He didn't sleep well at all that night. Worries about what would happen the next day in classes prevented him from sleeping, and when he finally dozed off, it was absolutely horrible. Dreams like he'd never had before plagued him. There were whips, and knives, and nooses, and other instruments he didn't recognize. But, to Harry's great surprise, there were no modern weapons-no guns, no bombs…but all of these were implements of torture or death…as the ones he knew by sight were used for those purposes, leaving him to assume the others were, as well.
When he awoke, earlier than usual, he pondered them for a bit. They had to have something to do with the Necromancy…looking down at his arms, he saw welts where the things had hit him…I should probably go see Professor Dumbledore later, and see what he thinks…
He made his way to the empty Great Hall, not wanting to see anyone from Gryffindor, although he wasn't afraid of the 'male Hermione' taunts that were sure to follow from everyone. He didn't want his roommates to try to be bodyguards. He didn't want to have to look at Fred, George, or Ginny. Especially not Ginny. He couldn't take it if she blamed him, too. It was too much as it was, and if Ginny, who was one of the kindest, most understanding people he'd ever met, turned against him too…
The teachers weren't there yet either, but sure enough, the house-elves had put food on all the tables. He ate quickly and was thinking about what to do until it was time for classes. On second thought, what ARE my classes? Dumbledore had mentioned something about a different schedule…The morning post flew in at exactly that moment. Impeccable timing. One came to him. The remainder of the fleet made themselves at home in the rafters. He relived it of its letter, and it flew back out the window. Opening it, he found his schedule. He was with the 7th year Gryffindors. He didn't know which would be worse-having the same classes as Fred and George or being with Slytherin. He supposed both would be terrible…How would he be able to pay attention with their identical glares boring into the back of his head? (Or dirty looks shot back at him from the front.) It would be hell. He sighed. He didn't have any of the course books, either. This promised to be one of the most challenging social years he would ever face…On ordinary circumstances, he would have consulted Hermione, but he wasn't sure what their relationship was at the moment. Well, at least I have Defense first. The classes were in the same order as his, just on a different day of the week…So he had Potions next. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Watch me get paired with one of them…[Fred or George] Harry left the Great Hall, intending to just wander the halls avoiding people until nine o'clock, which was when his lessons started. He turned right after he exited, and ran into two redheads. Identical. They glared and folded their arms across their chests at the exact same moment. "We need to talk." Harry nodded in agreement, and followed them down the corridor. They turned into an empty classroom, and beckoned him in. They closed the door behind him. "Listen, Potter," began George, "we don't like you very much right now."
"I'd noticed," said Harry dryly.
"And so you should have," growled Fred. "You killed our little brother."
"Inadvertently," snapped Harry. "And it wasn't me. If you'll excuse me gentlemen, I'll see you at nine o'clock."
"No, we have different schedules, so you'll see us at lunch. Watch your back."
"I believe they're indistinguishable as of this morning."
"Huh?" [AN: Maggie, Laura:
Sound familiar? Sounds like George's
had one too many joints…gee, I wonder who he could be hanging out with? J]
"Forget it." Harry made to walk out the door, but Fred grabbed his shoulder and spun him around roughly. "Not so fast. Do you deny you killed Ron?"
"Ron was guilty by association, and that's why he was murdered. I don't deny that. However, the syllables of the killing curse have never left my lips when my wand was pointed at anything. Yes, he was my friend. Yes, Voldemort killed him because of that. So, yes, I did kill him. No, I don't deny it." Harry didn't look at either of them as he said this.
"I'm glad we're in agreement. Now, we've been elected co-captains of the Quidditch team. Tryouts this year are going to be a mere formality…Ginny's going to end up as Keeper, or Seeker, whichever she's better at. And you're off, so don't even bother showing-it'll be a bother to explain why you didn't even make the first cut. Understood?"
"Quite."
"And we'll appoint Ginny as our successor, to make sure you're kept off," added Fred.
"You do that. But I won't come back."
"We never said we'd ask you."
"True. I'll see you." He left.
"Let me at that bastard!" George shouted, running after him.
"George! No! Mum said not to hurt him!"
"Too late for that," said George, slightly calmer. "He killed Ron."
"Yes, we all think so. But I think he feels badly enough already."
"It was your idea to talk to him in the first place!"
"Yes, but I'm not going to be openly hostile from this point on. Mum didn't tell us what went on after the Tournament last year, remember? She told Dad and Percy, and Ron wanted to know, but she wouldn't say. What was it she told us?"
"'It's not fit for a child to hear.'" George mimicked her voice.
"Exactly. And Harry went through it. There's not a lot she doesn't let us know. It must have been really bad."
"So? He probably deserved it."
"Yeah, I agree. Still, don't you wonder?"
"Sometimes. Ron said he changed after it."
"Ron didn't SEE him this summer, much less this year, because he's dead, and because of HIM!"
"Yeah. And he'll pay for it, too. But we should get down to breakfast if we want to eat."
No, no, NO, please don't come this way…shit, they're coming…no, no, NO… Wanting nothing more than to be invisible, Harry ducked behind a suit of armor…
"Hey!" came one of their voices. "We're late!"
He looked nervously from between the suit's legs, (whoa, that sounds wrong, but you know what I mean, lol) and dust flew into his nose. He sneezed.
George looked suspiciously at the suit of armor, and Harry could tell he was looking straight at him. Or…through him?
"Did you hear something?"
"No. Let's go."
Weird…
Yes, I
realize this is one of the shortest parts I've ever written! Ugh. Please forgive me…I'd intended to post it yesterday, as a book 4
anniversary thingy, you know, but hey, it doesn't always work out. I'm going to see Shrek in 2 hours
time and to watch the Sunday Funnies on the Disney channel in one, so it would
be pretty cool if I got some reviews by seven…that said, love you! Shoutouts this time go to Svolkame, (please
sign in if you have stories, because author search seems to be down) for the
bestest review I've ever gotten, and Dunno, who I urge to get the next part of
Book of Oaths out soon! Oh, and a big
sorry to Rufus…I had to post this before I went out, hehe, I just couldn't
wait, and you HAVE inflated my morale with all the comments about how I don't
need a beta (although I caught some mistakes in previous chapters that I need
to go back and fix.) If you have any
edits, I'll repost it using them…oh, and I'm about done with the little red
letters on yours, look for it soon in your inbox!!!!!
NEWS
FLASH: I HAVE BEEN GOING BACK AND
FIXING OLD CHAPTERS, SO, FOR THOSE OF YOU WITH AUTHOR ALERT, DON'T PAY TOO MUCH
ATTENTION TO THE FIRST NINE. Hopefully
Part 11 will be up sooner than this (ugh, sorry about the delay, I was slightly
blocked…sigh) and if I'm super lucky it should be out sometime next
week…however, don't expect it unless you've gotten 2 little AAs from the bot
saying that I've posted another chapter on Tani…the first one should come
shortly before or after the one saying I've posted on 5th year, and
the other one should come after you get those two. Yeah. So unless I'm
majorly blocked on Tani, then this one isn't coming out until it's done. Although I may change my mind, as I actually
know what I'm going to do with Part 11…
Peace
out, buhbyes, ja!
Ciao!
~_^
Coqui the Mighty Frog
P.S. Unless some of you violently protest, Ronald and the
Technicolor Dressrobe is going bye-bye until I finish the whole thing and
repost it. Hehe. Oh, and what else was I going to say. Um…and I should have my poetry typed up for
your reading in a nice collection too. So read that if you see it. Hehe.
P.P.S. Kudos to whoever guesses what Harry's dreams are
about! You get a shout-out if you
do!!!!!
