Hello again Gentle Readers!
I hope you're all enjoying the sequel, though I can hardly TELL ::eyes the barren review board:: But! I did receive one review which I'll reply to now. (Note: I'll start answering your reviews now, btw. I know I didn't with the other story, but I SWEAR I will now. =D )
Alex20: I'm sorry if it seemed like I had poor Harry be all stoogey and what not, I honestly didn't mean for him to come off like that. But it DOES set things up for later. Harry's not INTENTIONALLY being a stooge, he's just, well, he's just HARRY. Too nice for his own good. I mean, its one thing to face down a Dark Lord, its another to deal with an obnoxious Slytherin. But no worries, Harry's butt-of-every-joke days are numbered, so if you'll just bear with me, I think you might be pleased with how things turn out. And don't dismiss Skye so quickly, she's much more complex than you give her credit for. (Isn't this such a LONG reply! LoL) Yes, she's annoying, and yes, she prances round thinking she owns the place, but she's got reason ( btw- whats Mary-Sued? i NEVER found out what that was) . Try to think of her at first as a female Draco Malfoy. So, just grit your teeth through the grim parts and I swear you won't be disappointed. And if you are, you're more than welcome to tar and feather me.
OK! Onto the chapter!
The Haunted Halloween
Harry heaved a mighty sigh and pinched the space between his eyes. He didn't want to look back up. He just couldn't. Please god, let something else be there when I look up, He said to himself desperately. I'd take ANYTHING. Bunnies even!"HEY! Watch it spaz!"
Not being able to put it off any longer, Harry opened his eyes and regretted he ever did. He should've known a guy with the last name Creevey would be the bane of his existence.
"YOU! Spazer! I mean, Creevey! Down here!" He called out from his spot in the center of the field.
A rather scrawny boy with flyaway blonde hair zoomed down from the chaos above. He landed and grinned at Harry with sparkling blue eyes. "Yeh, mate? What's up?"
Harry sighed and tucked his clipboard under his arm," Dennis, well...I'm sure you're trying your best and all-"
"Oh yes! I wasn't too keen on trying out, mind you, but when I found out YOU'D be the new Captain, well, I just couldn't resist!" Dennis exclaimed, hopping on the balls of his feet.
Harry raked a hand through his hair, searching for the right words. Instead, he came out with," Well, get back out there. Just try not to hurt anybody."
Dennis beamed and zipped off, making Harry lose his balance briefly at the take off. Not a second after Dennis had returned to the sky than a series of voices shouted," WATCH IT! YOU ABOUT KILLED US!"
Harry sunk to the grass, covered his face in his hands and let out a groan." Kill me...Just kill me,please."
"May I have the honor?"
Harry groaned out again," Please, Malfoy. I'd welcome it."
"They that bad, huh?"
Harry looked up to see his Slytherin friend joining him on the grass," GAH! They're HORRIBLE! I mean, I thought they were only bad cause they were nervous, but NO. They're really ACTUALLY that bad."
Draco couldn't help but chuckle at the exasperated look on Harry's face.
"Its not funny, Malfoy. Gryffindor's screwed if I can't find some decent chasers," Harry said with a hint of desperation in his voice.
"Well, thats good news for the rest of us," Malfoy said with a grin.
Harry lied flat on his back keeping his legs folded Indian style," Oh, that reminds me. Did you make Captain?"
Malfoy leaned back on his palms and gazed up at Dennis Creevey zipping about the sky, knocking Ron Weasley half off his broom," Course. Snape was particularly adamant on making me Captain too."
"No doubt because he enjoys humiliating me," Harry complained.
"Probably. I'm holding tryouts tomorrow. Do you think you could come and...well..."Draco started, looking down almost ashamed.
Harry looked over at the blushing blonde," What?"
"Help me out. I mean, I'm a decent player and all, but I don't know beans about being a Captain."
Harry laughed and sat up," You mean, there's a Malfoy alive that DOESN'T have genetic tyrant qualities?"
Draco shoved Harry and stood up," Just be there, all right, Potter? Its enough that my team's going to taunt me forever."
Harry couldn't contain his laughter. This was just too much. Despite his laughing , he nodded but burst into a fresh fit after Draco stormed off in an indignant huff.
Not too long after, the noises of complaints filtered their way down to Harry's ears, ruining his brief moment of glee.
"C'mon, Harry! Get this guy off the field! He's liable to cripple the whole lot of us!" Jack Sloper shouted down to him.
Harry stood up and dusted himself off," Alright, that's enough. I've seen all I needed to see. Get down here."
Ron, Jack, and Andrew glided down to him expertly while Dennis and eight other potentials either zipped excitedly or just plain fell.
The seeker, beaters and keeper helped the flying-deficient from the ground, not feeling anymore confident about their Quidditch team that year.
"Alright. Well, that was an, er, INTERESTING try out, to say the least," Harry started, holding his clipboard to his chest.
"The VERY least," Ron mumbled and got some sniggers from Jack and Andrew.
Harry shot him a look to keep quiet and continued," Unfortunately, of course, there are only three spots open so not everyone is going to make it."
"Thank god," Ron muttered.
Again, snickers ensued and Harry couldn't help the smile tugging at the corners of his lips. With a shake of the head and a loud clearing of the throat, Harry went on," Now, lets get down to it."
Harry gazed around at the nine eager faces, trying to picture a game that contained each of them. All his visions ended with serious injures, to both sides. "Right, well...Seamus, you're in."
Seamus Finnigan punched the air and walked to stand besides his new teammates, who welcomed him with slaps on the back.
"Ok,um..." Harry mumbled scanning down the parchment on his clipboard." Travis Burken, you're in."
The brunette gave a yelp of happiness and rushed to the circle of players.
Glancing over the rest of the group, made up of only under-classmen, Harry felt a sense of dread passing over him. Sure, Seamus was actually decent but adding in two horrid Chasers wouldn't exactly make him look any better. It would definitely make the new Quidditch team kick the bucket. He knew he had no way out of it but to try and shape them up in practice. A LOT of practice.
Licking his lips, he scanned his sheet and tried to find someone who approached OK. On second thought, he said to himself, how about just someone who can stay on their broom? Harry opened his mouth to name the last person when a voice came somewhere above him.
"Hey, can I still try out?"
The group on the grass looked up and saw Ginny Weasley leaning over the edge of the stadium. Harry felt his heart give a leap," Yes! Of course!"
Ginny grinned and ran out of sight. Before long, she came sprinting out of the staircase and towards them," Thanks. Um, can I borrow someone's broom?"
Ron handed over his Cleansweep and watched his sister mount it skillfully and zoom off. Harry smiled. Ginny was a really good athlete with some impressive skills. Handing Ron his Firebolt, he shouted," Well, scrimmage people!"
Ron grinned and flew after the rest of the team. It took only five minutes of playing before Ginny scored. Harry couldn't stop his smile.
" I think we've filled our last spot!" Harry shouted up to them.
Ginny squealed and got a series of hugs from her new team mates, who happily welcomed her back in their midst. She looked down at Harry and gave him the most grateful of smiles. He simply smiled right back.
//---------
"How lucky am I? I mean, I thought I was dead for sure. But no. Here comes savior Ginny Weasley to the rescue," Harry said and grinned as Ginny blushed furiously."Oh,well...It was nothing," She mumbled.
Harry wrapped his arm around her shoulder and shook her gently," No, it was EVERYTHING. Thanks to you, I think we'll actually have a shot of being great this year."
Ginny blushed harder, trying not to look too flustered that she could feel how warm Harry's skin was on hers."Well, anything for Gryffindor."
"Thats the spirit," Jack stated and passed on the bowl of Fizzing Whizbees, Chocolate Frogs and various other sweets.
Ron took the bowl and bit a huge chunk out of a frog, then passed the huge bowl onto Harry and Ginny," Yeah, thanks Ginny. I honestly thought we were going to be in serious trouble."
Ginny squirmed under all the praise, particularly frazzled that it was all by boys and Harry still had his arm around her. Not a second after she thought this, Harry removed his arm and plucked a candy from the bowl. She tried not to look disappointed.
"Well, the first practice will be Sunday morning, bright and early. We need to makeup for lost time." Harry said chewing on some gummy bugs.
"Yeah, why were tryouts so late anyways?" Andrew inquired, stuffing his mouth with potato crisps.
"I didn't mean for them to be held so late in the month, I just couldn't get my hands on the pitch since all the reconstruction they had to do on the stadiums," Harry replied, leaning back and laying his arm along the top of the couch.
"Yeah, I heard about that. Seems some stupid Slytherin put a bunch of jinxes on the seats and on the hoops, so the professors had to do this extensive reversal spell and it ended up taking longer than they expected because there was some blocking charm on all the jinxes," Ron filled in, sinking further into the thick cushions of the armchair.
Seamus prodded at the fire, making it blaze bigger," Did they ever find out who did it?"
" I heard it was that new girl with the creepy red eyes," Travis said rather eagerly and crossed his legs in his spot on the carpet.
"Skye you mean?" Harry asked, eating another pretzel.
"Yeah, that's her. Some Ravenclaw saw her on the pitch one night, waving her wand like mad," Travis went on.
"Thats just ridiculous. First off, a Ravenclaw? Since when do Ravenclaws gossip? And secondly, why would a Ravenclaw be out on the grounds after curfew? You know they're anal about the rules," Ron spoke up.
"Yeah, but you never know. They were probably meeting someone for a late night snog," Jack said with a grin.
The group of them laughed heartily and decided to just drop the subject for now. Harry, however, continued to ponder the rumor. Was it actually Skye? If it was, why would she sabotage the entire pitch and delay tryouts? Was it a way of screwing him over again? Its not like he would put it pass her. Harry looked to the side, faintly hearing his teams' laughter, and furrowed his brow.
//--------
Two weeks had past and now it was Halloween. Harry and his teammates were sitting at the Gryffindor table, anxiously anticipating the feast, and talking eagerly about their upcoming practice.
"I think we should focus on some of Ron's techniques, "Travis said, leaning forward so he could see Harry.
"Whats wrong with my technique?" Ron asked surprised.
"Its just...outdated, is all," Travis replied matter-of-factly.
"Outdated!?" Ron exclaimed, the edges of his ears tingeing with red." You mean, ACTUALLY skilled?"
Travis scrunched his face at the redhead," What's that supposed to mean?"
"Guys, cut it out," Harry attempted.
"Oh, you KNOW what it means," Ron said angrily.
"Guys!"
"You trying to say I'm not skillful?" Travis inquired, narrowing his eyes.
"If the shoe fits," Ron answered simply, crossing his arms.
" 'EY!" Harry snapped holding up his hand, silencing whatever Travis had intended to say next." Enough. Next time I hear you guys poking fun at each other, it'll be nonstop drills of the boring variety."
Ron turned away from Travis, keeping his pout.
"Some Head Boy," Ginny commented with a smile.
Ron shot her a deadly look, which caused Ginny, nerves of steal intact, to giggle.
" May I have your attention!"
The group turned to look at their headmaster standing at the teacher's table, holding out his hands for silence. The room's chatter almost instantly died away, leaving him with a satisfied smile.
"Well, I won't keep you long. I simply wanted to inform you all that the stadiums in the pitch have been successfully cleansed of jinxes, hexes, and curses, so the game between Gryffindor and Slytherin to be held next week will still take place. A brief warning to the culprit behind this prank, you indeed will be discovered. To avoid any serious penalties, I suggest you turn yourself in after the feast. I will be up in my office for the rest of the night, waiting. It would be wiser to give yourself in now or risk being punished severely. That is all," Dumbledore said, then sat down.
The room buzzed quietly about his speech, almost sorry for whoever had indeed committed the crime.
But before the students had a chance to further their suspicions, the food materialized before their hungry eyes.
Instantly, everyone was enjoying the huge pieces of ham and turkey, the hot buttered rolls, the creamy mashed potatoes and the sweet corn and peas. Harry had just reached for a slice of pumpkin pie when something hit his ear. Looking around, he rubbed the spot then turned to Ron sitting next to him," Did you throw that?"
Ron glanced at him through a mouthful of vanilla ice cream," Shro wha?"
"I don't know." Harry said then went back to dolloping ice cream on his pie. Again, something struck his ear." Ok, now, that's not funny. Who's doing that?"
Ginny frowned at him, holding her spoonful of pudding midair," Doing what, Harry?"
"Throwing things at my ear," Harry replied, trying to look for what had hit his skin so sharply.
His surrounding friends started to peer about, searching for a guilty face.
"No ones even looking this way, Harry," Seamus commented.
"You sure something hit you?" Dean asked, looking over at the ruffled Seeker.
"YES. I know when something hits me, Dean. Its not that -" Harry started before being interrupted by a pea whizzing past his nose and hitting Ron square on the cheek.
Ron slapped his hand to his cheek, looking about angrily," OY! Who did that!?"
"Thats what I'm saying," Harry said.
"HEY!" Ginny squeaked.
The boys looked over at her as she rubbed a spot on her forehead, looking rather miffed.
"Who the bloody hell is throwing things down there!" Ron called down the table.
Several heads looked about confused, until a pair of green eyes landed on a certain pudgy friend who was looking very much sad and flicking peas at a cornucopia with his fingertips.
Harry narrowed his eyes with a small smirk. He picked up a piece of corn and launched it straight at Neville. The Gryffindor jumped and quickly looked over.
"Its YOU!" Ginny stated.
"Me what?" Neville asked innocently, oblivious that his lame shots at the center piece were ricocheting off and hitting people a few feet away.
Ron hastily loaded up his spoon and aimed it at Neville. Before Harry could stop him, Ron had launched the entire load, sending peas and corn flying in Neville's direction, not necessarily hitting him only.
Several students surrounding Neville jumped in an uproar of getting beaned with vegetables.
And before Harry knew what they had started, food began to fly every which way at the Gryffindor table.
Loads landed elsewhere, dragging the adjacent Ravenclaws into battle, who in turn brought in the eager Hufflepuffs and the show-offy Slytherins.
Soon, the entire Great Hall was a chaotic mess. The teachers tried unsuccessfully to calm the students down, but only got a face full of food instead.
Harry quickly ducked underneath the table, continuously launching handful after handful of meat, potatoes or rolls at any and all classmates. Ginny squeezed in beside him, giggling like mad as Ron dove under as well to avoid a rather large ball of gravy drenched potatoes.
"See what you started," Harry said, grimacing as a chunk of pie fell from the table top onto his head.
"ME?" Ron asked incredulously, continuing to both duck and throw.
"Yes, you. You're supposed to be Head Boy. You END food fights, not start them!" Harry replied, shielding Ginny from a particularly nasty handful of meat and ice cream.
"Says who?" Ron answered, getting a face full of pie.
Harry had to smile. It sounded like the old Ron now. And for a brief fifteen minutes, they fought side by side as best friends again, like it used to be.
"Ah! This is getting too intense! We better make a run for it!" Dean shouted, narrowly missing a ham bone.
Ron grabbed Ginny's arm and crouched near the bench," On three then."
Harry, his team, Dean and Neville nodded and waited for the countdown, continuing to dodge plates, cups and food.
"One..." Ron called over the screaming and laughing from above.
"Two..." Dean followed.
Harry didn't really hear whether they had gotten to three. His attention was suddenly focused on a blurry figure near the huge double doors. It looked vaguely familiar. A sudden tug at his collar jerked him back to attention. Ron dragged him from beneath the table and scurried hunched over until they reached the doors, hurrying out with several other smart students.
Harry's friends were laughing heartily, shaking bits of filth from their robes and hair, pointing out pieces their comrades missed. Harry meant to join them in the simple light heartedness of it all, but he just couldn't. That figure he saw haunted him. He knew he'd seen it somewhere before.
As if it had heard him, the misty shadow appeared round a corner, as if peering at him. Without a single word, Harry pushed past Ron and walked down the hall.
"Harry? Ha-....OY! HARRY!" Ron called out, completely baffled.
No thought entering his mind except finding out what this mystery form was, Harry sped up his pace. The figure hastily retreated round the bend making Harry break out into a sprint.
"HEY! Hey, wait up!" He shouted to it, shocked by how fast it was zipping down the corridor.
Harry shoved aside student after disgruntled student, ignoring all their 'Hey!'s and numerous curse words. He pushed his speed up to as fast as he could, now wishing he had his Firebolt with him.
The shadow lead him through corridor after corridor, zig-zagging this way and that. Harry peeled around 1 last corner to find himself standing in an empty dead end. He darted his eyes about as he walked very carefully forward, hearing nothing but his soft footsteps and his panting. Once reaching the barrier wall, he reached out and ran his fingers lightly down a long tapestry adorned in beautiful reds, greens and golds.
"Where'd this come from?" He mumbled to himself, tracing down an intricate weaving of silver through a tree of gold.
"Probably late 1700s from the looks of it."
Harry spun around to find himself still alone. He frowned and searched all about the dead end, hoping maybe the person would suddenly appear." Who said that?"
There was a sudden intact of breath, then no more.
Harry inched his way across the stone floor, letting his eyes get adjusted to the very poor light," Look, I know someones there...So..So just come out or I'm going to Dumbledore."
"You don't need for me to come out."
"Why not?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow, suspiciously gazing around.
"Because...its just better if I don't."
Harry turned his head, pinpointing where the voice seemed to be originating from," Oh? Shouldn't that be up to me?"
"Well...I suppose...But it'd just be easier if I went right now."
Harry continued towards the voice, wishing there was more than one bloody candle to light up this particular corner behind a humungous statue." Why don't I be the judge of that?"
"No...No please...Don't...Don't come any closer...Please! Stay away!"
Harry's vision settled on the darkened gap of space and could make out a very faint face. The air seemed to have dramatically dropped in temperature, as if his very heat was sucked from him. His breath was visible in soft clouds as his hairs stood on end. Harry reached up and rubbed out the goosebumps all over his skin as he squinted into that vague face.
"Come out..."
Like slowly straying from conscious reality into a dream, the figure stood up and stepped out from the shadows. First their face became clearer, going from a foggy outline to distinct features then their body began to rebuild its structure.
Harry's breath picked up again as his heart beat rapidly. He felt his lips turning blue from both the cold and shock as his knees started to buckle
" No..." he breathed.
A hand reached up and very lightly brushed a few strands of his hair off his forehead," I told you, you didn't want me coming out."
Tears trickled down his icy cheeks as his lips quivered, leaning unconsciously into the touch only to find a wave of fresh coldness sweep over his forehead.
The hand quickly pulled back.
Harry took a step forward, still in disbelief," C....Cienna?"
The girl nodded, a look of pure sadness plastered on her porcelain like features.
"Cienna!" Harry exclaimed, moving to throw his arms around her when she jerked away hastily.
"No...No, Harry..." She mumbled, hating the look of hurt now stabbing at his emerald eyes.
Harry stepped back, his fingers aching to touch her," But, why no-"
"Because I'd go right through you."
Harry frowned, his entire body shaking for her.
"I'm not real anymore, Harry. I'm...I'm a ghost."
Harry shook his head, tears flowing more freely," No you're not. I see you...I see you clear as day, you're right here...You came back."
"Yes.Yes I came back, but not totally...Oh god, Harry. If you only knew how badly I've wanted to just curl up in your arms the past two months..."
"Two months?"
Cienna nodded, floating over to the side, "Yes. See...I-I heard you. From the great white palace on the other side, I heard you. God, it was like a constant scream in my soul. Your pain was just...unreal. I couldn't bear to leave you to deal with it alone,so, I came back...I came back to help you, Harry."
Harry hugged himself tightly, shivering," But why didn't you make yourself known earlier?"
"Because...I knew it wouldn't of been wise to barge back into your life. I saw you, Harry...Night after night, tossing and turning, never sleeping,just crying...God, it KILLED me to just watch you and not be able to take you in my arms and rock you to sleep...So, when you got back to Hogwarts, I stayed in your room while you slept, or rather, attempted to sleep."
"And Ron thought I was mad for thinking someone was watching us," Harry muttered.
Cienna smiled, but the light in her eyes quickly faded to see Harry looking even more miserable. On instinct, she reached up and ran her fingertips down his cheek.
Harry shuttered but dared not pull away and instead leaned into it. It was like a chilly winter breeze that ran along your skin, sending shivers down your spine. He hated it, but then was grateful just to be close to her again.
Before he knew what he was doing, he stepped closer. Her iciness melted into his front, sending a rush of goosebumps over his flesh. Harry leaned in and gazed into her shining brown eyes. His eyelids fluttered shut as she reached up and rested her hand softly on the back of his neck.. Harry knew the instant their lips met for a blast of cold flooded his mouth. Ignoring it, he kissed on, somehow being able to tell when her lips parted and her tongue slipped along his.
It was the most entrancing kiss he'd ever experienced with her. Her numbing cold soon gave way to his body heat, making his shivers turn into rushes of snowy butterflies.
He had just felt her hand brush along his bare collarbone when a sudden gasp made them break their contact. Cienna instantly vanished as Harry suddenly felt extremely quesy and crumbled to the floor.
He looked up groggily, seeing Ginny peering down at him with a look of deep concern.
"Harry? Harry are you alright?" She squeaked." God, look at you! You're blue all over! Stay here, I'll go get help!"
He watched her sprint off and curled up clutching his robes close to his freezing body. His limbs shook with horrible fierceness as his breath continued to come out in wisps of clouds. Closing his eyes, he tried to gain control of his frozen body, the only sensation being the tingles left on his lips by Cienna's kiss.