Chapter 7
Lurking in the Dark

Harry found his classes on the following day a breeze...until it was time for Potions.

He had somehow managed to avoid Snape after the Auror training sessions, but now had to face his least favorite teacher of all time for Double Potions. Harry, Hermione, and Dean Thomas were the only Gryffindors who somehow managed to find a way into Snape's N.E.W.T. course. All the sixth year Slytherins were there, not surprising Harry the least. Justin Finch- Fletchley and Hannah Abbott from Hufflepuff and Michael Corner and Anthony Goldstein from Ravenclaw were also there. They looked relieved when Harry, Hermione, and Dean walked in.

"Hi," Harry told the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students.

"Hi," they replied back. Justin Finch-Fletchley looked extremely irritated.

"Look at that," he said, gesturing towards the Slytherin students. "He isn't giving a fair opportunity to all students.

"Justin, it's Professor Snape," Hermione reminded him. "He'll always favor the Slytherins."

"Some of us actually want to do something with our lives, though, and due to him, many won't be able to pursue their dreams. Hermione, you're five times as smart as all of them put together."

Hermione blushed with embarrassment, but said no more.

Just then, Snape walked into his dungeon. "Take a seat, all of you." He looked around the room and sneered at the non-Slytherin half. "If I had had my way, I wouldn't have taken students not...deserving of this course. The headmaster's interventions, however, have included these students. This class will be a rigorous one, and I refuse to accept anyone next year that does not meet my standards. I expect you to pay close attention each and every day in class. We will be using dangerous ingredients for most all potions created in this classroom this year. I expect you all..." Snape shot a look at Harry, "...to exercise extreme caution. Some potions are deadly if swallowed. We wouldn't want any mishaps in this classroom, now would we?" Another look shot at Harry. Although Harry knew Snape had seen his mother's death, he was having problems holding in his temper. "Now, some rules and regulations..."

* * *

The rest of Snape's class was just like that: long and drawn out. Harry took detailed notes, in fear of a pop quiz on all the information Snape was giving them, but found it rather hard to concentrate. He had a horrible feeling that he wouldn't succeed in the N.E.W.T. Potions course as the bell rang and they all stood up to go. "Hang on, everyone," Snape's drawling voice told them as they neared the door. "Over the weekend, take this list of potion ingredients and write two paragraphs each about what they're used for, where to find them, and what they look like. We will go over them in class, but anyone not finished with it first thing Monday morning receives detention," he said while passing out a piece of parchment with forty ingredients on it. "Is that clear?"

"Yes sir," came the collective mumble of the class.

"Good. Now off with you."

* * *

"Can you believe him?" Michael Corner asked as the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws ascended the staircase. "Forty terms, two paragraphs each! That'll take ages, that will. And I thought my first weekend was going to be relaxing..."

"I have Quidditch practice every day this weekend," Harry said simply.

"That's right, you're Gryffindor Quidditch Captain this year, aren't you, Harry?"

"Um...yeah."

"I play Keeper for Ravenclaw. Cho hasn't set up practices yet, nor has she tried to fill the vacated positions."

"How many did you lose from last year?"

"We took a hard hit, losing five of our seven. Cho and I are the only ones left. We're definitely out of the running for the Cup since we'll have such a rookie team."

Harry and Michael made small talk until the Gryffindors parted from the other two groups to go up to their common room. Before they knew it, Hermione, Harry, and Dean found themselves in the Gryffindor common room where Ron was waiting for them.

"Harry, mate, Divination isn't the same without you. Trelawney is absolutely dreadful I tell you, but I'd much rather have her than Snape. She needs to find someone else who will die within the next week now that you're gone." Ron took the time to smirk. "I don't know why I waste the time trying to understand that rubbish...and I still can't see anything in those wretched tea leaves. How was Snape's class?"

Harry plopped himself in the chair next to Ron's. "Horrid. It's me, Hermione, Dean, Justin Finch-Fletchley and Hannah Abbott from Hufflepuff and Michael Corner and Anthony Goldstein from Ravenclaw. You might remember them from Dumbledore's Army last year?" Ron nodded. "The rest are Slytherins. Every one of them made it into the N.E.W.T. Potions course."

"All because Snape favors them," Ron said, his face contorting. "I'm so glad I don't have that foul man as a teacher this year."

Ron and Harry waited for an outburst from Hermione, but it never came. They looked over at her and saw a hunched-over form. She had her homework spread out over a whole table in a corner. Her quill moved feverishly.

"Hermione? It's after classes on Friday night. You're not supposed to start homework until at least Saturday," Ron told her.

"I'm aware of this, Ron, but I have to get ahead of the game. These N.E.W.T. courses aren't meant to be taken lightly, and I would prefer not to fall behind."

"Hermione, isn't it rather hard to fall behind when we've only had our first week of classes?" Harry asked gently, knowing fully well that she would never let up.

"No, it's not. If you'd excuse me, I've got a lot of studying yet to do. Good bye." With that, she turned back to her open Arithmancy book and continued with her complex work.

"She's mad, she is," Ron whispered to Harry. "What do you say we take a little stroll along the Hogwarts corridors?" Harry nodded and they quietly left Hermione to her studies.

* * *

"How long until supper?" Ron asked once they exited the common room.

Harry glanced at his watch. "An hour. What do you want to do?"

"I was hoping you'd have an idea."

"Um...we could go visit Tonks," Harry suggested.

"Sounds better than any of my ideas. Let's go."

"D'you think Hermione will actually remember to eat?" Harry asked, concerned. He knew how huffy his friend could get when it came to grades.

"We'll go up and remind her before we take off for supper."

"Sounds good."

* * *

The boys traveled along the familiar hallways of Hogwarts talking about nothing in particular. Quidditch, school, next summer, and after they graduated were only a few of the favorite topics.

"So, Ron, what are you going to do with your life after leaving Hogwarts?" Harry asked his best friend. They had never talked about this before, probably because it seemed as if the school years would never end.

"No idea," Ron muttered. "I've thought about things that I know aren't possible like becoming a professional Quidditch player and an Auror."

"Those aren't completely out of your reach."

"Are you kidding?! Have you seen just how much it costs to go to further your training to become an Auror? There is absolutely no way my family would be able to afford it."

"I could pay your way."

"You know Mum wouldn't allow it. Besides, you're the one who's good at the Defense Against the Dark Arts stuff, not me."

"You're not too bad yourself," Harry replied, fully knowing that one of Ron's best subjects was Defense Against the Dark Arts. Plus, Ron had been one of the first to produce a corporeal Patronus the last year in the D.A. meetings.

"Still, they'd be comparing me to you and I'm nothing compared to you in that kind of stuff."

"I'd be done with my extra training already."

"I don't know...I guess they'd see I'm the same age as you and judge based on that."

Silence fell upon the two friends as they rounded a bend to get to Tonks' classroom. Cho Chang and her clan were walking in the opposite direction, talking and giggling loudly. Harry's heart and stomach leapt upon the sight of her, but she continued on, laughing joyously, and ignoring Harry completely.

* * *

Tonks answered the door the moment they knocked. Her face broke into a huge smile upon seeing them both. "Come in, come in! I was starting to think you two had forgotten about me up here."

"We couldn't forget you, Tonks," Harry said.

"It would be hard for anyone to forget," Ron added under his breath.

"Well, that's good to know," she replied, a smile spread across her face. "So, what can I do for you boys?"

Harry took the time to look around the room. He had been in here under every one of the previous Defense Against the Dark Arts professors and none of them had come remotely to looking like it did now. Tonks had plastered posters of rock bands and singers all around the room and she had put up curtains of a bright shade of purple around the windows. She caught Harry looking at them. "Purple has always been one of my favorite colors. That shade just seems to keep the creative juices flowing." She broke out into a smile. "So, what brings you boys to this nick of the school?"

"We needed something to do; preferably something not homework or school related," Harry explained.

"Hermione is the one for that stuff," Ron added.

"I see," Tonks said, plopping herself down in a fuzzy bright purple armchair behind her desk. She magically produced a bowl full of chocolates. "Chocolate Frog?" she asked, offering the bowl to each of the boys in turn. "It's OK to spoil your meal once in a while," Tonks added as Harry hesitantly took one.

Chewing thoughtfully, Harry took another look around the office and realized that there weren't any Dark Detectors littering the desk nor floor. "Hey Tonks, why don't you have any Sneakoscopes or other Detectors in here? Don't Aurors use them? Professor Moody sure had quite a few of them."

"Moody's paranoid. He thinks everyone is after him. I prefer my own instinct to those stupid useless toys any day." She helped herself to a Frog and looked at the card, her smile fading. "Dumbledore. He won't fully recover for over a month, maybe more. He isn't as young as he used to be, and took that attack hard. McGonagall is already feeling the pressures, anyone can tell. She isn't exactly a young whippersnapper either."

An awkward silence fell over the three until they switched the subject to Quidditch. Tonks appeared to be quite knowledgeable in the sport, as she talked passionately about it for quite some time. A half an hour later, Harry and Ron excused them from Tonks' office and went to fetch Hermione for supper.

* * *

Hermione's papers had spread over three more tables since Ron and Harry had left for a walk. They found their friend hiding behind a rather large stack of books, still feverishly working on her Arithmancy work.

"Hermione?" Harry tentatively asked, "It's time for supper."

She didn't answer right away. "Just a few more minutes," she mumbled, her quill never ceasing to write. Ron gave Harry a look.

"You'd better come down for supper now, Hermione," Harry said. "You still have a whole weekend to complete your work."

"Five more minutes."

"Accio quill," Harry said lazily as his friend's quill came straight into his outstretched hand.

"Hey!"

"It's for your own good, Hermione," Harry replied, pocketing her writing utensil. "It's only the first week. Besides, you have to eat."

"Fine," she sighed, standing up from her table and following the two boys downstairs mumbling, "I never should have taught him that spell..."

* * *

Harry and Ron were rather glad to escape to the Quidditch field for practice after supper. Hermoine had been driving them mad with inquisitions whether or not they themselves had finished their homework.

"She's just stressing herself out more than she needs to," Ron told Harry irritably. "I don't intend on finishing my homework on Friday nights every week of this year."

When they reached the field, all the other team members were already there. Katie was giving Ginny tips on improving her game, Seamus and Dean were chasing each other around and around the field, and Zachary Lyons was showing off for his fan club, as they were there as well. He flew as fast as he could, dove, did flips, and anything else that impressed the spectators.

"Show off," Ron mumbled under his breath.

"OK, everyone here?" Harry called out. "Great, then let's get started. Let's start with five easy laps around the field and then we'll go from there. Stick together as a team so we learn each other's flying style." The whole team moved to one side of the Quidditch field, Harry leading the way. He started off at a steady but still fast pace around the field. Immediately, Zachary flew past him. Harry figured it was just first practice jitters, but then his fellow teammate kept on going until he had passed them four more times. He flew to the middle of the field when he was finished and did another dive, to his fan club's enjoyment. When the rest of the team finished, Ron was in an uproar.

"What do you think you're doing, Lyons?" he yelled. "Didn't you hear Harry, your captain tell us to stay together as a group?"

"I'm already warmed up," Lyons replied arrogantly.

"Zachary, I know you've already been flying around for quite some time, but I would appreciate it if you stuck to the team's practice schedule."

"Well, maybe I don't want to stick to the team's schedule."

"There aren't any five-year-olds on this team, and I'd welcome a better attitude and you growing up."

"Just because you're famous Harry Potter doesn't mean you get to boss me around."

That tone sounded all too familiar to Harry. "You haven't by any chance, been hanging around Draco Malfoy, have you Zachary?"

"What do you care?"

"I just want to know."

"Well, that's none of your business, now is it?" This made Seamus angry.

"You'll listen to what Harry has to say, and you'll follow his instructions," he said, flexing his muscles. Seamus had bulked up over the summer, and Harry didn't notice that until now. "Otherwise you're off the team. Is this clear?"

"Yes," Lyons said, rolling his eyes.

"Good. Harry, please continue."

* * *

The rest of the practice went by without much of a problem. Lyons still hogged the Quaffle and refused to help his teammates, but he behaved much better after Seamus' threats. Harry reminded himself to personally thank his roommate when they returned to the Gryffindor Tower.

Harry rounded up the Quidditch balls into their crate with great difficulty before he could walk up to the castle again. Panting, he picked up the wooden box to bring it back to Madam Hooch's office. Something caught his attention as he bent down to carry the crate. Instead of walking towards the castle, Zachary Lyons was walking towards the Forbidden Forest. Before he walked into it, he looked around, and not seeing Harry, he walked into the trees.

Curious, Harry started walking towards where Lyons had disappeared. His foot in midair to step into the forest, Harry realized he was better off minding his own business. If he ever saw Lyons going into the Forbidden Forest again, he'd tell McGonagall. Harry picked up the crate easily, and with one last look towards the spot where Lyons disappeared, he walked towards the castle.