1 A/N: I don't own nothing.
Sincere apologies to how this story was all messed up on Jan. 1, 2002. Man, I feel dumb, but see, my computer messed up. It kept freezing when I was uploading and then the spell check changed all my words up - when I first posted ch.19, Hermione was changed to Herman which is not right. I'm sorry for the confusion, and yeah I hope everything's alright now!
A/N, a bit of a PS: There will probably be 2 more chapters after this. This fiction is, though not as long as the real books (off by about 100 pages, from my planning), not going to be stretched too long. I already finished the last chapter and now have to work up to it, so that's all I'm doing now. After that, I will only write short, non-continuing fics unless something happens that will force me to writing novels again - like getting 500 reviews or something. Then I'd know that this is really something. ^_^
2
3 Chapter 20
Twists of Fate
The Ministry had finally released Harry to go, since they had been stuck in a rut with determining who it had been that attacked Harry, and Harry wasn't going to lead them on, since he wanted to go with Hermione to her home for winter vacation. So, finally, the day had come for Harry to leave for the Granger's Muggle home. He had been packing for a good two hours inside the Gryffindor tower, his eyes checking his room over and over again to see if he missed anything important.
Ron walked up to him just then, his eyes questioning: "So, Harry . . ." Ron began, his lower lip trembling a bit. " A week away with Hermione, alone, eh?"
" Yeah."
" That's pretty neat." Ron replied, his eyes moving away from Harry's now. " I guess. . . alone, eh?"
Harry looked up at him, from the suitcase packed with his belongings, and said, with a bit of an amusement in his voice: "Well, not completely alone, Ron. Her parents will be there."
" Oh." Ron shuffled his feet. " But alone from anyone else?"
" She can't bring in a lot of friends, you know that." Harry exclaimed. " You didn't invite her when you invited me to your home over the summer, remember?"
Ron's ears reddened. " I guess."
" Don't be jealous, Ron, really, I'm still your best friend. I guess things will change but we'll always be friends forever." He added, softly, after a while: "Always."
" I'm not jealous!" Ron exclaimed.
" I think you might be." Harry slowly closed the suitcase, then opened it upon discovery that he forgot to pack his socks. " Ron, listen to me. I've told you everything that I could, and I've shared with you every new piece of information I got. I couldn't possibly be hiding anything from you. You know that."
" Well . . ."
" You shouldn't doubt me." Harry shoved the ten pairs of socks he'd prepared deep into the suitcase, then grumbled at how taut and stretched the canvas suitcase had become.
" I'm not, Harry. I guess I should have told you, but . . ." Ron suddenly hesitated. "Never mind. Have fun with Hermione, alright?" Ron slowly moved away from Harry.
" I will. Thanks." Harry pulled the suitcase up from the bed, then slowly slid it down to the floor with a thump. The bed springs creaked and slowly raised from the weight that had been removed from them.
Harry turned back to Ron, his hands pulling a parcel from his pocket. " Ron?" Harry said, gently.
The red-haired boy looked up, his hands holding tightly to a magazine, the front of the page moving, revealing an image of a man zooming on a broomstick, hand stretched out, catching a Snitch flawlessly. Harry suddenly recognized the face: Viktor Krum.
Ron stared at the parcel in Harry's hand. "What's that, Harry?"
" Since I won't be here on Christmas, I thought I'd give you your gift earlier." Harry explained, his hand reaching out, the little red packet balanced tenderly on his hand.
" Oh, wow!" Ron jumped up, the magazine falling to the floor, a few loose pages tumbling out. Ron grasped at the parcel and he then brought it up towards his face, against the light, saying: "What is it? Can I open it now?" Ron looked even happier when Harry nodded. " I can open it, really?"
Harry laughed. " You can open it."
Ron, like a child again, slowly ripped open the packet, and found inside a little box. His eyebrows furrowed. "What's this?" He whispered, slowly lifting the top lid of the cardboard box. Just as he did, the room filled with images on all walls - dancing pictures of Quidditch players. Little people on brooms zoomed around on the walls, like a slide projection, but much more interesting. Ron closed the box and all the images disappeared. Ron exclaimed: " Wicked! Where did you find this thing?"
" I saw an ad for it in one of your Quidditch magazines. I thought you'd like it - it's called a Pictobox. It supposedly 'brings a room to life with pictures of Quidditch', quote the ad." Harry smiled. "Do you like it?"
" I love it!" Ron laughed. " It's perfect." He opened the box again and the walls erupted with colorful pictures again. Ron's eyes reflected the colors dancing on the walls. " Wow."
" I know." Harry smiled and then added: " I thought you'd like it."
" For once, you had a right thought." Ron joked, then suddenly said: " I had a gift for you too. Hold on." Ron suddenly placed the Pictobox on his bed and then raced out of the bedroom quarters and into a side room.
" It's okay, Ron. You can give the gift once I come back." Harry shouted out.
" No." Ron cried. " I have to find it."
Harry glanced at the clock in the room. It was about two hours to seven, and seven was when Hermione's parents were to arrive at the train station. Hogwarts had a train driving students to Platform 9 and ¾ in less then two hours now, especially for the winter holidays; and it was being used feverishly by the students. The new train schedules made it a lot easier to fit everyone into the train, and for the students to be able to easily move about outside of school.
" Ron, I'm supposed to catch the train, I can't . . ."
" Okay, got it!" Ron walked in just then with a giant box under his arm. " I didn't wrap it, since I couldn't find enough gift wrap, but. . ."
" It's okay." Harry took the gift hurriedly from Ron's hands and then sat down on the floor to open it. Ron watched with bated breath, hoping that Harry would exclaim in joy at whatever the gift was to be.
Harry gently opened the box and then felt something soft and warm inside. He pulled it upwards and saw it was an odd-shaped sweater, lumpy and moth-eaten. Harry grimaced. " It's . . . lovely, Ron."
Ron laughed. " No, no, put it on, Harry."
" Er. . ." Harry wondered if Ron would force him to wear the awful creation. Harry had dressed spiffily so that Hermione's parents wouldn't think he was some sort of slob or a messy bum, and now this!
Harry pulled the sweater on, and then looked down at it. It slowly took the shape of his body, and then grew a lot more handsome - woven and intricate, with the silkiest yarns used. The pattern changed - instead of lumpy and bumpy zigzags, it was now solid and then in little double loops. Harry said: "Oh! It turned nice! Not that it wasn't nice before, but you know what I mean." Harry added the last part in a hurry, so as not to insult the gift he had received. It was, after all, rather interesting already.
" Harry, it isn't the sweater itself!" Ron laughed.
" What do you mean?" Harry asked.
Ron suddenly swung his fist and hit Harry squarely in the stomach. Harry would have normally been thrown off his feet and then would have pulverized Ron, but to his shock, Ron's fist didn't even tickle him. Actually, Harry didn't even sway on his feet a bit. Ron continued punching Harry, much to Ron's delight.
" Uh, Ron, what's going on?" Harry finally asked.
" Can't you see?" Ron questioned.
" See what?" Harry stared down at the sweater again.
" When you have it on, you can't get hurt. Much." Ron added 'Much' as a bit of an after thought. " The sweater, when taken off, looks hideous, doesn't it?"
Harry nodded, slowly.
" Well, you see, that's not to attract people to it. I bought this thing at that weird store in Hogsmeade, the one where the old guy sells all those strange things." Ron said. " I thought you might need it, just in case."
" Wow! Thanks, Ron!" Harry exclaimed. " This must have been so expensive."
" It's alright. I've done jobs for people all summer, and I pretty much earned most of the money I bought it with. The rest I borrowed off of Fred and George." Ron said, then added: " So, you like it?"
" It's amazing!" Harry exclaimed. " Hit me again."
Ron obliged.
Harry didn't feel nary a trickle once again. " Wicked." Harry said, borrowing Ron's word. " Absolutely, positively wicked."
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Hermione and Harry sat down on the red leathery seats inside the Hogwarts holiday train - it was decorated for Christmas accordingly - and then they both chatted excitedly.
" Oh. I can't wait until you meet my parents!" Hermione was saying to Harry.
" Neither can I." Harry admitted.
" Whatever you do, though, don't eat a lot of sweets around them. They don't respect people who eat a lot of sweets - they're both dentists." Hermione reminded Harry.
" I know."
" I think that we won't have a minute of boredom. I'll show you everything - my old Muggle friends, everything." She grinned. "They can't know about Hogwarts, though - they would think we're crazy."
" Muggles." Harry rolled his eyes.
" We both go to a foreign school for gifted children, if they ask - remember that." Hermione warned him.
" I will."
" I'll introduce you as my boyfriend." She squeezed his hand. "They will all be so jealous, that I have such a good-looking and smart guy. . ."
Harry laughed. " Let them be jealous; I am the real lucky one."
This made Hermione laugh loudly. She opened her own baggage, a little handbag filled with few things since she had plenty of clothes back at home, and then said: " I have to show you something, Harry."
Harry leaned forwards, his eyes scanning Hermione's bag with a bit of an interest. What could she possibly want to show him? Hermione slowly pulled with her fingers at a little plastic container and then said: " Harry, I found a clue, and it's not big but it might be important."
" What clue?" Harry asked.
" Here." She opened the plastic container. Harry got sight of a small needle inside it and some leather.
" Oh!" He looked at it with interest.
" This leather was something I found in Rebecca Crick's coat pocket." She said.
" You were pick-pocketing then?" Harry kidded.
" Harry!" She laughed, then lowered her eyes: " Yes." She quickly added: " For a good cause, though! It really was!"
" Well, then, what sort of leather is it?" Harry wanted to know.
" It's a young English Whitescale."
" No. . . Hagrid's?" Harry whispered.
She nodded.
" He'll be heartbroken." Harry leaned back on the red seat, his black hair falling into his eyes, despite his glasses. "No! That's so unfairly cruel! How could anyone kill something so young and innocent?"
" Rebecca Crick - or whoever it is - would." Hermione said.
" That's inhuman. Plain awful, Herm." Harry murmured. "I can't believe this. So the dragon really is dead. Draco was right."
" The point is, Harry, the moment we get back we need to confront her. To find out who she is." Hermione said. "Draco will be back in two weeks, right?"
" He should be."
" Good." She replied. " We'll need his help, we'll need ALL the help we can get against Rebecca Crick. I have a few books on Dark Spells that I . . . um . . . took from the school library. I thought we'd go through them at my home."
" You're really stealing an awful lot, aren't you?" Harry said, semi- seriously, as he brought her closer to him with his hand. He had wrapped his arm around her shoulder, his fingers gently running through the strands of hair resting on her shoulders and down her back. Her head rested on his shoulder as she replied to his question:
" I did what I had to do."
" Of course."
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The Grangers stood, a bit awkwardly, in front of the train station. Harry and Hermione finally emerged, and the two parents raced to Hermione right away.
" Oh! Honey!" Mrs. Granger exclaimed, showering Hermione with kisses. " It's so empty in our house without you!"
Mr. Granger, meanwhile, took a good look at Harry, and with smiling, cheerful eyes, he exclaimed: "Well! I assume you're Harry Potter. We've met before, haven't we?"
" Yes." Harry nodded. " Nice to meet you again, though, sir." Harry held his hand out to Mr. Granger and the two shook hands.
Mrs. Granger then turned to Harry, with Mr. Granger going to Hermione ('exchange of positions', thought Harry with a smile). Mrs. Granger's smile was absolutely brilliant - white pearly teeth, all perfectly aligned on pink gums. Harry grinned back, a bit uncertainly, as Mrs. Granger pulled him close in a hug. " Oh, Harry, we've heard a lot about you from Hermione."
" Really?" Harry could only squeak out as he pulled out of the woman's death-lock. She grinned at her husband, then said:
" I suppose Harry wouldn't mind if we traveled home in our, uh, 'Muggle' car?"
Mr. Granger laughed and shook his head, saying: " No, no he wouldn't, right, Harry?"
Harry nodded.
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Harry had finished dinner with the Grangers and then he and Hermione retired to their living room, where she was watching some sort of movie. Harry wasn't too interested in it, it was an animated picture and every few minutes the entire animated cast burst into song spontanously, which was slightly annoying him. So, he finally struck up a conversation with Hermione again:
" I've been thinking on the train ride, and I think I know who Rebecca Crick is."
" Who?" She turned to Harry.
" A follower of Voldemort." Harry said the name, and watched Hermione shudder a bit.
" I think so too, Harry, that's nothing new." She told him.
" I've also put the clues together. Draco told me something, before he left, something I didn't mention before." Harry said.
Hermione leaned closer. "What?"
" He discovered an old sewing room inside Hogwarts, hidden behind a charmed statue." Harry began. " I think Rebecca made the shoes in there, and then stared at a picture on the wall of a girl that looked like her - or, is it, the girl SHE looked LIKE?" Harry was a bit puzzled.
" Just never mind and keep going." Hermione told him.
" Right." He nodded sagely. " She took form of the girl on the wall. When she is in Rebecca's body, she no longer has the powers her old body held. That is why she was practicing Dark Curses. She needed to get to know them with her new self."
" Oh!"
" She was the one who attacked Charlie, in her other form. I know that because of Charlie's description. The person in the robes, with glowing eyes - that's who I ran into outside." Harry could feel a coldness spreading over him. " I don't know how Rebecca could track me, though. I need to find out, because she somehow must have kept track of me to know which school I'm in, to know where my friends live (I visited them, after all), to know who my friends are." Harry released a shuddering breath.
" Whatever happens, you need to confront her. Find out who she is." Hermione said.
" I know."
" I have gone ahead and asked Dumbledore for special permission for me to teach you Dark Curses." Hermione said, admitting to what she had done. " I know you are probably scared of doing them, but if you want to confront Rebecca, you must be prepared."
" I know."
" This holiday won't be fun, Harry, it will be hellish. I will be teaching you everything I can possibly teach you, and you will be able to face Rebecca and if she pulls anything funny, you can defend yourself." Hermione motioned at three books on the table. "The most powerful dark spells await, Harry, and you only tell me to, and I will teach them to you."
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Harry's first lesson with the Dark Spells was a simple spell, but one Hermione had taught herself quickly - fainting spells. She explained to Harry:
" One spell will knock the other person out, and they won't wake up for a long time. Useful for people like Rebecca, in her weak form."
" So who do I practice it on?" Harry asked her, his eyes fixing on the wand in his hands, burning warm already to his touch, since the wand sensed that it would be doing something powerful.
" See over there? I charmed by teddy bear so it's 'alive', a similar charm like they put on Chocolate Frogs." Hermione said, pointing to her bed. On it, a little brown bear was hopping around, aimlessly, bopping into the white-painted wall, blind because his eyes were only black buttons after all.
" How does the spell go again?" Harry asked.
" We went over this a million times!" She cried out, exasperated, her brown hair matted and sticking to her forehead.
" I'm sorry." Harry said, smiling sweetly, then held his wand up in dark charm stance, which was with the wand pointed and shoulder-level, with the eyes held tight to the target, and with a poised elegance to oneself (this was how Hermione taught him, after all). Harry's wand twitched, the dark spell slowly emerging from Harry's mouth: " Stunniti Exasprus."
A dark purple jagged spear of sparks shot from the tip of the wand and then burst through the teddy bear. It fell to the bed with a sickening thump, and Harry ran up to see what had happened. It's teddy bear body was untouched, but it was knocked unconscious.
" I'll remove the Life Charm from the teddy bear now, just in case. . ." Hermione said, tapping the top of the bear's head with her wand and saying the spell: " Nix Livius".
" Windagrdium Leviosa!" She then called out and brought another teddy bear to the bed by floating it over. Hermione then put a Life Charm on this new bear. " Try it again on this one, but this time do the spell precisely when the bear is standing over the pillow."
" Why?"
" Because then you'll have practice in casting spells only at certain moments. It's an important ability." Hermione told him.
So Harry stood in his awkward pose, waiting for the bear to make its way over her white down pillow. Finally, she told him: "Now, Harry!"
" Stunniti Exasprus!"
The purple spear appeared again, winding through the teddy bear. It fell, lifeless, to the bedspread.
" You did it, Harry!" Hermione cried out, throwing her arms around his neck. " Now we can move on to the next curse. . ." She opened the book, then exclaimed: " Ah! My favorite one in here!"
" You have a favorite?" Harry asked, stunned.
" Yes." She replied, her eyes closing halfway in a pout-like smile. " It happens to be the Blinding Curse."
" It makes someone blind?" Harry cried out.
" No." She smiled happily and then explained: " It will simply blind someone for a short while, a few minutes or so, which will throw an enemy off-guard while you make a mad dash for your life or something." Hermione tapped Harry's broom with her nail. "Very clever spell, Harry. Hard to use, and clever as a fox."
" The bears are blind anyway. What do I cast it on?" Harry asked.
" Me." Hermione replied.
" Are you nuts? You?" Harry said. " What if I do permanent damage to you?"
" Like what?" Hermione wanted to know.
" It could malfunction. I could blind you for life." Harry whispered.
She shook her head. " Impossible. Only Neville Longbottom is that careless." She then added: "That reminds me! He and you and me are all going out to the zoo tomorrow, for some fun. He's coming to England again from France and his relatives, in order to settle some court papers or something." Hermione then shook her head and added: "Poor guy, he can barely remember his birth date. How will he fill out those forms?"
Harry read the page in the book on the Blinding Curse. " This looks difficult, Herm." He finally said.
" Difficult, shmifficult." She teased, then told him with a bit of a serious tone: " You'll master it the first time. Now, try it slowly. Say the curse with feeling. Try to imagine me going blind for a few minutes." She laughed.
" Herm, I can't." Harry put his wand down to his side. "That's something I can't do. It would be like killing you or something."
" Harry, do it!"
" Fine." Harry lifted his wand, and said, with as much feeling as one can put into a spell: " Iris Diaphragmus Shuttus!"
Hermione's pupils and Irises suddenly turned into two thin slits, like the sides of coins, or cat eyes when exposed to severe light. She stumbled, and then exclaimed: "You did it, Harry! I can't see a thing!"
" You look awful." Harry whispered, kneeling down beside her on the floor. He stared into her blank, thin slivers of eyes and then said: " That was the hardest spell I've ever had to cast, Herm."
" You never know." She said gently, her eyes slowly closing as she rested her forehead on his. " It's so hard to be blind. I've tried this on myself, before, when I practiced it."
" That's crazy, Herm." Harry told her.
" Not if I want to be successful." She replied. Her eyes suddenly burst from the little slivers and she stood up, blinking. "Ah! Back to normal. See, Harry? Nothing to fear."
Harry shuddered. " I'm still freaked out, no offense." He murmured.
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The next day came rather quickly, and Harry slept restlessly on a foldout cot in the Granger's living room. Their home was small, definitely smaller then the Dursleys. It had two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a kitchen; a living room and dining room in the same room, an attic that was small and dusty and filled with bats and a basement filled with old furniture.
Harry woke up to a familiar voice exclaiming: "Harry! Harry, wake up! Guess who's here. . . guess!"
Harry felt two cold hands cover his eyes, an old game, and then a voice said: "Guess who's here."
" Neville!" Harry exclaimed, turning to face the pudgy boy he had known. Neville smiled and nodded. Harry immediately said: "I'm sorry about your grandmother, Neville. I can't believe I won't see you around Hogwarts halls anymore."
" I know." Neville looked down at his feet. " I suppose things change, and sometimes it will be for the better and sometimes for the worse."
" That's quite the wise words, Neville." Harry smiled at him.
" Hermione said we'll be going to the zoo today, you know that? It'll be fabulous, won't it!" Neville's freckled cheeks stretched even more as he burst into an ear-to-ear grin. " Wouldn't it be the greatest? I've been in Muggle zoos before, but I can't wait, anyway!"
" You're such a kid, Neville." Harry swung his feet off the side of the cot and then stretched. " Where's Hermione?"
" She's getting dressed in the bathroom. She'll be out soon." Neville told him. " I sort of came early, at 5 in the morning. My aunts sent me here on a plane - those Muggle things are absolutely awful! I didn't get a wink of sleep."
" I've never been on one." Harry admitted.
" You don't want to be on one." Neville told him.
Harry grinned and then stood. " I guess I should go dress, too. What time is it, anyhow?"
" 5 in the morning, Harry. I told you, that's when I came, I even said specifically."
Harry turned, eyes wide. " You woke me at FIVE? FIVE IN THE MORNING?" Neville's face sunk, and he whispered:
" I'm sorry, Harry, I - -"
" No, don't worry." Harry tried to five him a cheerful grin, and it came out looking a bit lopsided. " I'm used to waking up at five from the Dursleys. Don't worry about it in the least bit." Then, Harry looked around to see which of the closed doors could be Hermione's bedroom.
He finally opened a door, walked in, and then walked right out again realizing it was a closet. Blushing slightly, he found his way into Hermione's bedroom and then quickly changed into his clothes there (his suitcase was in her room, with all his clothing).
When he came out, he ran into Mr. and Mrs. Granger, both looking sleepy and tired. Mr. Granger smiled at Harry and said: "So, is it a wizard tradition, Harry, to wake up at this time of the day?"
" Um . . ." Harry's face burned with a blush. " No, sir. Neville just came early, you see, he's never been on a plane before and he thought it would arrive quickly, like Floo powder . . ."
" Flu what?" Mrs. Granger asked.
" Hermione will explain later, dear." Mr. Granger said to his wife. " By the way, did you run that X-ray into the office yesterday, of Mrs. Smith's teeth? She wanted to have a good X-ray this time."
Harry then watched the Grangers involve themselves in some sort of conversation about Mrs. Smith and how horribly picky she was about things. Harry slowly walked away from them, hands in his pockets, eyes rolling up to the sky. Parents. . . sometimes they were strange . . .
Harry met up with Neville and Hermione (full dressed), at the front door. They all waited until Mr. Granger found his car keys (they were for some reason inside the freezer), and then they all climbed into their new car, a Sedan that the Grangers saved up for. Hermione waved to her mom from the back window of the car as they all sped off towards the zoo.
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Harry and Hermione went ice skating the sixth day of winter vacation. They pulled on their ice skates (Harry could barely stand in them so he crawled towards the ice rink from the skate rental desk, a good five meters), and then they both tried their ice skills on the rink.
Hermione was an expert, to Harry's amazement. She sailed across the ice, her head turning to see if Harry was following. He had just put his left leg on the ice, and with some misfortune, slipped and fell down squarely on his behind.
She laughed and helped him up, and then she linked hands with him. They began skating by the sides, with Harry holding himself up by the glass walls of the rink. By the end of the first ten minutes, Harry had managed to be able to pull away from the wall without slipping. They went slowly, one foot before the other; Hermione whispering instructions in his ear. It wasn't because they were secret instructions, but she found it romantic to whisper into his ear instead of just telling him.
By the end of the hour, Harry was gliding across the ice like a pro, and Hermione was at his side. They both eyed a couple in the middle of the rink, dancing on the ice, their sharp skate blades cutting the ice in an odd dance rhythm, intoxicating and seductive. The woman was rather young, the man a bit older, both looking completely in love. The man broke away from her and approached the ice skate rental desk. He discussed something with the man behind the desk, then motioned at the speakers hanging from the ceiling, which were at the moment blasting an old classic by Chopin.
Slowly, the slow classical music drained away and a fast salsa beat began. Instinctually, Harry's feet moved quicker to the pace, Hermione meeting his moves as if they were made to skate together.
They watched the couple skating, their legs twining, arms joining, heads moving to and fro, a romantic dance that seemed so natural and yet so unique that Harry was compelled to bring Hermione close to himself as well.
She gasped a bit, her body pulled close to his, as Harry slowly began to twirl around her, slowly moving her away, then closer. She laughed. "Harry, what're you doing?"
He winked and then motioned with his head towards the dancing couple. Her lips formed a little 'O' and then she nodded and danced along.
People had gathered, watching the two couples, one young and one older, both dancing as they skated, like professionals.
Harry, of course, stumbled at times, and then he'd blush and look down, black strands of hair falling across his face in embarrassment. Hermione would tilt his chin up with her fingers, smiling reassuringly, and they'd begin again from where they'd left off, as if not a stumble had happened but a dance step in itself.
Suddenly, the salsa music ended, but Harry and Hermione found themselves still dancing. And when they realized that everyone was watching, laughing, they didn't let it alter them. They danced even stronger then before as the next song began.
*¤*.¸¸.·´¨`»*«´¨`·. ¸¸.*¤*
The glorious vacation ended, finally, and Harry was sent back to Hogwarts with Hermione, his wand and mind laden with new spells, all dark and powerful. Hermione had also taught him how to cast Avada Kedavra. But, she warned him not to rely on it. Someone like him, who had only known it for two days, would have about a 99% chance of a backfire that would damage the spell-caster more then the one that it was intended to be cast on.
Harry found himself back in the Hogwarts main hallway, staring dumbly around to find old friends. Fred and George spotted him first and then after laughing and hugging they said: "Ron's right over there."
Harry looked to where they motioned and he saw Ron and Lavender. Lavender was under a mistletoe that Ron had put over her head with his hand, and Ron was leaning forwards, kissing her cheek. She was willingly accepting the kiss, and even returned it with more of a force that sent Ron blushing and stumbling backwards.
Harry laughed and told Fred: "I'll talk with him later. He's got something bigger on his hands now."
Fred laughed and nodded, then turned to George. " Hey, George, how about we make McGonagall kiss Dumbledore? Would they go for it?"
"Naw! You're sick, Fred." George replied.
Harry walked away from the madly-laughing twins and then found himself face-to-face with Draco. Draco was standing a bit off to the side of the room, more pale then ever. His eyes were half-closed, the cold irises of his eyes even more frozen and uncaring then always. He looked up at Harry like a deer looks up the pipe of a gun that a hunter pokes to its nose. Then, Draco suddenly exclaimed: "Potter!"
A few people turned in surprise to find Harry and Draco running into an embrace.
A/N: No, no, no! This isn't slash, they're FRIENDS, those of you who thought that way . . .*cough* my Cousin Ela *cough*
Draco pulled back, smiling. "I lived, Potter. Would you believe it?" His lip was cut, badly, but Harry could see that it was nothing horrible.
" I learned Dark Spells." Harry told him, laughing. " We can kick Rebecca's butt now."
He shook his head. " Unbelievable. . . in two weeks? How many?"
" About twenty spells." Harry replied.
" Twenty!" Draco nearly shouted, then dropped his voice: "Hermione taught you, didn't she?" He didn't call her Mudblood, which brought a surprised glance from a few other nearby listeners. Draco looked at them, ices shooting flames, and said: "Hey! Mind your own business!"
The eavesdroppers turned away quickly.
" We'll beat her, Harry."
" We'll?" Harry's eyes raised. " We're a team, finally? Not I'm-in- this-for-my-own-good?"
" A team." Draco shook hands with Harry, then said, his voice barely above a whisper: "I know just where to corner her. Inside her sewing room, at twelve o'clock. That's when she goes there, to take off her shoes and rest from her Rebecca-form."
" How do you know?" Harry asked.
" Because. . . because I spied on her." Draco admitted. He seemed embarrassed. " But I didn't see her in the shower or anything!" He added, nervously. " Just spying during the school day."
" Sure." Harry said, teasingly.
Draco shook his head, blonde hair falling into his face again. "You know, Potter, Ginny said she'd go to the Valentine's Day bash with me."
" She did?" Harry could barely keep his voice down.
Draco nodded, smiling, pleased with himself. " I asked her, sort of in an anonymous note, if she was going with anyone. If not, to meet me at a certain location."
" So you guys met?" Harry laughed. " That's great!"
" I know!" Draco smiled. " My life is actually . . . actually getting better, not worse."
Harry could only grin.
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That evening, they waited in the sewing room. Harry and Draco hid behind the file cabinet in the corner of the room, and they could barely stand waiting. They had only one thing to do - find out who Rebecca morphed into before they'd confront her. Then. . . then it would be so easy!
Harry suddenly heard the hallway clock toll out midnight, and then the soft rumbling sound of the statuette moving aside filled the air.
Draco squeezed Harry's shoulder in fear. Harry could feel Draco's breath coming out in frightened rattles. Draco, who had lived through constant beatings, was frightened.
Finally, Rebecca stepped into the room, her figure dark in the cloak she had wrapped around her shoulders. Harry watched as Rebecca bent over, ready to remove the shoes that bound her feet. Just as she did, Harry suddenly lost his balance. His leg hooked with Draco's, and Draco was suddenly sent forwards, the locket falling from Harry's pocket as it did.
The locket tumbled to Rebecca's feet and she looked at it. Then, she glanced up and saw Draco, lying flat on the floor. Harry, meanwhile, was still cowering behind the cabinet, trying not to cry out in fright.
Draco slowly moved his head up, taking in the sight of Rebecca, and said, softly, nervously, gone stupid from panic:
" Um . . . nice hair."
A/N: I end here, since I'm sleepy and can't write logically any longer. To be continued in chapter 21. Oh and there are only 22 chapters in this fiction, since I am officially tired! I need sleep, sleep . . . sorry, Gary Skinner, it couldn't possibly stretch to April. ^_^ unless I don't upload for 3 months? How about that, people?
Sincere apologies to how this story was all messed up on Jan. 1, 2002. Man, I feel dumb, but see, my computer messed up. It kept freezing when I was uploading and then the spell check changed all my words up - when I first posted ch.19, Hermione was changed to Herman which is not right. I'm sorry for the confusion, and yeah I hope everything's alright now!
A/N, a bit of a PS: There will probably be 2 more chapters after this. This fiction is, though not as long as the real books (off by about 100 pages, from my planning), not going to be stretched too long. I already finished the last chapter and now have to work up to it, so that's all I'm doing now. After that, I will only write short, non-continuing fics unless something happens that will force me to writing novels again - like getting 500 reviews or something. Then I'd know that this is really something. ^_^
2
3 Chapter 20
Twists of Fate
The Ministry had finally released Harry to go, since they had been stuck in a rut with determining who it had been that attacked Harry, and Harry wasn't going to lead them on, since he wanted to go with Hermione to her home for winter vacation. So, finally, the day had come for Harry to leave for the Granger's Muggle home. He had been packing for a good two hours inside the Gryffindor tower, his eyes checking his room over and over again to see if he missed anything important.
Ron walked up to him just then, his eyes questioning: "So, Harry . . ." Ron began, his lower lip trembling a bit. " A week away with Hermione, alone, eh?"
" Yeah."
" That's pretty neat." Ron replied, his eyes moving away from Harry's now. " I guess. . . alone, eh?"
Harry looked up at him, from the suitcase packed with his belongings, and said, with a bit of an amusement in his voice: "Well, not completely alone, Ron. Her parents will be there."
" Oh." Ron shuffled his feet. " But alone from anyone else?"
" She can't bring in a lot of friends, you know that." Harry exclaimed. " You didn't invite her when you invited me to your home over the summer, remember?"
Ron's ears reddened. " I guess."
" Don't be jealous, Ron, really, I'm still your best friend. I guess things will change but we'll always be friends forever." He added, softly, after a while: "Always."
" I'm not jealous!" Ron exclaimed.
" I think you might be." Harry slowly closed the suitcase, then opened it upon discovery that he forgot to pack his socks. " Ron, listen to me. I've told you everything that I could, and I've shared with you every new piece of information I got. I couldn't possibly be hiding anything from you. You know that."
" Well . . ."
" You shouldn't doubt me." Harry shoved the ten pairs of socks he'd prepared deep into the suitcase, then grumbled at how taut and stretched the canvas suitcase had become.
" I'm not, Harry. I guess I should have told you, but . . ." Ron suddenly hesitated. "Never mind. Have fun with Hermione, alright?" Ron slowly moved away from Harry.
" I will. Thanks." Harry pulled the suitcase up from the bed, then slowly slid it down to the floor with a thump. The bed springs creaked and slowly raised from the weight that had been removed from them.
Harry turned back to Ron, his hands pulling a parcel from his pocket. " Ron?" Harry said, gently.
The red-haired boy looked up, his hands holding tightly to a magazine, the front of the page moving, revealing an image of a man zooming on a broomstick, hand stretched out, catching a Snitch flawlessly. Harry suddenly recognized the face: Viktor Krum.
Ron stared at the parcel in Harry's hand. "What's that, Harry?"
" Since I won't be here on Christmas, I thought I'd give you your gift earlier." Harry explained, his hand reaching out, the little red packet balanced tenderly on his hand.
" Oh, wow!" Ron jumped up, the magazine falling to the floor, a few loose pages tumbling out. Ron grasped at the parcel and he then brought it up towards his face, against the light, saying: "What is it? Can I open it now?" Ron looked even happier when Harry nodded. " I can open it, really?"
Harry laughed. " You can open it."
Ron, like a child again, slowly ripped open the packet, and found inside a little box. His eyebrows furrowed. "What's this?" He whispered, slowly lifting the top lid of the cardboard box. Just as he did, the room filled with images on all walls - dancing pictures of Quidditch players. Little people on brooms zoomed around on the walls, like a slide projection, but much more interesting. Ron closed the box and all the images disappeared. Ron exclaimed: " Wicked! Where did you find this thing?"
" I saw an ad for it in one of your Quidditch magazines. I thought you'd like it - it's called a Pictobox. It supposedly 'brings a room to life with pictures of Quidditch', quote the ad." Harry smiled. "Do you like it?"
" I love it!" Ron laughed. " It's perfect." He opened the box again and the walls erupted with colorful pictures again. Ron's eyes reflected the colors dancing on the walls. " Wow."
" I know." Harry smiled and then added: " I thought you'd like it."
" For once, you had a right thought." Ron joked, then suddenly said: " I had a gift for you too. Hold on." Ron suddenly placed the Pictobox on his bed and then raced out of the bedroom quarters and into a side room.
" It's okay, Ron. You can give the gift once I come back." Harry shouted out.
" No." Ron cried. " I have to find it."
Harry glanced at the clock in the room. It was about two hours to seven, and seven was when Hermione's parents were to arrive at the train station. Hogwarts had a train driving students to Platform 9 and ¾ in less then two hours now, especially for the winter holidays; and it was being used feverishly by the students. The new train schedules made it a lot easier to fit everyone into the train, and for the students to be able to easily move about outside of school.
" Ron, I'm supposed to catch the train, I can't . . ."
" Okay, got it!" Ron walked in just then with a giant box under his arm. " I didn't wrap it, since I couldn't find enough gift wrap, but. . ."
" It's okay." Harry took the gift hurriedly from Ron's hands and then sat down on the floor to open it. Ron watched with bated breath, hoping that Harry would exclaim in joy at whatever the gift was to be.
Harry gently opened the box and then felt something soft and warm inside. He pulled it upwards and saw it was an odd-shaped sweater, lumpy and moth-eaten. Harry grimaced. " It's . . . lovely, Ron."
Ron laughed. " No, no, put it on, Harry."
" Er. . ." Harry wondered if Ron would force him to wear the awful creation. Harry had dressed spiffily so that Hermione's parents wouldn't think he was some sort of slob or a messy bum, and now this!
Harry pulled the sweater on, and then looked down at it. It slowly took the shape of his body, and then grew a lot more handsome - woven and intricate, with the silkiest yarns used. The pattern changed - instead of lumpy and bumpy zigzags, it was now solid and then in little double loops. Harry said: "Oh! It turned nice! Not that it wasn't nice before, but you know what I mean." Harry added the last part in a hurry, so as not to insult the gift he had received. It was, after all, rather interesting already.
" Harry, it isn't the sweater itself!" Ron laughed.
" What do you mean?" Harry asked.
Ron suddenly swung his fist and hit Harry squarely in the stomach. Harry would have normally been thrown off his feet and then would have pulverized Ron, but to his shock, Ron's fist didn't even tickle him. Actually, Harry didn't even sway on his feet a bit. Ron continued punching Harry, much to Ron's delight.
" Uh, Ron, what's going on?" Harry finally asked.
" Can't you see?" Ron questioned.
" See what?" Harry stared down at the sweater again.
" When you have it on, you can't get hurt. Much." Ron added 'Much' as a bit of an after thought. " The sweater, when taken off, looks hideous, doesn't it?"
Harry nodded, slowly.
" Well, you see, that's not to attract people to it. I bought this thing at that weird store in Hogsmeade, the one where the old guy sells all those strange things." Ron said. " I thought you might need it, just in case."
" Wow! Thanks, Ron!" Harry exclaimed. " This must have been so expensive."
" It's alright. I've done jobs for people all summer, and I pretty much earned most of the money I bought it with. The rest I borrowed off of Fred and George." Ron said, then added: " So, you like it?"
" It's amazing!" Harry exclaimed. " Hit me again."
Ron obliged.
Harry didn't feel nary a trickle once again. " Wicked." Harry said, borrowing Ron's word. " Absolutely, positively wicked."
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Hermione and Harry sat down on the red leathery seats inside the Hogwarts holiday train - it was decorated for Christmas accordingly - and then they both chatted excitedly.
" Oh. I can't wait until you meet my parents!" Hermione was saying to Harry.
" Neither can I." Harry admitted.
" Whatever you do, though, don't eat a lot of sweets around them. They don't respect people who eat a lot of sweets - they're both dentists." Hermione reminded Harry.
" I know."
" I think that we won't have a minute of boredom. I'll show you everything - my old Muggle friends, everything." She grinned. "They can't know about Hogwarts, though - they would think we're crazy."
" Muggles." Harry rolled his eyes.
" We both go to a foreign school for gifted children, if they ask - remember that." Hermione warned him.
" I will."
" I'll introduce you as my boyfriend." She squeezed his hand. "They will all be so jealous, that I have such a good-looking and smart guy. . ."
Harry laughed. " Let them be jealous; I am the real lucky one."
This made Hermione laugh loudly. She opened her own baggage, a little handbag filled with few things since she had plenty of clothes back at home, and then said: " I have to show you something, Harry."
Harry leaned forwards, his eyes scanning Hermione's bag with a bit of an interest. What could she possibly want to show him? Hermione slowly pulled with her fingers at a little plastic container and then said: " Harry, I found a clue, and it's not big but it might be important."
" What clue?" Harry asked.
" Here." She opened the plastic container. Harry got sight of a small needle inside it and some leather.
" Oh!" He looked at it with interest.
" This leather was something I found in Rebecca Crick's coat pocket." She said.
" You were pick-pocketing then?" Harry kidded.
" Harry!" She laughed, then lowered her eyes: " Yes." She quickly added: " For a good cause, though! It really was!"
" Well, then, what sort of leather is it?" Harry wanted to know.
" It's a young English Whitescale."
" No. . . Hagrid's?" Harry whispered.
She nodded.
" He'll be heartbroken." Harry leaned back on the red seat, his black hair falling into his eyes, despite his glasses. "No! That's so unfairly cruel! How could anyone kill something so young and innocent?"
" Rebecca Crick - or whoever it is - would." Hermione said.
" That's inhuman. Plain awful, Herm." Harry murmured. "I can't believe this. So the dragon really is dead. Draco was right."
" The point is, Harry, the moment we get back we need to confront her. To find out who she is." Hermione said. "Draco will be back in two weeks, right?"
" He should be."
" Good." She replied. " We'll need his help, we'll need ALL the help we can get against Rebecca Crick. I have a few books on Dark Spells that I . . . um . . . took from the school library. I thought we'd go through them at my home."
" You're really stealing an awful lot, aren't you?" Harry said, semi- seriously, as he brought her closer to him with his hand. He had wrapped his arm around her shoulder, his fingers gently running through the strands of hair resting on her shoulders and down her back. Her head rested on his shoulder as she replied to his question:
" I did what I had to do."
" Of course."
*¤*.¸¸.·´¨`»*«´¨`·. ¸¸.*¤*
The Grangers stood, a bit awkwardly, in front of the train station. Harry and Hermione finally emerged, and the two parents raced to Hermione right away.
" Oh! Honey!" Mrs. Granger exclaimed, showering Hermione with kisses. " It's so empty in our house without you!"
Mr. Granger, meanwhile, took a good look at Harry, and with smiling, cheerful eyes, he exclaimed: "Well! I assume you're Harry Potter. We've met before, haven't we?"
" Yes." Harry nodded. " Nice to meet you again, though, sir." Harry held his hand out to Mr. Granger and the two shook hands.
Mrs. Granger then turned to Harry, with Mr. Granger going to Hermione ('exchange of positions', thought Harry with a smile). Mrs. Granger's smile was absolutely brilliant - white pearly teeth, all perfectly aligned on pink gums. Harry grinned back, a bit uncertainly, as Mrs. Granger pulled him close in a hug. " Oh, Harry, we've heard a lot about you from Hermione."
" Really?" Harry could only squeak out as he pulled out of the woman's death-lock. She grinned at her husband, then said:
" I suppose Harry wouldn't mind if we traveled home in our, uh, 'Muggle' car?"
Mr. Granger laughed and shook his head, saying: " No, no he wouldn't, right, Harry?"
Harry nodded.
*¤*.¸¸.·´¨`»*«´¨`·. ¸¸.*¤*
Harry had finished dinner with the Grangers and then he and Hermione retired to their living room, where she was watching some sort of movie. Harry wasn't too interested in it, it was an animated picture and every few minutes the entire animated cast burst into song spontanously, which was slightly annoying him. So, he finally struck up a conversation with Hermione again:
" I've been thinking on the train ride, and I think I know who Rebecca Crick is."
" Who?" She turned to Harry.
" A follower of Voldemort." Harry said the name, and watched Hermione shudder a bit.
" I think so too, Harry, that's nothing new." She told him.
" I've also put the clues together. Draco told me something, before he left, something I didn't mention before." Harry said.
Hermione leaned closer. "What?"
" He discovered an old sewing room inside Hogwarts, hidden behind a charmed statue." Harry began. " I think Rebecca made the shoes in there, and then stared at a picture on the wall of a girl that looked like her - or, is it, the girl SHE looked LIKE?" Harry was a bit puzzled.
" Just never mind and keep going." Hermione told him.
" Right." He nodded sagely. " She took form of the girl on the wall. When she is in Rebecca's body, she no longer has the powers her old body held. That is why she was practicing Dark Curses. She needed to get to know them with her new self."
" Oh!"
" She was the one who attacked Charlie, in her other form. I know that because of Charlie's description. The person in the robes, with glowing eyes - that's who I ran into outside." Harry could feel a coldness spreading over him. " I don't know how Rebecca could track me, though. I need to find out, because she somehow must have kept track of me to know which school I'm in, to know where my friends live (I visited them, after all), to know who my friends are." Harry released a shuddering breath.
" Whatever happens, you need to confront her. Find out who she is." Hermione said.
" I know."
" I have gone ahead and asked Dumbledore for special permission for me to teach you Dark Curses." Hermione said, admitting to what she had done. " I know you are probably scared of doing them, but if you want to confront Rebecca, you must be prepared."
" I know."
" This holiday won't be fun, Harry, it will be hellish. I will be teaching you everything I can possibly teach you, and you will be able to face Rebecca and if she pulls anything funny, you can defend yourself." Hermione motioned at three books on the table. "The most powerful dark spells await, Harry, and you only tell me to, and I will teach them to you."
*¤*.¸¸.·´¨`»*«´¨`·. ¸¸.*¤*
Harry's first lesson with the Dark Spells was a simple spell, but one Hermione had taught herself quickly - fainting spells. She explained to Harry:
" One spell will knock the other person out, and they won't wake up for a long time. Useful for people like Rebecca, in her weak form."
" So who do I practice it on?" Harry asked her, his eyes fixing on the wand in his hands, burning warm already to his touch, since the wand sensed that it would be doing something powerful.
" See over there? I charmed by teddy bear so it's 'alive', a similar charm like they put on Chocolate Frogs." Hermione said, pointing to her bed. On it, a little brown bear was hopping around, aimlessly, bopping into the white-painted wall, blind because his eyes were only black buttons after all.
" How does the spell go again?" Harry asked.
" We went over this a million times!" She cried out, exasperated, her brown hair matted and sticking to her forehead.
" I'm sorry." Harry said, smiling sweetly, then held his wand up in dark charm stance, which was with the wand pointed and shoulder-level, with the eyes held tight to the target, and with a poised elegance to oneself (this was how Hermione taught him, after all). Harry's wand twitched, the dark spell slowly emerging from Harry's mouth: " Stunniti Exasprus."
A dark purple jagged spear of sparks shot from the tip of the wand and then burst through the teddy bear. It fell to the bed with a sickening thump, and Harry ran up to see what had happened. It's teddy bear body was untouched, but it was knocked unconscious.
" I'll remove the Life Charm from the teddy bear now, just in case. . ." Hermione said, tapping the top of the bear's head with her wand and saying the spell: " Nix Livius".
" Windagrdium Leviosa!" She then called out and brought another teddy bear to the bed by floating it over. Hermione then put a Life Charm on this new bear. " Try it again on this one, but this time do the spell precisely when the bear is standing over the pillow."
" Why?"
" Because then you'll have practice in casting spells only at certain moments. It's an important ability." Hermione told him.
So Harry stood in his awkward pose, waiting for the bear to make its way over her white down pillow. Finally, she told him: "Now, Harry!"
" Stunniti Exasprus!"
The purple spear appeared again, winding through the teddy bear. It fell, lifeless, to the bedspread.
" You did it, Harry!" Hermione cried out, throwing her arms around his neck. " Now we can move on to the next curse. . ." She opened the book, then exclaimed: " Ah! My favorite one in here!"
" You have a favorite?" Harry asked, stunned.
" Yes." She replied, her eyes closing halfway in a pout-like smile. " It happens to be the Blinding Curse."
" It makes someone blind?" Harry cried out.
" No." She smiled happily and then explained: " It will simply blind someone for a short while, a few minutes or so, which will throw an enemy off-guard while you make a mad dash for your life or something." Hermione tapped Harry's broom with her nail. "Very clever spell, Harry. Hard to use, and clever as a fox."
" The bears are blind anyway. What do I cast it on?" Harry asked.
" Me." Hermione replied.
" Are you nuts? You?" Harry said. " What if I do permanent damage to you?"
" Like what?" Hermione wanted to know.
" It could malfunction. I could blind you for life." Harry whispered.
She shook her head. " Impossible. Only Neville Longbottom is that careless." She then added: "That reminds me! He and you and me are all going out to the zoo tomorrow, for some fun. He's coming to England again from France and his relatives, in order to settle some court papers or something." Hermione then shook her head and added: "Poor guy, he can barely remember his birth date. How will he fill out those forms?"
Harry read the page in the book on the Blinding Curse. " This looks difficult, Herm." He finally said.
" Difficult, shmifficult." She teased, then told him with a bit of a serious tone: " You'll master it the first time. Now, try it slowly. Say the curse with feeling. Try to imagine me going blind for a few minutes." She laughed.
" Herm, I can't." Harry put his wand down to his side. "That's something I can't do. It would be like killing you or something."
" Harry, do it!"
" Fine." Harry lifted his wand, and said, with as much feeling as one can put into a spell: " Iris Diaphragmus Shuttus!"
Hermione's pupils and Irises suddenly turned into two thin slits, like the sides of coins, or cat eyes when exposed to severe light. She stumbled, and then exclaimed: "You did it, Harry! I can't see a thing!"
" You look awful." Harry whispered, kneeling down beside her on the floor. He stared into her blank, thin slivers of eyes and then said: " That was the hardest spell I've ever had to cast, Herm."
" You never know." She said gently, her eyes slowly closing as she rested her forehead on his. " It's so hard to be blind. I've tried this on myself, before, when I practiced it."
" That's crazy, Herm." Harry told her.
" Not if I want to be successful." She replied. Her eyes suddenly burst from the little slivers and she stood up, blinking. "Ah! Back to normal. See, Harry? Nothing to fear."
Harry shuddered. " I'm still freaked out, no offense." He murmured.
*¤*.¸¸.·´¨`»*«´¨`·. ¸¸.*¤*
The next day came rather quickly, and Harry slept restlessly on a foldout cot in the Granger's living room. Their home was small, definitely smaller then the Dursleys. It had two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a kitchen; a living room and dining room in the same room, an attic that was small and dusty and filled with bats and a basement filled with old furniture.
Harry woke up to a familiar voice exclaiming: "Harry! Harry, wake up! Guess who's here. . . guess!"
Harry felt two cold hands cover his eyes, an old game, and then a voice said: "Guess who's here."
" Neville!" Harry exclaimed, turning to face the pudgy boy he had known. Neville smiled and nodded. Harry immediately said: "I'm sorry about your grandmother, Neville. I can't believe I won't see you around Hogwarts halls anymore."
" I know." Neville looked down at his feet. " I suppose things change, and sometimes it will be for the better and sometimes for the worse."
" That's quite the wise words, Neville." Harry smiled at him.
" Hermione said we'll be going to the zoo today, you know that? It'll be fabulous, won't it!" Neville's freckled cheeks stretched even more as he burst into an ear-to-ear grin. " Wouldn't it be the greatest? I've been in Muggle zoos before, but I can't wait, anyway!"
" You're such a kid, Neville." Harry swung his feet off the side of the cot and then stretched. " Where's Hermione?"
" She's getting dressed in the bathroom. She'll be out soon." Neville told him. " I sort of came early, at 5 in the morning. My aunts sent me here on a plane - those Muggle things are absolutely awful! I didn't get a wink of sleep."
" I've never been on one." Harry admitted.
" You don't want to be on one." Neville told him.
Harry grinned and then stood. " I guess I should go dress, too. What time is it, anyhow?"
" 5 in the morning, Harry. I told you, that's when I came, I even said specifically."
Harry turned, eyes wide. " You woke me at FIVE? FIVE IN THE MORNING?" Neville's face sunk, and he whispered:
" I'm sorry, Harry, I - -"
" No, don't worry." Harry tried to five him a cheerful grin, and it came out looking a bit lopsided. " I'm used to waking up at five from the Dursleys. Don't worry about it in the least bit." Then, Harry looked around to see which of the closed doors could be Hermione's bedroom.
He finally opened a door, walked in, and then walked right out again realizing it was a closet. Blushing slightly, he found his way into Hermione's bedroom and then quickly changed into his clothes there (his suitcase was in her room, with all his clothing).
When he came out, he ran into Mr. and Mrs. Granger, both looking sleepy and tired. Mr. Granger smiled at Harry and said: "So, is it a wizard tradition, Harry, to wake up at this time of the day?"
" Um . . ." Harry's face burned with a blush. " No, sir. Neville just came early, you see, he's never been on a plane before and he thought it would arrive quickly, like Floo powder . . ."
" Flu what?" Mrs. Granger asked.
" Hermione will explain later, dear." Mr. Granger said to his wife. " By the way, did you run that X-ray into the office yesterday, of Mrs. Smith's teeth? She wanted to have a good X-ray this time."
Harry then watched the Grangers involve themselves in some sort of conversation about Mrs. Smith and how horribly picky she was about things. Harry slowly walked away from them, hands in his pockets, eyes rolling up to the sky. Parents. . . sometimes they were strange . . .
Harry met up with Neville and Hermione (full dressed), at the front door. They all waited until Mr. Granger found his car keys (they were for some reason inside the freezer), and then they all climbed into their new car, a Sedan that the Grangers saved up for. Hermione waved to her mom from the back window of the car as they all sped off towards the zoo.
*¤*.¸¸.·´¨`»*«´¨`·. ¸¸.*¤*
Harry and Hermione went ice skating the sixth day of winter vacation. They pulled on their ice skates (Harry could barely stand in them so he crawled towards the ice rink from the skate rental desk, a good five meters), and then they both tried their ice skills on the rink.
Hermione was an expert, to Harry's amazement. She sailed across the ice, her head turning to see if Harry was following. He had just put his left leg on the ice, and with some misfortune, slipped and fell down squarely on his behind.
She laughed and helped him up, and then she linked hands with him. They began skating by the sides, with Harry holding himself up by the glass walls of the rink. By the end of the first ten minutes, Harry had managed to be able to pull away from the wall without slipping. They went slowly, one foot before the other; Hermione whispering instructions in his ear. It wasn't because they were secret instructions, but she found it romantic to whisper into his ear instead of just telling him.
By the end of the hour, Harry was gliding across the ice like a pro, and Hermione was at his side. They both eyed a couple in the middle of the rink, dancing on the ice, their sharp skate blades cutting the ice in an odd dance rhythm, intoxicating and seductive. The woman was rather young, the man a bit older, both looking completely in love. The man broke away from her and approached the ice skate rental desk. He discussed something with the man behind the desk, then motioned at the speakers hanging from the ceiling, which were at the moment blasting an old classic by Chopin.
Slowly, the slow classical music drained away and a fast salsa beat began. Instinctually, Harry's feet moved quicker to the pace, Hermione meeting his moves as if they were made to skate together.
They watched the couple skating, their legs twining, arms joining, heads moving to and fro, a romantic dance that seemed so natural and yet so unique that Harry was compelled to bring Hermione close to himself as well.
She gasped a bit, her body pulled close to his, as Harry slowly began to twirl around her, slowly moving her away, then closer. She laughed. "Harry, what're you doing?"
He winked and then motioned with his head towards the dancing couple. Her lips formed a little 'O' and then she nodded and danced along.
People had gathered, watching the two couples, one young and one older, both dancing as they skated, like professionals.
Harry, of course, stumbled at times, and then he'd blush and look down, black strands of hair falling across his face in embarrassment. Hermione would tilt his chin up with her fingers, smiling reassuringly, and they'd begin again from where they'd left off, as if not a stumble had happened but a dance step in itself.
Suddenly, the salsa music ended, but Harry and Hermione found themselves still dancing. And when they realized that everyone was watching, laughing, they didn't let it alter them. They danced even stronger then before as the next song began.
*¤*.¸¸.·´¨`»*«´¨`·. ¸¸.*¤*
The glorious vacation ended, finally, and Harry was sent back to Hogwarts with Hermione, his wand and mind laden with new spells, all dark and powerful. Hermione had also taught him how to cast Avada Kedavra. But, she warned him not to rely on it. Someone like him, who had only known it for two days, would have about a 99% chance of a backfire that would damage the spell-caster more then the one that it was intended to be cast on.
Harry found himself back in the Hogwarts main hallway, staring dumbly around to find old friends. Fred and George spotted him first and then after laughing and hugging they said: "Ron's right over there."
Harry looked to where they motioned and he saw Ron and Lavender. Lavender was under a mistletoe that Ron had put over her head with his hand, and Ron was leaning forwards, kissing her cheek. She was willingly accepting the kiss, and even returned it with more of a force that sent Ron blushing and stumbling backwards.
Harry laughed and told Fred: "I'll talk with him later. He's got something bigger on his hands now."
Fred laughed and nodded, then turned to George. " Hey, George, how about we make McGonagall kiss Dumbledore? Would they go for it?"
"Naw! You're sick, Fred." George replied.
Harry walked away from the madly-laughing twins and then found himself face-to-face with Draco. Draco was standing a bit off to the side of the room, more pale then ever. His eyes were half-closed, the cold irises of his eyes even more frozen and uncaring then always. He looked up at Harry like a deer looks up the pipe of a gun that a hunter pokes to its nose. Then, Draco suddenly exclaimed: "Potter!"
A few people turned in surprise to find Harry and Draco running into an embrace.
A/N: No, no, no! This isn't slash, they're FRIENDS, those of you who thought that way . . .*cough* my Cousin Ela *cough*
Draco pulled back, smiling. "I lived, Potter. Would you believe it?" His lip was cut, badly, but Harry could see that it was nothing horrible.
" I learned Dark Spells." Harry told him, laughing. " We can kick Rebecca's butt now."
He shook his head. " Unbelievable. . . in two weeks? How many?"
" About twenty spells." Harry replied.
" Twenty!" Draco nearly shouted, then dropped his voice: "Hermione taught you, didn't she?" He didn't call her Mudblood, which brought a surprised glance from a few other nearby listeners. Draco looked at them, ices shooting flames, and said: "Hey! Mind your own business!"
The eavesdroppers turned away quickly.
" We'll beat her, Harry."
" We'll?" Harry's eyes raised. " We're a team, finally? Not I'm-in- this-for-my-own-good?"
" A team." Draco shook hands with Harry, then said, his voice barely above a whisper: "I know just where to corner her. Inside her sewing room, at twelve o'clock. That's when she goes there, to take off her shoes and rest from her Rebecca-form."
" How do you know?" Harry asked.
" Because. . . because I spied on her." Draco admitted. He seemed embarrassed. " But I didn't see her in the shower or anything!" He added, nervously. " Just spying during the school day."
" Sure." Harry said, teasingly.
Draco shook his head, blonde hair falling into his face again. "You know, Potter, Ginny said she'd go to the Valentine's Day bash with me."
" She did?" Harry could barely keep his voice down.
Draco nodded, smiling, pleased with himself. " I asked her, sort of in an anonymous note, if she was going with anyone. If not, to meet me at a certain location."
" So you guys met?" Harry laughed. " That's great!"
" I know!" Draco smiled. " My life is actually . . . actually getting better, not worse."
Harry could only grin.
*¤*.¸¸.·´¨`»*«´¨`·. ¸¸.*¤*
That evening, they waited in the sewing room. Harry and Draco hid behind the file cabinet in the corner of the room, and they could barely stand waiting. They had only one thing to do - find out who Rebecca morphed into before they'd confront her. Then. . . then it would be so easy!
Harry suddenly heard the hallway clock toll out midnight, and then the soft rumbling sound of the statuette moving aside filled the air.
Draco squeezed Harry's shoulder in fear. Harry could feel Draco's breath coming out in frightened rattles. Draco, who had lived through constant beatings, was frightened.
Finally, Rebecca stepped into the room, her figure dark in the cloak she had wrapped around her shoulders. Harry watched as Rebecca bent over, ready to remove the shoes that bound her feet. Just as she did, Harry suddenly lost his balance. His leg hooked with Draco's, and Draco was suddenly sent forwards, the locket falling from Harry's pocket as it did.
The locket tumbled to Rebecca's feet and she looked at it. Then, she glanced up and saw Draco, lying flat on the floor. Harry, meanwhile, was still cowering behind the cabinet, trying not to cry out in fright.
Draco slowly moved his head up, taking in the sight of Rebecca, and said, softly, nervously, gone stupid from panic:
" Um . . . nice hair."
A/N: I end here, since I'm sleepy and can't write logically any longer. To be continued in chapter 21. Oh and there are only 22 chapters in this fiction, since I am officially tired! I need sleep, sleep . . . sorry, Gary Skinner, it couldn't possibly stretch to April. ^_^ unless I don't upload for 3 months? How about that, people?
