A few weekends later, Harry brewed a potion. But it wasn't for class. It was for his Animagic. He was going to see which animal he really was.
There were a few things to do first. They weren't required, but they would help a lot later on. He had to figure out what he would most likely be. He already figured a lion. But something inside him made him think he was something that flew. So he had narrowed it down. That was good enough for him. It was supposed to make the first transformation less painless and faster.
Harry drank the potion. It was a sweet potion. But none of the ingredients indicated that it would taste sweet, so Harry was a bit confused.
A minute later, though, he was in agonizing pain. It was all he could do not to scream. He felt himself shrinking, his face distorting into a strange, unfamiliar form, his hands were fanning out, he was becoming lighter, his feet were shrinking and taking a different, tough skin; that was the pain. All of these things were happening at once, but slowly. Oh so very slowly.
And then it stopped. Harry took a few calming breaths. He felt his hands against his body, tight. He was very warm too. Not just the surface of his skin, but inside his veins, his blood. He looked down and saw he was significantly closer to the ground. Other than the ground, he saw red, black and gold feathers. He stretched out his stiff neck to see it was rather longer than he would've expected, considering how close to the ground he happened to be. Harry looked at his feet to see talons. Harry looked around the room and found the mirror he had conjured earlier. He walked up to it.
In the reflection he saw a phoenix. Harry saw he still had bright, emerald green eyes. The red and black feathers atop his head stuck out in no pattern. He had a magnificent, long, gold tail with his beak and talons of the same color. Stretching his arms, he saw his wings move. The odd thing he found about himself was the light red patch of feathers in his forehead that made up the shape of his scar.
Harry willed himself to be human. Again, he felt pain. Only, this time he was growing. He felt his face become more familiar and he was taller. He had skin rather than feathers. Then the pain stopped again.
He looked in the mirror and everything was back to normal. He had his black hair, his scar and his slowly defining muscles. Satisfied with being back to normal, Harry decided to try it again. The book he read said to take the potion three times before attempting the transformation without it. So Harry did. Pain, no pain, pain, no pain. It was strange. But, each time he transformed, the pain subdued a bit. So after three times, Harry decided to try it with out the potion.
Harry thought about being the phoenix again. He thought about all of the features: his red, gold and black feathers, his lightning bolt patch of feathers, his gold talons and beak, his feathers on the top of his head that wouldn't stay straight. Then he felt the pain again. He was shrinking yet again that day. He looked in the mirror once the pain stopped and found he was a phoenix again.
Harry smiled to himself, though it didn't show as much as a phoenix.
He willed himself to be a human again. He thought of his long hair that was just below his shoulders, his scar, his barely distinct muscles and his 5 foot 10 inch frame. Then he felt the pain, less this time. He was human again.
Harry did this a few more times until he could barely feel any pain at all. He was so proud of himself. He might try some other time to fly.
Satisfied with all of his progress, he left his trunk to go to dinner.
Later, after dinner, the Headmaster stood up and the Hall fell silent. "I wish to give you a few details about the upcoming Halloween Dance. Attire for the Dance could be of your choice, either costumes or dress robes. It will be Halloween night, of course, starting at 7:45 pm. Everyone is welcome. Oh, and last, The Weird Sisters will be playing," Dumbledore announced before sitting back down. The Hall's volume rose to two times what it had been previous.
Harry glanced over to Ginny momentarily. Would she go with him? Even if just as friends? He'd ask later. Ron and Hermione looked at each other at the same time. Then each blushed, reaching over and taking each other's hands. Harry and Ginny smiled at them.
When the common room had emptied except for Hermione, Ron, Harry and Ginny, Harry decided he might try and ask her. But he didn't want to in front of Ron and Hermione. What if she said no? Just then, Hermione spoke up. "Ron, could you come to the bulletin board over here? I thought I saw something on there just before we left for dinner. It seemed pretty strange," Hermione said, getting up. Ron stayed put. "Ron! As prefect-," she stopped what would have been a very long speech as Ron got up and followed her.
"Ginny?" he asked, when the two were at the bulletin board, talking.
"Yeah," Ginny asked, shifting her gaze from Hermione and Ron to Harry.
"Did you want to go to the Dance with me?" Harry asked. He mentally cursed himself for asking her now. She wouldn't say yes.
"Yes!" she said, excitedly, though not over doing it. "I was hoping you'd ask. I didn't want to get stuck with Colin," she said, laughing a bit.
"You asked then? Good. I was hoping that wasn't for nothing," Hermione said, as she and Ron rejoined the two.
"You did that on purpose?" Harry asked.
"Yes. You're just to thick to realize it," Hermione said in an innocent tone.
"Yeah, right. I'm tired. I'm going to bed now," Harry said.
"Me too," said Ron. Ginny and Hermione rolled their eyes.
"Yeah, I guess we are to," Hermione said, looking at Ginny for confirmation. She nodded in agreement. "See you in the morning," she said as they all went off to their respective dormitories.
A few weekends later, Ginny confronted Harry with a worried look on her face.
"Harry? There's only one more Hogsmeade weekend until the Dance and I don't know what we're wearing. Are we just wearing dress robes?" she asked.
"Actually," Harry said, getting up from his seat and taking Ginny up to his dormitory. "I already have a few things we can choose from."
"Really?" Ginny's eyes lit up.
"Yep. In here," Harry said, opening the last compartment of the trunk and going in. Ginny followed. They made their way to the closet and Ginny gasped as she saw what room they were in.
"These are your parents clothes," Ginny stated the obvious.
"Yeah," said Harry, going to the back of the closet and finding a pair of costumes.
"Did they have a Halloween Dance when they were at school?" Ginny asked.
"Yes, and these are their costumes. Prince and princess," Harry said. "Unless you don't want to use their costumes," he added quickly.
"No, they're wonderful!" Ginny said breathlessly.
In all truth, they were. The princess outfit was a beautiful, emerald green dress. The sleeves were a stretchy fabric that would be slightly tight. There was gold embroidery on the edge of the sleeves. The top of the dress was the same fabric, but not as stretchy. It had gold embroidery along the neckline. The bottom part of the dress was a few different layers. It was very puffy. The top layer was semi-transparent and was green with gold specks.
The prince outfit was just as stunning, in a less feminine way, though. The jacket and pants were mostly gold with green touches here and there. The shirt that went under it was green with gold buttons.
"Okay, I guess that answers your question, then," Harry said, putting the costumes back on the hangers.
"Yeah," Ginny said. "Thanks."
Harry was confused. "For what?"
"For everything. Helping me with sword fighting. Helping me with Animagus training. For the costumes. For being nice to me. Just everything," Ginny said.
"It's okay, Gin. It's no problem," Harry said, smiling a bit.
"But it means a lot to me. So I just wanted to thank you," Ginny said.
Harry smiled more. "You're welcome."
Over the time since he started school, Harry had been learning more and more spells. But he decided to start with seventh year before going to extra ones. He could now do all of the seventh year spells with Wandless Magic. He had also discovered that he could be any non-magical animal with the help of the potion first, not because of Animagic.
In her free time, Ginny had a lot to do. For one thing, she was brewing the potion to help her transform by herself. She, and Harry, had mastered most of sword fighting. She had also been getting help from him occasionally with homework. When he explained what she didn't get, she learned more. He taught her basics that were in a number of spells often that she wouldn't have recognized on her own too. She was so confident about her studies; she didn't even care about O.W.Ls. They were just more end of the year exams. Quidditch was going excellent for the team they had. The first match was coming up just after the Halloween Ball. It would be Slytherin versus Gryffindor.
Ron was okay. He didn't care about his homework; he cared about Quidditch. His team had improved a lot in the few practices they attended. Hermione was his girlfriend and he was happy about that. They fought less and when they did, they were short and Hermione always won.
Hermione was as studious as ever, except perhaps in her third year. She had gotten exceeds expectations or outstanding on all of her papers, as her teachers were grading in terms of wizarding exams. She had read all of her textbooks just before the start of term, and therefore, understood the spells. Other than school, there was Ron. He started to agree with her more often since they started going out. He also started eating a bit more decently, which surprised Hermione to say the least.
It was the Monday before Halloween. Harry was at Defense Against the Dark Arts, awaiting instruction.
"Quiet down, class," said Snape as he strode through the doorway, robes billowing out behind him. This order was not needed, as the class was already against the wall waiting for the lesson to start.
"Today, we will be learning a charm that is very useful against Dementors. Which one am I going to teach you Mr. Malfoy?" Snape asked. He had hope Malfoy would know this, as it was used against him three years previous.
"The Patronus Charm," Malfoy said.
"Five points to Slytherin," Snape awarded.
"Mr. Weasley, can you tell me exactly what this charm does?" Snape asked.
"It chases away dementors," Ron said, as if it were common sense.
"Five points from Gryffindor for your tone," Snape said, his lips curving to form a smirk. "But nevertheless, he is correct. Mr. Potter, can you tell me more about this charm?" Snape honestly thought he couldn't.
"It is the polar opposite of a dementor. It is made up of pure happiness and is conjured with the aid of happy memories. The incantation is 'expecto patronum,'" Harry said knowingly.
Snape's eyes narrowed. "Yes," he said simply, awarding no points. "With the dementors' allegiance on the edge lately, the Headmaster seems to think it necessary that we at least cover the subject and try to perform the charm successfully. I don't expect any of you to be able to perform it, as many full-grown witches and wizards are not able to. I will give twenty points to the house of whoever is able to successfully perform the charm. Read pages 687 to 693 and then you may attempt the spell. You have both periods to finish the reading and try the spell. Homework is nine inches on the correct way to perform the charm and the results. You may start."
Everyone started reading. When Harry was done, he saw that many were done as well. Yet, no one had tried to cast the spell. Looking back at the people finished, he saw they all had a look of concentration upon their faces. They were all thinking of happy memories good enough to use.
Suddenly, Draco Malfoy, stood up and shouted the spell. The look on his face gave evidence of his confidence. He thought he was going to get it right the first time. Harry nearly smiled at the result. The end of his wand lit up for just a moment before going out. Malfoy's eyes narrowed at his wand and he sat down again, thinking of a good enough memory.
Harry found his happy memory. Well, it wasn't a memory, really. It was knowledge. He had friends. As he stood up, he looked at Ron and Hermione, who gave him looks of encouragement. Harry knew he could do this.
Harry saw his three best friends in his mind. Hermione, Ginny and Ron. Then he shouted, "Expecto Patronum!" A silvery stag erupted out of his wand. Everyone that wasn't in Slytherin clapped as Harry sat down and his stag galloped around the room. When the stag was finished, it went back to Harry before disappearing.
"Twenty points to Gryffindor," Snape said reluctantly.
"Harry!" someone called from behind him. Harry spun around. It was Parvati Patil. "Harry wait," she said as she caught up with him. "I was wondering if you were doing the D.A. this year again," said asked.
"I was thinking about it," Harry said.
"Oh, please do! No one's going to learn with Snape as Defense teacher! Okay, maybe some people, but we could learn twice as much if you taught us as well," she said.
"I think I might. Apparently everyone in the D.A. did exceptionally well in Defense on end of the year exams," Harry said.
"Yeah. Lavender and I got Exceeds Expectations. We were definitely not that great in class though," Parvati said.
"Well, just send out the message to everyone that I might. And don't forget your galleon," Harry said.
"Okay," she said, turning to walk away. "Thanks Harry."
Harry smiled a bit, "No problem."
So now he was doing the D.A. again. It should be fun. Especially with all that he was learning from the seventh year textbooks he was reading.
The days ticked down slowly as the Halloween Dance approached. The students were getting restless. Thursday, Dumbledore found it pointless for classes, as they would be too excited to concentrate, so he canceled them.
The students had to find something to do. Of course, there wasn't a boy up before 10:30. Harry and Ron took the liberty of staying in bed until 12:30. Ginny and Hermione got up at 12:00, though, just so they were still able to nag the boys about sleeping too much.
"I'm hungry," Ron said sleepily as he made his way into the common room.
"Let's go to the kitchens," Harry suggested, almost as tired.
"Okay," Ron said, not even stopping and heading straight for the portrait hole. The girls watched amused as the two made their way sleepily to the kitchens.
"What time did you two go to bed?" Hermione asked.
"10:00," said Ron.
"12:00," said Harry.
"In any case, you two should be well rested. Over twelve hours of sleep each! And why were you up so late, Harry?" Hermione asked.
"Researching spells," Harry said. It was true, he had been up researching spells for the D.A.
"That's understandable. Well, here we are," Ginny said, tickling the pear. The portrait opened.
"Hello, Dobby," Harry said. "Can you get us some lunch?"
Hermione looked almost with disgust as Dobby moved around, balancing all of her hats on his head.
"Yes, of course, Dobby will! Winky, help Dobby!" Dobby called, going to find Winky. The four sat down.
They waited for a few moments until the food came. Then they ate. Harry didn't make the mistake of eating too much again, but Ron did.
"I'm stuffed. Sorry, 'Mione, I won't be able to Dance with you tonight," Ron said.
"I didn't expect you to, after the way you treated your date at the Yule Ball two years ago," she said teasingly.
"Well, I didn't like her very much," Ron said truthfully.
"Still, that's no way to treat a lady," Hermione said.
"Too bad then, eh?" Ron said. Hermione rolled her eyes. They made their way out of the kitchens after thanking Dobby and Winky. They went to Gryffindor tower.
"I've got to work this all off, or else I won't fit into that gorgeous dress," said Ginny.
"Want to duel?" Harry asked.
Ron and Hermione looked between the two and wondered why Harry had just come up with that.
"Yeah," said Ginny.
"Can we watch?" Ron asked.
"Sure," Harry said. Ginny agreed and they all ventured into the third compartment of Lily's trunk.
"Why didn't you tell us about this?" Hermione asked.
"Didn't cross my mind," Harry said vaguely as he picked his favorite sword from the wall.
"If you asked specifically, I'm sure he would've told you," Ginny said, picking up her favorite sword out as well. She had moved from the lightest sword to a middle size sword because she had become more accustomed to the weight until it was getting too easy.
"Rules," Harry said.
"No magic until after the duel," Ginny put in.
"Duel ends when one is unarmed or too hurt to continue," Harry said.
"Or when one is unable to finish," Ginny said.
"Such as being on one's back with the opponent's sword at one's throat," said Harry, smiling.
"Or if one forfeits," said Ginny, smiling as well. Harry nodded and swung his sword to start.
He came down near her head, but was blocked by Ginny. They fought for nearly fifteen minutes with no one getting the upper hand. Then, Harry caught Ginny by surprise and put her on defense, getting ahead. Finally, Ginny tripped backwards, her sword left her hand and Harry put the tip of his sword by her throat.
"You win," said Ginny.
"Yep," Harry said, he moved the sword and stuck out his hand, she took it and he helped her up. "Let's do that tomorrow too," Harry said.
"Okay," she agreed.
"Can you teach us?" Hermione and Ron said at the same time. Harry had forgotten they were watching.
"Yeah, I suppose. You'll learn it later in the year, you know. It's part of the curriculum," Harry said.
"Yeah, but who doesn't want to be ahead of the class?" Ron asked.
"Apparently not you," Harry mumbled. "Yeah, I'll teach you then. Want to start now?"
Their eyes widened. "Really?" Hermione asked.
"Yes," Harry said.
"Okay," they said.
"Pick a sword. You should start lighter," Harry said. They did and Harry began just as he had with Ginny.
At 5:30, the girls parted to get ready. Ron and Harry dueled a bit. Ron was pretty good for the first time. When they finished, they each questioned what the other was going to wear. The girls wanted to keep it a surprise, though, so neither told, even though they would see it in a matter of minutes.
At 7:00, they decided to get ready. It took Harry minimal time to get ready. It was like putting on a muggle suit. The thing that took him longest was his hair. He brushed it and let it hang down. It was now just to his shoulders. But no one knew that aside from him and Ron, as Harry always kept it back. Since it was that long, it was weighed down and laid a bit more flat.
When he was done, he looked quickly through a book to find ways to fix his eyesight. There was a potion to take that would fix it forever. Then there was a spell to help it for twelve hours. "Oculus reparare," Harry said, waving his hand in front of his eyes. Instantly, his vision blurred. Harry was momentarily confused. Did I do it wrong, Harry thought to himself. Then he took of his glasses and he could see perfectly.
He still had five minutes. So Harry went into the last compartment of the trunk and looked through the closet. He found what he was looking for. So he made his way out of the trunk and into the common room.
Ron wore really nice black dress robes. He told Harry about how he got them when they were waiting for their dates. "Fred and George gave them to me," he said. "Really odd of them. They got me new dress robes last year too. I was sure they'd jinxed them before hand. They didn't. Just told me some rubbish about being good brothers."
It seemed forever before Ginny came down the stairs. When she did, he was in awe. The dress looked the same, but she looked incredible with it. She had put emerald eyeshadow on her eyes and green and gold glitter on her face. Her hair was halfway up. The part that was up was in a sort of bun with enchanted butterfly clips in it and glitter. The part that was down went to the middle of her back and was curled at the bottoms. Harry thought she looked stunning.
Hermione looked pretty as well. She was wearing a beautiful dress that looked like a muggle prom dress. It was lilac with dark purple stitching at the top and bottom. It was sleeveless, but had a matching shawl. Her hair was straight and went to the middle of her back. She had minimal make up on her face.
The girls walked up to the boys as gracefully as they could.
"You look…" Harry couldn't find any words powerful enough to explain her appearance. He settled with, "like the most beautiful girl I've ever seen." Ginny blushed. He didn't hear what Ron said, but Hermione was blushing as well.
"I've got something for you," Harry said, removing his hands from behind his back. He held a beautiful, gold tiara with emeralds set in the shape of leaves and vines. It went with the dress. Ginny was in awe at the beauty of it.
"Can you put it on? I can't do it by myself with out a mirror," Ginny said softly. Harry nodded and placed the tiara on the top of her head. With the bun in the back, it looked perfect. Harry smiled.
"You look like a dream," Harry said, as he leaned in a kissed her on the cheek. She blushed again.
"You don't look to bad your self," she replied.
"Can we go now?" Ron asked, interrupting their little moment and earning a nice punch in the ribs from Hermione. Ginny and Harry laughed, blushing furiously.
"Yeah," Ginny said.
They walked down to the corridor outside the Great Hall. They were five minutes early, so they weren't allowed inside yet. The two couples earned a good amount of looks from people already gathered there. A few girls sighed as they saw Harry and some glared at Ginny, jealous of her beauty and date. Some of the guys couldn't stop staring at Hermione and Ginny and were rather jealous of Harry and Ron. Their dates weren't too happy about that.
All of a sudden, the doors opened magically and they were bombarded with a large amount of sound. It was the band, The Weird Sisters. They weren't too bad or much different from a muggle rock band.
They stepped in and looked around. There were jack o lanterns floating around in the air. In each of the corners stood a huge pumpkin, no doubt courtesy of Hagrid. Many started dancing right off, including Ginny and Harry. Harry didn't really know how, but he just did what he felt was right. Looking around, it happened to be the right way to dance, much to his luck.
"I'm thirsty, you?" Ginny asked after a while.
"Yeah. Want me to go get you some butter beer?" Harry asked.
"I'll come too," said Ginny. Harry shrugged and led his date over to the table that held the food.
"Ooh… don't eat those. I bet Fred and George somehow got those here. They're Canary Creams. What a nasty trick," she said mysteriously.
"Was it you?" Harry asked, smiling at Ginny.
She nodded. "Dobby will do anything for a friend of Harry Potter's," she did a remarkable impression of Dobby. They laughed. Just then, Harry caught sight of someone familiar.
"Did you know Lupin was coming?" Harry asked.
"No, did he?" she asked, looking around for the werewolf.
"Yep. And you won't believe who with," Harry said, a smile creeping onto his face.
"I wouldn't know," Ginny said truthfully.
"Carmichael," Harry said.
"No! Really? That's unexpected," Ginny said.
"Not for me," Harry said. He saw Ginny's confused expression. "I'll tell you later. Want to go say hi?" he asked.
"Yeah," Ginny said enthusiastically.
They made their way over. "Hi, Mooney," Harry said from behind his friend. The werewolf spun around. He saw the couple and smiled mischievously.
"Hey, Harry," he said. "How's it going?" he asked.
"Not bad. Hi professor," Harry said to Carmichael.
"Hello, Potter. You do realize who you two look like right?" she asked, with a tear slipping silently down her cheek.
"You guys are a spitting image of Lily and James," Remus informed them.
"Yep. I got these from my mum's trunk. You gave me the idea when you were telling me about the picture a while ago. Of course, I didn't know then," Harry said.
"Dumbledore told me you might be restarting a Defense Club?"
"Yeah. I'm going to," Harry said.
"Excellent. That's what the students need. They need to be prepared for the war," she said.
"Yeah. That was part of the reason we started it last year, in a way. Most of it was because Umbridge didn't teach us anything," Harry said.
"I read that in the Daily Prophet. It's understandable. She was at school while we were there, wasn't she Remus?" Lupin nodded. "Yes, she was just a few years younger than us. Awful person. Always hated Remus and Lily. She hated Black and Potter too. Called them blood traitors…" she trailed off with a look of disgust on her face. Then she lightened up. "Well, best not ruin such a great night. You two better go enjoy it," she said.
Ginny and Harry said goodbye to them as they left. "Want to go outside?" Harry asked. Ginny smiled and nodded.
When they got outside, Harry thought that it looked pretty cool. There were pumpkins everywhere and benches and bushes. The bushes, instead of a lush green were, like all others at that time of year, brown and golden. On the sides of the benches there were fairies. But they were in fall colors, like deep, dark gold and such.
"Let's sit here," Ginny said. They sat at one of the benches, a long way from the doors, concealed by a cluster of bushes and pumpkins. "Did you see Hermione and Ron?" she asked curiously.
"No. I haven't seen them since we got to the dance," Harry said.
"Oh. I haven't either. I haven't heard them either. Normally anyone would be able to hear them bickering every few minutes," Ginny said with a smirk.
"Yeah," Harry agreed. "Are you having a good time?" he asked, mentally kicking himself afterward.
"Yes. It's a lot of fun. Even if we aren't dancing at the moment. I like just being with you," Ginny said sincerely.
"I like being with you too," Harry said seriously. Ginny smiled and blushed.
"What were you talking about earlier, knowing Lupin was coming and everything?" she asked.
"Oh, that, one day and Peeves passed by and was singing 'loony, loopy Lupin.' I was wondering why when he did. But now I realize it was probably triggered from the conversation or talk about Lupin when he was invited."
Ginny nodded. "That makes sense. Do you want to try finding Hermione and Ron?" she asked.
"Okay," Harry said, rising and then taking Ginny's hand to help her up. They walked back into the Great Hall, hand in hand, having not let go after they got up. But they didn't notice at first.
Harry looked down at their hands after a while and Ginny followed his gaze. But instead of letting go in a rush, she held his hand tighter. Harry smiled and then kept walking.
They found Hermione and Ron, just coming back from dancing and heading for the food table. Typical of Ron, Harry thought to himself.
"Hey Hermione," Ginny said, picking up her pace.
"Oh, hello, guys. Where've you been? We haven't seen you for a while," Hermione said.
"Outside," Harry replied.
"You missed a really good song, mate," Ron said, helping himself to a Cauldron Cake.
"I wouldn't know," Harry mumbled, taking a Pumpkin Pasty.
"What do you want to do after the dance? You know it ends in a half hour; 10:30," Ron said.
"How about go to bed? We still have classes tomorrow," Hermione said.
"Nah," said Ron, "We wouldn't have class after a dance."
"Well, when we get back, I'm going to bed," Hermione said.
"Okay. Want a game of chess when we get back?" Ron asked Harry.
"No, I'm going to bed as well," Harry said.
"Ginny?" Ron asked.
"Nope. Classes tomorrow, Ron," Ginny said. Hermione smiled.
"Fine," Ron said grumpily. "Better get dancing. Twenty five minutes left," he said, taking Hermione by the hand. Harry and Ginny followed.
The song just ended and a slow one came on. Ginny was a bit hesitant, but put her hands around Harry's neck. Harry put his hands on her waist and they swayed from side to side with the beat. Harry saw that a lot of the people dancing had done the same.
A few more songs went by and then the end came. Slowly, the students filtered out of the Hall. Harry and Ginny made their way up to Gryffindor tower slowly, recalling memories of the dance.
"Thanks Harry," Ginny said when they got up to the common room. "I had a good time."
"Me too," said Harry. He leaned in to kiss her, but instead of on the cheek again, he gave her a quick one on the lips. This caught Ginny by surprise, but she didn't push him away. "Night," he said after.
"Night," Ginny said, going up the stairs to her dormitory.
Harry turned around to see Ron waiting for him. "You really should keep that to yourselves you know," Ron said.
Harry smirked. "Would you have rather me taken her into a broom closet?" he asked.
"No, that was fine," he said after a moment. They went up the stairs. Harry was thinking about Ginny the whole time. Then Harry changed into his pajamas and fell asleep almost instantly.
Harry was in a dark house. He walked down a familiar corridor. There was a light coming from behind a door a few meters down. He didn't hear anything. No, strike that, he did hear something. It was faint and hard to hear. Something coming from behind him. Harry turned around. There was a snake. Nagini, Voldemort's snake.
"Master will be pleased," he heard the snake say softly, before passing him and slithering into the door with the light. Harry crept silently to the door. Then he heard someone else hissing.
"Really? That's a pleasant surprise," Harry heard Voldemort's voice said softly in Parseltongue, though Harry wasn't aware it was in the language. Just then, the door opened all the way. "Hello, Potter," Voldemort said softly. "Do come in."
Harry looked behind Voldemort into the room and saw only the snake. So Harry decided to go in.
"I must say this visit is rather unexpected. You've been out of touch for a while," Voldemort said, sitting in his high backed chair in front of the fire.
"Yeah, pity for you," Harry said.
Voldemort ignored him. "And I can tell you've changed. I can sense it. Not just appearance," Voldemort said softly.
"Yeah, you're right," Harry said.
"But how have you changed then?" Voldemort asked.
"What makes you think I'd tell you?" Harry asked.
"I know you've mastered Occlumency, or I would've been able to contact you weeks ago," Voldemort said.
"Why would you want to contact me?" Harry asked.
"Many reasons. First is an update. I know about the prophecy," Voldemort said proudly.
"I know you know about the prophecy. You mean that you know the contents," Harry said.
"Of course, that's what I mean," Voldemort said impatiently. "I also know that you have grown up a bit."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked.
"You aren't as easy to irritate or intimidate," Voldemort said.
Harry was a bit confused. "How would you know that?"
"Besides your attitude now, I have people that would tell me such things," Voldemort said.
"But you don't have Death Eaters at Hogwarts yet, do you?" Harry asked. That was a stupid question. Why would Voldemort tell him that? Harry didn't know, but he did anyway.
"Not yet. I make a point of not letting students become Death Eaters. They are too foolish and don't know enough. Once they are out of school I let them. Plus, Dumbledore can sense things like that, or the students would accidentally let it slip or brag about it. It's more trouble than it's worth," he said. "But I do have a few there that are loyal to me."
"But how would you get the information from them?" Harry asked.
"I thought you'd at least know that. By owl, Harry. Isn't that how most wizards communicate?" Voldemort asked.
"Yes, but you aren't most wizard. You're only half wizard. Remember, your father was a muggle," Harry said. He knew Voldemort wouldn't like that.
"Oh, you're clever Potter," Voldemort said through gritted teeth, his temper rising. Then he recovered. "You know, you'd be so powerful. You can be my ally," Voldemort said.
That wasn't expected. He didn't even throw a curse after the half blood remark. "I know that. But that would also be useless," Harry said.
"I know, neither can live, while the other survives. Perhaps we can live, though," Voldemort said.
"Perhaps," said Harry. "But I wouldn't spend my life helping you destroy others," Harry said heatedly. "Because that's low."
"No, it isn't. It's a good deed. I'm helping to purify the wizard race," Voldemort said.
"But you aren't even pure in your standards," Harry said.
"Not completely, and neither are you. But I'm ridding the world of muggles, muggle borns and squibs. The pure bloods will have a better life," Voldemort said.
"Not with you as their leader," Harry said.
"Maybe you should be their ruler then. Join with me Harry. My Death Eaters and I will do all the killing, and you can rule," Voldemort said.
"Yeah, right. There is no way I would rule a bunch of Death Eaters. Plus, that's most of the world you're killing off; you know that, don't you? Purebloods are only one fifth of all wizards. And then, all wizards, witches, squibs and muggle borns are about one fourth of the world. That's a lot of killing you and your Death Eaters have to do," Harry said. He had read the statistics in a book from the library a few weeks back.
"I know. Don't you think I'd have thought this all through? I have plans," Voldemort said.
"Whatever. I don't think it's very smart. Oh, and I have a question," Harry said.
"What is it?" Voldemort asked.
"Did you ever have a psychiatrist? Because they had the reverse affect on you. They're supposed to cure people of their mental… troubles," Harry said.
"I did have a psychiatrist, at my muggle orphanage. He was a muggle as well," Voldemort said with disgust.
"What's so bad about that?" Harry asked.
"Muggles are the lowest life forms, Harry. What is Dumbledore teaching you?" Voldemort asked.
"The truth," Harry said.
"For a change," Voldemort supplied. "You know, just as well as I, if not better, that all he did last year was avoid the truth and you."
"Yeah. But not now," Harry said, temper rising a few notches.
"You've only talked to him a minimal number of times," Voldemort said. "How do you know?"
"I just do," Harry said. "I'm leaving." He knew he wasn't going to get any sleep if he kept up this conversation.
"I await our next meeting," Voldemort said. If he weren't a Dark Lord, he would've sounded almost pleasant.
The scene before Harry faded and then he was back in his bed.
Harry opened his eyes. It was still pitch black outside. All of the others were in their beds. He couldn't tell if they were awake of not.
That was until Ron turned over and just audibly mumbled, "Just a few more Cauldron Cakes."
He didn't wake anyone. Good. Harry mentally kicked himself yet again. One, why had he just talked with Voldemort for so long? That was stupid. And another thing, he forgot to clear his mind that night. Why hadn't he remembered that night? Oh, yeah, he was too tired and couldn't get his mind off of Ginny.
Harry cleared his mind quickly and went to bed, this time, to a dreamless sleep.
Friday, between charms and lunch, Harry had talked to Hunter. He found out a few useful facts.
"Harry," called Hunter as he slithered into the boys' dormitories.
"Hello, Hunter. Having a good day?" Harry asked, sitting on his bed.
"You might say that. I've found out a few things for you," Hunter said, wrapping his head and body around one of the posts on the bed and slipping onto the bed.
"What's that?" Harry asked.
"I've found out loyalties of a few of the Slytherins. The Head of House, Snape, he's exceedingly loyal to the Light," Hunter said. Harry nodded for him to go on. "The one's on the train, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, all loyal to the Dark. Zabini is Light. Parkinson is half and half and Nott is Dark. That's all I found out from your year," Hunter said.
"Thanks. That helps a lot," said Harry.
"It's no problem," Hunter said.
"Did you find anyone Dark that wasn't in Slytherin?" Harry asked.
"Yes. There was a Ravenclaw, Stewart Ackerly, a third year. There was another third year, Natalie McDonald, Gryffindor. But it was only in their opinions. The Gryffindor's parents aren't Death Eaters, but think along the same lines. None of the students had the Dark Mark," Hunter said. "And that's all I found out."
"Great, thanks. I appreciate it a lot," Harry said.
"Your welcome," Hunter said.
This would be good. Now he knew that when he started the D.A. again, which was tomorrow, he could invite a few more people and still be careful. Harry said bye and went to lunch. That passed by. He kept an eye on Zabini and just after she left the Hall alone, he followed. She turned down a corridor and Harry called her.
"Zabini," he said, catching up.
She looked momentarily confused but greeted Harry all the same, "Potter."
"I was wondering if you could meet me and a few people in the Room of Requirement tomorrow just after lunch," Harry said.
She was confused again, but deciding she had nothing better to do, she agreed.
"See you then," Harry said, walking off to Gryffindor tower.
The next day, when he finished lunch, he started off for the Room of Requirement. He had his bag with him. In it were a few defense books with spells marked, quills, ink, parchment, his Map and Invisibility Cloak.
Harry walked three times around the place where the Room of Requirement was. Soon, a door appeared. When he walked inside, he found the ideal place to work on defense. It was a very large room, in height, width and length. There were cushions on the walls, save the back wall. In the back there were bookcases, couches and chairs. In the back, there were also a variety of weapons. Harry was impressed.
Then the D.A. members started filing in. Harry looked at the Map. Good, only people invited. No one was tailing them.
"Welcome, everyone," Harry said, a bit nervously.
He got replies such as "Hey, Harry" or "What's up, Harry?" or "I'm glad you decided to do this again". Harry was pleased.
Everyone gathered in the back. There turned out to be enough seats for everyone, which Harry was glad of.
Ginny, Hermione and Ron took front row seats. "Hey, everyone. I decided that it would be a good idea to start up the D.A. again this year. I've noticed that some of our number are missing, and that's, of course, because they were seventh years. I would also like to invite more people this year, some that are younger and some that are from other houses.
"I would also like to tell you what I think we'll do this year. I know that Snape is going to teach sword fighting, but I think we should get a head start." As Harry said this, there were murmurs of agreement. "I also think we should start things that are N.E.W.T. level and above. It could come in handy, what with the war starting and all. Does anyone not have their galleons?" Harry asked. Zabini and Neville and a few new attendees raised their hands. At this moment, people noticed the Slytherin and took the opportunity to glare at her. Harry didn't say anything, but hoped they could get used to the Slytherin members.
"Hermione, could you make extras?" Harry asked.
"Sure. I'll make a lot so we could invite more new people too," Hermione said knowingly.
"Thanks. I think that's all. Next time we meet will be next weekend. I don't know when exactly quite yet. Everyone will find out by Friday though. See you then," Harry said. Everyone got up. Some of them left immediately. Others looked around the room at the weapons and things. Zabini made her way up to Harry.
"Thanks for inviting me. I'd love to join this. I won't tell my friends though. They'd get ideas and it just wouldn't be good. What are those galleons you were talking about?" Zabini asked.
"You know how there are numbers on them? I have a master one and can program the date and time of the next meeting into it," Harry said.
"Really? That's clever. Granger came up with that?" she asked.
"Yeah," Harry said.
"Well, I've got to go. See you," she said as she left.
Author's Notes- I hope you paid at least a bit of attention to the author's note at the top of the chapter. Other than that, just review please!
hogwartsfreak- Thanks so much! I've read a lot of fics (a great many were very good and I don't regret reading them) and I'm glad you think mine is one of the better ones. Thanks for reviewing my fic and I hope I don't disappoint too much!
SexySlytherinSweety- Thanks for reading and reviewing! I will try to write as soon as possible!
Scorchy-11- I told you what Peeves was talking about! Oh, the cleverness of me! (That was from the Peter Pan movie! It was a great movie!) Thanks for reviewing!
JENNIFER- Glad you like my story! Oh, it pleases me that people like it… As I wrote to SexySlytherinSweety above- I will try to write as soon as possible!
magicalme32- Okay, I'll split this response into paragraphs.
1. Harry is still taking Occlumency so he can get rid of his nightmares that Voldemort influences. I doubt Voldemort would try to possess him again anyway, as he cannot stay in his body for very long.
2. Well, I think that Voldemort can't be killed with a curse because he and Harry have the same wand core and will not function properly against each other. If either of them used someone else's wand, it wouldn't work nearly as well or accurately.
3. Yes, Dumbledore (the crazy old buffoon!) follows Harry. Not just yet though. When the time comes.
4. In this story (as warned in the summary) the pairings are Harry/Ginny and Ron/Hermione. Sorry, but I can't please everyone at once. And I don't like anything that ruins the Harry/Ginnys ship. But I do think that Luna is a good friend that seems to understand him better than Hermione and Ron do.
5. Yes, I'll try. I tend to stick to a topic through out the whole chapter and forget about many other things. Malfoy (as hot as he is in the movie) is a mean, ugly Ferret that is a git and wants revenge on Harry.
6. I will keep writing… Thanks a bunch for reading and reviewing my story.
BferBear- Correct! Ah… I'm so obvious it hurts… Thanks for reading and reviewing. Glad you enjoy my story.
BAce- I'm so happy people enjoy this! It makes it so worth while, even though it takes about five times longer to write it than to read it. Thanks for reading and reviewing. I appreciate it!
jeff- I'm so delighted! Thanks for reading and reviewing!
specialpastry- Glad you enjoy my story! As said in my author's note at the top, I'll be gone for a while. But I will update as soon as I finish the next chapter. I plan to keep the chapters long, because I love to read long chapters as well. Thanks so much!
Iluvatar- He will be an animagus. I love the stories that have him as an animagus… Not a griffin, as you read earlier in the chapter. But I like it… Hopefully other people do to. This chapter was mostly to push the characters further into a bit of romance. I've never written romance before. I wanted it to be slightly gradual. Not out of the blue, you know? But I wanted it to be a bit obvious as well. I think it was painfully obvious in this chapter, but that's just my thoughts on the matter. I don't plan on the romance being too intense, but at least obvious. But alas, as I near the end of your review I blush and shut up. Thanks for reviewing!
Gryphonmistress- I hope I spelled that right… Sorry. Anyway, yeah, I know I'm a Ron-type idiot and don't know when to shut up. (Ducks as some Ronfan chucks their computer at my head.) Thanks a ton for reviewing. I'm torn between liking Ron and not. I've been reading fan fics that have Ron evil and Ron the best friend in the world. I don't know. He's such a git at times. Then he's a humorous character. I thought that the minor prank brought out some type of combination where he's humorous and a git at the same time. But I suppose Harry wasn't very nice either. Well, I liked the minor prank as well. Yes, I think it'd be interesting with Snape as Defense teacher. I don't know what I'd do if my house caught fire. I don't do well in situations such as those. My sister choked once. Luckily my parents were there to help, because I curled up in a corner crying and didn't even help. (That's true! I'm so horrible!) Anyway. Thanks for reading and reviewing my story.
Tara6- Sorry I didn't update sooner. I just finished the chapter and spent the last half hour writing responses. It's 12:51 in the morning at the moment. So, that tells you I update as soon as I can. Thanks for reading and reviewing!
GhostMagic19- Yes, this is a bit typical, isn't it? Well, I'm glad you think it's good! Thanks for reading and reviewing! I do plan on keeping the chapters long, don't worry!
To anyone else that read this jumble of words- Thanks so much for reading. But I really want reviews too. I live off reviews. Dementors are to happiness as MalusMagus is to reviews. Hope I didn't confuse too many people there. I confused myself for a minute… Just means I live off reviews…