Disclaimer: Harry Potter and associated characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Chapter 26: Close Call
Ever since Harry had gotten news that Dumbledore was to be tried and then later executed by Voldemort at Azkaban, Harry was feeling rather uneasy about the future since it had been Dumbledore who had guided him throughout his time at Hogwarts. Without Dumbledore, what chance did the wizarding world have against Voldemort? Hermione and Cho saw this and did their best to take his mind away from those thoughts and for this, he was grateful.
Quidditch was also coming up soon and up until the day of the Quidditch match against Hufflepuff, Alicia drilled the team daily. Cho also started visiting him everyday at practice and the two of them started talking and getting to know each other better.
On the morning of the Quidditch match, Harry awoke to hear the sound of heavy rain falling outside. His dorm mates, Dean, Neville and Seamus were already awake and getting dressed.
"Morning Harry," Seamus greeted him as he finished putting on his school robes. "Ready for the game today?"
"Morning Seamus, you bet," Harry replied, dragging himself out of bed.
Harry immediately got dressed and the rest of them went to wake Ron up but not without incident. Ron flailed his arms about, whacking a few of them in the face as they drug him out of his bed and dumped him on the floor.
"OW! I'm awake!" Ron exclaimed as he landed on the floor with a thud. "You didn't have to go and drag me out of bed."
"We have a Quidditch game today and you need to eat breakfast," Dean said with a wide grin on his face. "Didn't look like you were going to wake up anytime soon so we didn't have much choice."
Ron shook his head and got up off the floor to get dressed. Then the five boys went down to the common room where Hermione joined them to go to breakfast.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Breakfast was relatively uneventful for Harry though Ron kept trying to stuff himself again with a bit of everything present at the table.
"Ron, you shouldn't eat so much," Hermione said. "It'll affect your ability to play Quidditch."
"Relax Hermione," Ron said in between bites. "I'll be fine. A little food isn't going to kill me."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "You'll never learn will you?"
Ron grinned. "Nope."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After breakfast, Harry and Ron bid goodbye to Hermione and made their way to the lockers so that they could change into their Quidditch robes.
However along the way, they ran into Cho who greeted Harry with a warm smile.
"Hi Harry, I just wanted to wish you good luck against Hufflepuff."
"Thanks Cho," Harry said, grinning at her. "I'll catch the snitch for you."
Cho blushed. "Sure."
"Come on Harry," Ron urged. "We don't want to miss the game."
"I'll see you after the game ok Cho?" Harry said as Ron tugged at his sleeve.
"All right, after the game then," Cho said and she made her way towards the Ravenclaw stands.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As the teams walked out onto the Quidditch pitch in the heavy rain, Harry noticed that there were skeletons standing around the field, about one every two feet. Each one was carrying a bow and a full quiver of arrows.
Madam Hooch called the teams to the centre of the field and the captains shook hands.
"Mount your brooms!" Madam Hooch shouted and fourteen brooms lifted into the air.
"Let's try to end this quickly Harry," Harry heard Ron say next to him. "I don't feel comfortable with all those skeletons lining the walls. I think Walter is expecting some trouble."
Harry glanced at his ring to see that it wasn't glowing. "There doesn't seem to be any danger Ron but you're right. I don't like playing in this weather anymore than the next person."
Ron flew over to Alicia and Harry flew upwards and out of trouble.
The snitch was released and it made one pass in front of Harry and Anthony Goldstein, the new Hufflepuff seeker, before flying out of sight into the rain.
A whistle was heard and the Quaffle was thrown into the air. Alicia caught it immediately and sped towards the Hufflepuff goal posts with Ron following close behind. She dropped it to Ron who threw it into the far right hoop, scoring 10 points for Gryffindor.
Thunder was heard overhead and a flash of lightning illuminated the field, revealing a small golden object next to the Gryffindor goal posts.
Harry dived down, hoping to catch the attention of the Hufflepuff seeker. Unfortunately the seeker didn't dive after him and Harry pulled out of the dive. Only when he sped towards the snitch did the Hufflepuff seeker turn to follow.
Although the other seeker was on a slower broom, the Hufflepuff team was well coordinated and both beaters kept hitting the bludgers in Harry's direction forcing him to dodge them.
Another flash of lightning was seen followed immediately by a clap of thunder and it brightened the sky just in time for Harry to see a bludger coming towards his head and flip upside down on his broom to avoid it.
Lee Jordan's voice could barely be heard over the sound of rain and thunder but a cheer was heard coming from the Gryffindor stands and he could only assume that they had scored again.
Harry was almost to the snitch and he averted his attention for a moment to see how far back the other seeker was. Somehow he had almost caught up and was almost right on Harry's tail so Harry leaned forward and urged his Firebolt on towards the snitch.
Harry put out a hand so that he could catch the snitch and as his hands closed around it, a flash of lightning illuminated the sky again and an explosion was heard next to him just as the sound of thunder filled the darkened sky.
A stabbing pain was felt in his side and Harry looked down in time to see that there was a piece of iron shrapnel sticking out of his side and that the wound was bleeding profusely, drenching his loser body in blood. The Hufflepuff seeker was also hit and Harry was starting to lose consciousness from blood loss.
Despite his impaired vision, Harry somehow managed to land his broom and tumble to the ground. The last thing he heard before he completely blackened out was the sound of some girls going hysterical around him and Cho's voice calling his name.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When Harry finally regained consciousness, the first thing he saw was Mrs. Weasley sitting by his side and that he was in the Hospital Wing with a throbbing headache. The window was darkened and torches were burning so Harry could only assume that it was night time but he hadn't a clue as to what day it was.
Upon hearing him stir in the hospital bed, Mrs. Weasley's face broke into a relieved smile.
"Good to see that you're back with us Harry dear," Mrs. Weasley said. "You've been out for about a week."
"Thank you Mrs. Weasley. What happened?"
"I'm not sure but you can ask Ron and Hermione when they come to visit you. They've been visiting you each day to see if you've awoken. There was also that lovely Asian girl who had been coming to visit you everyday. I don't remember her name though."
"Cho," Harry said, smiling weakly.
"There we go. Anyway, they've asked me to tell them if you've woken while they weren't here. Madam Pomfrey would only let them visit for a couple minutes each day and even then it was to bring you your homework," Mrs. Weasley explained. "Both Hermione and Cho cried when they brought you in here. It's good to know that you have friends that care so much for you."
Harry smiled and nodded his head. Surprisingly his body was still in one piece and when he looked under the blankets, he saw that his side was completely healed without a trace.
"I'll go get your friends for you," said Mrs. Weasley. "I'll see you in a bit dear."
With that, Mrs. Weasley got up and kissed Harry on the forehead before exiting the Hospital Wing.
Madam Pomfrey entered the room soon after Mrs. Weasley left and administered a few potions to him and brought him some dinner. She didn't utter a word the entire time and eventually she retreated quietly into her office.
This gave Harry a chance to look around at his surroundings as he hungrily wolfed down the food on the tray. The bed next to him was occupied by the Hufflepuff seeker but none of the other beds seemed to be occupied. His sword, ring, amulet, and wand were sitting on the nightstand to his left apparently untouched.
Moments later, Hermione and Ron entered the Hospital Wing with Mrs. Weasley. Hermione immediately ran over to Harry and threw her arms around his neck, bursting into tears.
"Oh Harry," she cried. "I was so worried that you might have died. You had lost so much blood along the way here."
Harry smiled and patted her on the back with one arm. "It's okay Hermione, I'll be fine."
Hermione nodded into his chest and pulled away slowly, drying her tears with her hands.
Ron was the next to greet him. "How are you doing mate?"
"I still have a throbbing headache but otherwise I'm doing okay I guess. What happened though?"
"A bolt of lightning struck a bludger that was heading for you and it exploded, sending shards everywhere. Several students suffered minor injuries in the stands but not as bad as yours. Fawkes was nice enough to provide some Phoenix tears to help heal your injuries."
"That explains why there aren't any scars. Am I allowed to leave?"
"I'm not sure," Mrs. Weasley replied. "I'll go ask Madam Pomfrey."
While Mrs. Weasley went to do that, taking Harry's empty food tray with her, Hermione related all that had happened while he was unconscious. Malfoy was up and around apparently and taunted Ron and Hermione everyday about how he hoped that Harry would die.
Hermione also told him how Cho got fed up with Malfoy's taunting one day at lunch and used a confusion hex on him again causing his two goons to send him back to the Hospital Wing for a few days but not before they chased him through the halls and cornered him in the broom closet where they beat their leader senseless.
Harry burst out laughing at that since he had seen Cho use the confusion hex on Malfoy during the train ride to Hogwarts and the results were very humiliating for Malfoy.
Mrs. Weasley came into the room afterwards and informed Harry that Madam Pomfrey wanted him to stay in the room for one more night and he would be released the next morning for classes.
The door opened once again and Cho entered the Hospital Wing for her daily visit. She was surprised to see that Ron and Hermione were already there but approached Harry's bed nevertheless.
"Hullo Harry," said Cho. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm doing just fine Cho, how about you?"
"Relieved that you're back with us," replied Cho. "I was worried that I'd lost you too."
A mischievous smile crept upon Harry's face. "I'll take more than an exploding bludger to kill me Cho. At least I caught the snitch for you."
Cho let out a slight laugh and nodded. There was a moment of silence between the five of them in the Hospital wing but it was Mrs. Weasley who eventually broke it.
"I think dinner should be ready soon," said Mrs. Weasley, ushering them towards the door. "You should all be heading to the Great Hall. Will you be ok without me Harry?"
"Yes Mrs. Weasley, thank you."
"Can I have a few words with Harry?" Cho asked Mrs. Weasley.
"Well." Mrs. Weasley said slowly. ". I suppose it'd be all right with Madam Pomfrey if you had a few minutes with Harry."
"Thanks Mrs. Weasley," Cho said and sat down in the chair next to Harry's bed.
Hermione and Ron said goodbye to Harry and followed Mrs. Weasley out of the Hospital Wing. Then Harry turned to Cho.
"So what's on your mind Cho?"
"I was wondering if we were still planning on going to Hogsmeade next week to go pick out our outfits for the ball."
"Of course, I wouldn't want to miss it," replied Harry.
"Would you happen to know if Sirius is making any progress on his mission?" Harry asked.
"No, I wouldn't. I assume his mission is going well and he can't write. We had another meeting while you were out and Professor Sepet has decided to go check on him, why do you ask?"
"Just wondering. Sirius is my godfather after all and I'm just worried," Harry said.
"That's understandable but I'm sure that your godfather is doing just fine. If not, Professor Sepet is more than capable of helping him."
Harry nodded uncertainly. "Thanks Cho."
Cho smiled at him and got up from the chair next to Harry's bed. "Well, I should be going to dinner before everyone asks where I am. I'll see you later ok Harry?"
"Sure - bye Cho."
Cho gave Harry a quick hug then made her way out of the Hospital Wing.
Harry sighed and looked around for a moment. There was an empty bowl on the nightstand of the bed to his right. He used his wand to summon it to him and he used the create drink spell to fill it with water. He drank some of it and got up off the bed to set it on the floor.
Then he pointed his wand at it and summoned the water guardian. The bowl started to fill up and soon overflowed onto the floor before gathering itself up again to form the feminine figure of the water guardian.
*Hullo Harry * said the water guardian. *How are you doing? Make any progress with Hermione?*
"I've decided to give up on her. It appears she likes Ron not me."
*I see * said the guardian. Although it was a bit hard to decipher any facial expression on the guardian's face, Harry could still make out the faint lines of her mouth form into a frown. *So what do you plan to do? *
"There's a ball coming up soon and I'm going with this pretty Ravenclaw girl, Cho. She's got a great personality too," Harry told the guardian. "Problem is I don't know how to dance and I was wondering if you knew how to dance and if you could teach me."
*Oooh, * said the water guardian delightedly. *I'd be more than happy to do so. In fact, I'll teach you everyday until the day of the dance but there's one catch. *
"What's that?"
*Find me a date to the ball. I'd like to go too. *
Harry was rather astounded by the guardian's request but if he didn't want to make a fool of himself at the ball, he didn't have much of a choice. "You drive a hard bargain but you have a deal."
*Thank you so much Harry. * said the water guardian. *Now let's get started, ok?*
"Uh, now?"
*Sure, why not. I mean no one's in here and there's a large space in the middle of the room. *
"All right but don't you need to be in human form?"
*No, you'll still be able to touch me. How else do you think I was supposed to give you a bath if I couldn't touch you in this form? *
Harry blushed slightly. "Good point."
They walked to the centre of the Hospital Wing and faced each other. The water guardian placed Harry's right hand on her waist and took his left hand in hers. Then she placed her left arm on his shoulder.
*I assume this will be a formal ball so we must observe the proper forms. For now, I'll teach you the basics and later we can move to more advanced steps. *
"You sound like Hermione."
The water guardian laughed. *I hope that's a compliment otherwise I'll have to punish you. *
"It is since she likes doing things the proper way."
*I'll lead this time but when you're at the ball, you better lead if you don't want to make a fool of yourself. * the water guardian said. *Now then, follow as I tell you. *
For the next hour or so, the water guardian guided Harry through the basics. Harry stumbled a few times and stepped on the water guardian's feet a few times but at the end of the session, he had some of the basics down.
*Not bad for a first try Harry, not bad at all. You're doing better than my previous master. He was simply horrible when it came to dancing. It took him nearly weeks to learn what you've learned in a few hours and even then I still had to tell him not to step on my toes. I may not feel pain but it's not a good thing if you're stepping on the toes of your date. Anyway, I'm sure its getting late and you'll want to get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow Harry. Good night. *
With that, the water guardian disappeared back into the bowl of water and Harry replaced the bowl on the nightstand where it was before. Then he climbed back into bed and lay there going over the dance steps in his mind as well as figuring out who the water guardian could go with.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Hours later, after all the torches were extinguished in the room and only the fireplace was left burning, Harry was still awake. He couldn't sleep as his mind drifted back to the Order's upcoming mission and their rescue of Dumbledore. There was a crack of light coming from the hallway through the entrance to the Hospital wing and the last quarter of the moon was shining brightly through the window on the other end.
Harry heard a creak at the door and the amount of light increased, slowly at first, but then the door swung open and a figure dressed in black plate armour entered the room. Walter walked towards Madam Pomfrey's office and Madam Pomfrey came out to meet him. She produced a dark flask from her robe with some type of liquid in it and handed it to Walter who took it willingly.
"Thank you Madam Pomfrey," Harry heard Walter say. "The International Ministry is grateful for your services."
"International Ministry indeed," Madam Pomfrey huffed. "This 'service' is getting very costly."
"Here is some compensation for your trouble," Walter said and he handed Madam Pomfrey a small bag which she took and stuffed in her robe but not before a clinking noise was heard from within the bag.
Walter looked in the direction of Harry's bed for a moment before looking back towards Madam Pomfrey. "I'll post guards here tonight for the safety of the students."
"Your guards," Madam Pomfrey scoffed. "Haven't prevented whatever it is from getting in here last time, what makes you think they'll work this time?"
Walter said nothing and bowed slightly to her before exiting the Hospital wing with the flask in hand. Madam Pomfrey then closed the door behind him and re-entered her office. Soon snoring was heard coming from the office and Harry could only guess that Madam Pomfrey was asleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Harry eventually drifted off to sleep but hours later, the loud clatter of metal on stone was heard and there was a moment of silence. The door to the hospital wing creaked open again and a red glow filled his section of the Hospital wing. Apparently the glow was coming from his nightstand and Harry turned his eyes in the direction of the nightstand to see his ring glowing brightly.
A feminine figure dressed completely in a white nightgown entered the room and slowly walked towards Harry's bed. As the figure got closer and entered the moonlight, Harry could finally make the figure out to be Parvati.
Parvati slowly continued to stalk towards Harry's bed and she paused for a moment as if she heard something behind her. Just in case Parvati's sight at night was better than he thought, Harry closed his eyelids until there was only a narrow slit through which he could see through.
Harry heard Parvati sniff the air as if she sensed something else in the room and Harry glanced around the room as much as his field of vision would allow only to see empty air. Parvati must have not seen anything either for she continued on until she was at the head of Harry's bed.
In the moonlight Parvati's face was simply terrifying and it took a great effort on Harry's part to avoid shouting and possibly having Parvati kill him on the spot since he was unarmed.
Two sharp, pearly-white fangs protruded from Parvati's mouth and came to rest over her lower lip. Then with a vicious smile upon her face, Parvati bent down and kissed him on the lips before continuing on lower to where Harry's neck would be.
"Don't worry Harry, you'll soon be one of us. I promise it won hurt," Parvati whispered as she placed her lips on Harry's neck.
However before she could bite into him, something tackled Parvati into the wall. Harry didn't see what had tackled Parvati but it was clear that it was something invisible as Parvati was wrestling on the ground with something.
She rolled into the nightstand causing the bowl upon it to fall to the ground and shatter. A voice was heard coming from Madam Pomfrey's office and eventually Madam Pomfrey emerged from her office with her wand drawn.
"Who's there?" she asked. "I'll warn you, I'm armed."
Seeing that she could be cornered, Parvati disengaged with her invisible opponent and ran past Madam Pomfrey who fired a stunning spell uselessly after her as Parvati bolted out the door.
The glow on Harry's ring subsided and moments later Walter entered the room again and Madam Pomfrey went over to scold him.
"I told you that your guards were useless. Those things still get in here, whatever they are," she complained.
Walter looked rather embarrassed. "My apologies Madam Pomfrey, it was only a vampire. I will stand guard here personally and see to it that nothing else gets in."
"See to it that nothing does. I don't need more students getting injured tonight, much less a teacher," Madam Pomfrey said and went over to clear up the shattered bowl and rearrange the nightstand before retiring to her office once again.
Walter shook his head and formed a spear in his hand. Then he exited the Hospital wing and closed the door behind him.
Once the Hospital wing was silent again, Harry heard a faint voice call his name.
"Harry?" a female voice whispered that sounded very much like Hermione.
"Hermione?" he whispered back. "Hermione, where are you?"
A wand came into view and a 'finite incantatem' was heard as the wand came down to reveal Hermione in her pyjamas.
"I see you used the invisibility spell," Harry stated. "Where's Ron?"
"Ron is still asleep," Hermione explained. "I didn't have time to go wake him up or retrieve your cloak so I had to use the invisibility spell to follow Parvati."
"I'm sorry Harry," Hermione apologized. "I lost her for a moment and I thought I was too late and that Parvati had bitten you. Then when I came in here, I was thinking of how strong a vampire was compared to me and I hesitated."
"No need to apologize Hermione," Harry reassured her. "But how did you know she was coming here?"
"Well, when I saw her sneak out of the room, I figured there were two possible places that had students which she could easily gain access to; the Gryffindor tower itself or here. But since she exited the Gryffindor tower, I figured that you would be the more logical choice. What better way to defeat you than to make you one of them?"
Harry grinned, "You were always the logical one."
Hermione returned his smile and went over to hug him. "I'm glad you're safe. Walter is standing guard now and there shouldn't be anymore unexpected visitors."
"You're stuck here though," Harry pointed out.
"You're right," Hermione agreed, pulling out of the hug. "I hadn't counted on getting stuck in here but I don't mind. At least I'll be content with the fact that you are safe."
"There are extra beds so finding a place to sleep won't be a problem. Just pick one."
Hermione nodded and slipped into the empty bed to his right. "Good night Harry."
"Good night Hermione," Harry whispered back and stared in her direction.
Once Harry was certain that Hermione was asleep, he too closed his eyes and fell into a peaceful sleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: All right, this chapter was posted a lot quicker than the previous ones though it's slightly shorter. I'll try to keep this pace up and hopefully the story will be finished soon. Quidditch was kept to a minimum this time as requested.
Temporary Insanity: Thanks for your theories on what would happen if you used Avada Kedavra on a vampire. I think I'll have use for that at some point.
steviej1026: Thanks for the review.
Phoenix of Light: Are you certain that I will put a Harry/Herm pairing at some point? You'd be right though not in this book cuz I've been going along with some of the information that Rowling said in her interviews when it came to dealing with the couples. She did say that there was something going on between Ron and Hermione so that means she's going to put them together for at least one book. That's what I've been doing here though I've also set it up so that there's room for change. Though by now I'd expect people already know where the romance aspect is heading in this book and I'll probably lose readers since they've been reading it for only the H/Hr instead of the plot but eh, oh well.
Vjpdevesa: Hmm, keep Harry/Cho and have Hermione question her feelings for Harry in the next book.. Not a bad idea. I may do that. It'd certainly make a lot of sense.
Quis: Thanks for the compliment and for pointing out the error, it's been corrected. Quite a few reviewers have been telling me that this ff could pass as the real thing or they've thought it was a real copy that I'd somehow obtained. However this would never be the real Harry Potter story since Rowling holds the copyrights to that one and I could never publish this. Eh, I may decide to write book at some point, the style will have to be different than this and I do have part of the plot ready. The plot will still have at least the same number of twists I've been putting in it, maybe even more. The only thing is that it'll probably be more violent than this ff.
The dragon master: If you want to write a fanfic using the spells at the beginning, ask me again with a signed review before you write it. Only then will I give you an answer.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Chapter 26: Close Call
Ever since Harry had gotten news that Dumbledore was to be tried and then later executed by Voldemort at Azkaban, Harry was feeling rather uneasy about the future since it had been Dumbledore who had guided him throughout his time at Hogwarts. Without Dumbledore, what chance did the wizarding world have against Voldemort? Hermione and Cho saw this and did their best to take his mind away from those thoughts and for this, he was grateful.
Quidditch was also coming up soon and up until the day of the Quidditch match against Hufflepuff, Alicia drilled the team daily. Cho also started visiting him everyday at practice and the two of them started talking and getting to know each other better.
On the morning of the Quidditch match, Harry awoke to hear the sound of heavy rain falling outside. His dorm mates, Dean, Neville and Seamus were already awake and getting dressed.
"Morning Harry," Seamus greeted him as he finished putting on his school robes. "Ready for the game today?"
"Morning Seamus, you bet," Harry replied, dragging himself out of bed.
Harry immediately got dressed and the rest of them went to wake Ron up but not without incident. Ron flailed his arms about, whacking a few of them in the face as they drug him out of his bed and dumped him on the floor.
"OW! I'm awake!" Ron exclaimed as he landed on the floor with a thud. "You didn't have to go and drag me out of bed."
"We have a Quidditch game today and you need to eat breakfast," Dean said with a wide grin on his face. "Didn't look like you were going to wake up anytime soon so we didn't have much choice."
Ron shook his head and got up off the floor to get dressed. Then the five boys went down to the common room where Hermione joined them to go to breakfast.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Breakfast was relatively uneventful for Harry though Ron kept trying to stuff himself again with a bit of everything present at the table.
"Ron, you shouldn't eat so much," Hermione said. "It'll affect your ability to play Quidditch."
"Relax Hermione," Ron said in between bites. "I'll be fine. A little food isn't going to kill me."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "You'll never learn will you?"
Ron grinned. "Nope."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After breakfast, Harry and Ron bid goodbye to Hermione and made their way to the lockers so that they could change into their Quidditch robes.
However along the way, they ran into Cho who greeted Harry with a warm smile.
"Hi Harry, I just wanted to wish you good luck against Hufflepuff."
"Thanks Cho," Harry said, grinning at her. "I'll catch the snitch for you."
Cho blushed. "Sure."
"Come on Harry," Ron urged. "We don't want to miss the game."
"I'll see you after the game ok Cho?" Harry said as Ron tugged at his sleeve.
"All right, after the game then," Cho said and she made her way towards the Ravenclaw stands.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As the teams walked out onto the Quidditch pitch in the heavy rain, Harry noticed that there were skeletons standing around the field, about one every two feet. Each one was carrying a bow and a full quiver of arrows.
Madam Hooch called the teams to the centre of the field and the captains shook hands.
"Mount your brooms!" Madam Hooch shouted and fourteen brooms lifted into the air.
"Let's try to end this quickly Harry," Harry heard Ron say next to him. "I don't feel comfortable with all those skeletons lining the walls. I think Walter is expecting some trouble."
Harry glanced at his ring to see that it wasn't glowing. "There doesn't seem to be any danger Ron but you're right. I don't like playing in this weather anymore than the next person."
Ron flew over to Alicia and Harry flew upwards and out of trouble.
The snitch was released and it made one pass in front of Harry and Anthony Goldstein, the new Hufflepuff seeker, before flying out of sight into the rain.
A whistle was heard and the Quaffle was thrown into the air. Alicia caught it immediately and sped towards the Hufflepuff goal posts with Ron following close behind. She dropped it to Ron who threw it into the far right hoop, scoring 10 points for Gryffindor.
Thunder was heard overhead and a flash of lightning illuminated the field, revealing a small golden object next to the Gryffindor goal posts.
Harry dived down, hoping to catch the attention of the Hufflepuff seeker. Unfortunately the seeker didn't dive after him and Harry pulled out of the dive. Only when he sped towards the snitch did the Hufflepuff seeker turn to follow.
Although the other seeker was on a slower broom, the Hufflepuff team was well coordinated and both beaters kept hitting the bludgers in Harry's direction forcing him to dodge them.
Another flash of lightning was seen followed immediately by a clap of thunder and it brightened the sky just in time for Harry to see a bludger coming towards his head and flip upside down on his broom to avoid it.
Lee Jordan's voice could barely be heard over the sound of rain and thunder but a cheer was heard coming from the Gryffindor stands and he could only assume that they had scored again.
Harry was almost to the snitch and he averted his attention for a moment to see how far back the other seeker was. Somehow he had almost caught up and was almost right on Harry's tail so Harry leaned forward and urged his Firebolt on towards the snitch.
Harry put out a hand so that he could catch the snitch and as his hands closed around it, a flash of lightning illuminated the sky again and an explosion was heard next to him just as the sound of thunder filled the darkened sky.
A stabbing pain was felt in his side and Harry looked down in time to see that there was a piece of iron shrapnel sticking out of his side and that the wound was bleeding profusely, drenching his loser body in blood. The Hufflepuff seeker was also hit and Harry was starting to lose consciousness from blood loss.
Despite his impaired vision, Harry somehow managed to land his broom and tumble to the ground. The last thing he heard before he completely blackened out was the sound of some girls going hysterical around him and Cho's voice calling his name.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When Harry finally regained consciousness, the first thing he saw was Mrs. Weasley sitting by his side and that he was in the Hospital Wing with a throbbing headache. The window was darkened and torches were burning so Harry could only assume that it was night time but he hadn't a clue as to what day it was.
Upon hearing him stir in the hospital bed, Mrs. Weasley's face broke into a relieved smile.
"Good to see that you're back with us Harry dear," Mrs. Weasley said. "You've been out for about a week."
"Thank you Mrs. Weasley. What happened?"
"I'm not sure but you can ask Ron and Hermione when they come to visit you. They've been visiting you each day to see if you've awoken. There was also that lovely Asian girl who had been coming to visit you everyday. I don't remember her name though."
"Cho," Harry said, smiling weakly.
"There we go. Anyway, they've asked me to tell them if you've woken while they weren't here. Madam Pomfrey would only let them visit for a couple minutes each day and even then it was to bring you your homework," Mrs. Weasley explained. "Both Hermione and Cho cried when they brought you in here. It's good to know that you have friends that care so much for you."
Harry smiled and nodded his head. Surprisingly his body was still in one piece and when he looked under the blankets, he saw that his side was completely healed without a trace.
"I'll go get your friends for you," said Mrs. Weasley. "I'll see you in a bit dear."
With that, Mrs. Weasley got up and kissed Harry on the forehead before exiting the Hospital Wing.
Madam Pomfrey entered the room soon after Mrs. Weasley left and administered a few potions to him and brought him some dinner. She didn't utter a word the entire time and eventually she retreated quietly into her office.
This gave Harry a chance to look around at his surroundings as he hungrily wolfed down the food on the tray. The bed next to him was occupied by the Hufflepuff seeker but none of the other beds seemed to be occupied. His sword, ring, amulet, and wand were sitting on the nightstand to his left apparently untouched.
Moments later, Hermione and Ron entered the Hospital Wing with Mrs. Weasley. Hermione immediately ran over to Harry and threw her arms around his neck, bursting into tears.
"Oh Harry," she cried. "I was so worried that you might have died. You had lost so much blood along the way here."
Harry smiled and patted her on the back with one arm. "It's okay Hermione, I'll be fine."
Hermione nodded into his chest and pulled away slowly, drying her tears with her hands.
Ron was the next to greet him. "How are you doing mate?"
"I still have a throbbing headache but otherwise I'm doing okay I guess. What happened though?"
"A bolt of lightning struck a bludger that was heading for you and it exploded, sending shards everywhere. Several students suffered minor injuries in the stands but not as bad as yours. Fawkes was nice enough to provide some Phoenix tears to help heal your injuries."
"That explains why there aren't any scars. Am I allowed to leave?"
"I'm not sure," Mrs. Weasley replied. "I'll go ask Madam Pomfrey."
While Mrs. Weasley went to do that, taking Harry's empty food tray with her, Hermione related all that had happened while he was unconscious. Malfoy was up and around apparently and taunted Ron and Hermione everyday about how he hoped that Harry would die.
Hermione also told him how Cho got fed up with Malfoy's taunting one day at lunch and used a confusion hex on him again causing his two goons to send him back to the Hospital Wing for a few days but not before they chased him through the halls and cornered him in the broom closet where they beat their leader senseless.
Harry burst out laughing at that since he had seen Cho use the confusion hex on Malfoy during the train ride to Hogwarts and the results were very humiliating for Malfoy.
Mrs. Weasley came into the room afterwards and informed Harry that Madam Pomfrey wanted him to stay in the room for one more night and he would be released the next morning for classes.
The door opened once again and Cho entered the Hospital Wing for her daily visit. She was surprised to see that Ron and Hermione were already there but approached Harry's bed nevertheless.
"Hullo Harry," said Cho. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm doing just fine Cho, how about you?"
"Relieved that you're back with us," replied Cho. "I was worried that I'd lost you too."
A mischievous smile crept upon Harry's face. "I'll take more than an exploding bludger to kill me Cho. At least I caught the snitch for you."
Cho let out a slight laugh and nodded. There was a moment of silence between the five of them in the Hospital wing but it was Mrs. Weasley who eventually broke it.
"I think dinner should be ready soon," said Mrs. Weasley, ushering them towards the door. "You should all be heading to the Great Hall. Will you be ok without me Harry?"
"Yes Mrs. Weasley, thank you."
"Can I have a few words with Harry?" Cho asked Mrs. Weasley.
"Well." Mrs. Weasley said slowly. ". I suppose it'd be all right with Madam Pomfrey if you had a few minutes with Harry."
"Thanks Mrs. Weasley," Cho said and sat down in the chair next to Harry's bed.
Hermione and Ron said goodbye to Harry and followed Mrs. Weasley out of the Hospital Wing. Then Harry turned to Cho.
"So what's on your mind Cho?"
"I was wondering if we were still planning on going to Hogsmeade next week to go pick out our outfits for the ball."
"Of course, I wouldn't want to miss it," replied Harry.
"Would you happen to know if Sirius is making any progress on his mission?" Harry asked.
"No, I wouldn't. I assume his mission is going well and he can't write. We had another meeting while you were out and Professor Sepet has decided to go check on him, why do you ask?"
"Just wondering. Sirius is my godfather after all and I'm just worried," Harry said.
"That's understandable but I'm sure that your godfather is doing just fine. If not, Professor Sepet is more than capable of helping him."
Harry nodded uncertainly. "Thanks Cho."
Cho smiled at him and got up from the chair next to Harry's bed. "Well, I should be going to dinner before everyone asks where I am. I'll see you later ok Harry?"
"Sure - bye Cho."
Cho gave Harry a quick hug then made her way out of the Hospital Wing.
Harry sighed and looked around for a moment. There was an empty bowl on the nightstand of the bed to his right. He used his wand to summon it to him and he used the create drink spell to fill it with water. He drank some of it and got up off the bed to set it on the floor.
Then he pointed his wand at it and summoned the water guardian. The bowl started to fill up and soon overflowed onto the floor before gathering itself up again to form the feminine figure of the water guardian.
*Hullo Harry * said the water guardian. *How are you doing? Make any progress with Hermione?*
"I've decided to give up on her. It appears she likes Ron not me."
*I see * said the guardian. Although it was a bit hard to decipher any facial expression on the guardian's face, Harry could still make out the faint lines of her mouth form into a frown. *So what do you plan to do? *
"There's a ball coming up soon and I'm going with this pretty Ravenclaw girl, Cho. She's got a great personality too," Harry told the guardian. "Problem is I don't know how to dance and I was wondering if you knew how to dance and if you could teach me."
*Oooh, * said the water guardian delightedly. *I'd be more than happy to do so. In fact, I'll teach you everyday until the day of the dance but there's one catch. *
"What's that?"
*Find me a date to the ball. I'd like to go too. *
Harry was rather astounded by the guardian's request but if he didn't want to make a fool of himself at the ball, he didn't have much of a choice. "You drive a hard bargain but you have a deal."
*Thank you so much Harry. * said the water guardian. *Now let's get started, ok?*
"Uh, now?"
*Sure, why not. I mean no one's in here and there's a large space in the middle of the room. *
"All right but don't you need to be in human form?"
*No, you'll still be able to touch me. How else do you think I was supposed to give you a bath if I couldn't touch you in this form? *
Harry blushed slightly. "Good point."
They walked to the centre of the Hospital Wing and faced each other. The water guardian placed Harry's right hand on her waist and took his left hand in hers. Then she placed her left arm on his shoulder.
*I assume this will be a formal ball so we must observe the proper forms. For now, I'll teach you the basics and later we can move to more advanced steps. *
"You sound like Hermione."
The water guardian laughed. *I hope that's a compliment otherwise I'll have to punish you. *
"It is since she likes doing things the proper way."
*I'll lead this time but when you're at the ball, you better lead if you don't want to make a fool of yourself. * the water guardian said. *Now then, follow as I tell you. *
For the next hour or so, the water guardian guided Harry through the basics. Harry stumbled a few times and stepped on the water guardian's feet a few times but at the end of the session, he had some of the basics down.
*Not bad for a first try Harry, not bad at all. You're doing better than my previous master. He was simply horrible when it came to dancing. It took him nearly weeks to learn what you've learned in a few hours and even then I still had to tell him not to step on my toes. I may not feel pain but it's not a good thing if you're stepping on the toes of your date. Anyway, I'm sure its getting late and you'll want to get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow Harry. Good night. *
With that, the water guardian disappeared back into the bowl of water and Harry replaced the bowl on the nightstand where it was before. Then he climbed back into bed and lay there going over the dance steps in his mind as well as figuring out who the water guardian could go with.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Hours later, after all the torches were extinguished in the room and only the fireplace was left burning, Harry was still awake. He couldn't sleep as his mind drifted back to the Order's upcoming mission and their rescue of Dumbledore. There was a crack of light coming from the hallway through the entrance to the Hospital wing and the last quarter of the moon was shining brightly through the window on the other end.
Harry heard a creak at the door and the amount of light increased, slowly at first, but then the door swung open and a figure dressed in black plate armour entered the room. Walter walked towards Madam Pomfrey's office and Madam Pomfrey came out to meet him. She produced a dark flask from her robe with some type of liquid in it and handed it to Walter who took it willingly.
"Thank you Madam Pomfrey," Harry heard Walter say. "The International Ministry is grateful for your services."
"International Ministry indeed," Madam Pomfrey huffed. "This 'service' is getting very costly."
"Here is some compensation for your trouble," Walter said and he handed Madam Pomfrey a small bag which she took and stuffed in her robe but not before a clinking noise was heard from within the bag.
Walter looked in the direction of Harry's bed for a moment before looking back towards Madam Pomfrey. "I'll post guards here tonight for the safety of the students."
"Your guards," Madam Pomfrey scoffed. "Haven't prevented whatever it is from getting in here last time, what makes you think they'll work this time?"
Walter said nothing and bowed slightly to her before exiting the Hospital wing with the flask in hand. Madam Pomfrey then closed the door behind him and re-entered her office. Soon snoring was heard coming from the office and Harry could only guess that Madam Pomfrey was asleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Harry eventually drifted off to sleep but hours later, the loud clatter of metal on stone was heard and there was a moment of silence. The door to the hospital wing creaked open again and a red glow filled his section of the Hospital wing. Apparently the glow was coming from his nightstand and Harry turned his eyes in the direction of the nightstand to see his ring glowing brightly.
A feminine figure dressed completely in a white nightgown entered the room and slowly walked towards Harry's bed. As the figure got closer and entered the moonlight, Harry could finally make the figure out to be Parvati.
Parvati slowly continued to stalk towards Harry's bed and she paused for a moment as if she heard something behind her. Just in case Parvati's sight at night was better than he thought, Harry closed his eyelids until there was only a narrow slit through which he could see through.
Harry heard Parvati sniff the air as if she sensed something else in the room and Harry glanced around the room as much as his field of vision would allow only to see empty air. Parvati must have not seen anything either for she continued on until she was at the head of Harry's bed.
In the moonlight Parvati's face was simply terrifying and it took a great effort on Harry's part to avoid shouting and possibly having Parvati kill him on the spot since he was unarmed.
Two sharp, pearly-white fangs protruded from Parvati's mouth and came to rest over her lower lip. Then with a vicious smile upon her face, Parvati bent down and kissed him on the lips before continuing on lower to where Harry's neck would be.
"Don't worry Harry, you'll soon be one of us. I promise it won hurt," Parvati whispered as she placed her lips on Harry's neck.
However before she could bite into him, something tackled Parvati into the wall. Harry didn't see what had tackled Parvati but it was clear that it was something invisible as Parvati was wrestling on the ground with something.
She rolled into the nightstand causing the bowl upon it to fall to the ground and shatter. A voice was heard coming from Madam Pomfrey's office and eventually Madam Pomfrey emerged from her office with her wand drawn.
"Who's there?" she asked. "I'll warn you, I'm armed."
Seeing that she could be cornered, Parvati disengaged with her invisible opponent and ran past Madam Pomfrey who fired a stunning spell uselessly after her as Parvati bolted out the door.
The glow on Harry's ring subsided and moments later Walter entered the room again and Madam Pomfrey went over to scold him.
"I told you that your guards were useless. Those things still get in here, whatever they are," she complained.
Walter looked rather embarrassed. "My apologies Madam Pomfrey, it was only a vampire. I will stand guard here personally and see to it that nothing else gets in."
"See to it that nothing does. I don't need more students getting injured tonight, much less a teacher," Madam Pomfrey said and went over to clear up the shattered bowl and rearrange the nightstand before retiring to her office once again.
Walter shook his head and formed a spear in his hand. Then he exited the Hospital wing and closed the door behind him.
Once the Hospital wing was silent again, Harry heard a faint voice call his name.
"Harry?" a female voice whispered that sounded very much like Hermione.
"Hermione?" he whispered back. "Hermione, where are you?"
A wand came into view and a 'finite incantatem' was heard as the wand came down to reveal Hermione in her pyjamas.
"I see you used the invisibility spell," Harry stated. "Where's Ron?"
"Ron is still asleep," Hermione explained. "I didn't have time to go wake him up or retrieve your cloak so I had to use the invisibility spell to follow Parvati."
"I'm sorry Harry," Hermione apologized. "I lost her for a moment and I thought I was too late and that Parvati had bitten you. Then when I came in here, I was thinking of how strong a vampire was compared to me and I hesitated."
"No need to apologize Hermione," Harry reassured her. "But how did you know she was coming here?"
"Well, when I saw her sneak out of the room, I figured there were two possible places that had students which she could easily gain access to; the Gryffindor tower itself or here. But since she exited the Gryffindor tower, I figured that you would be the more logical choice. What better way to defeat you than to make you one of them?"
Harry grinned, "You were always the logical one."
Hermione returned his smile and went over to hug him. "I'm glad you're safe. Walter is standing guard now and there shouldn't be anymore unexpected visitors."
"You're stuck here though," Harry pointed out.
"You're right," Hermione agreed, pulling out of the hug. "I hadn't counted on getting stuck in here but I don't mind. At least I'll be content with the fact that you are safe."
"There are extra beds so finding a place to sleep won't be a problem. Just pick one."
Hermione nodded and slipped into the empty bed to his right. "Good night Harry."
"Good night Hermione," Harry whispered back and stared in her direction.
Once Harry was certain that Hermione was asleep, he too closed his eyes and fell into a peaceful sleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: All right, this chapter was posted a lot quicker than the previous ones though it's slightly shorter. I'll try to keep this pace up and hopefully the story will be finished soon. Quidditch was kept to a minimum this time as requested.
Temporary Insanity: Thanks for your theories on what would happen if you used Avada Kedavra on a vampire. I think I'll have use for that at some point.
steviej1026: Thanks for the review.
Phoenix of Light: Are you certain that I will put a Harry/Herm pairing at some point? You'd be right though not in this book cuz I've been going along with some of the information that Rowling said in her interviews when it came to dealing with the couples. She did say that there was something going on between Ron and Hermione so that means she's going to put them together for at least one book. That's what I've been doing here though I've also set it up so that there's room for change. Though by now I'd expect people already know where the romance aspect is heading in this book and I'll probably lose readers since they've been reading it for only the H/Hr instead of the plot but eh, oh well.
Vjpdevesa: Hmm, keep Harry/Cho and have Hermione question her feelings for Harry in the next book.. Not a bad idea. I may do that. It'd certainly make a lot of sense.
Quis: Thanks for the compliment and for pointing out the error, it's been corrected. Quite a few reviewers have been telling me that this ff could pass as the real thing or they've thought it was a real copy that I'd somehow obtained. However this would never be the real Harry Potter story since Rowling holds the copyrights to that one and I could never publish this. Eh, I may decide to write book at some point, the style will have to be different than this and I do have part of the plot ready. The plot will still have at least the same number of twists I've been putting in it, maybe even more. The only thing is that it'll probably be more violent than this ff.
The dragon master: If you want to write a fanfic using the spells at the beginning, ask me again with a signed review before you write it. Only then will I give you an answer.