Chapter Four: The Past, Present, and Future
"I just wish you'd knuckle down and do the work, Ron!"
"I do do the work, Hermione... it's just that bloody Snape never gives me the credit for it!"
"Your Calming Potion exploded, Ron!" Hermione looked at him, the look in her eyes saying she couldn't quite believe he was trying to defend himself in this.
"But I had it right! It must have been my cauldron..."
"More than likely you didn't clean it out properly after yesterday's lesson, Ron... you have to be so very careful..."
"I am careful, Hermione!" Ron said as they entered the Common Room after their last class of the day. Potions. Harry didn't know how he was going to handle an entire year of Potions twice each week, but as Seventh Years, they had every class at least twice a week. Charms was three times, although for a shorter period.
But Potions on both Mondays and Tuesdays was going to be a royal pain. Especially if Ron and Hermione spent the entire year bickering about it.
"I've decided I'm going to talk to McGonagall," Ron said tiredly as he tossed his bag down on the floor and collapsed on the couch, a foul look sending two first years scurrying away as they would have occupied the couch next to him.
"Ron! You can't drop Potions!" Hermione was horrified as she sat down, pertly, on the edge of one of the overstuffed chairs. Harry followed Ron's example and threw himself down on the other end of the couch, reclining against the arm and pulling his feet up.
Half lying down, he realized it had been a particularly long and eventful day, and wondered where Ginny was.
"I can," Ron continued, his head leaning back against the couch and his eyes closed.
"You can't just drop a class..."
"Why not? You dropped Divination."
Harry's eyebrows rose. He didn't think that that was a particularly bright move on Ron's part, but he certainly wasn't stupid enough to get involved by saying anything... at least not at this point. Hermione was going to...
"You cannot possibly expect me to believe you're serious," Hermione said in a low voice. Harry called it her 'dangerous' voice. He sighed. Ron would probably never learn.
"Why not?"
"Because you cannot possibly be comparing the art and science of potion making with the... the... sideshow spectacle of Trelawney's class!"
"Firenze doesn't teach a sideshow..."
Hermione made a visible effort to control her temper, and seemed to succeed. She calmly looked at Ron.
"You know you can't dump Potions, Ron, regardless of what you say. I know you wouldn't."
"Oh?"
"Ron, you need it to be an auror," she pointed out.
"Maybe I don't want to be an auror anymore."
Harry was shocked by this, but managed to hold back his snort of disbelief. Ron actually seemed... serious.
"Then what do you want to do?" Harry asked.
"Don't know... but I've been thinking about this, and..."
"And?" Harry prompted. For years, Ron had spoken of his intention of becoming an Auror. One didn't just change their mind on something like that over night.
"And I know what you've got to do, Harry, and it's not like I'm going to let you do it alone... but after... after we've... done what we have to do... I'm not sure that I'm going to want to do it any more," Ron turned to look at his best friend, and his eyes held something that Harry had never seen there before. He actually looked... determined.
"Good point, Ron," Harry agreed sadly, realizing that maybe Ron was right. "Good point."
Hermione just shook her head, but she didn't seem very angry any more.
"I have to go and freshen up before dinner. You two could do the same, you know," Hermione stood, taking her bag and heading for the girl's stairs. Harry grinned. He loved her dearly, but she was incredibly bossy at times. Perhaps that was what he loved about her.
"Um... Ron?" Harry said after watching Hermione disappear up the stairs, not knowing how his friend would take this news, but knowing that he had to tell him.
"Yeah?" Ron didn't move. His eyes were still closed, he was still reclining against the back of the couch.
"I talked to McGonagall today."
"Yeah, what was that about?"
"Umm... Quidditch."
Ron's eyes snapped open and her turned to look at Harry.
"Quidditch?"
"She... well, she gave me the Captain's badge, Ron."
Ron's eyes widened.
"You're kidding?"
Harry shook his head, then dug in the pocket of his robes and produced the badge.
"Bloody hell, Harry!" Ron sat up. "You're Quidditch captain!"
"You're not upset?"
"Upset?" Ron looked at him, confused. "Why would I...? Oh."
"Yeah..."
"Nah, I'm not upset. I'm happy for you. I mean..."
"I know it normally goes to the Keeper... I actually... well, I expected her to offer it to you, actually."
"I didn't," Ron grinned.
"What?"
"It's been a very, very long time that a Head Boy has also been captain of his house team, Harry."
"Um... twenty years, actually," Harry flushed.
"Your dad," Ron nodded. "But even before that... well, it's not easy. I knew that when I accepted Head Boy."
"Then why...?"
Ron's eyes wandered to the stairs, then back, his face flushing.
"Ah..." Harry nodded. "I see."
"Head Boy is something that..."
"No need to explain, Ron. I understand."
"Besides," Ron shrugged. "You'll be a much better captain than I would."
"How have you got that figured?"
"Come on, Harry... you were the youngest Seeker in a century... you're an incredible player... and the team really rallies behind you. No, McGonagall made a good choice."
Harry studied his friend for a moment, then nodded. "So did Dumbledore, Ron."
Ron's eyes flew to Harry's, and Harry doubted that, had it been anyone else, Ron would have allowed the brief flicker of uncertainty to show.
"You think?" he asked softly.
"I know," Harry shrugged again, putting the badge away. "So, are you going to help me with tryouts?"
"Try and keep me away," Ron grinned.
"You're bloody kidding me?" Ron said.
"What?" Harry laughed at Ron's tone. He was standing in front of the bulletin board in the Common Room before heading down to breakfast the following morning.
"Bloody Sloper has his name down for Keeper!" Ron said indignantly.
"Oh?" Harry grinned. "Scared?"
"Scared? Me?" Ron seemed insulted. "Bloody wanker, thinking he stands a chance..."
"Well, you know, Ron..." Harry started.
"Don't you bloody start on me, Harry..." Ron turned on him. "Like I don't have enough on my plate with Hermione whinging at me about Potions..."
Harry sobered. "You don't really mean it, do you?"
Ron looked at him. "I don't know, Harry... sometimes Snape just..."
"I know... but I don't think I could bear it without you there, at least," Harry said. "Snape aside, I need that Potions mark, Ron."
"But if you decide to not..."
"I'm going to be an Auror, Ron," Harry stated flatly. "I have to be an Auror."
"No, you don't. You're Harry Potter... you can do anything you want, be anything you want to be..."
"Ron, Death Eaters killed my parents," Harry said, his eyes hard. "They killed Sirius... they killed Cedric."
Ron stared at him for a moment, and suddenly realized that Harry was right.
"They killed every one in my Mum's family," Ron said softly. "And my Dad's brothers..."
"Tom Riddle targetted Ginny. He nearly killed her," Harry said softly. "I'm going to be an Auror, Ron."
Ron looked at him, hard. Harry could see the struggle behind his eyes. And suddenly, the indecision was gone, and Ron turned hard, crystal blue eyes on his friend of six years.
"Me, too."
Quidditch tryouts were held the first Saturday of the year. Harry knew it was early, but he knew that if they put together a good team early they would have plenty of time to practice together before the season officially started. He booked the pitch for tryouts beginning at eight in the morning.
"Bloody hell, Potter," grumbled Jack Sloper as the sixth year joined the group in the Common Room just before seven thirty that morning. "Early enough? It is bloody Saturday, you know!"
"Good morning to you, too, Sloper," Harry looked up from the sign-up sheet he'd snatched off the bulletin board a moment before.
Sloper grumbled and adjusted his robes. Ginny smiled at Harry. There was sleep in her eyes, but Harry didn't care. She was still beautiful.
"I take it you haven't breakfasted, then?" Harry asked the others. He, Ginny and Ron had been up since before six, eating an early breakfast and going over how they were going to run the tryouts. Quidditch was one of the few things that would get Ron out of bed before sunrise.
Apparently the same was not true for everyone. Several of the people there glared at Harry wordlessly.
"Well, Professor McGonagall was kind enough to ask the houseelves for me to put out a tray of pastries and such... in the Great Hall. Those of you who haven't eaten had better run down and grab something. Meet at the pitch no later than five to eight, please!"
A mass of grumbling bodies made for the portrait hole, and Harry grinned again.
"Well?" Ron raised an eyebrow at the retreating crowd.
"I already know several who won't be making the team," Harry commented dryly.
"Rather thought so," Ron smirked.
The tryouts were interesting, to say the least. Only Jack Sloper and Ron had signed up for Keeper, and it was apparent very early on that Jack hadn't a hope. Ginny had the Chasers running through their paces, trying to score on the Keepers at either end of the pitch, and while Ron let through only three of the fifty or so attempts, Jack didn't stop a single one. Harry nodded, watching.
"It's really no contest, is it?" Ginny commented from where she'd flown up beside him.
"I don't even know why Sloper tried. Ron's the best Keeper we've had in years," Harry commented, watching the show as it continued.
"Jack is... different."
"Different?"
"He has to challenge everything... even if he fails dismally. He and Snape... well, Potions class can be interesting," Ginny smirked.
"I can imagine," Harry nodded, looking back at the sixth year. "We'll put him on the reserves, but he's not taking Ron's spot on the team."
Ginny giggled. "Like anyone could."
"I gave him a fair trial," Harry said, looking at her.
"I know, Harry. That's not what I meant," she said gently. "I meant, Ron is too good, even if he doesn't see it himself."
"I think he's beginning to, Gin," Harry said softly, looking over to where his friend was busy stopping yet another attempted goal.
In the end, it was clear to Harry who fit best in the roles of Keeper and Beaters, and Ginny and a fourth year name Amanda Sykes took two of the Chaser's roles, but he was undecided about the third Chaser slot.
Walking away from the pitch later, the three of them discussed this.
"The third year... what was his name? Binghamton? He wasn't bad."
"Yeah," Harry nodded. "He wasn't good, either."
Ron shrugged. "We're not exactly spoiled for choice, are we?"
"No," Harry sighed. "We're not. But it would have helped if he hadn't fallen off his broom."
"He was just nervous, Harry," Ginny said.
"I know, but..."
"We'll find someone, Harry, really," Ron said, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder as they walked. "We've got time."
Harry sighed. Ron, for once, was right.
Ron left them in the Common Room, citing his need for a shower, and Harry, while he was aware of his own need to wash off the sweat, paused for a moment to look at Ginny. She really was beautiful. Even moreso with the rosy cheeks and sparkling eyes that the morning's activity had given her.
He brushed her cheek with the back of his hand and leaned down to kiss her. Before he could, she spoke.
"Thank you, Harry."
"For what?" he looked at her, curious.
"For not just giving it to me," she flushed.
"But..."
"It means a lot to me that you didn't just..."
"What?"
"That you made me try out for it. That you... made me prove that I was worth having on the team."
"Of course you are!"
"Well... thank you, anyhow."
"Gin, you're one of the best Chasers I've ever seen, and that includes Katie and Alicia."
Ginny flushed with pleasure, "Really?"
"Really. You fly like nothing I've ever seen."
She turned her eyes back up to him and smiled. "If you're trying to chat me up, Harry..."
"I'm not, actually..."
"It's working," she whispered as she leaned into him. He wasn't stupid. He took full advantage, kissing her hungrily.
"Oh, for Merlin's sake, you two... cut it out!"
Harry and Ginny pulled apart, turning to see Lavender and Parvati. Harry grinned.
"You two can't keep away from each other, can you?" Parvati asked. "You might try the Astronomy Tower... I doubt it's occupied at this time of day."
They left, Lavender grumbling about Weasleys and empty stomachs, and Ginny turned back to Harry.
"Go. Bathe. You smell."
"Thanks!"
"Well, you do. So do I... so I'm going to shower, as well," as she said this, Harry's eyes flickered. Ginny flushed. "I'll meet you down here in half an hour?"
He nodded and then watched her go, wondering how he was going to get the image of a wet, naked Ginny, covered in soap bubbles, out of his mind.
Again, with the field. Harry turned around, looking for her. He knew she would be there. Then, as he turned toward the Forbidden Forest, there she was. It was dark again, but her white dress stood out against the blackness of the pre-dawn. Harry glanced to the east. There was a dim glow on the horizon.
"Mum?"
"You have the power he knows not, Harry... you must find it."
"I need you to tell me how. I don't know how to find it."
"You have the power... look to your parents, Harry... they hold the answer for you. She guards the secret. You found it this summer, Harry... it is there... Look!"
And she was gone again, yet again, leaving Harry feeling empty and alone. Looking back to the east again, he saw that the sun was about to break the horizon. He closed his eyes.
When he opened them, he was in his bed, in his dorm, in Gryffindor Tower, and dawn was breaking through the window, which faced east.
Lerf: Secret love child with SNAPE? Ewww... eww, eww, eww! No... I don't think so. And yes, there will be Quidditch – soon.
Jedi Knight Bus: Not too descriptive... just the fact of it.
Ranting Idiot: Don't I ALWAYS have things planned for Malferret? Wait and see...
Thunder's Shadow: I've been working on the premise that Harry can't be Head Boy, because Harry isn't a prefect. But having said that, I don't think he's going to get Quidditch Captain in canon, either – as Dumbledore says at the end of Book Five, he believes that Harry had more than enough on his plate. We shall see, I suppose.
Rdprice29: I do believe that they will get together in canon – in some way. Perhaps not the way all us H/G shippers would like to see, but I do see Ginny playing a major role in the books that we've only seen an inkling of so far.
Nimbirosa: Umm... what?
ImaQuidditchFan: No doubts here – just doubts about the way JKR might work it... I really think she's got something up her sleeve...
pcb: One never knows... and I agree about the sports thing, but don't you think that those things become even MORE important during times of conflict, if only to keep people sane in times of extreme stress?
RinnaMarie: Hermione is Hermione is Hermione... she has a very logical mind at times... but when it comes to her friends, she can't help an emotional reaction, and she doesn't always know how to deal with it. Sometimes she comes off as bossy... other times she comes off as blaming. I think in this instance, she's just frightened for Harry, and she wants him to hand over responsibility to Dumbledore so that he can be "safe". It's purely an emotional reaction – and aren't we glad it is?
Shotgunn: Isn't there always more to it? LOL!
And the others, thank you for your reviews! Weselan, Liu Kuanrong/Bei Kuailiang, DavidMPotter, SumersGirl, PlumCrazyRangerBabe, Nightwing509, CharminglyHolly, RyougaZell, MysticRuby, Xiaoxiao, Akemi, JapaneseJew, IndiaInk, YelloWitchGrl
CQ
