The Fifth House
Disclaimer: I'm not making any money, I don't own Harry Potter or anything remotely related to that, and I'd really like to continue with my story, so forgive me for cutting the disclaimer at that.
Author Note: I've been very bad, not updating for two months. But, I did a very, very good thing. I took the time to read my entire fic, and mapped out practically the entire story. This means that, given the time, I'll be able to update more often. The story will also be easier to understand. However, time is a standing issue, what with summer, vacations, and a part-time job. But this will make the story much easier to write.
My apologies for the poor Latin translations, several people have noticed how terrible they are.
To Too Lazy to Log In or Nitpick: I don't know what website I used, but it wasn't a very good one, was it? I don't think I'll need any translations any time soon, but thanx anyway! It's really just the text translations, not the one-word ones, that I have the real issues with, I think. But next time I need Latin, I will be consulting your assistance. I'll have my people get in touch with your people.
Read.
Review.
Regurgitate! [Special thanx goes out to Damon A. for this R word! Donations to the 'R words R Us' fund will be happily accepted!]
Curtains Up!
Chapter Thirty-Four"Harry, you have to swear that nothing will happen to you between now and the 31st," Fred Weasley said to Harry at Quidditch practice one day.
"I swear," Harry promised. He couldn't let himself miss any more practices, let alone matches.
"Harry, if you die, I'll kill you," Fred told him.
Fred looked Harry square in the eyes for a long moment before grinning and shifting his gaze.
"Okay, team, let's practice!"
The practice went smoothly, with no injuries and hardly any wasted time, if you don't count George Weasley's idea of warming up by tossing around Quidditch balls that were bewitched to explode at human touch.
Harry noticed that the team played very well together this year, and felt bad about missing the first match. It wasn't as though he could have helped it, but he felt he owed it to the team to perform well.
"Good playing, everyone!" George Weasley said at the end of the practice. "Ravenclaw should be no problem."
Harry had to agree. The team had been playing better than any other year he could remember, even his third year, when they won the Cup.
"You look happy," Hermione, said to Harry when he walked into the common room.
"And he didn't every other day?" Ron asked Hermione.
Hermione looked at Harry, then back at Ron. "Not so much lately."
He'd never say it aloud, but Harry agreed.
"Well, anyway. I'm tired, so I'll see you two tomorrow," Hermione said, picking up her books.
"What? But what about my Potions essay?" Ron asked, appalled.
"What about it? Snape told us about that two days ago. Plus, it's only one and a half pages of parchment," Hermione said.
"And you won't let me copy yours, I'm guessing?" Ron said, trying hard to sound innocent, but failing miserably.
"Ron, I'm done with my homework. I help you every night. You need to start paying attention. We have O.W.L.s this year, you know!" Hermione said, looking thoroughly annoyed.
"Yes, but…they're months away…" Ron started.
"Fine! But this is the last time! And you're not getting my essay; I'm just lending you my notes. But this is the very last time I'm doing this for you," Hermione said, sounding more and more agitated every minute.
"Thank you Hermione," Ron said, trying to sound sweet and innocent.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Goodnight Ron. Goodnight Harry," she said before walking towards the staircase leading to the girl's dormitories.
"Well, that was interesting, wasn't it?" Ron asked Harry.
"You could say that," Harry said, hardly paying attention to what Ron was saying.
"I mean, yeah, we have the O.W.L.s, but those aren't for months!" Ron said, honestly not understanding why Hermione was being so uptight.
"Uh, yeah," Harry said.
"I mean, don't you agree?" Ron asked Harry.
"What?" said Harry, snapping out of a daze.
Ron looked at Harry for a minute.
"You alright there, mate?" he asked carefully.
"Yeah, I'm just tired from practice is all. I should probably get to bed," Harry said, standing up and gathering his books.
"But Harry- Snape's essay- it's due tomorrow!" Ron said.
"I'll do it at breakfast," Harry said, trying to stifle a yawn.
And with that, Harry slowly ascended the staircase leading to the boys' dorms, Ron looking very confused.
Harry lay awake in his bed that night, trying to figure out why he'd just told a bunch of lies to his best friend.
Harry was not all right, he wasn't tired from Quidditch practice, and chances are, he would not have time to complete his Potions essay the next morning.
He could have easily told Ron the truth, that he had a lot on his mind, but he thought Ron might ask what, exactly, he was thinking about.
And with all that's going on with Harry right now, hardly any of it would be easy to tell, even if Harry was at liberty to tell it.
Which, in many, many cases, he was not.
Harry was thinking about Terces, and thinking about the House Elves. He was almost certain that they had to be connected somehow.
There were several reasons for Harry's certainty. First, the castle could not function as well without the Elves there, it would just be a big mess, and would soon look like the ruin it was enchanted for Muggles to see it as. Second, causing this kind of trouble was exactly the kind of things Terces would do, tearing up the school from the inside out. And third, it was a distraction. A distraction that Harry knew Terces would use to begin their more original, destructive, plans, so that they could come into power silently. And hadn't Mundungus Fletcher said they were all for silence?
Yes, Harry had a lot on his mind. And the fact that this much made sense didn't do anything to alleviate the stress he was under already.
Terces, Quidditch, O.W.L.s, it was almost too much to handle.
Harry fell asleep that night grateful that he had told Ron anything but the truth.
"Ron, I need to see your Potions essay," Harry said the next morning in the common room.
Ron and Hermione looked at each other, and then at Harry, both looking very confused.
"Are- are you sure you want my essay?" Ron asked.
"Yes," Harry said, very sure of himself.
"Okay," said Ron, reaching into his bag and pulling out a few pieces of parchment, "But why?"
"Because you used Hermione's notes, meaning it must be correct, but, unlike Hermione, you won't give me as hard a time about borrowing it,' Harry explained.
Hermione and Ron looked at each other, and then looked at Harry, just as they had done moments before.
"Will you two quit doing that?" Harry asked, sounding a little annoyed and very tired.
Harry worked on the essay through all of breakfast, feverishly reading parts of Ron's essay and then trying to quickly paraphrase them out loud before hurriedly scribbling on his parchment. He never got around to eating anything during the meal, so he had to grab a piece of toast for the walk to the dungeons.
"I've been thinking," Hermione said while they were walking to Potions class.
"Hermione, you don't really need to say that. We know you're always thinking," Ron said.
"Unless she's reading," Harry said before taking a bite of toast.
Hermione rolled her eyes at the boys, and then continued.
"Well, anyway, about what you said last night Ron, about the O.W.L.s not being for months," Hermione said.
"And…?" Ron asked, trying to make her get to the point so that they could stop talking about schoolwork.
"I was getting to that. I realized that the professors probably start giving us a lot of work months before so that we'll have ample time to learn each concept well before moving on to the next. Then, by the time O.W.L.s come around, we'll really just be reviewing instead of trying to learn everything over," Hermione said proudly.
"Well, I guess it makes sense," Ron said, thinking about it.
"Of course it makes sense," Hermione said incredulously.
Harry smiled, feeling very happy that, for the moment at least, things seemed normal. The way they used to be.
Because Harry knew that things may never be that way again.
Curtains Close!
Author's Note: I am still unbelievably sorry this chapter took so long to get up. My computer had problems, I had tons of stuff to do before graduation, there was school, softball, tons of 'end of school year' events, plus a terrible, awful case of writer's block.
But I really am sorry.
On a happier note, has everyone heard the title of Book 6? Harry Potter and the Halfblood Prince. Should be interesting. I hope it'll end like the fourth book, with a ton of things you don't know, therefore giving us fanfiction authors lots of room to come up with good stories. OotP just answered most of the questions from GoF, which made me think that it didn't have any incredible ending. Book 5 was probably my least favorite.
Words of Wisdom: "All of this happened because you had the courage to imagine it first," W. Rodman Philbrick in The Last Book in the Universe
I'll try to update ASAP! I really will, I promise!
Please review!
I love you all!
Ciao!
Starry