A/N: I'd just like to thank Laurel Elven for giving me such a nice review! Watch out all those people who read but don't review my story; she'll kick you if she finds you! Bwahahahahaha!
Chapter 7: The Trouble with a Dormitory
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Harry was awakened again by a nightmare he told no one about on Friday night. This was the twelfth time in a row, and though the boys sharing a dormitory had a good idea about what they were about, they still grumbled while they went to sleep again. Ron was the only one who seemed concerned by it. He went down to check on Harry in the common room.
"You all right?" he asked sitting down next to him at a desk.
"Huh?.. oh, yeah, just a nightmare," Harry muttered nonchalantly, stroking Black Ruby and writing some strange formula on a sheet. Then, as though he just realized what he was doing, he hurriedly scooped the paper into his bag away from Ron's curious eyes.
"So... Quidditch practice Sunday. Looking forward to it?" Ron asked, changing to a more comfortable subject.
Harry grasped onto the new subject excitedly. "Yeah. First go on my new Dark Flame! Can't wait to be back on the pitch. Damn Umbridge woman. Tryouts ought to be fun, right, Captain?"
Ron, newly proclaimed Captain of the team, blushed and said," Yeah, it ought to be interesting who turns up. Ginny is still eager to be a Chaser. So, let's see... We need three Chasers and two Beaters. It's like making an entirely new team. By the way, what did Lupin hold you back for after the lesson?"
"He gave me a belated birthday present Sirius had bought for me. A pensieve."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously. You can go back up to bed Ron. I'm fine."
"Uh, okay."
As Ron loooked back at his friend, Harry pulled out the parchment and continued writing.
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As the weekend passed and classes started again, Harry could hardly believe he'd been back at school almost two months. Halloween was approaching, and a Hogsmeade weekend was on Saturday. They had met up with Lupin two weeks ago for their second lesson, in which they passed the second hurdle in relative ease. However, as Quidditch practices increased and the full moon was on Friday, their final Animagus session would have to wait until next week at least. Ron and Hermione were still pestering Harry about what he would become. He just pretended not to hear them on such occasions.
"Moony will have to know before you do transform, Harry. He needs to know so he can be ready in case the creature is violent," pleaded Hermione, coming out of Defence Against the Dark Arts on Friday. The day with Tonks had been quite fun as she found Parseltongue to be quite fascinating and was asking Harry questions about it all day.
"Don't worry, Hermione, everything will be fine," said Harry, sitting down and piling some mashed potatoes and shredded pork onto his plate. Ron told her to drop it, though he wanted to know what Hary would be just as badly as Hermione. "Harry, are you going to cut your hair anytime soon?"
Harry, who had been rescued with shoulder-length hair, had insisted on keeping it and it was now almost to his hips. Pulled back by a silver piece of ribbon, his newly debonair hair added to his looks as did his newly bright eyes. Without his glasses, they really stood outagainst his beautiful skin. Every girl, along with several guys who played for that team, longed to hold his lithe body and he had been unofficially voted "Sexiest Sixth Year" much to Ron's and Hermione's amusement.
After dinner, just as he was about to leave with Ron and Hermione, Professor Dumbledore appeared next to his shoulder.
"Could I have a word in my office, Harry?" He seemed rather put off about something, Harry noticed.
"Sure. See you guys back at the common room, okay?"
As Harry walked off with Dumbledore, Ron whispered to Hermione,"What was that about? Harry hasn't done anything?"
Hermione, slightly frowning, replied," I think we'll find out soon enough."
Harry sat across from Dumbledore for what felt like the nth time since coming to Hogwarts. Harry sat patiently waiting for Dumbledore to begin.
"I'm afraid I have some rather bad news for you, Harry," said Dumbledore.
"What? What's happened?"
"You can no longer sleep in the boy's dormitory."
"WHAT? WHY? I don't believe I understand this...!"
Dumbledore stood up and looked out the window. "I've been getting complaints from students. Being woken up in the middle of the night by your nightmares. They say it's been going on for two months, and they say they can't concentrate in classes because of lack of sleep. I'm afraid that as it involves other students, I need to act."
Harry looked down at his lap, voice feeble when he spoke. "I filed all my thoughts that I see when I'm asleep into my pensieve from Sirius, but I still have the nightmares. Can't I just take a Dreamless Sleep Potion every night, Professor? I mean, it's not like I can go stay in one of the other dormitories or sleep in the common room..."
Dumbledore turned back to Harry, the rising moon shining on his half- moon spectacles. He said,"I'm sorry Harry, but you cannot take a Dreamless Sleep potion every night. Repeated use of it would poison your system and eventually kill you. It's true, you can't sleep in another dormitory and you can't sleep in the common room. However," he continued, eyes beginning to twinkle," you could sleep in Godric Gryffindor's room."
This caught Harry's attention, and Dumbledore continued.
"Have you ever noticed that statue of Godic Gryffindor's sword at the very top of the boy's stairs?"
"Yeah, it's right across from our dormitory."
"When the founders of Hogwarts were alive, they slept in their dormitories in their own private chambers close to the students. Behind that sword, Harry, is the entrance to Godric's quarters. I am giving you permission to make this your room to change however you please. The current password is 'roaring silence' and you can change the password whenever you please."
Completely stunned, Harry said," Thank you, Professor. I think... I think I'll be going now so I can move my stuff. Thank you again."
"You're welcome, Harry," said the Headmaster, and Harry left the office still out of it.
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Striding into the Gryffindor common room and up the dormitory stairs, Harry's friends continued following him. He hadn't even acknowledged their presence and was mumbling to himself like when they found him in the cupboard. They watched in amazement as the mumbling boy walked over to his bedside table and wardrobe and dumped the contents unceremoniously into his trunk, exempting the pensieve which he held in his left hand, the trunk handle in his right.
"Harry, we're really sorry!" said Neville, who was trembling. Dean and Seamus, however, didn't notice as Harry was leaving as they were currently exploring the other's mouth.
Harry continued out the door and stood in front of the statue. He looked up at it and then over at his friend's faces. He seemed to come out of a daze.
"How long have you been there?" He asked completely puzzled.
"Why did you pack your stuff up, Harry?" asked Ron.
Harry explained the whole conversation in the headmaster's office, leaving Hermione and Ron both shocked. As though not expecting them to say anymore, Harry turned to look at the statue of the sword he himself had wielded nearly four years ago. He decided to speak the password in Parseltongue in case anyone overheard, and the sword slid up into the ceiling, leaving behind a wide doorway. Harry pulled his stuff in followed by Hermione and Ron, and they gasped.
Godric Gryffindor's room was utterly beautiful, even if everything was covered in centuries of debris and dirt. The room was large, sporting a ceiling just like the Great Hall and several pieces of furniture. Harry put his stuff down and walked to a door off to the right. He was greeted with a reasonably large bathroom, complete with a large sink and vanity, bathtub, shower, and toilet, all of it done in blue pearl. Walking back into the main room, he looked at his friends who were still staring.
"Well," said Harry, bringing them out of their stupor,"I think I'm going to start cleaning."
"We'll help!"
It must have been near midnight before they were done and as Harry sat down on one of the newly clean couches, he thanked Mrs Weasley's cleaning charms, for he knew if Ron hadn't known them, that it would have taken til dawn.
The cleaned room was even more gorgeous than previously thought. The floor was done in a silver quartz, smoothly polished and inlaid with intricate designs. The walls were done in black marble of the highest quality complimented by the night sky on the ceiling now sparkling with stars. A large window big enough for a hippogriff was next to a beautiful cherry wood desk and matching chair. A pair of of couches made of the same cherry wood with silver and black upholstered cushions sat in front of a coffee table. A wardrobe sat next to a king sized bed. Its black satin sheets and hangings finished the room off in perfect splendour.
"Hey guys, do you mind if I go take a shower before we talk about our plans at Hogsmeade tomorrow? I stink," said Harry standing at the door of the newly cleaned bathroom already.
"Sure," replied Hermione, hanging Harry's robes in his wardrobe.
Ron held up Harry's pensieve and asked,"Where should I put the pensieve?"
Harry said," Put it in the centre of the coffee table, please." It sounded like he was already in the shower.
Ron set the pensieve where Harry asked and sank back into the cushiony couch, savoring the feeling. Hermione joined him there, though she seemed distracted by the pensieve.
"What's that?"
Ron looked up and saw Hermione leaning over the pensieve. Ron joined her, and he saw as though through a tiny window Harry being knocked around by his aunt and uncle, bleeding profusely and pleading with them to stop. They both looked at eachother, equally pale in the face.
"He's put those experiences in the pensieve," Hermione said.
Ron looked back down and whispered," He never told us what happened and he may never willingly. It's been eating at me what they did to him and I want to know, even if it doesn't come from Harry's mouth."
"No!" she urgently whispered, listening for Harry's footsteps. "We can't invade his private thoughts! That is a shameful way to find out! Stop Ron!"
For Ron had started to lean over the pensieve, his finger reaching for the silver material inside. Hermione grabbed his arm just as he touched the substance and they were sucked into the pensieve, sucked into Harry's nightmares...
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A/N: Oohh. One of my first true cliffhanger's... You'll have to wait until I get chapters 10 and 11 done before I release 8 and 9. Oh, I'm sorry to have forgotten to ask earlier to please review. It really makes a person feel good and want to keep writing.
Chapter 7: The Trouble with a Dormitory
--------------
Harry was awakened again by a nightmare he told no one about on Friday night. This was the twelfth time in a row, and though the boys sharing a dormitory had a good idea about what they were about, they still grumbled while they went to sleep again. Ron was the only one who seemed concerned by it. He went down to check on Harry in the common room.
"You all right?" he asked sitting down next to him at a desk.
"Huh?.. oh, yeah, just a nightmare," Harry muttered nonchalantly, stroking Black Ruby and writing some strange formula on a sheet. Then, as though he just realized what he was doing, he hurriedly scooped the paper into his bag away from Ron's curious eyes.
"So... Quidditch practice Sunday. Looking forward to it?" Ron asked, changing to a more comfortable subject.
Harry grasped onto the new subject excitedly. "Yeah. First go on my new Dark Flame! Can't wait to be back on the pitch. Damn Umbridge woman. Tryouts ought to be fun, right, Captain?"
Ron, newly proclaimed Captain of the team, blushed and said," Yeah, it ought to be interesting who turns up. Ginny is still eager to be a Chaser. So, let's see... We need three Chasers and two Beaters. It's like making an entirely new team. By the way, what did Lupin hold you back for after the lesson?"
"He gave me a belated birthday present Sirius had bought for me. A pensieve."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously. You can go back up to bed Ron. I'm fine."
"Uh, okay."
As Ron loooked back at his friend, Harry pulled out the parchment and continued writing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As the weekend passed and classes started again, Harry could hardly believe he'd been back at school almost two months. Halloween was approaching, and a Hogsmeade weekend was on Saturday. They had met up with Lupin two weeks ago for their second lesson, in which they passed the second hurdle in relative ease. However, as Quidditch practices increased and the full moon was on Friday, their final Animagus session would have to wait until next week at least. Ron and Hermione were still pestering Harry about what he would become. He just pretended not to hear them on such occasions.
"Moony will have to know before you do transform, Harry. He needs to know so he can be ready in case the creature is violent," pleaded Hermione, coming out of Defence Against the Dark Arts on Friday. The day with Tonks had been quite fun as she found Parseltongue to be quite fascinating and was asking Harry questions about it all day.
"Don't worry, Hermione, everything will be fine," said Harry, sitting down and piling some mashed potatoes and shredded pork onto his plate. Ron told her to drop it, though he wanted to know what Hary would be just as badly as Hermione. "Harry, are you going to cut your hair anytime soon?"
Harry, who had been rescued with shoulder-length hair, had insisted on keeping it and it was now almost to his hips. Pulled back by a silver piece of ribbon, his newly debonair hair added to his looks as did his newly bright eyes. Without his glasses, they really stood outagainst his beautiful skin. Every girl, along with several guys who played for that team, longed to hold his lithe body and he had been unofficially voted "Sexiest Sixth Year" much to Ron's and Hermione's amusement.
After dinner, just as he was about to leave with Ron and Hermione, Professor Dumbledore appeared next to his shoulder.
"Could I have a word in my office, Harry?" He seemed rather put off about something, Harry noticed.
"Sure. See you guys back at the common room, okay?"
As Harry walked off with Dumbledore, Ron whispered to Hermione,"What was that about? Harry hasn't done anything?"
Hermione, slightly frowning, replied," I think we'll find out soon enough."
Harry sat across from Dumbledore for what felt like the nth time since coming to Hogwarts. Harry sat patiently waiting for Dumbledore to begin.
"I'm afraid I have some rather bad news for you, Harry," said Dumbledore.
"What? What's happened?"
"You can no longer sleep in the boy's dormitory."
"WHAT? WHY? I don't believe I understand this...!"
Dumbledore stood up and looked out the window. "I've been getting complaints from students. Being woken up in the middle of the night by your nightmares. They say it's been going on for two months, and they say they can't concentrate in classes because of lack of sleep. I'm afraid that as it involves other students, I need to act."
Harry looked down at his lap, voice feeble when he spoke. "I filed all my thoughts that I see when I'm asleep into my pensieve from Sirius, but I still have the nightmares. Can't I just take a Dreamless Sleep Potion every night, Professor? I mean, it's not like I can go stay in one of the other dormitories or sleep in the common room..."
Dumbledore turned back to Harry, the rising moon shining on his half- moon spectacles. He said,"I'm sorry Harry, but you cannot take a Dreamless Sleep potion every night. Repeated use of it would poison your system and eventually kill you. It's true, you can't sleep in another dormitory and you can't sleep in the common room. However," he continued, eyes beginning to twinkle," you could sleep in Godric Gryffindor's room."
This caught Harry's attention, and Dumbledore continued.
"Have you ever noticed that statue of Godic Gryffindor's sword at the very top of the boy's stairs?"
"Yeah, it's right across from our dormitory."
"When the founders of Hogwarts were alive, they slept in their dormitories in their own private chambers close to the students. Behind that sword, Harry, is the entrance to Godric's quarters. I am giving you permission to make this your room to change however you please. The current password is 'roaring silence' and you can change the password whenever you please."
Completely stunned, Harry said," Thank you, Professor. I think... I think I'll be going now so I can move my stuff. Thank you again."
"You're welcome, Harry," said the Headmaster, and Harry left the office still out of it.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Striding into the Gryffindor common room and up the dormitory stairs, Harry's friends continued following him. He hadn't even acknowledged their presence and was mumbling to himself like when they found him in the cupboard. They watched in amazement as the mumbling boy walked over to his bedside table and wardrobe and dumped the contents unceremoniously into his trunk, exempting the pensieve which he held in his left hand, the trunk handle in his right.
"Harry, we're really sorry!" said Neville, who was trembling. Dean and Seamus, however, didn't notice as Harry was leaving as they were currently exploring the other's mouth.
Harry continued out the door and stood in front of the statue. He looked up at it and then over at his friend's faces. He seemed to come out of a daze.
"How long have you been there?" He asked completely puzzled.
"Why did you pack your stuff up, Harry?" asked Ron.
Harry explained the whole conversation in the headmaster's office, leaving Hermione and Ron both shocked. As though not expecting them to say anymore, Harry turned to look at the statue of the sword he himself had wielded nearly four years ago. He decided to speak the password in Parseltongue in case anyone overheard, and the sword slid up into the ceiling, leaving behind a wide doorway. Harry pulled his stuff in followed by Hermione and Ron, and they gasped.
Godric Gryffindor's room was utterly beautiful, even if everything was covered in centuries of debris and dirt. The room was large, sporting a ceiling just like the Great Hall and several pieces of furniture. Harry put his stuff down and walked to a door off to the right. He was greeted with a reasonably large bathroom, complete with a large sink and vanity, bathtub, shower, and toilet, all of it done in blue pearl. Walking back into the main room, he looked at his friends who were still staring.
"Well," said Harry, bringing them out of their stupor,"I think I'm going to start cleaning."
"We'll help!"
It must have been near midnight before they were done and as Harry sat down on one of the newly clean couches, he thanked Mrs Weasley's cleaning charms, for he knew if Ron hadn't known them, that it would have taken til dawn.
The cleaned room was even more gorgeous than previously thought. The floor was done in a silver quartz, smoothly polished and inlaid with intricate designs. The walls were done in black marble of the highest quality complimented by the night sky on the ceiling now sparkling with stars. A large window big enough for a hippogriff was next to a beautiful cherry wood desk and matching chair. A pair of of couches made of the same cherry wood with silver and black upholstered cushions sat in front of a coffee table. A wardrobe sat next to a king sized bed. Its black satin sheets and hangings finished the room off in perfect splendour.
"Hey guys, do you mind if I go take a shower before we talk about our plans at Hogsmeade tomorrow? I stink," said Harry standing at the door of the newly cleaned bathroom already.
"Sure," replied Hermione, hanging Harry's robes in his wardrobe.
Ron held up Harry's pensieve and asked,"Where should I put the pensieve?"
Harry said," Put it in the centre of the coffee table, please." It sounded like he was already in the shower.
Ron set the pensieve where Harry asked and sank back into the cushiony couch, savoring the feeling. Hermione joined him there, though she seemed distracted by the pensieve.
"What's that?"
Ron looked up and saw Hermione leaning over the pensieve. Ron joined her, and he saw as though through a tiny window Harry being knocked around by his aunt and uncle, bleeding profusely and pleading with them to stop. They both looked at eachother, equally pale in the face.
"He's put those experiences in the pensieve," Hermione said.
Ron looked back down and whispered," He never told us what happened and he may never willingly. It's been eating at me what they did to him and I want to know, even if it doesn't come from Harry's mouth."
"No!" she urgently whispered, listening for Harry's footsteps. "We can't invade his private thoughts! That is a shameful way to find out! Stop Ron!"
For Ron had started to lean over the pensieve, his finger reaching for the silver material inside. Hermione grabbed his arm just as he touched the substance and they were sucked into the pensieve, sucked into Harry's nightmares...
--------------
A/N: Oohh. One of my first true cliffhanger's... You'll have to wait until I get chapters 10 and 11 done before I release 8 and 9. Oh, I'm sorry to have forgotten to ask earlier to please review. It really makes a person feel good and want to keep writing.