[No, this is not a mirage. There actually is a chapter 7. You are not seeing things. Hopefully, you will all be pleased to know that, no, I did not die, fall off the face of the earth, or other such tragedies. I am very very very very very sorry I haven't updated in who knows how long, but please accept my humble apologies and this chapter. Please? PS I don't own Harry Potter or Story of the Year's song]
Chapter 7
The hall had been decorated beautifully, with moonlight shining in and giving everything an unearthly glow, lighting gently the delicate decorations carefully placed all around. After taking in the wonderful feast, and looking around to see who had come with who, slow music began to play, and pairs drifted to the slowly filling space of floor reserved for dancing. Revolving in time to the music, Harry and Ginny held each other as they twirled around, ignoring everyone but each other. The floor began to fill up, and other couples could be seen gliding around, should you be paying enough attention to look. Ron and Hermione danced nearby, her head resting on his chest as his arms were wrapped around her. She fit quite well tucked under his chin. The small din in the background from the chatter of those not dancing did nothing to diminish the music, and the low candlelight on the tables added to the atmosphere.
The songs changed, but the two couples remained fix on the floor among the rest of the students drifting on and off, floating near each other throughout the night, and Harry was immensely grateful Ron was paying far more attention to Hermione than he was to Ginny and himself. Ginny laid her head on his shoulder and he breathed in the smell of her hair as they spun slowly on the spot. As much as he loved being this close to Ginny, his mind often strayed off to the warehouse in London, and he simply couldn't fully enjoy everything around him.
They watched Draco dance by a few times with a fourth year Ravenclaw. Their truce continued past not killing each other in the dorm, it seems, as Harry and Draco only nodded to each other as they and their respective partners twirled around.
"Earth to Harry, come in Harry."
Harry's head shot up, narrowly missing the top of the portrait hole as they went back into the common room.
"Hmm?" he asked absently, not having realized he had gotten lost in thought yet again.
"We're all in Hogwarts, where are you?" Ron asked. Harry gave them sheepish looks.
"Sorry," he replied as they sunk into chairs near the fire. None of them had the energy to go up and change yet, and so they sat staring at the fire and talked quietly about nothing in particular. After an hour passed, they realized they should be getting to bed, before they all slept down here in their good robes, and bade each other good night. Ginny gave Harry a kiss on the cheek before going up to her dorm. Harry stood there for a moment, watching the now empty stairwell, until Ron cleared his throat. He was trying for the disapproving big brother look, but his face was slightly flushed, and Harry saw a bit of Hermione's lipstick on his face, completely ruining Ron's effect, much to his disappointment, and Harry's carefully hidden relief. They headed upstairs and went to bed.
The weeks flew by, and the seasons began to change again. The flurry of owl post between Hogwarts and a new supposedly abandoned warehouse in London continued, and Harry could be seen wearing a charm in the shape of a running wolf on a leather cord around his neck regularly. Homework mounted again, to an alarming rate for some, and OWLS and NEWTS loomed ominously on the fifth and seventh years. The other years either learned or remembered to stay away from the stressed out students, in fear of being cursed. Tempers were strained, and odd accidents were not uncommon. Lavender had already fainted twice, and Neville kept having strange boils popping up, although no one was quite sure if that was from the stress of the impending exams or the mysterious unmarked candies that continued to appear, courtesy of a pair of red headed twins.
"I can't study any more," Ron moaned one night a week from the start of the tests, flopping on his back and staring at the ceiling, finding an odd crack suddenly particularly interesting, "I think my brain fried."
"Ron! We've got to keep studying, we've only got a week!" Hermione cried. She was one of the most stressed out students, though no one really understood why, as they were sure she'd do far better than all of them. No amount of assuring could convince her of that, however.
Harry, though, had paused in his studying long enough to wonder where Ginny had gotten too. Looking at them and deciding the tension would only mount if nothing was done, Harry suggested they take a break. "It's a Hogsmeade weekend, let's just go down, get a couple butterbeers and try to keep our minds off it for a few hours. We've still got a week." Ron agreed at once, but Hermione didn't look so certain. Once they finally assured her that a break would do her good, and that she'd actually be able to study better after words, they cleaned up their area and walked down to the village.
"Fresh air!" Ron cried, taking in a great breath and taking in the bright blue sky like he hadn't seen it in months. Hermione merely shook her head at his antics, and Harry grinned.
"Race you!" Harry yelled, suddenly feeling the urge to break free and run. Ron must have felt it too, because they both took off.
"Harry! Ron!" Hermione screeched, "Wait for me!" She chased them down the lane. Laughing, and red faced from their excursion, they ran into the Three Broomsticks. It was fairly full, but they managed to find a free table off to the side. Hermione and Ron saved it, while Harry went up and got their drinks. He grabbed their sloshing mugs of iced Butterbeer- it was getting far too warm out to drink it hot- and maneuvered through the crowded room to their seats. As they sipped the cool drink, the three stressed students finally began to relax and ignore their worries, if only briefly. Mugs quickly emptied, and they meandered down the street, seeing if there was anything new to be seen, new places, new things, new people. Harry stopped briefly in the post office to send Sirius a letter. As far as Harry knew, his godfather was off helping one of the old crowd on an assignment, though he wasn't sure where. Sirius had told him, however, to make sure he checked in periodically while Sirius was away, so he knew for sure what was happening with Harry. Harry also looked forward to the replies, liking being sure that he was okay and would be back nearby as soon as he could.
They walked back quietly, none of them really wanting to break the comfortable silence that had fallen between them since the Shrieking Shack. Ron and Harry were not in any particular hurry to return to the stuffy tower and books, however Hermione kept checking her watch from time to time.
"Relax, Hermione," Ron urged after the fifth time, "Our books and notes aren't going anywhere, and besides, you've practically memorized it all by now anyway. You don't need to your worry, you're going to do fine." She remained unconvinced, and the boys shrugged a bit and went back a little faster to appease her.
After a few more grueling hours of study, they finally decided to call it a night, once Hermione was convinced that exhausting themselves wouldn't help them remember any of it. Apparently alarmed by that idea, she bustled them off to bed, and told them to make sure they got a full night's sleep, for they had studying to do tomorrow too. A chorus of 'Yes, Hermione' continued until they could make it up the stairs far enough that they could not hear her any more. That night, Harry dreamed of wolves running through a field.
The week past far too quickly for the frantically cramming students. A few had given up early, deciding that if they didn't know it at that point, they weren't going to, and why bother straining themselves even more, but the rest continued their hurried pace up until the first exam.
The written portion of the Charms exam had gone fairly well, Harry decided, although Hermione was insistent that she had messed up part of it. Ron, however, gently but firmly reminded her that she was excellent at Charms, had undoubtedly done far better then everyone else, and that they'd already gotten through the exam once, there was absolutely no need to go through and analyze every single question, because quite frankly, he couldn't remember them all anyway.
As he exited the Charms practical part later that afternoon, he decided that all in all, it could have gone far worse, and he thought he had done quite well at any rate. Ron, appeared to do fairly well too, or, at the very least, he didn't seem flustered or incredibly upset after word. Both ignored Hermione's wonderings if she'd gotten her plate to turn quite the right shade of maroon, and instead were beaten soundly by Ginny at Exploding Snap.
The Transfiguration written exam, Harry decided, had gone very much the same as the Charms, and he was quite certain he did well on it, even if he had forgotten a couple definitions, and was quite certain his spelling had been a tad off on one spell. Hopefully mixing the o and the a on paper would not count too much off.
The practical exam was harder, though not by much, and after a couple mishaps quickly corrected, he'd gotten almost all of the results he had hoped to achieve. At any rate, the examiner had seemed pleased enough.
Divination had gone dreadfully, but both Harry and Ron had expected that, after seeing nothing but fog in their crystal balls for two years. Neither examiner looked to pleased with them, but neither boy could bring themselves to care too much that they wouldn't take the class next year. Unless Trelwany was incredibly lax on her NEWT students, that is. They could only be that, ahem, lucky.
Harry was far more relaxed at making potions when Snape was not breathing down his neck, ready to jump at every tiny mistake, it seems, for he decided by the time he was done brewing the draught, that it looked quite like it was supposed to. Even Neville seemed to do far better, even under a pressured situation. After all, the pressure of the examiner and Snape's pressure was far different, making Harry wonder for one brief moment if Snape did that on purpose. That thought was quickly thrown out as exam stress however, as Harry knew there was very little chance Snape would willingly do anything like that to actually help them.
Defense, Harry knew without a doubt, that he had more than passed. The examiner was very much impressed with the amount and range of spells Harry knew, both offensive and defensive, and had Harry demonstrate several. He also got extra points for his corporal Patronus, which made the examiner clap in delight as he watched the glowing silver stag gallop noiselessly around the room before coming to a stop in front of them and vanishing.
Astronomy had gone as well as could be expected for Harry, who wasn't all that great at picking out the planets and filling out the star charts, but he still decided he did reasonably well for the amount he got finished after letting himself get distracted so many times by the cool metal necklace hitting gently against him as he leaned to see into the eyepiece.
The History exam went much like History class did. Harry could not stay focused on the questions in front of him, and drifted in and out of a sleepy daze, until the bell which signaled the end of the exam rang sharply, nearly tipping him over, and making him realize he'd made very little progress.
Care of Magical Creatures went fairly well, as the creatures were quite tame compared to some of their charges during the year. He gave Hagrid a reassuring look as they headed back up toward school. Harry got as far as the edge of the lake before he plopped down in the soft warm grass and refused to go any farther, especially if the farther in question was inside. Both Hermione and Ron agreed they'd seen far too much of the inside of the castle, and agreed to lounge out near the lake until dinner. Presently, Ginny found them, and sat leaning against Harry while Hermione leaned on Ron. All were quite content to stay as they were, until their stomachs interfered, of course.
"What are you all doing this summer?" Harry asked suddenly as they ate.
"Not sure yet," Hermione said.
"Probably nothing," Ron and Ginny replied at the same time.
Harry nodded absently, apparently only confirming something in his head, "How would you all like to come stay with me and the Wolves for a little while? Not the best of accommodations, but I really want you to see them in thei- our home. The professor's will probably get me to the Burrow by August anyway."
"If my parents don't mind," Hermione said after a moment.
"We'll talk Mom and Dad into it," Ginny said immediately. Harry smiled.
After a lot of letters and persuasion, the three were permitted to stay with Harry for a few weeks in London, under the strict orders that Harry was to return to the Burrow afterward, due to all the attacks. Harry managed to get it so the Wolves could invade Sirius's home after he left, so he would be much less worried about them when the time came.
They left the train, and went out onto the platform, then out into the main station where WolfSong and WolfStalker were waiting.
"Nice to see you, Shadow," she said, hugging him. He hugged back.
"You too, Wolf, glad you all are okay," he replied. They started off for the warehouse, the two Wolves helping with the heavy trunks.
"Welcome to the Wolf's den" Harry said as they came up to a seemingly deserted warehouse. They looked around, eyeing the outside, wondering what to make of it.
"Come on, we'll give you the grand tour after we drop off your things," Harry said, taken them inside. It looked much different than it did outside. One floor was devoted to bedrooms, enough for each of them to have their own, along with several guest rooms. The downstairs had a gym, makeshift kitchen and dinning room, along with a sitting room. There was also a room with a huge table in the middle, and maps and papers spread all over the walls. The best part, Harry promised, they would see at sunset.
A few hours later, after getting settled and meeting with the few Wolves they hadn't met at Hogwarts, and a few from other clans that were roaming around, Hermione, Ron and Ginny found themselves on the rooftop with Harry, Moonlight, WolfSong, WolfStalker, Nightshade, and Flash, watching the sun sink low beneath the distant buildings. WolfSong started humming as they looked out at the sight, and got louder until she was singing.
The stars will cry the blackest tears tonight,
And this is the moment that I live for,
I can smell the ocean air,
Here I am pouring my heart onto these rooftops,
Just a ghost to the world,
That's exactly,
Exactly what I need...
Moonlight joined in time for the chorus
From up here the city lights burn
Like a thousand miles of fire
And I'm here to sing this anthem of our dying day...
Harry and WolfStalker sang along now.
For a second I wish the tide will swallow every inch of the city
As you gasp for air tonight
I'd scream this song right in your face if you were here
Cause then I wont miss a beat cause I never,
Never have before...
The rest of the Wolves joined in for the second chorus. The other three listened as their voices mix and flowed out off the roof.
From up here the city lights burn
Like a thousand miles of fire
And I'm here to sing this anthem of our dying day...
Of our dying day
Of our dying day
OF OUR DYING...
For a second I wish the tide would swallow every inch of this city
As your gasped for air tonight...
From up here the city lights burn
Like a thousand miles of fire
And I'm here to sing this anthem of our dying day...
From up here the city lights burn
Like a thousand miles of fire
And I'm here to sing this anthem of our dying day...
From up here the city lights burn
Like a thousand miles of fire
And I'm here to sing this anthem of our dying day...
Of our dying day
Of our dying day
OF OUR DYING...
As the last yelled words finished echoing off the nearby buildings, Harry grinned as he turned to his other friends.
"Welcome to a different world."
END
More Author's Notes:
Well, I'm not totally thrilled with how that turned out, but I lost my inspiration a while back, but didn't really want you guys hanging with nothing. Still, while I'm not planning on doing any sort of sequel, not that I'm entirely sure anyone's still interested in this by this point, I do want to rewrite it to fix quite a few things. How long that will take, or if the parts I do have done ever get typed up is yet to be seen. If anyone's still interested, I'll make a point to work on it, if not, I'll be off working on A Hero Returns. That's got a rewrite going too by the way, and I swear it's not going to end quite as abruptly as this did. Thanks for sticking in there.
RunningInCircles