Chapter 20: Faith
The school air was alive with whispers and rumours over the next few days, people were finding it difficult to adjust to the fact that Sirius Black – the hated and feared mass murderer – was innocent, and at Hogwarts. Some people watched in silent awe and admiration as he passed them in the halls, a vast number of those being senior girls that couldn't help but notice how much better he looked now, than when he had escaped Azkaban a few years ago. Others still hid away if they saw him walk in their direction, either unwilling or unable to accept that he was innocent. Harry's favourite incident though, was one that happened on Wednesday, right after a very productive Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson. They were studying Patronus' and needless to say Harry's was easily the best. Malfoy encountered considerable difficulty with the charm, and was therefore in a less than pleasant mood when he left the class.
He decided to vent his anger on an unfortunate first year that stumbled into him in a rush to get to class. Malfoy hexed them with something Harry didn't recognise – but the poor little boy keeled over in obvious pain. Harry and Ron were ready to interfere but Sirius – who had taken to patrolling the corridors – got there first.
"I suggest you remove that curse Malfoy" began Sirius calmly, his eyes flashing with anger,
Malfoy looked up, surprised to be caught, "And what are you going to do if I don't?" he spat contemptuously, a superior sneer spreading across his face,
"Fifty points from Slytherin and a week's detention with me, sounds about right" replied Sirius, disgust flashing over his face,
"Only teachers can deduct points or give out detentions," replied Malfoy smugly,
Sirius simply raised an eyebrow, and sent a piercing stare in Malfoy's direction, "Sure of that, are you?"
Concern briefly clouded Malfoy's face, but was efficiently swept away and replaced with contempt; after all, it wouldn't do for him to lose face in front of Black, "Yes"
"It doesn't become you to be so cocky, Malfoy, especially when you're wrong. I have all the privileges of being a member of staff with none of the downfalls." Sirius replied with a cheerful grin
Malfoy raised an eyebrow questioningly, but the patronising glare was completely gone from his face, and though no one noticed it, a hint of fear took its place.
"I'll see you every night at seven for a week then Malfoy" Sirius confirmed, and Malfoy obviously shocked by the exchange nodded dumbly, his disbelief evident. Sirius grinned happily at Harry, Ron and Hermione before heading off, Malfoy staring a hole in his back.
Though the incident was funny – from Harry's point of view – it did leave Malfoy in a rather foul mood for the rest of the week, which was not such a good thing, when they had to face him on Saturday, in their first Quidditch match.
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It was Saturday morning and Harry was heading out to the Quidditch pitch with Ron, to meet the team. He had been feeling his usual pre-match jitters a lot earlier than usual, and much stronger than he ever had previously. He surmised it was because he was captain now. The whole team was depending on him. As seeker he was somewhat used to that dependency; the capture of the snitch so often resulting in their team winning, he was used to carrying the responsibility of a win or loss on his shoulders, and he was oddly glad of it. He trusted the team completely; he knew they were good; it's just that sometimes, the only person he could feel comfortable relying on was himself. And no matter what anyone said, winning was important, incredibly important. And he was not the only one of that opinion; the whole team was in agreement with him.
Gathered in the locker room, Harry surveyed his team, and smiled proudly round at them all. He could see the nerves; both in their eyes and their stance, but they were well disguised and to anyone who didn't know them well they looked pretty confident. That was the first part of Harry's plan. Slytherins did not play fair; they liked to intimidate the opposition, it gave them an advantage. Harry had stressed the importance of not letting the pressure get to them to the team several times, and they were all sick of hearing it, in fact he was almost certain he heard Ron cough "Wood" at one point. The team was looking at Harry expectantly, and he realised they were expecting some sort of pep talk. What am I supposed to say?
He pulled on his gloves, picked up his broom, and looked over to the team. "Ron, Ali, Ginny, Daniel, Chris, Jenny," he nodded at each of them in succession, "It's the first match of the year, most likely the whole school will be out there…what say we give them a match to remember?"
At which point a cheer echoed round the room,
"You guys are all fantastic, we've practiced long enough, and hard enough, this match is ours!" Harry continued enthusiastically,
"Well we're not exactly going to let some pathetic Slytherins beat us are we?" demanded Jenny, mock seriously
"Just let them try," said her brother Chris, swinging his beaters club menacingly.
Ron grinned in Chris' direction, looking most pleased at the thought of some of the Slytherins being on the wrong side of that bat.
"But seriously," added Harry, "we're the better team, we deserve this victory, and we will have it!" he cried thrusting his broom into the air, his teammates following suit.
"Now," he continued after the enthusiastic cheering died down, "let's go play some Quidditch!" and with that the Griffindor team headed out onto the field, met with a roar of support emanating from around three-quarters of the crowd, the Slytherins, obviously, were booing.
The two teams made their way to the centre of the field, Harry walking over to Madam Hooch, and the Slytherin captain – Malfoy – to begin the game. "As soon as the captains shake hands we can begin" encouraged Madam Hooch, glancing at both Harry and Draco.
They stared at each other for what seemed like the longest time; neither one wanted to appear weaker by relinquishing eye contact. Eventually, after a stern glance from Madam Hooch they shook. Harry could've sworn that Draco was trying to break his fingers, but he was determined not to let it get to him, and he simply grinned in response, which only succeeded in infuriating Malfoy all the more.
Madam Hooch nodded to the captains, blew on the whistle and released the balls. The pitch was instantly alive with a flurry of red and green, players twisting, turning, diving and soaring. Harry picked his way through the mayhem to fly above the other players, hoping to get a better chance of seeing the snitch. He noticed, much to his annoyance that Malfoy was hot on his tail the whole time, obviously perfectly content to let Harry do all the hard work seeking out the snitch.
"-And Weasley, who might I add is looking fine today, passes the Quaffle to Vilene, who dives, twists around that bludger from Goyle and passes to Scott. Scott avoids Lamar, with a spectacular dive, and pulls up to right in front of the left hoop! Hunt is too far away – he's not going to make it, and, yes! Scott scores! Ten – nil to Griffindor!" Dean – who had nabbed Lee Jordan's old spot commentating - joined in with the madly cheering crowd, much to McGonagall's disappointment.
"Thomas! I told you to keep this spot you must remain impartial!" she scolded, though she did look rather chuffed herself.
"Err, right sorry professor"
Harry took his chance, now that everyone was distracted it would be easy to fool Malfoy into thinking he'd spotted the snitch, and he dove forward, hurtling towards the ground, eyes focussed in front of him to ensure he was convincing. And sure enough seconds later he caught that familiar glimpse of green speeding alongside him.
The ground was getting dangerously close, but Harry didn't want to spoil things now, he kept going until he was only about a foot above the muddy grass, and then he pulled up, only just clearing the ground. Malfoy, who had been paying too much attention to Harry, wasn't quite so lucky. He flew straight into the ground.
Harry quickly slowed down and turned around, wanting to see his success, and he did. Malfoy was hauling himself slowly up from the mud, which he had landed face down in. Harry grinned in delight, and caught Ali's eye; she smiled proudly at him. This made him even happier, if that were possible. Smiles had been so rare from Ali over the past few days, since her great grandmother had died. She was slowly but surely getting over it though.
Harry's attention was drawn sharply back to the game when he had to swerve drastically to avoid a bludger. He swooped back upwards to keep an eye out for the snitch again, this time without Malfoy lurking in the background.
After Griffindor had scored that first goal, the Slytherins got increasingly more aggressive, using vulgar, distasteful moves whenever the opportunity arose. It seemed that part of their tactic was to keep Harry under almost constant bombardment by at least one of the bludgers, ensuring he had no chance of even spotting the snitch, never mind catching it. They could spare the bludger for one reason, Lamar, their newest chaser was acting as a human bludger himself, cannoning into any Griffindor that got too close to scoring. Which led to Slytherin scoring the next twenty points, and though he wasn't certain, Harry thought he heard the beginnings of 'Weasley is our King' – the Slytherin version.
Harry could feel the tension and frustration inside him mounting, and channelled it into something more productive, diving and circling, scouring every inch of the pitch for a trace of the little golden snitch. He was distracted from his task slightly though, when he saw Griffindor were back on the offence,
"And Scott manoeuvres magnificently around Lamar, under Knight, and pulls back up to shoot – but here comes Hunt, and he doesn't look happy. Scott must be mad; he's lining up to take the shot and – what? Where'd the Quaffle go? Oh! Nice move! He's passed it back to Vilene and she's advancing, but no! A bludger straight to the arm, and she drops the Quaffle!"
Harry saw Ali get hit, and he panicked, he flew straight over to check up on her, "Ali…are you okay?"
"I'm fine Harry," she said, with a forced smile, pulling her broom round, and getting back into the game, "Oh no, Harry! Look…Malfoy!"
Harry's eyes keenly followed the direction she was pointing in and indeed, there was Malfoy streaking across the pitch, he followed the line further and saw that oh so familiar glint of gold, but Malfoy was too far away, he had too much of a head start. Without further thought Harry shot off after him, and everyone's attention was on the Seekers and their race to the snitch.
Well, not quite everyone's, Jenny could see that Malfoy was going to make it there first, but she wasn't going to let him. She had warned him to watch his back, now was her chance to show him why, she shot off after a passing bludger, and with her undeniable beaters instinct whacked it at Malfoy. His arm was outstretched; just a few feet more and he'd have it.
Harry was gaining on him, and was only seconds behind Malfoy when he heard the familiar sound of a bludger and he swerved not a moment too soon, the bludger careered past and crunched into Malfoy's back. He withdrew his hand reflexively, and Harry took his chance, with a final push of speed from the Firebolt, he thrust out his hand and clasped his fingers round the fluttering wings. They had won!
Harry did a victory lap of the pitch, soaking up the euphoria from the atmosphere. He barely heard Dean shouting, "Griffindor wins! 160 to 30!"
Malfoy's face depicted new levels of hatred that Harry had never imagined even existed. "That should have been mine Potter" he spat, scowling fiercely.
"Then, I guess you should've taken it huh?" grinned back Harry, too delighted with the win to let Malfoy get to him.
Malfoy glared at Harry, at a loss for words, and eventually flew off to the Slytherin changing rooms, while Harry joined the Griffindor celebration that had taken over the pitch.
"Ooh, well done Harry" enthused Hermione as he landed, "you flew really well today"
"Thanks Hermione, but it was really down to Jenny that we won, if she hadn't got Malfoy with that bludger then…"
"Who cares what would've happened!" interjected Ron "We won!"
"Yeah we did!" gloated Daniel, grinning madly,
Looking over at the dejected Slytherins Ginny commented with a mischievous smile, "it's really amazing how much more fun it is when you win"
"Uh huh" agreed Chris, as Ali slid past him towards Harry,
"Hey you" she said to him, slipping her arms round his waist,
"Hey back" he replied, as he hugged her,
She flinched slightly, and he drew back concerned, "What is it?"
"No, it's nothing, my arms just a little sore, that's all" she said, repositioning herself,
"Come on, you're going to see Madam Pomfrey" he commanded, pulling her away from the group,
"But…Harry!" she complained half-heartedly,
"And where are you two off to?" It was Sirius, a stupid grin plastered onto his face,
"Hospital wing" murmured Harry, fighting back a blush, at Sirius' unspoken implication, "Ali's arm's hurt"
"Oh, ok," said Sirius feeling a little stupid, "good game by the way, both of you, all that practice is really paying off"
They both grinned at him, and Harry nodded, "thanks, I'll see you soon, okay? I just have to take her to see Madam Pomfrey,
"Of course, of course" he replied happily, "go ahead, I'll see you later"
"Bye!" Ali called as Harry dragged her back towards the school.
After Griffindor's win, the atmosphere around school was jovial and contented, excluding Slytherin house of course – they were still bitter after having been beaten, and the next few weeks passed without major incident.
Classes continued as always, Quidditch practice came and went, spare time was devoured by homework - that every teacher was becoming overly obsessed by- and for Harry, Occlumency practice, which is where he was returning from on a less than pleasant Halloween.
The lesson itself went well. Harry was beginning to pick up the technique of expelling someone from his mind, but still needed practice at keeping them out in the first place. He was picking it up a lot faster with Caighlynne as a teacher though, than he ever had done with Snape. Caighlynne – she had insisted he call her that when not in class – actually explained what he had to do, how it helped to envision what was going on. If he could see his mind as a room, and imagine her being eradicated from it, it was far easier for him to focus on doing so.
This lesson they had been working on blocking, and Harry was most successful when he saw all the doorways and windows leading into his 'centre' – they had dubbed his mind room this, as he was familiar with the term, having heard muggles use it – blocked up, with bricks or some other deterrent. When he envisioned this Caighlynne struggled to gain access – at first. Though when she began to attack his walls, they crumbled. Harry found it extremely trying to keep up the defences whilst trying to expel her.
Much as he hated to admit it, Harry was developing a newfound respect for Snape, and his talents in the area. Harry couldn't imagine facing Voldemort, and not only blocking him from areas of his mind, but also convincing him that others – such as his avid belief in the cause – actually existed. Not that he'd ever share this respect with anyone – no, he still despised Snape far too much for that.
He left the lesson feeling quite pleased with himself – it's not every day you begin to master a skill as complex as Occlumency after all. He checked the time, gladly noted that it was time for dinner, and made his way to the great hall. His cheeriness left him when he took his usual seat between Ali and Ron though; there was a strange tension overhanging the group.
"Guys?" began Harry, uncertainly; something was definitely wrong, "Is everything okay?"
Hermione shook her head softly, as she squeezed Ron's hand, "There was another attack…on Gringotts…Bill was there…"
"He's not…" Harry interrupted, but trailed off, unable to voice his fears,
"Oh, no!" said Hermione, "he was injured, but nothing too serious"
"Was there…were there a lot of casualties?" Harry asked, not really wanting to know the answer,
Hermione nodded slowly, "Voldemort asked for the goblins allegiance…but they said they wanted to keep out of it…which unsurprisingly, wasn't enough for Voldemort…they tore the place apart…most of the vaults are okay…being underground and all, but the actual building's non-existent…one of the vaults though, a top security one, was destroyed…and the contents either ruined, or stolen."
"What…what was in it?" Harry stammered, feeling a little shaken after that revelation,
"No-one knows…or rather no-ones telling, I think would be more accurate…but whatever it was, if it was enough for Voldemort to go to all that trouble…it can't be good can it?" said Ali quietly, subconsciously leaning towards Harry for support,
He instinctively put his arm around her, and looked at both Ron and Ginny, struggling to find words to comfort them; in fact he was feeling a little in need of comfort himself. It was morbid, he thought, that it was only in times like these that he realised just how close he was to the Weasley's, and how much they meant to him, they were his family. He wondered if they felt the same way, though he didn't really have to wonder, deep down he knew they did. It was one of those things; never spoken, but always known, and it comforted him to no end.
Harry, yet again, hated Voldemort, simply for the fact that he did this to people, hundreds of people, maybe even millions had suffered at his hands, either directly or indirectly, and he didn't even care. Harry felt so defenceless, so helpless. If Voldemort could get to them this much, without even seeing them, or touching them, or having anything to do with them, what chance did they have?
It was then that Harry came to a decision, he was going to train, he had to be the best if he wanted to stop Voldemort, and he most definitely did. He had meant to start in the summer, and he had, but if he was brutally honest he hadn't put enough effort into it. There was always something else to do, and he let himself be distracted. This would have to come first. He had to make sure that this ended; that Voldemort lost the power he had over so many lives. He would ask Ron and Hermione if they wanted to join him, and Ali, Ginny and Dean. He would be able to concentrate on Voldemort, when it came down to it, a whole lot better if he knew that his friends could take care of themselves. He needed all of his concentration, and then some, if he was even going to stand a chance.
The more he thought about it, the more the situation reminded him of last year. And how they had started the D.A. to learn to defend themselves, and as he was thinking about it, it occurred to him that it might be a good idea to restart it. Last year it had been a success, and though they were learning in Caighlynne's Defence group, it wasn't the same. There were all sorts of people there, with all sorts of abilities, and they had to spend some time going over what they already knew. Harry didn't think Caighlynne would be offended if they started up the D.A., and he hoped not, he certainly wouldn't want to upset her, she had been so nice to him after all, helping with Occlumency and everything. Sirius would probably be really encouraging, even help out. But for some reason Harry didn't want help. The D.A. was something they had set up to help themselves; if they were going to restart it, it only seemed right that it stayed that way.
They ate in silence, all of them consumed with their own thoughts and musings, until Charlie came up and interrupted.
"I'm going to see Bill in a little bit" he said to Ron and Ginny, who looked comforted at the thought, "you guys can come too, if you like"
They both nodded eagerly and looked relieved. Harry felt a little disappointed, he would've liked to see Bill too, but even as he was thinking it Charlie turned to him, looking slightly awkward, "you can come too Harry, that is, if you like," he looked round at the others sitting there and as though he felt obligated, "you guys could –"
"No," Hermione cut him off, "I think this should just be family"
Harry opened his mouth to protest, but Ron silenced him before he had a chance to talk, "Harry, you are family, and don't ever say otherwise okay?"
Harry nodded dumbly, smiling, and returned to his food.
"I'll see you in the entrance hall after dinner then?" Charlie confirmed,
"Are we going to Floo there?"
asked Ginny,
"Yeah," replied Charlie, "so I'll see you there?"
"Yeah, see you," agreed Ron.
Meaningless chitchat passed the rest of the meal, the atmosphere lightened with the idea of seeing Bill later. Worries put to the side for the time being, as they would be put to rest in a short while.
When they met Charlie later there was a small amount of tension evident in the air. This was to be the moment of truth, when they found out for themselves how Bill really was. Harry had no doubts that everyone was fearing the worst; after all the whole building had been destroyed, people weren't going to stand much of chance were they?
Harry also felt slightly awkward being there; as much as he loved the Weasley's and felt at home with them, he had never really known Bill all that well, though, Harry remembered, Bill did come to see him in the Triwizard tournament.
They got to St Mungo's without incident, and found Bill's ward easily, Molly, Arthur, Fred and George were already there. There was no sign of Percy; and Harry wasn't much surprised, he hadn't even bothered to apologise for his behaviour the previous year, even after he had discovered he was wrong. There was a card at the side of the bed that looked like it might be from him though; Harry recognised the writing from the letter Ron received last year.
Bill was sitting partially upright, and smiling when they got there, and Harry took that to be a good sign. Fred and George were showing him something, Harry suspected their latest merchandise, and he was laughing, whilst Molly looked as though she was torn between her injured son being happy or corrupted.
Luckily Charlie, Ron, Ginny and Harry were enough to distract Molly before she could lecture the twins. Her lectures were never quite so fierce now anyway, they were always a little half-hearted, seeing as the twins were so successful, she couldn't find too many ways to criticize them, though she still did from time to time.
"Hi," Bill greeted them with a smile,
"Hey" replied Ron and Harry simultaneously, whilst Ginny just beamed at him, obviously relieved to see him in such good health.
Charlie's face also displayed relief, as he smiled and approached his brother. "Are you okay?" he asked, still concerned, Charlie being nearest to Bill in age had always been closest to him, and had always looked up to him.
"I'm fine…honestly," he added seeing the disbelieving looks on their faces, "I don't even really need to be here…just an excuse to skive" he said with a wink,
"Seriously though, "started Ginny, edging her way past her brothers, "What happened to you?"
"Got hit by a few Death Eater's curses, though their effects were lessened because I put up a trust shield…and I got hit by some falling bricks and things when I was down…"
"What were they hitting you with, that sent you down even with a trust shield? You were always great at them," questioned Charlie, worriedly,
"I'm not sure…I think there might've been an Avada Kedavra in there somewhere"
A sharp intake of breath was heard from Molly, that information obviously new to her,
"You mean you survived an Avada Kedavra?" asked Ron, both amazed and concerned,
"It's not really that big a deal" replied Bill, "people do it all the time…especially out in Egypt, it's just not publicised because the trust shield isn't always reliable…you really have to believe in it, not everyone can"
"I don't think I could," said Ginny, paling at the thought, "we were doing them in Defence Against the Dark Arts and mine wasn't very good at all."
"Mine was all right in class" added Harry, "but I don't know if it's be the same if my life depended on it, I don't think I have that much faith,"
"It's amazing what you'll believe in, when it's the only thing keeping you alive" said Bill simply,
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Hi there everyone!
I am so so sorry that this is so late. I could spend hours explaining all the problems I had, but lets just leave it at this; computers are evil!
I had quite a hard time writing this chapter- I have no idea why- it just wouldn't flow. I do hope it's all right.
Next chapter should be up at the weekend, if all goes well, and seeing as I'm off school Monday and Tuesday, I should be able to put the next one up then! So that should make up for the delay!
I have over 100 reviews! Wow, thank-you all so much, each one is greatly appreciated! Seeing those emails makes my day and you lot do that – thank you!
One thing I'd like to ask you all. I'm planning out the final stages of the story just now, and there are two ways I could have it end, one (the best one, in my opinion) would be best written with a sequel, would anyone be interested in reading that, or should I quit while I'm ahead? Feedback on this issue would be greatly appreciated!
Anyway, I'll go now, because if I don't I may babble on here for a few more hours and you'll never see this. Hope you enjoyed it, and I'll see you again soon,
Love and cyber hugs, from your dedicated author Believe. Xxx.
Weasleygurl –Thanks – you're too kind! And as for Sirius' wand – he had a wand, but we're never told it's his – for the purpose of this story, it wasn't! :D
Jbfritz – thanks again! And yes school is a pain – luckily I'm in my second last year – but I'm taking 5 Highers (Scottish qualifications, if you didn't know) and that means a lot of work – and much less time for writing than I'd like!
Kemenran – Your wish is my command! :D
Phoenix marauder() – thanks for all the lovely compliments! I hope the quidditch match lived up to your expectations, it turned out to be harder to write that I'd thought it would be.
PadfootsNoxed – aww, thanks for all the reviews! Hope you enjoy the rest!
Marci018 – I'm glad you like it so much – thanks for taking the time to review. As for it being finished, well, I'm working on it. :D
Ice Lupus – thank-you! I hope you enjoy this chapter too!
Sze() – denial? Yes, partly I was in denial when I started this fic, but not now, I've worked through it and have accepted that he's never coming back. But Sirius is fun to write – and this is my story, so he's here to stay!
