PART TWENTY-ONE

Hatred's Conclusions

February ended that way—with me hating Malfoy all the more. But when March finally came, I started to feel a little bit higher in spirits. I noticed that Hermione, too, was back to her usual self and was no longer brooding. I was glad for that, and I was glad that I had finally sorted it out…my visions and Malfoy's doings. I was satisfied and delighted—too delighted—to have concluded to myself that it all came down to Malfoy and that I now had yet another excuse to hate him. Like I had said before, it was a blind hatred. I was too busy hating him and pointing all bad things towards him that I was unable to see the truth. This went on and on throughout the month…even until the third trip to Hogsmeade.

"I'm sorry, Harry…my mom doesn't want me to. She thinks I'm still too 'weak' to leave the school grounds," Cho complained one night at the Great Hall, as Harry stared at her, toying with her hair. "It sucks."

"Hey, it's okay," Harry replied and shifted in his position, so that they were only inches apart in their seats. "It'd be better if you stayed here to rest. I wouldn't want you to go to Hogsmeade tomorrow and get hurt or anything," he whispered, giving her a small peck on the lips.

"You are so sweet, you know that?" Cho giggled and kissed him again. "Be careful tomorrow, okay? I wouldn't be around to look out for you," she joked.

"Isn't it the other way around?" Harry smiled and gave her another kiss, this time not at all a short one. It was a while before Cho pulled back, giggling even harder. "Stop it, Harry; I have to go back to the common room."

"Okay," he said reluctantly. "Good night."

"Good night," Cho stood up, traced his lips with her finger, and left, smiling.

Harry stared after her in silence, until Ron cleared his throat across from him.

"Hel-lo? Earth to Harry? Can we go now?" Ron whined. He flipped his journal shut and reached across the table to nudge Harry's shoulder. "I miraculously survived the cheesy, giggly, lovey-dovey, and therefore disgusting performance the two of you were staging right in front of me. Not to mention I actually lived through the three lip actions you guys made. But I am not, I repeat, not going to tolerate your after-kiss googly-eyed look. A third wheel can only take so much public display of affection."

Harry smiled apologetically at Ron. "Sorry," he said sheepishly.

Ron shrugged and stood up. "Hey, it's me; I'm used to being the left-out clown who's always neglected to exist."

Harry fell in step beside him as they made their way out of the Great Hall that night to the Gryffindor common room. "I'm really sorry, Ron. I just…barely have time for her these days."

"Yeah, I know, I know." Ron sighed. Harry looked at the journal in Ron's hand and then back at his face. "So are you going to tell her tonight?"

"If I get the chance, yes," replied Ron. "In fact, I'm so sick of waiting around that I'm probably going to tell her the moment I see her." He nodded in his newfound courage. "Yep, I'm going to let it all out."

Harry grinned. "Good for you, then. You've been hiding it for a while now."

"How did you find out about it, anyway? It's not like I ever showed you my journal, or wrote in it in front of you until tonight."

"Ron, I'm your best friend, remember? I've always known you liked her. Toothflossing Stringmints," Harry said, climbing into the hole as the Fat Lady swung to let them in at the mention of the password, Ron trailing behind.

"Was it that obvious?" Ron asked. "I mean, I—"

 "Harry! Ron!" Hermione called, walking towards them from where Ginny and Dean were sitting in front of the fire. The two boys looked at each other, and Ron started to squirm.

Harry grinned at Hermione. "What's with the excited greeting? You're not usually this happy to see us. In fact, you're not usually happy, period."

Hermione grabbed both their wrists and dragged them to a nearby couch. "I'm sorry if I've been moping around lately. But I'm okay now, I've decided to forget about M—" Hermione trailed off, noticing the strange look on Harry's face and realizing she'd almost spilled the beans. "—McGonagall's duties for me," she covered. "Besides, I'm getting all icky watching Ginny and Dean get all sweet. So anyway, I've been doing a lot of thinking recently. I'm kind of wondering why you think Malfoy is behind all your visions, and I just want to…talk. Like we used to. We never talk anymore these days."

"Well, er…" Harry looked at Ron, who was blushing. "I…I'd love to talk about my reasons and all, but I think Ron has something to say first."

Ron looked up from the floor and glared at Harry. "I do?"

"Yeah, you do. You've been wanting to tell Hermione, actually." Harry grinned.

"Really?" Hermione looked at Ron in curiosity. "What's up?"

There was a very awkward silence as Ron struggled to get the words out, but it all seemed to die on his throat. Damn it, he thought to himself, as he looked at her eager face, staring at him. After several minutes, Harry finally saw that Ron simply couldn't do it.

"Er, you know what, Hermione? Maybe I should talk about the visions. Ron'll…er…tell you some other time, okay?" Harry said, and Ron sighed, mumbling, "Yeah, I will."

Hermione bobbed her head. "So tell me all about it. You seem happier tonight. Not boiling mad anymore?"

"I still am, but I'm taking pleasure in knowing I've got it figured out, and after all the thinking, I really think it's him," Harry said. "See, the first and second visions were kind of very similar. The first had the Gryffindor crest while the second had the Slytherin crest. This probably means that both Houses are involved—which undoubtedly means Malfoy and me. There were red eyes and a flash of green light—a metaphor of Voldemort…and then blond hair—Malfoy. And then there were the words, 'After the sixth downfall of the serpent…', which I think is related to my fourth vision."

"The fourth one called out the names of Salazar Slytherin, Tom Riddle, Quirrell, Peter Pettigrew, Barty Crouch and Lucius Malfoy. Six names…six people who've begun, went on, and are still going on with the dark deeds of wizardry. The six serpents, who've all met their downfall and weren't successful so far…"

"Hold it," Ron spoke up, seeming to have recovered from blushing. "What about Tom Riddle? He's You-Know-Who. I mean, he failed once, with you, but now he's back again. That means he hasn't met his downfall yet, right?"

"Yeah…that I can't figure out. There are a lot of things that I still don't understand, but these things I'm telling you now are what I think. See, 'after the sixth downfall of the serpent', if what I'm saying is true, means that these people have failed, right? And then 'a new power shall rise again, greater and more powerful than ever before', as what my third vision said. So after those six failures, a new one will rise…" Harry paused, clearing his throat. "I used to keep wondering who that new follower is, but the other night I just had another dream…the seventh one…and in it was Malfoy, with Voldemort right behind him. And since my scar hurts every time I see a vision, it all makes sense that Voldemort's completely involved."

"So…you're saying that the new dark follower is…Malfoy…?" Hermione said, lowering her tone.

"I'm guessing, yes," confirmed Harry. "That's why I hate him all the more. The reason I want to kick his butt in the Quidditch Finals next month. And the reason why I want to get to the bottom of this so I can stop him."

"But what about your fifth and sixth visions? What do they have to do with Malfoy…?" Hermione asked again.

"That's what I can't put my finger into. I don't understand the forests…which almost all of my visions were set in. I don't understand my fifth dream…about the overwhelming power and the blood and how great it all surprisingly felt…and the sixth one…with all the noise and the broomsticks and the Dark Mark…and then making me want to snap…" Harry trailed off again. "Maybe it all has something to do with me, how I'm supposed to stop him. Godric Gryffindor said it himself in that letter I found. It almost seemed like I was chosen, being the only one who could read it. He said that the people around me are at stake…Cho just got into an accident because of Malfoy and that's strike one…and then we just found out about Malfoy getting Justin into curses and leaving him stranded in the Forbidden Forest for no particular reason and that's strike two…who knows what else he's got planned up his sleeve? And then Godric said he was having visions, and so am I right now…so I reckon I'm chosen to stop Malfoy, and my fifth and sixth visions probably want to tell me how, but that's just it. I don't understand what they mean."

There was awkward silence again for the umpth time among the three, as they pondered on everything Harry had just said on a roll. And, for the first time ever for the past six years of mind-boggling dilemmas, the three of them couldn't think of anything to say in this ambiguity.

For the first time ever, they really didn't have a clue anymore.

They couldn't figure it out.

That's it for now! Hope it's ok:D Like I said, I've kind of been having some problems on explanations:D There'll be more to come, I promise!!:D Please Keep R&R-ing!!!

PS

I'm sorry my summary stinks hehehe:D do you guys have any suggestions? Contributions? :D And to "just b", sorry I couldn't email you about this update…my email's been having trouble sending out messages…hope u can come across my fic for the update :D Peace!:D