Chapter 10: Friends Again.
Two weeks had passed since the disastrous detention with Snape, and Halloween was fast approaching. Harry had managed to stay out of trouble with Snape but Severa still wasn't speaking to him. He felt he should say something to apologise for his angry comments but words failed him. He felt a simple apology just wouldn't do. Mid-term was also coming up soon and then he wouldn't see Severa for a week. He really needed to apologise, but how?
~*~
Harry walked to the Gryffindor table on a dreary Sunday morning amidst the talk of the great Halloween feast, which would be held on Halloween night, the night before everyone left to go home for mid-term. Everyone was excited, except Harry. The prospect of the feast was exciting, but he would spend mid-term week alone as Hermione was visiting relatives in Scotland with her parents and Ron had a full house at the Burrow and surprisingly, was unable to invite Harry to stay. Harry would have to spend the week walking the halls of Hogwarts, talking to ghosts and 'studying' in the library.
"Good Morning!"
"Morning, Harry!"
Several people called out to Harry as he walked by, and he smiled a half- hearted 'hello' back at them. He sat at the Gryffindor table next to Hermione and Ron as usual and he nodded his 'good morning' to them and then he tucked into a plate of bacon and eggs. Life was so mundane, why couldn't he be going away for mid-term too?
"Oh, cheer up Harry!" Hermione smiled. "We won't be gone for another two weeks yet! That's plenty of time for us to plan your study schedule for mid- term!"
Harry gave her a nasty look, which caused her to hastily add, "Just joking! Look, it's Severa's birthday on Halloween night, why don't you do something to surprise her?"
This caught Harry's interest. Halloween night? How appropriate! "But what could I do, Hermione?" Harry asked, "We're not even speaking!"
"Exactly!" Hermione cried. "It's the perfect way to make friends again and it'll give you something to do to take your mind off. erm. other things!" Harry smiled. At least Hermione's brain was good for some things!
~*~
The next two weeks flew by. There was so much going on that Harry barely had time to breathe. Exams, Quidditch matches, plans for Severa's birthday. Harry hadn't noticed the time go by until the morning of the great Halloween feast dawned bright and sunny. Unnaturally sunny for an October morning, many students and teachers walked around the magnificent grounds of Hogwarts, chattering about their plans for the forthcoming week. Happiness almost buzzed through the air and Harry was swept into the excitement and anticipation of the feast, the holidays and the week of glorious freedom. But soon, the grounds began to empty and one by one, students entered Hogwarts to attend the Halloween feast, which would designate the end of first term and the beginning of the holidays.
~*~
Harry walked into the Great Hall and gasped. Although he had helped with most of the decorations, he had not yet seen the finished effect. It was astounding. Bats flew through the air against the backdrop of the ceiling which was a murky black dappled with great, sliver, shining stars, ribbons of orange and black danced around the Hall, swirling this way and that, making patterns, tracing symbols and names, several charmed, hollowed trees were placed around the Hall and many glittering eyes peered through the cracks in the bark, disappearing if any student dared get too close. Many Muggle Halloween decorations adorned the walls and these caused great amusement among the pure blood students. But most magnificent of all were the House tables. A great, velvet tablecloth covered each one. Green for Slytherin, blue for Hufflepuff, purple for Ravenclaw and red for Gryffindor. Each of the cloths was decorated with black silhouettes of cats, pumpkins, bats and other assorted creatures, and each of the objects or creatures was moving around the tablecloths in their own unique way. A silhouette of a fat witch was flying around and around in small circles, every so often diving suddenly, frightening the silhouettes of the cats and bats. The pumpkins were hopping around in straight lines hopping over sleeping cats and scurrying spiders and there was a general chaos on the tablecloth. Harry smiled to himself. Everything was perfect.
~*~
After the remnants of the feast were cleared away, a hush fell over the students in the Hall as Dumbledore rose to his feet.
"Before the band can start playing and before the dancing swings into action," Dumbledore chuckled at his own joke, his blue eyes twinkling brightly, "There are two things to be done. Firstly, and I'm sure you'll all join me in my appreciation; I'd like to grant a round of applause to the house elves for another exceptional feast. They have, as usual, excelled themselves." Everyone in the Hall clapped enthusiastically, with the exception of the Slytherins, who, as usual, looked moody and uninterested. Harry saw Hermione, out of the corner of his eye, smiling broadly, obviously proud to see that Dumbledore had remembered to thank the diligent, and hard-working house elves.
When the clapping died down, Dumbledore cleared his throat and scanned the Hall, his eyes coming to rest on Harry. He gave Harry the slightest wink, so it was hard to define whether it was indeed a wink or Dumbledore just had something in his eye, and then Dumbledore turned back again to address the students.
"Secondly, Harry Potter would like to make an announcement. When you're ready, Harry." Harry smiled at Dumbledore, who nodded back and he walked towards the staff table. Dumbledore handed him a large black box with a floppy, red ribbon on top, which had been hidden beneath the staff table. Harry stumbled a little because the box was so heavy and he then placed it in the centre of the Great Hall, so each student would have a good view of what would happen next. By this time, every eye in the room was on Harry and the box, each student and most teachers, wondering what he was up to.
Harry looked around the room, directly into the eyes of Severa and he gave a slight smile. He then reached down and swiftly pulled the knot out of the floppy, red ribbon. The ribbon fell to the ground and the box began to shake. Harry removed his wand from his sleeve and whispered, "Findeltra." The Great Hall was plunged into darkness; even the stars had vanished from the sky. There were a few screams from the more nervy students in the Hall but the room plunged into silence once more, when the black box started to change colour and vibrate. At first the box was grey, then white, then yellow and finally a glowing, luminous colour. The red ribbon rose from the ground and, like the orange and black ribbons that had adorned the Hall earlier, it twirled through the air, creating shapes and patterns known only to itself. The red of the ribbon became a sparkling, glittering silver colour and suddenly, the lid of the box sprung open and the glittering ribbon disappeared inside. Seconds passed with nobody daring to breathe when all of a sudden a faint sound could be heard approaching from the box. With a great bang, laughter exploded through the Hall as the silver ribbon zoomed out of the box. And, holding the end of the ribbon, were hundreds of pixies, more than an inch high, each one a bright, vibrant silver, exactly the same as the ribbon they were attached to. When the ribbon was just above the heads of the students, the pixies let go and each one zoomed off in a separate direction, and, as they flew, they changed into various colours of the rainbow. Blue, red, green, orange, indigo, the list went on, and the students let out gasps of delight at the beautiful, small creatures whizzing above them. But the show wasn't over yet. Harry flicked his wrist slightly and whispered, "Lignitro." And every single pixie zoomed towards him, still changing colours as they flew. They stopped about a metre above Harry's head, in clear view of everyone in the Hall, and they began to fly around and around in a giant circle going faster and faster until their separate colours merged into one and everything became a blur. But slowly, shapes began to appear in the blur and slowly, the shapes became letters. One by one, the letters appeared, until a sentence was formed from the tiny bodies of the colour-changing pixies. Each student read the sentence aloud.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY SEVERA."
The pixies hung suspended in mid air for a moment and then they zoomed off, doing one last lap of the Hall, before diving back into the box which was slowly changing from a glowing, luminous colour to yellow, to white, to grey and finally, to black. The lights returned in the Hall and each student blinked rapidly as they once again adjusted their eyes to the lights of the room. There was a moment of silence as Harry tied the ribbon around the black box and then someone began to clap. It was Severa, and she was followed closely by Ron, Hermione, Neville, Gryffindor. Soon everyone, with the exception of the sneering Slytherins, was clapping enthusiastically and Harry smiled. When the clapping died down and Harry had returned to his seat Dumbledore smiled at his students.
"Let the party begin!"
~*~
All four house tables were magically pushed against the walls and then the band began to play. Everyone was dancing, eating, talking and laughing and Harry was thoroughly enjoying himself when he heard a hesitant voice behind him. "Harry?" He turned around. It was Severa.
She inclined her head towards a more secluded spot in the Hall and the two of them walked towards it in silence.
"Harry," she began tentatively, "I. I just want to say that. that that was one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me. So. thank you." Severa looked away and when she looked back at him again, she had tears in her eyes. "Harry. I- I'm so sorry for getting you into trouble."
"Severa," Harry smiled, "It's not your fault, it's already forgotten. And I'm sorry for being so angry with you. You didn't deserve it. Now, are we friends again?"
Severa smiled brightly back at him. "We'll always be friends, Harry."
The two of them hugged and in the awkward silence that followed, Severa had a thoughtful expression on her face. "Harry," she began, "what are you doing for mid-term?"
~*~
Two weeks had passed since the disastrous detention with Snape, and Halloween was fast approaching. Harry had managed to stay out of trouble with Snape but Severa still wasn't speaking to him. He felt he should say something to apologise for his angry comments but words failed him. He felt a simple apology just wouldn't do. Mid-term was also coming up soon and then he wouldn't see Severa for a week. He really needed to apologise, but how?
~*~
Harry walked to the Gryffindor table on a dreary Sunday morning amidst the talk of the great Halloween feast, which would be held on Halloween night, the night before everyone left to go home for mid-term. Everyone was excited, except Harry. The prospect of the feast was exciting, but he would spend mid-term week alone as Hermione was visiting relatives in Scotland with her parents and Ron had a full house at the Burrow and surprisingly, was unable to invite Harry to stay. Harry would have to spend the week walking the halls of Hogwarts, talking to ghosts and 'studying' in the library.
"Good Morning!"
"Morning, Harry!"
Several people called out to Harry as he walked by, and he smiled a half- hearted 'hello' back at them. He sat at the Gryffindor table next to Hermione and Ron as usual and he nodded his 'good morning' to them and then he tucked into a plate of bacon and eggs. Life was so mundane, why couldn't he be going away for mid-term too?
"Oh, cheer up Harry!" Hermione smiled. "We won't be gone for another two weeks yet! That's plenty of time for us to plan your study schedule for mid- term!"
Harry gave her a nasty look, which caused her to hastily add, "Just joking! Look, it's Severa's birthday on Halloween night, why don't you do something to surprise her?"
This caught Harry's interest. Halloween night? How appropriate! "But what could I do, Hermione?" Harry asked, "We're not even speaking!"
"Exactly!" Hermione cried. "It's the perfect way to make friends again and it'll give you something to do to take your mind off. erm. other things!" Harry smiled. At least Hermione's brain was good for some things!
~*~
The next two weeks flew by. There was so much going on that Harry barely had time to breathe. Exams, Quidditch matches, plans for Severa's birthday. Harry hadn't noticed the time go by until the morning of the great Halloween feast dawned bright and sunny. Unnaturally sunny for an October morning, many students and teachers walked around the magnificent grounds of Hogwarts, chattering about their plans for the forthcoming week. Happiness almost buzzed through the air and Harry was swept into the excitement and anticipation of the feast, the holidays and the week of glorious freedom. But soon, the grounds began to empty and one by one, students entered Hogwarts to attend the Halloween feast, which would designate the end of first term and the beginning of the holidays.
~*~
Harry walked into the Great Hall and gasped. Although he had helped with most of the decorations, he had not yet seen the finished effect. It was astounding. Bats flew through the air against the backdrop of the ceiling which was a murky black dappled with great, sliver, shining stars, ribbons of orange and black danced around the Hall, swirling this way and that, making patterns, tracing symbols and names, several charmed, hollowed trees were placed around the Hall and many glittering eyes peered through the cracks in the bark, disappearing if any student dared get too close. Many Muggle Halloween decorations adorned the walls and these caused great amusement among the pure blood students. But most magnificent of all were the House tables. A great, velvet tablecloth covered each one. Green for Slytherin, blue for Hufflepuff, purple for Ravenclaw and red for Gryffindor. Each of the cloths was decorated with black silhouettes of cats, pumpkins, bats and other assorted creatures, and each of the objects or creatures was moving around the tablecloths in their own unique way. A silhouette of a fat witch was flying around and around in small circles, every so often diving suddenly, frightening the silhouettes of the cats and bats. The pumpkins were hopping around in straight lines hopping over sleeping cats and scurrying spiders and there was a general chaos on the tablecloth. Harry smiled to himself. Everything was perfect.
~*~
After the remnants of the feast were cleared away, a hush fell over the students in the Hall as Dumbledore rose to his feet.
"Before the band can start playing and before the dancing swings into action," Dumbledore chuckled at his own joke, his blue eyes twinkling brightly, "There are two things to be done. Firstly, and I'm sure you'll all join me in my appreciation; I'd like to grant a round of applause to the house elves for another exceptional feast. They have, as usual, excelled themselves." Everyone in the Hall clapped enthusiastically, with the exception of the Slytherins, who, as usual, looked moody and uninterested. Harry saw Hermione, out of the corner of his eye, smiling broadly, obviously proud to see that Dumbledore had remembered to thank the diligent, and hard-working house elves.
When the clapping died down, Dumbledore cleared his throat and scanned the Hall, his eyes coming to rest on Harry. He gave Harry the slightest wink, so it was hard to define whether it was indeed a wink or Dumbledore just had something in his eye, and then Dumbledore turned back again to address the students.
"Secondly, Harry Potter would like to make an announcement. When you're ready, Harry." Harry smiled at Dumbledore, who nodded back and he walked towards the staff table. Dumbledore handed him a large black box with a floppy, red ribbon on top, which had been hidden beneath the staff table. Harry stumbled a little because the box was so heavy and he then placed it in the centre of the Great Hall, so each student would have a good view of what would happen next. By this time, every eye in the room was on Harry and the box, each student and most teachers, wondering what he was up to.
Harry looked around the room, directly into the eyes of Severa and he gave a slight smile. He then reached down and swiftly pulled the knot out of the floppy, red ribbon. The ribbon fell to the ground and the box began to shake. Harry removed his wand from his sleeve and whispered, "Findeltra." The Great Hall was plunged into darkness; even the stars had vanished from the sky. There were a few screams from the more nervy students in the Hall but the room plunged into silence once more, when the black box started to change colour and vibrate. At first the box was grey, then white, then yellow and finally a glowing, luminous colour. The red ribbon rose from the ground and, like the orange and black ribbons that had adorned the Hall earlier, it twirled through the air, creating shapes and patterns known only to itself. The red of the ribbon became a sparkling, glittering silver colour and suddenly, the lid of the box sprung open and the glittering ribbon disappeared inside. Seconds passed with nobody daring to breathe when all of a sudden a faint sound could be heard approaching from the box. With a great bang, laughter exploded through the Hall as the silver ribbon zoomed out of the box. And, holding the end of the ribbon, were hundreds of pixies, more than an inch high, each one a bright, vibrant silver, exactly the same as the ribbon they were attached to. When the ribbon was just above the heads of the students, the pixies let go and each one zoomed off in a separate direction, and, as they flew, they changed into various colours of the rainbow. Blue, red, green, orange, indigo, the list went on, and the students let out gasps of delight at the beautiful, small creatures whizzing above them. But the show wasn't over yet. Harry flicked his wrist slightly and whispered, "Lignitro." And every single pixie zoomed towards him, still changing colours as they flew. They stopped about a metre above Harry's head, in clear view of everyone in the Hall, and they began to fly around and around in a giant circle going faster and faster until their separate colours merged into one and everything became a blur. But slowly, shapes began to appear in the blur and slowly, the shapes became letters. One by one, the letters appeared, until a sentence was formed from the tiny bodies of the colour-changing pixies. Each student read the sentence aloud.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY SEVERA."
The pixies hung suspended in mid air for a moment and then they zoomed off, doing one last lap of the Hall, before diving back into the box which was slowly changing from a glowing, luminous colour to yellow, to white, to grey and finally, to black. The lights returned in the Hall and each student blinked rapidly as they once again adjusted their eyes to the lights of the room. There was a moment of silence as Harry tied the ribbon around the black box and then someone began to clap. It was Severa, and she was followed closely by Ron, Hermione, Neville, Gryffindor. Soon everyone, with the exception of the sneering Slytherins, was clapping enthusiastically and Harry smiled. When the clapping died down and Harry had returned to his seat Dumbledore smiled at his students.
"Let the party begin!"
~*~
All four house tables were magically pushed against the walls and then the band began to play. Everyone was dancing, eating, talking and laughing and Harry was thoroughly enjoying himself when he heard a hesitant voice behind him. "Harry?" He turned around. It was Severa.
She inclined her head towards a more secluded spot in the Hall and the two of them walked towards it in silence.
"Harry," she began tentatively, "I. I just want to say that. that that was one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me. So. thank you." Severa looked away and when she looked back at him again, she had tears in her eyes. "Harry. I- I'm so sorry for getting you into trouble."
"Severa," Harry smiled, "It's not your fault, it's already forgotten. And I'm sorry for being so angry with you. You didn't deserve it. Now, are we friends again?"
Severa smiled brightly back at him. "We'll always be friends, Harry."
The two of them hugged and in the awkward silence that followed, Severa had a thoughtful expression on her face. "Harry," she began, "what are you doing for mid-term?"
~*~