Disclaimer: Not mine!
A/N: Sorry for the delay everyone. Things got a little out of hand for a while there. First I had taken a little vacation to a family reunion. After that I got caught up in work, and then the dreaded Writers Block set in. I hope this makes up for all of the time I kept you waiting.
Vincent - "We all apologize for the great delay. You should have seen the size of that Writers Block. It was huge."
Phoenix - "It sure was big wasn't it? It took over half of the muses to chisel it down so that the creative juices could start flowing again."
Vincent - "I'll say!"
FSL – Thank you. I'm glad you understand. Now you just need to be a bit more specific.
HarryPotterFan17 – Thank you for pointing that out. I will change it as soon as possible.
MystikalMagic – That may be true though she may not be pure Asian. In any case this is a fanficton and it is my story and I say she has blue eyes. No offense intended. Your input is valued and appreciated.
GryffindorBabex13 – I know. It is a great story. I must ask you not to use chat speak though... I prefer well thought out reviews. Thank you for your praise.
Omeganian – (Sighs) This is a PG–13 fic. It will never be rated R. It will contain no lemons or references in that direction. This is a family friendly story. I will address the issue in this chapter though. Thank you for bringing this matter to my attention.
TheLigtningBoltScar – You know... Your the first person who has caught on to that. Or at least the first to mention it. It is extremely hard to keep thinking up names that conform to that theme. I spend almost twenty minutes just thinking of a chapter name.
Kaimasu-Chan, ShibiChicken, and Penname2004 – Thanks for your compliments and i hope you like the rest of the fic.
Exystence – I'm glad you like it. I guess I'll have to spice up my summary then won't I. And if you keep reviewing I will have more reviews.
Chapter Eleven: Of Sonnets and Limericks
Harry opened his eyes and looked around. It was still early morning and everything was silent. The other boys in the dorm were still asleep and for that Harry was thankful. He quickly dressed and grabbed his wand before heading down the stairs. He thought of what today was. It was Saturday. He had quidditch practice tonight for the game the next day. He would have to confront Ron then, but he fully intended to avoid both him and Hermione until then. He needed to think about things and being bombarded with questions and unwanted advice was not a pleasing thought.
As he neared the bottom of the stairs he heard voices. Ron and Hermione were still in the common room. "We'll catch him whether he's leaving or coming in." came Ron's voice.
"Yes, we need to make him realize the truth." Hermione's voice was just as determined as Ron's. Harry swore under his breath. If he was ever going to make it to his meditation session with Rai he needed to get rid of them so he could get through the portrait hole unnoticed. He thought for a moment before pulling out his wand. He flicked it several times and muttered a short incantation. An image of himself appeared in front of him.
He once again began waving his wand, this time in a complex pattern and muttering under his breath nonstop. The image sprang to life immediately and began walking at a brisk pace down the rest of the stairs. It hurried across the common room, Harry heard Ron and Hermione shout for him to stop, to talk to them, but Harry just kept the image moving. As the image reached the portrait hole he intensified his muttering exerting enough force to open and close the portrait. He heard Ron yelp, "Quick, follow him!" He heard footsteps and the portrait opening and closing once more.
The real Harry walked into the common room and started across. "That wasn't very nice Harry." He stopped and turned around. Ginny was standing at the bottom of the girls staircase. She was still in her nightgown and her face was far from stern. She had a look of wonder on her face. "How did you do that."
"Do what?" He said, afflicting his voice with false confusion.
"That," she pointed at the portrait hole, "How did you make an image of yourself?"
"I have no idea what your talking about. I have somewhere that I need to be. If you'll excuse me." Harry turned on his heel and marched through the portrait hole, leaving a stunned Ginny and a sputtering Violet.
Harry strolled down the hallways to Rai's classroom. He passed the old and raggedy looking caretaker, Argus Filch, along the way. He was muttering something about running in the halls. Harry knocked on the doorway to Rai's classroom and heard an "Enter" before going in. Rai was already in position and Harry sat with him, crossing his legs in a way that had been quite difficult at first.
The two of them took deep breaths in unison and closed their eyes. The two rose into the air several inches and the entire room took on a serene and peaceful quality. Harry felt his problems melt away, it felt good, even if it would only last for an hour or so.
Harry followed Rai down to the Great Hall for breakfast. They were chatting merrily and smiling. "And as we discussed yesterday you will have the day off today and tomorrow to practice for quidditch."
"Thanks again for that Rai." Harry said as they descended the steps into the entrance hall.
"Its no trouble at all Harry. I do hope you do well in that match tomorrow. It will be the first quidditch match I've ever seen." Rai seemed excited.
"Don't worry," Harry said grinning, "It'll be very interesting." Harry left Rai's side and made his way over to the Gryffindor house table for breakfast. As he ate his eggs and bacon he looked around at the slowly populating Great Hall. Cho was nowhere to be seen as of yet but Harry was confident she would be there before long. Harry sat along the end of the table keeping a wary eye out for his two best friends.
As he finished up a slice of toast a smirking Nivek plopped down across from him. The rather haggard looking young man began to talk excitedly. "Hey Harry," he began, "You'll never guess what's happened." He bit his lip as if he was afraid to say it out loud.
"What is it Murdock?" Harry looked on puzzled.
"I told you to call me Nivek," he said exasperated, "But anyway some sixth years got into real trouble earlier this morning. Filch caught 'em." He looked around cautiously and whispered, "The news is all over the tower but it's just me who knows who it was. Your friends Ron and Hermione were caught running around on the seventh floor looking for something. Wouldn't tell Filch what it was but they've got detention together."
Harry suddenly felt very guilty about his actions earlier. His friends wouldn't be in trouble if he hadn't wanted to get away so badly. Nivek must have mistook his look of guilt for worry because he spoke again. "Don't worry," he said, "It's just you and me who knows it was them. Nobody else will now unless you want them to." Harry was confused at his statement.
"Why all the secrecy over my friends names? Does it really matter whether anybody knows?" Nivek just looked at him incredulously.
"Of course it matters Harry. I'd have thought that you of all people would know that information can be the most dangerous weapon if it is used correctly." Harry hadn't even thought of that possibility.
Harry sat once again in the Chamber of Solitude. Ever since he had retreated to the peaceful environment of his secluded room he had been pondering several things. He contemplated Nivek's words from breakfast and that next weekend was a Hogsmeade weekend. He considered that he would have to confront Ron at quidditch practice and what could be done to make Ron see his error without hurting their friendship. So many thoughts had been spinning through his head he could barely concentrate on one of the things he needed to do. His solution was to divide his thoughts and think about each one separately. Having a severely limited amount of time he did the only sensible thing, he created a doppleganger for each task.
Harry the original sat in an armchair pondering the most important matter; keeping his friendship with Ron and Hermione intact. Near by Number One sat at a desk doing research on several homework assignments. Across the room Number Two was carefully trying to find a way to ask Cho on a date to Hogsmeade without embarrassing all of him. And Number Three was in the library following up on Nivek's helpful information.
Three had taken about six blank books up to the library and was now copying several books that Harry might find useful. What was even better for this was that Albus Dumbldore himself had given Harry yearlong access to the restricted section. Any book Harry found interesting or helpful he could copy. This way he could keep all of the books instead of having to return the book if another student was in need of it.
Three was on his fourth trip of the day. He had copied six books including "Most Potente Potions", "The Art of The Unseen" (author Bline Deye), "The Gift of Tongues" (authors U. Babble and I. Jibber), and "Deciphering Delusions: A Guide to Analyzing Dreams" (author Nite Mayre). These and several other books, Harry thought, might come in useful.
Harry the original checked his watch and sighed. It was nearly time for quidditch practice. He hoped that his plan worked because in life there was no reset button. There were only five minutes left until the doppleganger spell ended and Three had just entered the chamber and was putting the newly copied tomes onto a rather large bookshelf.
All of the Harry's quietly and quickly moved to the center of the room. Harry the original stood in the direct center of the room with his copies at equal distances around him. As the final second of the spell ended each of the copies began to dissolve into colored smoke. One became a thick greenish cloud, Two melted into a orange mist, and Three disintegrated into a golden haze. The smoke began to swirl inward toward Harry in a colorful spiral and it continued until all of the smoke had absorbed into Harry's ears.
Harry quickly changed into his quidditch robes, grabbed his invisibility cloak, and began his ascent into one of his greatest challenges yet.
The day was warm and sunny. There was little wind and just a few fluffy white clouds drifted through the sky over the forbidden forest. It was a perfect day for flying. Normally everyone on the Gryffindor quidditch team would have been in good cheer. Two people, however, were not in the best of moods. Harry stood just out of sight of his teammates feeling at once nervous, frustrated, and exasperated; and by the look on his face Ron wasn't to cheery either. Harry took a deep breath and steeled himself for something he had hoped he would never have to do again.
He marched onto the quidditch pitch, head held high and feet steady. Harry quickly glanced around at his teammates. Ginny seemed very apprehensive, as if she knew that something very bad was about to happen. Ron's face was a storm cloud; Harry could see the fire flickering in his eyes. The others kept their distances, having heard that something was off between the two normally chummy boys.
As Harry reached the other team members Ron turned to them and clapped his hands, "I have something to discuss with Harry," he began, "I want the Chasers to practice formations and teamwork, Starting players against reservists. I want the Beaters to do control drills, take both bludgers and bat them from person to person, try not to let the bludgers get away from you. Get going, chop chop!" The Chasers and Beaters nodded in assent and took off to practice. Ron then turned to Harry.
"We need to talk." He said it with a very displeased expression.
"I was thinking the same thing," Harry responded, his face hardening. Ron opened his mouth to say something but Harry held up a hand to stop him. "Before you say anything I have to ask you a few questions." Ron closed his mouth reluctantly and nodded. "Do you have any idea what it is like to see your two best friends being very affectionate towards one another? Can you understand what it's like to be a third wheel?" Ron mumbled a no to both questions his face staying hard. Harry, however saw his friends eyes softening, if only a little. "Can you remember all of the times anyone has judged you because of your family's financial problems?" An affirmative nod. "Without even bothering to get acquainted with you first?" Ron's face was now becoming troubled.
Harry reached up and grabbed Ron by the collar of his robes. He slowly pulled the much taller boy down until the two were eye to eye. "Look me in the eye and tell me; Do you know what it's like to feel so utterly alone that it might be better to end it all? Can you say that you've ever felt like the entire world is resting on your shoulders and no one can even comprehend your burden? Think Ron. You remember the feeling you get when you have Hermione in your arms and you know you've found the right person? Did you ever think that maybe, just maybe, I might feel that way about someone too?"
Harry released a very distraught Ronald Weasley from his iron grip and flexed his fingers which had started to numb from gripping so hard. "Now if you want to win the match tomorrow I need some practice." With that Harry walked over to the quidditch equipment chest and released the snitch. Within seconds he was chasing after it on his firebolt.
A/N: And there you have it. There is quite a bit of Harry/Cho fluff coming in later chapters and you can rest assured that it will rot your teeth out. But before I get to that I have to get Harry through the next week, have him ask Cho to Hogsmeade, and briefly explain the fighting styles that Harry is starting to favor. So don't hold your breath on that for about two chapters.
Vincent - "Do you and your uncle always argue this much?"
Kev - "It's a form of affection."
Phoenix - "I don't get it. Why do you fight if you don't really mean it."
Kev - "We're guys. Guys don't show affection openly with other guys with all of the homosexuality that is in the world today. We are both Heterosexual men who are related. All guys who are straight are terrified of the thought that someone might think they are gay. To get around this we show our affection by arguing playfully and making comments that might insult someone who isn't in on the joke."
Phoenix - "Oh! I get it now. My brother used to do that a lot too now that I think of it."
Vincent - "All guys do it. It's a fact of life."
Kev - "Ciao everyone!"