause then I can't write any more fics!!
Ckat44: Hmm...what will happen? I don't know. Oh wait, yes I do! Too bad I'm not telling anyone aside from my dog, but he doesn't really care. I really thought your fic was creative and original. It's a really great idea to make Harry minister of magic. At the part where he was nominated, my jaw dropped and I got so excited!! I even put it under my favorites. In fact, I see you've updated. I'll definitely read it tomorrow night. I would tonight, but I haven't even started my homework when I have a huge English test tomorrow! Ahhh!
Saz: Are you having a boy or a girl? Do you know what you'll name it? I hope everything's going well with your pregnancy. I'll try to keep the twists coming, but who knows what will happen to Harry in the end? (Besides me of course:) ) Hope you liked the chapter!!
Also thanks to: Rain Warrior, Victoria, HangZhang, mickeymoose and crystal, lily, james and sirius. You guys rock.
* Hmmm...3 pages just of review responses. Maybe I shouldn't talk so much. Lol. Merlin's beard!! That took me 3 hours!! Argh, but I just love responding to you guys so much. But maybe next time, I'll try to cut it down a little.