A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I love knowing that there are at least a few people out there reading this fic. I know I said that this chapter would be posted quick, but there was a small problem. I have this personal rule. I edit each chapter one time before posting. Before I edit a chapter, though, the rough draft of the following chapter must be written, as well as at least the first 500 words of the chapter after that. I know that sounds a bit ridiculous, but it is just the way I like to work. I guess I do it so that I don't write myself in to a corner by accident. Anyway, chapter 8 ended up being my longest chapter yet, and when I began writing 9, I ended up going until there were 1200 words. I got caught up in the moment, I guess. That's my excuse. I hope it's acceptable. Enjoy this one.
CHAPTER 7 – Purple, Red, Green, and Black
Harry was abruptly awakened from his peaceful sleep early the next morning by a sharp peck on his cheek. Instinctively, he jumped from his bed, wand drawn, and surveyed the room for his attacker. Much like the previous morning, Harry was in a bit of shock from the unexpected awakening. But this time he wasn't woken by Lupin. His assailant was none other than Pig, Ron's owl. It took Harry a moment to register this fact. As he stared at the tiny fuzzy shape flying back and forth in front of him, his mind drifted to the previous evening. He swore that Pig had left with Errol. His sanity was quickly confirmed when he noticed another letter dangling from Pig's leg.
"Come 'ere, Pig," he said a little too sharply, as he reached down to the bedside table for his glasses. The room came in focus just in time for him to see the owl zooming straight for him, obviously unaffected by Harry's early morning rudeness.
When he finally had the letter extracted from the envelope, he sat back on his bed and began to read. This was not another note from Ron. This was from Ginny, and he quickly realized she wasn't overly pleased with his letter the previous night.
Dear Harry,
I'll be at the reading. Hermione, Fred, and George are coming too. You didn't really answer my question about Ron. I expect you will tell me something when I see you. If you don't, I'm going to use a new curse on you that I learned from George. I'm not kidding, either. Have a lovely day.
Ginny
Sighing, Harry lowered the letter. He didn't really want to have to deal with this. Ron had practically begged him in his letter to not tell anyone. On the other hand, Ginny...well, Ginny was persuasive. Not really wanting to think about it at the present time, he placed the letter on the bedside table, while simultaneously glancing at his watch. It was almost time for him to wake-up anyway. This roused a thought in Harry's mind. Lupin would be coming to wake him at any moment. Harry quickly removed his glasses and set them on the table again. He then climbed back underneath the blankets on the bed, wand still clutched in his hand. This would be the perfect opportunity for revenge from the previous morning.
As he expected, the door to the room creaked open a few minutes later. Harry listened carefully as the footsteps gradually neared the bed. He waited patiently, not wanting to act prematurely. With his eyes still shut, Harry waited until he could stand it no longer, and slowly eased his wand out from underneath the side of the blanket furthest from the approaching man. Then, in one fast, fluid motion, he struck. Unfortunately for him, though, Lupin had noticed the slightly heavier than normal breathing coming from underneath the blankets. Lupin had been prepared.
"Conchyliatus Ornatus!" screamed Harry, wand stretched towards Lupin.
"Protego," he supplied instantly.
Harry's spell practically bounced off of Lupin, and headed right back to him, striking him just above his elbow on his wand arm. Horror covered his face as he realized what he had just been hit with. Desperate not to allow Lupin to see the effects of the spell, he scrambled to cover himself completely with the blankets. He held them with a death grip against himself, as he futilely willed himself to sink further into the mattress, his face growing redder by the second.
Grinning, Lupin said, "Harry, is something wrong? It is time to get up, you know," he said. His grin was getting devilishly long. "You can't stay in bed all day." With that, he pointed his wand at the boy and proclaimed loudly, "Abripio!"
The sheets flew off of the bed and to the floor, exposing Harry in a most embarrassing state. He lay, eyes clinched shut, wearing a long, bright purple dress, rather than his night clothes. Lupin burst into laughter the second he saw the result of the spell.
"That looks very lovely on you, Harry. But, I'm not sure it's your color," he managed through his laughter.
Still unable to open his eyes out of fear, he merely grumbled, "Shut up."
"Oh, come now. I was only kidding. The color actually matches your eyes quite nicely. Though, I can't be sure, since you won't open them," Lupin joked. "Seriously, Harry, open your eyes. This isn't that big of a deal. Just go change, and I'll be waiting downstairs in the kitchen for you." When there was no response from Harry, Lupin walked to the door. As he left, he said one last thing. "Hurry up. Be down there in five minutes." The door shut behind him, and Harry opened his eyes.
"What am I going to do?" he groaned to himself, as he eased his way out of the bed and made his way to his trunk.
Five minutes later, Lupin sat alone at the kitchen table, sipping his tea, when the kitchen door opened and in trudged Harry.
"Well, good to see you up and around. That's an interesting outfit you've chosen to practice in, though," said Lupin, when he noticed that Harry was still wearing the purple dress. "You might have some difficulty jogging in that," he joked.
Harry ignored his verbal jab and silently made his way over to the table, where he sat and poured himself a cup of tea. He tried his best to keep his eyes averted from Lupin.
"So, how long until the dress will change back into you normal clothes?" Lupin finally asked.
Grudgingly, Harry responded, "I'm not sure, but I think it'll be a few hours. It could be longer, though."
"Well, that's a relief. It isn't proper to wear anything but black to a will reading. We wouldn't want your choice of attire to disrupt tomorrow's affair," Lupin said, holding back a grin.
This sparked Harry's memory. He chose to ignore the joke that had just been made at his expense, and instead focused his train of thought on the questions that had been lingering in his head since the previous evening.
"Why didn't you tell me that my friends were coming?" he asked just before taking a bite out of his toast.
"Oh, I don't know," Lupin answered, surprised by the question. "I guess it just didn't cross my mind. How did you find out?"
"Ron wrote me last night. He mentioned it. And Ginny told me that she, Fred, George, and Hermione were coming too."
Lupin smiled at this for a moment before continuing. "Yes, I suppose they will be here. I believe there will be two or three other people in attendance as well."
"How long will they be staying?" Harry asked.
"Well, just the afternoon. Now remember, as far as they know, you'll just be here for the afternoon, too. You agreed to not tell them anything yet."
"I know, I know. I won't say anything." He replied.
"I was just making sure. Well, finish up now. We should probably head upstairs soon."
A look of horror spread across Harry's face. "What do you mean?"
"We've got a long day ahead of us, starting with your warm-up jog."
"But...I can't. At least, not until this spell wears off."
"Nonsense. You'll be fine. Maybe a little uncomfortable, but you'll get used to it. I wouldn't worry."
"You can't be serious. I'm not going to jog in this; no way."
"You should have considered the consequences when you cast the spell. It isn't my fault. Besides, no one will see you, and it'll only last a few hours. You said so yourself."
"It wasn't supposed to hit me!"
"Next time you should try to be more stealthily then. And luckily for you, the best way to improve such a trait is through training. Now, come on."
"No way. You can't make me. I'll go up when the spell wears off."
"I can't make you?"
"No."
"We'll see about that."
Five minutes later, Harry's limp form dropped on to the soft grass in the meadow. A second later, Lupin released him from the spell he had cast on him in the kitchen, with a satisfied expression upon his face.
"Now, would you like me to enchant your legs so that they run automatically, or are you going to be a good little boy, and start running?" asked the amused man.
He held his hands up in defense. "No, no. I'll do it on my own."
"Splendid. Look on the bright side. As dreadful of a match as they are with your dress, at least you have your tennis shoes," he snorted through laughter.
"Shove off," he said.
"No, I think I'll lay here and read." He then pointed to a spot a few feet beyond Harry, where the start to the path lay painted on the grass. "You go ahead and...shove off." With that, he lowered himself delicately to the ground.
"Can I at least have my wand back?" he snapped.
"It'll be here when you are done. Go on now."
Harry cursed under his breath, and then turned and walked to the starting point. "I can't believe this," he said as he began to jog along the path.
When he was just out of earshot, Lupin laughed to himself. "Neither can I."
The day sped along, and before Harry knew it, he was climbing exhaustedly into his bed, fully prepared to sleep through a tropical storm. The training session had been quite engaging, really. After his warm-up jog in the morning, which concluded when Lupin apparated right beside Harry on the path, and took a photograph of him in the dress. Rather than shrug this action off, Harry diverted from the path, and chased after him. The hunt went on for a good five minutes, with the alarm from him being off of the path sounding the entire time. Finally, Harry reached the man and tackled him to the ground. Unfortunately, Lupin had drawn his wand first and Harry was forced to back down.
One good thing did happen for Harry, though. Once Lupin turned the alarm off, he didn't make Harry continue along the path. Instead, they spent the next hour or so apparating around the meadow. After that, they spent the rest of the morning doing the muggle exercises and such.
The afternoon had been spent as a refresher course for Harry. They pretty much reviewed all of the spells that he taught the D.A. There wasn't much of a need to spend a great deal of time working on any of them, as his technique was flawless. Every time he cast one of the spells it turned out perfect. Lupin found the display quite impressive, and was glad to see that Harry's aim was impeccable as well. After a short meal, they retired to the drawing room, where they sat and chatted casually about random subjects. It wasn't long before they called it an evening, and both headed towards their own rooms. Lupin still wanted Harry to get a short physical workout in before everyone arrived around midday, and he wanted him to still get a proper night's rest.
Now, as he lay motionless in his bed, sleep closing in on him, Harry thought about what sort of a difference his training would really make. Could all this really prepare him to face the self-proclaimed greatest wizard to ever live? He, a teenager, was supposed to stand a chance against someone with much more experience and knowledge? Someone who doesn't believe in playing by the rules, and will take any measure to achieve his goals? All of Harry's thoughts over the next few minutes centered on this subject, and as he finally drifted into sleep, the last thing to cross his mind was one hazy image. Though the picture was a bit fuzzy, and more like a collage, the colors were distinct. There was an auburn color surrounded by a layer of black, and beyond that there was only green. This was immediately replaced by only black, because sleep overtook him.
A/N: I know this was fairly short, and there wasn't a whole lot to it, but keep in mind that there are subtle hints throughout this entire story that point towards the end...I shall say no more.....
Except that, in case that wasn't enough to satisfy you, then remember what I said way up above. The next chapter is going to be the longest yet.
Oh, and by the way, my new calculations show that this story will be much longer than I originally anticipated. I'm guessing that it will be between 120,000 and 150,000 words. Hell, I'm still at the beginning of the summer.
Please, oh please, read and review! My heart leaps every time I see that someone has taken the time to review this story. Thanks!
