The "Wonderful" News
Harry was in a place he had never seen before. Wait, it was becoming clearer now.... Yes, he'd been here many times! He was looking at the front doors of Hogwarts. He heard shouts coming from behind near the Quidditch field and decided to see what the commotion was. As he approached he saw it was a Quidditch game. But, what was really strange about it was that it was Gryffindor against Ravenclaw. From what he could see he was not up there! He had to find his broom, and stop the match! They couldn't start without him. But then he heard the commentating. It didn't sound like Lee Jordan's voice, though.
"Nice swerve there by Potter! Catches the Slytherin Chaser off guard. Gryffindor Chaser heading for the goal.. YES! MAKINTIRE BEATS THE KEEPER!! The score's 20 to 0, Gryffindor!"
Okay, so he was up there. Or was it him? He looked up and saw, he guessed, the Seeker circling the field. It looked like him, but he looked older. Maybe sixth or seventh year. He moved over to the stands with his eyes on the game the whole time. He turned just to see he was about to knock into someone. He closed his eyes and prepared for the crash, but it never happened. He had gone right through the person! It looked like a teacher but he was not familiar. This was just too strange. Harry moved over to an empty seat on the bench.
He watched the next twenty minutes of the game and finally came to the conclusion that nobody could see him, and that he wasn't even solid! People had jumped on him and walked right through him, and he hadn't felt a thing. Suddenly a hush fell over the stadium. Harry looked up and saw "himself" diving toward the Snitch and....
"YES! JAMES POTTER HAS DONE IT! GRYFFINDOR BEATS RAVENCLAW FOR THE FIRST TIME IN YEARS! THE FINAL SCORE IS 220-70!!" Everyone around him was jumping up and down but he didn't join in. He just didn't get it. That was his father?! But before he had time to figure it out he was zooming of somewhere else. Nothing was clear. He saw little things happening but he was traveling so fast that it was hard to see. It was almost as he was traveling though... time. That was it! He had seen his father play Quidditch in his last year when he won the Quidditch Cup.
The next thing he knew he was standing on solid ground in what appeared to be a church of some sort. Yes, he was at some sort of wedding. He didn't understand. First his father's Quidditch match then a wedding? They certainly didn't go together!
"Do you, Lily Clark, take James Potter to be your...."
How could I be so stupid? he thought. Of course. It was his parent's wedding. He saw Sirius standing over next to his dad and Remus right behind him. Harry also saw.. Dumbledore! He laughed to himself. He went over to where Dumbledore was sitting and waved a hand in front of his face. When Dumbledore just smiled Harry laughed louder. Suddenly everything stopped. Everyone froze.
"Harry!" someone scolded. "Don't do that! Just sit down and wait until this is over." He turned around and saw his mother and father staring at him. They were the only people moving. James was trying not to laugh. But then everything was back the way it had been and the ceremony ended.
Harry watched the reception for a while. He saw Sirius put something in the punch and a few minutes later people were clucking like chickens or barking like dogs. Sirius, Remus, and James thought this was extremely funny. They laughed at everyone while Lily went around and set things right.
When she returned she said, "Who did it?" They were all trying to hold back laughs.
"Honestly it wasn't me, dear," said James. Lily just sighed.
Once again Harry was going through time. This time he was in a hospital room. Immediately, almost as if it were instinct, he knew what this event was. He walked over to where his mother was cradling a baby in her arms while his father cooed.
"He looks just like you James," from a voice from the side.
"He does, Sirius, but look at Harry's eyes. They are identical to the green ones that Lily has." That had to be Professor Lupin.
"Lily! Harry doesn't have a middle name, yet!" said his father. His mother looked down and smiled at baby Harry.
"James."
Again Harry was moving. He knew what was coming next and he didn't want to see it. He shut his eyes tight but the next thing he heard was his name being called.
"Harry, we know you've been very miserable lately but you shouldn't be. You must put your concentration into your studies..." said his mother.
"And Quidditch!" said his father. "Don't forget about that. You have to get Dumbledore to change his mind." Lily just rolled her eyes.
"Someone's come to awaken you now. Remember, try and be happy the time that you have...." she was cut off.
Harry jerked awake. "C'mon, Harry! We're gonna be late for dinner and I hear they have a big announcement to make," he heard Ron say. He felt himself stand up and follow him to the portrait hole but his mind was still in his dreams.
They met Hermione in the Great Hall and sat down just as Dumbldore was getting up to talk about the big announcement Ron had told Harry about.
"Everyone!" he said smiling as he waited for silence. "As some of you may have heard we are going to have a Winter Ball the third day after winter vacation starts. I know that a lot of you attended the Yule Ball last year, and we are going to celebrate one year by having another one for our school only. I trust that you all will get busy finding a partner. Also one other thing, Quidditch practices and matches will continue until further notice. You may continue your eating." Harry looked up at Professor McGonangall who smiled at him. He couldn't help but beam back.
"Isn't that cool?" asked Ron with his mouth full of mashed potatoes.
"Yeah! Maybe Gryffindor will win the Quidditch Cup again..." he started.
"Yeah, that's cool, but I was talking about the Winter Ball!" Harry thought he saw Ron glance down the table at Lune who was talking with Lavender and Parvati. Harry knew what he was thinking.
"Oh. Yeah, I guess." Actually Harry didn't want to go to the ball at all. It reminded him too much of when he got turned down by Cho last year. She went with Cedric, which made him mad at Cedric and.... He was making all of the terrible feelings he had last year come back. He had no intention asking Cho this year for not wanting to make a fool of himself again.
After that there was no more talk of the ball. Katie announced that there would be Quidditch practice the following night that cheered him greatly. He was looking forward very much to flying his Firebolt again, which had been untouched in his room for days.
When dinner was over and everyone made their way back to the common room Ron asked him very quietly, "Are you gonna ask her to the....."
"No." That was all there was to be said. Ron just shrugged and they talked about Quidditch some more.
* * *
The next morning Harry got up and made his way to the Great Hall not even thinking about the news last night. When he left he saw Hermione talking to Lune, Lavender, and Parvati. She was rolling her eyes a lot, but there other three were giggling madly. When she saw him she waved and he stopped to wait for her.
"What was that all about?" he asked as she pushed open the portrait hole and climbed through.
"Nothing," she said and she didn't say anymore about it.
When they got to the Great Hall they saw that Ron was not awake yet. But as they sat down, and unfamiliar owl came down and gave Hermione an issue of the Daily Prophet.
"I thought you canceled that prescription," Harry said as he buttered some toast.
"I decided to start getting it again and I'm goin to have it continued through the summer. I need some connection to the wizarding world!" He nodded and she looked down at the front page headlines. "Look at this!" she said rather loudly. She handed him the paper and he looked down at the headline.
Death Eaters Found Outside Hogwarts!
Yesterday two Death Eaters were found just outside the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts. The rest of the forest was searched with the help of Rubes Hagrid, Hogwart's Gamekeeper, but nothing else was found. Does this have to do with the Dark Lord's revenge on Harry Potter. Is young Harry safe? Albus Dumbledore is not saying anything on the matter at this time. We will keep you posted on the happenings. Also the trial for Sirius Black is set for April 17th. Everyone is now wondering if Dumbledore will be in the committee.
"We've got to find something fast to help Sirius. We don't know if the message writer is going to come back. Especially if he reads the Daily Prophet," said Hermione.
"You're right but Sirius said to follow his directions and that's what I'm willing to do," Harry replied. He was surprised to hear that his voice was calm. Inside he was anything but. He was worried about the news of the Death Eaters being so close. There had been no sign of security tightening up very much after Dumbledore spoke with them. He still hated that people thought that Sirius wanted to kill him. He knew, along with Dumbledore and Hermione and Ron, that Sirius wouldn't ever hurt him! He was like the father he never had to him even though he rarely got to see him. He wanted, more than anything in the world, more than he wanted to win the Quidditch Cup, more than he wanted a date with Cho to the ball, for Sirius to be free. He sighed.
"Are you okay?" asked Hermione.
"Fine, let's get to class." Harry said.
* * *
The next few weeks were very uneventful. They had Quidditch practices every day for two hours to make up for the lost time. They played Ravenclaw two weeks after the announcement. They won 220-80. They had their usual party but it made Harry feel bad because he knew he could never get a date with her. Finally it was the day before winter break and Christmas.
Classes ended early that day which relived Harry and Ron. They both had gotten bad marks in Potions, had trouble with Transfiguration, and couldn't take much more of Divination. Unfortunately that was their last class before winter break officially started.
"Today," said Professor Trelawney, "we shall be doing mind reading." Harry felt like he couldn't breathe anymore. Of course she would pick on him and read his mind. Of course his mind had been on nothing but Cho and she would find out. Okay, just clear you mind he thought. He started to think about how he was happy that they won the Quidditch match...... against Cho's team. Ah! How hard could this be?
"You my dear. How about I try it out on you," he hear a voice behind him say. He spun around. Before he could say anything she was chanting some sort of nonsense. He thought really hard on how stupid this seemed. "Oh, you are afraid of something...." she said he voice rising slightly.
"No," Harry said more bluntly than he meant to. More than half of the class burst into laughter. Ron and Seamus and Dear were all holding on to the table, trying not to fall out of their seats.
"Well!" said Professor Trelawney angrily. "I guess we'll have to do this the hard way thanks to Mr. Potter!" With that she stormed back to the front of the room. Lavender and Parvati glared at him. He really didn't care, but there was something very strange. Instead of Lune glaring too she was... smirking it almost looked like. But as soon as she caught his eye she smiled.
Throughout the rest of the period she made them copy extra notes and gave them no time to practice anything. Then she gave the a ton of extra homework since "you have all vacation to finish it," as she said
As they made their way back to the common room they met up with Hermione. She was beaming which made Harry feel happy for her whatever it was but it made him feel even worse. But anyway school was officialy out for a week and he didn't have that much homework. Probably only a few hours worth.
Suddenly he realized he was so caught up in thought that he wasn't even paying attention to what Hermione was saying.
"....Isn't that great?" she said looking from Harry to Ron. Since he had no idea what Hermione was talking about he looked to Ron for some help. It didn't work. He just stood there look dumbfounded. The kind of look that always comes before anger.
"Harry?" she asked.
"Er... what was that again?" he asked.
"I'm going to the Winter Ball with Robert Dickstein. Isn't that great?" Silence. Ron looked at Harry once again with the same shocked look on his face.
"Erm...Yeah! Great...." he said. He didn't really care who Hermione went with. Last year she had gone to the Yule Ball with a famous Quidditch Seeker so now a Gryffindor Keeper who was just a year older than them didn't really matter. Ron once again looked over at him but this time there was a fire starting to grow behind his eyes. Oh, great, here comes the big one Harry thought as Ron looked back at Hermione. Her smile had now faded into a sort of half grin. Which faded right before Ron started yelling.
"Are you crazy?! Do we have to go through this every time..." he started.
"Listen, he's in Gryffindor, he's on the Quidditch team, he doesn't want to kill Harry, and he's only a year older than us. Case closed. There's nothing else you can argue about," she said and walked off.
Ron tried to think of something to say but finally turned to Harry and said, "You, know, she's right. And I hate it!" he added. Harry laughed and they followed her off.
* * *
The next day Hermione informed Ron and Harry at lunch that Parvati and Lavender were going to the Ball with Dean and Seamus. Harry still had his eye on Cho but wasn't going to risk the embarrassement of being turned down again. Harry also knew that Ron probably wanted to ask Lune to the Ball. He had so badly wanted to go with Fleur last year and her cousin was almost as good. He had the same problem as Harry did, though. He too had been rejeceted rather rudely.
As Hermione went to ask Professor Sprout something about the lesson Ron turned to Harry and said, "You know we better get dates. The Ball is only in two days and everyone is going to be taken before long."
"I s'pose your right but I don't know who to ask. I don't think it would be terrible to go alone. It's not like a partner is required," he said. "Why don't you ask Lune? I bet she'll go with you." Harry thought he saw Ron turn slightly red.
"Are you kidding?! After what her cousin did to me last year? No way! What about Cho? There's no harm in asking her."
"Same problem your having. Besides she's popular and beautiful. I bet she got a date ages ago." They continued eating in miserable silence.
While the three of them were walking back to the common room someone tapped Harry one the shoulder and Harry turned around looking into the gorgeous face of Cho Chang.
"Could I talk to you for a second, Harry?" she asked.
"Sure," he said his voice squeaking slightly. "I'll meet you guys in the common room," he said and Hermione and Ron nodded and headed back to the common room with Dean and Seamus.
Cho led him over to the very side of the hallway to talk to him. "Harry, since last year was the Yule Ball and I went with Cedric (Harry thought that he heard her voice quiver slightly) I'm just not ready to go with somebody to another ball that I don't know that well. I was wondering if.... you would escort me to the ball. As, a friend. I know you were also friends with Cedric so it would mean a lot to me." So, it wasn't what he'd hoped but it was good enough for him.
"Of course," was all he said. He thought he heard her whisper "Thank you" as she walked away quickly dabbing at her eyes. He did feel bad for Cho, and he felt some of the pain that he had felt last year when Cedric had died, but he was very happy he was going with her.
It seemed as though he just floated along the corrider like Professor Binns would do. As he entered the common room Hermione and Ron jumped up and made him tell them what had happened.
"That's great!" said Ron. "Two for two!"
"What are you on about?" Harry asked.
"I asked Lune to the Ball and she said yes! I'm going to the Ball with Fleur Delacour's cousin! She's way better than snooty old Fleur was anyway. All she did was complain. Lune's loads better! She's nice, and considerate, and...."
"Well, we're really happy for you, Ron, but I'm really tired and I want to go to bed," said Hermione. "Goodnight." With that she dissapeared up the girl's staircase.
Harry found that he was rather tired himself and led the way up their staircase. He didn't even bother to pull on his pajamas. He got into bed and just barely heard Ron whisper,
"Goodnight," before he was fast asleep.
What Harry didn't know was that someone, at the same time he was peacefully dreaming, was wide awake planning their next move very carefully. It was going to happen soon. Then the Dark Lord would rule again!
A/N: I know I promised an exciting chapter this time but I had to spread it out. I promise that the next chapter (which is already planned and getting underway) is going to be very exciting! Please review. I love it when people tell me what they think.
~*hermione*~ harrys_brainy_bud@hotmail.com IM-HermioneRowling
P.S. I'm sorry for the errors, if there are any, but I dind't have much time to re-read it.