Everyone avoided them on Sunday. Hermione didn't notice it too much, and
Ron thought it was strange, but Harry liked it. No one would go near them,
because they were completely terrified of Sirius.
The Daily Prophet came out on Monday. The headline was exactly what they were expecting.
BLACK OFF THE HOOK Innocent after all, Minister says
Hermione scanned over the article, but said that there wasn't much that they didn't already know. A few curious students came up to ask Harry about it. was he really Harry's godfather, had he really lived with him for a summer? Had he really known Sirius was innocent all along?
Ron enjoyed that. People asked him questions too, after he mentioned that he lived with Sirius too, and he had believed in Sirius all along as well. His lies got worse and worse, Hermione said.
"It's quite silly, really." Hermione said one day, after Sirius had gone back to Grimmauld Place, as Ron retold the story of being dragged under the Whomping Willow by Sirius, adding in something about fighting for his life, and a dragon. "He's making no sense whatsoever, and he's making us look stupid, too."
Harry was rereading his History of Magic notes, for the third time. He shrugged. "So talk to him."
She sighed. "You're Head Boy, you know, you're supposed to take care of this sort of thing."
"You're Head Girl, you know, you're supposed to take care of this sort of thing." He chuckled softly as Hermione slammed her book shut and stood up in a huff.
Harry almost felt sad for Ron, sending Hermione at him when she was all riled up. But it was just too funny. He put down his book and watched.
"Ron Weasley! You are making up fictitious stories, that no troll in his right mind would believe! You are making yourself look silly, cease and desist this instant!" She yelled.
Ron shrunk back a bit. "Err- but the kids want to know what happened."
Hermione leaned right into his face, and hissed, "So tell them." She turned on her hell, and marched back to her book, which she looked up from every few minutes to glare at Ron.
He sat down beside Harry. "Thanks for the help, mate."
Harry shrugged. "In danger of sounding like Hermione, you deserved it." Hermione glared at Harry this time.
People stopped asking them questions after a few days. Surprisingly, except for a few farfetched tales set out by Ron, people got their stories remarkably straight. There were a few dragons involved in one branch of it, but really, it was hard to get stranger than what had happened in Harry's third year.
He got a letter that night. His heart skipped a beat when he saw the way his name had been written.
It was Cho's writing. He ripped open the letter.
Harry, it read. No dear. He scanned over it; it was only a few lines.
I would like to apologize for being so rude to you while I was at Hogwarts over Christmas. Don't try to tell me that you forgive me, or that you don't, that's not the point.
-Cho
Harry sat down. It wasn't as bad as it looked, but it wasn't as good, either. She apologized, but she also kept with the goal of never talking to him again. It bothered Harry somewhat, the fact that Cho insisted on being rude to him, and that she insisted he never contact her, but she felt it perfectly fine to contact him whenever she pleased. Harry wished she would just figure it out. It can't work only one way.
He felt his face heat up with anger, and he crumpled the letter up and threw it out.
* * * * *
All too soon, it was exam time. Harry could not understand how it had happened so soon, but he was ready. He had been studying since almost February, and he had been reviewing since Christmas.
He went into his first written exam nervous, but confident. He came out a lot less confident. He had known the Potions exam would be hard, but it still hit him like a ton of bricks. He was sure he had forgotten a step in the Polyjuice potion question, and he could not for the life of him remember the last step in Veritaserum, but he was sure he got the ingredients perfectly. He and Ron spent the lunch hour going over their potions one more time before their practical examination.
Harry was happy with his performance. He got his strengthening solution perfectly, and the three steps that they could perform of the Veritaserum turned out pretty well.
The rest of the week progressed in basically the same way, and Harry finished his exams confident that he had done very well. Ron looked a little frazzled, and Hermione was frantic.
"I think I got the third question wrong in the History of Magic exam! And I accidentally misplaced Orion on the Astronomy. Harry, what if I fail?" She gasped.
Harry sighed. "Hermione, shut up. You did fine."
She glared at him and shut up.
Ministry officials came to the school after exams, for the graduation. There were quite a few of them. The Minister was there, as well as Cho, and a few of the Wizengamot. Harry had never realized that so many important people came to graduation, and he chose to avoid them all. He did his best to never even see them. Then he found out that the Minister and the Wizengamot did not usually come to graduation, but they had come to see Harry. It made him feel certainly uncomfortable. It was Ministry Assistant's job to be there every year anyway.
Harry was glad to be done with exams. He realized that he never had to write another Hogwarts exam, but he felt a pang when he realized that he was done. It was over. He would go home in a week, and then he would never come back. It felt strange, growing up. Leaving all the places he had spent such a long time. He was leaving Hogwarts, and he would be leaving the Dursley's as soon as he could find somewhere to live. He had to decide what he wanted to do. Did he want to be an Auror, like he had always said, or did he want to keep teaching at Hogwarts, like so many people said he should? He probably would have a good place at the Ministry, if he wanted it. He had so many choices.
"So what are you guys planning on doing?" He asked. He wanted to be sure that he wasn't the only person who had no idea what the hell he was going to do with his life.
Hermione sat up. "I'm not completely sure. I was thinking maybe going into healing."
Ron sighed. "I have absolutely no idea." He put his head back on the back of his chair. "I want to be an Auror, but I could probably get a job at Fred and George's shop, it's getting so big."
Hermione gave a smothered laugh. Ron lifted his head. "What's so funny?" He demanded.
Hermione glanced at Harry, looking nervous. "Nothing, it's just. . . do you really think you could be an Auror? I mean, as of before the exams, you don't really have the marks for it."
Ron frowned. "Fine, Hermione. Thank you for the moral support, and thank you for being such a good friend."
Hermione sighed. "I'm sorry, Ron. It's not that I don't think you would be good at the job, it's that I don't think you would be able to get in. It's your marks, that's all. You have the skill, you just don't have the grades."
Ron sighed, avoiding Hermione's eyes. "Fine."
Harry looked from one of them to the other, and shook his head, laughing. "Ron, you will do fine. Don't worry. Now, I have to go write to Sirius." He stood up. That was another thing that felt strange. He could say Sirius' name out loud, and nothing would happen.
Dear Sirius:
I think I did pretty well on my exams. I studied really hard this year, and I think it paid off.
Have you done what you said you were going to do? You came back because you weren't done. But now your name is cleared, and Wormtail was captured, so what happens next? I don't even know if you can answer these questions, but please try.
-Harry
He walked to the Owlry to send his letter. It was about fifteen minutes to curfew, but as Head Boy, he was allowed out after curfew. In fact, he was on duty a few times a week, patrolling the corridors. He was never alone, though, because Snape and Filch were convinced that he was causing mayhem, so one of them would follow him around at all times.
He stepped into the cool, dark tower. Owl pellets crunched under his feet, and the smell of droppings rose up strongly from the floor.
"Hedwig." He called out. The moon was the only light, and with the roof over head, he couldn't see the difference between any of the owls.
"Hedwig." He called out again. He heard a small hoot from the far corner of the Owlry. He made his way over to her.
"Hedwig, why couldn't you perch near the door?" He scratched her on the head, and she hooted again. She pushed his hand toward the window, hooting even more.
Harry looked down at the grounds. There was nothing there. "What's wrong, Hedwig?" He asked. She kept pushing his hand toward the window. She flicked it up with her left wing, causing his hand to point to the ceiling. She hooted angrily.
"What's up there?" Harry asked quietly. He listened carefully, and he could hear something. People were up there. And they weren't happy.
Harry stepped up on the window ledge, and grabbed hold of a beam on the ceiling. He couldn't change into a phoenix, he would be too bright. He swung his legs up and wrapped them around another beam. He swung himself again, and grabbed onto a stone outside. He brought his left leg around, and then his right. He was now facing the wall, vertically. He scaled the wall quickly, and was soon at the tower. He could hear the voices very easily now.
He looked down, and almost gasped. He had forgotten how high this tower was, and how often people used it. There were no classes there, because it was open, and really just a roof. It was also part of the Owlry, and thus covered in owl droppings. Harry felt a little woozy, clinging to the wall. His hands got a little sweaty, but he was alright. He climbed a little bit higher, just high enough to see who was up there. Again, he almost gasped.
At least twenty Death Eaters were convened. And not all of them were part of the new generation they had learned about. Harry didn't know how they got out of Azkaban, but he didn't have time to think about it. The Malfoys, Crabbe and Goyle, Juniors and Seniors, as well as a few others that Harry knew they had not gathered from Hogwarts were there. Death Eaters from all over England. Not only that, Harry could see a few people sitting in a clump on the other side of the tower. They were tied up.
Harry ducked back down and took a deep breath. His hands were starting to seize up, but he ignored it and listened to every word.
"So what are we doing here?" Someone asked. Harry almost grinned. This would make life easier.
"Shut up, Crabbe." He heard Malfoy say. "We are here to get rid of a few people. People who opposed our Lord. He may be gone, but we can still show our loyalty to him. We can kill the ones who opposed him. Tonight, we are going to get a few. Professor Dumbledore. The greatest wizard in the world, some call him. I don't believe it. We can get him. Potter, of course. Who can forget the amazing Potter. He may have had a prophecy with the Dark Lord, but not with us. We can kill him. Like that." He snapped. "The Minister, if he shows up. I just don't like him. We're not going to go looking him, but if he shows up, we might as well."
A few people chuckled. "So what are they for?" Someone asked. Harry assumed they meant the people tied up.
"They are going to bring Dumbledore to us. We picked up any students we found in the halls. We only had a few, we couldn't be running around too much." Harry didn't know who was talking.
"It seems that the Minister will be paying us a visit as well. We have come across one of his 'officials.'" That was Malfoy again. And he knew who they had. Cho was in that group of hostages.
He risked another peek over the wall. He was looking at the hostages this time. Cho was there, as well as two third years from Hufflepuff, a fifth year from Ravenclaw, and a fifth year from Gryffindor.
Harry ducked back down again. He had a picture in his head of where every body was. He made sure his feet and left hand were secure, and reached into his pocket for his wand. Now he was ready. He peeked up again. They were still looking at the hostages that were sitting in the corner, and Harry saw his chance. He climbed as quickly as he could, and jumped onto the tower.
A few Death Eaters spun around. Malfoy stepped forward. "Potter! How nice of you to join us. We knew you would, anyway."
Harry gripped his wand tightly with his right hand. "What happened to the masks, Malfoy? Are you just trying to get captured?"
Malfoy's grin flickered slightly. "Whatever you say, Potter. But I think we will get rid of you before Dumbledore figures anything out. I really don't want to bother dealing with both of you at once.
Harry smiled. "That's alright. You will be in no shape to fight by the time Dumbledore gets here."
Malfoy got very red in the face, and, to Harry's surprise, stepped to the side. All of the other Death Eaters parted as well.
"You know what, Potter?" Lucius Malfoy said, gripping Cho by the arm and pulling her up, "I don't think killing you is enough. I think you need to suffer even more. Let's see. . . we can't do parents, we've already killed them. We can't do Black, we killed him too." Harry almost laughed. Obviously, none of them read the Prophet anymore. "I do know that you two aren't 'involved' anymore, but I do know that this would still hurt. So I'm going to let her go, and I'm going to let you watch."
Cho looked at him frantically. Her eyes were wide, and though she wasn't tied up, she wasn't making any attempts to escape, or even to say anything. She was just looking at him, pleading. Harry looked at her, and he knew that Mr. Malfoy was right. It would hurt. He looked at her, and he knew it would hurt.
But not because she was Cho. Because she was a person. It had hurt when he thought Ginny had died. It hurt when he watched Cedric die. It hurt when he saw Sirius die. It hurt to see hundreds of wizards dying to help him. No matter who it was, it still hurt. And Harry didn't want to feel that again.
"I won't let you kill her." He said.
Mr. Malfoy sighed. "Fine. I won't kill her." Harry didn't move. He was doing something. "But the fall definitely will." Before Harry could react, he had pushed Cho over the side of the tower.
"And now it's your turn, Potter!" Draco Malfoy said, but Harry wasn't listening. He sprinted towards the wall that Lucius was standing at and threw himself over.
He hoped to god that it would work. He thought about becoming a phoenix. He heard the song ringing in his ears, he felt the feathers, itching under his skin, longing to spring out and let the world see them. He felt his spine shrink and curve. He felt his hands disappear, and his toes be replaced with claws. He felt his face elongate into a beak, the most painful part. He was a phoenix again.
He dove straight down towards the ground. He curled his wings under, to make himself go faster. He could see Cho beneath him. Her arms and legs were straight out, meaning that Harry could catch up quickly. He was almost there. His claws were almost at her robe, he could feel her underneath him, but he couldn't get a grip. The ground was getting closer and closer. Finally, he wrapped his long claws around her robes and pulled out his wings. He flapped as hard as he could. They slowly pulled out of their dive, but they were still going towards the ground. Harry slowed down enough to drop Cho on the ground without hurting her. He put her down on the grass. Before she could say anything, he flew back up to the tower.
He turned back into himself as he landed. Both the Malfoy's looked at him, very white in the face. "Very nice, Potter." Lucius said. "You saved her. But you didn't save yourself."
"He doesn't need to save himself." A voice came from the doorway. A blinding flash of light came out, and Harry found himself the only one still standing.
Dumbledore stepped out. "For now, he has quite a few people behind him." He smiled, and Harry saw Sirius, Professor Lupin, Professor McGonagall, a few of the Wizengamot, and a few of the other teachers.
""I'm sorry Harry." Dumbledore said. "It seems that your rescue was not that exciting this year."
Harry walked over to the side of the tower and looked over. Cho was still sitting on the grass. "I don't know, I think it was pretty good."
Dumbledore chuckled. "I think you should go to bed now, Harry."
Harry nodded and went downstairs. But he took a slight detour before he went back to bed. He walked out to the lawn, where Cho was sitting, cross legged, facing the water.
"Hey." Harry said, stopping a few metres away from her, his fists jammed in his pockets.
"Hey." Cho said. She didn't move at all.
"Are you alright?" He moved a little closer.
She nodded slowly. "It was strange. I felt him push me and I thought, Harry will catch me before I fall. But I fell. I fell and I fell, and you didn't come. I thought that you weren't going to at all. I thought you were going to leave me to die. I had been so mean to you, pushing you away, that I thought you wouldn't care anymore. But you did. Thank you." She said quietly.
Harry sat down beside her. She still didn't move her gaze. "Don't worry about it. I wouldn't leave you there, even if I had no idea who you were."
She continued to stare out at the water. She smiled. "Thank you. You're very skilled at making one feel insignificant."
Harry laughed. "It's my greatest achievement."
They sat in silence for a moment. Cho kept staring at the moon's reflection on the water. Harry did as well. It was hypnotic. There was a small breeze, with almost no effect on the water. But the light sparkled in the occasional ripple, and it was beautiful.
"I'm sorry." Cho whispered. Harry barely heard it, and thought he had imagined it, until Cho kept talking.
"I tried to push you away so that it would hurt less. I thought that if I got you to think that there was nothing left inside of me, you would leave me alone. But it hurt so much more. I could see it. I could see that I was hurting your feelings. I was just being cruel. That would have hurt anyone. I'm sorry."
Harry nodded slowly. "I get it. That's fine." He stood up. It made him feel much better. Almost complete. He stood up. "Well, I'll see you around. Maybe we can hang out some time, now that you don't hate me, and stuff."
Cho looked at him, for the first time. "Is that it?"
Harry looked at her, puzzled. "What else would there be?"
Cho stood up. "I don't know, I thought that if you forgave me, we could. . ." She looked down.
Harry put his hands back in his pockets. "Sorry, Cho. I'm not really looking for romance right now. This isn't what I want anymore. Bye."
He turned and walked up the hill to the front door. "Harry!" He turned around. "Why are you doing this?" Cho asked.
Harry shrugged. "You did it to me."
Cho sighed. "Please don't tell me this is about revenge."
Harry shook his head fiercely. "No. this is about how you were cruel to me for nine months, and you wouldn't acknowledge my existence, and now, you just decide you want me back. Like I'm here waiting for you, and when you get bored of being alone, you always have a backup plan. What's the point?"
He turned away from her, and walked back up the hill, much more quickly this time. He didn't slow or look back until he was at the common room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Indigal: It is so not fishy! It's true. Look at WWI: After the war, came the soldiers coming home and finding they had no jobs. The economic boom leading to the Great Depression. Nothing is ever perfect, just because the leader is dead.
Potter4prez: I'm sorry, I have enough trouble coming up with my own stories. And besides, I hate Draco/Hermione stories. I am a firm believer that that is not the order of things. Sorry. No offence meant, really. What was your unanswered question? Was it something I was supposed to answer? Cuz I'm sorry if I didn't.
Wytil: I can't even have the normal DSL, because there is no jack in my room, so I must use wireless, which is connected to my dad's computer downstairs.
Groovycat66: I bet this is making your intestines swirl! Wow, visual. . . but I still bet it pisses you off.
Wuzup13579: patience is a virtue.
Xavier II: I will, and I did!
Ophelia-waterhouse: I don't even want to know what you are talking about.
-unolimbo
The Daily Prophet came out on Monday. The headline was exactly what they were expecting.
BLACK OFF THE HOOK Innocent after all, Minister says
Hermione scanned over the article, but said that there wasn't much that they didn't already know. A few curious students came up to ask Harry about it. was he really Harry's godfather, had he really lived with him for a summer? Had he really known Sirius was innocent all along?
Ron enjoyed that. People asked him questions too, after he mentioned that he lived with Sirius too, and he had believed in Sirius all along as well. His lies got worse and worse, Hermione said.
"It's quite silly, really." Hermione said one day, after Sirius had gone back to Grimmauld Place, as Ron retold the story of being dragged under the Whomping Willow by Sirius, adding in something about fighting for his life, and a dragon. "He's making no sense whatsoever, and he's making us look stupid, too."
Harry was rereading his History of Magic notes, for the third time. He shrugged. "So talk to him."
She sighed. "You're Head Boy, you know, you're supposed to take care of this sort of thing."
"You're Head Girl, you know, you're supposed to take care of this sort of thing." He chuckled softly as Hermione slammed her book shut and stood up in a huff.
Harry almost felt sad for Ron, sending Hermione at him when she was all riled up. But it was just too funny. He put down his book and watched.
"Ron Weasley! You are making up fictitious stories, that no troll in his right mind would believe! You are making yourself look silly, cease and desist this instant!" She yelled.
Ron shrunk back a bit. "Err- but the kids want to know what happened."
Hermione leaned right into his face, and hissed, "So tell them." She turned on her hell, and marched back to her book, which she looked up from every few minutes to glare at Ron.
He sat down beside Harry. "Thanks for the help, mate."
Harry shrugged. "In danger of sounding like Hermione, you deserved it." Hermione glared at Harry this time.
People stopped asking them questions after a few days. Surprisingly, except for a few farfetched tales set out by Ron, people got their stories remarkably straight. There were a few dragons involved in one branch of it, but really, it was hard to get stranger than what had happened in Harry's third year.
He got a letter that night. His heart skipped a beat when he saw the way his name had been written.
It was Cho's writing. He ripped open the letter.
Harry, it read. No dear. He scanned over it; it was only a few lines.
I would like to apologize for being so rude to you while I was at Hogwarts over Christmas. Don't try to tell me that you forgive me, or that you don't, that's not the point.
-Cho
Harry sat down. It wasn't as bad as it looked, but it wasn't as good, either. She apologized, but she also kept with the goal of never talking to him again. It bothered Harry somewhat, the fact that Cho insisted on being rude to him, and that she insisted he never contact her, but she felt it perfectly fine to contact him whenever she pleased. Harry wished she would just figure it out. It can't work only one way.
He felt his face heat up with anger, and he crumpled the letter up and threw it out.
* * * * *
All too soon, it was exam time. Harry could not understand how it had happened so soon, but he was ready. He had been studying since almost February, and he had been reviewing since Christmas.
He went into his first written exam nervous, but confident. He came out a lot less confident. He had known the Potions exam would be hard, but it still hit him like a ton of bricks. He was sure he had forgotten a step in the Polyjuice potion question, and he could not for the life of him remember the last step in Veritaserum, but he was sure he got the ingredients perfectly. He and Ron spent the lunch hour going over their potions one more time before their practical examination.
Harry was happy with his performance. He got his strengthening solution perfectly, and the three steps that they could perform of the Veritaserum turned out pretty well.
The rest of the week progressed in basically the same way, and Harry finished his exams confident that he had done very well. Ron looked a little frazzled, and Hermione was frantic.
"I think I got the third question wrong in the History of Magic exam! And I accidentally misplaced Orion on the Astronomy. Harry, what if I fail?" She gasped.
Harry sighed. "Hermione, shut up. You did fine."
She glared at him and shut up.
Ministry officials came to the school after exams, for the graduation. There were quite a few of them. The Minister was there, as well as Cho, and a few of the Wizengamot. Harry had never realized that so many important people came to graduation, and he chose to avoid them all. He did his best to never even see them. Then he found out that the Minister and the Wizengamot did not usually come to graduation, but they had come to see Harry. It made him feel certainly uncomfortable. It was Ministry Assistant's job to be there every year anyway.
Harry was glad to be done with exams. He realized that he never had to write another Hogwarts exam, but he felt a pang when he realized that he was done. It was over. He would go home in a week, and then he would never come back. It felt strange, growing up. Leaving all the places he had spent such a long time. He was leaving Hogwarts, and he would be leaving the Dursley's as soon as he could find somewhere to live. He had to decide what he wanted to do. Did he want to be an Auror, like he had always said, or did he want to keep teaching at Hogwarts, like so many people said he should? He probably would have a good place at the Ministry, if he wanted it. He had so many choices.
"So what are you guys planning on doing?" He asked. He wanted to be sure that he wasn't the only person who had no idea what the hell he was going to do with his life.
Hermione sat up. "I'm not completely sure. I was thinking maybe going into healing."
Ron sighed. "I have absolutely no idea." He put his head back on the back of his chair. "I want to be an Auror, but I could probably get a job at Fred and George's shop, it's getting so big."
Hermione gave a smothered laugh. Ron lifted his head. "What's so funny?" He demanded.
Hermione glanced at Harry, looking nervous. "Nothing, it's just. . . do you really think you could be an Auror? I mean, as of before the exams, you don't really have the marks for it."
Ron frowned. "Fine, Hermione. Thank you for the moral support, and thank you for being such a good friend."
Hermione sighed. "I'm sorry, Ron. It's not that I don't think you would be good at the job, it's that I don't think you would be able to get in. It's your marks, that's all. You have the skill, you just don't have the grades."
Ron sighed, avoiding Hermione's eyes. "Fine."
Harry looked from one of them to the other, and shook his head, laughing. "Ron, you will do fine. Don't worry. Now, I have to go write to Sirius." He stood up. That was another thing that felt strange. He could say Sirius' name out loud, and nothing would happen.
Dear Sirius:
I think I did pretty well on my exams. I studied really hard this year, and I think it paid off.
Have you done what you said you were going to do? You came back because you weren't done. But now your name is cleared, and Wormtail was captured, so what happens next? I don't even know if you can answer these questions, but please try.
-Harry
He walked to the Owlry to send his letter. It was about fifteen minutes to curfew, but as Head Boy, he was allowed out after curfew. In fact, he was on duty a few times a week, patrolling the corridors. He was never alone, though, because Snape and Filch were convinced that he was causing mayhem, so one of them would follow him around at all times.
He stepped into the cool, dark tower. Owl pellets crunched under his feet, and the smell of droppings rose up strongly from the floor.
"Hedwig." He called out. The moon was the only light, and with the roof over head, he couldn't see the difference between any of the owls.
"Hedwig." He called out again. He heard a small hoot from the far corner of the Owlry. He made his way over to her.
"Hedwig, why couldn't you perch near the door?" He scratched her on the head, and she hooted again. She pushed his hand toward the window, hooting even more.
Harry looked down at the grounds. There was nothing there. "What's wrong, Hedwig?" He asked. She kept pushing his hand toward the window. She flicked it up with her left wing, causing his hand to point to the ceiling. She hooted angrily.
"What's up there?" Harry asked quietly. He listened carefully, and he could hear something. People were up there. And they weren't happy.
Harry stepped up on the window ledge, and grabbed hold of a beam on the ceiling. He couldn't change into a phoenix, he would be too bright. He swung his legs up and wrapped them around another beam. He swung himself again, and grabbed onto a stone outside. He brought his left leg around, and then his right. He was now facing the wall, vertically. He scaled the wall quickly, and was soon at the tower. He could hear the voices very easily now.
He looked down, and almost gasped. He had forgotten how high this tower was, and how often people used it. There were no classes there, because it was open, and really just a roof. It was also part of the Owlry, and thus covered in owl droppings. Harry felt a little woozy, clinging to the wall. His hands got a little sweaty, but he was alright. He climbed a little bit higher, just high enough to see who was up there. Again, he almost gasped.
At least twenty Death Eaters were convened. And not all of them were part of the new generation they had learned about. Harry didn't know how they got out of Azkaban, but he didn't have time to think about it. The Malfoys, Crabbe and Goyle, Juniors and Seniors, as well as a few others that Harry knew they had not gathered from Hogwarts were there. Death Eaters from all over England. Not only that, Harry could see a few people sitting in a clump on the other side of the tower. They were tied up.
Harry ducked back down and took a deep breath. His hands were starting to seize up, but he ignored it and listened to every word.
"So what are we doing here?" Someone asked. Harry almost grinned. This would make life easier.
"Shut up, Crabbe." He heard Malfoy say. "We are here to get rid of a few people. People who opposed our Lord. He may be gone, but we can still show our loyalty to him. We can kill the ones who opposed him. Tonight, we are going to get a few. Professor Dumbledore. The greatest wizard in the world, some call him. I don't believe it. We can get him. Potter, of course. Who can forget the amazing Potter. He may have had a prophecy with the Dark Lord, but not with us. We can kill him. Like that." He snapped. "The Minister, if he shows up. I just don't like him. We're not going to go looking him, but if he shows up, we might as well."
A few people chuckled. "So what are they for?" Someone asked. Harry assumed they meant the people tied up.
"They are going to bring Dumbledore to us. We picked up any students we found in the halls. We only had a few, we couldn't be running around too much." Harry didn't know who was talking.
"It seems that the Minister will be paying us a visit as well. We have come across one of his 'officials.'" That was Malfoy again. And he knew who they had. Cho was in that group of hostages.
He risked another peek over the wall. He was looking at the hostages this time. Cho was there, as well as two third years from Hufflepuff, a fifth year from Ravenclaw, and a fifth year from Gryffindor.
Harry ducked back down again. He had a picture in his head of where every body was. He made sure his feet and left hand were secure, and reached into his pocket for his wand. Now he was ready. He peeked up again. They were still looking at the hostages that were sitting in the corner, and Harry saw his chance. He climbed as quickly as he could, and jumped onto the tower.
A few Death Eaters spun around. Malfoy stepped forward. "Potter! How nice of you to join us. We knew you would, anyway."
Harry gripped his wand tightly with his right hand. "What happened to the masks, Malfoy? Are you just trying to get captured?"
Malfoy's grin flickered slightly. "Whatever you say, Potter. But I think we will get rid of you before Dumbledore figures anything out. I really don't want to bother dealing with both of you at once.
Harry smiled. "That's alright. You will be in no shape to fight by the time Dumbledore gets here."
Malfoy got very red in the face, and, to Harry's surprise, stepped to the side. All of the other Death Eaters parted as well.
"You know what, Potter?" Lucius Malfoy said, gripping Cho by the arm and pulling her up, "I don't think killing you is enough. I think you need to suffer even more. Let's see. . . we can't do parents, we've already killed them. We can't do Black, we killed him too." Harry almost laughed. Obviously, none of them read the Prophet anymore. "I do know that you two aren't 'involved' anymore, but I do know that this would still hurt. So I'm going to let her go, and I'm going to let you watch."
Cho looked at him frantically. Her eyes were wide, and though she wasn't tied up, she wasn't making any attempts to escape, or even to say anything. She was just looking at him, pleading. Harry looked at her, and he knew that Mr. Malfoy was right. It would hurt. He looked at her, and he knew it would hurt.
But not because she was Cho. Because she was a person. It had hurt when he thought Ginny had died. It hurt when he watched Cedric die. It hurt when he saw Sirius die. It hurt to see hundreds of wizards dying to help him. No matter who it was, it still hurt. And Harry didn't want to feel that again.
"I won't let you kill her." He said.
Mr. Malfoy sighed. "Fine. I won't kill her." Harry didn't move. He was doing something. "But the fall definitely will." Before Harry could react, he had pushed Cho over the side of the tower.
"And now it's your turn, Potter!" Draco Malfoy said, but Harry wasn't listening. He sprinted towards the wall that Lucius was standing at and threw himself over.
He hoped to god that it would work. He thought about becoming a phoenix. He heard the song ringing in his ears, he felt the feathers, itching under his skin, longing to spring out and let the world see them. He felt his spine shrink and curve. He felt his hands disappear, and his toes be replaced with claws. He felt his face elongate into a beak, the most painful part. He was a phoenix again.
He dove straight down towards the ground. He curled his wings under, to make himself go faster. He could see Cho beneath him. Her arms and legs were straight out, meaning that Harry could catch up quickly. He was almost there. His claws were almost at her robe, he could feel her underneath him, but he couldn't get a grip. The ground was getting closer and closer. Finally, he wrapped his long claws around her robes and pulled out his wings. He flapped as hard as he could. They slowly pulled out of their dive, but they were still going towards the ground. Harry slowed down enough to drop Cho on the ground without hurting her. He put her down on the grass. Before she could say anything, he flew back up to the tower.
He turned back into himself as he landed. Both the Malfoy's looked at him, very white in the face. "Very nice, Potter." Lucius said. "You saved her. But you didn't save yourself."
"He doesn't need to save himself." A voice came from the doorway. A blinding flash of light came out, and Harry found himself the only one still standing.
Dumbledore stepped out. "For now, he has quite a few people behind him." He smiled, and Harry saw Sirius, Professor Lupin, Professor McGonagall, a few of the Wizengamot, and a few of the other teachers.
""I'm sorry Harry." Dumbledore said. "It seems that your rescue was not that exciting this year."
Harry walked over to the side of the tower and looked over. Cho was still sitting on the grass. "I don't know, I think it was pretty good."
Dumbledore chuckled. "I think you should go to bed now, Harry."
Harry nodded and went downstairs. But he took a slight detour before he went back to bed. He walked out to the lawn, where Cho was sitting, cross legged, facing the water.
"Hey." Harry said, stopping a few metres away from her, his fists jammed in his pockets.
"Hey." Cho said. She didn't move at all.
"Are you alright?" He moved a little closer.
She nodded slowly. "It was strange. I felt him push me and I thought, Harry will catch me before I fall. But I fell. I fell and I fell, and you didn't come. I thought that you weren't going to at all. I thought you were going to leave me to die. I had been so mean to you, pushing you away, that I thought you wouldn't care anymore. But you did. Thank you." She said quietly.
Harry sat down beside her. She still didn't move her gaze. "Don't worry about it. I wouldn't leave you there, even if I had no idea who you were."
She continued to stare out at the water. She smiled. "Thank you. You're very skilled at making one feel insignificant."
Harry laughed. "It's my greatest achievement."
They sat in silence for a moment. Cho kept staring at the moon's reflection on the water. Harry did as well. It was hypnotic. There was a small breeze, with almost no effect on the water. But the light sparkled in the occasional ripple, and it was beautiful.
"I'm sorry." Cho whispered. Harry barely heard it, and thought he had imagined it, until Cho kept talking.
"I tried to push you away so that it would hurt less. I thought that if I got you to think that there was nothing left inside of me, you would leave me alone. But it hurt so much more. I could see it. I could see that I was hurting your feelings. I was just being cruel. That would have hurt anyone. I'm sorry."
Harry nodded slowly. "I get it. That's fine." He stood up. It made him feel much better. Almost complete. He stood up. "Well, I'll see you around. Maybe we can hang out some time, now that you don't hate me, and stuff."
Cho looked at him, for the first time. "Is that it?"
Harry looked at her, puzzled. "What else would there be?"
Cho stood up. "I don't know, I thought that if you forgave me, we could. . ." She looked down.
Harry put his hands back in his pockets. "Sorry, Cho. I'm not really looking for romance right now. This isn't what I want anymore. Bye."
He turned and walked up the hill to the front door. "Harry!" He turned around. "Why are you doing this?" Cho asked.
Harry shrugged. "You did it to me."
Cho sighed. "Please don't tell me this is about revenge."
Harry shook his head fiercely. "No. this is about how you were cruel to me for nine months, and you wouldn't acknowledge my existence, and now, you just decide you want me back. Like I'm here waiting for you, and when you get bored of being alone, you always have a backup plan. What's the point?"
He turned away from her, and walked back up the hill, much more quickly this time. He didn't slow or look back until he was at the common room.
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Indigal: It is so not fishy! It's true. Look at WWI: After the war, came the soldiers coming home and finding they had no jobs. The economic boom leading to the Great Depression. Nothing is ever perfect, just because the leader is dead.
Potter4prez: I'm sorry, I have enough trouble coming up with my own stories. And besides, I hate Draco/Hermione stories. I am a firm believer that that is not the order of things. Sorry. No offence meant, really. What was your unanswered question? Was it something I was supposed to answer? Cuz I'm sorry if I didn't.
Wytil: I can't even have the normal DSL, because there is no jack in my room, so I must use wireless, which is connected to my dad's computer downstairs.
Groovycat66: I bet this is making your intestines swirl! Wow, visual. . . but I still bet it pisses you off.
Wuzup13579: patience is a virtue.
Xavier II: I will, and I did!
Ophelia-waterhouse: I don't even want to know what you are talking about.
-unolimbo