A/N: Hey, sorry I left chapter 3 a cliff hanger, but can ya blame me??
Lemme know what ya think and give me some suggestions as to how to improve.
Thanks everyone! Hope you enjoy this next chapter!
It was Ron and Hermione playing chess. But, they were both half naked!
"What the hell is going on here?" Harry asked outraged at the sight.
"We were just playing a little game of strip chess!" Ron replied as Hermione gathered up her cloths and ran up to the girls dormitories. Colleen was right behind her to see if she was ok.
"Ron, if you're gonna do this sort of stuff, do it in one of the dormitories, not in the common room!" Harry said as Ron pulled his trousers on.
I know, I know. We were going to, but everyone in the dormitories was still awake. A lot of them are too scared to sleep!" Ron replied as he pulled his shirt over his head.
"Oh." Harry replied, rather shocked at the reason why they were playing down stairs rather than up in the dormitories. "Why are people scared though?"
"Gee Harry, I wonder." Ron replied in an overly sarcastic voice. "I mean, You-Know-Who attacked the Ministry, so I dunno why people would be scared!"
"Alright, alright." Harry began signaling for Ron to shut up. "I see the point and yeah, I can understand why people are afraid. But we have to be strong. We can't let Voldemort get the better of us. We have to ban together and take him out of the game, once and for all."
"I know that, but people aren't willing to fight. I mean, yeah their willing, but their not really willing to die. Not like you. You'd give your life in an instant for the good of the wizarding world, but most people aren't like you Harry. Most people are scared shitless right now because they have no idea what's going to happen with the Ministry and we all know we don't know if Hogwarts is going to be attacked. People are afraid, and you can't blame them. Hell, even I'm afraid." Ron added casting a long, emotion felt gaze towards Harry.
"I know. And in all honest, I'm afraid too. But that's why we have to be strong. We can't let our fears rule our lives." Harry replied knowingly. "If I've learned any one thing from Dumbledore, it's you have to be strong when others are weak. Take 5th year when we were in the Ministry. Dumbledore was so strong when we were all so weak and scared. We can't just sit here in fear forever. We have to give each other support and strength to go on. To fight this thing to the very end."
"You do realize it sounds like you're the Prime Minister and you're giving this formal speech, don't you?" Ron asked in a rather dumbfounded voice.
"Yeah, I realize that, but I thought it was an appropriate time." Harry replied. "Tomorrow, I'm going to ask Dumbledore if I can make an announcement at breakfast and say all that I said tonight to the whole school. Well, what's left of it anyways."
"Good." Ron replied. He was actually being serious. "People like you and listen to you Harry. If they see you being strong and appear to be unafraid, that'll give them courage and make them want to fight to keep our world the way it is and fear free."
"I know." Harry sighed. "Why do people always have to look up to me though?"
"Because you're Harry Potter. You defeated You-Know-Who once, and people think you're going to do it again." Ron replied in a knowing tone.
"You're sounding an awful lot like Hermione right now." Harry said as a random thought.
"I was afraid you were gonna say that." Ron said, his voice trailing off. "But, you've gotta admit, deep down, you know I'm right."
"I know." Harry replied, giving Ron a weak smile. "I should go and see if Hermione's ok."
"Yeah, you should. I'll go with you." Ron replied. But they need not go far. Hermione was standing at the bottom of the stairs that led up to the dormitories.
"Harry." she began but words failed her. She ran to him and hugged him tightly. She let out a long sob. Harry didn't have to ask what was wrong. He knew she'd heard the whole conversation between him and Ron and he knew that out of the three of them, she was the most afraid, and she wasn't scared to show it. Harry wrapped his arms around her and Ron hugged her from behind.
For a moment, they all stood there in silence, aside from the occasional sniffle from Hermione. Harry never realized how much he really cared about his friends until that exact moment. And he could tell that his friends, his best friends, felt the same way.
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The next morning, the three friends headed down to breakfast. When they entered the Hall, there weren't the usual 4 tables, but rather 2 half full tables. Harry supposed there weren't enough people or four tables anymore.
Ron and Hermione took their seats at one of the tables. Harry walked up to the staff table to talk to Dumbledore.
"Professor Dumbledore," he began. "Can I make an announcement to the remaining people?"
"Of course Harry. By all means." He replied, motioning for him to make his announcement.
"May I have everyone's attention for a moment!" Harry yelled over the chatter of the Hall. The room quieted down fairly fast, but the Slytherin's continued to talk quietly amongst themselves. "I said everyone's attention." He snapped at the Slytherin's. They continued on their marry way.
"Would Slytherin house please be silent." Dumbledore called to them. They quieted almost immediately. "Harry, the floor is yours."
"Thank you , Sir." Harry replied and began his speech. "As you all know, we are at war with Voldemort." Almost everyone cringed at the sound of his name. "But we have to be strong. I realize you're all scared, but we have to give each other the strength to get through this alive. If we don't ban together and help each other, we may never be rid of him. We have to be strong enough to make those of us who are weak, strong. We have to help each other. We have to have the proper training in order to defend ourselves from the evil that is Voldemort. We can't sit here in fear forever and just say, "Oh, he'll get tired of killing our families and friends. He'll just go away" because he won't. He'll keep going until he's killed all those that resist him and until he has all those who didn't resist him under his control. Then he'll move onto the muggle world and by then, he'll have enough power to rule the world. We can't let this happen. We have to ban together now and see through this to the very end. We won't give in without a fight! We won't give up! And most importantly, we won't surrender!" At this last thought, the whole Hall erupted in applause. Even the Slytherin's applauded him, which Harry found really quite odd. Maybe more people then he thought were afraid?
He went and sat at Gryffindor table and he shook hands with everyone there.
"We're with you all the way, Potter!"
"Put 'er there Harry!"
"Great show mate!"
People kept shaking his hand and by the time they stopped, it was almost time for the first class of the day.
"Please, may I have your attention!" Dumbledore called over all the heads that were heading to their classes. "Until we get our numbers back, we've decided to teach the whole school in one class. Seeing as how the only people left are 7th years and a few 6th years, maybe one or two 5th years, we will be teaching 7th year courses to all students. We will not be having any elective courses for the time being. Would you all please report to Professor McGonagall's room now." Dumbledore finished and sat back down in his comfy chair at the head of the Hall.
One by one, they all filed out of the Hall and headed down the corridor towards the Transfiguration.
"What do you thinks going on?" Ron asked as they made their way towards the Transfiguration room.
"No idea." Harry replied.
"They're probably just putting everyone in one class because there's so few of us that they think it's a waste of time to keep us separated" Hermione replied in what Ron liked to call her "Know-It-All" voice. "C'mon, we'd better hurry to the front if we want a good seat."
"Go ahead of us, I wanna talk to Ron for a second." Harry replied, pulling Ron back with him.
"What's up Harry?" Ron asked as they stopped in the middle of the corridor.
"I never got to ask last night, but why were you and Hermione playing strip wizards chess?" Harry asked dumbfounded.
"Oh, umm.." Ron began, trying to think of something that Harry would believe. "We just thought that it might make things. you know, a bit more interesting."
Harry laughed heartedly at this. "Sure, Ron. Whatever you say." Harry walked away laughing and went onto Transfiguration, Ron right behind him.
It was Ron and Hermione playing chess. But, they were both half naked!
"What the hell is going on here?" Harry asked outraged at the sight.
"We were just playing a little game of strip chess!" Ron replied as Hermione gathered up her cloths and ran up to the girls dormitories. Colleen was right behind her to see if she was ok.
"Ron, if you're gonna do this sort of stuff, do it in one of the dormitories, not in the common room!" Harry said as Ron pulled his trousers on.
I know, I know. We were going to, but everyone in the dormitories was still awake. A lot of them are too scared to sleep!" Ron replied as he pulled his shirt over his head.
"Oh." Harry replied, rather shocked at the reason why they were playing down stairs rather than up in the dormitories. "Why are people scared though?"
"Gee Harry, I wonder." Ron replied in an overly sarcastic voice. "I mean, You-Know-Who attacked the Ministry, so I dunno why people would be scared!"
"Alright, alright." Harry began signaling for Ron to shut up. "I see the point and yeah, I can understand why people are afraid. But we have to be strong. We can't let Voldemort get the better of us. We have to ban together and take him out of the game, once and for all."
"I know that, but people aren't willing to fight. I mean, yeah their willing, but their not really willing to die. Not like you. You'd give your life in an instant for the good of the wizarding world, but most people aren't like you Harry. Most people are scared shitless right now because they have no idea what's going to happen with the Ministry and we all know we don't know if Hogwarts is going to be attacked. People are afraid, and you can't blame them. Hell, even I'm afraid." Ron added casting a long, emotion felt gaze towards Harry.
"I know. And in all honest, I'm afraid too. But that's why we have to be strong. We can't let our fears rule our lives." Harry replied knowingly. "If I've learned any one thing from Dumbledore, it's you have to be strong when others are weak. Take 5th year when we were in the Ministry. Dumbledore was so strong when we were all so weak and scared. We can't just sit here in fear forever. We have to give each other support and strength to go on. To fight this thing to the very end."
"You do realize it sounds like you're the Prime Minister and you're giving this formal speech, don't you?" Ron asked in a rather dumbfounded voice.
"Yeah, I realize that, but I thought it was an appropriate time." Harry replied. "Tomorrow, I'm going to ask Dumbledore if I can make an announcement at breakfast and say all that I said tonight to the whole school. Well, what's left of it anyways."
"Good." Ron replied. He was actually being serious. "People like you and listen to you Harry. If they see you being strong and appear to be unafraid, that'll give them courage and make them want to fight to keep our world the way it is and fear free."
"I know." Harry sighed. "Why do people always have to look up to me though?"
"Because you're Harry Potter. You defeated You-Know-Who once, and people think you're going to do it again." Ron replied in a knowing tone.
"You're sounding an awful lot like Hermione right now." Harry said as a random thought.
"I was afraid you were gonna say that." Ron said, his voice trailing off. "But, you've gotta admit, deep down, you know I'm right."
"I know." Harry replied, giving Ron a weak smile. "I should go and see if Hermione's ok."
"Yeah, you should. I'll go with you." Ron replied. But they need not go far. Hermione was standing at the bottom of the stairs that led up to the dormitories.
"Harry." she began but words failed her. She ran to him and hugged him tightly. She let out a long sob. Harry didn't have to ask what was wrong. He knew she'd heard the whole conversation between him and Ron and he knew that out of the three of them, she was the most afraid, and she wasn't scared to show it. Harry wrapped his arms around her and Ron hugged her from behind.
For a moment, they all stood there in silence, aside from the occasional sniffle from Hermione. Harry never realized how much he really cared about his friends until that exact moment. And he could tell that his friends, his best friends, felt the same way.
************************************************************************
The next morning, the three friends headed down to breakfast. When they entered the Hall, there weren't the usual 4 tables, but rather 2 half full tables. Harry supposed there weren't enough people or four tables anymore.
Ron and Hermione took their seats at one of the tables. Harry walked up to the staff table to talk to Dumbledore.
"Professor Dumbledore," he began. "Can I make an announcement to the remaining people?"
"Of course Harry. By all means." He replied, motioning for him to make his announcement.
"May I have everyone's attention for a moment!" Harry yelled over the chatter of the Hall. The room quieted down fairly fast, but the Slytherin's continued to talk quietly amongst themselves. "I said everyone's attention." He snapped at the Slytherin's. They continued on their marry way.
"Would Slytherin house please be silent." Dumbledore called to them. They quieted almost immediately. "Harry, the floor is yours."
"Thank you , Sir." Harry replied and began his speech. "As you all know, we are at war with Voldemort." Almost everyone cringed at the sound of his name. "But we have to be strong. I realize you're all scared, but we have to give each other the strength to get through this alive. If we don't ban together and help each other, we may never be rid of him. We have to be strong enough to make those of us who are weak, strong. We have to help each other. We have to have the proper training in order to defend ourselves from the evil that is Voldemort. We can't sit here in fear forever and just say, "Oh, he'll get tired of killing our families and friends. He'll just go away" because he won't. He'll keep going until he's killed all those that resist him and until he has all those who didn't resist him under his control. Then he'll move onto the muggle world and by then, he'll have enough power to rule the world. We can't let this happen. We have to ban together now and see through this to the very end. We won't give in without a fight! We won't give up! And most importantly, we won't surrender!" At this last thought, the whole Hall erupted in applause. Even the Slytherin's applauded him, which Harry found really quite odd. Maybe more people then he thought were afraid?
He went and sat at Gryffindor table and he shook hands with everyone there.
"We're with you all the way, Potter!"
"Put 'er there Harry!"
"Great show mate!"
People kept shaking his hand and by the time they stopped, it was almost time for the first class of the day.
"Please, may I have your attention!" Dumbledore called over all the heads that were heading to their classes. "Until we get our numbers back, we've decided to teach the whole school in one class. Seeing as how the only people left are 7th years and a few 6th years, maybe one or two 5th years, we will be teaching 7th year courses to all students. We will not be having any elective courses for the time being. Would you all please report to Professor McGonagall's room now." Dumbledore finished and sat back down in his comfy chair at the head of the Hall.
One by one, they all filed out of the Hall and headed down the corridor towards the Transfiguration.
"What do you thinks going on?" Ron asked as they made their way towards the Transfiguration room.
"No idea." Harry replied.
"They're probably just putting everyone in one class because there's so few of us that they think it's a waste of time to keep us separated" Hermione replied in what Ron liked to call her "Know-It-All" voice. "C'mon, we'd better hurry to the front if we want a good seat."
"Go ahead of us, I wanna talk to Ron for a second." Harry replied, pulling Ron back with him.
"What's up Harry?" Ron asked as they stopped in the middle of the corridor.
"I never got to ask last night, but why were you and Hermione playing strip wizards chess?" Harry asked dumbfounded.
"Oh, umm.." Ron began, trying to think of something that Harry would believe. "We just thought that it might make things. you know, a bit more interesting."
Harry laughed heartedly at this. "Sure, Ron. Whatever you say." Harry walked away laughing and went onto Transfiguration, Ron right behind him.