A/N: Happy Holidays! :-)
Chapter 11- Askew Attacks
The snowfall from last week remained on the Hogsmeade streets, pushed to the edge of the curbs creating ideal hills for the students to play on (not just third years; Seamus was seen diving into one). Fifth year prefects had the simple duty of explaining departure times to the younger students, while the sixth and seventh years were on a patrolling rotation throughout the more popular stores and restaurants in the town.
"If I knew I would pretty much have to give up my Hogsmeade weekend…" Ron had grumbled as he and Hermione made their way to Madame Puddifoot's.
"You would've taken the badge anyway," she finished, sending him a 'look' and then dragging him into the café. Ron pulled some faces at her and yelped when she pinched him rather sharply.
While Ginny and Colin Creevey explained to the third and some fourth years about the carriages, Harry stood idly by with Neville, looking extremely bored and out of place.
He wasn't in the best of moods, but he realized that he couldn't really be mad at Neville for asking Ginny out. It wasn't as if Harry had made it obvious that he might have feelings for the girl; if Neville had even thought that Harry did, there was no way he would have tried to win her over.
So he had tried to start a conversation with Neville, but it ended up being very strained and forced. Neville just seemed too uptight about something, and Harry had a feeling it was the vibrant redhead that was getting incredibly annoyed with an overly excited third year.
"Now just GO!" Ginny roared at the group, sending the young kids scattering through the streets. Colin sent her a wary look and slowly slunk away to join his brother. Ginny stomped towards the two boys, her face red, and took a shuddering breath. Closing her eyes she put her hands to her temple. "I hate kids."
"That's a strange thing to hear from a Weasley," Harry joked. Ginny sent a menacing glare.
"I'm not having children," she said sternly, but a small smile was creeping onto her face. Harry snorted and Neville jittered, tilting his head towards The Three Broomsticks.
"Don't you think we should go in there?" he asked, but it was almost as if he already knew Ginny's answer. She rolled her eyes and nodded, pushing the two boys towards the pub.
It was crowded, and Harry immediately wanted to get out. There was no need to be in such a bustling pub when there were so many other things to do in the town. He had learned that he might as well go explore the town while he still could—he'd probably be under constant surveillance any other time if he weren't with the school.
"Do we have to?" Harry said, almost in a whiny voice. Ginny turned to him and nodded, but it seemed like she knew much more than she was letting on. Neville opened the door and made his way through the crowd without looking back at his two companions. Harry found this rather rude, seeing as he had invited Ginny and was now just abandoning her.
The two managed to catch up to Neville, and when they did, Harry wanted to groan. Luna Lovegood was sitting opposite of Neville in the booth, and waved hello to Harry and Ginny.
It wasn't that Harry didn't like Luna, no; he liked her very much actually. She was rather eccentric, yes, but, like Ginny, she was always very blunt with him, and that was something Harry was learning to cherish. He needed to be smacked in the face with the hand of reality once in awhile.
But today…well, Luna just looked very…out there. It wasn't her robes either; she was wearing the regular Ravenclaw robes. She just seemed to be in one of her starry-eyed, completely out-of-it moods and Harry just didn't want to deal with it. Her face was rosy and her eyes were wide behind a pair of orange triangular shaped glasses that Harry had seen her walking the halls in. A very goofy smiled played on her lips, and Harry knew he was in for a rather interesting conversation.
"Hello, everyone!" Luna said loudly, performing a very large rainbow wave. Neville nodded a hello and Ginny mimicked Luna's actions. She laughed, and Harry reluctantly took a seat next to Neville.
"How are you, Luna? I'm sorry we haven't been able to see each other lately," Ginny said, looking honestly upset about the lack of time with the Ravenclaw.
"Oh, it's all right," Luna said dreamily, placing her chin in both of her hands. "I've been very busy anyhow."
Neville's elbow slipped off the table and his chin slammed to the wood. Everyone jumped, but no one higher than Neville, who's hands had flown to his face to hide the scream that was about to erupt from his mouth.
"Ooh, Neville!" Ginny squeaked, looking very worried about the condition of her friend. Harry winced greatly as Neville slowly brought his hands down from his face, showing off a rather bruised chin and very red cheeks.
"Silly me," he muttered, forcing a smile. It was a weak smile, but it was a smile nonetheless.
"You poor thing, if you put a sliver of liver on it, there'll be no trace of that disgrace," Luna prescribed in rhyme. The other three at the table stared at her oddly, and she blushed, something that looked incredibly odd on her face.
After about fifteen minutes, the waitress finally made her way over to the table and took their orders. There were no meals, so it only took twenty more minutes to bring the drinks.
The conversation was very strained, and it seemed like every word that came out of Luna's mouth was code for Neville to hurt himself. By the time they were putting on their coats to leave, the poor boy and managed to poke both of his eyes, bang the back of his head under the table, and bite his tongue, lip, and cheek.
"I'm never coming in here at noon on a Saturday during the first Hogsmeade weekend ever again," Harry grumbled as the four pushed the doors open and went out onto the pavement. Ginny nodded and smiled in agreement, and Neville grunted something that Harry couldn't comprehend.
They four managed to get to a few stores before they couldn't handle the crowds anymore. Harry wondered if the gifts he had picked out for his friends for Christmas would be something they liked, he never thought his presents were ever any good.
Luna skipped merrily into the street, twirling in the soft snowfall that had started.
"You know, the second snow of the season is always the best, because it's not a surprise, and you have more time to enjoy it."
Usually, Luna's little bits of information and advice were absurd and just weird, but as Harry watched the townspeople and the students walk and laugh through the streets, with the small flakes swirling around them and the white carpet crunching under their feet…
"Yeah, I'm going to have to agree with you, Luna," he said, sending a grin her way. The Ravenclaw smiled brightly and spun once more, this time grabbing Neville's sleeve and pulling him along for the ride.
Ginny laughed and quickly fell to her knees, rolling up a snowball for something Harry didn't exactly want to be involved in. The girl finished the ball and took aim towards Neville and Luna, her eyes narrowed and looking as if she were waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
Harry watched as she stood, arm cocked back into position and vibrant red hair loose and straight around her face. Ginny was pale, but the blush from the cold mad her freckles stand out on her round cheeks and he was suddenly confused as to why he hadn't noticed how long her hair really was …
He stumbled back as the snowball Ginny had been holding smashed him in the collarbone, followed by the shrill giggle of Ginny Weasley herself. Harry stood dumbstruck for a few seconds, wondering how he couldn't have seen it coming. But, he got over that quickly and noticed Ginny was running away. Only thing to do was chase after her.
It felt great to not worry about keeping up an image or to remain calm and alert. Harry, as quickly as he could, was dodging people on the sidewalk to try and catch up with Ginny, who was at least two store lengths ahead of him. He had completely forgotten about Neville and Luna, all he was concerned about was getting the lump of snow he had just swiped up into his hand into Ginny's hair. The snow fell perfectly on the back of her head, but that didn't slow her down.
The sidewalk ended and then there was a small hill he had to get over. Ginny had already disappeared over the top so he pushed his legs harder to catch up.
He knew he had reached the end of town because the land just turned completely white because of the field that separated Hogsmeade and the front gates of Hogwarts. Though slightly out of breath, Harry was still determined to pummel Ginny with the best snowball he could make.
But he didn't get the chance, because when he spotted Ginny, she standing eerily still with her shoulders scrunched up tight.
"Ginny? Ginny, what's wrong? I'm sorry; did I hit you too hard?" Harry felt horrible; how could he have thought throwing a snowball at a girl would be all right? He probably hit her so hard that it stung all over, what a jerk!
"No," she said softly as he made his way over to her. Ginny turned her head slightly, her red hair creating a curtain around her face. "It's not you Harry."
"Well…" he started, pushing away some snow with his toes. "What is it?"
"It's so empty here, when I looked around and didn't see you behind me…" she blushed slightly, but Harry didn't think it was from embarrassment, "I just felt so alone."
"It is a large empty field covered with snow," he chided, to lighten the mood. She did smile, but Harry could tell that there was something deeper behind her eyes.
"Do you think this is how Charlie felt?" she asked softly, averting her eyes. "I mean, it had to have been scary facing down You-Know-Who, don't you think? Oh…what am I saying? I mean, of course you know."
Harry laughed softly because he couldn't think of anything to respond with. It was true that he knew the terror and fear Voldemort brought upon people, but that didn't mean he was still able to deal with it and act as if it were tea time in the commons.
"Ron actually said his name, the other night. The night of Charlie's attack." Harry wasn't sure why he was telling Ginny this; he wondered if Ron would be annoyed at him if he found out.
She turned to him looking very interested and very impressed.
"Wow, Ron said it? You are talking about my Ron, right? My numbskull brother?"
Harry laughed at her description of Ron, but he nodded and Ginny eye's widened with disbelief.
"That's…that's wow." She looked thoughtful, pushing her hands into the pockets of her jacket. "He's always had such a fear of You-Know-Who."
"Dumbledore made him say it, really. I think it was more of a pride thing, than getting over a fear," Harry explained, wondering if Ron would say Voldemort's name again if Dumbledore wasn't in the room.
"But, Dumbledore didn't make him say it, I'm sure. It was a choice, and you know how stubborn Ron is."
Oh, I know how stubborn Weasleys are, Harry wanted to say, but he thought he'd be safer if he didn't.
"I wonder if Percy knows about Charlie," she said suddenly, pushing some hair behind her ear. Harry frowned, knowing that Percy was still a touchy subject with all of the Weasleys. "I mean, if Dumbledore gave him a job, there must be something good about him."
"Yeah, he's wonderful at bossing people around," Harry groaned, thinking about the three twelve page long essays he had to write this week for Defense. Ginny nodded in agreement, but she was smiling.
"Percy's always been in charge of everything," she mused. "He used to play teacher with Ron and me, but then the twins would come in and knock over his chalkboard and then cry and then make us cry." Ginny frowned, crossing her arms. "They were so mean to him sometimes."
"He's not exactly the nicest person…" Harry really didn't have it in him to lie about Percy—that man caused the people he cared about too much pain to feel sympathetic.
"But that's how he is." She turned to him, looking desperate with her arms wide. "He's so strict and he makes sure everything's in order…that's how he lives, you can't change the nature of someone; its just how they are."
"Your other brothers didn't turn out like that," Harry countered, feeling incredibly uncomfortable. What brought on these new feelings for Percy? A few months ago Ginny couldn't stand him…
…no, that wasn't true. She had begged Ron to just listen to Percy, to give him a chance. Had she always felt like this?
"All of my brothers are drastically different," Ginny started, throwing her hands up. "Bill's using his humongous brain to crack curses and charms that have been intact for thousands of years! Charlie's always been the rebellious one, and what's more rebellious than taming dragons? The twins…" she just gave Harry a look and rolled her eyes. "Then Ron…Ron's just a mix of them all, he's his own person, yet he's been influenced by all of them. Even Percy."
"Don't let him hear you say that," Harry said softly. He was starting to realize that maybe Percy wasn't so cut and dry as he thought, maybe he had emotional reasons behind his recent actions.
Ginny nodded, her eyes looking very sad. "I just want my family back together, like the way we were," she whispered, wrinkling her nose. "It seems like everyone I care about is just changing and sometimes it's like I don't even know them anymore."
Harry was about to respond that the twins definitely hadn't changed, but Ginny caught him off guard when she released a loud growl.
"Like Dean! Ooh, he makes me so mad!" She stomped towards a tree stump and plopped down. "He'd been acting so funny since the beginning of the term." Ginny broke off, angrily combing a hand through her hair.
"Maybe he just wasn't ready for a relationship." Harry tried.
"Yeah, so I guess snogging Parvati behind the Quidditch Pitch doesn't count as a relationship."
He winced as he remembered that Dean and Parvati had something going on. Ginny let out a long sigh and kicked out her feet. Harry trudged through the snow to her and she shimmied over a bit, giving him some room to sit on the stump.
"I really liked him, you know," she said, frowning. "I liked him so much more than Michael; Dean actually had a personality."
Harry tried not to grow red at the thought of Ginny dating other boys, but he realized that it only bothered him a little bit; he wasn't feeling a jealous rage like some other people did.
"I like to think that there's someone out there for everyone," Harry said suddenly, not exactly sure where it came from. "I mean, I just found out that my mum and dad hated each other for almost their whole time at Hogwarts…but…" He sniffled, pulling his jacket tighter around his body. "They did fall in love, and they had me and…"
"And if they hadn't, you wouldn't be the wizard world's savior," she finished.
Harry's head shot towards her, making Ginny pull back in surprise. How did she…did she know about the prophecy? Had Ron or Hermione…no, they wouldn't have. How could Ginny have known about the biggest secret of his life?
"What do you mean?" he asked slowly, watching her face for any indication that she might be hiding something. Ginny shrugged, looking casual.
"Well, it's sort of obvious from all your encounters that you're going to defeat You-Know-Who." She stared off across the empty field, leaning back on the stump. "Like, it's written in the stars."
Harry gulped, realizing that Ginny had just figured out a prophecy that he had absolutely no idea existed for fifteen years of his life. He decided she should know how right she was.
"Actually…it is written in the stars…"
And then he told her all about the prophecy and about everything else he knew. Ginny didn't stare in shock or burst into tears. She immediately started to ask him questions about every possible aspect of the prophecy, Voldemort, and everything in between.
And she listened to everything he had to say, and he said a lot more to her than he had to Ron and Hermione. Harry slighted delved into his feelings on the subject, but what he told her was only the tip of the iceberg.
It was a quarter to five before the two realized that they had been talking for almost three hours. It wasn't completely dark, but the sun was starting to go down, and Harry knew that Ginny needed to be back before five-thirty for her Prefect duties.
They were making their way toward the town when Ginny shivered violently and fell to her knees, causing Harry to immediately go down beside her.
"Ginny? Ginny—are you okay? What's…?"
Then he felt it. The immensely saddening chill of a Dementor raced through his veins and was now pulsating throughout his body. Ginny must have felt it first.
"Where is it…" he hissed, looking around the field with his eyes narrowed. Ginny's breath hitched and she pointed towards a patch of trees to their right, where the sun was setting. She was clinging to the front of Harry's jacket with her eyes shut tight, gritting her teeth.
"N-no, I don't want to…" she murmured, shaking. Harry swung an arm around her, standing her up but keeping his eyes on the patch of forest.
"Ginny, you have to stay strong, come on," Harry urged, helping her move away and towards Hogsmeade. "I know you can do it. Come on, show me your Patronus, you saw mine, now I get to see yours…"
It was then that he saw it; the Dementor was looming on the edge of the trees, and from the many shadows casting out from behind the trees, Harry had a feeling that it wasn't alone.
Without thinking, he stuck his wand straight up and shot out a stream of sparks with a spell Hermione had taught him over the summer, just in case.
"Come on, I have to push them back, can you stand?" he asked her softly, noticing how pale she had suddenly gotten. Ginny nodded, though, and Harry helped her balance before he took a few large steps towards the forest. He was able to see the outline of at least four Dementors, and with a deep breath, he roared out the spell, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
In a large burst of silver light, Prongs sprung from the tip of his wand, charging with his antlers pointing straight ahead at the Dementors. They immediately began to back away as Prongs bucked and kicked at them, weaving through the trees.
Harry watched nervously, hoping that the Dementors would take the hint and disperse to wherever they had come from, but to his dismay, Prongs disappeared and they continued towards him.
As he began to panic, he heard the rapid crunch of footsteps rushing up the side of the hill. Popping up from the horizon of the hill were McGonagall, Snape, and Percy, along with many of the prefects, including Ron and Hermione.
"Potter!" McGonagall yelled. "What on earth is going on?" But Harry didn't have to answer, she froze and shivered, her head snapping toward the trees. "Dementors!"
There was a collective gasp and immediately, Patronuses began to shoot out from almost all of the wands. Harry sent out Prongs again, and was amazed when he saw Ron's Patronus bound beside his. The sight warmed Harry immensely, and he knew that the Dementors were not going to last for long.
It took about twenty minutes to send the Dementors off into the distance, far away enough for all the students to get back into the school without having to worry. Ginny's condition had gotten slightly better, but once she was back in Hogwarts, Madame Pomfrey swept her away.
Harry was, surprisingly, not in trouble for anything. He was so used to being the one to blame for something like the attack that he asked McGonagall how many points were to be taken. She simply stared at him and awarded him ten points for protecting a fellow classmate.
He was in the common room now with Ron and Hermione, wasting time outlining the next couple of chapters in their Transfiguration texts. Ron was bouncy and rightfully so; his sister was hurt and he wasn't allowed in the Hospital Wing.
"They weren't that close," he whined, his eyes darting towards the portrait hole every few minutes. "I mean, some hot chocolate should've fixed her right up!"
"It depends on what she saw, Ron," Hermione said softly, dipping her quill in her ink bottle. "Even if it were for a few seconds, the memories could still be very painful."
Ron quieted as he realized what was probably swirling through Ginny's mind during the attack of the Dementors. Harry had pushed the thought from his mind, but he also knew that it was likely Ginny had been seeing the events of her first year involving Tom Riddle and the Chamber of Secrets.
That place had given Harry nightmares, and he wasn't the one who had been possessed and taken down there to die. He felt guilty that he had never thought of how Ginny had been able to move on with her life after such traumatic events, he had never paid close enough attention to her.
After a few minutes, Hermione began to look over their outlines and was actually semi-pleased with them. Harry was taking her advice seriously now that he was in harder classes and actually had a goal in mind. He wanted to be an Auror, and if was going to do it, he was going to be the best damn Auror there was.
Ron was practicing turning a rock into a mouse when the portrait hole creaked open and Ginny Weasley stepped into the common room, looking pale and tired.
"Ginny!" Ron exclaimed, pushing away his chair and rushing towards his sister. "You feeling okay? I've got some chocolate hidden up in my dorm, I'll go get some if you want it—"
"No, I'm fine," she snapped, and with a quick glance in Harry's direction, she brushed Ron away and hurried up the stairs to the girls' dorms.
The trio shared a worried glance, and silently accepting her duties, Hermione put all of her books into her bag and went up the stairs after Ginny. Ron looked frustrated as he slammed himself into one of the couches. Harry followed his suit but he didn't make the couch shake.
"I was just trying to be nice," Ron grumbled, crossing his arms.
"I think she might be embarrassed," Harry said, pulling out his pack of Exploding Snaps.
"About reacting to a Dementor?" Ron asked, looking incredulous. "But, they're Dementors!"
Harry shrugged, not exactly sure why he thought Ginny would be embarrassed about her reaction. At least she hadn't fainted like he had the first time he met a Dementor, or any of the other times. Harry remembered how humiliated he had been when Malfoy and the rest of his crew began taunting him about it, though now that he realized the real terror of a Dementor, he thought that he was being a little immature about it.
"You know how Weasleys are," Harry said casually, and earned a swat in the back of the head from Ron before her began dealing the cards.
"Because of recent events, we're going to deter from our normal schedule and start working on Patronuses." Percy paced in front of the large group of students in the DA, many of which were first time members. Harry assumed it was because of yesterday's Dementor attacks, and he couldn't blame the younger students for wanting to be prepared.
The only new member that Harry knew wasn't worried about Dementors was Theodore Nott, who was looking overly excited about attending a meeting. He was sitting beside Hermione, literally bouncing, but he was making sure he didn't go overboard with anything because Ron had taken a seat on the other side of him.
Percy looked grim as he examined the group, and with a larger smirk, he pointed at Harry with his wand.
"Mr. Potter? Would you care to assist me?"
Harry stared at his Defense Professor for a good ten seconds before he nodded slowly and stood up to join him. He supposed that it was possible that Percy was finally beginning to realize that Harry was not as bad of an influence on others as he used to believe, but then he remembered how 'to the point' Percy was, and was most likely using him to get more work done in less time.
"Since the sixth and seventh years are already set with performing the Patronuses, I want Mr. Potter to release his Boggart and have them practice on an actual Dementor."
Harry groaned inwardly as the rest of the DA groaned aloud. The younger students looked very frightened at the idea of having an actual Dementor within feet of them, and the older ones seemed more interested that a Dementor was Harry Potter's boggart.
Percy seemed to notice the concern, and he cleared his throat to continue with instructions,
"I will be putting up an invisible wall to keep the affects of the boggart from the students who are not involved with the lesson." Percy straightened up and began counting off students with his wand. He seemed to be doing a lot of math in his head, and his eyes brightened after a few moments. "Oh good, we have an even amount in both groups! Sixth and Seventh years, furthest away from the doors, and the rest of you on the other side. Hurry up; I want to get as much done as possible!"
The students got up and shuffled over to their respective areas, the older students looking much more anxious than the others.
"Really, this is actually quite exciting!" Hermione whispered. Harry should've known that she'd be the lone student that actually wanted to face down a Dementor.
"Yes, Hermione," Ron grumbled, "it's almost better than that time my mother yanked three of my teeth out in one sitting." Harry and Hermione stopped and stared, aghast, at Ron. He blushed and shrugged. "It really wasn't her fault…"
Percy loudly created the wall, as if trying to show off how much magic he knew, and within seconds a stream of blue sparks shot up from the ground in a straight line down the center of the Great Hall, making its way all the way up to the ceiling.
"Fifth year Prefects! You need to maintain order while I set up the Sixth and Seventh years, all right?" Percy ordered, apparently being able to be heard through the wall.
Ginny and Colin weren't the only Prefects attending the meeting, the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff sets were there as well. Ginny looked incredibly determined and nodded sternly at her brother, turning on a heel and arranging the students in various groups and orders.
Percy turned back to the older students, smiling grimly.
"I know that most of you haven't been educated correctly on the affects of a Dementor, but I do know that most of you have a general idea. The boggart Dementor is going to make you see and feel your worst experiences, and no, I do not mean getting a 'P' on my last exam."
That got a few weak laughs from the crowd, and Percy took a deep breath before he turned to Harry. There was something in his eyes that Harry hadn't seen in a long time; it looked like actual concern.
"Mr. Potter, I know your history with Dementors, but yesterday you showed great prowess at maintaining your composure; do you think you will be able to perform your Patronus in a close encounter with your boggart?"
He nodded before thinking, because he knew that there was no way he was going to allow anyone to think that they wouldn't be able to perform it. Harry knew how important defense skills were in their current time, and any way he could help the student body of Hogwarts he would do.
The other students lined up against the wall, each gripping a piece of chocolate that Percy had conjured in a large box. Harry stood in the center of the new area of the Great Hall, and Percy stood beside the large cabinet, his hand on the handle.
"Ready?" he asked. Harry nodded, wand in the fighting position. With a determined nod, Percy pulled the door of the cabinet open.
Harry was happy when he noticed how the affects of the Dementor didn't hit him immediately, like they had in his third year. He was actually quite surprised by it, seeing as how he felt the chill when they were in the forest yesterday in Hogsmeade.
And then he began to grow curious, because the door had been open for more than ten seconds, and the ghastly feelings weren't swarming through his body. Percy noticed as well, and peeked through the crack of the door.
It was then that a body fell out of the cabinet and fell to the floor with a loud thud.
A/N: Sorry to keep you waiting for so long, and then leave you with such a cliff hanger. evil cackle
