Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. All I own is my CD collection, my copies of the five HP books, and my imagination. Do not sue.
Terrible Lie
By Saerry Snape
Chapter 3 – Darkness Creeping Out"You okay?" asked Ginny as she settled down next to Harry later. The dark-haired boy was staring out at the fields they were passing and didn't acknowledge her. She was about to move away when he finally spoke in a soft voice.
"It was my fault."
Ginny frowned and said, "What was?"
"Sirius," replied Harry, bowing his head. "I got him killed."
"Harry, no…"
"No," spat Harry, turning to look at her. "I did. I got him killed. If I hadn't gone to the Ministry, he'd never have followed, and he'd still be alive!" He then turned back towards the window and murmured, "Maybe it would have been better if I'd never been born."
A look of shock crossed Ginny's face and she felt a sudden urge to hug the boy beside her. So she did.
Harry stiffened at the contact, the nerves in his back screaming at the sudden memory of Uncle Vernon's belt. Even after five years of not having it whipped across his back, he still remembered those beatings. And so did his body.
Slowly, he forced himself to relax. He leaned into the offered embrace and whispered, "I'm sorry."
"For what?" asked Ginny, peering up at him.
Harry shrugged and replied, "I don't know. I figured I'd go ahead and apologize for anything else stupid I do this year."
Ginny chuckled softly at that.
"You never do anything without a reason. No need to apologize."
"I shouldn't let Malfoy get to me. You and Mione are right."
"Yeah, well," said Ginny, looking at the other side of the cab. Ron and Hermione had vanished long ago to the Prefect's car, leaving the two alone except for Hedwig. "I felt like punching him myself if that makes you feel any better."
Harry smiled and said, "Only a little."
"Better than none. What's up with the hair?"
"What?" asked Harry, glancing up at the wild mop.
"It's even wilder than before. And there's blue highlights in it."
"Really?"
"Yeah," said Ginny. "Its only in certain light but its there."
"Well," said Harry. "I never noticed that before. Weird." He then looked at his watch and jumped, hissing, "Aw, shite, we're nearly there!"
"How do you know?" asked Ginny, wondering when Harry had begun to curse as he hauled out his trunk. Harry held up his watch, of which the face the flashing 'Almost to Hogwarts!'
"Cool."
"Yeah," said Harry as he pulled out his robes. "Remus said…he said Sirius wanted me to have it."
Ginny smiled and gently laid a hand on his shoulder. She couldn't think of anything to say, so she just offered that gesture. Harry turned his head to smile at her and he patted her hand before he began to close his trunk. Just before the lid shut, Ginny swore she saw the edge of a Muggle contraption her father had shown her once.
"Was that a…er, oom mox?"
Harry gave her an amused look and said, "Boom box?"
"Yes! Dad can never pronounce things."
"I know."
Ginny frowned as he slid his trunk back underneath his seat. After a moment, she said, "But…Muggle electronics don't work in Hogwarts. Hermione's told me that too many…"
"…times for you to count," finished Harry. "Yeah, I know. Remus is actually quite good with machinery. With a little help from Tonks, he programmed it to work off a small amount of magical energy. Cool, huh?"
"So, now we have music?"
Harry just grinned at her then stood up to pull on his robe. He glanced at his watch again and said, "It says we need to hurry up."
"Five minutes until Hogsmeade station. All Hogwarts students please put on your robes. I repeat, five minutes until Hogsmeade station."
Ginny squeaked and scrabbled for her trunk whilst Harry watched in amusement. Two minutes later, the two of them were stepping down off the train. Ron and Hermione joined them as they weaved their way towards the spot where the 'horseless' carriages were.
Harry winced slightly as he saw the Thestrals. The horse-like creatures turned their heads towards him, white eyes glowing bright as the one closest to him nickered softly.
Ginny looked at him in confusion and he turned haunted green eyes towards her.
"Thestrals," was all he said, falling into an eerie quiet a moment later. Ginny squeezed his hand sympathetically, earning a dark scowl from Ron's direction.
The four of them climbed into a carriage in silence and stayed silent as the Thestrals attached to it carried them up towards the castle.
"Tuck in!" said Dumbledore after the Sorting had finished.
As Ron practically dove into the food that appeared, Hermione frowned down the table. Harry noticed it and said, "Mione?"
"Hmm?"
"Something wrong?"
Hermione turned to look at Harry, who was looking at her with one eyebrow arched slightly.
"Nothing's wrong," she said slowly. "But…do you recognize that girl?"
"Which one?" asked Harry, looking down the table. He caught sight of a pair of dark green eyes partially hidden by a cloud of wild, dark hair and continued, "Dark hair and green eyes?"
"Yes. I've never seen her before."
"Me neither. Ginny, what about you?"
"What?" asked Ginny, looking up from where she'd been watching her brother stuff his face in disgust.
"The girl down there," replied Harry. "Do you know her?"
Ginny looked down the table and shook her head slowly.
"No. She's not a first year."
"No, they're all sitting at the other end."
"So, who is she?" asked Hermione.
Harry shrugged and said, "That's the million dollar question, isn't it? I suppose we'll find out."
The moment he said that, Dumbledore stood up and called for attention again.
"Forgive me for my old mind, I have forgotten one important announcement. It seems that there is a new student among the second year Gryffindors." He nodded towards the scarlet table and continued, "Miss duMornè?"
The girl that Hermione had been wondering about stood up and walked up the aisle between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables. As Harry watched her go up to stand in front of the Head Table, he noticed that Snape was staring at the girl with what could only be shock on his pale face. Then black eyes locked with green and the Potions Master sneered at the Boy-Who-Lived.
Harry offered a scowl back then turned his attention back to the girl, who was shifting nervously from one foot to the other.
Dumbledore smiled and said, "Miss duMornè has been transferred from the Durmstrang Institute of Magic just this morning. I am charging the Gryffindor Prefects to show her to her classes and all of Gryffindor House to make her feel welcome." He smiled kindly at the girl, who returned the smile before returning to her seat.
As she walked back to her seat, Hermione stood up and leaned slightly across the table.
"Miss duMornè?"
The second year looked up in surprise and blinked at the older girl.
"Um…yes?"
"I'm Hermione Granger, sixth year Prefect. If you want, I could show you to your classes."
The girl's face broke into a gentle smile and Harry, who was watching the exchange, felt an odd sense of recognition.
"That'd be great." She then extended her hand, which was covered by a glove much like Harry's own, and said, "I'm Trish."
Hermione took the offered hand and just before Trish began to move back to her seat, Harry spoke up.
"If you want, you could sit with us."
Trish looked at him in surprise and was silent for a moment before she began, "No, I couldn't…"
"Sure, you can," piped Ginny, shoving Ron over so she could make room for the younger girl. The redhead objected to the movement but no one could understand what he said through the mound of potatoes in his mouth.
On the other side of the table, Hermione grimaced and Harry laughed as he said, "Ron, don't talk with food in your mouth."
"S'ry," mumbled Ron as Trish sat down nervously. Beside her, Ginny smiled warmly and tried to ignore her older brother.
"Hi, I'm Ginny Weasley. And the face-feeding lump behind me is my brother, Ron."
"En-u," mumbled Ron in what might have been a gross maiming of 'hello'.
Trish smiled and said, "Nice to meet you."
"Harry Potter," offered Harry as she turned her gaze towards him. Her eyes widened and for a moment he thought she was going to look at his scar but no. What she said surprised them all.
"Oh! You're the one who started the Defense group last year against Ministry rules!"
All four of them stared at her after she said this.
"How'd you know about that?" gasped Ginny.
Trish smiled and replied, "I've had a pen pal here at Hogwarts since I was seven."
"Who?"
"Draco Malfoy."
Ron began to cough and ended up spewing potatoes across the table. Harry wiped a few off his face then turned a furious look on his friend.
"Sorry, mate," mumbled Ron as Hermione jabbed her wand at Harry's robes, cleaning the potatoes off.
Harry flicked a piece of potato missed off his sleeve then looked curiously at Trish.
"Could you repeat that name?"
Trish looked confused and said, "Draco Malfoy?"
Ron hissed and Harry's expression turned cold. Trish looked at Hermione and Ginny, who also had expressions of dislike on their faces.
"What's wrong?"
"Malfoy's a complete ass, that's what," snarled Ron.
"With less tact than you," commented Hermione.
"Yeah," agreed Ron until he realized what she'd said. "Oi!"
"I'd have to agree, Ron," said Harry with a laugh. "You don't have any tact."
"Oh, like you do?"
Harry just grinned annoyingly then turned to look at Trish.
"So…what sort of things has our dear, dear Malfoy said about us? Is he plotting to kill us?"
Trish just laughed and cried, "What? Draco'd never to that."
"Are we talking about the same Malfoy?" asked Ron.
"Maybe he has a good twin who stays home," supplied Harry.
"Stop that!" said Trish. "He's really nice to me. He even speaking well about you." She nodded at Harry as she said this, causing Ginny's jaw to drop.
"No," gasped Ron, "say it's not so."
"Now I know we're not talking about the same Malfoy," muttered Harry.
"I swear he does!"
"Why the insults then?" asked Hermione. "Why does he go out of his way to throw things in our faces?"
"Well, he's a Slytherin, isn't he?" said Trish. "And there's a rivalry between their House and yours…I mean, ours."
"Yeah," said Ron. "So?"
"So…he's a Death Eater's son, right? He's got to keep up appearances. Can't go making friends with Muggleborns or the Boy-Who-Lived, now can he?"
"I'm really beginning to hate that title," snarled Harry.
Trish smiled in a sympathetic way and continued, "He's really a nice guy. You've just got to get past his guard."
"With a sword?" asked Ron, earning an elbow in his ribs from Ginny. "Ow…"
Their conversation about Malfoy turned to talk of Dumbledore's Army, which was the line of conversation until Dumbledore stood and announced the singing of the school song. Harry and Ron grinned at each other and broke into a slow funeral march like Fred and George did in their first year. Ginny joined them with a bouncy beat, while Hermione settled for slow and smooth. Trish just laughed and joined Harry and Ron in their march, her voice an octave above theirs.
The three Gryffindors were the last one's singing and Dumbledore continued to conduct them with his wand until the end. Then he clapped his hands together and sent everyone off to bed. Hermione and Ron left to take charge of the first years, leaving Harry and Ginny with Trish.
"C'mon," said Harry to the two girls and grabbed their hands, pulling them along through the crowd.
None of them noticed a pair of dark eyes following them.
"Wicked," breathed Trish as the three of them entered the Gryffindor common room. Hermione had told Harry earlier what the password was and he'd had to laugh.
It was 'Dumbledore's Army'.
"Nice, eh?" said Harry, smiling down at the younger girl. For some reason, he felt an odd affinity towards her. And a sense of recognition that kept buzzing at the back of his mind.
"I suppose I'll continue the tour on from here?" said Ginny, looking up at the older boy.
Harry just grinned and joked, "Flee, my minions! Go and frolic as you will!"
Trish and Ginny laughed before the redhead lead the dark-haired girl towards the girl's staircase. Harry watched them go for a moment before he made his way up towards the sixth year boy's dorm. As he climbed the steps, the jovial young man of earlier was replaced by the darker youth who had attacked Draco Malfoy. The shadows seemed to surround him as he climbed the stairs, their darkness flowing smoothly in his wake.
When he reached the dorm, Harry entered and pulled off his robes, revealing the clothes he'd been wearing earlier. On the windowsill, Hedwig gave a gentle hoot before she launched herself at her master. Harry silently offered her his arm and stroked her snowy feathers. After a moment, he settled on the end of his bed and laid back. Hedwig's weight shifted from his arm to his chest and the snowy owl hooted softly.
"Well, here we are again, Hed," said Harry softly. "Back at Hogwarts. Home."
The word 'home' seemed to ring through the room and Hedwig hooted nervously, shifting on her master's chest. Harry stilled her shifting with his hand and turned to look out the window at the night sky, wondering what Voldemort was going to throw at him this year.