AN: Sorry this took so long. School's been keeping me busy. Thanks to everyone who reviewed!
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Chapter 16: Simple Things
Harry's elation at beating Slytherin lasted the entire week. Nothing felt better than crushing Malfoy in a quidditch match. So it was with unusual enthusiasm, that Harry made his way up to North Tower for divination with Ron by his side. They were discussing a particular save Ginny had made in the beginning of the game.
Soon they were sitting in Trelawney's odd classroom, listening to her go on about astrology and its connection to events in the world. "As you can see…" She whispered mystically. "The conjunction of Jupiter and Venus signals that misery will come from an unknown source."
Ron groaned. "Our misery doesn't come from an unknown source. It comes from this class!" Harry snorted and worked to keep a straight face.
"As you can see," Professor Trelawney continued. "Mars is brighter than any other planet which indicates…" Harry started to sink into a stupor as he often did when in his divination class. He wasn't sleeping exactly, just resting.
Suddenly, he realized someone was trying to get his attention. "Mr. Potter!" Harry opened his eyes and saw Professor Trelawney's eyes blazing as she glared at him.
"Er….sorry. I was just…er…concentrating on what you just said!" Harry finished breathlessly, congratulating himself on coming up with a fairly good explanation in such a short period of time.
"Which was what, Mr. Potter?" Harry gulped. He should have been prepared for that one.
"Something about Mars?" He asked hopefully.
"No, Mr. Potter." She looked sternly at him before continuing, "I was saying that you, more than anyone should be paying attention to whatever glances into the future my inner eye can provide for you." Ron began snickering, but Harry kicked him under the table to shut him up. "Your situation with the Dark Lord is cause for great concern. You should do better to listen to your fate!" She snapped. After this small episode, Divination went along normally. Ron and Harry soon met up with Hermione at dinner.
"I'm so 'appy it's Friday!" Ron said, his mouth stuffed full of food. He swallowed before continuing. "Do you want to go visit Hagrid tomorrow? We haven't been to see him in ages." Harry and Hermione agreed this was a good idea and Harry found himself very much looking forward to tomorrow. It had been too long since they had talked to Hagrid.
~*~*~
The next morning, Harry, Ron, and Hermione went to visit Hagrid after breakfast. When they arrived at his cabin, Hagrid greeted them cheerily.
"Nice ter see you three! Where've ya been all year!" He grinned at them and ushered them inside. He promptly served them rock cakes and tea. They all politely refused the rock cakes, but took some tea. "So how's yer classes been goin'?" Hagrid asked them.
"Er…alright." Harry muttered, not really feeling to enthusiastic about them.
"Pretty good." Hermione said at once, smiling, "Transfiguration is wonderful. It's nice to be learning things that have a practical use." Harry and Ron looked at each other. Harry was thinking about an instance when they would ever need to change a cat into a cloak and he was pretty sure that Ron was pondering the same thing.
"I almost forgot!" Hagrid shouted. He clapped a hand onto Harry's shoulder. "I think some congratulations are in order here. I saw the match on Saturday, Harry, and you played real well." Harry smiled as they discussed the game in further detail. He felt so happy just talking and having a good time with his friends. He wasn't sure of it was just the good events that had been going on lately or Hagrid's cheery disposition, but he was feeling rather giddy at the moment. Not for the first time, Harry thought about the special father-like connection he had with Hagrid. It had been Hagrid that had rescued him from the Dursleys' and showed him the Wizarding world. Grinning up at Hagrid with admiration, Harry wondered what he would do without him.
After their visit, Harry, Ron and Hermione decided to go up to Gryffindor tower to relax. Ron immediately challenged Hermione to a chess match and Harry ran upstairs to get the book that Hermione had given him for Christmas. When he walked into his dormitory, Hedwig was waiting for him. He smiled and freed her from the letter. He was happy that she had delivered it here and not the Great Hall. Harry had written some personal things in his letter and he wasn't sure that he wanted Ron and Hermione to see Sirius's reply.
Quickly he ripped open the letter and read:
Dear Harry,
I'm glad to hear that everything is well with you. I hope you did well in your match against Slytherin! You have to tell me all about it in your reply.
It seems that teenage love is happily blossoming around Hogwarts.
Harry blushed. He could just imagine the grin Sirius had been wearing when he wrote those words.
Seriously, I'm happy for you. I remember my first girlfriend at school (one of many of course). I won't go into details, but if you ever need a "place" the astronomy tower and the charms classroom are almost always empty.
Harry laughed this time, though he was still blushing. Now he was VERY happy that Ron and Hermione had not seen it.
The fight against the Dark Side continues. We are doing everything we can to find out when Voldemort plans to attack. Give my best to Ron and Hermione.
Sirius
Harry smiled, glad for the nonchalant letter from Sirius. He liked it best when they wrote each other about normal things. He grabbed a quill to start his letter. He wanted to tell Sirius about every minute detail of the game. Almost an hour later, Harry had finished with his letter and was tying it to Hedwig's leg when Hermione came bursting into the room.
Immediately, Harry felt alarm. Something terrible must have happened for her to make an entrance into the boys' dorm room, but on further inspection of her face, Harry could see she looked quite happy, extremely happy. "What is it?" He asked, still feeling a little tense.
Hermione jumped in the air and yelled, "I beat him, Harry! I beat him! Finally!"
He thought for a moment, wondering what she was talking about and then it hit him. Harry grinned. "You? You beat Ron at chess?" He said disbelievingly.
Hermione pretended to look indignant for a moment, but she could not wipe the smile off of her face. She smacked Harry on the shoulder in a brotherly fashion. "Yes, me!" Still not really thinking it true, Harry ran down the stairs into the common room to see Ron staring at a chessboard that clearly showed his king checkmated.
Wait a minute…did he let her win? Harry examined Ron's defeated face and was surprised to see that he could not really tell. "So I hear you've been beaten. Let me play you! If you're having a bad night, I want to take full advantage of it." Harry smirked.
Ron glared ferociously, but he could not keep up the pretense for long. Soon he was grinning at his best friend. "Oy…Potter…You're worse than Hermione. I doubt you will match my skill this century, let alone this night."
Harry and Ron's game lasted under half an hour. Ron had beat Harry easily, and Harry was left staring at the board wondering what had happened.
That night, Harry lay in bed feeling happy and contented. For once, he was enjoying the simple things.
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