Chapter 24

The Catapults

When Harry woke up the next morning, he shut his eyes again and prayed that the day before had not happened. He sat up, and was the only member of the dorm present. Shrugging into his clothes, he walked down to the common room.

Every conversation stopped, and everybody turned to look at him. He walked over and sat down in the chair beside the fire, next to Hermione and Ron. He wanted a few moments to collect his thoughts before facing the rest of the school, who would have heard all about the night before.

'Well duh, you told them to tell everybody.' They were still staring at him. He sighed, and headed for the portrait hole, when his name was called.

"Harry, wait up!" Ginny dashed down the stairs to catch up with him. "What are you doing just walking out of here? We always walk together. You two coming?"

Hermione and Ron jumped out of their seats like they had been burned, and rushed over to them.

Harry looked at Ginny, and the common room waited with held breath. Would he yell at her? Then they noticed the smile that was playing at the corner of his mouth.

'Is she the only one? Not even Hermione and Ron will treat me like normal. I can't change what's happening, but I can't let it rule my life. She's the only one that understands that.'

"I don't deserve you," he said quietly.

Ginny grinned, a smile that lit up her whole face. "Well, Mr. Potter, I'll agree with you there," she said leading him out of the room. "But you can't get rid of me, so I guess you should just take the punishment without complaint."

He smiled at her and shook his head as the four left the common room.

Hermione and Ron caught on, and treated him normal along with Ginny. They were the only ones. Even the Professors looked at him like he was a bomb ready to go off. Heather was the only Professor to act normal, well as normal as Heather could get.

It was a very hard week for Harry. He was constantly fighting with himself, trying not to blame himself. Then on Friday, a whole new problem came to his attention.

The Dream Team sat in Heather's office, talking with her and Sirius. Harry stared at his feet, trying to put something into words and couldn't.

"Harry, love, what's wrong?"

Harry looked up at her. "I made a very important decision," he said quietly. "It was the right one, and the one I had to make. But it's going to upset my friend. I want my friend to know about the decision I made before everybody else, but I don't want my friend mad at me. I don't know if I could take my friend being mad at me right now."

Heather knew what he was talking about immediately, but she didn't let on.

"Then Harry," Hermione said with a concerned look. "You should tell this friend. If this person is a good friend, they won't be mad at you."

"I know that Books, but I'm afraid to risk that."

"Just tell the guy, Harry. Or girl. Or whatever. It's probably not a big deal."

Harry met Ron's eye and held his gaze for a moment. "Ron, I-"

He stopped, he couldn't do it. Shaking his head, he walked out of the room. His friends ran after him, but by the time they got out of the room, he was nowhere to be seen.

The descending sun cast its gold and red colors on the lake. This was becoming a familiar setting for Harry. He looked at the stone, and turned his back on it. He wanted to be alone, and somehow, that stone felt like the children it was honoring.

He fell the ground, sitting cross-legged in the patch of Phoenix Flower. It was funny, he hadn't seen it until he was sitting in it. He picked one of the tiny red blossoms, and one of the yellow ones, twirling them between his fingers.

Sighing, he laid back and stared at the golden sky. "Why me?" he asked it.

There was no answer, Harry had been half expecting one. Nothing would startle him. He pulled his wand out of his robes, and held it in front of him.

His memory flashed back to the day when he had first held it, the feeling of fulfillment that had flooded him. Was it his imagination, or was that feeling fading?

Harry sat on Ginny's bed, while she searched under it for her diary. She pulled it out, and pressed her finger against the lock pad. It sprang open, and she grinned at Harry's look of surprise. "Won't open for anybody but me. Mom got it for me at the end of my first year."

Ginny carefully opened it to the back, and handed it to him. "Don't look anywhere but that page."

He nodded and bent over to read her writing.

From four to two to one,

To the last descending sun/son.

With two the battle will begin,

A child will define the win.

A tiny push and some advice,

Every advantage has a price.

A promise broke only by death,

Is, in the life, still kept

A weapon used to help defend,

A weapon used to also mend.

These, he had heard before. They made as little sense then as they did now. But the one bellow was new.

The Descendant's War will come to close,

At the place where it first rose.

"I really think Sally is right. This does sound like a prophesy. I've only ever heard one before though, and that one didn't rhyme."

"You've heard one?"

He nodded. "Professor Trelawney, at the end of last year. A real one, mind, otherwise she's just a fake. She predicted that Wormtail would escape and aid in the return of the Dark Lord. Obviously, he did." He glared at the bed sheet, and Ginny turned her attention back to the verses.

"Do you think we dare ask Hermione about this 'Descendant's War'?"

He shook his head. "If these things weren't coming to you, I would not even be involving you in it."

Ginny sighed, and closed the diary. "So, what are you going to do about Ron? I really don't think he will make that big of a deal about it."

"I once insulted the Cannon's Keeper, Smith, and he didn't talk to me for three days. If he was mad at me now," Harry bit his lip. "Is it wrong to want people who don't stare at you like you've grown two extra heads? Ron and Hermione were slow to catch on at first, but they understand that now. You are my best friend, Rose, but Ron is my brother, Hermione my sister. If either of them were mad at me..." he faded off, not able to finish what he wanted to put into words.

"Then I am always here." Ginny said quietly.

"I know that, Rose. You three are my weakness. God, if Voldemort got hold of one of you, I'd just give up. There would be nothing left." He shut his eyes, trying to block that thought out of his mind.

Ginny watched his face, trying to calm her heart. 'So Ron's his brother, Hermione his sister, and now I'm the best friend. Is that what I want? Who cares, if that's what he needs me to be, then that's what I am.'

"I guess I'll just let him find out with everybody else. It will be harder for him to say he's mad when the team is there. I just can't wait for a chance to get away from all of this. Just for a little while."

"I know, Harry."

Harry avoided Ron until the next morning. He came down to breakfast late, and smiled mentally that the conversations didn't soften this time.

Sitting down, he stared only at his plate, very aware of Ron's eyes on him. Ron seemed to know better then to ask though, and kept his mouth shut.

Dumbledore stood, and called for attention. He gained it quickly, everybody immediately fearing the worst. Had something more happened?

Dumbledore, however, smiled slightly. "I have some good news this morning. Hogwarts has some guests here for the weekend. There will be a feast tonight to honor their presence. Come on out."

A door to his right opened, and six people walked out of it. Mouths across the hall fell open as they recognized the green and red stripped robes of the Catapults. The six walked in front of the tables, and Tony's eyes scanned them. His gaze fell on Harry, and he grinned.

Harry smiled, and felt his heart lift. This was him, this was the real him, something he had actually done.

From behind his back, Tony pulled out a pair of folded robes. Harry stood up, and walked foreword. The only sound in the room his footsteps.

"Tony," he said by way of greeting, with a small nod of his head.

"Harry." He reached over, and pressed the robe into Harry's hands. "Ready to meet the rest of your team mates?"

There were gasps heard around the room, and Harry wondered if they were from shock or from everybody realizing they had forgotten to breathe.

"This is Chuck Fring, he's our Keeper." A burly man walked foreword and shook Harry's hand. His dark eyes seemed to miss nothing, and all expression was hidden behind his bushy black mustache.

"The triplets, or chasers, Brad, Chad, and Lad."

"Why am I always last?"

"Well I'm always first!"

They pushed each other, all trying to reach him first. They were identical, if not for the fact that their hair colors were all different.

"I'm Chad," the one with bright blue hair said, shaking his hand.

"Lad," said the one with green hair.

"Brad," the bright red-head finished.

"And because,"

"We are identical,"

"And it's hard,"

"To tell us apart,"

"We did this for you!" they finished together, bending over to give them a clear view of their heads.

Harry laughed, and grinned at them. "Just for me? I'm touched."

The triplets' faces split into identical grins. "I like him."

"He can stay."

"Fine by me."

Tony shook his head. "You know me. Thank Merlin I'm not the youngest anymore. Tiffany beat me by two months," he said pointing over his shoulder at the pretty girl behind him.

"Two months Tony? Really? And all this time I thought I was fourteen years older then you!"

"They wouldn't let a four year old on the team, Tiff."

"Oh, but they did. Don't call me that, young man." She turned to Harry. "As is seems the child will not introduce me, I'll do it myself. I'm Tiffany Casit, pleased to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine," Harry said shaking her hand.

"Pleasure," Tony snorted. "That's hardly to word for it, she never shuts up."

Tiffany glared at him. Harry grinned. "You two remind me of my friends."

"Really? Did she end up killing him?"

"Not yet."

"Well, Harry. They want to see you play. What do you say to a fly around the field?"

Harry glanced over to the Gryffindor table. "In a minute?" he asked quietly.

Looking confused, Tony nodded. Harry walked back over to his seat, and sat down. Ginny was smiling, and Hermione and Ron were staring. The school seemed to come out of it's shock, and conversation buzzed the room, everybody glancing over at him.

"Ron," he said quietly. "Please, please don't be upset."

Ron blinked. "Upset," he choked. "I- How could I be upset? Harry. You deserve this. If anybody does, it's you."

Harry felt a huge burden lift off his shoulders. He should have know Ron would be okay with it, why had it bothered him so much? He was letting to many things get to him.

He jumped out of his seat, and went back over to Tony. "Okay, I'll meet you out there?"

Ginny smiled mentally as Harry ran out of the room, most likely to go get his broom. "So how long have you known?" Hermione asked.

Ginny turned to her. "First day here."

Hermione shook her head, while Ron made goggle eyes at her. "The first day?"

"Well, we didn't know which team then. See, he had to chose one, and I helped him pick."

"Well, we should go watch him practice."

They walked out of the room, ignoring the other people in the room who shouted questions at them.

They met Harry by the entrance doors, and walked him out on to the field. The team members were waiting for him.

While Hermione, Ron and Ginny climbed to the best seats in the stands, Harry mounted his broom. As he took off, he lost all awareness of everybody else. All there was now was the broom and him. The air sped past him, blowing locks of his hair out of his face. He robes flapped in the wind. He felt the rush, that always accompanied flying. Time slowed, and then he slowed and became aware of the ground again. The other team members had also taken to the air.

"Let's play Snitches!" Tony called.

"Snitches?" Harry asked.

"The only ball is the snitch. Everybody looks for it, there is nothing else.

Harry smiled. "Sounds good to me."

When the ball was released, it sped away and disappeared. His eyes searched, all his senses suddenly very aware. Most of the school had joined his friends in the stand. This was the most exciting thing to happen this weekend.

"The snitch usually comes out much faster in Snitches. It knows it's the only ball." Tony explained.

Harry had stopped listening. He'd spotted it, directly bellow. Without hesitation, he started in a vertical dive for the ground. There were gasps, followed by screams.

Harry would die.

There was no way to survive an impact at that speed.

The boy was out of his mind.

These were the only thoughts that fed through Tony's mind as he sat stunned watching Harry dive.

The ground was approaching.

This was it.

He blinked.

Once again, Harry lost awareness of the people. All that existed was him, the broom, the snitch, and the ground.

He was very aware of that ground.

As he came close to the grassy grave, he pulled his right had off the broom, stretching it out and readying his left hand. Fifteen feet, ten, seven. His hand closed around the snitch, and at that exact moment, his left hand jerked the broom up hard. His weight shifted without thought.

He stopped at about ten feet above the ground, turning to sit sideways on the broom. He raised the snitch above him, holding it in the air.

He had only blinked. It had been a fraction of a second, and yet, Tony had missed it. Harry sat sideways on his broom, smiling, the snitch in hand. Tony flew slowly down to him, embarrassed at the way he zigzagged down, while Harry had flown straight.

'But he could have died. I have no reason to be embarrassed.'

"Was that good enough?" Harry asked.

"I should bloody hope so. If you had done anything more, you'd be dead."

Harry shrugged. "No, I've taken worse then that could have been. I wasn't worried, I know my limits."

"Wish I had your limits," Chuck muttered as he flew down to join them. The rest of the team followed, all thinking to themselves how easy it would be to win with this line up.

Voldemort inhaled deeply. There was no sensation to compare to the feeling of raising power. This was the strongest specimen yet, and he almost considered rewarding Wormtail for finding her. Almost.

When this specimen was drained, it would be time to move. They were too far away from his main goal for comfort. 'Patience,' he warned himself. Potter would not get away this time. It would be impossible.

Voldemort ignored the pain that followed the draining of an other's power. Pain was not a thing to hate or feat, it was a feeling, only a state of mind made it bad. That was the first step to using dark magic. All dark magic brought the user pain. Voldemort lived on pain. Thrived on it.

He looked around at the people who remained in the clearing. About half were gone, he had sent them out on a quest to inform the rest of the followers of his return. There were too many that didn't know yet.

A single thing worried him. To keep quiet until he wanted to be heard, he had cut himself off from the world. His followers also, remained in these woods unless he gave order otherwise.

How much did the outside notice? Surly they had not made the connection yet, not the Ministry. They believed him dead, and continued to believe it because they wanted to. 'But Dumbledore?' He stopped that train of thought before it could continue. There was no reason to suspect Dumbledore knew. He could not know for sure, of course, he had not contacted his operative in Hogwarts yet. That was a risk he was not ready to take yet. Yet.

Elizabeth whimpered from the ground, weakly hitting the invisible cage that held her. All reason to fight drained out of her, it was a losing battle. She slumped against the invisible wall, and closed inside herself.

'Harry,' a tiny voice whispered.

'I'm going to die. He will never get here in time to save me.'

'Yes you are.' The calmness of her mind admitting that surprised her. 'But you can help him. At least try.'

She knew what to do. With a forth of it missing, she was very aware of the power that remained in her. It was no longer just there, she could feel it now, and manipulate it. Carefully, she pulled a small portion of that power. It had to be small, just enough. There were ways of Voldemort to get to it, but it would be a lot of work. It would have to be too small amount of power for him to care about.

She tucked that power away. She couldn't say where, it was beyond life. Somewhere that she couldn't touch it until life no longer bound her.

Death wasn't the end, she realized. How could it be if this was possible? Suddenly, she wasn't scared anymore. She was ready, she would fight silently.

"Only a forth of her power is drained. I want this one to last, make sure she eats. Force her if you have to. We will be moving soon. I want to go closer." His eyes narrowed dangerously, as if daring any of them to object.

"Wormtail!"

"Y-yes."

"This is a very good find," he said gesturing to the girl on the ground behind him. "I will not be needing another for some time. That in mind, I have a new job for you."

"The followers, my lord?"

"One in particular. I will need his influences on the world outside. Malfoy."

Wormtail bowed so his nose was touching the ground. Voldemort thought he could almost see the tail coming out of the rat's behind. "As you wish my lord."

The man, or rather rat, scurried off into the trees.

Harry sat in Heather's office, even though she was not present. He should have been in bed by now, but Sirius said that he wanted to talk to him.

"Harry, you know you are the son I never had."

Harry grinned. "You could have a son, Sirius. I'm sure Heather would be more then willing to carry your child."

Sirius' cheeks tinged pink, but he shook his head. "I'm mean it Harry, you know that don't you?"

Harry nodded, eye's bright in wonder. What could have brought this on? "And you know that if anything ever happened to you, there would be nothing left for me."

Harry wanted to argue, but nodded anyway. "Good. Now I'm going to teach you something, and if you ever use it, I will never forgive you. Harry, you are not immortal. If Voldemort ever got around to it, he could break you rather then kill you." Harry shook his head violently. "He could, if he used magic to aid him. Do you realize what that would do to this side, the loss of you would be great enough, but to have you on the other side, is a million times worse."

Harry nodded. Was he really that important? "There is a way, Harry, in which it would be impossible for him to turn you. Do you know what that is."

"Well he couldn't very well do it if I were dead," Harry said, his voice harsher then he had meant.

Sirius nodded slowly. "To kill another, Harry, is extremely difficult. To kill one's self, however, is extremely easy. You can use your wand, but it is not always necessary. What you do, is you turn your power in on yourself. Power flows through you now, but to turn in on yourself, will burn you from the inside out."

"How, how do you do that?"

"I do not know, but is it said that you know when you are going to do it. Ask Heather, she would be able to explain it."

"You mean she tried to kill herself!" Harry exclaimed, jumping to his feet.

Sirius nodded slowly, studying his reaction. "When your parents died, Peter was thought dead, and I went to Azkaban, she very nearly did. Dumbledore stopped her, but she didn't go though with it for you. She wanted to be here for you, to tell you about your mother."

"But Remus," Harry stuttered. This was a shock to him. Heather always seemed so strong.

"Heather and Remus were friends, but they were not very close. Remus left to deal with everything on his own. Harry, please keep what I have taught you in mind. It is a last resort. Very last. Not until he raises his wand to turn you, understand."

Harry nodded numbly. "Sirius, Heather knows, knows that I, that she is like a Godmother to me, right?"

"Oh, I think she knows, but I think she would like to hear it from you."

Heather walked out of the staff meeting, her colleagues filtering away. As she turned to head for her office, a figure ran toward her.

"Harry! What are you doing up at- umph." He pulled her into a hug, and she returned it, surprised, but not displeased. "What brought this on?"

He let her go, and looked up at her with a smile. "Somebody asked me if I had hugged my Godmother today, and I realized that no, I hadn't."

Heather pulled him into another hug. "Oh, Harry, you are your mother's child."

She didn't notice that Professor McGonagall was watching them, with a slight smile on her face. Harry however did. He caught the Professor's eye, and winked. She jumped, and turned to walk away quickly. He grinned to himself.

"You should go to bed."

"Yes, Professor Deleve," Harry said, emphasizing her name. She cringed.

"You little brat, get out of here." With that, Harry took off toward his dorm.

Walking into the common room, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione were still awake, Ron and Hermione involved in a game of chess. Harry fell down on the seat next to Ginny.

"Hey Harry," Ron muttered.

"Hello Ron, have you hugged your Godmother today?" Ron looked up at him from the board.

"Are you okay?"

"Well have you?" Harry said, keeping a straight face with effort.

"No, do I have a Godmother?"

"Everybody has a Godmother. It's the one who takes care of you when your mother isn't around."

"In that case," Hermione said, not looking up from her pieces, "you would be his Godmother Harry. I doubt he would ever go to classes without you there to wake him."

Ron looked up, a devilish grin on his face. "Do you want me to hug you, Harry?"

Harry mocked a look of pure horror on his face, shrinking back into the couch cushions. That lasted for about three seconds before all four of them were laughing, trying not to wake to ones above who were sleeping.