Disclaimer: All you fan-fic readers know the drill by now. I'm not J.K so obviously I don't own Harry Potter (much as I'd like to), BUT I do own this plot. Well, the bits of it that the voices in my head aren't dictating...

Harry Potter and the Time of Trials

Chapter 10: The Prophecy Shared

Ron swore. Neville gave Harry a nervous look, as if unsure whether or not he might still be possessed. Luna declared loudly that Voldemort must have employed a Dipiticus. Harry, all set to ask Luna what exactly a Dipiticus was, didn't even have a chance as Hermione laid in with the questions. He answered a few, but had to stop as the train arrived in Hogsmeade. As they all got up and prepared to disembark, he asked them all to meet him in the Room of Requirement after the feast, stating that there was more. Ginny gave him a startled look, but agreed along with the others - although there was apprehension on a couple of faces - to meet him there.

Harry left the train feeling a little lighter for having shared half of his secret, but mostly he felt hungry. The Imperturbable Charm had made sure that he wasn't overheard, or interrupted while he was telling his story, but it had also meant that they had missed the trolley lady, and thus any of the snacks that he usually bought on the trip.

As the Thestrals drew them closer to Hogwarts, Harry had grew more anxious, more worried about seeing Dumbledore.

Although Order members had been in and out of the Burrow for the entire time he had been there, Dumbledore - and thankfully Snape - had not. Perhaps he had sensed that Harry was not ready to face him again. Harry hadn't actually seen the Headmaster since the revelation of the Prophecy in Dumbledore's office. He knew there was no way of avoiding the Headmaster when he arrived back at school. No one missed the welcoming feast unless something really drastic happened. Plus Harry had felt compelled to attend. Last year the Sorting Hat's annual song had been a warning. Perhaps this year it had something to add, something that Harry needed to know.

Hermione bit her lip and looked from Harry to Ron. "That's two years in a row that we've been given warnings about working together," she said, sounding worried.

Harry and Ron shrugged at each other, not really worried. "It's not like anything happened last year," Ron commented in an offhand tone.

"Nothing?"

"Well," Ron seemed to consider the question. "It's not like Umbridge could have been avoided by us getting cosy with the Slytherins. And the Minis-" he cut off mid-word to look behind Harry.

Harry felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up quickly to see who it was.

"Potter," McGonagall said quietly, trying not to take anyone else's attention away from the Hat which was currently sorting an 'Anderson, Erica' into Hufflepuff. "Could you step out of the room for a moment?"

"Ravenclaw!" the hat shouted over 'Baxter, Benjamin'.

"Ah, sure Professor," Harry said, standing. Ron, sitting opposite Harry, shot him a questioning look and he shrugged. Ron returned the shrug and turned back to the sorting where 'Bunting, Felix' had been sorted into Slytherin.

Gryffindor gained 'Chamber, Martin' and 'Ellis, Janice' from the group called while they were walking to the door.

The door creaked as Professor McGonagall opened it, and swung closed behind Harry as Professor Sprout called the next boy to the stool.

The sorting was finished by the time he managed to get back into the Hall. Harry slipped into his seat and started to listen to the beginning of year speech.

"The Forbidden Forest is, strangely enough, as its name suggests - forbidden." A few students laughed. Harry didn't. "Also, Mr Filch the caretaker has asked that I advise you all that the list of forbidden objects in Hogwarts has been added to once again." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he looked over his half-moon glasses at the remaining Weasleys. "I believe that it has, in fact, nearly doubled in length. For anyone who would like to consult the entire list, he has kindly attached it to his door, and along the hall. Now," he clapped his hands, "time to eat."

Infinitely relieved that the headmaster had decided not to talk about Voldemort or the events of last year, Harry followed Dumbledore's example and set to taking advantage of the stupendous feast that the house tables were currently groaning under the weight of.

Ron kicked him under the table.

"So?" he prompted.

"She just wanted to talk to me about the work I was doing in the holidays."

It was true. Harry just neglected to mention that she had told him how impressed she had been with the essays he had returned for Transfiguration. She had awarded both with an 'O' and was quite astounded with the dedication he had shown. Ron seemed happy enough with Harry's explanation and if food could be said to quiver with fear, any within reach would have been doing so in the face of his enthusiasm for the meal.

As the Hogwarts Sorting Feast started to wind down, Harry stood up. He tapped Neville on the shoulder, getting his attention, and gestured for him to follow. Curiosity lighting up his eyes Neville did so unquestioningly; his apprehension from before apparently momentarily forgotten. Harry then gave a nod to Ron and Hermione, who walked over to the new fifth year prefects to make sure they knew what to do. Harry knew they would be along in a moment. Last of all he caught Ginny's attention as he passed her. She sent him an encouraging smile as she quickly wrapped up the conversation she had been engaged in, and headed off for the Ravenclaw table to collect Luna.

As Harry and Neville hurried toward the door, a shadow swooped down.

"Potter." The oily tones of Professor Snape were unmistakable. "The headmaster has asked that you meet him tomorrow in his office." Without waiting for a reply the professor left amid billowing robes, as quickly as he had come.

Neville looked relieved that Snape had left so easily. "You have no idea how glad I am that I'm not taking Potions anymore," he commented to Harry quietly.

"I'm still taking it," Harry said wryly. "Glutton for punishment, that's me. Although," he added with annoyance, "you'd think he'd have given me the password at least. I can see it now: I'm in the corridor outside Dumbledore's office just making random guesses. At least I've got some practice at that," he laughed. "And I don't expect that this time the greasy git will show up trying to shoo me away."

Neville grinned and moved with Harry up the stairs and to the corridor where the Room of Requirement was located.

Harry thought about what he wanted. Somewhere quiet and private where he could talk to the others without fear of interruption... not too big... just somewhere comfortable. He would need that comfort; he wasn't looking forward to this confession.

He walked past the spot once, twice, three times and the door appeared.

"Come on Neville," Harry said, leading the way. He shut the door behind the other boy. "The others will be here soon. It's good that they're not here yet actually. There is something I need to tell you about without them here," he said glancing around his surroundings. The room had done its job well. There was a low table in the middle, surrounded by four comfy armchairs and a high-backed couch.

He grinned as he noticed the Gryffindor hues that dominated the colour scheme.

Picking one of the chairs Harry sat, gesturing for Neville to do the same.

Neville's apprehensive look had made a comeback. He pulled out his wand, apparently trying to put off what Harry had to say. "Did I tell you about my new wand? Seven inches, ash-"

Harry interrupted. "Neville, I really don't have time. They'll be here any moment. Look, just listen. What I'm going to be talking about, it didn't have to be me. There was another. You, Neville. Only things didn't work out that way, or so everyone seems to think anyhow." He cut off as he heard voices on the other side of the door. "Stick around after," he hissed. "I think we're going to need to talk."

Ron came through the door first, closely followed by the other three.

"You didn't start without us, did you?" Ron asked.

"Nah, mate," Harry sat up a little straighter in an effort so as not to appear as if he had recently been imparting secret information. "Just chatting about stuff, waiting for you guys to show up. Neville here has a new wand. Ash, I think you said Neville."

"Yeah," Neville said aping Harry. He seemed happy for the change in topic. "Seven inches and you'll never guess the core. A vine from the Mimbulus mimbletonia!"

"That's nice," Ron said without interest, as he plonked down on the couch. Luna rushed to sit next to him, and an almost comically disappointed expression swept over his face. Hermione, who also looked put out at first, looked like she was hiding a pleased reaction to Ron's and sat down on the nearest armchair to the red headed boy. Ginny, left without any real choice took the final armchair on Harry's other side. As she sat, the tinny notes of another soppy sounding tune started up (Hermione's head shot up, and she grinned widely at Ginny for a second, apparently recognising the music), and with a grimace, she grabbed an impossibly fluffy cushion that had not been there a moment before and shoved it over her wrist.

"So what's this all about?"

"Do you remember the prophecy?" Harry asked them.

"Of course we do," Hermione retorted, a hint of exasperation in her tone.

"Except," Neville put in, his brow furrowing as he began to put two and two together, "I broke it..."

"It wasn't your fault," Harry said earnestly, "there was a lot going on." He stopped for a second to gather his thoughts. "That's not the point though. The point is: I heard it."

"How?" Neville asked in bewilderment. "I was closer and I didn't hear a word."

Ron, who had until this moment been regarding Luna with a slightly disgruntled air, looked over at Harry. "What did it say?" he asked suspiciously, having apparently decided that worrying about the 'how's' was not going to help.

"What happened after you were possessed?" Hermione asked, cannily hitting the nail on the head.

Harry moved back in his seat and leaned down to rest his elbows on his knees.

"Dumbledore," he finally said after a long pause. "He knew. He'd witnessed the prophecy, so he was able to tell me what it was." He fell silent again, sinking into his thoughts as the other five looked at him. After a while – he didn't know exactly how long – there was the sound of someone clearing their throat loudly.

"You can't just leave it there, you realise," Hermione said. "I'll go mad if you do."

The others all nodded, uttering words of agreement with Hermione's statement.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches..." Harry's voice was soft, yet captivating. "Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies..." he repeated the prophecy in exactly the same rhythm as he had heard it, the same rhythm that was burned across his mind. "And the Dark Lord will mark him as an equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not..." he had closed his eyes, and thus missed the unusual occurrence of his friend's eyes flicking up to look at his scar. "And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives..." the sounds of quick intakes of breath didn't faze him as he closed on the end of the prophecy. "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..." Harry's voice trailed off and he reopened his eyes. The others were looking at him in shock; Neville in particular looked rather green. "I like to think of it as one of those 'life-defining moments'," he managed to call up a small grin in complete defiance of atmosphere pervading the room.

"Oh, Harry..."

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Shall I Shut Up Now?

A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I know: I'm a horrible, horrible person. But I had the worst time trying to write a Sorting Hat song – as you can see I gave up. I used to be quite good at poetry and all that a few years ago, except of course I didn't really go in for the rhyming type, so I have no idea why I found it hard... I just did. Anyhow, I should be getting more regular with the updates again now. Also I recently got a new Beta (I'm posting over at Phoenix Song as well now) so I will be putting up the newly Beta'd chapters as they get done – I think they look much better. For the new one's you'll just have to live with my mistakes for now ;) And now... time to work on RiE...

Reviews are the stuff I live on... don't make me go hungry!

Melindaleo: There was actually another clue in chapter nine about the bracelet. I think I may have been a little subtle though; even my usual test subject couldn't pick it until I highlighted it for her...

Wind Whisperer: --ducks and looks around carefully-- Sorry!

MrsSakuraPotter: I used Cold Chisel to ward off Mariah. The Peppers would have been choice no. 2...

evanescence2037: Are you the same evanescence2037 as the one at PS?