Chapter 16: The Key to Survival

A/N: I think I'm going to have to resign myself to once weekly updates. I have tried but the story's just not flowing at the moment; I have no idea why though. Don't worry I have no intentions of giving up; far from it, I am more determined than ever to finish! I just though I should let you know that you should probably only expect one update a week from now on. You never know though, with more time for each chapter they might be longer…

It was Friday afternoon and Harry was in Potions, wondering why someone hated him enough to make him endure double potions at the end of the week. He was desperately willing time to pass quicker; it was the first D.A. club meeting that night, there were some members of the Order of the Phoenix coming to Hogwarts to protect the students due to arrive later; Sirius was getting the final details of his trial date, and of course Harry had to finalise his plans with Ali for going to Hogsmede at the weekend.

Snape had been in an even fouler mood than usual over the past week, ever since the prank. Contemplating this Harry began to wonder if it had been worth all the extra homework and lost points. Then he remembered Snape's reaction.

**Flash-back**

Breakfast on Monday was almost as much fun for Harry and Ron as it had been on Sunday; in their next class they got to see Snape in his revamped dungeons.

With another first Harry and Ron were the first to arrive outside the dungeons for Potions. Upon arrival they noticed that the door was locked shut and there was no sign of Snape; who always liked to be there first – how else could he criticize the students that were seconds late? Could it really be that Snape had yet to see their re-decoration efforts? Could it be possible that they would get to see his initial reaction first hand? This was better than either of them had dared to hope for.

Slowly but surely the rest of the class arrived, most of whom were also surprised to see that the classroom was shut.

"Harry? Ron? What are the two of you doing here so early?" asked Hermione who had just arrived and was now eyeing both of them suspiciously,

"Well, um…we just don't want Snape to have any more reason than necessary to pick on us" improvised Harry, deliberately avoiding eye contact,

Hermione shot them a sceptical glance, but it only lasted for a few moments as she was distracted by Snape striding down the hall towards the classroom.

As Snape passed them Harry thought for a second he could see a flash of frustration cross Snape's features but he couldn't be certain for Snape's usual, cool demeanour took over again,

Snape drew his wand as he approached the door and muttered something that opened it, without looking he strode inwards and Harry and Ron made sure they were in a good position to see his reaction.

Snape halted a few steps after entering the dungeon, the usual stale, damp smell was missing, replaced by a more fragrant aroma, and the room seemed much brighter than it had been before. He raised his head and looked around the room, and for a moment he lost his composure. He soon regained it though, and brows furrowed in frustration he began to send incantations at the walls, the only difference they made was to add some extra flowers or butterflies here and there. Snape cursed furiously under his breath, and asserted his attentions on the students. He just knew that Potter had something to do with it.

As Harry entered the room, he saw Snape's eyes bore into his back, and he was almost certain he felt Snape's mind try to reach into his, though the sensation was so brief he couldn't decide if it had actually happened. What a surprise – Snape suspected him. Harry couldn't care less; there was no way Snape could prove it, and even if he did – it had been worth it!

**End Flash-back**

Yes, it certainly had been worth it.

When Harry re-joined the present, he realised that the class was almost over and he had neglected to do anything more than four lines of the foot long essay that was due on Monday; at that moment he didn't really care though, somehow one Potions essay seemed pretty insignificant in comparison to the other things he had to do that weekend.

Harry glanced at his friends, Hermione as always was scribbling furiously on her parchment face set in concentration. Ron was concentrating too; just not on the Potions essay, Harry followed his gaze curiously and was led back to Hermione.

Ron was entranced; by the way her arm moved against her side as she wrote, by the way her nose crinkled every so often when she was thinking about something, by the way her eyes glittered when they discovered something new, and by the way her foot tapped against her ankle.

Harry chuckled softly; causing Hermione to turn round, which in turn caused Ron to blush when Hermione noticed his inquisitive gaze.  She simply smiled at them both and turned back to her essay.

Harry, surprising himself reached for his quill, and pulled his essay towards him to read the tiny amount that he had written, when Snape announced the end of the lesson.

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Dinner had just finished, and Harry had an hour to kill before the first Defence Club meeting, hosted by Professor Danson. He had to speak to Sirius, and to Ali, but he decided to see Sirius just now, after all Ali would be attending Defence Club too, and Harry was hoping she might need someone to walk her back to the dormitory.

That was why Harry found himself in the corridor leading to Sirius quarters. "Padfoot" Harry said, facing the ever evasive portrait that was now sporting a phoenix.

"Harry!" Sirius greeted him grinning,

"Hey, Sirius" replied Harry, taking a seat, "How's things?"

"Looking better, "said Sirius, still smiling,

"How so?" enquired Harry, his eyebrows raised with curiosity,

"I just got an owl from the Ministry" said Sirius, "I have a trial…on Sunday!"

Harry grinned in response, "Can I go?"

"Of course," enthused Sirius, "but I don't know who will take you though…probably Remus, he's one of the Order members arriving tonight, did you know?"

"I had no idea" remarked Harry, somewhat bitterly; he was still being kept out of the loop, he noted Sirius' apologetic look, which reminded him that it wasn't really Sirius' fault, Sirius had told him just now after all. In truth it was Harry's own fault, at least partially, he hadn't been to see Sirius at all week, he had so much to do, between homework, quidditch, and spending time with his friends he had barely spared a thought for Sirius, who must have been incredibly bored, trapped in a room, with no-one to talk to for a whole week.

"So what've you been up to this week?" asked Sirius, "I take it you've been busy?"

"Not really…" began Harry, teasing, Sirius looked a little put out though, so Harry put him out of his misery, "I'm only joking, course I've been busy, quidditch mostly…I think the team's beginning to hate me, I'm working them really hard, every night….it's just that, we've won every year since I've been here, and well, I don't want to be the Captain that fails the team."

Sirius looked at Harry with incredulity, how could Harry be so worried about quidditch when he had things like the rise of a dark lord on his mind? Especially when there was really no need to worry; Sirius had seen Harry play, even if only once or twice, and that had been enough to convince him that Harry was a great player, and if the tryouts he had seen were anything to go by, the rest of the team were pretty damn good too. "Harry? What is there to worry about?" Sirius demanded kindly, "The reason Griffindor's won every year since you've been here is because you've been here!"

Harry knew in his heart  that Sirius was right, but he couldn't admit that to himself, it seemed arrogant and bigheaded, neither of which anyone would accuse Harry of being – except maybe Snape- but all the same Harry knew that he was a key part of the team, well, he wouldn't be on it otherwise would he? He wouldn't have been made Captain if he wasn't would he? Harry hated thinking like that; he hated being praised, it made him feel like he had something to live up to. Probably because he did have something to live up to; he didn't feel like he would ever meet the expectations so many people had of him, they were relying on him to save their lives and the lives of their friends and families. The pressure seemed to overwhelm Harry in an instant, one moment the prophecy was the furthest thing from his mind, and the next, because of a totally unrelated conversation, there it was, taking over his mind again.

Sirius watched as Harry's eye's flooded with panic, concern, anxiety and pain, he had no way of telling what Harry was thinking about, but he felt he could make a pretty good guess; Voldemort, the prophecy, and most likely Voldemort again. "Harry? You okay Harry?" he asked concernedly,

"I'm fine" replied Harry automatically,

"No you're not" said Sirius slightly irritated "Why don't you talk about what's bothering you?" he sighed and looked at Harry searchingly, "I don't mind listening you know" he added quietly,

Harry felt guilty then, Sirius was one of many that were all trying to help him, and all he did was snap at them or shut them out. "Sorry" he said genuinely, "It's just that, I can't even get things sorted out in my head, they don't make sense…I doubt I could put it all into words, not properly at least."

Sirius nodded understandingly, and he did understand. It was like when people asked him about Azkaban…or the Realms of the Dead…he wanted to tell them what it felt like…but it made no sense, not even to him and he had experienced it - what hope could someone else have? It was painful too, but that wasn't what stopped him talking about it. Maybe at first it was, when things made slightly more sense, but now that the pain had subsided enough, the memories were blurred and faded, confused.

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Harry, Ron and Hermione headed down to the Great Hall for D.A. club along with Ginny, Dean and Ali, who they were becoming closer and closer to. Ever since Seamus had left Dean had been feeling a little depressed and lonely and spent nearly all of his time with Ginny, and in turn Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ali. Harry had gotten to know Dean a lot better over the last week or so, and was glad; Dean was nice, and funny. The only one that objected to his presence was Ron; simply because he didn't like seeing anyone with Ginny, and even those protests were becoming less and less frequent.

Upon arrival in the hall they noticed several significant changes, the usual tables were gone, and there were large cushions placed in a circle in the centre of the hall, with one in the centre, upon which sat Professor Danson.

She was wearing violet robes that looked styled for fighting or duelling, her wavy black hair was tied back to one side and fastened with a matching violet ribbon, accentuating her high cheekbones and vivid eyes. For such a small, slight woman she looked incredibly intimidating, not to mention stunningly attractive, as all three boys noticed.

Harry, Ron, and Dean all stood, mouths gaping, staring at their Professor. Their girlfriends noticed this action, and immediately sent scathing looks towards them, which brought the guys back to the present. They had the courtesy to blush and look sheepish. 

Professor Danson looked oblivious to the exchange that had taken place and gestured to some of the cushions nearest the centre, "Why don't you all take a seat?"

The six of them moved to take their seats, and while they did the hall began to fill up.

"So, Ali…" began Hermione curiously, "I don't suppose your aunt's told you what she's planning to do tonight has she?"

Ali's face darkened in obvious resentment, "no, she says that I have no reason to know before anyone else."

Hermione nodded consolingly,

Soon the hall was full, and silence befell the crowd as Professor Danson got to her feet. "Hi everyone, thanks for coming along" she began, "this group is going to be about preparing you for the danger that could face you outside Hogwarts at these awful times. In order for this to benefit you, you will have to be committed. You don't become a great defensive wizard after a few hours training." She paused then to look around the hall, examining the students' reactions, "If you are not prepared to commit yourself to this group leave now. It should be treated as equally important as your classes, if not more so. I am deadly serious, if you don't think you'll come to every meeting don't come back after this one."

She gave the students a few moments to take in the information. "Now, "she began again, eyes glittering with anticipation, "let's begin. There are three good ways to defend yourself; one is dodging" a snort of laughter escaped someone's mouth at this point and Professor Danson's eyes narrowed, and became icy. "Mr Malfoy, come into the centre please,"

Malfoy got to his feet and strutted into the circle. "Now, Malfoy, what exactly did you find funny just then?" Danson enquired, holding his eyes in her steely glare,

"Well, "said Malfoy, faltering under the scrutiny, "if you're being attacked, directly, it's almost impossible to dodge spells,"

"Exactly!" exclaimed Danson

Malfoy looked at her in bewilderment, as did many of the surrounding students,

"Your attacker won't expect you to even try and dodge because it is such a common misconception that it is impossible. It is however very possible. Especially for adults who can apparate – why they don't make more use of that skill I will never understand. Of course many places have anti-apparation wards these days….Sorry lost track, what was I saying? Ah, yes, dodging. You will find that, with practice there are ways to dodge certain spells – but it requires a lot of physical fitness, and is difficult to teach without one-on-one training. So we will focus on the other two methods. Mr Malfoy I would like you to help me demonstrate some dodging, just try and curse me" she said with a smile,

Malfoy looked at her in disbelief, "Professor?"

"What Malfoy?" she said incredulously, "Don't you know any curses?"

Malfoy looked enraged and drew his wand and began to fire several spells at the Professor, who was jumping, twisting and diving around. After 10 minutes Malfoy had given up, he hadn't hit Danson once. The crowd surrounding them was looked admirably at their teacher with newfound respect.

"Now, "she panted, regaining her breath, "Malfoy, back to your seat, and we'll move onto defence technique number two; shielding. I have taught all of you taking Defence Against the Dark Arts how to conjure a trust shield, and as far as I know you can all do that, today I want you to practice keeping it up while you are duelling. You must keep it in your mind or it will disappear. The key to survival is concentration. It is very difficult to do this without a good few tries so I am going to ask you to split up into pairs and practice using gentle curses on your partner while they try to concentrate on their shield. I will be available if anyone would like any help."

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ali, Ginny and Dean looked round at each other expectantly, no-one wanted to be the first to pick partners. Eventually Ginny grabbed Dean's arm with an over-emphasized groan, and lead him off to one side. Seeing the couple type pairing, Hermione followed suit and turned to face Ron, leaving Harry and Ali to work together. Which was exactly how both of them wanted it to be; it was just that their relationship was new, and they weren't comfortable enough with each other to take such things for granted like Ron and Hermione, and Ginny and Dean were.

"Ok" Ali started, a mischievous glint sparkling in her eyes, "looks like I get to try and curse you!"

Catching that look, Harry reluctantly nodded, wondering if he would soon regret it. He pulled out his wand and muttered "Fiducia Protegge" under his breath, and was glad to see the now familiar rainbow mist settle around him. Ali did the same and they turned to face each other, eyes set in determination. It was only then that they realised one of the ways in which they were similar – both of them had a rather competitive streak!

They started off firing similar, boring curses, which both of them managed to deflect. Slowly and slowly they got more competitive and started sending nastier curses towards each other. Soon they the centre of attention in the hall; no-one else had managed to keep their shield up first time round. The rest of the students crowded round them, watching intently, even Professor Danson looked most interested in the exchange.

Both Harry and Ali were now completely immersed in the ongoing battle; both determined to win. Neither of them noticed the gathering crowd. As the curses flew more and more furiously between the two, they seemed to get more and more involved. Soon they were not only relying on their shields to protect them they were instinctively shifting, feinting and diving for cover. This only enthralled the spectators more.

One student however wasn't the least bit interested in the Potter/Vilene conflict; needless to say that student was Draco Malfoy. 'Bloody Potter, always the centre of bloody attention, just because he has a ridiculous scar on his head he thinks he's better than the rest of us, well he's not! I'll show him!' And with that thought Draco raised his wand and muttered "Stupefy!" The red flash headed straight for Harry's back, while Ali was in front of him.

Harry felt the curse bounce off the shield and spun around to see who had sent it. He wasn't too surprised when he saw Malfoy smirking at him from the opposite side of the hall.

Professor Danson's eyes took on their steely appearance, and she drew herself up to her full height, which though it wasn't that tall was very intimidating and marched over to Malfoy. "You had better have a good reason for having done that Malfoy" she said simply, glowering at him, if there was one thing Caighlynne hated it was someone who attacked when their opponent's back was turned.

"Well," began Malfoy, "this is supposed to be a class for everyone here not just Potter and his girlfriend, we should all have the opportunity to learn."

"And how exactly Mr Malfoy was Harry preventing you learning?" Danson demanded,

"Everyone was watching him!" spluttered Malfoy

"I am still confused, how did that affect your learning?"

"I can't exactly curse myself, my partner was distracted by him!" continued Malfoy desperately,

"Then it was through your own poor judgement over choosing a partner that hindered your learning wouldn't you say?" remarked Danson, eyes still glittering dangerously,

"I s'pose" muttered Draco under his breath,

"Now that we're clear on that, I will remove 20 points from Slytherin and you will have a detention tomorrow night, for an unprovoked attack on an unsuspecting classmate." Professor Danson concluded, smiling round at the rest of the class. "Now, half an hour more of practice then you must go back to your dormitories"

Ron was standing gaping at both Harry and Ali in amazement. "How the bloody hell did you do that so well?" he asked them,

"Well," said Ali, blushing sheepishly, "I've been training at things like that for just over a year – since my powers fully matured"

Harry's eyes widened in shock at this revelation, "but then how did I? I mean…" he dropped off, unable to find the words to voice his confusion,

 "I have no idea" she replied solemnly, "but you were really good! Honestly, I think you could've taken on my aunt!"

Harry remembered Professor Danson's earlier display and shook his head furiously, "no, I don't think so,"

"Well, maybe not, but you could beat anyone else in the room" she said grinning,

"Even you?" asked Harry returning the grin,

"Well, maybe not me either, but anyone else!"

"Oh and why didn't you tell me that you'd been doing this for over a year?"

"I just, em," Ali blushed a little, "I just wanted to beat you"

"Evil" Harry muttered jokingly,

"Me?" asked Ali, feigning innocence, "Never!"

The whole group laughed at this, before resuming practice. After the half hour was up, and students began to file their way out of the hall, Professor Danson approached the six friends. "Harry? Can I have a word?"

Harry nodded curiously; this must be about his inexplicable abilities.

Caighlynne looked at the other five faces watching her, a combination of hope and pleading, "yes, you lot can stay, so long as Harry doesn't mind"

Harry stifled a chuckle after seeing his friends pleading glances, "Course they can stay, I'd only be telling them what happened later anyway"

"I thought as much" replied Caighlynne with a chuckle, "I just wondered if you had any idea you could do that?"

"None at all, it was strange though, I wasn't really thinking about what I was doing, it was like a trance almost, I can't really explain it properly,"

"Hmm, strange…that's how it is with fairies – seeing as we can't use dark magic – really evil curses etc – we have to be better at avoiding them. Did you know that I knew your mum?"

"Yeah," said Harry quietly, "Sirius told me"

"Well, we always suspected that she maybe had a bit of fairy blood in her family, we never had any proof though, that would certainly explain the reason for your aptitude to spell dodging – or maybe it's just a talent, who knows?"

"But my mum was muggleborn – so how could she have fairy blood?" Harry asked, baffled

"Fairy magic is very temperamental, often only fairy-fairy couples produce another fairy. Fairy-wizard pairs usually produce wizards, so I suppose a fairy-muggle pair would produce muggles. The magic could just be dormant waiting for the right person. I don't really know enough about these things to comment though. I think I should tell Dumbledore, you don't mind do you?"

"No, course not" replied Harry

"Right then" continued Caighlynne, "I think it's time you lot were in Griffindor tower don't you?"

"I s'pose" muttered Ali, as the group headed towards the doorway. When they were almost there though they heard some voices outside, cautiously they drew their wands and made their way through the doorway,

"Charlie?" exclaimed Ron,

While Harry shouted "Tonks?"

Caighlynne paled and whispered "Remus?" under her breath, in disbelief,

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Dearest Readers,

I really meant to include the next day as well, but it took long enough to write that, it's late and I am falling asleep in front of the screen. I'm pretty happy with the overall result though.

I wanted to give Harry an edge against Voldemort – but not make him into a kind of Super-Harry, when he gets loads of magnificent powers or finds out he is the heir of Griffindor or something that makes him more than just Harry. I think it would be impossible to write that and keep the plot realistic. (And yes I do realise the whole Harry Potter world is rather unrealistic to start with, but you know what I mean!)

Anyway as always reviews would be much appreciated!

Love and Hugs from Believe!

Oh I forgot to ask this last time – What do you think of the new format? Better or worse? Let me know when you review…go on…just press the button…you know you want to!

And now to reply to my all-time favourite people – the reviewers!

You guys are all so kind, it really makes my day to read all the nice things you write, thank-you all so much, you are a huge inspiration! :D

Hplova4eva – As always thanks and I hope you like this instalment!

Jaximillion – There you have it, Snape's reaction – as expected. Sorry I only included it as a flashback, but I really had to get the story moving, else my imagination would be spent before it was Christmas time, lol. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it!

Jbfritz – Glad to hear you're sticking around to read some more! I only hope that you enjoy the rest just as much!

Hpcrazy() – I liked the pranks too, though I would never have thought it would be so hard to come up with ideas- I have newfound respect for the marauders and any other pranksters extraordinaire out there! And thank you for saying I'm a good writer – that means so much – thank you!

Anna L.Black – awww that was sweet! Thank you! I'm glad you liked my idea!