Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the plot.
The Second Darkness.
Chapter 2: The Training of the Assassin.
Harry, Ron and Hermione returned to the Gryffindor common room, Ron immediately dashed up to the boy's dormitory and returned with his chess set under his arm.
"Want a game, Harry?"
"No, I think I'll do Moody's essay."
"Hermione?" Hermione shook her head.
"Come on, Hermione, you have to be intelligent to play so you should be good at it." Said Ron, Hermione rolled her eyes.
"What I want to know then," said Harry smirking, "is how you ever became good at it."
"Oh ha ha." Said Ron sarcastically, "Please, Hermione." He flashed her what he thought was a charming smile. Harry suppressed a snort with difficulty. Hermione sighed, closed her book and sat down opposite Ron. Ron grinned and started setting up the chess figures. Harry leaned back in the couch and prepared to watch the game that would no doubt end with a victory for Ron.
"The only reason Ron is so desperate to play Hermione is that it is about the only thing he can beat her at." Ginny said, Harry jumped slightly, he hadn't heard her approach. He grinned at the youngest Weasley sitting next to him.
"True, true. Or it could be the fact that he is so infatuated with her that he's got to do everything with her." Ginny laughed.
"What are you two laughing at?" demanded Ron. Harry grinned evilly.
"The fact that you two fancy each other stupid but are too scared to admit it to each other." Ginny burst out laughing at this.
"HARRY." Bellowed Ron and Hermione at the same time.
"Just admit it to each other. It's not hard." Whined Harry. Ginny was laughing so hard that tears were coming out of her eyes.
Harry was forced to leap over the couch in order to avoid a heavy spellbook that was flung at his head. Harry stumbled out of the common room in a fit of laughter. He returned five minutes later having calmed down slightly. As soon as he returned he saw Ron staring transfixed at Hermione as she looked at the board trying to decide her next move he could not help but burst out laughing again.
******
Roger Davies, Draco Malfoy, Theodore Nott, Crabbe and Goyle were hidden behind a bookshelf in the library out of sight of Madam Pince.
Roger Davies watched Draco Malfoy pace excitedly up and down warily. He suspected that Malfoy had gone insane. Malfoy was clasping and unclasping his hands in feverish excitement. Malfoy stopped pacing and stared at Davies, a manic glint in his eye.
"I know exactly how to get back at Potter."
"How?" said Davies cautiously, he wasn't sure whether he really wanted to know.
"Cho," breathed Malfoy as if it was the greatest idea in the world, "We hurt Cho. Badly. And when Potter comes running we hurt him really badly."
"There is no way we are going to touch Cho." Protested Davies angrily. Malfoy's wand was pointing at Davies' heart in a flash.
"Yes, we are." Nott stopped leaning against the bookcase and pushed Malfoys arm down, Malfoy started laughing manically "yes, we are. We're going to hurt her, make her bleed, make her cry out for mercy. And when Saint Potter comes running we'll hurt him, break him, kill him" Malfoy's insane laughter echoed in their ears. Davies was sure, Malfoy was insane.
******
Harry sat next to the lake with Ginny. They had spent the last half an hour teasing Ron and Hermione mercilessly before being forced out of the under a hail of spellbooks, cushions, chess pieces and anything else Ron and Hermione could get their hands on.
"What I don't get is it's so obvious that they like each other, yet they're too scared to admit it." Laughed Ginny. Harry grinned.
"It is obvious, so why can't they see it?" Ginny smiled at him.
"Your love is obvious to everyone except to you." She said, Harry grinned at her slyly.
"So it isn't obvious to you?" Ginny smiled.
"What makes you say that?" she asked curiously.
"You're in love." She laughed.
"With who?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Harry said grinning.
"Not to me it isn't."
"Me, of course." Ginny finally got what was going on, although she had suspected what was happening for a few minutes.
"You shouldn't be flirting with me!" She exclaimed, appalled, amused and slightly pleased.
"Why not?" He pouted, "a bit of harmless flirting never hurt anyone."
"Are you always this flirty?"
"Only when there are pretty girls around." Ginny laughed pleased. Harry stopped smiling and became serious.
"We're friends aren't we? Friends flirt."
"Only when they are of the opposite sex." Teased Ginny. Harry sighed in mock exasperation.
"I had hoped I had implied that."
"Seriously though, I reckon Ron and Hermione should get together, do you think they ever will." Harry looked thoughtful for a minute.
"I can't tell, hopefully, but I really cannot tell." They sat talking for a few more minutes before they saw Cho walking towards them.
"Hi," she said, "What have you two been up to?" she asked.
"Not much," replied Harry, "Talking, joking, flirting that sought of thing." Ginny looked slightly worried.
"You don't mind?" she said anxiously.
"Mind what?" asked Cho puzzled.
"Us flirting." Cho laughed kindly.
"You're friends, friends flirt." Harry and Ginny looked at each other and burst out laughing."
"What's so funny?" asked Cho smiling.
"That's exactly what Harry said when I told him he shouldn't be flirting with me." Cho laughed. Ginny jumped up suddenly.
"Damn, I forgot."
"What?" asked Harry.
"I've got McGonagall's transfiguration essay to do. See you later" She turned and ran off in the direction of the castle.
"You don't mind us flirting do you?" asked Harry concernedly. Cho laughed, sat on his lap and snuggled into his arms. She closed her eyes contentedly
"You and Ginny are close friends and, if you think about it, flirting is just teasing with more affection in it, so all you're doing is showing your affection for each other." Harry smiled.
"Typical Ravenclaw, always has an explanation for everything." He teased. Cho hit him on the shoulder without opening her eyes. They sat like that for about half an hour before Harry noticed that Cho's breathing had become peaceful. He looked down at her and saw that she had fallen asleep. He smiled gently before leaning back against the boulder behind him.
Just five more minutes, he thought sleepily, just five more minutes then we'll go back up to the castle. Less then a minute later Harry fell asleep.
"Ginny," said Hermione anxiously with Ron at her side at eight thirty that night, "Have you seen Harry?" Ginny looked thoughtful for a minute.
"Not for about four hours, last time I saw him he was by the lake with Cho."
"Come on!" Hermione grabbed Ron by the arm and pulled him out of the Gryffindor common room. They had been worried about Harry, ever since hadn't turned up for dinner and then he still hadn't appeared for another two hours after that. They ran out of the Entrance Hall.
"Over there!" exclaimed Hermione pointing to two figures by the lake. They ran towards them. They slowed to a stop just as they got to them. Hermione opened her mouth to have a go at Harry for worrying her like that, when Ron suddenly put his hand over her mouth.
"Look closely at them." He whispered in her ear before taking his hand off of her mouth. Hermione looked at them and with a jolt of surprise she realised that they were both asleep.
"They look so peaceful, so perfect together," whispered Hermione, "This is how it should be for them, they shouldn't have to worry about Voldemort." Ron nodded.
"C'mon, we'd better wake them up." He whispered. They moved silently towards them.
"Harry, wake up." Whispered Hermione shaking Harry gently. Harry opened his eyes and smiled.
"Hey Hermione, what time is it?" Hermione smiled at the sight of Harry looking so content.
"Eight thirty. And might I add you have had me sick with worry." Hermione tried to rebuke Harry but found she was unable to. He just looked too peaceful.
"C'mon matey, we'd better get back to the castle." Said Ron quietly.
"Yeah, ok." Harry shook Cho gently.
"Go 'way." She muttered sleepily. Harry raised his eyebrows at Ron and Hermione. He lifted her up in his arms.
"Harry!" she shrieked in surprise, "You could have told me you were going to do that!"
"I tried to." He said amused.
"Yeah, well." She said sleepily. She closed her eyes and put her head onto his shoulder and he carried her up to the castle. She was quite light for a seventeen year old and rigorous quidditch training had made Harry's muscles extremely strong so he had no problem carrying her.
As they got into the Entrance Hall they received some surprised but mainly amused stares at Harry and the young woman in his arms.
As Harry carried Cho down the corridor towards the Ravenclaw common room Hermione gave a cry of warning. It was too late though; Harry felt something trip him up. He cursed and twisted himself round so he would land on the bottom.
He fell and his head hit the stone floor, his bright light flashed in front of his eyes. He struggled to focus. When he managed to focus properly he saw Ron duelling with Malfoy and Hermione and Cho standing over him looking worried.
Harry took out his wand,
"Stupefy." He said pointing it at Malfoy. Malfoy fell to the floor unconscious. Harry held out his hand for Ron to pull him up.
"Trust Malfoy to spoil a moment like that." Growled Ron as he pulled Harry to his feet. Harry swayed slightly and his vision was slipping in and out of focus. He took Cho's hand in his.
"Are you alright?" she asked concerned.
"Yeah, fine." He lied; in fact he was far from it. His vision was almost permanently out of focus and he was beginning to feel dizzy and light-headed. They got to the Ravenclaw common room and Harry kissed Cho goodnight then she was gone.
Harry ran back to the Gryffindor common room. He gasped out the password to the Fat Lady. He ran through the common room and up the stairs into the fortunately deserted boys dormitory with Hermione and Ron hot on his heels. As soon as he entered he fell to his knees and let out a cry of pain.
"What's wrong?" asked Ron.
"What do you bloody think?" panted Harry, clutching the back of his head, "my head hurts like hell!"
"Sorry." Said Ron looking highly affronted, "I didn't mean-"
"No, I'm sorry," said Harry screwing his face up in pain, "It's just my head hurts so bad."
"Do you want to go and see Madam Pomfrey?" asked Hermione anxiously.
"No, if Malfoy finds out I've been to Madam Pomfrey he'll have a field day, could you just heal it for me?" Harry said. Hermione nodded.
"Healify." To her surprise the lump faded and Harry relaxed.
"Thanks." Harry said gratefully.
"I thought 'healify' only worked on cuts." Ron said. Harry just shrugged.
"Harry, when's the next DA meeting?" asked Hermione.
"Oh yeah." Harry took out his coin. He changed the numbers, "tomorrow." Ron and Hermione nodded.
"I'm going to bed, I'm still pretty tired." Harry said. Hermione nodded and stood on her tiptoes to give him a kiss on the cheek.
"Night." She said before walking out of the door with Ron. Ron and Hermione walked down to the common room.
"I'm pretty tired so I'm going off to bed aswell." Said Hermione yawning. Ron nodded turning his head to see who was entering the common room as he heard the portrait swing open. Hermione stood on tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. At the last minute Ron turned his head back and, the kiss that was meant to land on his cheek, landed on his lips instead.
They both looked away blushing furiously and, without another word, dashed off to their separate dormitories.
Harry heard the door open and he looked over to see Ron enter, walking in a daze, his face pale as death. Harry sat up quickly.
"Ron! What's up?" Ron shook his head as if trying to clear it.
"Hermione.she kissed me.on the lips." He said, sounding extremely shocked, before falling into a dead faint.
Harry grabbed his wand from his bedside table; he ran over to Ron and revived him.
"What happened?" Harry asked again, wanting to get the facts straight. Ron took a deep breath and began explaining, in a shaky voice, to Harry what had happened. At the end of it Harry had trouble keeping a straight face. Ron was getting so worked up about a simple mistake, that's all it was, a mistake.
Harry decided that there would be time for teasing him later but now Ron needed consoling.
"Ron, calm down, I know it was embarrassing but it was a mistake, mistakes happen, you just have to live with them and forget about them." Ron looked up at Harry with a faint trace of tears in his eyes. He looked down at the floor again.
"That's what hurts most, that's all it was, a mistake." He muttered under his breath. Harry jumped up and staggered backwards.
"Sweet Jesus! Did you just say what I heard?" Harry exclaimed, caught completely off-guard by what he heard. Ron looked up at Harry blushing deeply,
"I d-didn't s-say anything!" Ron stammered. A grin began to form on Harry's face,
"Yeah you did, you admitted you like Hermione!"
"No I didn't!" protested Ron.
"Grow up Ron, it's not that big a deal. Everybody knows you do, you're just.confirming it."
"Just don't tell her!" pleaded Ron.
"Why not, she likes you too, you know."
"Just don't!" by now there was definitely a note of panic in his voice.
"Alright, alright," Harry tried to console his friend, "I won't, I promise." Ron looked relieved. Harry smirked,
"Ron and Hermione, sitting in a tree." He was then forced to dive to the right to avoid the heavy spellbook Ron had flung at his head.
******
Harry woke up the next morning at six and walked down to the common room. To his surprise Ginny was already up.
"Hey." He greeted her, sitting down next to her on the couch.
"Oh, hi." She said putting down the book she was reading, "By the way, do you know what was wrong with Hermione last night, she was in floods of tears and she seemed really embarrassed." She looked thoughtful for a minute before casting a sidelong glance at Harry, who was smirking broadly.
"You know, don't you! Tell me!" Harry smirk faded.
"I can't, I promised I wouldn't." he admitted. She pouted and stuck her tongue out at him. "And you called me a flirt." he said laughing.
"Well," she said, "I can be a flirt when I want to." Harry laughed.
"Are you sure you're just flirting." He teased, "or do you like me more than that?"
"Shut up, Potter," She said yawning, "I'm going back up to bed for another hour or so." Ginny stood up and walked back up to the girl's dormitory. Harry sat in the common room for another half an hour before getting up and going back to the boy's dormitory to get dressed.
As was typical for days with DA meetings at the end of them lessons passed in blur for Harry. At five to eight he was hurrying down to the Room of Requirement with Ron and Hermione.
He entered and waited for the rest of them to arrive. At five past eight everyone had arrived and was looking up at him with nervous excitement.
"Right, the time for games is over. We've been in a battle and experienced the horrors of it. It was nothing short of a miracle that no one was killed. Next time we will know what to expect so next time we will be better prepared, and thus we shall do better." Harry grinned, "I will no longer be treating you as a teacher treats a pupil, I will be treating you as an officer treats a soldier. I am going to train you harder than ever." As quick as a flash Harry fired a burn curse at Ron. Ron was caught by surprise and had no time to get up a shield charm. Hermione healed the burn in an instant and glared at Harry, Harry merely smirked back.
"Reactions are vital; a Death Eater is not going to tell you he is going to fire a spell at you. You need to develop quicker reflexes. Split up into pairs. One person will be completely disarmed and the other will fire spells at them, one at a time only to begin with, change over every so often. You will either learn to dodge them or walk out of here in a lot of pain." Harry walked around the pairs a few of them, quidditch players mainly, had few problems with dodging spells. The Creevey brothers had the most problems but, gradually, everyone got better and better until people rarely got hit with spells. Harry looked at his watch; there was still fifteen minutes until the end.
"We've still got some time left, is there anything you want to go over?" A few people wanted to go over advanced shield charms so they did so for fifteen minutes. Harry was impressed, by the end of the session people's reflexes had improved dramatically and everyone was now comfortable with the advanced shield charm.
"Listen, the key to good reflexes is anticipation, always expect a spell to fly a you in battle, never be caught unaware. CONSTANT VIGILANCE" People laughed before moving towards the door, discussing this weeks meeting. For some reason they stopped just as they got to the doorway, they stood back and in walked Dumbledore, McGonagall, Moody, Lupin and Tonks. From their expressions Harry knew what was coming,
"This is about the prophecy isn't it?" He said calmly. Dumbledore looked sad and there was no twinkle in his eyes.
"Yes, it's about the prophecy," He sighed, "Could you come to my office? I shall explain it there."
"Tell me what it is about then I will decide whether I want to come to your office." Moody let out a low growl and walked over to Harry glaring down at him.
"You'll do as you're told, boy" Harry looked back at him not at all intimidated.
"The prophecy was made about me, thus I shall decide what I have to do with it." Harry said calmly before looking back towards Dumbledore. Pure fury gleamed in Moody's eyes and he took out his wand. To Harry's surprise the wands of the DA rose and Ron and Hermione stepped in front of Harry. Moody's normal eye opened wide in shock,
"We're really sorry, Professor," said Hermione apologetically to him, "But when it comes to the crunch our loyalty lies with Harry."
"By God, Potter but have you got an army to be proud of!" he exclaimed before stepping back beside Dumbledore,
"Harry, I shall tell you what I want to speak to you about. Your training has to begin, you must start your training to kill Voldemort." Gasps of horror and shock went round the DA, Harry alone looked unaffected but inside he was screaming with terror.
"I'll come." He said. He turned to the DA and grinned, "I'm proud of you, you did well today."
"Aren't you scared?" asked Dean Thomas. The grin vanished from Harry's face in an instant.
"I'm terrified, it scares me to death that I am preparing to die or preparing to murder." He said his voice barely above a whisper. He turned and followed the adults out of the room.
They reached Dumbledore's office and as soon as they entered Dumbledore spoke.
"I will keep this short, you must begin your training to kill Voldemort, Moody will teach you spells and duelling techniques, Tonks will teach you healing and Lupin will teach you sword fighting. You will be given a sword, dragonskin armour and basic healing potions. Your training will begin tomorrow." Harry felt despair flood through him, this was it, there was no turning back.
"I'm training to become an assassin aren't I?" Harry said. Dumbledore nodded slowly.
"Yes, you are training to become an assassin." Even amongst the fear, hate and despair Harry felt he still registered it, Harry Potter, the assassin. He nodded grimly. When he spoke his voice was filled with determination instead of fear.
"Harry Potter, the assassin"
A/N I know what your thinking - He made us wait this long for THAT? This chapter was only a filler, I wanted to get to Harry's training so that's why it is pretty bad, also I have been in bed ill for about three days so I have not been able to get much writing done, Sorry!
Thanks to all my reviewers so far especially,
LogicalRaven - As usual a prompt review, that means a lot to me, mate. Thanks a lot for your ongoing support.
Anime-Master7, Thanks for your review. It's nice to know that people like my story enough to keep reviewing it!
Colm Murphy - You wanted me to mention you so here you go, thanks for your review. It's nice to know that my fics are appreciated; it keeps me writing them! Cheers.
Rocky235 - thanks for all your reviews for both my fics. Much appreciated. 'Wotcher' is just another way of saying hi, yes learnt is an actual word, e.g. He learnt how to fight when he was fifteen.
Keep reading and reviewing, 'cos I'll keep writing!
Fireboy.
The Second Darkness.
Chapter 2: The Training of the Assassin.
Harry, Ron and Hermione returned to the Gryffindor common room, Ron immediately dashed up to the boy's dormitory and returned with his chess set under his arm.
"Want a game, Harry?"
"No, I think I'll do Moody's essay."
"Hermione?" Hermione shook her head.
"Come on, Hermione, you have to be intelligent to play so you should be good at it." Said Ron, Hermione rolled her eyes.
"What I want to know then," said Harry smirking, "is how you ever became good at it."
"Oh ha ha." Said Ron sarcastically, "Please, Hermione." He flashed her what he thought was a charming smile. Harry suppressed a snort with difficulty. Hermione sighed, closed her book and sat down opposite Ron. Ron grinned and started setting up the chess figures. Harry leaned back in the couch and prepared to watch the game that would no doubt end with a victory for Ron.
"The only reason Ron is so desperate to play Hermione is that it is about the only thing he can beat her at." Ginny said, Harry jumped slightly, he hadn't heard her approach. He grinned at the youngest Weasley sitting next to him.
"True, true. Or it could be the fact that he is so infatuated with her that he's got to do everything with her." Ginny laughed.
"What are you two laughing at?" demanded Ron. Harry grinned evilly.
"The fact that you two fancy each other stupid but are too scared to admit it to each other." Ginny burst out laughing at this.
"HARRY." Bellowed Ron and Hermione at the same time.
"Just admit it to each other. It's not hard." Whined Harry. Ginny was laughing so hard that tears were coming out of her eyes.
Harry was forced to leap over the couch in order to avoid a heavy spellbook that was flung at his head. Harry stumbled out of the common room in a fit of laughter. He returned five minutes later having calmed down slightly. As soon as he returned he saw Ron staring transfixed at Hermione as she looked at the board trying to decide her next move he could not help but burst out laughing again.
******
Roger Davies, Draco Malfoy, Theodore Nott, Crabbe and Goyle were hidden behind a bookshelf in the library out of sight of Madam Pince.
Roger Davies watched Draco Malfoy pace excitedly up and down warily. He suspected that Malfoy had gone insane. Malfoy was clasping and unclasping his hands in feverish excitement. Malfoy stopped pacing and stared at Davies, a manic glint in his eye.
"I know exactly how to get back at Potter."
"How?" said Davies cautiously, he wasn't sure whether he really wanted to know.
"Cho," breathed Malfoy as if it was the greatest idea in the world, "We hurt Cho. Badly. And when Potter comes running we hurt him really badly."
"There is no way we are going to touch Cho." Protested Davies angrily. Malfoy's wand was pointing at Davies' heart in a flash.
"Yes, we are." Nott stopped leaning against the bookcase and pushed Malfoys arm down, Malfoy started laughing manically "yes, we are. We're going to hurt her, make her bleed, make her cry out for mercy. And when Saint Potter comes running we'll hurt him, break him, kill him" Malfoy's insane laughter echoed in their ears. Davies was sure, Malfoy was insane.
******
Harry sat next to the lake with Ginny. They had spent the last half an hour teasing Ron and Hermione mercilessly before being forced out of the under a hail of spellbooks, cushions, chess pieces and anything else Ron and Hermione could get their hands on.
"What I don't get is it's so obvious that they like each other, yet they're too scared to admit it." Laughed Ginny. Harry grinned.
"It is obvious, so why can't they see it?" Ginny smiled at him.
"Your love is obvious to everyone except to you." She said, Harry grinned at her slyly.
"So it isn't obvious to you?" Ginny smiled.
"What makes you say that?" she asked curiously.
"You're in love." She laughed.
"With who?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Harry said grinning.
"Not to me it isn't."
"Me, of course." Ginny finally got what was going on, although she had suspected what was happening for a few minutes.
"You shouldn't be flirting with me!" She exclaimed, appalled, amused and slightly pleased.
"Why not?" He pouted, "a bit of harmless flirting never hurt anyone."
"Are you always this flirty?"
"Only when there are pretty girls around." Ginny laughed pleased. Harry stopped smiling and became serious.
"We're friends aren't we? Friends flirt."
"Only when they are of the opposite sex." Teased Ginny. Harry sighed in mock exasperation.
"I had hoped I had implied that."
"Seriously though, I reckon Ron and Hermione should get together, do you think they ever will." Harry looked thoughtful for a minute.
"I can't tell, hopefully, but I really cannot tell." They sat talking for a few more minutes before they saw Cho walking towards them.
"Hi," she said, "What have you two been up to?" she asked.
"Not much," replied Harry, "Talking, joking, flirting that sought of thing." Ginny looked slightly worried.
"You don't mind?" she said anxiously.
"Mind what?" asked Cho puzzled.
"Us flirting." Cho laughed kindly.
"You're friends, friends flirt." Harry and Ginny looked at each other and burst out laughing."
"What's so funny?" asked Cho smiling.
"That's exactly what Harry said when I told him he shouldn't be flirting with me." Cho laughed. Ginny jumped up suddenly.
"Damn, I forgot."
"What?" asked Harry.
"I've got McGonagall's transfiguration essay to do. See you later" She turned and ran off in the direction of the castle.
"You don't mind us flirting do you?" asked Harry concernedly. Cho laughed, sat on his lap and snuggled into his arms. She closed her eyes contentedly
"You and Ginny are close friends and, if you think about it, flirting is just teasing with more affection in it, so all you're doing is showing your affection for each other." Harry smiled.
"Typical Ravenclaw, always has an explanation for everything." He teased. Cho hit him on the shoulder without opening her eyes. They sat like that for about half an hour before Harry noticed that Cho's breathing had become peaceful. He looked down at her and saw that she had fallen asleep. He smiled gently before leaning back against the boulder behind him.
Just five more minutes, he thought sleepily, just five more minutes then we'll go back up to the castle. Less then a minute later Harry fell asleep.
"Ginny," said Hermione anxiously with Ron at her side at eight thirty that night, "Have you seen Harry?" Ginny looked thoughtful for a minute.
"Not for about four hours, last time I saw him he was by the lake with Cho."
"Come on!" Hermione grabbed Ron by the arm and pulled him out of the Gryffindor common room. They had been worried about Harry, ever since hadn't turned up for dinner and then he still hadn't appeared for another two hours after that. They ran out of the Entrance Hall.
"Over there!" exclaimed Hermione pointing to two figures by the lake. They ran towards them. They slowed to a stop just as they got to them. Hermione opened her mouth to have a go at Harry for worrying her like that, when Ron suddenly put his hand over her mouth.
"Look closely at them." He whispered in her ear before taking his hand off of her mouth. Hermione looked at them and with a jolt of surprise she realised that they were both asleep.
"They look so peaceful, so perfect together," whispered Hermione, "This is how it should be for them, they shouldn't have to worry about Voldemort." Ron nodded.
"C'mon, we'd better wake them up." He whispered. They moved silently towards them.
"Harry, wake up." Whispered Hermione shaking Harry gently. Harry opened his eyes and smiled.
"Hey Hermione, what time is it?" Hermione smiled at the sight of Harry looking so content.
"Eight thirty. And might I add you have had me sick with worry." Hermione tried to rebuke Harry but found she was unable to. He just looked too peaceful.
"C'mon matey, we'd better get back to the castle." Said Ron quietly.
"Yeah, ok." Harry shook Cho gently.
"Go 'way." She muttered sleepily. Harry raised his eyebrows at Ron and Hermione. He lifted her up in his arms.
"Harry!" she shrieked in surprise, "You could have told me you were going to do that!"
"I tried to." He said amused.
"Yeah, well." She said sleepily. She closed her eyes and put her head onto his shoulder and he carried her up to the castle. She was quite light for a seventeen year old and rigorous quidditch training had made Harry's muscles extremely strong so he had no problem carrying her.
As they got into the Entrance Hall they received some surprised but mainly amused stares at Harry and the young woman in his arms.
As Harry carried Cho down the corridor towards the Ravenclaw common room Hermione gave a cry of warning. It was too late though; Harry felt something trip him up. He cursed and twisted himself round so he would land on the bottom.
He fell and his head hit the stone floor, his bright light flashed in front of his eyes. He struggled to focus. When he managed to focus properly he saw Ron duelling with Malfoy and Hermione and Cho standing over him looking worried.
Harry took out his wand,
"Stupefy." He said pointing it at Malfoy. Malfoy fell to the floor unconscious. Harry held out his hand for Ron to pull him up.
"Trust Malfoy to spoil a moment like that." Growled Ron as he pulled Harry to his feet. Harry swayed slightly and his vision was slipping in and out of focus. He took Cho's hand in his.
"Are you alright?" she asked concerned.
"Yeah, fine." He lied; in fact he was far from it. His vision was almost permanently out of focus and he was beginning to feel dizzy and light-headed. They got to the Ravenclaw common room and Harry kissed Cho goodnight then she was gone.
Harry ran back to the Gryffindor common room. He gasped out the password to the Fat Lady. He ran through the common room and up the stairs into the fortunately deserted boys dormitory with Hermione and Ron hot on his heels. As soon as he entered he fell to his knees and let out a cry of pain.
"What's wrong?" asked Ron.
"What do you bloody think?" panted Harry, clutching the back of his head, "my head hurts like hell!"
"Sorry." Said Ron looking highly affronted, "I didn't mean-"
"No, I'm sorry," said Harry screwing his face up in pain, "It's just my head hurts so bad."
"Do you want to go and see Madam Pomfrey?" asked Hermione anxiously.
"No, if Malfoy finds out I've been to Madam Pomfrey he'll have a field day, could you just heal it for me?" Harry said. Hermione nodded.
"Healify." To her surprise the lump faded and Harry relaxed.
"Thanks." Harry said gratefully.
"I thought 'healify' only worked on cuts." Ron said. Harry just shrugged.
"Harry, when's the next DA meeting?" asked Hermione.
"Oh yeah." Harry took out his coin. He changed the numbers, "tomorrow." Ron and Hermione nodded.
"I'm going to bed, I'm still pretty tired." Harry said. Hermione nodded and stood on her tiptoes to give him a kiss on the cheek.
"Night." She said before walking out of the door with Ron. Ron and Hermione walked down to the common room.
"I'm pretty tired so I'm going off to bed aswell." Said Hermione yawning. Ron nodded turning his head to see who was entering the common room as he heard the portrait swing open. Hermione stood on tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. At the last minute Ron turned his head back and, the kiss that was meant to land on his cheek, landed on his lips instead.
They both looked away blushing furiously and, without another word, dashed off to their separate dormitories.
Harry heard the door open and he looked over to see Ron enter, walking in a daze, his face pale as death. Harry sat up quickly.
"Ron! What's up?" Ron shook his head as if trying to clear it.
"Hermione.she kissed me.on the lips." He said, sounding extremely shocked, before falling into a dead faint.
Harry grabbed his wand from his bedside table; he ran over to Ron and revived him.
"What happened?" Harry asked again, wanting to get the facts straight. Ron took a deep breath and began explaining, in a shaky voice, to Harry what had happened. At the end of it Harry had trouble keeping a straight face. Ron was getting so worked up about a simple mistake, that's all it was, a mistake.
Harry decided that there would be time for teasing him later but now Ron needed consoling.
"Ron, calm down, I know it was embarrassing but it was a mistake, mistakes happen, you just have to live with them and forget about them." Ron looked up at Harry with a faint trace of tears in his eyes. He looked down at the floor again.
"That's what hurts most, that's all it was, a mistake." He muttered under his breath. Harry jumped up and staggered backwards.
"Sweet Jesus! Did you just say what I heard?" Harry exclaimed, caught completely off-guard by what he heard. Ron looked up at Harry blushing deeply,
"I d-didn't s-say anything!" Ron stammered. A grin began to form on Harry's face,
"Yeah you did, you admitted you like Hermione!"
"No I didn't!" protested Ron.
"Grow up Ron, it's not that big a deal. Everybody knows you do, you're just.confirming it."
"Just don't tell her!" pleaded Ron.
"Why not, she likes you too, you know."
"Just don't!" by now there was definitely a note of panic in his voice.
"Alright, alright," Harry tried to console his friend, "I won't, I promise." Ron looked relieved. Harry smirked,
"Ron and Hermione, sitting in a tree." He was then forced to dive to the right to avoid the heavy spellbook Ron had flung at his head.
******
Harry woke up the next morning at six and walked down to the common room. To his surprise Ginny was already up.
"Hey." He greeted her, sitting down next to her on the couch.
"Oh, hi." She said putting down the book she was reading, "By the way, do you know what was wrong with Hermione last night, she was in floods of tears and she seemed really embarrassed." She looked thoughtful for a minute before casting a sidelong glance at Harry, who was smirking broadly.
"You know, don't you! Tell me!" Harry smirk faded.
"I can't, I promised I wouldn't." he admitted. She pouted and stuck her tongue out at him. "And you called me a flirt." he said laughing.
"Well," she said, "I can be a flirt when I want to." Harry laughed.
"Are you sure you're just flirting." He teased, "or do you like me more than that?"
"Shut up, Potter," She said yawning, "I'm going back up to bed for another hour or so." Ginny stood up and walked back up to the girl's dormitory. Harry sat in the common room for another half an hour before getting up and going back to the boy's dormitory to get dressed.
As was typical for days with DA meetings at the end of them lessons passed in blur for Harry. At five to eight he was hurrying down to the Room of Requirement with Ron and Hermione.
He entered and waited for the rest of them to arrive. At five past eight everyone had arrived and was looking up at him with nervous excitement.
"Right, the time for games is over. We've been in a battle and experienced the horrors of it. It was nothing short of a miracle that no one was killed. Next time we will know what to expect so next time we will be better prepared, and thus we shall do better." Harry grinned, "I will no longer be treating you as a teacher treats a pupil, I will be treating you as an officer treats a soldier. I am going to train you harder than ever." As quick as a flash Harry fired a burn curse at Ron. Ron was caught by surprise and had no time to get up a shield charm. Hermione healed the burn in an instant and glared at Harry, Harry merely smirked back.
"Reactions are vital; a Death Eater is not going to tell you he is going to fire a spell at you. You need to develop quicker reflexes. Split up into pairs. One person will be completely disarmed and the other will fire spells at them, one at a time only to begin with, change over every so often. You will either learn to dodge them or walk out of here in a lot of pain." Harry walked around the pairs a few of them, quidditch players mainly, had few problems with dodging spells. The Creevey brothers had the most problems but, gradually, everyone got better and better until people rarely got hit with spells. Harry looked at his watch; there was still fifteen minutes until the end.
"We've still got some time left, is there anything you want to go over?" A few people wanted to go over advanced shield charms so they did so for fifteen minutes. Harry was impressed, by the end of the session people's reflexes had improved dramatically and everyone was now comfortable with the advanced shield charm.
"Listen, the key to good reflexes is anticipation, always expect a spell to fly a you in battle, never be caught unaware. CONSTANT VIGILANCE" People laughed before moving towards the door, discussing this weeks meeting. For some reason they stopped just as they got to the doorway, they stood back and in walked Dumbledore, McGonagall, Moody, Lupin and Tonks. From their expressions Harry knew what was coming,
"This is about the prophecy isn't it?" He said calmly. Dumbledore looked sad and there was no twinkle in his eyes.
"Yes, it's about the prophecy," He sighed, "Could you come to my office? I shall explain it there."
"Tell me what it is about then I will decide whether I want to come to your office." Moody let out a low growl and walked over to Harry glaring down at him.
"You'll do as you're told, boy" Harry looked back at him not at all intimidated.
"The prophecy was made about me, thus I shall decide what I have to do with it." Harry said calmly before looking back towards Dumbledore. Pure fury gleamed in Moody's eyes and he took out his wand. To Harry's surprise the wands of the DA rose and Ron and Hermione stepped in front of Harry. Moody's normal eye opened wide in shock,
"We're really sorry, Professor," said Hermione apologetically to him, "But when it comes to the crunch our loyalty lies with Harry."
"By God, Potter but have you got an army to be proud of!" he exclaimed before stepping back beside Dumbledore,
"Harry, I shall tell you what I want to speak to you about. Your training has to begin, you must start your training to kill Voldemort." Gasps of horror and shock went round the DA, Harry alone looked unaffected but inside he was screaming with terror.
"I'll come." He said. He turned to the DA and grinned, "I'm proud of you, you did well today."
"Aren't you scared?" asked Dean Thomas. The grin vanished from Harry's face in an instant.
"I'm terrified, it scares me to death that I am preparing to die or preparing to murder." He said his voice barely above a whisper. He turned and followed the adults out of the room.
They reached Dumbledore's office and as soon as they entered Dumbledore spoke.
"I will keep this short, you must begin your training to kill Voldemort, Moody will teach you spells and duelling techniques, Tonks will teach you healing and Lupin will teach you sword fighting. You will be given a sword, dragonskin armour and basic healing potions. Your training will begin tomorrow." Harry felt despair flood through him, this was it, there was no turning back.
"I'm training to become an assassin aren't I?" Harry said. Dumbledore nodded slowly.
"Yes, you are training to become an assassin." Even amongst the fear, hate and despair Harry felt he still registered it, Harry Potter, the assassin. He nodded grimly. When he spoke his voice was filled with determination instead of fear.
"Harry Potter, the assassin"
A/N I know what your thinking - He made us wait this long for THAT? This chapter was only a filler, I wanted to get to Harry's training so that's why it is pretty bad, also I have been in bed ill for about three days so I have not been able to get much writing done, Sorry!
Thanks to all my reviewers so far especially,
LogicalRaven - As usual a prompt review, that means a lot to me, mate. Thanks a lot for your ongoing support.
Anime-Master7, Thanks for your review. It's nice to know that people like my story enough to keep reviewing it!
Colm Murphy - You wanted me to mention you so here you go, thanks for your review. It's nice to know that my fics are appreciated; it keeps me writing them! Cheers.
Rocky235 - thanks for all your reviews for both my fics. Much appreciated. 'Wotcher' is just another way of saying hi, yes learnt is an actual word, e.g. He learnt how to fight when he was fifteen.
Keep reading and reviewing, 'cos I'll keep writing!
Fireboy.