Pride Crushed, Dignity Rising
By: CNJ
PG-13
2
Harry:
I smiled softly as I leafed
through my parents' photo album after school the following afternoon. I
never tire of looking through it. My parents were killed by an evil
wizard, Voldemort when I was just a year old, so this album is very dear
to me, my biggest link to my beloved parents. I usually keep
it in my nightstand in a low drawer. My great-aunt Miranda
and Hagrid tell me I have a lot of Mum's personality and her eyes and snub
nose and I have my dad's black hair and thin mouth. Oh, I can tell
my parents really loved each other. They met at Hogwarts and became
a couple in their seventh year. They didn't marry until they were
twenty-six and they had me two years later. I smiled wryly as I remembered
hearing that I was born in breech position...feet out first. Miranda,
who is my dad's aunt, had been at my birth. She's now my legal guardian
and I was looking forward to going home to her for the Christmas break.
A little over a month away, I thought, closing the album and putting it
away. I then pulled out some of my books and started my homework.
Transformation and potions, not too much tonight. It must have been
about an hour later when Ron poked his red head in and called, "Heyy, Harry,
coming to Quidditch practice?"
"Oh...yes, I am..." I closed
my book, put my little vials away and Ron and I started out toward the
field to join the rest of the team. The sun was partially out,
but it was windy and cold and we practiced flying our brooms in wind.
"The important thing is
that the wind can't really push your brooms," Ron told us. "It may
shake some, but don't let it distract you. So...are we ready to beat
Slytherin this Saturday?"
"YEEAAAAH!" All of us crowed.
We then headed in. It was growing dark by then and in another hour
and a half, it would be time for dinner.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I showered, then headed to my dorm and got more homework done. I finished early and leaned over to get the album out again. But...it wasn't there. "Oh...dear..." I muttered. Had I misplaced it without realizing it? I was sure I'd put it in the low nightstand drawer. But it wasn't there. I searched my bed and all around and even in the closets with no luck. Oh, God. My stomach lurched painfully. It was time to go eat, so I went, hoping it was in some place I wasn't looking.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ginny:
Hermione, Ron, Cheria, Neville,
and I managed to grab seats next to each other at dinner that night
We were talking fast about homework and Quidditch when Harry came running
in, slightly flushed and a little out of breath. Ron patted the chair
next to him and Harry sat, his dark hair messier than usual. I then
noticed he looked really worried about something, his bushy brows drawn
together in a nervous frown with two small vertical lines between them.
"What's the matter?" I asked
softly.
"I...can't find my parents'
photo album," he told me softly, looking around as if to make sure no one
else except our group heard.
"Oh...God," Hermione gasped.
We all know how precious that album is to Harry. "I'm...sure it'll
turn up someplace under a bed or something." I wasn't too convinced,
because Harry doesn't lose things.
"When did you last see it?"
Cheria asked.
"I had it on the bed this
afternoon and was looking through it," Harry said shakily. "I then
started my homework and I guess put the album...somewhere...I thought the
nightstand drawer. We had the Quidditch practice then and when I
came back to the dorm and went to look at it more, I couldn't find it..."
Harry's hands had started to shake and he clenched them together.
We ate quickly, then headed back upstairs and looked all over the room.
Several other dormmates helped us look around, but no album turned up.
It got late, so reluctantly, we headed to bed.
"Maybe you dropped it somewhere
and we can look in the lost and found," Neville told Harry sympathetically.
"Possibly..." Harry was
unconvinced, I could tell and the vertical lines were back between his
brows. We all headed to our beds.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harry:
I still had no luck finding
that album the next day or on Thursday morning either. "Damn!" I
swore as I almost ran late for my first class, Supernatural Psychology
on Thursday. I ran and barely made it there. Unfortunately,
Malfoy is in that class too and he noticed my state.
"What's the matter, Potter?"
he jeered.
"None of your damned business..."
I muttered, sitting down. None of my other friends are in this class,
so I'm stuck with Malfoy alone in this class. Some of the others
snickered. I silently willed Professor Bilrock to get in here.
"Did you by chance...lose
something, Potter?" Malfoy kept up. Was it my imagination or did
he put emphasis on the word lose? But he couldn't have...my
heart began to pound. None of the Gryffindors would let slip our
password and Malfoy couldn't have gotten into our dorm, not without one
of us knowing about it.
"Shut up, Malfoy!" I snapped.
Just then, Professor Bilrock came in from her office.
"My, my, are we crabby this
morning, Mr. Potter," she said cheerfully. Oh, great, isn't it just
my luck that she heard me tell Malfoy to shut up. "I would take five
points off Gryffindor, but I figure you just got up on the wrong side of
the bed, Mr. Potter."
"I'm sorry, Professor Bilrock,"
I apologized.
"He's come on the wrong
side of life..." Malfoy whispered and he and Crabbe snickered. Bilrock
started the class then and thank the stars we had a lot of notes to take,
so Malfoy had to shut his horrid face for once to keep up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ginny:
It was a huge crowd by the
door at the Great Hall for dinner that night and while our group waited
to go in, Hermione, Ron, and I talked about the Divination homework assignment.
"The part in the second
unit is confusing," Ron told us, his freckled long nose scrunching up.
"I wonder what Professor Trelawny means at that part?" Harry was
quiet and I knew he'd had no luck finding that album. Finally, the
crowd by the door thinned and we were able to get in. We had to pass
by Malfoy and his yes-men. Oddly enough, they were by our table.
Malfoy sneered in our direction.
"So...Harry, did you find
whatever you...lost?" Malfoy called. We turned to look at
him. How did he know about Harry's album? Unless...
"Who said I lost anything?"
Harry asked, narrowing his eyes at Malfoy.
"Let's just say...a little
owl told me," Malfoy grinned maliciously and something red gleamed from
his robe pocket.
"Hey!" I shouted.
Just then Malfoy pulled it out and it was the album. Oh...God!
How had Malfoy gotten in?
"You didn't say...you lost
this dear thing?" Malfoy held the album up high and Harry stared at it,
his eyes wide with horror.
"Give it back, Malfoy..."
Harry whispered. By then, almost everyone was looking over at them.
"How did you get into our
dorm?" Ron demanded.
"Wouldn't you like to know?"
Malfoy's gray eyes glinted meanly.
"Give it back!" Hermione
demanded.
"Maybe if you say please,"
Malfoy jeered. Harry tried to grab it, but Malfoy held it high.
Being much taller than Harry, he was able to keep it out of Harry's reach.
Malfoy's six-two while Harry's only five-six. Ron tried to reach
for it, but had no better luck, since Malfoy was able to dodge him too.
Anyway, Goyle stepped in front of Ron and pushed him back.
"Give it here, Malfoy..."
Harry pleaded, breathing fast.
"Where's the please in it?"
Malfoy laughed rudely. "If you can say that, you'll get this back."
"Please..." Harry lifted
a lip in disgust.
"Sure thing." Malfoy gave
a flick of his wrist backward and tossed the album...back into the torch's
flame! Several students gasped in horror as the album rapidly blackened
and dwindled into black ashes. Harry stood stunned, his eyes wide.
It was a long minute and I couldn't believe even Malfoy could be that cruel.
Ashes tumbled into the plate under the torch and Crabbe reached for a handful.
So did Malfoy and they tossed the ashes to Harry, who backed up several
steps trembling. "Here's the album back, Potter," Malfoy singsonged.
Harry's eyes filled with tears, he ducked his head and fought against the
tears unsuccessfully. The tears spilled down his face and he covered
his face with his hands and turned to weave his way though the crowd, soft
sobs ripping out of him. Malfoy and his yes-men laughed cruelly.
Ron's face went bright red as he lunged at Malfoy and landed a few punches
at him before Crabbe and Goyle held him off. Ron yelled swear words
at Malfoy and Hermione, Cheria, and I added a few choice words of our own.
The next few minutes were bedlam as students pushed against each other
and finally, the deputy headmistress, Professor McGonagall come through
the crowd to see what was going on. We told her and Malfoy tried
to butt in with his version, claiming that we'd started a fight and all.
McGonagall had to blow her whistle to quiet all of us. Then she saw
crying Harry, who was struggling through the crowd.
"Mr. Potter, are you all
right?" she called. Harry shook his head and kept going, leaving
the Great Hall, sobbing. Finally, I guess she wasn't able to get
a clear story of what exactly had happened but Slytherin did end up losing
ten points since I showed McGonagall the ashes of what had been Harry's
parent's photo album.
"Great..." Ron muttered
angrily as we sat down to eat. "Just fantastic!" Ron jabbed his fork
into a chicken piece so hard it flew off the table and landed into his
lap. "Harry cried in front of Malfoy! Malfoy's goddamned happy!"
"It was precious to Harry,"
I said softly. "Harry couldn't stop his tears."
"Oh, I know..." Ron heaved
a breath, his face still red. None of us were very hungry,
so we wrapped up some food for later and to take to Harry.
Harry:
I don't know how long I cried.
I was just too humiliated to go back down there and face Malfoy and the
others again. I sat on the floor in front of the fireplace, weeping
for what seemed to be eternity, embarrassed at being unable to stop my
tears. Just thinking about that album kept making me cry.
Usually I cry very quietly, but tonight, I could feel gasping sobs tear
out of me. My glasses slid down my wet runny nose and I let them fall into
my lap as I tried to wipe my face. It might have been an hour;
it might have been fifteen minutes, but I heard others in the room, felt
a hand on my shoulder.
"Oh, Harry..." Ron sat on
a nearby stool, a look of disappointment on his face. I knew I'd
broken our informal pact not to let Malfoy see either of us cry and that
made fresh tears come again. I tried to speak, but my throat tightened
so painfully and chokingly that I couldn't speak for a long minute.
I'm so sorry, I barely managed to mouth out before my lips tightened
into more crying. Hermione stroked my shoulder and Cheria and Ginny
handed me tissues. Good thing it was just the five of us here.
With my glasses off, their faces were a blur, but I could tell who was
who since I know them very well.
"It was a nasty prank,"
Hermione said softly.
"Hey, hey, it's not
a deal about our...agreement," Ron put in, attempting to ease the sting
of my humiliation. It didn't really ease my pain, but it did help
to know he was on my side.
"I really don't know how
I'm going to face tomorrow," I told the others shakily once my tears had
finally slowed.
"You will," Ginny told me.
"Think of all the other difficult situations you've faced."
"Malfoy is going to be worse
than ever knowing that he got the best of me," I caught my breath in a
shuddery little spasm. "Oh, I made a fool of myself and everyone
saw it."
"Hey, listen, we'll face
him down together," Hermione told me, her brown eyes peering at me in support.
"He may think he's gotten you down for now, but you'll go to class tomorrow
and he'll realize that he can't drive you out of your everyday activities.
We'll show Malfoy that we stand by you all the way."
"Wh-what...if I cry again
tomorrow right in class?" I worried, wiping a stray tear from my face.
"I can tell you something
funny so you won't?" Ron suggested.
"And even if you do, you'll
survive it and go on with your life," Cheria put in, pulling out foil-wrapped
remains of dinner and pumpkin juice mix. "Feel like eating?"
"Not really, but I guess
I'll have something to drink," I blew my nose and put my glasses back on,
still feeling very embarrassed. My heart was still very heavy,
but it was good knowing that I had friends on my side. Others then
came in and some of them asked if I was all right. I nodded weakly
and tried to smile, but couldn't.
"It was rotten, what that
ass did," one first-year put in. "You're far better than him, so
don't let him pull you down."
"We're rooting for you,
Harry..." a third-year added.
"Thanks..." I told him.
I was grateful for their support.
"And don't forget, we have
a game this weekend," Ron put in. "We'll blow those Slytherins out
of the water!"
"Yeah..." the others put
in. I hoped I had the courage to face tomorrow or I was in trouble.
I wondered how long it would take me to recover from this. I'd just
gather up the shreds of my shattered pride to just try to get through the
next few days.