A/N: Please reviewJ
Chapter 13:
The morning of September first, Harry awoke in the very early hours. The house had been quiet and peaceful, when- out of nowhere, came a very loud explosion. He jerked upright, grabbing his glasses out of instinct. When he had them on, he looked around the room. Draco Malfoy had sat up as well, and was looking at Harry with a very bewildered expression. Ron, however, was still snoring loudly.
"What was that?" asked Draco, tense and alert.
"I don't know," whispered Harry. He turned over in his sleeping bag and shoved Ron. "Wake up," he said in an undertone. Ron rolled over and jerked up as another explosion sounded through the dark house.
"What the bloody-" he began.
"Shh!" hissed Draco, standing up. Harry stood as well and crept over to the door, creaking it open. The hallway was black and silent. He looked back at Draco and Ron, who was wide awake, and stuck his head out. Without warning, something large collided with his head.
"Ouch!" said Harry under his breath. "Who's there?" He grabbed his wand and held it out, taking a step backwards.
"Harry?" came a familiar voice.
"George?" asked Ron from behind Harry. Harry squinted through the darkness. He could barely make out the outlines of the twins.
"What's happening?" asked Harry, alarmed. "Did somebody break in? Are we under attack?"
"Or was it you again?" asked Ron in an accusatory voice. "Blowing up your merchandise again- waking up the whole bloody house…" he grumbled, annoyed. "Well hope you didn't wake Mum. I'm going to bed before I managed to get blamed for this." He yawned loudly.
"It wasn't us!" exclaimed George, voice still in a whisper. "We were asleep, believe it or not…"
"Correction," said Fred, "I was asleep- George and Katie were in the attic-"
"Talking," came a cross whisper. Harry craned his neck as Katie Bell, the old Quidditch Captain, pushed to the front.. "What is going on?" she asked. A loud explosion echoed throughout the house again."Is it the ghoul?" asked Ron, puzzled.
"No," said Fred. "It left last week, left a note- something about taking a trip to Florence…"
"Oh," said Ron. Harry gripped his wand tighter. The stairs then creaked again. Harry pointed his wand in the direction of the noise- several figures were emerging. His heart was pounding loudly.
"For Merlin's sake, Harry," hissed Ginny. "Lower that before you knock our eyes out!"
"Sorry," said Harry, lowering his wand, though still prepared to grab it at any moment. Then someone whispered Lumos, and Hermione's wand lit up. She was clutching Crookshanks over her shoulder. Lenore stood with Ginny and Hermione, looking perplexed and ready to fight if need be.
"Do you have any idea what's happening?" asked Ginny as the hallway flooded with light.
"No," said Draco. "We just woke up to all of these explosions- do you think we're under attack?" he asked anxiously as if dreading the very thought. Nobody answered- they all looked at each other, wide-eyed and tense. Suddenly a comforting voice rang up the stairs.
"Kids! Fred, George, Ron, Ginny, Harry, Hermione, Lenore, and Draco! Come downstairs, quickly!" yelled Mrs. Weasley.
"George!" hissed Katie loudly. "What do I do-? Your Mum would never forgive us if she found out I stayed the night- and we were together!" George bit his lip for a moment, and finally nodded slowly.
"Well, we can't leave you up here, in case we're evacuating or something- Katie, you'll have to come down. I'll think of a distraction…" Katie sighed, exasperated.
"This had better work, George Weasley! I don't want your parents to think badly of me…" George draped an arm around Katie's shoulders.
"Don't worry," he said comfortingly as everyone started quickly down the stairs. When they reached the bottom floor, everything was dark. Hermione silently put out her wand's light. Everyone was quiet, waiting for any kind of signal- BOOM. Another explosion came from outside. Harry craned his neck to see the window, which was illuminated for a moment with a thick, green smoke.
"Hey you guys," whispered a deep voice. Harry realized that it was Bill. "Come on, into the kitchen." Bill had obviously not noticed Katie- the darkness had covered her up nicely. Harry followed Bill through the door and into the kitchen. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were sitting at the table, deep in discussion. The light was off, and they were speaking in whispers.
"Hello, dears," said Mrs. Weasley quietly. "Everyone take a seat- it isn't a—" A loud explosion cut her off. "-dire emergency, so if you are very tired you may go back to bed and hear what's happening when you wake up tomorrow." Nobody moved. "All right then," she continued, "take a seat…" Harry groped around for a chair. After finding one and managing to get into it, he showed Ginny into the chair he felt beside him. On Harry's other side sat George. Katie lowered herself onto the floor, in between George and Harry.
"Katie?" asked Mrs. Weasley suddenly in a sharp voice. "What- George, what is Katie doing—"
"Sorry Mrs. Weasley!" said Katie quickly. "It's just that-"
"I asked her to come- at Midnight," said George quickly. "We've been star-gazing. Mum, before you get upset, just listen…"
"Listen?" asked Mrs. Weasley in a voice to kill."Molly," murmured Mr. Weasley, "Let him explain…"
"Very well," she said sharply. "But you better have a very good reason."
"I do, Mum, I swear," said George earnestly. Harry looked at George, eyebrows raised. But George looked confident, though for some reason, nervous. George pulled Katie up and took her hands, looking into her eyes. Or what he could see of them, rather, through the pitch black of the room. "Katherine Mary Bell; Katie… I actually do have a very valid, at least I think, excuse- and I'm not just doing it to get us out of trouble." He paused. "Katie, I am just going to tell you what I'm thinking, because I never was very good with words. Remember in our first year, when we were riding brooms and had that race, even though Madame Hooch was yelling at us and we almost got expelled-? And we both got Howlers and our first detentions?" Katie nodded slowly. "Do you know what I said to you?"
Katie laughed dryly. "Yes- you told me that you were George Weasley, and that you thought I had a cool attitude, but you hated me and would make it onto the Quidditch team before I would."
"Yeah. Well, I, since our seventh year, have fallen in love with your attitude and personality. And we made Quidditch the same year- but Katie- I love you so much. You are the world to me, Katie, and I- I love you. I want to spend the rest of our lives together. I don't want to wait until after the war. Merlin knows that now, more than ever, we need to fight by making our love even stronger. Katie- what I'm trying to say, is-" He got onto his knees, clumsily pulling out a little black box and opening it. "Will you marry me?" Harry was very surprised. He had never really known how serious George and Katie really were before. Another explosion lit up the room in a somewhat sinister green flash, and Harry took the opportunity to look at George and Katie. Katie had tears pouring down her face and a huge smile on. George was looking scared and hopeful. The flash evaporated.
"Yes!" gasped Katie, flinging herself onto George, who laughed quietly.
"I was going to ask you when the sun started rising," George began, but he was cut off by Katie kissing him as he placed the ring on her finger. Ginny began giggling madly, Hermione sighed wistfully, and Lenore clapped her hands. Mrs. Weasley was crying.
"George- that was so beautiful! Oh, my Georgie's getting married. Oh, Arthur! Isn't it unbelievable-? George? George! Katie!" They broke apart quickly, both grinning like idiots.
"Sorry, Mrs. Weasley," said Katie sheepishly.
"Don't you worry, dear," said Mrs. Weasley fondly. She felt her way around the table and hugged Katie and George tightly.
"Mum! You're crushing me," said George loudly.
"S-s-sorry, dear, it's just- oh!" Fred gave George a bear-hug, and Bill clapped him on the shoulder.
"Congratulations, Katie and George," said Mr. Weasley happily. "But everyone keep your voices down! I need to explain what's happening." Everyone quieted immediately. Harry looked at Mr. Weasley, barely visible as Harry's eyes slowly adapted to the dark. "Now, if you don't know yet, the Burrow is under attack."
"What?" asked Ginny quickly.
"The Burrow," said Mr. Weasley. "Death Eaters are surrounding it. But they haven't gotten through the wards yet. All they've managed to do is create loud explosions every time they hit a ward. But we still want to be cautious, see. If they don't think we're even in the house they might go away more quickly. But we think they are trying to get Harry- but it really could be any of us. We're all pretty high on You-Know-Who's list, sadly enough."
"Er- Mr. Weasley?" asked Lenore tentatively.
"Yes, Lenore?"
"Why can't we just Floo the Aurors or something and get help? Or just leave the house. I mean, no offense, but wards can be broken, right?"
"Well, unfortunately, Flooing out of the house, even t just call someone, will take off the wards. We can't even open a window. And they'll know the moment the wards are broken. Even if we start evacuating, we might not all get out before the Death Eaters break in."
"What if they stay here until morning and we can't get to school?" asked Hermione, in a strained voice.
"We're hoping that isn't going to happen," sighed Mr. Weasley. "You'd miss the Express, of course. But if I don't show up for work and certain- activity- is noticed here, the Aurors would be here at least by nine."
"But Dad-" began Fred. "You're the Minister of Magic. Surely you can create a Portkey?"
"No," said Mr. Weasley sternly. "No magic. They'll detect it. If they don't think we're here there's a better chance of them leaving by morning."
"Oops," whispered Hermione. "Mr. Weasley, I already used 'Lumos'…"
"No matter," said Mr. Weasley. "That magic is so weak, it isn't as easy to detect as a spell to create a Portkey, which is very advanced magic- well beyond N.E.W.T level." Hermione let out a sigh of relief. Another explosion sounded, catching all of them off-guard. Crookshanks jumped from Hermione's arms and streaked upstairs.
"Now why don't you all go back to bed?" suggested Mrs. Weasley. "Tomorrow is the first day of school, and you need your rest."
"Okay," everyone murmured quietly. Harry's heart was pounding loudly, despite all the reassurance. There were Death Eaters- perhaps even Wormtail, outside at that very moment. His scar prickled, as if reminding him it was still there. As his feet pounded up the stairs, horrible thoughts pounded through his veins. When they could not be heard from the kitchen any longer, Fred whispered loudly. "Come to George and my room, everyone…"
When everyone arrived inside the dark room, George turned on the light. It flooded into Harry's eyes, and he blinked a few times. "Don't worry," said Fred, seeming to voice Harry's worries, "this room is in the middle of the house. No outside walls- the window's fake. Nobody will be able to see the light." Everyone sat down in silence, all looking rather gloomy besides George and Katie, who was wrapped up in his arms.
"I don't like this," said Ginny as everyone sat down. Her red curls were loose and she was dressed in a white shirt and white linen pants.
"Nor do I," whispered Hermione. "They're out there as we speak. I do hope the wards will hold up…"
"They will," said Ron confidently. "Dumbledore helped with them. They have to work."
"Did anyone see the clock?" asked Ginny quietly after a moment's pause.
"The family clock?" asked Harry. He had recently noticed that he'd been added to it without him knowing. Ginny nodded.
"All of our hands were on 'Mortal Peril', except Charlie's. Even Percy's was on it. It wasn't there yesterday…" She trailed off sadly. "Where is he? Mum told me that the baby was Percy's… a girl. Aurora. And Penelope Clearwater already left the hospital- Headquarters, rather and I don't understand why we're not taking her, at the Burrow. Why do the Lupins get to take her? I'm worried, even though Percy is a git…"
"Aw, Gin," said George comfortingly. "Don't worry. Perce is stupid and just needed to get away for awhile, I think… you know, find out who he was. He's going to come back and then he's going to raise his little girl."
"Yeah," said Fred. "Mum's not as young as she used to be. She can't have a baby to raise, even though she would if she had to, Ginny. And the Lupins wanted to raise her. And about the 'Mortal Peril' thing- the clock is over-dramatic. We'll be okay." Ginny giggled a little bit.
"It'll be fine Ginny," whispered Harry into her ear. "But I'm scared too. We'll be all right. Tomorrow we're going to be at Hogwarts again." She nodded, smiling, and kissed Harry's cheek.
"Harry?"
"Yeah?" he asked.
"We need to talk." Fred and George exchanged surprised glances, and Katie raised her eyebrows. Hermione and Lenore each looked sadly at Ginny, and Ron mouthed to her 'What are you doing-?'. Ginny shook her head and pulled Harry's hand, leading him into the dark hallway. Harry's stomach dropped. This couldn't be good.
As soon as the door closed and they were in the stairway, Ginny backed Harry up against the wall and kissed him passionately. Harry kissed back with vigor, until the kiss died down after a few moments. Ginny pulled away, looking him in the eyes. "Gin," he began hoarsely, "I'm really confused… What-" Ginny hushed him with a finger against his lips.
"Harry," she began sadly, "do you love me?" Harry paused a moment. Several months ago, he immediately would've said yes, but… he didn't have that floating feeling in his heart right now. He searched for it inside.
"Ginny," he began, his mouth dry. "I-"
"You don't," she said. "I felt it last week…. When we kissed, and laid in each other's arms. The spark was gone."
"No, Ginny," pleaded Harry. "Don't do this… please, don't do this. You've been one of the best things in my life for the past year; I don't know how I would've gotten through last year without you." Ginny began crying quietly. "Ginny…" said Harry, pulling her into his arms.
"No, Harry," said Ginny, pulling away. "We can still be friends… we will still be friends. I will always be there for you."
"I'll always be there for you, too, Ginny," said Harry quietly.
"I love you, Harry, but we can't be together. It isn't the same anymore."
"Please, Ginny- just think about it. We- I- Ginny!"
"I'm sorry Harry, but I've thought and thought about it, and I've decided- it's the only way. I wanted to tell you before school began, but I didn't have the courage last night… I'm some Gryffindor," she said sarcastically.
"But Ginny, you are some Gryffindor! You're a damn good one, too- you've always been there, Ginny. You're one of the bravest people I know."
"Harry, don't do this to me," begged Ginny, her amber eyes looking away from Harry's emerald eyes.
"But-" began Harry, at a loss for words.
"Good-bye, Harry," whispered Ginny, hugging him tightly. "I'll never forget how much I loved you- and we'll always be here for each other, right? Right, Harry?" she asked beseeching beseechingly.
"Right," he whispered, heart sinking. "I'll never forget how I loved you, either, Gin…"
"Promise?"
"I promise," said Harry sadly. Ginny shivered.
"It's cold out here," she whispered. "Let's go back in." Harry nodded. Was this how it felt to have your heart broken?
"I'm sorry," Ginny whispered before opening Fred and George's door. An explosion shook the house violently. Harry walked into the room, and was immediately hailed by Hermione's and Lenore's hugs and Fred and George's pitying looks.
"I'm sorry, Harry," whispered Ron as Harry sat down beside him. "Don't know what she was thinking… you didn't do anything, did you?" he asked. Harry thought that he heard a bit of a threat in Ron's last statement.
"No," said Harry, puzzled. "No…
"Well, then, I'm really sorry about all that mess. But you'll be okay. You don't need Ginny." How wrong he is, thought Harry glumly. Several minutes passed in silence. The explosions were beginning to thin out. George and Katie fell asleep beside each other, and were joined by Ron's snores. Hermione, of course, buried her head into a book, and Ginny buried her head into a pillow. Harry wondered if she was crying. Fred busied himself reading over the latest inventory lists.
"You okay?" Draco asked Harry quietly. It was the first time Draco had genuinely seemed concerned for him.
"Yeah," whispered Harry. "Thanks." After a few more minutes, he pretended to fall asleep, but no sooner had he laid down than a familiar voice popped into his head.
"Harry?"
Yeah, Lenore?
"You're not asleep, are you?" she asked, concerned.
No.
"Are you really okay? Nobody saw that coming; not at all. I think Ginny's just going through a rough time…"
Ginny's going through a rough time? Ginny? Look at me, Lenore. I don't want any pity or anything, but I think this war is a little bit harder for me than it is for her.
"That's true, Harry. But it's a little bit harder for Ginny than it is for most other people. I mean, she was confused. She loves you- she still does, even if she won't admit it, but she thinks you don't love her. And she knows that she has to watch either you murder someone or watch you get killed, followed shortly by herself. She doesn't want to care for you because she doesn't want the hurt that will come with loving you. And she's afraid of being a target for Voldemort, who she's been possessed by… she's just afraid at the moment, Harry. We all are. But she's a Gryffindor, and she's going to face her fears once she realizes she can't run away from them, and she's going to know that she loves you."
But, Lenore… I'm afraid for her, too. But us being together won't change a thing! She asked me if I loved her, Lenore… I didn't see anything! But I do love her. I was looking for the feeling I used to have, that feeling you have flirting with someone. But that was like, not love. I've just realized… I do love her. I couldn't feel it before, but now I definitely feel where it was. Where it's missing now, and there's a big bloody empty space inside my heart!
"I know, Harry. I know the feeling. Draco and I just broke up too, and I don't even know why."
You and Draco broke up? asked Harry, surprised.
"Yeah. We did…"
Goodnight, Lenore.
"'Night, Harry."
Harry must have dozed off, because when he woke up again, light was beginning to pour through the window.
"Harry, dear, wake up," Mrs. Weasley was saying. "Good Merlin, all of you…. Ginny, wake up. Come on, Lenore, Hermione; Draco…" Everyone sat up groggily.
"Did they go away?" asked Harry immediately.
"Yes, they did, thank goodness. Knew that if Arthur couldn't get to work there would be trouble, I suppose. But get up and come to breakfast. The Ministry has a car coming. Fred, George, and Katie, are you going to see them off?"
"Can't, Mum," replied Fred, yawning. "Need to get to work quickly. The first years often have Mummies and Daddies looking for care packages this week…"
"What about you, Katie? Do you have school?" asked Mrs. Weasley. Katie was entering the Wizarding University of Britain, and was training to be a reporter, which required two years of University schooling.
"It doesn't begin until next week," replied Katie, "so do you mind if I go along for the ride? I know I just left school, but there's something comforting about the Hogwarts Express…"
"Aye, there is," smiled George.
An hour later, Harry was boarding the train, for the last time, he thought with sadness. It really did seem like only yesterday he was a first year, not knowing how to get through the barrier. He smiled reminiscently. "Good-bye, dear," said Mrs. Weasley, hugging Harry tightly.
"Bye, Mrs. Weasley. Thanks for everything this summer…"
"Don't mention it, Harry. You know you're like a son to me."
"C'mon, Harry," yelled Ron. "We need to go to the Prefect's Cart…" Harry gasped. He had completely forgotten!
"Mrs. Weasley!" he yelled, turning back quickly as she broke away from Ginny, who passed Harry quickly.
"Yes, Harry?"
"I'm Headboy- but what do I do… you were Headgirl, right?"
Mrs. Weasley smiled. "Just go to the front compartment. Every year the teachers take it in turns to ride the Express. Whoever's there will tell you what to do."
"Thanks!" yelled Harry, pushing his cart and hurrying onto the train after Ron. As he boarded the train he hastily put on his Headboy badge and ran into the first compartment, shouting 'hello's' to the various people that called out to him.
He arrived, out of breath, in the first compartment, to find a very angry-looking Snape. Wonderful. "Er…. Professor? I'm here to get my Headboy information?"
"Potter," said Snape rather cheerfully. Harry began backing up, extremely surprised.
"Er- you aren't an imposter on Polyjuice by any chance, are you?" Snape raised his eyebrows.
"No, Potter, I'm not. Is it unfathomable that I actually get into good moods once in awhile?"
"Er- not exactly," answered Harry. Snape then did something Harry had never seen him do in his life- he chuckled. Chuckled! Harry was really becoming quite scared.
"Well here are your instructions for the year," said Snape, handing Harry a large stack of paper. "They are to be read tonight, and should start tomorrow. Now, the instructions for the Prefects are on the top page. Where is Miss Greenly- oh, yes… she won't be returning. The Headgirl will be Miss Granger, then…. She was runner-up. Will you be so kind as to tell her? Yes… all right, then, Mr. Potter. The Prefects are waiting in the next compartment down." Harry left the compartment, feeling utterly perplexed.
He entered the next room to find twenty-four Prefects, all waiting for instruction. They all stopped when Harry entered. He knew most of them- though there were a few of the younger, and more eager, faces which he couldn't put a name to. He found Hermione and Ron quickly. "Hermione!" he yelled to be heard over the chatter, which stopped at that moment.
"Yeah?" she asked, confused.
"You're Headgirl, since Tabby left."
"What?" asked Hermione excitedly. "I'm Headgirl?" Her face shone with excitement.
"Yes- and here's your packet…" Hermione made her way to the front of the large compartment and stood beside Harry. "Okay," began Harry, "I'm Headboy, Harry Potter, and I know most of you, and this is Hermione Granger, Headgirl. Er…"
Hermione took over from there, telling all about the duties and about what was happening this year. Harry was glad she was so enthusiastic- he certainly wasn't. He tuned back in as she finished up, about ten minutes later. "So all you have to do today is patrol the train occasionally and lead the first years to the Common Room. And The 5th year girl Prefect of each House picks the password for the first six weeks; then the 5th year boy Prefect, sixth year girl prefect, and so on. We're done here, so you may leave whenever you please. Thank you!" She turned to Harry with excitement as everyone trailed off.
"Hey Harry!" called Colin Creevey.
"Hi, Colin…"
"Isn't it cool that we're Headboy and Headgirl together?" asked Hermione excitedly. "It's the first time two Heads have come from the same house in at least fifty years!" Harry nodded, letting the information slip past him. He looked down forlornly at his packet of instructions.
"Come on, Harry, it's not that bad. You get to take points… And you don't even have to do anything tonight!" Harry nodded.
"I suppose you're right." They headed to a compartment occupied by Ron, Neville, Lavender, and the Patil twins and sat down, though it was rather crowded.
"Hey, Harry," said Neville, looking up.
"Hi," grinned Harry, walking inside.
"Hey, Mr. Headboy!" exclaimed Lavender. She looked very pretty today. Her light brown hair had been slightly curled, and her blue eyes stood out more than Harry had remembered.
"Hi, Lavender," said Harry. "Parvati; Padma. How was your summer? Was the pyramid horrible?"
"Yes!" exclaimed Parvati, going into a tangent about being locked up in there for so long. "At least there were some hot guys there," she finished resolutely. "But you, Harry you idiot, got all our hopes up that we'd be getting information from the outside world and then left us!"
"Sorry," said Harry, "But I wasn't going to stay there, are you kidding?" Padma rolled her eyes. "But where did you all go after the Pyramid closed?"
"I went to Evelyn's and Remus's house, believe it or not!" exclaimed Lavender, "But Parvati and Padma went home." Parvati giggled.
"I can't believe he said you could call him Remus…" sighed Padma. Lavender grinned.
"Yeah, it sucks that he's married and old enough to be our Dad… Harry, was it true that your Dad was best friends with him?"
"Yeah," said Harry, "He was one of my Dad's best friends." The conversation turned to what everyone wanted to do once they were out of Hogwarts a moment later.
"I've always wanted to go into the entertainment industry, actually," said Parvati, sighing. Harry looked at her.
"What type of entertainment?" asked Hermione, interestedly.
"Well, some people have been trying to bring some Muggle entertainment, like cinemas, into the Wizarding world. I'd love to be an actress. But if that doesn't work out, the modeling industry or even… singing." She was definitely pretty enough to model, thought Harry.
"Do you have a good voice?" asked Ron.
"It's amazing!" exclaimed Lavender. "She can sing Celestina Warbeck songs perfectly… she'll really be a huge hit with WWN."
"That's so cool," said Hermione genuinely. "It would be so cool to have a good voice… I'd like to hear you sing some time."
"Yeah… maybe. And what about you, Hermione? What do you want to do?"
"I'm not completely sure," confessed Hermione. "I'd really like to do something that will make a difference. I've thought about going into law, actually. What do you want to do, Padma?"
"I want to be a Healer, I think."
"I want to be an Auror or get into another department of Magical Law Enforcement," said Lavender. "Maybe get onto the Wizengamot. What about you, Ron?"
"I'd like to get into the Department of Magical Games and Sports, and do something there. An Auror would be cool, though."
"Yeah," said Harry. "I'd like to be an Auror. What about you, Neville?" Neville looked up from his book, flustered slightly.
"Well… I always wanted to be an Herbology Professor. And, er, well… I sort of am already. See, Sprout was injured during the big battle last year, and she quit. Dumbledore asked me if- well… I'm going to teach Herbology this year!" Ron's mouth dropped open. "You're teaching us, Neville?"
"Well, as long as you have the experience and everything, it should be really good," said Hermione.
"But what about your other classes that you need to take?" asked Lavender.
"Well," said Neville, "I only need four more credits to graduate, and I tested out of Herbology over the summer. SO I only have to take three classes, and they worked out the schedule. I'll just be doing Charms, Transfiguration, and Care of Magical Creatures."
"That'll still be tough!" exclaimed Harry. "Will you still be in our dorm?"
"Yes, of course," said Neville, smiling.
"Do we have to call you Professor?" asked Ron.
"Er… I don't think so," said Neville unsurely. "Unless there's some rule. But I don't think so… I'm just worried about teaching the Slytherins."
"Stand up to them, Neville," said Hermione encouragingly.
"Yeah, don't let them give you any crap," added Harry. "Take points, give detentions… I can tell Malfoy to tell the Slytherins to be decent."
"Would you do that?" asked Neville, relief shining on his face.
"No problem," said Harry. Then the witch with the Food cart came by, and Harry, for the last time, ordered everything.
When they arrived at Hogwarts and disembarked from the train, Hagrid immediately called out to them.
"Hello, Harry! Hermione; Ron!"
"Hi, Hagrid!" yelled Harry, grinning at his favorite half-giant.
"Had a good summer?" called Hagrid.
"Yes, very nice! You?" yelled Hermione.
"Good… good…" Luna Lovegood then called out to Harry and Ron, who waved back. Suddenly Hermione gasped behind Harry.
"Harry!"
"What is it?" he asked, turning around quickly.
"Are those- are those Thestrals?" Harry looked to where she pointed and nodded solemnly. The Thestrals still managed to spook Harry, and he was glad he knew about them this year, unlike his fifth year. Hermione seemed a bit reluctant to get into the carriage, but Harry and Ron managed to persuade her. As far as Harry knew, Hermione and Ron were still a couple, though still mad at each other. When they got to the school, they made their way to the familiar Gryffindor table and sat down in their usual spots.
"It's hard to believe this is our last year, no?" asked Hermione sadly.
"Yeah," breathed Ron, "It is." Harry nodded in agreement. Then the sorting began as the line of short first years tumbled into the room.
"Aberns, Molly," called Professor McGonagall crisply.
"GRYFFINDOR!" yelled the hat. Harry clapped with the rest of his table as Molly stumbled over. Harry soon lost interest in the sorting as his hunger set in. Finally, Zyatt, Kyle ended the sorting, as the hat yelled "SLTYTHERIN!" Dumbledore stood up to speak.
"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," he began, smiling at all the students from half-moon glasses. Before we eat, let me introduce the two new additions to our staff." Harry looked at Neville, who was steadily reddening. "To take the once-again open position of our Defense against the Dark Arts class- I give you Professor Edward Shoney."
"I remember him!" hissed Seamus, "He was a seventh year when we were in second…"
"And, introducing the youngest staff member Hogwarts has seen since 1406, I give you our new Herbology Professor, and, though he is still a student, I assure you is fully qualified." Students began looking around, murmuring. "Neville Longbottom." The Gryffindors all began clapping wildly. Neville became, if possible, even redder, and sunk down, though he was smiling. "Now dig in." The tables were filled with plates and goblets a moment later, and everyone dug into their favorite foods, after singing the Hogwarts song to their favorite tune.
Harry fell asleep that night, happier than ever to be back in the place he loved more than anything- very aware that this was his last year, and very mad how it had crept up on him, out of nowhere. Those first years had no idea how lucky they were, or how fast their preteen and teenage years would pass. Ginny crept into his mind, and Harry resorted to practicing Occlumency so as not to think about her. He still would have his Legilimency and Heir extra classes today, and he fully intended to carry on with the DA. All this, plus his Quidditch and Headboy duties, would be a very large workload. Emptying his mind, he finally decided, wasn't going to work out tonight. He fell asleep, and quickly entered a dream.
"Master," somebody in a dark cloak was saying to Harry, "Maybe the way to get Potter again would be to take somebody as bait. It has worked, though not to its full extent, on other occasions, and the sooner you defeat Potter, the better. After you defeat him, Dumbledore has no hope."
"You are right, Lucius," said Harry. "But how can I trust you after you and the others have failed me on so many other attempts?"
"We just need a better plan, Master. I am sure we can make it work this time."
"True. We do know about the Prophesy… but, Lucius, after you allowed your own son to escape to Dumbledore- "
"He will come back, Master. I will see to it personally that he rejoins us or dies. It's only a matter of time. Maybe I can take a bait that will work on both Potter and my son."
"How is that?" asked Harry sharply.
"There is a girl-"
"One moment Lucius," said Harry, a sadistic smile forming on his lips. "The Potter boy is lurking in my head once again." Harry saw Lucius's gray eyes look up to meet his own-
Harry woke up in excruciating pain, comparable only to the pain he'd felt at the end of his fifth year, screaming and writhing on his bed.
A/N: Okay- That was the longest chapter I have ever written! Please, please review with anything at all you have to say. After just four reviews last chapter, I feel like I might have permanently lost any liking and interest in this story, and there's no point in writing anymore if that is the case. If I do end up deciding to stop updates, which I might do if I get a very low number of reviews, I will post an Author's note and quick epilogue, just saying what happens. So please, please review if you read this chapter and give feedback, because reviews are the main reason I write fanfiction. Thanks,
Jinglez
ermione