Chapter 19: Resolution

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"O' What may man within him hide, 
though angel on the outward side!" 

-William Shakespeare

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Harry had begun reading almost as much as Hermione lately. Between studying for N.E.W.T.s, researching the Veil of Death, and
perusing some Defense books he thought might come in handy, Harry was spending hours each day with his nose in a book. One
afternoon, as Harry and Hermione were reading in the main common room, Ron bounded down the stairs carrying his broom.

"Hey Harry," he said excitedly, leaning on the back of Harry's armchair. "Wanna play some Quidditch?" 

"Er, not right now, Ron," he replied, flipping a page in the book. Ron sighed dramatically as his lankly form fell into the
chair beside Harry.

"C'mon mate, you've been reading forever," Ron complained. Hermione looked up from her book.

"Speaking of Quidditch, Ron," she began, and Harry noticed Ron's body tense up with anxiety. "When were you planning on posting
the results from tryouts?"

"Um, well... you see, I still haven't... well I really can't decide-" he stuttered.

"Ronald Weasley!" Hermione cried, snapping her book shut. "Don't tell me you've waited a week to post them just because you
didn't want me to find out I didn't make the team!"

"Yeah... that's pretty much exactly what happened," he confessed, looking a bit relieved that he didn't have to explain himself.
Hermione rolled her eyes.

"You know I was horrible at tryouts. I didn't expect to make it," she said, burying her face in the book again.

"No, Hermione, you were fine, really-" Ron tried.

"Did you see me when I almost flew into the goal post Ron, or did you miss that part?" she asked sarcastically. Harry tried
to cover up his chuckle with a cough, but the huge grin on his face gave it away. 

"Um yeah, well that..." Ron mumbled. Hermione laughed.

"It's not a big deal, Ron, really. It probably would have interfered too much with my studying." With that, she gathered her
books and walked back upstairs to her dormitory. Ron turned to Harry, his mouth gaping.

"Well if I would have known it was going to be that easy, I would have told her ages ago!" he cried in an exasperated voice.
"I guess I'll go post the team list now," he said, somewhat annoyed. After watching Ron climb the stairs, Harry slipped a
different book out of his backpack. He had been reading this one secretly for some time; it was one of the ones he had
checked out of the Restricted Section of the library, but it had nothing to do with the Veil of Death. It had to be the 
thickest book Harry had ever seen; he hauled it onto his lap and opened the cover, labeled A Complete Guide to Transfiguration,
and flipped to page 4,523, near the back. He now knew that page number by heart. It was the beginning of the chapter entitled
"Learn to become an animagi".

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A few days later, Ron managed to drag Harry, along with the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, out to the pitch for a 
grueling practice. Ron Weasley was quickly becoming the obsessive captain that Oliver Wood had once been; Harry watched him
with a sort of awe, seeing clearly the things he himself hadn't been able to do last year when he was Gryffindor's captain.

"All right team," Ron said to the group that gathered after nearly three hours of intense flying. "We're nearly done, just
one more thing-"

"But Ron, I'm exhausted," whined Euan Ambercrombie. "Can't we go yet?"

"No," Ron insisted. "We play Ravenclaw next week, and we're nowhere near ready-"

"We've been here since 8 AM!" Lavendar complained. "I'm hungry."

"Ten more minutes," Ron said firmly. "Now, why don't we try that formation from before; Sloper, you cover left field, Kirke,
you do right, Ginny cover the goal-" Lavendar grumbled something incomprehensible. Ginny sighed.

"I know. At least YOU don't have to live with him!" she whispered.

********************

Slytherin had played Ravenclaw earlier that week and won. Apprehensively, the Gryffindor team prepared for their game against
Ravenclaw; to even have a chance at the Cup, they would have to win against both Ravenclaw and Slytherin, both tough teams
this year. Slytherin was just as ruthless as usual in their gameplay, and the Ravenclaws had replaced the recently graduated 
Cho Chang with a full-figured brunette named Mandy Brocklehurst. 

The day of the game came quickly and Harry found himself walking out onto the Quidditch pitch amid screams from fans in the 
stands. The Gryffindor boys were goggling at Mandy's curvaceous figure, and as Harry overheard them make a comment about her, 
he thought of Rachel. His heart filled with sadness as he scanned the Hufflepuff crowd, knowing she wouldn't be there but hoping 
she was anyway. He was right; she wasn't. He halfheartedly mounted his broom as he heard Madam Hooch's whistle. 

Why did I have to think about her right now? Harry asked himself angrily, trying to push all thoughts of her from his
mind and concentrate on finding the Snitch. She's a traitor to the Order and she's chosen her side, it's the Dark side,
nothing I can do about it-
"HARRY!" Ginny screamed, pointing to his left. He whipped his head to that direction and saw the streaming brown hair of 
Mandy Brocklehurt as she flew straight down towards the glimmering Snitch. Pushing his broom as fast as he could go, Harry
raced after her, narrowly avoiding a Bludger and dodging another player. Hurry, hurry! he thought silently. He knew
he couldn't outrace her; she was too close. Instead, as he reached Brocklehurst, he flew out in front of her, causing her
to turn sharply and nearly fall off her broom. She glared at him, but Harry breathed a sigh of relief. The Snitch had
disappeared. 

However, the rest of the Gryffindor team wasn't doing quite so well. Ron was letting in goal after goal, and Harry knew that
if he didn't catch the Snitch soon, they were going to be in big trouble. He continued searching from above, flinching as he
heard the announcer call out "That's another goal for Ravenclaw, in the lead with 200 points; Gryffindor trails behind with
only 70...." Suddenly, Harry spotted the tell-tale glittering of the Snitch directly below him, almost on the ground. He
pulled his broom into a sharp dive and caught it easily, winning the game for Gryffindor. Mandy Brocklehurst, who had not
even seen the Snitch, was furious. Throwing her broom to the ground as she landed, she immediately got into a fight with
Roger Davies, the Ravenclaw captain. Ignoring the yells of triumph from the Gryffindor crowd, Harry retreated quietly into
the locker room and took a long hot shower. He was exhausted and angry with himself for thinking about Rachel.

Give up on her, he told himself as he turned off the tap and reached over to get a fluffy towel. She's abandoned
you. Harry sighed. But what if she's realizes she's wrong? Shouldn't I give her another chance? He thought about
this for a while, finally concluding that he should at least talk to her. Not knowing how she felt was killing him.

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As he entered the library to return some of his many books, Harry immediately noticed Rachel hunched over a table in the 
corner, studying. It's now or never, he thought, taking a deep breath. He walked boldly across the room and sat in 
the chair across from her. She didn't look up.

"Hello Rachel," he said, trying to keep his voice level. She glanced up at him before returning her eyes to the book she
was reading.

"Hello," she said coldly, continuing to ignore him. Harry leaned across the table to get closer to her.

"Rach, listen. I don't want you to be mad at me, can't we at least talk about this? Maybe there's something I don't understand,
but-"

"There are lots of things you'll never understand, Harry!" she said loudly, slamming her book shut. The noise echoed in the
nearly silent library. "Just leave me alone!" She stormed out of the door; Harry saw Madam Pince stalking towards him and hurriedly 
picked up his belongings to follow Rachel. He saw her walking quickly ahead of him towards the Hufflepuff common room.

"Rachel!" He called. "Rachel!" he said again, getting angry. He grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him, their eyes finally
meeting. Harry's heart skipped a beat as he stared into the light green orbs which had always held so much laughter and 
innocence, and found to his surprise that they still did. She hasn't changed, he thought, taking a deep breath. "Please,
I-I just want to talk to you," he said lamely. She sighed.

"Okay, so what are we talking about?" she asked listlessly, readjusting her backpack. "Hmmm?"

"I just wanted you to know that I thought about you today," he began quietly. "There's a lot going on in my life right now,
and I know there's a lot going on in yours too, and maybe this isn't a time for either of us to be involved with someone
romantically. But I hope we can still be friends. I still want to be able to talk to you," Harry finished, feeling as though
his speech had gone well. Rachel's expression softened. 

"I'm sorry," she said, staring at the ground. "I've been avoiding you and being immature and... well... of course we can be
friends." She looked up at him, waiting for a response.

"Thanks, Rach," he replied quietly, looking relieved. 

"Are you sure that's what you want to be - friends?" she spat out the last word bitterly.

"Unless you want to be something more," Harry said, shrugging as if it didn't matter. As if it doesn't matter.. of COURSE
it matters! he thought to himself angrily. What the bloody hell am I doing? I want to be with her, why am I acting like
this? He ran a hand through his hair nervously. But she's from a family of Death Eaters... she values them above me,
she's a traitor... but she's Rachel, she's beautiful... but I can't trust her... but I love her... Pulling himself away
from his contradictory thoughts, Harry found himself inches away from Rachel's face. Simultaneously, the two moved together 
and their lips met, sparking passion between them.

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That evening in the common room, Harry was reading a book when he heard an excited squeal behind him. 

"Harry!" Parvati called out, looking ecstatic. "I hear you and Rachel are back together!"

"Er, yeah... Who told you that?" he asked, blushing a deep red. Ron and Hermione looked on curiously; he hadn't told either
of them yet. 

"Well, Megan Jones saw you kissing each other in the hallway, and she told Lisa Turpin, who told Suzanne Fawcett, who told
Padma, who told me!" she squealed again. "I'm so happy for you two! You're such a cute couple!"

"Thanks," Harry mumbled. He gathered up his books and gestured for Ron and Hermione to follow him upstairs to the Heads'
common room.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Hermione demanded as soon as they were safely upstairs. 

"Well, because... I don't know, it just happened a few hours ago, and..."

"Does it matter if he told us?" Ron asked, shrugging. "We know now. It's not that important." Hermione crossed her arms,
looking worried.

"Watch out for her, Harry. I just have a bad feeling about this whole situation."

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Rachel joined her biological family for dinner the next evening. She had begun to visit more and more often, especially
for Sunday dinner; Hogwarts students usually weren't encouraged to leave that often, but after the attacks, keeping in 
touch with family had become more important and Dumbledore relaxed the rules. 

Rachel sat in the quiet dining room of her family's mansion, sipping her soup silently. Her two brothers, Armro and Audric,
were across from her, and her father sat at the head of the table. The house-elf came to refill their drinks and Mr. Marvolo
ordered him to bring the main course. Turning his attention back to the table, Marvolo rested his fingertips on his chin
and stared at Rachel with his pale green eyes. 

"So, I hear you're dating the famous Harry Potter," he said emotionlessly. Armro and Audric looked up in shock and exchanged
a wide-eyed glance.

"Erm, yes," Rachel mumbled, staring at the pure white tablecloth. "Is... is that okay, dad?"

"That's perfectly all right, dearest daughter," he replied idly. He did not express his inner joy at her confirmation.
A perfect position for us, he thought triumphantly. The Dark Lord will be pleased.
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I am SO sorry it's taken me forever to update! Too much homework =( 
Thank you for reading and please review!!

Thanks to my reviewers!!