Chapter 5: A new friendship
Harry didn't sleep at all that night. Every time he closed his eyes a Dementor would appear in front of him, and then Cho's pale, cold face. Finally he couldn't take it anymore, he had to get up. He slipped out of bed and pulled on his cloak and hood. He didn't need to be invisible, not that he was now a teacher. He left his room and began walking slowly down the deserted hallways. As he was passing the steps that led up to the owlry he heard voices.
"Do you think that owl will be able to find him?"
Came the first voice. Harry immediately recognized it as Ron's
"I hope so, but knowing Harry, he's in a place impossible to find"
Harry saw the shadows of his two best friends appear. He immediately darted behind a suit of armor. Hermionie and Ron walked right passed him, talking in hushed voices.
"This would be so much easier with Harry's invisibility cloak"
Ron muttered as they snuck down the halls. Harry decided to follow them. When they were paying no attention what so ever Harry got right up behind them.
"And what are two students doing up in the middle of the night?"
Harry said in the strictest voice he could muster. Ron and Hermionie froze, not daring to look back
"I think you two might deserve a couple of detentions....that is if you get caught...."
At that point they both spun around, staring at his covered face in awe.
"Y-you're not going to turn us in?"
Hermionie said, in surprise. Harry laughed
"Of course not! What do you think I am? A teacher?"
Harry pretended to gag
"Ick, I hate the word"
Ron laughed, but was quickly silenced by Hermionie
"You want to wake Mcgonagall?"
She hissed, Ron blushed.
"Well, if you two have nothing else to do tonight I'll lead you back towards the common room"
They both nodded and followed Harry back the other way. They talked about Quidittch, grades (to Hermionie's delight) and future plans.
"So...."
Hermionie said as they came up to the fat lady
"Night then"
Harry said brightly. He walked to the portrait beside the fat lady, mumbled the password so that Ron and Hermionie couldn't hear and walked in. As the portrait was shutting he heard a muffled
"Wait!"
He peeked back out and saw Ron and Hermionie standing there
"Thanks"
Hermionie said, blushing deeply. Ron nodded
"Yeah, thanks a lot"
Harry smiled
"No problem"
He whispered, and then he closed the door. He threw off the cloak and got in bed, falling asleep immediately. The next morning he was shaken away by Ginny. He groaned
"You're in here again?"
He spat, turning over
"Harry! You have to get up, breakfast is about to start, Professor Lupin sent me to get you"
"Five more minutes..."
"No Harry now!"
"Go away Gin-"
SMACK!
"OW!"
Harry howled, jumping out of bed and clutching his face. Ginny had given him a good hard smack.
"Well it got you out of bed didn't it?"
She squeaked, fluttering her eyelashes at him. He pulled on a black t-shirt and a black cloak, black pants and black shoes, and then glanced in the mirror.
"Fashion statement Harry?"
Ginny said, snorting. He covered his face with his hood and turned to her.
"I would run if I were you!"
He growled. Ginny giggled and took off running, Harry in hot pursuit. When she turned the corner to the great hall she slowed down, sliding a bit but walking casually into the hall. Harry stopped a while before and walked in moments later. He took a seat between Remus and Sirius. Sirius was wearing the Order's forest green cloak. That's when Harry noticed that everyone from the Order had returned. They had all disappeared the night he arrived. None of them knew who he was...yet. Harry ate breakfast in silence. Dumbledore dismissed the students, telling them that their classes would resume after lunch. Dumbledore then led everyone in the Order to their old meeting room. He locked the door and put several privacy spells around the room.
"Welcome to the first Order meeting in over two years that every member has attended"
Everyone looked around confused. Slowly Harry lowered his hood. Everyone gasped. Mr. Weasly, Bill, Charlie, Arabella, and Mundungus all rushed over to him, greeting him warmly. They didn't have that long of reunion though. Dumbledore forced them to return to their seats.
"I have gotten news from the Aurors fighting Voldemort at our gates"
The room quieted
"Voldemort and the death eaters have been able to push everyone from the ministry back, with their powers they will be in Hogwarts by tomorrow night. According to our seer..."
He pulled out a piece of parchment and read:
It will be a night of legend, a night of love
Power will meet it's end, hope will soar like a dove
Evil will fall, Good will prevail
If the chosen one let's not friendship fail
There will be loss, there will be tears
But it will all stop if he faces his fears
On this night the Dark one will fall
The light one will rise, if love be in all
Dumbledore put down the parchment.
"We've been trying to decode the Prophecy for some time now. We suspect someone will fight the dark lord, and if in his heart, love and friendship reign true, Voldemort will fall"
Harry noticed that Dumbledore was looking at him through his entire speech. Harry knew that Dumbledore knew who the chosen one was. And strangely Harry knew too. It was he. Harry Potter, the boy who lived. He would have to fight Voldemort once again. And if his heart remained pure, he would win. But if not...the prophecy didn't mention what would happen then. He sighed and closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them he noticed everyone staring at him. Did they know it was him too? Then Remus spoke
"Do you know who 'the light one' is Albus?"
Remus already knew the answer, but he wanted to be certain. Dumbledore looked at Remus, his blue eyes sparkling with wisdom and knowledge.
"Yes Remus, I do know who it is...."
He paused; everyone was dying with curiosity now
"It is our own Harry Potter"
Harry bowed his head. It sounded so much worse coming from Dumbledore than from his own mind. Most people would think he had nothing to worry about, being the 'most powerful' wizard in the world. But they were oh so wrong. Harry was extremely worried, extremely nervous. He felt like deep down he knew the outcome of the fight, but he couldn't let it out in his mind or to anyone. After a minute Dumbledore dismissed the meeting. Harry walked quickly towards the Great hall. He had an hour and a half before classes started; he was going to take a walk. He left the great hall quickly; no one was in it to question him. Once on the grounds he slowed. He didn't watch where he was going, he just moved around. For thirty minutes he walked like this, staring at the ground and mumbling things to himself. When he finally looked up he found he was at the door of Hagrids hut. Slowly he pushed the door open. The small hut looked exactly the same, nothing had changed since the last time he was in here, except that there was no Fang barking loudly at him, and no Hagrid, smiling down at him and handing him a cup of tea. Harry walked inside and sat down at the large table. Two huge cups were sitting on it, along with an empty milk jug and a teapot. No one had moved anything. Harry remembered sitting at the table, only moments before he left Hogwarts...
Hagrid brought a milk jug and his teakettle over to the table. He poured himself and Harry some tea and sat down.
"What's botherin' ya 'arry?"
Hagrid asked, looking at the student before him with concern. Harry looked up at him with his big green eyes, he could trust Hagrid
"I have this feeling Hagrid, this feeling I can't explain. I feel like I know deep down something bad is going to happen, I don't know when, I don't know why, but I can feel it. I'm scared Hagrid, it's the same feeling I had before Cedric died..."
Hagrid didn't answer. He just stared at Harry for a while. Finally after minutes of silence he gave Harry the words he would always remember
"A wise man once told me Harry, bad things come and go. You can't stop 'em, you can't change 'em. You just have ter follow through with what's been planned fer you. The best thing you can do Harry, is help out in the places you know can be helped, and try your best, nuthing is ever gunna change your destiny, Harry, but in the end it will always turn out okay..."
Harry gapped at Hagrid
"An what wise man told you this Hagrid?"
Harry asked looking at the floor
"Because in my life things haven't exactly turned out good"
Harry felt Hagrids large hand settle on his shoulder
"Yer father told me that, Harry, his life wasn't exactly good either, but at the point when everything in the world was at a low, James was one of the happiest people on earth..."
Harry looked back up at Hagrid, his eyes staring into the warm beady black ones.
"Thank you Hagrid"
Harry whispered. Hagrid smiled and hugged Harry tightly
"Any time Harry"
'Any time Harry', Hagrids last words to him. Harry stood up and walked over to the bed. He sat down on it and peeked under it, looking through his legs. He noticed a large brown, wooden trunk sitting under it. He pulled the trunk out and opened it. The trunk was filled with letters, pictures, and other things. Harry lifted up the letter lying on top. He turned it over, and in golden script it read : James Potter. Harry stared at it confused for a moment, then slowly and carefully he opened it.
James,
How are you? How's Christmas break treating you? I hope your well. It's really lonely here at Hogwarts, I'm one of five students staying. The only Griffindor! Severus Snape is the only other sixth year, slimy git, he's been following me around for the past few days, making rude remarks. Damn him. I never thought I'd say this, but I wish Christmas would hurry up and end. Well, I better cut my ramblings short, send me a letter back quick James, I'm about to die of boredom....
Love always
Tiger lily
Harry smiled; at least his Mum had a sense of humor. He picked up the letter beneath the one he had just read
Tiger lily,
I'm not to good actually; my parents are gone again, at some 'very important' party in Germany. They probably won't be back for the rest of the holidays, not like it would make a difference though, I never see them around anyway. I was thinking about coming back to Hogwarts, spending Christmas with you. It sounds much more appealing to spend the holidays with you than with my parents. Anyway... I have a tip for you, next time you see Snape call him 'Jackass'. It drives him nuts, Sirius, er, accidentally turned him into a donkey while he was saying good-bye to his girl friend at the station. We've been owling him...hehehe.... Well, I'll owl you if I can come back.
Love
Prongs
Harry grinned...Jackass? Creative...he would have to remember that. He picked up the next letter and began to read
Prongs,
Oh yes! Please come, Christmas would be so much fun! I called Snape 'Jackass' yesterday. You were right about his reaction. He blushed, mumbled something that sounded like "Damn Marauders" then left. He didn't even insult me back! I haven't seen him since. Remmy owled me earlier today. He said that he wouldn't mind coming back either. The full moon doesn't appear until after the welcome back feast, he'd be able to enjoy the holiday. Can't wait for your reply
Love you bunches
Tiger lily
Harry continued to read all the different letters. He found out that his parents had been friends since their first year, didn't start dating till the summer of the sixth year, and that the Marauders weren't the only animagus.... At the bottom he found a small folder entitled 'Notes during class'
This is Boring...I hate Binns
Padfoot
Yeah, I agree, you would have thought he would have dropped dead by now
Prongs
Seriously...so, who you got your eye on Jamesie?
Padfoot
Why aren't you guy's listening?!
Moony
Because we don't want to listen to an old geezer drawl on about stuff that we'll never need to know!
Prongs
You'll need to know it for the exam....
Moony
We'll just copy Lily or Daniel's notes, they're smart!
Padfoot
Helpless, absolutely helpless....awe well, so who DO you have your eye on James?
Moony
None of your business you snoopy gits!
Prongs
What have I missed?!
Wormtail
We're guessing who the love of James' life is!
Padfoot
Ahh, I see...well, spill James
Wormtail
Well, I kind of have a thing for....
Prongs
........ well......
Moony
Ohhh, are we finding out who Jamesie has it for?! Oh, and BTW, you can't copy my notes....
Teddy
Lily! How did you get a hold of this?!
Padfoot
Peter has bad aim, he missed Sirius and hit me, almost hit Binns, hey Pete, you might wanna try sliding it instead!
Teddy
Well I feel left out
Pawz
My God, looks like Lily has bad aim too!
Prongs
Shut up Prongs, you can't say much, you're the one that got Moony involved in all this!
Teddy
Ok, who cares how it got where! Just don't give it to a Slytherin!
Wormtail
Like we're stupid enough to do that?
Padfoot
Some of us are *cough cough* Sirius *cough cough*
Moony
Hahaha! Yeah Moony, you showed him! Oh crap, here comes Binns, hide the note!
Pawz
And then it ended. Harry wanted to look through more but was interrupted by a quiet voice
"I see you've found your present Harry"
Harry's head shot up
"Headmaster?"
Dumbledore smiled from the door
"Yes, it was going to be Hagrids present to you for your sixteenth birthday...but as you can tell, he failed to deliver it to you"
Dumbledore's face saddened.
"It is yours to keep. Your fathers wand is in there, along with your mothers diary, pictures, and all the letters they saved...."
Harry nodded and closed the trunk
"Um, Professor, who is Daniel?"
He asked, standing up. Dumbledore smiled
"Ah, you read about Daniel! He was your mothers twin brother. No one ever mentioned him becuase he disappeared in your parents seventh year. I myself believe him still to be alive, somewhere out there, but it's only a guess. I'm sure you'll meet him someday Harry. He was a lot like Sirius, possibly even more immature. Wonderful boy, very bright..."
Harry nodded and glanced back down at the trunk. It was silent in the room
"Well, I came to tell you your class starts in ten minutes, see you then"
Dumbledore finally said, then he left. Harry watched after him then opened the trunk once more. He pulled out a long box sitting at the bottom. He opened it; inside sat his father's wand. The wand was nicely polished, and in good condition. He must have been a neat freak Harry thought with a chuckle. He pocketed the wand, closed the trunk, shoved it under the bed, then exited the hut. When he entered the Great Hall everyone was already there. Ron, Hermionie and Ginny waved at him and he waved back, taking a seat beside Remus
"I see you've made friends..."
Remus whispered, chuckling
"Shut up"
Harry replied. Remus smiled
"And where were you?"
"Hagrids"
"What were you doing there?"
"Looking through my birthday present..."
"Looking through?"
"Yeah, it is a trunk full of all my parents old school things, letters, notes, and such. How come you didn't tell me my Dad, Sirius, and Peter weren't the only animagus?"
Remus stiffened
"You read about Daniel and your Mum?"
Harry nodded
"Well, we made a pact back when we were young. No one was ever supposed to know about them being animagus. Even James, Sirius, Peter, or me. They did it in secret, and we swore never to tell anyone, no matter who they were. Lily never did tell us the reason, neither did Daniel"
Remus shrugged
"Do you know where Daniel is?"
Harry asked
"No, I wish I did though, I could really use him here now"
Remus replied
"Have you ever tried owling him?"
Remus sighed
"No.Harry, let's have this conversation later"
At that Remus stood up and walked to the front of the stage.
"Welcome to class number two!"
He said loudly, grinning
"We are going to review all the spells we learned last time, and learn a few defense spells that don't involve blowing things up..."
Some people groaned and others laughed. They went through all the spells, and to Remus' disliking, Harry demonstrated his 'blow death eaters sky high' spell on him. The day passed slowly, but, by the time 9 o'clock came around they had all mastered the invisibility spell, the binding spell, and the motion spell (a spell that enables the person to apparate short distances, like maybe 10 feet or so) Harry watched as all the students exited the hall, talking merrily to each other. He sighed, they just didn't get it, none of them did. Voldemort, you-know-who, he-who-must-not-be- named, the Dark Lord, was at their gates, ready to come bursting in at any moment, and they weren't worried. They were acting like nothing was wrong. He stared at the door for a few moments, thinking hard, then a gentle voice pulled him back.
"No use worrying Harry"
It said. Harry turned his head. Remus was smiling at him, Sirius by his side. Harry nodded
"I know, it's just, well, none of you have ever fought Voldemort before, not like I have at least, and, well, I know that when he arrives, these kids, no matter how much we train them, Remus, will be totally unprepared. They will panic, they will scream, cry, and Voldemort will just prance through here. There aren't enough people here with experience to hold off all of his supporters, plus Dementors..."
"Harry, I know we haven't had it like you have, and, no one ever will, but you have to have faith in these people, your friends, your family. If motivated enough, they will all fight, whether their scared or not"
Sirius said, laying his hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry sighed, but nodded
"I guess so"
He whispered
"Well, I'm off, see you"
Harry muttered, before bolting off. Remus and Sirius stared after him, in total shock. Harry ran down the empty hallways, heading towards the owlry. As he was passing an open window a small ball of feathers shot through it and hit Harry full force on the side of the face. Harry staggered and opened his eyes, whizzing quickly around his head, was Pig. Harry groaned and grabbed the owl, pulling it down in front of him. A letter was attached to its leg, no wait, two letters. Then Harry remembered. Ron and Hermionie had sent him an owl. He grabbed the letters and tossed Pig out the window. He opened the first one quickly and read:
Harry,
I hope this reaches you; there is so much to say. First of all, where are you? How are you? Oh Harry, come back! We miss you so much and we need you! Hogwarts is under siege, Voldemort is going to come breaking through any day now, and I don't want to die without seeing you again. I'm sure Ron feels the same way. The past two years, ever since that night Hagrid, Dean and Parvati died, have been miserable, and not only because they left us, but because you left us Harry. Every little thing seems to remind me of you now days, and every time something does, it makes me want to cry. There a new teacher here, he's teaching us how to fight Voldemort. He reminds me of you Harry; he even has your laugh. His name is Andrew, you would like him. But that's beside the point, Harry, we need you, if you're out there, if your reading this, I hope you know that I love you, and I want you back.
Love
Hermionie
Harry bowed his head, she really did miss him, and she loved him too. Hermionie loved him.
"I have to tell her"
He said quietly to himself. He nodded his head to himself then opened Ron's letter
Harry,
You better read through this entire thing Harry, I have a lot to spill out. First of all, YOU SLIMY GIT! Do you know how much hell your putting me and 'mionie through? She's cried herself to sleep in the common room I don't know how many times! Her grades even dropped since you left, Harry. Her grades! And we're talking about Hermionie! Hermionie Granger, little miss perfect, lady know it all! Her grades! I can't believe you of all people could be so selfish! In the five or so years I knew you, never once were you selfish, never once did you think of yourself! I NEVER expected you to do this! You get your sorry ASS back here right now or I'll hunt you down. On a happier note. I miss you like I miss yesterday. Where are ya Harry, we all need you back here! I promise not to kill you if you come back. Sirius and Remus are here, I'm sure they both want you back just as much as I do (and I bet you'd get it worse from Sirius if you came back, hehe) Please Harry, come back. You-know-who is at Hogwarts, ready to come waltzing in, killing everyone in his path. If you don't come we'll die without seeing you, and that is the most depressing thought I've ever had. I don't want to write too much more, if you want to know anything else you'll have to owl me back or get over here.
Ron
Harry groaned. Ron was mad, and mad Ron was not good. He continued his way up to the owlry to find it empty. He conjured up a quill and some parchment and began to write a letter. When he finished 30 minutes later, it read
Mr. Daniel Evans,
Hi, umm, you don't know me, at least not personally, but that's not why I am sending you this owl. Sir, my name is Harry Potter, and you, as you may have guessed, are my uncle. But, again, that is not why I'm writing you. I'm writing you because a certain Remus Lupin mentioned you to me the other day, and while looking through my parent's old stuff I found out quite a number of things about you. Anyway, Remus wants you back here. He needs you right now, he needs a friend. I hope you come, we're at Hogwarts. And if you don't come for Remus, come for me.
Harry Potter
Harry smiled at the letter and looked up at all the owls, trying to choose one. He was drawn to a snow white one that was sleeping at the top. Harry mumbled a spell and slowly he began to rise. He rose right up next to the owl and tapped it. Slowly it turned around and squawked. Harry almost screamed with joy.
"Hedwig?!"
He whispered, gapping at the owl. Again it squawked, sure enough, it was Hedwig. Harry completely lost concentration on his spell, and after staring at the owl for a few minutes, the spell gave out and he fell ten feet, hitting the stone floor with a loud thump! He groaned and looked up, his hood had fallen, and Hedwig was soaring down to him. She landed on his shoulder and gave his ear an affectionate nip. He stroked her feathers, smiling happily.
"You want to deliver a letter for me girl? You can find anyone can't you?"
Hedwig ruffled her feathers and Harry gently attached the letter to her foot. She nipped his ear again then flew out the window. Harry watched her until she had flown out of sight, then headed out of the owlry, pulling his hood up as he walked down the stairs. He reached his room in no time and was surprised to see Ginny sitting on his bed awaiting his arrival.
"You were never this forth coming before"
Harry grunted, removing his cloak. Ginny smiled sweetly
"Yes well, I liked you before didn't I?"
Harry chuckled and walked over to the kitchen
"What, you don't like me anymore?"
He asked, pouring them both some tea. Ginny entered the kitchen
"Of course I like you Harry, it's just, when you left someone else told me about their feelings for you, and I decided, hey, she has a better chance! So I moved on..."
Harry nodded
"Uh huh"
He muttered, handing her a cup of tea
"Who'd you move onto little Miss Weasly?"
"Hey! I'm not enough over you for you to call me that!"
She growled, glaring at him. Harry smiled
"I'm sorry"
"No problem...oh, and I'm sort of dating someone..."
Harry spat his tea back into his cup, sputtering slightly
"You are?! What did Ron say? Who is it?!"
Ginny giggled
"Yes, I am. Ron didn't do anything, that is, he didn't do anything after Hermionie told him off for bugging me about it...oh and it's"
She mumbled a name Harry could barely hear, but he heard it enough
"WHAT?!"
He said, trying to hold back a look of disgust, but also extreme amusement
"Er, Colin, Colin Creevy"
Harry burst into uncontrolled laughter, falling off of his stool and beating the ground.
"Shut up you git! God! You're just like my brother! That's what he did first, then he got all protective and tried to beat Colin up!"
Harry continued to laugh. Ginny kicked at him then stormed out of the room. Harry stopped laughing and stood up. He followed Ginny out into the main room. She had seated herself on the couch. She looked hurt
"I'm sorry Gin, I didn't mean to offended you, it's just, Collin, well he...he's just a tad bit..."
"Annoying? Childish? Stupid? Ugly? Obsessive? Oh Harry! He's horrible! I can't stand him! I just can't dump him! He tries so hard! But he act's like he did when we were in first year! He's a foot shorter than me! He follows me around, never gives me a moments peace! I give him hints that I want to be alone, but he never gets them! He just so stupid!"
Ginny burst into tears, covering her face with her hands. Harry stared at her for a moment then sat down next to her. He put his arm around her and she leaned her head on his shoulder
"I'm sorry"
She said after a while. Harry smiled down at her
"Don't worry about it, everyone has to let it out at some point"
"Yeah, but not to a teacher"
"You think of me as a Professor Ginny? That's the last thing I want you to think of me as. I'm your friend, and you can come to me with any problems you have"
She sniffled and looked up at him, a small smile on her face
"Really?"
She asked, her voice quiet. Harry nodded
"Yeah"
He smiled at her and gave her a hug
"Now go to bed, it's late"
"Come with me? Knowing Collin he'll be waiting in the common room for me"
Harry chuckled
"Alright"
(And thats that! Hope you liked the chapter! Took me awhile to think up what to add! Well the next chapter will be up soon! ~ Kay)
Harry didn't sleep at all that night. Every time he closed his eyes a Dementor would appear in front of him, and then Cho's pale, cold face. Finally he couldn't take it anymore, he had to get up. He slipped out of bed and pulled on his cloak and hood. He didn't need to be invisible, not that he was now a teacher. He left his room and began walking slowly down the deserted hallways. As he was passing the steps that led up to the owlry he heard voices.
"Do you think that owl will be able to find him?"
Came the first voice. Harry immediately recognized it as Ron's
"I hope so, but knowing Harry, he's in a place impossible to find"
Harry saw the shadows of his two best friends appear. He immediately darted behind a suit of armor. Hermionie and Ron walked right passed him, talking in hushed voices.
"This would be so much easier with Harry's invisibility cloak"
Ron muttered as they snuck down the halls. Harry decided to follow them. When they were paying no attention what so ever Harry got right up behind them.
"And what are two students doing up in the middle of the night?"
Harry said in the strictest voice he could muster. Ron and Hermionie froze, not daring to look back
"I think you two might deserve a couple of detentions....that is if you get caught...."
At that point they both spun around, staring at his covered face in awe.
"Y-you're not going to turn us in?"
Hermionie said, in surprise. Harry laughed
"Of course not! What do you think I am? A teacher?"
Harry pretended to gag
"Ick, I hate the word"
Ron laughed, but was quickly silenced by Hermionie
"You want to wake Mcgonagall?"
She hissed, Ron blushed.
"Well, if you two have nothing else to do tonight I'll lead you back towards the common room"
They both nodded and followed Harry back the other way. They talked about Quidittch, grades (to Hermionie's delight) and future plans.
"So...."
Hermionie said as they came up to the fat lady
"Night then"
Harry said brightly. He walked to the portrait beside the fat lady, mumbled the password so that Ron and Hermionie couldn't hear and walked in. As the portrait was shutting he heard a muffled
"Wait!"
He peeked back out and saw Ron and Hermionie standing there
"Thanks"
Hermionie said, blushing deeply. Ron nodded
"Yeah, thanks a lot"
Harry smiled
"No problem"
He whispered, and then he closed the door. He threw off the cloak and got in bed, falling asleep immediately. The next morning he was shaken away by Ginny. He groaned
"You're in here again?"
He spat, turning over
"Harry! You have to get up, breakfast is about to start, Professor Lupin sent me to get you"
"Five more minutes..."
"No Harry now!"
"Go away Gin-"
SMACK!
"OW!"
Harry howled, jumping out of bed and clutching his face. Ginny had given him a good hard smack.
"Well it got you out of bed didn't it?"
She squeaked, fluttering her eyelashes at him. He pulled on a black t-shirt and a black cloak, black pants and black shoes, and then glanced in the mirror.
"Fashion statement Harry?"
Ginny said, snorting. He covered his face with his hood and turned to her.
"I would run if I were you!"
He growled. Ginny giggled and took off running, Harry in hot pursuit. When she turned the corner to the great hall she slowed down, sliding a bit but walking casually into the hall. Harry stopped a while before and walked in moments later. He took a seat between Remus and Sirius. Sirius was wearing the Order's forest green cloak. That's when Harry noticed that everyone from the Order had returned. They had all disappeared the night he arrived. None of them knew who he was...yet. Harry ate breakfast in silence. Dumbledore dismissed the students, telling them that their classes would resume after lunch. Dumbledore then led everyone in the Order to their old meeting room. He locked the door and put several privacy spells around the room.
"Welcome to the first Order meeting in over two years that every member has attended"
Everyone looked around confused. Slowly Harry lowered his hood. Everyone gasped. Mr. Weasly, Bill, Charlie, Arabella, and Mundungus all rushed over to him, greeting him warmly. They didn't have that long of reunion though. Dumbledore forced them to return to their seats.
"I have gotten news from the Aurors fighting Voldemort at our gates"
The room quieted
"Voldemort and the death eaters have been able to push everyone from the ministry back, with their powers they will be in Hogwarts by tomorrow night. According to our seer..."
He pulled out a piece of parchment and read:
It will be a night of legend, a night of love
Power will meet it's end, hope will soar like a dove
Evil will fall, Good will prevail
If the chosen one let's not friendship fail
There will be loss, there will be tears
But it will all stop if he faces his fears
On this night the Dark one will fall
The light one will rise, if love be in all
Dumbledore put down the parchment.
"We've been trying to decode the Prophecy for some time now. We suspect someone will fight the dark lord, and if in his heart, love and friendship reign true, Voldemort will fall"
Harry noticed that Dumbledore was looking at him through his entire speech. Harry knew that Dumbledore knew who the chosen one was. And strangely Harry knew too. It was he. Harry Potter, the boy who lived. He would have to fight Voldemort once again. And if his heart remained pure, he would win. But if not...the prophecy didn't mention what would happen then. He sighed and closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them he noticed everyone staring at him. Did they know it was him too? Then Remus spoke
"Do you know who 'the light one' is Albus?"
Remus already knew the answer, but he wanted to be certain. Dumbledore looked at Remus, his blue eyes sparkling with wisdom and knowledge.
"Yes Remus, I do know who it is...."
He paused; everyone was dying with curiosity now
"It is our own Harry Potter"
Harry bowed his head. It sounded so much worse coming from Dumbledore than from his own mind. Most people would think he had nothing to worry about, being the 'most powerful' wizard in the world. But they were oh so wrong. Harry was extremely worried, extremely nervous. He felt like deep down he knew the outcome of the fight, but he couldn't let it out in his mind or to anyone. After a minute Dumbledore dismissed the meeting. Harry walked quickly towards the Great hall. He had an hour and a half before classes started; he was going to take a walk. He left the great hall quickly; no one was in it to question him. Once on the grounds he slowed. He didn't watch where he was going, he just moved around. For thirty minutes he walked like this, staring at the ground and mumbling things to himself. When he finally looked up he found he was at the door of Hagrids hut. Slowly he pushed the door open. The small hut looked exactly the same, nothing had changed since the last time he was in here, except that there was no Fang barking loudly at him, and no Hagrid, smiling down at him and handing him a cup of tea. Harry walked inside and sat down at the large table. Two huge cups were sitting on it, along with an empty milk jug and a teapot. No one had moved anything. Harry remembered sitting at the table, only moments before he left Hogwarts...
Hagrid brought a milk jug and his teakettle over to the table. He poured himself and Harry some tea and sat down.
"What's botherin' ya 'arry?"
Hagrid asked, looking at the student before him with concern. Harry looked up at him with his big green eyes, he could trust Hagrid
"I have this feeling Hagrid, this feeling I can't explain. I feel like I know deep down something bad is going to happen, I don't know when, I don't know why, but I can feel it. I'm scared Hagrid, it's the same feeling I had before Cedric died..."
Hagrid didn't answer. He just stared at Harry for a while. Finally after minutes of silence he gave Harry the words he would always remember
"A wise man once told me Harry, bad things come and go. You can't stop 'em, you can't change 'em. You just have ter follow through with what's been planned fer you. The best thing you can do Harry, is help out in the places you know can be helped, and try your best, nuthing is ever gunna change your destiny, Harry, but in the end it will always turn out okay..."
Harry gapped at Hagrid
"An what wise man told you this Hagrid?"
Harry asked looking at the floor
"Because in my life things haven't exactly turned out good"
Harry felt Hagrids large hand settle on his shoulder
"Yer father told me that, Harry, his life wasn't exactly good either, but at the point when everything in the world was at a low, James was one of the happiest people on earth..."
Harry looked back up at Hagrid, his eyes staring into the warm beady black ones.
"Thank you Hagrid"
Harry whispered. Hagrid smiled and hugged Harry tightly
"Any time Harry"
'Any time Harry', Hagrids last words to him. Harry stood up and walked over to the bed. He sat down on it and peeked under it, looking through his legs. He noticed a large brown, wooden trunk sitting under it. He pulled the trunk out and opened it. The trunk was filled with letters, pictures, and other things. Harry lifted up the letter lying on top. He turned it over, and in golden script it read : James Potter. Harry stared at it confused for a moment, then slowly and carefully he opened it.
James,
How are you? How's Christmas break treating you? I hope your well. It's really lonely here at Hogwarts, I'm one of five students staying. The only Griffindor! Severus Snape is the only other sixth year, slimy git, he's been following me around for the past few days, making rude remarks. Damn him. I never thought I'd say this, but I wish Christmas would hurry up and end. Well, I better cut my ramblings short, send me a letter back quick James, I'm about to die of boredom....
Love always
Tiger lily
Harry smiled; at least his Mum had a sense of humor. He picked up the letter beneath the one he had just read
Tiger lily,
I'm not to good actually; my parents are gone again, at some 'very important' party in Germany. They probably won't be back for the rest of the holidays, not like it would make a difference though, I never see them around anyway. I was thinking about coming back to Hogwarts, spending Christmas with you. It sounds much more appealing to spend the holidays with you than with my parents. Anyway... I have a tip for you, next time you see Snape call him 'Jackass'. It drives him nuts, Sirius, er, accidentally turned him into a donkey while he was saying good-bye to his girl friend at the station. We've been owling him...hehehe.... Well, I'll owl you if I can come back.
Love
Prongs
Harry grinned...Jackass? Creative...he would have to remember that. He picked up the next letter and began to read
Prongs,
Oh yes! Please come, Christmas would be so much fun! I called Snape 'Jackass' yesterday. You were right about his reaction. He blushed, mumbled something that sounded like "Damn Marauders" then left. He didn't even insult me back! I haven't seen him since. Remmy owled me earlier today. He said that he wouldn't mind coming back either. The full moon doesn't appear until after the welcome back feast, he'd be able to enjoy the holiday. Can't wait for your reply
Love you bunches
Tiger lily
Harry continued to read all the different letters. He found out that his parents had been friends since their first year, didn't start dating till the summer of the sixth year, and that the Marauders weren't the only animagus.... At the bottom he found a small folder entitled 'Notes during class'
This is Boring...I hate Binns
Padfoot
Yeah, I agree, you would have thought he would have dropped dead by now
Prongs
Seriously...so, who you got your eye on Jamesie?
Padfoot
Why aren't you guy's listening?!
Moony
Because we don't want to listen to an old geezer drawl on about stuff that we'll never need to know!
Prongs
You'll need to know it for the exam....
Moony
We'll just copy Lily or Daniel's notes, they're smart!
Padfoot
Helpless, absolutely helpless....awe well, so who DO you have your eye on James?
Moony
None of your business you snoopy gits!
Prongs
What have I missed?!
Wormtail
We're guessing who the love of James' life is!
Padfoot
Ahh, I see...well, spill James
Wormtail
Well, I kind of have a thing for....
Prongs
........ well......
Moony
Ohhh, are we finding out who Jamesie has it for?! Oh, and BTW, you can't copy my notes....
Teddy
Lily! How did you get a hold of this?!
Padfoot
Peter has bad aim, he missed Sirius and hit me, almost hit Binns, hey Pete, you might wanna try sliding it instead!
Teddy
Well I feel left out
Pawz
My God, looks like Lily has bad aim too!
Prongs
Shut up Prongs, you can't say much, you're the one that got Moony involved in all this!
Teddy
Ok, who cares how it got where! Just don't give it to a Slytherin!
Wormtail
Like we're stupid enough to do that?
Padfoot
Some of us are *cough cough* Sirius *cough cough*
Moony
Hahaha! Yeah Moony, you showed him! Oh crap, here comes Binns, hide the note!
Pawz
And then it ended. Harry wanted to look through more but was interrupted by a quiet voice
"I see you've found your present Harry"
Harry's head shot up
"Headmaster?"
Dumbledore smiled from the door
"Yes, it was going to be Hagrids present to you for your sixteenth birthday...but as you can tell, he failed to deliver it to you"
Dumbledore's face saddened.
"It is yours to keep. Your fathers wand is in there, along with your mothers diary, pictures, and all the letters they saved...."
Harry nodded and closed the trunk
"Um, Professor, who is Daniel?"
He asked, standing up. Dumbledore smiled
"Ah, you read about Daniel! He was your mothers twin brother. No one ever mentioned him becuase he disappeared in your parents seventh year. I myself believe him still to be alive, somewhere out there, but it's only a guess. I'm sure you'll meet him someday Harry. He was a lot like Sirius, possibly even more immature. Wonderful boy, very bright..."
Harry nodded and glanced back down at the trunk. It was silent in the room
"Well, I came to tell you your class starts in ten minutes, see you then"
Dumbledore finally said, then he left. Harry watched after him then opened the trunk once more. He pulled out a long box sitting at the bottom. He opened it; inside sat his father's wand. The wand was nicely polished, and in good condition. He must have been a neat freak Harry thought with a chuckle. He pocketed the wand, closed the trunk, shoved it under the bed, then exited the hut. When he entered the Great Hall everyone was already there. Ron, Hermionie and Ginny waved at him and he waved back, taking a seat beside Remus
"I see you've made friends..."
Remus whispered, chuckling
"Shut up"
Harry replied. Remus smiled
"And where were you?"
"Hagrids"
"What were you doing there?"
"Looking through my birthday present..."
"Looking through?"
"Yeah, it is a trunk full of all my parents old school things, letters, notes, and such. How come you didn't tell me my Dad, Sirius, and Peter weren't the only animagus?"
Remus stiffened
"You read about Daniel and your Mum?"
Harry nodded
"Well, we made a pact back when we were young. No one was ever supposed to know about them being animagus. Even James, Sirius, Peter, or me. They did it in secret, and we swore never to tell anyone, no matter who they were. Lily never did tell us the reason, neither did Daniel"
Remus shrugged
"Do you know where Daniel is?"
Harry asked
"No, I wish I did though, I could really use him here now"
Remus replied
"Have you ever tried owling him?"
Remus sighed
"No.Harry, let's have this conversation later"
At that Remus stood up and walked to the front of the stage.
"Welcome to class number two!"
He said loudly, grinning
"We are going to review all the spells we learned last time, and learn a few defense spells that don't involve blowing things up..."
Some people groaned and others laughed. They went through all the spells, and to Remus' disliking, Harry demonstrated his 'blow death eaters sky high' spell on him. The day passed slowly, but, by the time 9 o'clock came around they had all mastered the invisibility spell, the binding spell, and the motion spell (a spell that enables the person to apparate short distances, like maybe 10 feet or so) Harry watched as all the students exited the hall, talking merrily to each other. He sighed, they just didn't get it, none of them did. Voldemort, you-know-who, he-who-must-not-be- named, the Dark Lord, was at their gates, ready to come bursting in at any moment, and they weren't worried. They were acting like nothing was wrong. He stared at the door for a few moments, thinking hard, then a gentle voice pulled him back.
"No use worrying Harry"
It said. Harry turned his head. Remus was smiling at him, Sirius by his side. Harry nodded
"I know, it's just, well, none of you have ever fought Voldemort before, not like I have at least, and, well, I know that when he arrives, these kids, no matter how much we train them, Remus, will be totally unprepared. They will panic, they will scream, cry, and Voldemort will just prance through here. There aren't enough people here with experience to hold off all of his supporters, plus Dementors..."
"Harry, I know we haven't had it like you have, and, no one ever will, but you have to have faith in these people, your friends, your family. If motivated enough, they will all fight, whether their scared or not"
Sirius said, laying his hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry sighed, but nodded
"I guess so"
He whispered
"Well, I'm off, see you"
Harry muttered, before bolting off. Remus and Sirius stared after him, in total shock. Harry ran down the empty hallways, heading towards the owlry. As he was passing an open window a small ball of feathers shot through it and hit Harry full force on the side of the face. Harry staggered and opened his eyes, whizzing quickly around his head, was Pig. Harry groaned and grabbed the owl, pulling it down in front of him. A letter was attached to its leg, no wait, two letters. Then Harry remembered. Ron and Hermionie had sent him an owl. He grabbed the letters and tossed Pig out the window. He opened the first one quickly and read:
Harry,
I hope this reaches you; there is so much to say. First of all, where are you? How are you? Oh Harry, come back! We miss you so much and we need you! Hogwarts is under siege, Voldemort is going to come breaking through any day now, and I don't want to die without seeing you again. I'm sure Ron feels the same way. The past two years, ever since that night Hagrid, Dean and Parvati died, have been miserable, and not only because they left us, but because you left us Harry. Every little thing seems to remind me of you now days, and every time something does, it makes me want to cry. There a new teacher here, he's teaching us how to fight Voldemort. He reminds me of you Harry; he even has your laugh. His name is Andrew, you would like him. But that's beside the point, Harry, we need you, if you're out there, if your reading this, I hope you know that I love you, and I want you back.
Love
Hermionie
Harry bowed his head, she really did miss him, and she loved him too. Hermionie loved him.
"I have to tell her"
He said quietly to himself. He nodded his head to himself then opened Ron's letter
Harry,
You better read through this entire thing Harry, I have a lot to spill out. First of all, YOU SLIMY GIT! Do you know how much hell your putting me and 'mionie through? She's cried herself to sleep in the common room I don't know how many times! Her grades even dropped since you left, Harry. Her grades! And we're talking about Hermionie! Hermionie Granger, little miss perfect, lady know it all! Her grades! I can't believe you of all people could be so selfish! In the five or so years I knew you, never once were you selfish, never once did you think of yourself! I NEVER expected you to do this! You get your sorry ASS back here right now or I'll hunt you down. On a happier note. I miss you like I miss yesterday. Where are ya Harry, we all need you back here! I promise not to kill you if you come back. Sirius and Remus are here, I'm sure they both want you back just as much as I do (and I bet you'd get it worse from Sirius if you came back, hehe) Please Harry, come back. You-know-who is at Hogwarts, ready to come waltzing in, killing everyone in his path. If you don't come we'll die without seeing you, and that is the most depressing thought I've ever had. I don't want to write too much more, if you want to know anything else you'll have to owl me back or get over here.
Ron
Harry groaned. Ron was mad, and mad Ron was not good. He continued his way up to the owlry to find it empty. He conjured up a quill and some parchment and began to write a letter. When he finished 30 minutes later, it read
Mr. Daniel Evans,
Hi, umm, you don't know me, at least not personally, but that's not why I am sending you this owl. Sir, my name is Harry Potter, and you, as you may have guessed, are my uncle. But, again, that is not why I'm writing you. I'm writing you because a certain Remus Lupin mentioned you to me the other day, and while looking through my parent's old stuff I found out quite a number of things about you. Anyway, Remus wants you back here. He needs you right now, he needs a friend. I hope you come, we're at Hogwarts. And if you don't come for Remus, come for me.
Harry Potter
Harry smiled at the letter and looked up at all the owls, trying to choose one. He was drawn to a snow white one that was sleeping at the top. Harry mumbled a spell and slowly he began to rise. He rose right up next to the owl and tapped it. Slowly it turned around and squawked. Harry almost screamed with joy.
"Hedwig?!"
He whispered, gapping at the owl. Again it squawked, sure enough, it was Hedwig. Harry completely lost concentration on his spell, and after staring at the owl for a few minutes, the spell gave out and he fell ten feet, hitting the stone floor with a loud thump! He groaned and looked up, his hood had fallen, and Hedwig was soaring down to him. She landed on his shoulder and gave his ear an affectionate nip. He stroked her feathers, smiling happily.
"You want to deliver a letter for me girl? You can find anyone can't you?"
Hedwig ruffled her feathers and Harry gently attached the letter to her foot. She nipped his ear again then flew out the window. Harry watched her until she had flown out of sight, then headed out of the owlry, pulling his hood up as he walked down the stairs. He reached his room in no time and was surprised to see Ginny sitting on his bed awaiting his arrival.
"You were never this forth coming before"
Harry grunted, removing his cloak. Ginny smiled sweetly
"Yes well, I liked you before didn't I?"
Harry chuckled and walked over to the kitchen
"What, you don't like me anymore?"
He asked, pouring them both some tea. Ginny entered the kitchen
"Of course I like you Harry, it's just, when you left someone else told me about their feelings for you, and I decided, hey, she has a better chance! So I moved on..."
Harry nodded
"Uh huh"
He muttered, handing her a cup of tea
"Who'd you move onto little Miss Weasly?"
"Hey! I'm not enough over you for you to call me that!"
She growled, glaring at him. Harry smiled
"I'm sorry"
"No problem...oh, and I'm sort of dating someone..."
Harry spat his tea back into his cup, sputtering slightly
"You are?! What did Ron say? Who is it?!"
Ginny giggled
"Yes, I am. Ron didn't do anything, that is, he didn't do anything after Hermionie told him off for bugging me about it...oh and it's"
She mumbled a name Harry could barely hear, but he heard it enough
"WHAT?!"
He said, trying to hold back a look of disgust, but also extreme amusement
"Er, Colin, Colin Creevy"
Harry burst into uncontrolled laughter, falling off of his stool and beating the ground.
"Shut up you git! God! You're just like my brother! That's what he did first, then he got all protective and tried to beat Colin up!"
Harry continued to laugh. Ginny kicked at him then stormed out of the room. Harry stopped laughing and stood up. He followed Ginny out into the main room. She had seated herself on the couch. She looked hurt
"I'm sorry Gin, I didn't mean to offended you, it's just, Collin, well he...he's just a tad bit..."
"Annoying? Childish? Stupid? Ugly? Obsessive? Oh Harry! He's horrible! I can't stand him! I just can't dump him! He tries so hard! But he act's like he did when we were in first year! He's a foot shorter than me! He follows me around, never gives me a moments peace! I give him hints that I want to be alone, but he never gets them! He just so stupid!"
Ginny burst into tears, covering her face with her hands. Harry stared at her for a moment then sat down next to her. He put his arm around her and she leaned her head on his shoulder
"I'm sorry"
She said after a while. Harry smiled down at her
"Don't worry about it, everyone has to let it out at some point"
"Yeah, but not to a teacher"
"You think of me as a Professor Ginny? That's the last thing I want you to think of me as. I'm your friend, and you can come to me with any problems you have"
She sniffled and looked up at him, a small smile on her face
"Really?"
She asked, her voice quiet. Harry nodded
"Yeah"
He smiled at her and gave her a hug
"Now go to bed, it's late"
"Come with me? Knowing Collin he'll be waiting in the common room for me"
Harry chuckled
"Alright"
(And thats that! Hope you liked the chapter! Took me awhile to think up what to add! Well the next chapter will be up soon! ~ Kay)