Chapter ten 5/6/04
Warning: there's a bit of slash between Remus and Sirius, if you are against the pairing, I urge you to look in my bio for the link. There's a great essay on the pairing. Apparently it seems that Rowling somehow wants that to be a pairing. But just hints, perhaps they aren't, but it's a great read. By the way, I did plan for the pairing from the start, but I haven't able to find a great place to get them in, after all, I don't like moving too fast.
"Umbridge's furious, but it's obvious that she's scared," Hermione recalled, telling what happened after the attacks of Death Eaters to Harry in the noisy dinnertime. "Fudge says that it's just a random groupings of Death Eaters but of course we don't believe that bull."
"Hermione!" Ron exclaimed at her language.
"Well, it's true! It's only a matter of time before Voldemort shows himself!" she retorted. "Anyways, dinner's nearly over Harry, you should go take that OWL now. Good luck," she said with a grim smile. "It's not so hard..."
"Don't listen to her, it's probably harder than she think it is," Ron said, chewing off a leg of roasted duck.
"Thanks you guys, well I better get going, Professor Snape's getting up. Bye," Harry left the Great Hall and met up with the Potions Master on the way to the dungeon. "I'm here," he whispered.
"Ah..." is all he acknowledged, other than that, he ignored him completely. At least until he reached the classroom which would serve as the room to take OWLs in. "As you do know, OWLs aren't so easy..."
"Well, Hermione doesn't seem to think so," Harry shrugged off his invisibility cloak after Severus Snape temporarily locked the door. "But Ron says it is, so I'll have to be my own judge."
"Wise thinking Potter, though I wouldn't give too much of a credit to you... since you act too rash as you did two days ago. It's only a miracle that I had found you three in time."
"Oh I act rash now am I?" Harry replied, getting a bit mad at his Professor for throwing snide remarks at Harry. "Tell me that Avery and Neville's death isn't my fault!"
"Potter, not now, he's arriving..." he said, turning his face away from Harry who only glared at him. True to his word, one of the Examiner knocked on the door. The older-black hair of the two opened the door to let him in.
"Hello my dear Severus!" he remarked. "Grand isn't it? Such a bad thing that he had to hide from the Ministry. Though don't worry I won't turn you in! It's simply not my business to nose around but to examine how well they are!" Harry smiled at the examiner, having a good chord pulsing from the old man. "Now, Severus please excuse us."
With a curt, short nod, and turned around, his robes billowing and twirling about in his wake and left the room into his study which is adjacent to the Corridor's entry way. The examiner turned to Harry as the door closed the door.
"So much to do! Let's get it on now eh Mr. Potter?" he asked.
"Yeah," he replied softly. Then the old man, whom introduced himself as Teminsa Broake, gave the fifteen page-long of questions and blank places for answer. "You will start out filling the written examination part of Charms." Harry took the written examination with Quill and ink provided by Examiner Broake. He sat down in front of the desk and started answering the question. By the end of the written part, he felt confident that he did really well and only an hour and twenty minutes passed.
"Sir, I'm finished," Harry spoke up after putting the quill down. He noticed that Teminsa Broake had been watching him the entire time without wavering. He felt a bit unnerved by that but otherwise didn't show it to him.
"Very well, now for the practical part of Charms OWLs, please change this apple to color purple," he put the apple in front of Harry. Who got out his wand and spoke the right incantation, and turned the apple into plum-y purple color. "Excellent, now make the apple do cartwheels." Which Harry had done, making the apple doing cartwheels around the edge of the desk three times. "Very good! Very good," with that, he took a pebble out. "Make this pebble into three feet in diameter."
Harry had misspoken the incantation, which had left the pebble sized into a fine sand size. "Err, sorry, I made a mistake," he spoke quickly, fixing the incantation making the sand into the specified size that Examiner want him to do.
"Good, it's okay to make mistakes once a while!" he spoke, and continued the examination, which took another forty minutes. "Now, that will be all, and I expect you'll be here tomorrow?"
"Yes sir, thank you very much for allowing me to take OWLs," Harry felt indebted to the examiner. Without Professor Snape, and Examiner Broake, would he not be able to even attend Hogwarts next year or so he thought. "I am indebted to you, you know..."
"Harry Potter, it's nothing, as long you perform fantastically, I assure you won't have to do anything! Now, about the news lately..."
"Sir?" Harry knew what was coming, about Voldemort's return and the fight with Umbridge. Or the recent attack on Hogwarts which made the students ever more cautious.
"Is it really true that You-Know-Who has returned?"
"Err--well yes, I'm not an attention-seeking little brat like the Daily Prophet's making me out to be. In fact, I hate publicity, and I hate to be in the lime light--"
"Very well," he said, cutting him off from Harry's rambling. Teminsa started getting up from his seat. "I believe you Mr. Potter, now good night."
"Night sir," with that, he swung the invisibility cloak over himself.
"Ah, you have such a cloak!" he exclaimed. "Very smart indeed." He opened the door, as Harry left the room. From the study room, Professor had watched some parts of Potter's examination. Harry felt really good about the Charms OWL, which he played around with Sirius and Remus a little while before going to sleep. But not before reviewing the material for the next day.
The next examination had been for the Transfiguration, and Harry couldn't have done any more smoothly except for messing up the picturing of turning a banjo into a Harp which had turned into a small sized Harp that cupids use. Other than that, Harry thought he did well. For the following days, taking Astronomy, Defense against the Dark Arts, which he thought did exceptionally well. Or so Examiner Teminsa say. He even asked him to perform the Patronus charm which he was told repeatedly that hardly anyone could do especially his own age.
Finally the weekend came and spent the entire weekend studying for OWLs and moping a little over Neville's death. But Harry knew he couldn't dwell on it too much since he has OWLs to study for. He felt the morbid feeling that emitted from Hogwarts whenever he came to dinner. Hardly anyone had been laughing, and when someone did, it was usually short-lived. The only house that wasn't affected was, of course, the Slytherins.
Harry found himself in some moments, remembering the times with Neville. The time at St. Mungos, how he always seem to forget things all the time. But before he thought any more about his special dorm mate, he shook himself back to reality, getting back in track of studying for the last week of exams and they would be finished. He hoped that Voldemort wouldn't try to interfere with Harry or Hogwarts for the rest of the year. He hasn't had a single vision in a long time, he couldn't even recall when he dreamed last about the Corridor. Glad, he set down the notes of three years worth of Divination. Why he had to pass that class, he didn't know. But he hoped that he would have Firenze for teacher next year. At least he didn't predict his death unlike some other professor.
Now that he remembers, the Prophecy. Harry hated the thought of not being able to control his fate, how it was in the stars. Not being able to make his own choice and stay in hiding or to actually have a normal life. Harry fumed slightly at Trelawney; how could someone overhear her makings of Prophecy at Hog's Head. It was that person's fault that his parents were dead. That Voldemort could easily choose either Neville or him. Neville. 'No, stop thinking about that! You've got OWLs to worry about damnit!' Harry scolded himself and abruptly stood up from his chair. Raising suspicions from his two housemates at Shrieking Shack.
"Something up Harry?" Remus asked.
"Oh sure, nothing's up," Harry replied half sarcastically.
"Harry, I don't like that tone," he scolded.
"Sorry," he muttered and retired to his room. "Night Remus, Sirius." Harry went inside and sat on the bed, still feeling a bit miserable. He thought more about the feeling when he murdered Avery, and witnessing the death of Neville. He didn't blow the candle out, though feeling very tired. He didn't want to sleep just yet, sighing and decides to apologize Remus and Sirius. He got up from his bed, he knew that it was rude of him to snap at Remus and Sirius. They were only worried after all. He opened the door, half-sleepily but still wide awake. Whatever he expected that Remus and Sirius would be doing. But nothing like he had thought.
"R-Remus? Sirius?" Harry was shocked to say. Harry had caught them kissing, but not so graphic. Just butterfly kisses.
"H-Harry!" Remus shoved Sirius away from him, apparently shocked. "I thought you had fallen asleep!"
"I coul-couldn't...." Harry spoke after an awkward silence. "Err--How long has this been going on?" he asked, blushing a little that he caught them in the act. Remus sighed, and Sirius smiles slightly.
"Well, we've been together since late fourth year..." Remus began. Harry understood all at once. The action in the pensieve, where the girl was eyeing Sirius hopeful and then saw Remus. Then the way that Remus had acted back in the third year. The way that Remus had dropped his guard every time that he'd mentioned Sirius. When Moony brought up the topic of the news giving Dementors performing the kiss on Sirius and he'd ask how he felt about the kiss. He'd guarded his emotions then.
"I-wow, that explains a lot," Harry spoke, after being speechless.
"Does it?" Remus burrowed his eyebrows together.
"Yeah, explains what Harry?" Sirius pressed him.
"Oh, just the times when I was in my third year, and the pensieve, that little gesture that you, Sirius, didn't really pay attention to the girls, but dad did. There was so many clues, I should've known sooner. But I'm fine with it if you two been together that long..." Remus looked really relieved, smiling even more.
"I'm glad you accepted this Harry. Means a lot to us. In fact, besides Lily and James, no one knew of our get togethers. Not even Peter did... and for that, I'm glad," he said a little coldly at the end.
"Thanks Harry," Sirius grinned at him. "Moony's right, it means a lot to us."
Harry nodded at the two, who now are holding hands but a bit shyly. "Well I mainly came back out here is, well, to err--apologize for snapping at you two earlier..." he fidgeted under their glances. Sirius chuckled a bit.
"Thanks, but don't worry yourself, it's understandable, OWLs can get to your brain, making you irritable. I should know," he shifted his glance to Remus, grinning. "Moony was really irritated during the OWLs exams."
"Ah he
Warning: there's a bit of slash between Remus and Sirius, if you are against the pairing, I urge you to look in my bio for the link. There's a great essay on the pairing. Apparently it seems that Rowling somehow wants that to be a pairing. But just hints, perhaps they aren't, but it's a great read. By the way, I did plan for the pairing from the start, but I haven't able to find a great place to get them in, after all, I don't like moving too fast.
"Umbridge's furious, but it's obvious that she's scared," Hermione recalled, telling what happened after the attacks of Death Eaters to Harry in the noisy dinnertime. "Fudge says that it's just a random groupings of Death Eaters but of course we don't believe that bull."
"Hermione!" Ron exclaimed at her language.
"Well, it's true! It's only a matter of time before Voldemort shows himself!" she retorted. "Anyways, dinner's nearly over Harry, you should go take that OWL now. Good luck," she said with a grim smile. "It's not so hard..."
"Don't listen to her, it's probably harder than she think it is," Ron said, chewing off a leg of roasted duck.
"Thanks you guys, well I better get going, Professor Snape's getting up. Bye," Harry left the Great Hall and met up with the Potions Master on the way to the dungeon. "I'm here," he whispered.
"Ah..." is all he acknowledged, other than that, he ignored him completely. At least until he reached the classroom which would serve as the room to take OWLs in. "As you do know, OWLs aren't so easy..."
"Well, Hermione doesn't seem to think so," Harry shrugged off his invisibility cloak after Severus Snape temporarily locked the door. "But Ron says it is, so I'll have to be my own judge."
"Wise thinking Potter, though I wouldn't give too much of a credit to you... since you act too rash as you did two days ago. It's only a miracle that I had found you three in time."
"Oh I act rash now am I?" Harry replied, getting a bit mad at his Professor for throwing snide remarks at Harry. "Tell me that Avery and Neville's death isn't my fault!"
"Potter, not now, he's arriving..." he said, turning his face away from Harry who only glared at him. True to his word, one of the Examiner knocked on the door. The older-black hair of the two opened the door to let him in.
"Hello my dear Severus!" he remarked. "Grand isn't it? Such a bad thing that he had to hide from the Ministry. Though don't worry I won't turn you in! It's simply not my business to nose around but to examine how well they are!" Harry smiled at the examiner, having a good chord pulsing from the old man. "Now, Severus please excuse us."
With a curt, short nod, and turned around, his robes billowing and twirling about in his wake and left the room into his study which is adjacent to the Corridor's entry way. The examiner turned to Harry as the door closed the door.
"So much to do! Let's get it on now eh Mr. Potter?" he asked.
"Yeah," he replied softly. Then the old man, whom introduced himself as Teminsa Broake, gave the fifteen page-long of questions and blank places for answer. "You will start out filling the written examination part of Charms." Harry took the written examination with Quill and ink provided by Examiner Broake. He sat down in front of the desk and started answering the question. By the end of the written part, he felt confident that he did really well and only an hour and twenty minutes passed.
"Sir, I'm finished," Harry spoke up after putting the quill down. He noticed that Teminsa Broake had been watching him the entire time without wavering. He felt a bit unnerved by that but otherwise didn't show it to him.
"Very well, now for the practical part of Charms OWLs, please change this apple to color purple," he put the apple in front of Harry. Who got out his wand and spoke the right incantation, and turned the apple into plum-y purple color. "Excellent, now make the apple do cartwheels." Which Harry had done, making the apple doing cartwheels around the edge of the desk three times. "Very good! Very good," with that, he took a pebble out. "Make this pebble into three feet in diameter."
Harry had misspoken the incantation, which had left the pebble sized into a fine sand size. "Err, sorry, I made a mistake," he spoke quickly, fixing the incantation making the sand into the specified size that Examiner want him to do.
"Good, it's okay to make mistakes once a while!" he spoke, and continued the examination, which took another forty minutes. "Now, that will be all, and I expect you'll be here tomorrow?"
"Yes sir, thank you very much for allowing me to take OWLs," Harry felt indebted to the examiner. Without Professor Snape, and Examiner Broake, would he not be able to even attend Hogwarts next year or so he thought. "I am indebted to you, you know..."
"Harry Potter, it's nothing, as long you perform fantastically, I assure you won't have to do anything! Now, about the news lately..."
"Sir?" Harry knew what was coming, about Voldemort's return and the fight with Umbridge. Or the recent attack on Hogwarts which made the students ever more cautious.
"Is it really true that You-Know-Who has returned?"
"Err--well yes, I'm not an attention-seeking little brat like the Daily Prophet's making me out to be. In fact, I hate publicity, and I hate to be in the lime light--"
"Very well," he said, cutting him off from Harry's rambling. Teminsa started getting up from his seat. "I believe you Mr. Potter, now good night."
"Night sir," with that, he swung the invisibility cloak over himself.
"Ah, you have such a cloak!" he exclaimed. "Very smart indeed." He opened the door, as Harry left the room. From the study room, Professor had watched some parts of Potter's examination. Harry felt really good about the Charms OWL, which he played around with Sirius and Remus a little while before going to sleep. But not before reviewing the material for the next day.
The next examination had been for the Transfiguration, and Harry couldn't have done any more smoothly except for messing up the picturing of turning a banjo into a Harp which had turned into a small sized Harp that cupids use. Other than that, Harry thought he did well. For the following days, taking Astronomy, Defense against the Dark Arts, which he thought did exceptionally well. Or so Examiner Teminsa say. He even asked him to perform the Patronus charm which he was told repeatedly that hardly anyone could do especially his own age.
Finally the weekend came and spent the entire weekend studying for OWLs and moping a little over Neville's death. But Harry knew he couldn't dwell on it too much since he has OWLs to study for. He felt the morbid feeling that emitted from Hogwarts whenever he came to dinner. Hardly anyone had been laughing, and when someone did, it was usually short-lived. The only house that wasn't affected was, of course, the Slytherins.
Harry found himself in some moments, remembering the times with Neville. The time at St. Mungos, how he always seem to forget things all the time. But before he thought any more about his special dorm mate, he shook himself back to reality, getting back in track of studying for the last week of exams and they would be finished. He hoped that Voldemort wouldn't try to interfere with Harry or Hogwarts for the rest of the year. He hasn't had a single vision in a long time, he couldn't even recall when he dreamed last about the Corridor. Glad, he set down the notes of three years worth of Divination. Why he had to pass that class, he didn't know. But he hoped that he would have Firenze for teacher next year. At least he didn't predict his death unlike some other professor.
Now that he remembers, the Prophecy. Harry hated the thought of not being able to control his fate, how it was in the stars. Not being able to make his own choice and stay in hiding or to actually have a normal life. Harry fumed slightly at Trelawney; how could someone overhear her makings of Prophecy at Hog's Head. It was that person's fault that his parents were dead. That Voldemort could easily choose either Neville or him. Neville. 'No, stop thinking about that! You've got OWLs to worry about damnit!' Harry scolded himself and abruptly stood up from his chair. Raising suspicions from his two housemates at Shrieking Shack.
"Something up Harry?" Remus asked.
"Oh sure, nothing's up," Harry replied half sarcastically.
"Harry, I don't like that tone," he scolded.
"Sorry," he muttered and retired to his room. "Night Remus, Sirius." Harry went inside and sat on the bed, still feeling a bit miserable. He thought more about the feeling when he murdered Avery, and witnessing the death of Neville. He didn't blow the candle out, though feeling very tired. He didn't want to sleep just yet, sighing and decides to apologize Remus and Sirius. He got up from his bed, he knew that it was rude of him to snap at Remus and Sirius. They were only worried after all. He opened the door, half-sleepily but still wide awake. Whatever he expected that Remus and Sirius would be doing. But nothing like he had thought.
"R-Remus? Sirius?" Harry was shocked to say. Harry had caught them kissing, but not so graphic. Just butterfly kisses.
"H-Harry!" Remus shoved Sirius away from him, apparently shocked. "I thought you had fallen asleep!"
"I coul-couldn't...." Harry spoke after an awkward silence. "Err--How long has this been going on?" he asked, blushing a little that he caught them in the act. Remus sighed, and Sirius smiles slightly.
"Well, we've been together since late fourth year..." Remus began. Harry understood all at once. The action in the pensieve, where the girl was eyeing Sirius hopeful and then saw Remus. Then the way that Remus had acted back in the third year. The way that Remus had dropped his guard every time that he'd mentioned Sirius. When Moony brought up the topic of the news giving Dementors performing the kiss on Sirius and he'd ask how he felt about the kiss. He'd guarded his emotions then.
"I-wow, that explains a lot," Harry spoke, after being speechless.
"Does it?" Remus burrowed his eyebrows together.
"Yeah, explains what Harry?" Sirius pressed him.
"Oh, just the times when I was in my third year, and the pensieve, that little gesture that you, Sirius, didn't really pay attention to the girls, but dad did. There was so many clues, I should've known sooner. But I'm fine with it if you two been together that long..." Remus looked really relieved, smiling even more.
"I'm glad you accepted this Harry. Means a lot to us. In fact, besides Lily and James, no one knew of our get togethers. Not even Peter did... and for that, I'm glad," he said a little coldly at the end.
"Thanks Harry," Sirius grinned at him. "Moony's right, it means a lot to us."
Harry nodded at the two, who now are holding hands but a bit shyly. "Well I mainly came back out here is, well, to err--apologize for snapping at you two earlier..." he fidgeted under their glances. Sirius chuckled a bit.
"Thanks, but don't worry yourself, it's understandable, OWLs can get to your brain, making you irritable. I should know," he shifted his glance to Remus, grinning. "Moony was really irritated during the OWLs exams."
"Ah he