Disclaimer: I own nothing. J.K. Rowling owns all characters, settings, etc.

Chapter Six -

Everything was black. Naturally, he was asleep. Harry was treading through one of the deeper stages of sleep. There was a slight stir beside him. He could heard a thrashing sound, then a rip.

"POTTER!"

Ron ripped open the curtains to Harry's four poster and grabbed Harry by the arm.

"What! What!" Harry shook off Ron's grip and made a grab for his glasses.

"Do you hear that?"

A cold swept between them. Harry sat still, listening. There was a girl's voice, screaming tortuously. Harry fell out of his bed, pulled himself up and took after Ron who was on his way down to the common room. Before they reached the bottom of the staircase, they could hear her.

They clutched the banister and swung themselves around on the last step. And they could see her. Four girls, their hair askew, their robes hastily shoved over them, were carrying her. Hermione was still screaming, screaming for Harry and Ron, screaming about Voldemort.

"HE'S HERE! HERE!"

The girls looked helplessly at Harry, who shook his head to signal that Voldemort was not within the walls of Hogwarts. Harry and Ron took Hermione and laid her in a chair, holding her down as she tried to tell them what happened..

"Someone -- someone," she gasped for air, fiercely shutting her eyes to suppress tears, "tried to put the Im-imperious curse on me! And I tried to fight it - you know," gasp, "like you can...so easily, Harry," gasp, "and I heard a man's voice - I think it may have been," gasp, "V-voldemort!"

She began to take long, slow breaths, leaning back in the chair and carefully shutting her eyes.

"I'm - so tired."

"Hermione -- ."

"If either of you leave, I'll kill you. I promise."

Her figure relaxed.

"Make him go away...Harry, make him...." She fell asleep.

Harry slumped into an adjacent chair.

"What was that!" Ron demanded, looking horrified at Hermione.

"You heard her," Harry mumbled.

"You don't really think that Voldemort tried to put the Imperious curse on her, do you? I mean, she stresses a lot. That's what it was - stress."

Harry looked at Hermione who was trembling slightly in her sleep.

"I think, Ron, we're going to have to assume it was Voldemort."

"But she acted so crazy - and the screaming," Ron whispered, fingering a lock of Hermione's bushy hair.

"She didn't act crazy. She had just...never felt him before."



Hermione was perfectly normal the next morning. However, she couldn't remember what Voldemort had been instructing her to do, which drove her mad. Harry, afraid that she would lock herself up in the library, making a list of all known commands, dragged her out to the quidditch pitch where he was holding try-outs.

The Gryffindor team had been delivered a big blow. Fred, George, Angelina, Katie, and Alicia had all graduated the previous year (well, Fred and George had just left), leaving Harry and Ron. And on this particular day, neither Harry nor Ron were in very good moods.

"Harry, do you realize we've only got eight people sitting out here!" Ron hissed as they approached the stands.

"Well, five of them will just have to be good," Harry retorted.

Harry and Ron flew to the stands, Harry gripping a clipboard with the sign-up sheets.

"Okay, welcome to the Gryffindor team try-outs. I'm Harry Potter, for those of you who don't know me, I'm -- well, skip that part. Er...when I call your name, fly over to me so I can inspect your broom. Randy Santurn -- ."

A meek second-year flew over to Harry and Ron, nearly falling off his broom on the journey over.

Ron sneered as the boy halted, "Harry, he's the size of a garden gnome! He's smaller than you! He couldn't even be seeker -- ."

"I'm ignoring that," Harry muttered, "let's see Comet Two-Sixty...."

Brandy Riggs: "So, your grandmother taught you to fly, huh?"

"Ron!"

Joseph Belty: "I don't think you understand. The objective is to go UP!"

"He wasn't that bad...."

Freddy Sneddy: "His name....it's....he's out. No way is he playing for us. Out."

"It's just a name."

"If your name were Freddy Sneddy and someone put you on a broomstick fifty feet in the air...what would you do?"

"Jump."

"Uh-huh."

Justine Campbell: "Maybe if we set that matchstick of a broom on fire, the fireflies would have a mother ship."

"That was the worst joke I've ever heard."

Edward Candin: "You must have missed that whole lesson on flying...I crack myself up...Harry, you okay? Harry, stop hitting yourself with the broom. Harry!"

Harry checked the last name on the clipboard, "Kathryn Embers?"

A small, alert girl stood up from her seat in the stands and waved to Harry.

"It says here that you're a first year?"

The girl nodded fervently.

"Well, I'm afraid that first years can't play on house teams, but thanks for coming. Oh, and you're welcome to stay and watch the try-outs."

"Okay," she called, sitting down dejectedly.

"Hey, where's the eighth person!" Ron scanned the stands.

"I think you accidently counted Hermione," Harry pointed out a figure, hunched over a book.

Hermione happened to look up and wave.

"You know, Harry, Hermione might not be such a bad idea," Ron clapped his hands together, "That's it! Hey, Hermione!"

"What!" she yelled back.

"How would you like to play quidditch!"

Hermione stood abruptly and gathered her things.

"See, she's really wants to play!" Ron exclaimed.

"She's leaving, Ron," Harry pointed to Hermione, who was racing from the stands and back to the castle.

Three players left the pitch after half an hour of rotations, including Ron who had to serve detention with McGonagall for trying out passwords on the Ravenclaw portrait. Harry didn't want a single one of the people who showed up to play for Gryffindor but decided to continue rotations.

"Can I try just one!" Kathryn Embers called from the stands, holding her broom hopefully.

"But you -- you're a first -- ah, come on, then!" Harry summoned another quaffle from the box and directed Kathryn to a position. He was ready for this nightmare to be over....

"Whoa -- that -- was -- astounding!" Harry swiped his fist through the air to accentuate his astonishment.

Kathryn Embers had scored seven out of seven times with Harry serving as goalie, and even though Harry wasn't known for his blocking abilities, it was still a tough match for Angelina, Katie, and Alicia. This girl was outstanding.

"You're -- Ron wouldn't even be able to invent something wrong! You've got the position!" Harry flew over to Kathryn, the actual aspiring players forgotten.

Kathryn caught the quaffle and stared dumbly at Harry, "But you said that first years -- ."

"Yeah, well, even if I have to hug Snape to get you on this team, I'll do it. You start measuring yourself for Gryffindor robes!"

"Deal."

"Great. Pack up everyone. Time for dinner," Harry flew his broom in loops back to the pitch.

"Uh, Harry...sir, who made the team?" Freddy Sneddy yelled.

Oh. He had forgotten the other wretched players.

"This matter takes a great amount of consideration. I'll let you know after I pull your names from the...official hat. Er...good job."



Harry found Hermione tucked in the corner of the library...making a list.

"I told you not to do that," reminded Harry as he pulled up a chair and extracted his homework from his bag.

"If you had been momentarily possessed by Voldemort, you would be making a list too," Hermione sniffed.

She added 'ordered me to kill Harry' to her list.

"I have been possessed by Voldemort, and I still didn't make a list."

"That makes you an irresponsible victim," Hermione smiled.

She added 'ordered me to torture Harry' to her list.

Ten minutes into this routine, Harry, deciding to take a study break, got up to place a book back on its shelf. While loitering by the Transfiguration books and trying to come up with a suitable come back for Hermione's last remark (a goal that would doubtfully be achieved), he ran into Percy Weasley.

"Hey, Percy," Harry muttered, moving on in order to avoid questions or a lecture.

It wasn't until he had returned to the table where Hermione was working that it occurred to him that Percy Weasley no longer attended Hogwarts and was a current enemy of the Order.

"Hermione," Harry hissed, "I just saw Percy."

"That's nice, Harry," Hermione continued writing.

Harry waited.

"Percy?" Hermione's head shot up, "You mean Percy Weasley?"

"Yes."

"Here?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"How should I know?"

"Do Ron and Ginny know?"

"Again -- ."

"This is going to be so awkward," Hermione moaned.

"Well --. "

"I bet he's here snooping for the ministry!"

"Didn't they -- ."

"Mind you, he won't be teaching. Dumbledore wouldn't have any part of that."

"I did hear him say something at the trial -- ."

"That's what it is. He's an ear for the ministry. So degrading."

"You done?" Harry asked sarcastically.

"Unless you have anything to add."

"Guess not."

______________________________________________________________________________

Harry found out later from Ginny that Percy was indeed an ear for the ministry, and she only knew that because Arthur had investigated it at work. Percy wouldn't have an actual position though. It was more like he was an observer. Dumbledore was being careful to exclude him from important meetings and warn the teachers of Percy's purpose. Unfortunately, Dumbledore did not think it a good idea to ignore the ministry's requests and send Percy away.

Ron had been too mad to talk about it. Ron had been too mad to do lots of things. Ron had been too mad to remember to cork his bottle of spiders when Percy slipped into the potions room. Ron had been too mad to immediately seek medical aid when he got bitten by a couple of the spiders from when Percy slipped into the potions room. And now Ron was too delirious due to the tonic Madam Pomfrey had finally shoved down his throat to think coherently about it.

"He'll be back to normal in a day or two," Madam Pomfrey assured Harry and Hermione as they helped Ron out of the hospital wing.

"Ha-harry," Ron said drunkenly, "I've been a'meaning to tell you...when we were six year...seven...I dunno...dusn't matter...I put ants in...your shirt...no, your pants...and tha's why you can't get a date...mate."

Harry looked gravely at Hermione, "So that's why the girls aren't attracted to me?"

Hermione sputtered for a moment, "What -- are -- no --."

"I was joking," Harry laughed.

Ron slipped from their grasp, and Harry had to pry him up from the floor under the arms.

"See, mate...even she turn'd you down," Ron informed him.

A/N: What will happen??? Anyway, thanks for reading! Please, please review! God bless.