Yes, I know, it's been over three months since I updated this, I know that
I deserve to be smacked in the head for not getting this done sooner, but
lemme tell you, personal life issues really suck and take up your time.
Especially when it involves a girl that acts like she wants to be with you
then dumps you over MSN and gets back with her old boyfriend......must remain
calm, must not destroy computer in fit of anger....anyways, here's the next
part of the story folks, enjoy! Oh yeah, HermioneGreen, cause of your idea
of what would happen, this chapter turned out the way it did! If any of
you have any other ideas or suggestions you'd like to share, do so.
*********
Chapter 4
Azure skies were all that Jared could see. Just the deep blue sky, white clouds all around and the deep green foliage below It was , in a word...Perfect. Rolling lazily to the side, Jared did a muggle barrel roll, whooping in excitement as he sped up and shot between Ron and Harry, forcing the two to veer to the side so they wouldn't be knocked from the sky
"Hey! Quit hogging the sky Jared!" Harry laughed as Ron shook his fist at Jared angrily.
"Ron, let him have some fun. After all he'll be cooped up in the castle all day, Hermione'll be telling him that he should be studying... after what his life has been like, it'll be torture." Ron looked at Harry and cocked his head to the side, a confused expression crossing his features.
"What do you mean, 'after what his life has been like'? Does this have something to do with him being raised by the elves?"
Harry nodded and raced off after his brother, who still was pulling of different aerodynamic stunts that would make a normal person nauseous just watching him.
"Yeah Ron, it does. Elves aren't like humans in more then one way. They prefer living in a more open place, more natural. Jared only ever slept in the castle these last few months since me and the rest of you arrived. Not to mention the fact that elves allow everyone to take their own pace at learning magic. Jared's amazing with charms and transfigurations, as well as DADA. But potions.... that's another story." Flying beside his brother, Harry smacked him in the back of the head and whispered something to him. Pulling back, Jared looped around behind Ron and then flew beside him.
"So Ron... there's something we need to talk about." Ron nodded absently as he focused on his flying since he was still a little unsteady at times.
"Harry tells me you play Quidditch. Keeper, right?" As Ron nodded, Jared rolled over, as if he was on his back and crossed his arms.
"Think you could teach me a thing or two about Quidditch? I'd love to play sometime."
Jared watched as Ron turned to him, an almost maniacal grin on his face. Jared suddenly developed a nervous twitch above his cheek and thought,
'Oh man, what's with that look?'
Suddenly Ron exploded into a detailed and thorough account of Quidditch and its rules, positions and history. After several moments, Jared held up a hand to stop Ron.
"Whoa! Hang on, I have just one question. Does it state anywhere that you need to stay on a broom for the game?" Ron's brow furrowed and he remained silent for a moment then began to shake his head slowly.
"No .... nothing in the rules says you have to stay on your broom. Why, thinking of playing like this?" Ron shrank back a bit from the gleam in Jared's eyes as he replied
"Oh no, something much, much worse in store for those I play against."
Turning ahead, Jared took off ahead of the other two boys. Harry flew up beside Ron and nudged him after he didn't move for a minute or two. Looking at his best friend, Ron gulped and said shakily.
"Harry? Remind me to never piss off you brother... he can be pretty scary at times."
Harry chuckled and shook his head.
"Scary? Jared? Nah, he's just crazy. Hurry up now Ron, we have to get to Hogwarts before the train gets in. I don't want to see Hermione's expression when she realizes that we ditched them to fly to school."
***********
Several hours passed in silence as the three youths flew over the Scottish countryside, mile after mile of greenery passed underneath of them. Finally, four massive towers broke over the horizon and Jared stopped in mid air. Harry and Ron stopped beside him and watched as a smile formed on his face. He only said two words, but both of his friends smiled as he said them.
"We're home"
***********
Severus Snape was never a very man, especially when it came to Harry Potter and his 'friends'. But when Dumbledore asks you to do something, you best do it quickly and correctly.
"Potter can't come on the train like all the other students...Oh no, why should he be treated like a normal boy, he is after all famous Harry Potter."
Thinking back on the conversation that he had with Dumbledore, Severus realized he had forgotten to ask how the boy was going to arrive. How would he suddenly appear by the lake? Broomstick? Portkey? Sighing in frustration and resignation, Severus sat down on the shore of the lake and waited impatiently. Minutes stretched to ten, then ten minutes to half an hour. Finally when Severus was about to give up, a black speck appeared above the trees, a speck that was suddenly growing larger. Intrigued, Severus watched as the form began to take shape. Suddenly, panic rose up in his throat as the black form raced along the top of the lake, it's speed throwing up waves on either side of the dark figure that was now visible as he came closer. Suddenly the dark figure went vertical, still moving forward but at a strange angle. As the shape drew nearer, Severus's eyes widened in fear as a rather large tidal wave formed in front of the now easily identifiable flying man, blocking Snape's view of him. He was so completely awed by the size of the wave he didn't even have the time to cast a shielding charm to protect himself. Moments later a very angry and wet Snape was sputtering as he wiped water from his face. Glaring up, Severus met the smug look of a strangely familiar young man who had his arms crossed before him. Jumping to his feet, Severus pulled his wand and was about to curse the smug youth when he saw another tidal wave approaching. The youth waved his hand and took off straight into the air. The only thing going through Snape's mind now was 'Oh shi...'
Jared grinned as Snape was thrown from his feet by the second tidal wave. Dropping to the ground, Jared saw Ron drop beside him. Harry grinned as he dropped to the ground, landing lightly on the balls of his feet.
"So, this is Snape eh? Well, you were right on the money saying that he's a greasy haired git." Leaning down, Jared patted the soaking potions master on the head and flew towards the castle. Harry and Ron merely shook their heads as they followed, leaving a very wet, angry and confused Snape lying on the ground.
************
Moments later the three boys were jumping from one banister to the next, making the normally long climb up all those stairs last only a few moments. Stopping in front of Dumbledore's office, Jared turned to his brother and friend.
"Ok you two, I need to talk with Dumbledore about something. You two wait here, I think he's going to want to talk with you as well." Leaning forward, Jared whispered the password to the gargoyle, waved cheerily then hovered up towards Dumbledore's door. Harry slid down the wall and closed his eyes, letting out a breath. Looking up, Harry grinned as Ron began to pace back and forth nervously.
"Ron, you look like your going to have a heart attack, what's the matter mate?" Ron looked at Harry, his eyes wide and said,
"I just realized Hermione's going to kill us."
Harry nodded slowly and shrugged.
"Oh well. But Hermione's been mad at us before, why are you so bent out of shape this time?"
Ron stopped pacing and looked at Harry, his eyes wide and filled with a strange look of... dread? Or was that fear?
"You have no idea what she's really like when Hermione's really angry Harry!"
Harry furrowed his brow and stood. The raven haired youth slowly advanced on Ron and a smile began to form on his face.
"Ron, how do you know how angry she'll be? Is there something you haven't told me?"
Ron mumbled something below his breath and Harry moved closer
"What was that?"
"I SAID ME AND HERMIONE ARE GOING OUT NOW!"
Harry grinned widely and leaned against the wall
"Oh really? And how did this happen?" Ron's face turned a deep red as he began his story
*Flashback*
Ron pulled the elvish sword from its scabbard and ran through several drills that Jared taught him, the silvery blade flashing in the low candle light. As Ron started to fall into the routine, his mind began to wander to the problem he had been having as of late. Every time he saw Hermione lately, a strange feeling came over him and he felt all jittery and knotted up inside. The only way the confused Wind Ranger knew how to react to these strange feelings was to run away and avoid the girl he had once called his best friend. Growling in frustration, Ron sliced through a wooden beam like a knife through butter, watching the inoffensive piece of wood fall to the floor.
'What the hell is wrong with me? Every time I see her I feel this way, and it's not getting better, if anything it's getting worse! I know she's changed a lot in the last few weeks, we all have, but that's no reason for me to act this way! But, she sure has gotten more beautiful, course she didn't have to change...'
Ron's train of thought stopped slowly as the reason finally hit him.
'Bloody hell, I think I'm in love with her. That must be what the feeling is...'
Ron smiled as he felt the thrill of the realization flow through him, his sword flashing faster and faster before him as he finished the routine. Wiping the sweat from his brow, the youth froze as he heard soft clapping from behind him. Wiping around quickly, Ron nearly ran forward towards the person he wanted to see more then anyone else at the moment, Hermione. But as soon as he saw the scowl on her pretty face, Ron knew something was going to happen, something that he may not like.
"Well done. Of course, it's only a practice routine, nothing like the real thing. How good do you think you'll do against the real thing Ronald?"
Ron winced as he heard his full name said with such anger. Ron saw the flickering light flowing over Hermione's face as she walked towards him, a slender sword in her hand.
"Hermione?" What are you doing here?"
Hermione let the tip of her sword scrape along the floor for a moment then she brought it back up, right under Ron's chin. As Hermione trailed the cold steel down Ron's neck he shivered slightly.
"Well, you've been avoiding me for so long Ron, I was wondering if we were even friends anymore...please, tell me why you're avoiding me?"
Ron gulped loudly and scratched his head as he attempted to answer.
"Ummm, well I've been a little busy... training and all...."
'That sounds so bloody lame, even to me! Why can't I just tell her how I felt and that it bloody scared me?'
"So, you're not trying to avoid me? Running out of rooms the moment you see me? Acting like I'm a person with the plague, a person to be shunned and ignored at all costs? Oh, you could have fooled me Ron."
Raising it to a ready position, Hermione exhaled and grinned tightly.
Not saying anything, Hermione lunged at Ron, driving the sword for his stomach. Ron jumped back and pulled his sword from its sheath, barely blocking the blade that was aimed at his stomach.
'She's not kidding this time!'
"What the hell do you think your doing Hermione?!?" Ron continued to dodge and block as Hermione viciously advanced, hacking and slashing at her friend. Growling in frustration, Hermione stabbed her sword forward and was blown flat on her back from a gust of wind.
"What the hell was that? FIGHT ME!" Hermione jumped to her feet and thrust her hand right hand out, a blast of ice cold water catching Ron in the chest and sending him flying back into the wall. Wincing, Ron rose to his feet and dropped his sword to the ground and let his arms hang at his sides.
"No."
Hermione looked at Ron in anger and stalked forward. Stopping in front of him, she whispered, "Why not?" Tears formed in Hermione's eyes and Ron pulled her close to him, holding her in his arms. Taking a deep breath, Ron whispered in Hermione's ear,
"Because... I...love you."
*End Flashback*
Harry grinned as he watched Ron continue with his pacing. Moments later Jared floated down from Dumbledore's doorway and leaned towards his brother and whispered,
"Ok, everything is ready, operation 'Give Snape a Heart Attack' is a go. And what's his problem?'
Harry snickered and recounted Ron's story, which of course had Jared laughing loudly and rolling on the ground at his friends perdicament. Moments later Jared stood and wiped his eyes.
"Ok you two, we've got a lot to prepare for. We've got a few things Dumbledore wants us to handle, like strengthening the wards around the school before the other students get here. Next will be observation of the grounds for possible attacks and setting up appropriate defenses. Ron, I'm leaving you in charge of that since you're the tactician expert of the three of us. Harry and I will get to work on the wards, and then we need to get another little surprise going, so we'll meet up with you later."
Ron nodded quickly then made his way outside, while the Potter brothers ventured further into the castle. As they reached the stairways, they both jumped down to the Third level corridor and opened the large wooden door there. Peering inside, Harry looked back at his brother and grinned.
"Oh, Snape is going to have a heart attack when he sees this!"
**************
Harry grinned as he watched the students filing into the Great Hall from his vantage point in the ceiling. Thanks to the concealment charms that Jared had taught him, no one had a clue that someone was watching their every move. Harry watched as several Slytherins took their seats, a strange light playing around their bodies. It took Harry a moment to realize that the charms he had cast had also given him the ability to see certain spells cast on people.
'Thing is, I've never seen spells like that....'
"Jared, look at those Slytherins." Jared looked over at the group that Harry was pointing out and nodded slowly.
"You see it too? It's Imperius. Two on the left, one on the far right. They're not the only ones, look at that group over there... Looks like several of the students are either not very loyal or just convenient spies."
Harry nodded and continued looking as the rest of the students sat down to wait for the first years.
'Guess we'll have our work cut out for us this year...'
Jared nudged his brother in the ribs and pointed to his left. Harry saw that Hermione was wearing a massive scowl as she scanned her sight back and forth over the crowd.
"Ooooooh, she's pissed off bro.....Tell me, how do you and Ron handle situations like this?"
"Honestly? We'd run for cover as soon as we can. Especially now since she's become more powerful, after all her training that we gave here I don't want to see what she can do when she's really mad."
Jared shook his head ruefully as he saw Ron slip unnoticed through the throng of students when suddenly he got just a little to close to Hermione. Just as Ron realized his mistake and was about to make a break for it, said girl began turning her gaze towards Ron, who seemed to be doing a very good impression of a deer caught in the headlights.
"Uh oh, here it comes, get ready for the explosion."
Harry and Jared both winced as soon as Hermione's eyes crossed Ron's path and she vaulted over the table, knocking the stunned Ranger to the ground. Even though they were almost 30 meters away they could still here Hermione clearly and were both glad that they were not Ron right now as his girlfriend started to ream him out for ditching her on the train, her shrill voice echoing off of the walls of the Great Hall.
"Harry? Next time you talk with Ron.....IF there's a next time, tell him I'm glad he's with her and I'm not."
Harry nodded while a huge grin formed on his face.
"You and me both brother."
"On the other hand, I think we should ask dear Hermione where she learned all that swearing from.....it may come in useful one day."
Harry grinned at his brother and chuckled softly.
"Well, we better get this taken care of, I suppose. Are you sure you're ready for this? From what I've read, it could be pretty intense."
Jared took a steadying breath and nodded.
"Just be glad you have some of Voldemort's magical essence in you, it masked your signature enough that this never would have happened to you. Guess we may as well sit with the others."
Jared and Harry both released the sticking charms on their hands and feet and silently dropped to the ground just in front of the Head table. Moving slowly and silently, they stopped right behind Ginny winked at each other. Leaning forward, Harry whispered in Ginny's ear
"Boo."
Jared covered his ears as the ear splitting scream shook the air around them. Harry quickly dropped the invisibility charm while everyone was staring at her then sat beside Ginny, flashing her a large grin. After a few seconds of heavy breathing, Ginny slowly turned her head towards Harry and glared at him. Only three words left the redheaded girl's mouth, three words that caused Harry to fidget nervously
"You...will....pay..."
Jared chuckled as he also dropped his invisibility when he was sure no one was looking and sat beside his brother. Several students looked at him strangely, wondering who he was and what he was wearing since it wasn't the normal Hogwarts uniform. Instead of the normal uniform, both Jared and Harry were wearing loose black pants, a pair of comfortable black boots and a long sleeved green shirts that seemed to hug their upper bodies slightly, showing off a bit of the muscle definition that the two had. Many of the girls at the table were giving both Jared and Harry very appreciative glances as their eyes wandered over them, seeing the changes that had happened in the last few months. Unfortunately it seemed that most of the males at the table were shooting death glares at the two boys cause of the attention they were receiving. Looking at the front, Jared saw Flitwick step forward with an old torn up hat and the stool for the Sorting. After placing the sorting hat on the stool the miniature professor took his place at the Head table and the students began to wait. Jared stared at the Sorting hat and sighed, knowing what had to be done.
'Sure...come to Hogwarts, fulfill prophecy....this is gonna hurt, I just know it....'
Suddenly the doors opened and McGonagall led the first years to the front of the Great Hall. The rip in the sorting hat suddenly formed a mouth and looked up at McGonagall for a moment then suddenly looked to its left, directly at Jared.
"Hmmm, I see someone that should have been sorted ages ago.......step forward."
McGonagall looked at Dumbledore in shock, wondering what should be done. Dumbledore nodded and McGonagall motioned for Jared to come forward. Jared leaned over towards his brother and whispered in his ear for a moment then stood up and walked towards the head table. Sitting on the stool, Jared calmly let out a deep breath as the Sorting hat was placed on his head.
Yes, I know, it's evil, cutting it off there and not telling you what's happening...........just what is this room on the third floor? What's going to happen to Jared? Will the male population lynch Harry and Jared before they can steal their women? Tune in for the next exciting (hopefully) chapter of Harry Potter and the Eternal Balance.
*********
Chapter 4
Azure skies were all that Jared could see. Just the deep blue sky, white clouds all around and the deep green foliage below It was , in a word...Perfect. Rolling lazily to the side, Jared did a muggle barrel roll, whooping in excitement as he sped up and shot between Ron and Harry, forcing the two to veer to the side so they wouldn't be knocked from the sky
"Hey! Quit hogging the sky Jared!" Harry laughed as Ron shook his fist at Jared angrily.
"Ron, let him have some fun. After all he'll be cooped up in the castle all day, Hermione'll be telling him that he should be studying... after what his life has been like, it'll be torture." Ron looked at Harry and cocked his head to the side, a confused expression crossing his features.
"What do you mean, 'after what his life has been like'? Does this have something to do with him being raised by the elves?"
Harry nodded and raced off after his brother, who still was pulling of different aerodynamic stunts that would make a normal person nauseous just watching him.
"Yeah Ron, it does. Elves aren't like humans in more then one way. They prefer living in a more open place, more natural. Jared only ever slept in the castle these last few months since me and the rest of you arrived. Not to mention the fact that elves allow everyone to take their own pace at learning magic. Jared's amazing with charms and transfigurations, as well as DADA. But potions.... that's another story." Flying beside his brother, Harry smacked him in the back of the head and whispered something to him. Pulling back, Jared looped around behind Ron and then flew beside him.
"So Ron... there's something we need to talk about." Ron nodded absently as he focused on his flying since he was still a little unsteady at times.
"Harry tells me you play Quidditch. Keeper, right?" As Ron nodded, Jared rolled over, as if he was on his back and crossed his arms.
"Think you could teach me a thing or two about Quidditch? I'd love to play sometime."
Jared watched as Ron turned to him, an almost maniacal grin on his face. Jared suddenly developed a nervous twitch above his cheek and thought,
'Oh man, what's with that look?'
Suddenly Ron exploded into a detailed and thorough account of Quidditch and its rules, positions and history. After several moments, Jared held up a hand to stop Ron.
"Whoa! Hang on, I have just one question. Does it state anywhere that you need to stay on a broom for the game?" Ron's brow furrowed and he remained silent for a moment then began to shake his head slowly.
"No .... nothing in the rules says you have to stay on your broom. Why, thinking of playing like this?" Ron shrank back a bit from the gleam in Jared's eyes as he replied
"Oh no, something much, much worse in store for those I play against."
Turning ahead, Jared took off ahead of the other two boys. Harry flew up beside Ron and nudged him after he didn't move for a minute or two. Looking at his best friend, Ron gulped and said shakily.
"Harry? Remind me to never piss off you brother... he can be pretty scary at times."
Harry chuckled and shook his head.
"Scary? Jared? Nah, he's just crazy. Hurry up now Ron, we have to get to Hogwarts before the train gets in. I don't want to see Hermione's expression when she realizes that we ditched them to fly to school."
***********
Several hours passed in silence as the three youths flew over the Scottish countryside, mile after mile of greenery passed underneath of them. Finally, four massive towers broke over the horizon and Jared stopped in mid air. Harry and Ron stopped beside him and watched as a smile formed on his face. He only said two words, but both of his friends smiled as he said them.
"We're home"
***********
Severus Snape was never a very man, especially when it came to Harry Potter and his 'friends'. But when Dumbledore asks you to do something, you best do it quickly and correctly.
"Potter can't come on the train like all the other students...Oh no, why should he be treated like a normal boy, he is after all famous Harry Potter."
Thinking back on the conversation that he had with Dumbledore, Severus realized he had forgotten to ask how the boy was going to arrive. How would he suddenly appear by the lake? Broomstick? Portkey? Sighing in frustration and resignation, Severus sat down on the shore of the lake and waited impatiently. Minutes stretched to ten, then ten minutes to half an hour. Finally when Severus was about to give up, a black speck appeared above the trees, a speck that was suddenly growing larger. Intrigued, Severus watched as the form began to take shape. Suddenly, panic rose up in his throat as the black form raced along the top of the lake, it's speed throwing up waves on either side of the dark figure that was now visible as he came closer. Suddenly the dark figure went vertical, still moving forward but at a strange angle. As the shape drew nearer, Severus's eyes widened in fear as a rather large tidal wave formed in front of the now easily identifiable flying man, blocking Snape's view of him. He was so completely awed by the size of the wave he didn't even have the time to cast a shielding charm to protect himself. Moments later a very angry and wet Snape was sputtering as he wiped water from his face. Glaring up, Severus met the smug look of a strangely familiar young man who had his arms crossed before him. Jumping to his feet, Severus pulled his wand and was about to curse the smug youth when he saw another tidal wave approaching. The youth waved his hand and took off straight into the air. The only thing going through Snape's mind now was 'Oh shi...'
Jared grinned as Snape was thrown from his feet by the second tidal wave. Dropping to the ground, Jared saw Ron drop beside him. Harry grinned as he dropped to the ground, landing lightly on the balls of his feet.
"So, this is Snape eh? Well, you were right on the money saying that he's a greasy haired git." Leaning down, Jared patted the soaking potions master on the head and flew towards the castle. Harry and Ron merely shook their heads as they followed, leaving a very wet, angry and confused Snape lying on the ground.
************
Moments later the three boys were jumping from one banister to the next, making the normally long climb up all those stairs last only a few moments. Stopping in front of Dumbledore's office, Jared turned to his brother and friend.
"Ok you two, I need to talk with Dumbledore about something. You two wait here, I think he's going to want to talk with you as well." Leaning forward, Jared whispered the password to the gargoyle, waved cheerily then hovered up towards Dumbledore's door. Harry slid down the wall and closed his eyes, letting out a breath. Looking up, Harry grinned as Ron began to pace back and forth nervously.
"Ron, you look like your going to have a heart attack, what's the matter mate?" Ron looked at Harry, his eyes wide and said,
"I just realized Hermione's going to kill us."
Harry nodded slowly and shrugged.
"Oh well. But Hermione's been mad at us before, why are you so bent out of shape this time?"
Ron stopped pacing and looked at Harry, his eyes wide and filled with a strange look of... dread? Or was that fear?
"You have no idea what she's really like when Hermione's really angry Harry!"
Harry furrowed his brow and stood. The raven haired youth slowly advanced on Ron and a smile began to form on his face.
"Ron, how do you know how angry she'll be? Is there something you haven't told me?"
Ron mumbled something below his breath and Harry moved closer
"What was that?"
"I SAID ME AND HERMIONE ARE GOING OUT NOW!"
Harry grinned widely and leaned against the wall
"Oh really? And how did this happen?" Ron's face turned a deep red as he began his story
*Flashback*
Ron pulled the elvish sword from its scabbard and ran through several drills that Jared taught him, the silvery blade flashing in the low candle light. As Ron started to fall into the routine, his mind began to wander to the problem he had been having as of late. Every time he saw Hermione lately, a strange feeling came over him and he felt all jittery and knotted up inside. The only way the confused Wind Ranger knew how to react to these strange feelings was to run away and avoid the girl he had once called his best friend. Growling in frustration, Ron sliced through a wooden beam like a knife through butter, watching the inoffensive piece of wood fall to the floor.
'What the hell is wrong with me? Every time I see her I feel this way, and it's not getting better, if anything it's getting worse! I know she's changed a lot in the last few weeks, we all have, but that's no reason for me to act this way! But, she sure has gotten more beautiful, course she didn't have to change...'
Ron's train of thought stopped slowly as the reason finally hit him.
'Bloody hell, I think I'm in love with her. That must be what the feeling is...'
Ron smiled as he felt the thrill of the realization flow through him, his sword flashing faster and faster before him as he finished the routine. Wiping the sweat from his brow, the youth froze as he heard soft clapping from behind him. Wiping around quickly, Ron nearly ran forward towards the person he wanted to see more then anyone else at the moment, Hermione. But as soon as he saw the scowl on her pretty face, Ron knew something was going to happen, something that he may not like.
"Well done. Of course, it's only a practice routine, nothing like the real thing. How good do you think you'll do against the real thing Ronald?"
Ron winced as he heard his full name said with such anger. Ron saw the flickering light flowing over Hermione's face as she walked towards him, a slender sword in her hand.
"Hermione?" What are you doing here?"
Hermione let the tip of her sword scrape along the floor for a moment then she brought it back up, right under Ron's chin. As Hermione trailed the cold steel down Ron's neck he shivered slightly.
"Well, you've been avoiding me for so long Ron, I was wondering if we were even friends anymore...please, tell me why you're avoiding me?"
Ron gulped loudly and scratched his head as he attempted to answer.
"Ummm, well I've been a little busy... training and all...."
'That sounds so bloody lame, even to me! Why can't I just tell her how I felt and that it bloody scared me?'
"So, you're not trying to avoid me? Running out of rooms the moment you see me? Acting like I'm a person with the plague, a person to be shunned and ignored at all costs? Oh, you could have fooled me Ron."
Raising it to a ready position, Hermione exhaled and grinned tightly.
Not saying anything, Hermione lunged at Ron, driving the sword for his stomach. Ron jumped back and pulled his sword from its sheath, barely blocking the blade that was aimed at his stomach.
'She's not kidding this time!'
"What the hell do you think your doing Hermione?!?" Ron continued to dodge and block as Hermione viciously advanced, hacking and slashing at her friend. Growling in frustration, Hermione stabbed her sword forward and was blown flat on her back from a gust of wind.
"What the hell was that? FIGHT ME!" Hermione jumped to her feet and thrust her hand right hand out, a blast of ice cold water catching Ron in the chest and sending him flying back into the wall. Wincing, Ron rose to his feet and dropped his sword to the ground and let his arms hang at his sides.
"No."
Hermione looked at Ron in anger and stalked forward. Stopping in front of him, she whispered, "Why not?" Tears formed in Hermione's eyes and Ron pulled her close to him, holding her in his arms. Taking a deep breath, Ron whispered in Hermione's ear,
"Because... I...love you."
*End Flashback*
Harry grinned as he watched Ron continue with his pacing. Moments later Jared floated down from Dumbledore's doorway and leaned towards his brother and whispered,
"Ok, everything is ready, operation 'Give Snape a Heart Attack' is a go. And what's his problem?'
Harry snickered and recounted Ron's story, which of course had Jared laughing loudly and rolling on the ground at his friends perdicament. Moments later Jared stood and wiped his eyes.
"Ok you two, we've got a lot to prepare for. We've got a few things Dumbledore wants us to handle, like strengthening the wards around the school before the other students get here. Next will be observation of the grounds for possible attacks and setting up appropriate defenses. Ron, I'm leaving you in charge of that since you're the tactician expert of the three of us. Harry and I will get to work on the wards, and then we need to get another little surprise going, so we'll meet up with you later."
Ron nodded quickly then made his way outside, while the Potter brothers ventured further into the castle. As they reached the stairways, they both jumped down to the Third level corridor and opened the large wooden door there. Peering inside, Harry looked back at his brother and grinned.
"Oh, Snape is going to have a heart attack when he sees this!"
**************
Harry grinned as he watched the students filing into the Great Hall from his vantage point in the ceiling. Thanks to the concealment charms that Jared had taught him, no one had a clue that someone was watching their every move. Harry watched as several Slytherins took their seats, a strange light playing around their bodies. It took Harry a moment to realize that the charms he had cast had also given him the ability to see certain spells cast on people.
'Thing is, I've never seen spells like that....'
"Jared, look at those Slytherins." Jared looked over at the group that Harry was pointing out and nodded slowly.
"You see it too? It's Imperius. Two on the left, one on the far right. They're not the only ones, look at that group over there... Looks like several of the students are either not very loyal or just convenient spies."
Harry nodded and continued looking as the rest of the students sat down to wait for the first years.
'Guess we'll have our work cut out for us this year...'
Jared nudged his brother in the ribs and pointed to his left. Harry saw that Hermione was wearing a massive scowl as she scanned her sight back and forth over the crowd.
"Ooooooh, she's pissed off bro.....Tell me, how do you and Ron handle situations like this?"
"Honestly? We'd run for cover as soon as we can. Especially now since she's become more powerful, after all her training that we gave here I don't want to see what she can do when she's really mad."
Jared shook his head ruefully as he saw Ron slip unnoticed through the throng of students when suddenly he got just a little to close to Hermione. Just as Ron realized his mistake and was about to make a break for it, said girl began turning her gaze towards Ron, who seemed to be doing a very good impression of a deer caught in the headlights.
"Uh oh, here it comes, get ready for the explosion."
Harry and Jared both winced as soon as Hermione's eyes crossed Ron's path and she vaulted over the table, knocking the stunned Ranger to the ground. Even though they were almost 30 meters away they could still here Hermione clearly and were both glad that they were not Ron right now as his girlfriend started to ream him out for ditching her on the train, her shrill voice echoing off of the walls of the Great Hall.
"Harry? Next time you talk with Ron.....IF there's a next time, tell him I'm glad he's with her and I'm not."
Harry nodded while a huge grin formed on his face.
"You and me both brother."
"On the other hand, I think we should ask dear Hermione where she learned all that swearing from.....it may come in useful one day."
Harry grinned at his brother and chuckled softly.
"Well, we better get this taken care of, I suppose. Are you sure you're ready for this? From what I've read, it could be pretty intense."
Jared took a steadying breath and nodded.
"Just be glad you have some of Voldemort's magical essence in you, it masked your signature enough that this never would have happened to you. Guess we may as well sit with the others."
Jared and Harry both released the sticking charms on their hands and feet and silently dropped to the ground just in front of the Head table. Moving slowly and silently, they stopped right behind Ginny winked at each other. Leaning forward, Harry whispered in Ginny's ear
"Boo."
Jared covered his ears as the ear splitting scream shook the air around them. Harry quickly dropped the invisibility charm while everyone was staring at her then sat beside Ginny, flashing her a large grin. After a few seconds of heavy breathing, Ginny slowly turned her head towards Harry and glared at him. Only three words left the redheaded girl's mouth, three words that caused Harry to fidget nervously
"You...will....pay..."
Jared chuckled as he also dropped his invisibility when he was sure no one was looking and sat beside his brother. Several students looked at him strangely, wondering who he was and what he was wearing since it wasn't the normal Hogwarts uniform. Instead of the normal uniform, both Jared and Harry were wearing loose black pants, a pair of comfortable black boots and a long sleeved green shirts that seemed to hug their upper bodies slightly, showing off a bit of the muscle definition that the two had. Many of the girls at the table were giving both Jared and Harry very appreciative glances as their eyes wandered over them, seeing the changes that had happened in the last few months. Unfortunately it seemed that most of the males at the table were shooting death glares at the two boys cause of the attention they were receiving. Looking at the front, Jared saw Flitwick step forward with an old torn up hat and the stool for the Sorting. After placing the sorting hat on the stool the miniature professor took his place at the Head table and the students began to wait. Jared stared at the Sorting hat and sighed, knowing what had to be done.
'Sure...come to Hogwarts, fulfill prophecy....this is gonna hurt, I just know it....'
Suddenly the doors opened and McGonagall led the first years to the front of the Great Hall. The rip in the sorting hat suddenly formed a mouth and looked up at McGonagall for a moment then suddenly looked to its left, directly at Jared.
"Hmmm, I see someone that should have been sorted ages ago.......step forward."
McGonagall looked at Dumbledore in shock, wondering what should be done. Dumbledore nodded and McGonagall motioned for Jared to come forward. Jared leaned over towards his brother and whispered in his ear for a moment then stood up and walked towards the head table. Sitting on the stool, Jared calmly let out a deep breath as the Sorting hat was placed on his head.
Yes, I know, it's evil, cutting it off there and not telling you what's happening...........just what is this room on the third floor? What's going to happen to Jared? Will the male population lynch Harry and Jared before they can steal their women? Tune in for the next exciting (hopefully) chapter of Harry Potter and the Eternal Balance.