A/N: Nearing the end of the story, now, only a few chapters left I think. .
. =(
Chapter 40: The Sighting of the Snake
Nora watched Hermione sob for five minutes with sympathy, while Harry and Ron looked very sullen at the ground and Dumbledore and the teachers cleaned up the Ballroom with their wands. After receiving a little squeeze in her hand from Draco, Nora slowly took her hand out of his and moved a step backwards. Draco looked at her, a slight frown on his face. Nora tilted her head to the side a little as she watched him wonder what was wrong with her now.
"I think maybe we shouldn't get too close, now that Hermione's feeling so miserable of never seeing Terry again, as well as Harry and Ron about Parvati and Lavender," she whispered. A mild anger blazed inside Draco. What, he was finally with the girl he loved and now he couldn't be with her just because it might upset three people who have been together with their loved ones for a whole entire year, while he had suffered unmentionable pain every freaking night for even more than a year, thinking he'd never be able to be with Nora!? Oh, the selfishness of some people! But, as he thought that, he realized that he was being selfish as well. It wasn't too much trouble to just hold back for a while, at least he and Nora could always hide in a broom closet of some sort and make out when they felt like snogging. So Draco sighed and nodded.
"Thanks," whispered Nora and she made to give him a kiss, before remembering what they had just decided and instead whispering, 'I love you' before walking slowly to Hermione, fidgeting nervously with her dress that had been specially made for the feast, which, all in all, had been one of the better feasts they'd ever attended, except for the ending. Draco just stood still in one place as Nora tried to make Hermione feel a bit better and while Harry and Ron were glaring gloomily around the Ballroom.
Dumbledore and the teachers finished tidying up and most of them left without another word, not wanting to disturb the students even more, but some of them, like Professors McGonagall and, for some reason, Snape, walked over to every one of the five and wished them good luck with sorrow in their eyes, for was it really the right thing to do to have such young children fight in the Second War? Would it not ruin the future of their lives if they were to survive, and would it not be horrible murder if they did not? And when on earth did things become so complicated? Too many questions swirled through their minds, clouding and fogging everything, so that thinking clearly was almost impossible, but it was Dumbledore, of course, who knew exactly how to help these children forget, even if it was for a short while.
"Now, you five have mastered defending yourselves, but you still have to learn how to attack, because that will be the most important thing during the Second War," he began. "Which is why we are going outside right away to learn some spells and charms that have proved themselves highly useful to many, including myself. Professors McGonagall and Snape will observe and help if they find it necessary. Just follow me," he said and Dumbledore walked out of the Ballroom with McGonagall and Snape as Nora helped Hermione up and joined Harry, Ron and Draco.
"Wait, sir," panted Nora, trying to keep up with Dumbledore and still supporting Hermione at the same time.
"Yes, Ms. Glassyd?" asked Dumbledore, turning around. Nora looked down and indicated at her dress.
"How on earth are we supposed to fight if we're dressed like this?" she asked. Dumbledore slapped his forehead.
"I completely forgot. Well, you five change into some normal clothes and meet me, McGonagall and Snape in the clearing in front of the castle when you're all set and ready to go," he told them. Nora smiled and Disapparated to her room, taking Hermione, who needed some comfort, and help, with her. Nora changed into shorts and a tube-top first and, after putting on her sneakers as well, she walked Hermione into her own room and forced her to change clothes as well. When both of them were completely dressed and ready to go, Hermione plopped down on her bed. Nora rolled her eyes, before realizing she must have been that irritating, or even worse, as well when she and Draco had split up.
"Look, 'Mione," she began, sitting down next to her friend. "You'll see Terry again, I promise." Hermione snorted.
"Yeah, right."
"No, really. I mean it. You'll survive the Second War, I just know you will. And if not, well, you know you'll see him some day again. . . but, no, you'll totally survive and live to see Terry again. Mark my words," Nora told her. Hermione shrugged. "And if you actually want to survive, you've got to stop acting so silly and come down with me so we can study some curses to shoot at the Death Eaters," Nora added. Hermione chuckled.
"I guess. But you promise I'll see Terry again?" Nora nodded.
"Yup. I totally swear you'll see him again. Come on, cheer up. I need you, remember?" Hermione chuckled again.
"All right. But only because you'll completely fall apart without me," she said grinning, though the sadness was clear in her eyes. The two girls gave each other a hug before Apparating onto the clearing where, strangely enough, they were before Harry, Ron and Draco, who arrived five minutes later. Dumbledore smiled when all of the five were present and he cleared his throat. McGonagall and Snape stood to the side.
"The first spells we're going to practice are the simple ones you've learned long ago: the four-point spell, Expelliarmus, Accio, and Stupefy and Enervate. I want you all to form a line and, one at a time, perform those spells on me in the order I just said," Dumbledore explained. Harry, who had been closest, was at the front of the line and he took a few steps closer to his headmaster.
"Point me," said Harry as he held his wand on the palm of his hand. His wand spun around and stopped, pointing to the left. Harry then held his wand the right way and pointed it at Dumbledore. "Expelliarmus!" he yelled and Dumbledore's wand, which had been raised as well, flew out of his hand, as the old man smiled. "Accio!" The headmaster's wand flew into Harry's hand, coming from somewhere to the right. "Stupefy!" he shouted next and the red flash of light that had shot out of his wand hit Dumbledore in the chest and he keeled over backwards, landing softly on the ground, which surprised Harry; he had expected a loud crash of some sort. "Enervate," he said and his headmaster awoke.
"Ah, very well done, Harry. Very well done, indeed," he said as he got up and brushed off his robes. Harry smiled, but felt a little awkward with cursing the old man and knocking him out.
When the five students had all flawlessly cast the five basic spells on their headmaster they moved on to the basic jinxes and charms.
"First we will try the Patronus charm, again, something you should be able to do without any effort," Dumbledore told them and with a wave of his wand it grew dark and a hundred Dementors towered over them, leaving no room to escape. Harry wondered how on earth Dumbledore had gotten all of these soul-suckers, and if the old man had lost his mind, but he quickly shouted, "Expecto Patronum," upon hearing a woman's scream echoing through his head. His silver stag cantered around and charged at the nearest Dementors, one of which bumped into another one, causing a domino effect. Harry chuckled; Of course they were Boggarts, Dumbledore would never endanger them with real Dementors. He looked around and saw the Patronus' of the others' charging down the Boggarts as well.
"Good, very good. I knew this wouldn't be difficult for you," said Dumbledore, applauding them as the sky turned light blue again and the sun came back into view. "Now we will practice the Impediment Jinx, which will slow down opponents, objects or spells, and obstruct them. You may all practice on me again." They practiced the Impediment Jinx five times, and al the while they performed exceptionally well, having already learned it.
"The Jelly-legs jinx you all probably know as well. It will make your opponents legs wobbly. I will be your guinea pig." All went perfectly well as they practiced the jelly-legs jinx, Rictusempra, a tickling curse, Tarantallegra, a dancing spell, and Petrificus Totalus, which binds the arms and legs together of your opponent, for which they used Professor Snape, since Dumbledore was a bit too old to be falling on the ground so much.
"Next we will learn the Mobilarbus, to move objects, and the Mobilicorpus, to move people, spells. These shouldn't be too hard," said Dumbledore and he was right. The spells were amazingly easy, partially because they already knew them, and also because Dumbledore was an easy target, just standing still. After that they had a hard time with the Furnunculus curse, which causes boils, which wouldn't go away as easily as they had thought. It wasn't until Professor McGonagall, after having recovered from the smile that had appeared on her face, she apparently didn't laugh very much, cast the counter curse, which Dumbledore had 'forgotten', that Professor Snape was able to become boil-less again.
The Reductor curse came next, with which you could blast apart solid objects. Ron had hopefully asked if they could cast it on the castle and stay somewhere else from then on, but Dumbledore had replied they needed the castle for protection, leaving Ron rather disgruntled. The Reductor curse was harder than they had expected. Apparently, if you didn't cast it with enough force, the spell just bounded off of the object you were aiming at and come shooting right back to you, knocking you off your feet, as Nora, Hermione and Ron knew all too well.
Deletrius was a spell that, like the Reductor curse, could cause objects to completely fall apart, and Ron had hopefully asked if they could practice this spell on the castle, but Dumbledore's answer was the same. Fortunately, this spell did not bound back to the caster if it was too weak, but it would not have much on the object it was cast on, either.
The last one of the main spells, curses or jinxes was the Shield Charm which was highly useful, but if not cast forcefully enough, easily broken and therefore rather useless. Hermione, especially, was having a lot of trouble trying to cast one strong enough to resist Dumbledore's spells. It was not until an hour or two later that they were finally able to keep a strong shield up for a long time.
"Now," said Dumbledore, wiping his forehead. The sun was shining brightly above them and there was not a cloud inside. Professors McGonagall and Snape had seated themselves on the fresh, green grass and continued to watch the five being taught. "The next spells will be much harder, and are N.E.W.T level or even higher. The first one we will practice is the Replacio spell. It switches the caster with its opponent and is used a lot when the opponent has just fired a curse. This way he is hit by his own spell. Pair up and I will work with Harry." Harry walked over to Dumbledore, wiping the sweat that was trickling down his forehead, away.
The Replacio spell was as hard as Dumbledore had said it would be, and quite scary as well, because before they were able to switch bodies completely, they only switched body parts, which resulted in Harry switching an arm with Dumbledore, Nora switching hair with Hermione and, even worse, Ron switching heads with Draco. Professor Snape laughed at that one; so Ron sent a Furnunculus curse his way. Professor Snape cried at that one. Well, not really, but he was pretty furious with Ron. An hour later the five were rather good in the Replacio spell and they moved on to something else: the Peace of Silence curse. Dumbledore explained that this spell was a most dangerous and eerie one, for it prevented the opponent from hearing anything at all, leaving them rather alone. The five students thought their headmaster was rather right in saying the Peace of Silence was uncanny. You heard completely nothing, even though you could see others speaking, and it made you get slightly desperate to hear something, anything at all. Thus they were not at all surprised to hear that people, on whom this spell had been cast, went insane after a while.
"That was the last curse for today. Tomorrow we will continue learning more spells, and the most important one of all: the Avada Kedavra curse. You will all need it during the Second Battle, if we want to win. Now go and have fun for the rest of the day," said Dumbledore, smiling sorrowfully at the five students. Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape got up off of the grass and followed the headmaster inside, ready to discuss the Second War, no doubt.
"So what do we do now?" asked Ron, looking at his friends, all of who shrugged. The five of them plopped down on the grass, to tired and warm to do anything at all.
"I wonder when the Second War starts," said Harry, lying down on his back and looking up at the sky. The others followed his example and they now lay with their heads together, just resting.
"I don't know. But I hope soon, so these butterflies can finally vanish," replied Nora, unconsciously rubbing her stomach where the little annoying bugs were fluttering energetically, as they usually did when she was reminded of what was waiting for them.
"Wow, remember first year?" said Ron. "When we had no idea of the dangers that would await us?"
"Yeah," replied the others, sighing.
"That really was a long time ago," muttered Hermione. "I wonder, at the beginning of 7th year, who will be there, and who won't."
"You'll be there for sure, I promised you you'd be," replied Nora. "But the other students, I don't know. Death Eaters could be killing them and their families this very moment."
"Thanks for the reminder," muttered Ron.
"It's the truth," replied Nora, squeezing Draco's hand without really knowing it.
"Do any of you believe that dead people can visit you in your dreams?" asked Harry quietly. There was a stressed silence for a moment. "Never mi-" he began but Nora cut him off.
"I do."
"Really?" he asked, leaning on his elbow to look at her over Ron. Nora nodded, turning her head to look at him. "Why?"
"Dean," she replied simply. "Why?" Harry shrugged and looked at the sky for some reason.
"Sirius," he answered. "He told me a while ago one of us would die unless something changed."
"What!?" exclaimed Nora, Ron and Draco.
"And you never told us!?" asked Ron.
"I didn't want to worry you guys, and it kind of left my mind after a while."
"Well, you still could have told us," said Nora, looking sternly at him. Harry gazed down at his hands a bit shamefully.
"Don't be so harsh on him," interrupted Hermione. "I didn't tell you guys either, did I?" Harry and Ron gaped at her.
"I never told you," blurted Harry, but Hermione had already begun explaining about the Amulet of Era's. When she was done it was silent again for a while as they continued to lie down on their backs, watching the sun move around the sky, slowly setting, as the sky gradually became redder and redder.
"So, anyone, Truth of Dare," said Ron after a while.
"Truth," replied Harry automatically. Ron grinned; someone had agreed to the game.
"How long have you fancied Parvati?" he asked.
"Erm. . . I don't really know. . . end of 5th year, I guess."
"Ok, now you ask someone."
"Truth or Dare, Hermione."
"Truth."
"When on earth did you get together with Terry?"
"Beginning of 6th year," she replied. "Nora, Truth or Dare."
"Truth."
"When did you realize you were beginning to like Draco?"
"Erm. . . I think it was after the first time we kissed, during the trip." Harry and Ron whooped and whistled, causing Nora to blush. "Ron, truth or dare," she said, trying to get them to be quiet.
"Dare," answered Ron, proud he was the only one who hadn't chosen truth.
"I dare you to, er. . . go get us some food," said Nora, after her stomach gave a rather loud growl. Ron grinned and Disapparated, arriving five minutes later with a large and fully filled tray of food. The five of them sat up straight and around the tray, so they could all reach.
"All right, Hermione. Truth or Dare," said Ron while chewing on some chicken.
"Truth," replied Hermione, smiling sweetly at Ron who looked a bit disgruntled.
"Oh, well, then. . . er. . . all right, I can't think of anything else so: have you ever had feelings for anyone of us here and if so, who?" asked Ron, not looking too happy with his truth question.
"Yes," replied Hermione simply.
"Who?" asked Nora, frowning.
"Draco." The other four goggled at her.
"Well, I sure am popular with the ladies," said Draco, smirking.
"Oh, don't cheer too soon, my perverted little friend," Nora told him. Draco glared at her. "Hermione didn't have feelings for you, or she'd have told me. . . right?" added Nora uncertainly.
"No, I did have feelings for Draco," Hermione told her. Draco grinned. "Loathing." Draco frowned. Nora laughed.
"Hmpf," he muttered. Harry and Ron both gave a small sigh of relief.
"Draco, Truth or Dare," said Hermione.
"Dare," he replied.
"Ok. I dare you to tell us for how long you liked Nora."
"What? You can't do that, can you? I might as well have chosen truth," said Draco indignantly. Hermione grinned evilly.
"Then why didn't you?" she asked.
"Because I knew I'd get this kind of questions," muttered Draco.
"So?" asked Ron.
"Yeah, just answer it," agreed Harry.
"Yeah, don't be silly, Draco. I wanna know for how long you've liked me as well," Nora told him. Draco looked around, somehow trying to escape from answering that question. Maybe if he Disapparated. But, no, they'd find him sooner or later.
"Fine," said Draco, raising his hands in surrender when the others had begun to chant, "tell us, tell us, tell us." "You want to know how long I've liked her?" the others nodded eagerly. "Since fourth year."
"What?" said Nora frowning. "How come you never told me?"
"Well, it's not that big a deal, is it?" replied Draco.
"Wow, you've had a secret admirer for about two years and you didn't even know it," said Ron laughing.
"That's the whole point of secret admirers, Ron. You're not supposed to know," Hermione told him. "Besides, you never knew Millicent Bulstrode thought you were cute." Ron's look of glee immediately turned into one of horror.
"AARGH! Millicent Bulstrode!?" he asked terrified. Hermione and Nora nodded, smiling sweetly.
"Right," said Harry. "Who's next, Draco?"
"Oh, er. . . what?" he asked, completely confused. He hadn't been paying attention to the conversation, but instead watching Nora.
"Who's next?" repeated Harry.
"Nora, truth or dare."
"Dare," she replied, though not at all liking the glint that had appeared in his eye.
"Very good choice," he told her. Nora backed a way a little.
"Why?" she asked uncertainly.
"Because I dare you to kiss me," he said, a big smile on his face. Nora laughed softly, looking into his beautiful eyes.
"We'll be back in five minutes," she told the others before grabbing Draco's hand and Disapparating.
The five minutes turned out to be fifteen, during which Ron had gone to the kitchens for more food again.
"Welcome back!" he said, chewing on some toast, when Nora and Draco appeared again. The two just grinned, a little out of breath.
"All right, Harry, truth or dare."
"Well, dare, I guess," he said.
The truth or dare game went on for the rest of the evening, during which Nora and Draco were dared to snog each other 5 more times, all of those dares submitted by Draco. Ron went to go get some food again every half hour and Hermione was dared to do all sorts of 'wild' things, like running around pretending to be a chicken, just to prove she wasn't an uptight bookworm like the years before.
When night had fallen the five lay back down on their backs and watched the stars, discussing the Second War, before falling asleep, not at all feeling chilly since the air was comfortably warm that night.
~*~*~*~
A chilly breeze swept over the castle, rustling the leaves of trees as it past the forest and over the five students, who still lay snuggled up together out on the meadow. Another gust of wind rushed by, rounded the Quidditch Pitch, and came back, grass bending over as the strong breeze passed. Birds flew twittering frightened out of the forest in a sudden movement and they continued to screech as they circled the open area. Harry and Draco both jerked up and they looked around terrified before daring to look at each other.
It was weird. Everything looked normal, but the feeling they had was everything but. It was the feeling of knowing something was going to happen, but not knowing what caused it, for the sun was shining brightly above them and there were only a few clouds in the sky. . . perhaps it was the strong chilly wind that kept rushing past them, or the constant anxious chirping of the birds that circled high above them. They knew something was very wrong today. It was weird.
"What's that?" whispered Draco, straining his ears to hear. Harry looked at him questioningly, but Draco raised a finger to his lips. "There." And Harry had heard it as well. A rustling sound, coming from the forest. They kept straining to hear anything else, but with the constant howling of the wind it was almost impossible to hear anything else. Neither of the boys dared to move. They feared that if they did, something, or someone, would know they were there, like the feeling you sometimes get when you're in bed and it's so dark and silent you hardly dare to breathe, let alone move.
"Should we wake the others?" asked Harry quietly. They both looked at the other three who were still fast asleep, but Draco noticed a tear slowly making its way down Nora's cheek. He gently brushed it away and she opened her tear filled eyes and looked into his, before gazing up at the sky, hoping to find some sort of comfort in it, or assurance that they'd live. The stormy wind lay down shortly and in those few seconds they could all clearly hear a loud rustling. Draco recognized it in fear from the day when Nymphirah had followed him into her death.
"It's Nagini!" he whispered distraughtly, as the wind picked up again. Harry nodded, his expression fearful. Nora sat up straight.
"Voldemort's snake?" she asked, her voice trembling. Draco nodded as Harry tried to wake Ron. Nora followed his lead and shook Hermione awake, indicating her to be quiet the moment she opened her eyes.
"Oh, god. It's begun, hasn't it?" whispered Hermione frightened, sitting up with Ron, tears forming in her eyes. The five students sat there, not knowing what to do. Had Nagini detected them yet? Could they risk fleeing? None of them knew, and they didn't dare to make a single sound, fearing it'd lead Voldemort's snake straight to them. Chills ran down their spines as the force and coldness of the wind picked up even more. Voldemort had found them in the end and they still hadn't learned everything they needed to know to be able to fight him. . . but this was the beginning of the Second War, wasn't it?
A/N: Well, if this chapter isn't very good, blame the cold and throat ache I've got. I've been coughing and sneezing all day. =( But I hope you guys liked it. I'll try to make the next chapter longer. Review please. =D
Ted M. Hammett – I already sent you an e-mail about my story, in which I explained a bit about it. Thank you for reading, or trying to, at least, and reviewing.
Athena_Kitty – Thank you for reading and Reviewing.
Kat – Thanks for the warning. I'll go back and see if I can make Dumbledore a bit more Dumbledore-like, but I might just leave it. . . I don't know yet, but I'll see what I can do. Thanks for reading and reviewing. =D
Dumbeldave – Thanks for the very encouraging words. I still can't believe there's someone who likes my story so much, lol. Thanks for having faith in me! And thanks for reading and reviewing as well. =D
Skins Thunderbomb – Glad you liked my dress idea. It really would be cool if we'd be able to do that in real life, wouldn't it? No more worries about finding the perfect clothes *sigh* and I will e-mail you, if I ever need any more help. Thanks for reading and reviewing. =D (I think the plot bunnies you sent me are still hopping around somewhere, I just can't find them, yet. Oh, wait! Yes! I see one! No, never mind. . . just my real rabbit. . . =D hmmm, you can see it's pretty late.)
Chapter 40: The Sighting of the Snake
Nora watched Hermione sob for five minutes with sympathy, while Harry and Ron looked very sullen at the ground and Dumbledore and the teachers cleaned up the Ballroom with their wands. After receiving a little squeeze in her hand from Draco, Nora slowly took her hand out of his and moved a step backwards. Draco looked at her, a slight frown on his face. Nora tilted her head to the side a little as she watched him wonder what was wrong with her now.
"I think maybe we shouldn't get too close, now that Hermione's feeling so miserable of never seeing Terry again, as well as Harry and Ron about Parvati and Lavender," she whispered. A mild anger blazed inside Draco. What, he was finally with the girl he loved and now he couldn't be with her just because it might upset three people who have been together with their loved ones for a whole entire year, while he had suffered unmentionable pain every freaking night for even more than a year, thinking he'd never be able to be with Nora!? Oh, the selfishness of some people! But, as he thought that, he realized that he was being selfish as well. It wasn't too much trouble to just hold back for a while, at least he and Nora could always hide in a broom closet of some sort and make out when they felt like snogging. So Draco sighed and nodded.
"Thanks," whispered Nora and she made to give him a kiss, before remembering what they had just decided and instead whispering, 'I love you' before walking slowly to Hermione, fidgeting nervously with her dress that had been specially made for the feast, which, all in all, had been one of the better feasts they'd ever attended, except for the ending. Draco just stood still in one place as Nora tried to make Hermione feel a bit better and while Harry and Ron were glaring gloomily around the Ballroom.
Dumbledore and the teachers finished tidying up and most of them left without another word, not wanting to disturb the students even more, but some of them, like Professors McGonagall and, for some reason, Snape, walked over to every one of the five and wished them good luck with sorrow in their eyes, for was it really the right thing to do to have such young children fight in the Second War? Would it not ruin the future of their lives if they were to survive, and would it not be horrible murder if they did not? And when on earth did things become so complicated? Too many questions swirled through their minds, clouding and fogging everything, so that thinking clearly was almost impossible, but it was Dumbledore, of course, who knew exactly how to help these children forget, even if it was for a short while.
"Now, you five have mastered defending yourselves, but you still have to learn how to attack, because that will be the most important thing during the Second War," he began. "Which is why we are going outside right away to learn some spells and charms that have proved themselves highly useful to many, including myself. Professors McGonagall and Snape will observe and help if they find it necessary. Just follow me," he said and Dumbledore walked out of the Ballroom with McGonagall and Snape as Nora helped Hermione up and joined Harry, Ron and Draco.
"Wait, sir," panted Nora, trying to keep up with Dumbledore and still supporting Hermione at the same time.
"Yes, Ms. Glassyd?" asked Dumbledore, turning around. Nora looked down and indicated at her dress.
"How on earth are we supposed to fight if we're dressed like this?" she asked. Dumbledore slapped his forehead.
"I completely forgot. Well, you five change into some normal clothes and meet me, McGonagall and Snape in the clearing in front of the castle when you're all set and ready to go," he told them. Nora smiled and Disapparated to her room, taking Hermione, who needed some comfort, and help, with her. Nora changed into shorts and a tube-top first and, after putting on her sneakers as well, she walked Hermione into her own room and forced her to change clothes as well. When both of them were completely dressed and ready to go, Hermione plopped down on her bed. Nora rolled her eyes, before realizing she must have been that irritating, or even worse, as well when she and Draco had split up.
"Look, 'Mione," she began, sitting down next to her friend. "You'll see Terry again, I promise." Hermione snorted.
"Yeah, right."
"No, really. I mean it. You'll survive the Second War, I just know you will. And if not, well, you know you'll see him some day again. . . but, no, you'll totally survive and live to see Terry again. Mark my words," Nora told her. Hermione shrugged. "And if you actually want to survive, you've got to stop acting so silly and come down with me so we can study some curses to shoot at the Death Eaters," Nora added. Hermione chuckled.
"I guess. But you promise I'll see Terry again?" Nora nodded.
"Yup. I totally swear you'll see him again. Come on, cheer up. I need you, remember?" Hermione chuckled again.
"All right. But only because you'll completely fall apart without me," she said grinning, though the sadness was clear in her eyes. The two girls gave each other a hug before Apparating onto the clearing where, strangely enough, they were before Harry, Ron and Draco, who arrived five minutes later. Dumbledore smiled when all of the five were present and he cleared his throat. McGonagall and Snape stood to the side.
"The first spells we're going to practice are the simple ones you've learned long ago: the four-point spell, Expelliarmus, Accio, and Stupefy and Enervate. I want you all to form a line and, one at a time, perform those spells on me in the order I just said," Dumbledore explained. Harry, who had been closest, was at the front of the line and he took a few steps closer to his headmaster.
"Point me," said Harry as he held his wand on the palm of his hand. His wand spun around and stopped, pointing to the left. Harry then held his wand the right way and pointed it at Dumbledore. "Expelliarmus!" he yelled and Dumbledore's wand, which had been raised as well, flew out of his hand, as the old man smiled. "Accio!" The headmaster's wand flew into Harry's hand, coming from somewhere to the right. "Stupefy!" he shouted next and the red flash of light that had shot out of his wand hit Dumbledore in the chest and he keeled over backwards, landing softly on the ground, which surprised Harry; he had expected a loud crash of some sort. "Enervate," he said and his headmaster awoke.
"Ah, very well done, Harry. Very well done, indeed," he said as he got up and brushed off his robes. Harry smiled, but felt a little awkward with cursing the old man and knocking him out.
When the five students had all flawlessly cast the five basic spells on their headmaster they moved on to the basic jinxes and charms.
"First we will try the Patronus charm, again, something you should be able to do without any effort," Dumbledore told them and with a wave of his wand it grew dark and a hundred Dementors towered over them, leaving no room to escape. Harry wondered how on earth Dumbledore had gotten all of these soul-suckers, and if the old man had lost his mind, but he quickly shouted, "Expecto Patronum," upon hearing a woman's scream echoing through his head. His silver stag cantered around and charged at the nearest Dementors, one of which bumped into another one, causing a domino effect. Harry chuckled; Of course they were Boggarts, Dumbledore would never endanger them with real Dementors. He looked around and saw the Patronus' of the others' charging down the Boggarts as well.
"Good, very good. I knew this wouldn't be difficult for you," said Dumbledore, applauding them as the sky turned light blue again and the sun came back into view. "Now we will practice the Impediment Jinx, which will slow down opponents, objects or spells, and obstruct them. You may all practice on me again." They practiced the Impediment Jinx five times, and al the while they performed exceptionally well, having already learned it.
"The Jelly-legs jinx you all probably know as well. It will make your opponents legs wobbly. I will be your guinea pig." All went perfectly well as they practiced the jelly-legs jinx, Rictusempra, a tickling curse, Tarantallegra, a dancing spell, and Petrificus Totalus, which binds the arms and legs together of your opponent, for which they used Professor Snape, since Dumbledore was a bit too old to be falling on the ground so much.
"Next we will learn the Mobilarbus, to move objects, and the Mobilicorpus, to move people, spells. These shouldn't be too hard," said Dumbledore and he was right. The spells were amazingly easy, partially because they already knew them, and also because Dumbledore was an easy target, just standing still. After that they had a hard time with the Furnunculus curse, which causes boils, which wouldn't go away as easily as they had thought. It wasn't until Professor McGonagall, after having recovered from the smile that had appeared on her face, she apparently didn't laugh very much, cast the counter curse, which Dumbledore had 'forgotten', that Professor Snape was able to become boil-less again.
The Reductor curse came next, with which you could blast apart solid objects. Ron had hopefully asked if they could cast it on the castle and stay somewhere else from then on, but Dumbledore had replied they needed the castle for protection, leaving Ron rather disgruntled. The Reductor curse was harder than they had expected. Apparently, if you didn't cast it with enough force, the spell just bounded off of the object you were aiming at and come shooting right back to you, knocking you off your feet, as Nora, Hermione and Ron knew all too well.
Deletrius was a spell that, like the Reductor curse, could cause objects to completely fall apart, and Ron had hopefully asked if they could practice this spell on the castle, but Dumbledore's answer was the same. Fortunately, this spell did not bound back to the caster if it was too weak, but it would not have much on the object it was cast on, either.
The last one of the main spells, curses or jinxes was the Shield Charm which was highly useful, but if not cast forcefully enough, easily broken and therefore rather useless. Hermione, especially, was having a lot of trouble trying to cast one strong enough to resist Dumbledore's spells. It was not until an hour or two later that they were finally able to keep a strong shield up for a long time.
"Now," said Dumbledore, wiping his forehead. The sun was shining brightly above them and there was not a cloud inside. Professors McGonagall and Snape had seated themselves on the fresh, green grass and continued to watch the five being taught. "The next spells will be much harder, and are N.E.W.T level or even higher. The first one we will practice is the Replacio spell. It switches the caster with its opponent and is used a lot when the opponent has just fired a curse. This way he is hit by his own spell. Pair up and I will work with Harry." Harry walked over to Dumbledore, wiping the sweat that was trickling down his forehead, away.
The Replacio spell was as hard as Dumbledore had said it would be, and quite scary as well, because before they were able to switch bodies completely, they only switched body parts, which resulted in Harry switching an arm with Dumbledore, Nora switching hair with Hermione and, even worse, Ron switching heads with Draco. Professor Snape laughed at that one; so Ron sent a Furnunculus curse his way. Professor Snape cried at that one. Well, not really, but he was pretty furious with Ron. An hour later the five were rather good in the Replacio spell and they moved on to something else: the Peace of Silence curse. Dumbledore explained that this spell was a most dangerous and eerie one, for it prevented the opponent from hearing anything at all, leaving them rather alone. The five students thought their headmaster was rather right in saying the Peace of Silence was uncanny. You heard completely nothing, even though you could see others speaking, and it made you get slightly desperate to hear something, anything at all. Thus they were not at all surprised to hear that people, on whom this spell had been cast, went insane after a while.
"That was the last curse for today. Tomorrow we will continue learning more spells, and the most important one of all: the Avada Kedavra curse. You will all need it during the Second Battle, if we want to win. Now go and have fun for the rest of the day," said Dumbledore, smiling sorrowfully at the five students. Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape got up off of the grass and followed the headmaster inside, ready to discuss the Second War, no doubt.
"So what do we do now?" asked Ron, looking at his friends, all of who shrugged. The five of them plopped down on the grass, to tired and warm to do anything at all.
"I wonder when the Second War starts," said Harry, lying down on his back and looking up at the sky. The others followed his example and they now lay with their heads together, just resting.
"I don't know. But I hope soon, so these butterflies can finally vanish," replied Nora, unconsciously rubbing her stomach where the little annoying bugs were fluttering energetically, as they usually did when she was reminded of what was waiting for them.
"Wow, remember first year?" said Ron. "When we had no idea of the dangers that would await us?"
"Yeah," replied the others, sighing.
"That really was a long time ago," muttered Hermione. "I wonder, at the beginning of 7th year, who will be there, and who won't."
"You'll be there for sure, I promised you you'd be," replied Nora. "But the other students, I don't know. Death Eaters could be killing them and their families this very moment."
"Thanks for the reminder," muttered Ron.
"It's the truth," replied Nora, squeezing Draco's hand without really knowing it.
"Do any of you believe that dead people can visit you in your dreams?" asked Harry quietly. There was a stressed silence for a moment. "Never mi-" he began but Nora cut him off.
"I do."
"Really?" he asked, leaning on his elbow to look at her over Ron. Nora nodded, turning her head to look at him. "Why?"
"Dean," she replied simply. "Why?" Harry shrugged and looked at the sky for some reason.
"Sirius," he answered. "He told me a while ago one of us would die unless something changed."
"What!?" exclaimed Nora, Ron and Draco.
"And you never told us!?" asked Ron.
"I didn't want to worry you guys, and it kind of left my mind after a while."
"Well, you still could have told us," said Nora, looking sternly at him. Harry gazed down at his hands a bit shamefully.
"Don't be so harsh on him," interrupted Hermione. "I didn't tell you guys either, did I?" Harry and Ron gaped at her.
"I never told you," blurted Harry, but Hermione had already begun explaining about the Amulet of Era's. When she was done it was silent again for a while as they continued to lie down on their backs, watching the sun move around the sky, slowly setting, as the sky gradually became redder and redder.
"So, anyone, Truth of Dare," said Ron after a while.
"Truth," replied Harry automatically. Ron grinned; someone had agreed to the game.
"How long have you fancied Parvati?" he asked.
"Erm. . . I don't really know. . . end of 5th year, I guess."
"Ok, now you ask someone."
"Truth or Dare, Hermione."
"Truth."
"When on earth did you get together with Terry?"
"Beginning of 6th year," she replied. "Nora, Truth or Dare."
"Truth."
"When did you realize you were beginning to like Draco?"
"Erm. . . I think it was after the first time we kissed, during the trip." Harry and Ron whooped and whistled, causing Nora to blush. "Ron, truth or dare," she said, trying to get them to be quiet.
"Dare," answered Ron, proud he was the only one who hadn't chosen truth.
"I dare you to, er. . . go get us some food," said Nora, after her stomach gave a rather loud growl. Ron grinned and Disapparated, arriving five minutes later with a large and fully filled tray of food. The five of them sat up straight and around the tray, so they could all reach.
"All right, Hermione. Truth or Dare," said Ron while chewing on some chicken.
"Truth," replied Hermione, smiling sweetly at Ron who looked a bit disgruntled.
"Oh, well, then. . . er. . . all right, I can't think of anything else so: have you ever had feelings for anyone of us here and if so, who?" asked Ron, not looking too happy with his truth question.
"Yes," replied Hermione simply.
"Who?" asked Nora, frowning.
"Draco." The other four goggled at her.
"Well, I sure am popular with the ladies," said Draco, smirking.
"Oh, don't cheer too soon, my perverted little friend," Nora told him. Draco glared at her. "Hermione didn't have feelings for you, or she'd have told me. . . right?" added Nora uncertainly.
"No, I did have feelings for Draco," Hermione told her. Draco grinned. "Loathing." Draco frowned. Nora laughed.
"Hmpf," he muttered. Harry and Ron both gave a small sigh of relief.
"Draco, Truth or Dare," said Hermione.
"Dare," he replied.
"Ok. I dare you to tell us for how long you liked Nora."
"What? You can't do that, can you? I might as well have chosen truth," said Draco indignantly. Hermione grinned evilly.
"Then why didn't you?" she asked.
"Because I knew I'd get this kind of questions," muttered Draco.
"So?" asked Ron.
"Yeah, just answer it," agreed Harry.
"Yeah, don't be silly, Draco. I wanna know for how long you've liked me as well," Nora told him. Draco looked around, somehow trying to escape from answering that question. Maybe if he Disapparated. But, no, they'd find him sooner or later.
"Fine," said Draco, raising his hands in surrender when the others had begun to chant, "tell us, tell us, tell us." "You want to know how long I've liked her?" the others nodded eagerly. "Since fourth year."
"What?" said Nora frowning. "How come you never told me?"
"Well, it's not that big a deal, is it?" replied Draco.
"Wow, you've had a secret admirer for about two years and you didn't even know it," said Ron laughing.
"That's the whole point of secret admirers, Ron. You're not supposed to know," Hermione told him. "Besides, you never knew Millicent Bulstrode thought you were cute." Ron's look of glee immediately turned into one of horror.
"AARGH! Millicent Bulstrode!?" he asked terrified. Hermione and Nora nodded, smiling sweetly.
"Right," said Harry. "Who's next, Draco?"
"Oh, er. . . what?" he asked, completely confused. He hadn't been paying attention to the conversation, but instead watching Nora.
"Who's next?" repeated Harry.
"Nora, truth or dare."
"Dare," she replied, though not at all liking the glint that had appeared in his eye.
"Very good choice," he told her. Nora backed a way a little.
"Why?" she asked uncertainly.
"Because I dare you to kiss me," he said, a big smile on his face. Nora laughed softly, looking into his beautiful eyes.
"We'll be back in five minutes," she told the others before grabbing Draco's hand and Disapparating.
The five minutes turned out to be fifteen, during which Ron had gone to the kitchens for more food again.
"Welcome back!" he said, chewing on some toast, when Nora and Draco appeared again. The two just grinned, a little out of breath.
"All right, Harry, truth or dare."
"Well, dare, I guess," he said.
The truth or dare game went on for the rest of the evening, during which Nora and Draco were dared to snog each other 5 more times, all of those dares submitted by Draco. Ron went to go get some food again every half hour and Hermione was dared to do all sorts of 'wild' things, like running around pretending to be a chicken, just to prove she wasn't an uptight bookworm like the years before.
When night had fallen the five lay back down on their backs and watched the stars, discussing the Second War, before falling asleep, not at all feeling chilly since the air was comfortably warm that night.
~*~*~*~
A chilly breeze swept over the castle, rustling the leaves of trees as it past the forest and over the five students, who still lay snuggled up together out on the meadow. Another gust of wind rushed by, rounded the Quidditch Pitch, and came back, grass bending over as the strong breeze passed. Birds flew twittering frightened out of the forest in a sudden movement and they continued to screech as they circled the open area. Harry and Draco both jerked up and they looked around terrified before daring to look at each other.
It was weird. Everything looked normal, but the feeling they had was everything but. It was the feeling of knowing something was going to happen, but not knowing what caused it, for the sun was shining brightly above them and there were only a few clouds in the sky. . . perhaps it was the strong chilly wind that kept rushing past them, or the constant anxious chirping of the birds that circled high above them. They knew something was very wrong today. It was weird.
"What's that?" whispered Draco, straining his ears to hear. Harry looked at him questioningly, but Draco raised a finger to his lips. "There." And Harry had heard it as well. A rustling sound, coming from the forest. They kept straining to hear anything else, but with the constant howling of the wind it was almost impossible to hear anything else. Neither of the boys dared to move. They feared that if they did, something, or someone, would know they were there, like the feeling you sometimes get when you're in bed and it's so dark and silent you hardly dare to breathe, let alone move.
"Should we wake the others?" asked Harry quietly. They both looked at the other three who were still fast asleep, but Draco noticed a tear slowly making its way down Nora's cheek. He gently brushed it away and she opened her tear filled eyes and looked into his, before gazing up at the sky, hoping to find some sort of comfort in it, or assurance that they'd live. The stormy wind lay down shortly and in those few seconds they could all clearly hear a loud rustling. Draco recognized it in fear from the day when Nymphirah had followed him into her death.
"It's Nagini!" he whispered distraughtly, as the wind picked up again. Harry nodded, his expression fearful. Nora sat up straight.
"Voldemort's snake?" she asked, her voice trembling. Draco nodded as Harry tried to wake Ron. Nora followed his lead and shook Hermione awake, indicating her to be quiet the moment she opened her eyes.
"Oh, god. It's begun, hasn't it?" whispered Hermione frightened, sitting up with Ron, tears forming in her eyes. The five students sat there, not knowing what to do. Had Nagini detected them yet? Could they risk fleeing? None of them knew, and they didn't dare to make a single sound, fearing it'd lead Voldemort's snake straight to them. Chills ran down their spines as the force and coldness of the wind picked up even more. Voldemort had found them in the end and they still hadn't learned everything they needed to know to be able to fight him. . . but this was the beginning of the Second War, wasn't it?
A/N: Well, if this chapter isn't very good, blame the cold and throat ache I've got. I've been coughing and sneezing all day. =( But I hope you guys liked it. I'll try to make the next chapter longer. Review please. =D
Ted M. Hammett – I already sent you an e-mail about my story, in which I explained a bit about it. Thank you for reading, or trying to, at least, and reviewing.
Athena_Kitty – Thank you for reading and Reviewing.
Kat – Thanks for the warning. I'll go back and see if I can make Dumbledore a bit more Dumbledore-like, but I might just leave it. . . I don't know yet, but I'll see what I can do. Thanks for reading and reviewing. =D
Dumbeldave – Thanks for the very encouraging words. I still can't believe there's someone who likes my story so much, lol. Thanks for having faith in me! And thanks for reading and reviewing as well. =D
Skins Thunderbomb – Glad you liked my dress idea. It really would be cool if we'd be able to do that in real life, wouldn't it? No more worries about finding the perfect clothes *sigh* and I will e-mail you, if I ever need any more help. Thanks for reading and reviewing. =D (I think the plot bunnies you sent me are still hopping around somewhere, I just can't find them, yet. Oh, wait! Yes! I see one! No, never mind. . . just my real rabbit. . . =D hmmm, you can see it's pretty late.)