Disclaimer: I only own the story
Author's notes: see bottom of the page
Resistance - Part 5
The remainder of the holidays passed quickly. Too quickly, in Harry's opinion. In a
few days time they would be returning to Hogwarts for their sixth year, but with one
important element missing: Dumbledore. The Daily Prophet had spewed out some line about 'early retirement' and about how Dumbledore was 'an example to wizards everywhere'. An example of what happens if you don't do what you're told, Harry had thought at the time. They were still in the dark over Dumbledore's replacement, and Harry couldn't imagine anyone taking the Mage's place. The upcoming year already seemed to have an air of gloom over it.
Harry noticed he wasn't the only one not looking forward to school. Ron seemed perpetually tired, and when Harry joked about the library to Hermione, she didn't show the slightest interest. Harry suspected they weren't dealing with the events of their fifth year too well, but chose not to bring it up. He certainly didn't want to talk about it if he could avoid it.
The bright point of his holiday had come the day after Dumbledore's visit. Sirius had turned up out of the blue, suitcase in one hand and broomstick in the other. Harry had hugged him so tight, he had laughingly complained about bruised ribs. Sirius stayed for a day, and Harry had been able to tell he was trying to lighten the atmosphere. Only once did their conversation veer away from birthdays and Quidditch.
"So I hear you visited Malfoy Manor." Sirius had said nonchalantly.
"I know what you are going to say", said Harry, " you're going to say how daft I was to force open a locked room in a Death Eater's mansion, and that I shouldn't have gone in the first place, and you're right, but at the time Draco had seemed so weird, and ....."
"Breathe Harry!" Sirius had interrupted. "I wasn't going to say that at all." At Harry's disbelieving expression he'd continued, " I wanted to make sure you are all right. From what I hear that was a terrible thing to have to see. And I wanted to say.....I'm very proud of you."
"What?" Harry was sure he'd heard wrong. No-one had ever said that before. "What....what for?"
"You helped Draco even though you don't like him, you put your own horror at the situation on hold to get him back to Snape."
"Well," Harry shifted uncomfortably, "I didn't want him passing out or something. Snape would have killed me!" Then Sirius had laughed, much to Harry's relief. He was unused to receiving such sentiments, and wasn't really sure how to react. He just did things, one after the other, and hoped for the best. He often wondered why people seemed to be so amazed by that. The rest of the day had passed in a haze of Mrs Weasley's fabulous cooking, and Sirius had left, promising to visit Harry at school.
Another person Harry knew didn't want to go back to school was Neville, but that was for entirely different reasons. The newly re-united Longbottom family had been writing a steady stream of letters to him. Neville's were full of complaints about endless house hunting and shopping for new clothes, and one whole letter was devoted to how sick he was of updating his dad's Quidditch knowledge, another of how bored he was of the endless visits of other relatives. Harry knew he was loving every minute of it. The only reference made to the circumstances under which they were once again made a family, was in the first letter from Mr and Mrs Longbottom. They had repeated over and over again how thankful they were to Harry, how glad they were Neville had such a wonderful friend, how much they wanted to se Harry again, and more besides. Harry had been quite embarrassed by it, and his response had said in no uncertain terms that they should just forget about his part in it, and instead just concentrate on being a family once more. Apparently he had been so blunt that they hadn't broached the subject again.
A kind of nervous tension had appeared between Ron, Hermione and himself. It was once again as if they were just waiting for something bad to happen. Harry had been woken early one morning by Ron, mumbling something in his sleep. Late that morning when Harry had cautiously asked him about it, Ron's reply was "Oh, everything's fine, must have just been uncomfortable." He had worn the same fixed fake smile that Harry had used so often in the last year, but Harry hadn't pushed. Hermione had been working just as hard as ever, but she had lost her spark of enthusiasm. She was doing homework the same way that the boys did, as if it was a chore. Ron had also noticed, and had mentioned it to Harry.
"She seems a bit down, doesn't she." Harry had smiled inwardly at Ron's slightly pink ears.
"Yeah. Maybe you should talk to her."
"Me? Why me?" The ears were more red now.
"Oh, you know, she listens to you more than me."
"Does she?" Ron seemed quite pleased to hear this. Harry pressed on.
"Oh definitely. Hangs on your every word."
"Really?" His big smile changed into a strange look, and he gazed at her bent over her books for a few seconds. "Nah." The in a sarastic voice, "Herm-o-ninny knows best!" No more had been said, but Harry noted with satisfaction Ron spending more time with Hermione, and her ever improving mood.
Since Sirius' visit, Harry hadn't been acting quite so much like a neglected puppy, but he still couldn't shake the feeling that all was not right. Apart from Dumbledore's dismissal, something was bothering him. Dumbledore's words were frequently coming back to him..... "No doubt he will find a way to return....." He was referring, of course, to Voldemort. Harry hadn't voiced this opinion for fear of alarming everyone, but at the back of his mind he was sure that Voldemort was already back. He'd had no dreams to certify this, and there had been no attacks, but he still knew it was true. But there was nothing he could do about it, last year had proven that. It had also made him promise something to Ron and Hermione. Whatever happened this year, it was happening to them all.
Then, after what seemed like only a few days, summer was over. Things were being thrown, arguments were breaking out, owls were hooting in annoyance and there was general pandemonium. The Weasley's were packing, ready to face a new year.
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Author's notes: Well, I'm back. I could beg forgiveness for this taking so long, but I won't, as the big piles of work and revision have been going down and I now have 4 weeks until my first A Level exam. Eeeeeek! Well, obviously not a lot of action there, but don't worry, I'm saving it all up so expect it in big dollops. Um, expect posting to be erratic, I wrote this chapter to de-stress myself about revision, so the next part could be tomorrow or weeks from now. Once again, I could offer hollow excuses for this, but, hey, 4 weeks. 4 WEEKS. Ok, going to pass out from lack of food and zero free time.
Author's notes: see bottom of the page
Resistance - Part 5
The remainder of the holidays passed quickly. Too quickly, in Harry's opinion. In a
few days time they would be returning to Hogwarts for their sixth year, but with one
important element missing: Dumbledore. The Daily Prophet had spewed out some line about 'early retirement' and about how Dumbledore was 'an example to wizards everywhere'. An example of what happens if you don't do what you're told, Harry had thought at the time. They were still in the dark over Dumbledore's replacement, and Harry couldn't imagine anyone taking the Mage's place. The upcoming year already seemed to have an air of gloom over it.
Harry noticed he wasn't the only one not looking forward to school. Ron seemed perpetually tired, and when Harry joked about the library to Hermione, she didn't show the slightest interest. Harry suspected they weren't dealing with the events of their fifth year too well, but chose not to bring it up. He certainly didn't want to talk about it if he could avoid it.
The bright point of his holiday had come the day after Dumbledore's visit. Sirius had turned up out of the blue, suitcase in one hand and broomstick in the other. Harry had hugged him so tight, he had laughingly complained about bruised ribs. Sirius stayed for a day, and Harry had been able to tell he was trying to lighten the atmosphere. Only once did their conversation veer away from birthdays and Quidditch.
"So I hear you visited Malfoy Manor." Sirius had said nonchalantly.
"I know what you are going to say", said Harry, " you're going to say how daft I was to force open a locked room in a Death Eater's mansion, and that I shouldn't have gone in the first place, and you're right, but at the time Draco had seemed so weird, and ....."
"Breathe Harry!" Sirius had interrupted. "I wasn't going to say that at all." At Harry's disbelieving expression he'd continued, " I wanted to make sure you are all right. From what I hear that was a terrible thing to have to see. And I wanted to say.....I'm very proud of you."
"What?" Harry was sure he'd heard wrong. No-one had ever said that before. "What....what for?"
"You helped Draco even though you don't like him, you put your own horror at the situation on hold to get him back to Snape."
"Well," Harry shifted uncomfortably, "I didn't want him passing out or something. Snape would have killed me!" Then Sirius had laughed, much to Harry's relief. He was unused to receiving such sentiments, and wasn't really sure how to react. He just did things, one after the other, and hoped for the best. He often wondered why people seemed to be so amazed by that. The rest of the day had passed in a haze of Mrs Weasley's fabulous cooking, and Sirius had left, promising to visit Harry at school.
Another person Harry knew didn't want to go back to school was Neville, but that was for entirely different reasons. The newly re-united Longbottom family had been writing a steady stream of letters to him. Neville's were full of complaints about endless house hunting and shopping for new clothes, and one whole letter was devoted to how sick he was of updating his dad's Quidditch knowledge, another of how bored he was of the endless visits of other relatives. Harry knew he was loving every minute of it. The only reference made to the circumstances under which they were once again made a family, was in the first letter from Mr and Mrs Longbottom. They had repeated over and over again how thankful they were to Harry, how glad they were Neville had such a wonderful friend, how much they wanted to se Harry again, and more besides. Harry had been quite embarrassed by it, and his response had said in no uncertain terms that they should just forget about his part in it, and instead just concentrate on being a family once more. Apparently he had been so blunt that they hadn't broached the subject again.
A kind of nervous tension had appeared between Ron, Hermione and himself. It was once again as if they were just waiting for something bad to happen. Harry had been woken early one morning by Ron, mumbling something in his sleep. Late that morning when Harry had cautiously asked him about it, Ron's reply was "Oh, everything's fine, must have just been uncomfortable." He had worn the same fixed fake smile that Harry had used so often in the last year, but Harry hadn't pushed. Hermione had been working just as hard as ever, but she had lost her spark of enthusiasm. She was doing homework the same way that the boys did, as if it was a chore. Ron had also noticed, and had mentioned it to Harry.
"She seems a bit down, doesn't she." Harry had smiled inwardly at Ron's slightly pink ears.
"Yeah. Maybe you should talk to her."
"Me? Why me?" The ears were more red now.
"Oh, you know, she listens to you more than me."
"Does she?" Ron seemed quite pleased to hear this. Harry pressed on.
"Oh definitely. Hangs on your every word."
"Really?" His big smile changed into a strange look, and he gazed at her bent over her books for a few seconds. "Nah." The in a sarastic voice, "Herm-o-ninny knows best!" No more had been said, but Harry noted with satisfaction Ron spending more time with Hermione, and her ever improving mood.
Since Sirius' visit, Harry hadn't been acting quite so much like a neglected puppy, but he still couldn't shake the feeling that all was not right. Apart from Dumbledore's dismissal, something was bothering him. Dumbledore's words were frequently coming back to him..... "No doubt he will find a way to return....." He was referring, of course, to Voldemort. Harry hadn't voiced this opinion for fear of alarming everyone, but at the back of his mind he was sure that Voldemort was already back. He'd had no dreams to certify this, and there had been no attacks, but he still knew it was true. But there was nothing he could do about it, last year had proven that. It had also made him promise something to Ron and Hermione. Whatever happened this year, it was happening to them all.
Then, after what seemed like only a few days, summer was over. Things were being thrown, arguments were breaking out, owls were hooting in annoyance and there was general pandemonium. The Weasley's were packing, ready to face a new year.
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Author's notes: Well, I'm back. I could beg forgiveness for this taking so long, but I won't, as the big piles of work and revision have been going down and I now have 4 weeks until my first A Level exam. Eeeeeek! Well, obviously not a lot of action there, but don't worry, I'm saving it all up so expect it in big dollops. Um, expect posting to be erratic, I wrote this chapter to de-stress myself about revision, so the next part could be tomorrow or weeks from now. Once again, I could offer hollow excuses for this, but, hey, 4 weeks. 4 WEEKS. Ok, going to pass out from lack of food and zero free time.