I don't own Harry Potter.
A/N I know I haven't updated in a very long time, but I have an excuse. I have the attention span of a goldfish with ADD. I started a new fic and it became my main focus. I'll try to update more regularly, but I can't make any promises.
Enjoy!
Chapter 5 True Dreams, Playing, and Anger
The world was thick with fog, and off in the distance a battle raged. Bright lights in every color imaginable shot around at random. The war seemed to be coming closer and not moving at all. At the center of the mayhem stood a boy. His black hair whipped about his face. His resolute visage never wavered as he stood face to face with two identical snakes. The tails of the giant serpents were intertwined, and both beasts were poised for attack. A phoenix dove from the fog above, its talons ripping through the skin and muscle of both of the mammoth snakes. The beautiful bird came to rest next to the boy who had not moved at all during the exchange. He and the bird watched as one of the injured snakes unwound his tail from that of the other, and retreated into fog. They watched as its twin fell to the ground motionless, and as the fog began to recede. The flashing lights were no more, and the silhouette of a towering castle came into view, the early morning sunlight peeking around its edges.
Harry was startled awake by the sudden appearance of a heavy weight across his torso and the sharp pain of something hard pressing relentlessly into his ribs. His mind began to speed up and could soon process sound. There was the sound of laughter, deep laughter. There were indignant words, and then the weight upon his chest was removed. Harry intended to ask what was going on, but his dry throat only succeeded in producing a small grunt. He opened his eyes, and was met with a churning sea of fire, which could mean only one thing, Weasleys.
"Sorry, Harry," Harry finally managed to comprehend exactly what the chattering noise coming out of his best friend was supposed to mean.
"S'alright," Harry slurred as he put on his glasses and the forms of Ron, Fred, and George Weasley became separated from the blur of color that had filled his vision. "What's going on?" Harry asked.
"Well, we were getting on Mom's nerves, and she didn't want you here all by your lonesome..." George started.
"We got kicked out of the house," Fred continued. "We thought that you would take us in."
Ron rolled his eyes at his brothers, and then turned to Harry. "When we found you asleep, we decided not to wake you, then one of these idiots, I'm not sure which, thought that it would be funny to trip me and... Well... sorry." Ron finished lamely.
Harry smiled, "It's okay Ron." He stood and stretched, stopping with his arms held high above his head, a look of complete shock plastered across his face.
"What's wrong, Harry?" Ron asked worriedly. Harry slowly lowered his arms, barely hearing his friend's voice. My dream. Harry found himself lost in thought. It had been a dream. It hadn't been a vision. Voldemort hadn't influenced it. I would have been able to tell, but Voldemort hadn't been in it? He was getting confused.
"Huh?" Harry said turning his wide eyes toward the youngest of the Weasley brothers. "Oh. Um. I'm fine. Just. you know. thinking. and stuff." The other three looked at each other, and one of the twins twirled his finger around his ear. Ron elbowed him in the stomach, and followed Harry out of the room.
"I'm starved," Ron announced. Harry shook his head and mumbled something about his friend always being starved, but lead them down to the kitchen anyway.
"Hermione's not with you?" Harry asked.
"She, Mom, and Gin went shopping for clothes." Ron answered quietly as they passed the curtain covering the sleeping painting.
That sat eating what little they found in the pantry. Someone really needed to go to the market if people were going to be visiting all the time. Harry had been there less than a week, and the cupboards were nearly bare already.
They talked over topics such as quidditch, Fred and George's budding business, and Mrs. Weasley's reaction to just exactly who had helped fund their little endeavor.
"Yeah," George started. "Mom's not really all that happy with you right now. She rants about how it was a waste of money, and of course about how terribly evil we were for taking it, but I think she's happy we're not criminals at least."
"For a while there I think she was considering the idea that we had knock up a liquor store to get it," Fred continued.
"Over," Harry said. At the queer looks he got he continued, " Knocked over a liquor store. Not up. That means something else."
"Who cares," George replied. "You knew what I meant." He mumbled under his breath about stupid muggle sayings.
Harry furrowed his eyebrows, and wondered whether or not it had been George who actually said it. He decided it didn't matter, and gave up. They fell back into the conversation, until they were interrupted by the sound of someone stumbling out of the fireplace.
"Hello, Remus," Harry said, as they entered the living room. The man looked up from his robes, which he was trying to rid of soot, and smiled.
"Hello, Harry, my good Weasleys."
"Why I never!" Gred huffed.
"Of all the nerve!" Forge continued. Remus quirked an eyebrow.
"What are you two going on about this time?" Ron asked.
"We have never been accused of anything so horrible in our lives," Gred said.
"And we've been accused of a lot," Forge stated.
"And did most of it," Gred continued.
Ron and Remus looked around wide-eyed, before Harry explained. "You called them good."
Fred and George ginned, and Remus shook his head. "My apologies, my mischievous Weasleys."
"Now that's more like it."
"Has Dumbledore been by today Harry?" Remus asked.
"Not that I know of, but I've only been up an hour or so," Harry replied.
"He asked to see me, and now I can't find him. Let him know I stopped by if you do see him. I'll bring by dinner tonight if you want." The members of the order had each taken turns eating dinner at Grimauld Place, and Harry was fairly sure it was at the suggestion, if not order, of Dumbledore.
"Oh!" Ron said, startling Harry. "We were supposed to invite you over for dinner tonight."
"That's fine," Remus said. "Some other time then, Harry"
"Sure," Harry said. "Anytime."
Remus grabbed a hand full of Floo Powder, and disappeared in a roar of flames.
"You guys want to get in a game of quidditch before dinner?" Ron asked.
They had been flying around catching apples for hours now. They weren't playing an actual game. There were no rules. They didn't really need them. They were just enjoying the feeling of flying.
Harry hadn't been in the air since he had been kicked off of the team, but he still didn't miss a single apple. He did on occasion scare his friends out their wits by diving at such angles that they swore he would crash into the ground beneath him.
The sun was slowing sinking toward the horizon when two young girls walked up to their makeshift pitch. Harry turned his broom to face them. Hermione was standing against a tree, but Ginny was standing out in the center of the clearing, making herself the perfect target. He darted off at amazing speeds, charging straight at the youngest Weasley. By the time she noticed, all she had time to do was shriek before she was in the air. Harry shot straight up. The girl in his arms was kicking and screaming and holding on for dear life. She finally quieted down as Harry circled the paddock.
"You through?" he smirked down at her. She rolled her eyes and gave another, shorter, scream. He laughed and drifted toward the ground.
His feet hit solid earth, and he held his captive steady until she found her feet. She smiled at him before she was drug backwards and held behind twin bodyguards as Ron strode angrily toward his friend. Hermione ran as fast as she could to where they had landed but didn't make it in time. Ron drew back his fist and hit Harry square in the jaw.
Harry sat in the kitchen of The Burrow. The smell of Mrs. Weasley's amazing cooking wafting toward him as he listened to the woman lecture her three youngest sons. Harry had tried to explain, as had the accused, but Mrs. Weasley wouldn't hear any of it. She had threatened to put a silencing spell on Harry if he continued to talk before the potion had a chance to heal his jaw. So he sat holding an ice pack against his face as Ginny shot him sympathetic looks.
Dinner was a strained and quiet affair, and ended much quicker than any meal at the Weasley house ever had.
Harry fell out of the fireplace, and was about to hit the hearthstones when a pair of strong arms lifted him to his feet. He looked up to find Remus Lupin grinning down at him.
"Thanks," he said, brushing pointlessly at his robes. He looked around the room and caught sight of his headmaster sitting in one of the armchairs near the fire. "Hello, sir."
"Harry," he nodded his hello.
"How was dinner with the Weasleys?" Remus asked.
"Fine," he lied. "Goodnight, Remus, Professor."
He climbed the stairs and entered his room. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, staring at the blank canvas, when a knock at his door startled him back to reality.
"You okay, Harry?" Remus asked, seating himself on the spare bed.
"Fine," Harry said tonelessly.
"Right," Remus replied. "So then what exactly is it about the floor that is so fascinating?"
Harry looked up into the lycanthrope's kind eyes, and replied. "Ron hit me."
To Harry's surprise, Remus laughed. A true deep gravelly laugh, that Harry hadn't heard since the summer before when he and Sirius would tell tales of their past. "Did you deserve it?" he smirked.
"I don't think so," Harry's voice bordered on indignant.
Remus held his hands up in surrender. "Just curious," he soothed. "What happened?"
Harry explained his attack on Ginny, and by the end of the tale Remus' grin had return in full force.
"You were flirting with his baby sister. Has Ron ever reacted well to anyone flirting with her?" Remus said.
Harry thought back to Ron's reaction to Michael Corner last year. "Neville Longbottom?" Harry tried, but knew that it didn't warrant a response. "But I wasn't flirting."
Remus' grin grew bigger, and then faltered slightly.
"What?" Harry asked, afraid he had said something to upset his friend.
"Nothing," Remus replied, but at the look of concern on the young man's face he answered. "Just thinking of all of the people who should be up here talking to you instead of me." Remus shook his head and continued. "Don't worry about Ron. It happens. He'll get over it. They always do, and you'll forgive him, and all will be right with our screwed up world once again."
"How are you so sure? We have had fights before, but nothing violent."
"Because I too was once a teenager. Let's see. I hit Sirius once. I seem to remember Sirius and your dad having it out real good one time, and Peter took a swing at me once, but Sirius had him flat on his back before he connected. Boys fight. That's what they do. You two will survive it. I promise." He rose from his seat on the bed and headed to the door. "Rest well, Harry."
A/N I love reviews.
A/N I know I haven't updated in a very long time, but I have an excuse. I have the attention span of a goldfish with ADD. I started a new fic and it became my main focus. I'll try to update more regularly, but I can't make any promises.
Enjoy!
Chapter 5 True Dreams, Playing, and Anger
The world was thick with fog, and off in the distance a battle raged. Bright lights in every color imaginable shot around at random. The war seemed to be coming closer and not moving at all. At the center of the mayhem stood a boy. His black hair whipped about his face. His resolute visage never wavered as he stood face to face with two identical snakes. The tails of the giant serpents were intertwined, and both beasts were poised for attack. A phoenix dove from the fog above, its talons ripping through the skin and muscle of both of the mammoth snakes. The beautiful bird came to rest next to the boy who had not moved at all during the exchange. He and the bird watched as one of the injured snakes unwound his tail from that of the other, and retreated into fog. They watched as its twin fell to the ground motionless, and as the fog began to recede. The flashing lights were no more, and the silhouette of a towering castle came into view, the early morning sunlight peeking around its edges.
Harry was startled awake by the sudden appearance of a heavy weight across his torso and the sharp pain of something hard pressing relentlessly into his ribs. His mind began to speed up and could soon process sound. There was the sound of laughter, deep laughter. There were indignant words, and then the weight upon his chest was removed. Harry intended to ask what was going on, but his dry throat only succeeded in producing a small grunt. He opened his eyes, and was met with a churning sea of fire, which could mean only one thing, Weasleys.
"Sorry, Harry," Harry finally managed to comprehend exactly what the chattering noise coming out of his best friend was supposed to mean.
"S'alright," Harry slurred as he put on his glasses and the forms of Ron, Fred, and George Weasley became separated from the blur of color that had filled his vision. "What's going on?" Harry asked.
"Well, we were getting on Mom's nerves, and she didn't want you here all by your lonesome..." George started.
"We got kicked out of the house," Fred continued. "We thought that you would take us in."
Ron rolled his eyes at his brothers, and then turned to Harry. "When we found you asleep, we decided not to wake you, then one of these idiots, I'm not sure which, thought that it would be funny to trip me and... Well... sorry." Ron finished lamely.
Harry smiled, "It's okay Ron." He stood and stretched, stopping with his arms held high above his head, a look of complete shock plastered across his face.
"What's wrong, Harry?" Ron asked worriedly. Harry slowly lowered his arms, barely hearing his friend's voice. My dream. Harry found himself lost in thought. It had been a dream. It hadn't been a vision. Voldemort hadn't influenced it. I would have been able to tell, but Voldemort hadn't been in it? He was getting confused.
"Huh?" Harry said turning his wide eyes toward the youngest of the Weasley brothers. "Oh. Um. I'm fine. Just. you know. thinking. and stuff." The other three looked at each other, and one of the twins twirled his finger around his ear. Ron elbowed him in the stomach, and followed Harry out of the room.
"I'm starved," Ron announced. Harry shook his head and mumbled something about his friend always being starved, but lead them down to the kitchen anyway.
"Hermione's not with you?" Harry asked.
"She, Mom, and Gin went shopping for clothes." Ron answered quietly as they passed the curtain covering the sleeping painting.
That sat eating what little they found in the pantry. Someone really needed to go to the market if people were going to be visiting all the time. Harry had been there less than a week, and the cupboards were nearly bare already.
They talked over topics such as quidditch, Fred and George's budding business, and Mrs. Weasley's reaction to just exactly who had helped fund their little endeavor.
"Yeah," George started. "Mom's not really all that happy with you right now. She rants about how it was a waste of money, and of course about how terribly evil we were for taking it, but I think she's happy we're not criminals at least."
"For a while there I think she was considering the idea that we had knock up a liquor store to get it," Fred continued.
"Over," Harry said. At the queer looks he got he continued, " Knocked over a liquor store. Not up. That means something else."
"Who cares," George replied. "You knew what I meant." He mumbled under his breath about stupid muggle sayings.
Harry furrowed his eyebrows, and wondered whether or not it had been George who actually said it. He decided it didn't matter, and gave up. They fell back into the conversation, until they were interrupted by the sound of someone stumbling out of the fireplace.
"Hello, Remus," Harry said, as they entered the living room. The man looked up from his robes, which he was trying to rid of soot, and smiled.
"Hello, Harry, my good Weasleys."
"Why I never!" Gred huffed.
"Of all the nerve!" Forge continued. Remus quirked an eyebrow.
"What are you two going on about this time?" Ron asked.
"We have never been accused of anything so horrible in our lives," Gred said.
"And we've been accused of a lot," Forge stated.
"And did most of it," Gred continued.
Ron and Remus looked around wide-eyed, before Harry explained. "You called them good."
Fred and George ginned, and Remus shook his head. "My apologies, my mischievous Weasleys."
"Now that's more like it."
"Has Dumbledore been by today Harry?" Remus asked.
"Not that I know of, but I've only been up an hour or so," Harry replied.
"He asked to see me, and now I can't find him. Let him know I stopped by if you do see him. I'll bring by dinner tonight if you want." The members of the order had each taken turns eating dinner at Grimauld Place, and Harry was fairly sure it was at the suggestion, if not order, of Dumbledore.
"Oh!" Ron said, startling Harry. "We were supposed to invite you over for dinner tonight."
"That's fine," Remus said. "Some other time then, Harry"
"Sure," Harry said. "Anytime."
Remus grabbed a hand full of Floo Powder, and disappeared in a roar of flames.
"You guys want to get in a game of quidditch before dinner?" Ron asked.
They had been flying around catching apples for hours now. They weren't playing an actual game. There were no rules. They didn't really need them. They were just enjoying the feeling of flying.
Harry hadn't been in the air since he had been kicked off of the team, but he still didn't miss a single apple. He did on occasion scare his friends out their wits by diving at such angles that they swore he would crash into the ground beneath him.
The sun was slowing sinking toward the horizon when two young girls walked up to their makeshift pitch. Harry turned his broom to face them. Hermione was standing against a tree, but Ginny was standing out in the center of the clearing, making herself the perfect target. He darted off at amazing speeds, charging straight at the youngest Weasley. By the time she noticed, all she had time to do was shriek before she was in the air. Harry shot straight up. The girl in his arms was kicking and screaming and holding on for dear life. She finally quieted down as Harry circled the paddock.
"You through?" he smirked down at her. She rolled her eyes and gave another, shorter, scream. He laughed and drifted toward the ground.
His feet hit solid earth, and he held his captive steady until she found her feet. She smiled at him before she was drug backwards and held behind twin bodyguards as Ron strode angrily toward his friend. Hermione ran as fast as she could to where they had landed but didn't make it in time. Ron drew back his fist and hit Harry square in the jaw.
Harry sat in the kitchen of The Burrow. The smell of Mrs. Weasley's amazing cooking wafting toward him as he listened to the woman lecture her three youngest sons. Harry had tried to explain, as had the accused, but Mrs. Weasley wouldn't hear any of it. She had threatened to put a silencing spell on Harry if he continued to talk before the potion had a chance to heal his jaw. So he sat holding an ice pack against his face as Ginny shot him sympathetic looks.
Dinner was a strained and quiet affair, and ended much quicker than any meal at the Weasley house ever had.
Harry fell out of the fireplace, and was about to hit the hearthstones when a pair of strong arms lifted him to his feet. He looked up to find Remus Lupin grinning down at him.
"Thanks," he said, brushing pointlessly at his robes. He looked around the room and caught sight of his headmaster sitting in one of the armchairs near the fire. "Hello, sir."
"Harry," he nodded his hello.
"How was dinner with the Weasleys?" Remus asked.
"Fine," he lied. "Goodnight, Remus, Professor."
He climbed the stairs and entered his room. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, staring at the blank canvas, when a knock at his door startled him back to reality.
"You okay, Harry?" Remus asked, seating himself on the spare bed.
"Fine," Harry said tonelessly.
"Right," Remus replied. "So then what exactly is it about the floor that is so fascinating?"
Harry looked up into the lycanthrope's kind eyes, and replied. "Ron hit me."
To Harry's surprise, Remus laughed. A true deep gravelly laugh, that Harry hadn't heard since the summer before when he and Sirius would tell tales of their past. "Did you deserve it?" he smirked.
"I don't think so," Harry's voice bordered on indignant.
Remus held his hands up in surrender. "Just curious," he soothed. "What happened?"
Harry explained his attack on Ginny, and by the end of the tale Remus' grin had return in full force.
"You were flirting with his baby sister. Has Ron ever reacted well to anyone flirting with her?" Remus said.
Harry thought back to Ron's reaction to Michael Corner last year. "Neville Longbottom?" Harry tried, but knew that it didn't warrant a response. "But I wasn't flirting."
Remus' grin grew bigger, and then faltered slightly.
"What?" Harry asked, afraid he had said something to upset his friend.
"Nothing," Remus replied, but at the look of concern on the young man's face he answered. "Just thinking of all of the people who should be up here talking to you instead of me." Remus shook his head and continued. "Don't worry about Ron. It happens. He'll get over it. They always do, and you'll forgive him, and all will be right with our screwed up world once again."
"How are you so sure? We have had fights before, but nothing violent."
"Because I too was once a teenager. Let's see. I hit Sirius once. I seem to remember Sirius and your dad having it out real good one time, and Peter took a swing at me once, but Sirius had him flat on his back before he connected. Boys fight. That's what they do. You two will survive it. I promise." He rose from his seat on the bed and headed to the door. "Rest well, Harry."
A/N I love reviews.
