Author's notes:
1.) I apologise in advance to the florists of the world. I love you all really. My favourite flower is the Forget-Me-Not.
2.) I just realised that this chapter has lots of owls in. It's purely bad planning, I promise. There's no ulterior motive.
From last time:
Harry looked over to the Slytherin table to find that Draco was watching him with a smile. Harry now understood why Malfoy had been so smug yesterday... He'd known all along.
8: Deception
Harry's thoughts on Malfoy junior were interrupted by Dumbledore, who had stood to address the school, his expression grave. It was the sort of announcement that was meant to sooth the first years' worries but Harry tuned it out. Was this the start? The war. His thoughts drifted inevitably to the prophecy and he was grateful to Hermione's elbow nudging him to encourage him to eat something.
Everyone spent the day nervously. People kept glancing around them and out of the tall windows as if they expected a crowd of Death Eaters to appear out of thin air around them (which, as Hermione would often remind people, wasn't possible on the Hogwarts grounds). Students gathered in groups and teachers talked in hushed tones. It was almost as if one of their number had already died. Harry often thought of Sirius, which reaffirmed his decision to write to Remus later.
If Draco's attitude yesterday had been smug, his reaction to the public news that Lucius was free was to be even snootier than ever.
He seemed to be making a ritual of hovering in alcoves waiting for Harry to pass just so that he could hiss "my Father's going to get you for what you did" or "I hear my Father's friends are planning a visit for you, Potter". He could barely utter a sentence any more without including the words 'my Father'. The flashpoint came outside the Defence classroom, where Harry was convinced Tonks was late on purpose so that they could practise their informal duelling.
"Of course, one of the first things my Father will do is remove all the Mudblood filth clogging up the corridors here," Draco announced to Blaise Zabini as Harry, Ron and Hermione passed.
"Shut up Malfoy," Harry said angrily, drawing his wand. Malfoy did the same but Ron was the first to fire off a Jelly-Legs Jinx. Malfoy tried to return a Blasting Curse but only ended up wobbling and hitting Zabini instead.
"You'll get what's coming to you," Malfoy sneered as Tonks finally arrived. The effect was much reduced by the fact that he was slowly slipping to the floor as he said it.
"Looks like a bit of a nifty Jinx there, cuz," Tonks commented. She didn't lift it though and led the gathered group into the classroom.
Tonks began her Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson with the frank message that, yes the breakout was very scary but there was nothing they could do about the escaped Death Eaters and their best course of action was to pay attention to their Defence lesson.
To her credit, she was as cheerful as usual and took their solutions to her first challenge enthusiastically.
"Hermione, that's the perfect textbook answer," Tonks said. Hermione smiled contentedly. "But I don't think you're gonna find Iranian Swamp Water in the Forbidden Forest and there's probably not a sample in your Accio range either. You need to place yourself in the situations I give you. That goes for all of you. Listen to everything I tell you about your challenge. I might even give out a hint or two."
Hermione was only half as embarrassed as this mistake would ordinarily have made her and she went straight up to the Owlery after class to write to her parents. When she rejoined Harry and Ron neither mentioned her puffy eyes.
After a tension-filled day, Harry collapsed gratefully into one of the Common Room chairs. He wrote his letter to Remus and made sure to ask after Buckbeak, who Remus was taking care of in Sirius'... absence. It was pointless, Harry decided, to ask for any news on the breakout or the Order – he'd learnt this through a long summer with Tonks as his only source of news – so instead he put in a few words about how much work they already been given this term. Having taught Defence in Harry's third year, Remus would be interested to hear about Tonks' unusual teaching methods and Harry also told him about Ron's fixation with the Jarveys.
By the time he'd finished and given Hedwig the job of delivering the parchment, the Common Room was starting to empty. At least the next day was Saturday. Harry was grateful that didn't have any lessons in the morning and could stay wrapped in his warm covers for a couple of extra hours.
x
Out of the corner of his eye, Harry caught sight of something red.
"What on earth..." Hermione started.
For a moment he thought that Fawkes, Dumbledore's Phoenix, had made an entrance in the Great Hall but when Harry looked up he realised that it was in fact a ruby red coloured Owl. The Owl was attracting the stares of most of the school as it did a lap of the Great Hall, executed a loop-the-loop and then finally swooped down to land between Harry and Ron.
It was carrying a parcel wrapped in red paper emblazoned with three gold Ws. The 'arms' of these letters, Harry noticed, would occasionally change colour, arm wrestle or break out in green spots.
"Cool. Fred and George samples," Ron announced, eagerly ripping open the packaging and 'decapitating' the Ws in the process.
At this news Dean sat back on his bench so that he was as far from the box as was physically possible without actually running away.
The twins, according to the accompanying letter, had managed to perfect a couple of their more ambitious ideas, having secured a supply of some rather sensitive items from mutual odorous friend. It suggested that the students could do with forgetting the world outside Hogwarts for a while. ("As a wise wizard once said: 'we could all do with a few laughs'.")
There was, however, a warning that some items were not fully tested as yet – those marked "Slytherin Samples" - and the twins requested detailed reports on their effectiveness. Ginny, sitting next to Dean, leaned over to get a better look.
"It's a good job they've changed colours at last. I was getting fed up of having green body parts. I almost wish I'd never told George my favourite colour's green."
"As long as they try them out on the Slytherins I don't care what colour they turn," Dean said.
The Owl, who had obviously had its fill of kipper and was starting to fade to pink, took off into the air again and performed a fly-by of the teachers table before leaving through the upper windows.
Harry followed its path and caught Dumbledore's eye. His familiar twinkle was well established. Harry wondered what Snape thought of his former pupils' work but was almost disappointed to see that he was missing from the table.
After breakfast everyone was lead outside to take part in the school photo. It was only then that Harry noticed the strange behaviour of some of his fellow students. Most of the girls were carrying mirrors and people had starting adding all manner of accessories to their uniforms that would not have been tolerated had Snape been presiding over the event.
"Look," Ron pointed out, "Luna's wearing those radish earrings."
Harry looked. "I think they're turnips, aren't they?"
Ron laughed. "She's a weird one."
"She's not that weird," Harry said defensively, remembering how badly her housemates treated her. He hadn't said more than a passing hello to her so far this year and decided that he ought to get to know her a bit better really.
Ron gave him a strange look but was soon more concerned with surreptitiously pulling on his sleeves to try and get the creases out.
"They're not gonna make us stand with the Slytherins, are they?" he asked, as a wizard carrying a large, old fashioned black camera strode up the lawn by McGonagall's side.
The Head of Gryffindor still occasionally used her cane and the pair were taking a leisurely pace. Harry was sure he recognised the photographer from somewhere. Colin Creevey was standing in the huddle nearest to the sixth year Gryffindors and Harry could hear him excitedly telling his classmates of his Muggle Dad's reaction the first time he saw a wizarding photograph.
"Would it be so bad if they did?" Hermione asked without answering Ron's question. "I was just saying to the Head Boy yesterday when we were discussing my plans for..."
Whilst Colin had calmed down somewhat as he'd matured, Harry unfortunately always recalled a small boy popping up everywhere he went, asking for signed photos, capturing his image as he lay in the mud with a broken arm or chattering without end as he lead Harry up to have his picture taken for a competition he'd never wanted to enter in the first place.
This memory brought a sudden recognition; it was the same photographer. With a sinking heart, Harry looked around for Rita Skeeter, whom he had been with on that occasion. Fortunately though, she wasn't anywhere in sight. Harry wondered if Dumbledore had sent her off on a special Order mission just to get her out of the way.
"... and so you see," Hermione was summing up, "if we only had one opportunity to all mingle without fear of reproach I really do think it would be beneficial to school moral."
Harry felt a little ashamed for ignoring one of his best friends, but really it was her own fault. Hermione had been talking about her big plan to unite the Houses for days now.
She'd diligently informed them of her research into similar ideas from the past, the school rules on the subject and any precedents. She'd explained her intention to meet with the Head Girl and Boy, as well as representatives from each of the Houses, the four Professors in charge of the Houses and Dumbledore himself in order to explain her reasoning. She'd even reluctantly admitted to tentative talks with the House-elves.
Yet, throughout all of this she still refused to tell him and Ron what this great plan actually was. This, she claimed, was so that they wouldn't be disappointed were she to be told that she couldn't go ahead. Harry, remembering the early S.P.E.W. days, was of the opinion that anything which took more than one trip to the library to organise was unlikely to hold either his or Ron's attention for long.
Finally the photographer had roughly arranged them in height order, keeping the Houses together to Ron's delight and Hermione's disappointment.
"Don't worry too much if you can't see the camera," the photographer had announced, "you can always just peek around whoever's in front of you."
Taking the photos created great plumes of purple smoke over the lawn rather like a magical twist on an early morning mist. After what seemed like forever (Ron was beginning to get hungry again already) they were told that they were free to go and Harry escaped with plans to get started on the piles of homework he had somehow accumulated.
He had his second challenge from Tonks to prepare for, an essay for McGonagall, two new charms to practise (Tingling and Numbing Charms) and a 'Taking Care of My Jarvey' Journal to write. So far, this last item consisted of endless references to rude words, small bloody mammals and as many obscure hints to Malfoy as he and Ron dared include.
x
Despite Harry and Ron's best efforts with their homework the day before, their enthusiasm hadn't carried them through more than a couple of hours work and Hermione was trying to encourage them to finish their essays as they walked though the corridors back up to Gryffindor Tower.
"But we're Captain and Assistant Captain," Ron said pointedly. "And we're taking our responsibilities very seriously."
"We should really prepare for the first practise of the season," Harry added sensibly as they gave the Fat Lady the password ("tintinnabulate") and entered the portrait hole.
In the end, this was something that Hermione couldn't argue with and the pair collected their brooms and went out into the chilly but bright morning to do a few laps of the pitch before anyone else arrived. Seamus, who Harry thought had been looking a bit left out this term since Dean and Ginny had started spending a lot of time together, had come down to watch and was sporting a tall red and gold Gryffindor hat.
In their first Quidditch practise, Ron had hoped to try out some of Charlie's tips but he had still not received a reply to his letter yet. Ron seemed a bit put out but Harry was more worried than anything else. Charlie was in the Order. Had he been given an assignment related to the breakout? He decided it was probably best not to mention his fears to his best friend.
Ron and Harry worked well as a team, Ron having the ideas and directing, while Harry watched the results and suggested alterations. Cathy had indeed been picked for the team and Harry admitted that he was impressed by both her and Daniel. Thankfully there was not a single flip chart in sight.
The entire team was exhausted by dinner and trudged into The Great Hall to eat, still in their Quidditch uniforms. The teachers had all made a point of attending their meals with the students (something they rarely did at weekends) ever since the news of the Azkaban breakout had come on Friday morning. It seemed to reassure some of the younger students that they were not about to be attacked over their Shepherd's Pie.
However, this show of strength only made the absence of one teacher – Snape – all the more noticeable. He had not been at the head table on Saturday, had not taken part in the school photograph and was still not present by Sunday evening. Harry wasn't sure if Snape had left the castle or had just declined to join the rest of the school.
The Gryffindors in Snape's Potions classes all seemed to be in agreement that he was just avoiding having his over-long nose and greasy hair photographed, and speculated on whether he would still be too ashamed of his appearance to return for their lessons next week. One even joked that he'd been so embarrassed he'd gone to join the Death Eaters. This was generally considered to be in bad taste and the boy received disapproving looks from his Housemates.
Harry, however, wondered how far this was from the truth. He also wondered how many, if any, of the people around him knew of their Professor's former allegiances. He found thoughts of Snape meeting up with Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange wholly disconcerting and despite his dislike for the man, hoped that the Professor was safe and well in the castle somewhere, scowling vainly in front of a mirror.
x
To many students' disappointment, Snape was sitting in his usual position at the Head table when they surfaced for breakfast on Monday. As far as Harry could tell he was uninjured but from past experience Harry knew that the Professor was quite adept as hiding things like that.
"That's Charlie's owl," Ron pointed out.
Harry looked up to see a large owl with an impressive looking brown and black plumage. It swooped down and landed next to Ron, shook off a scroll of parchment, scooped up three pieces of Ron's bacon in its beak and took off again.
"Greedy thing," Ron muttered.
"Who's that from?" Seamus asked, leaning over to get a closer look.
"My brother, Charlie," Ron said as he helped himself to more bacon.
"Aren't you going to open it?" Hermione asked.
Ron shook his head as he swallowed a full mouth of bacon and scrambled egg. "Charlie always writes a six foot essay. I'll never have time to read it and eat before lessons start. I'll just read it in Binns' class."
Hermione reached over and took the parchment off the table, stuffing it in her robe pocket.
"Oh no you don't. If you're too busy shovelling food down your throat to read it now then you'll just have to wait until break."
Ron groaned and rolled his eyes but didn't make any attempt to retrieve his letter.
"Fine. If I'm going to have to pay attention, can we at least get there early and get a seat at the back?"
This seemed to be a compromise and after their goodbyes to Harry they headed out of The Great Hall.
At break Harry, Hermione and Ron were joined out in the courtyard by Ginny. It was windy out and they were huddled together in a corner in an attempt to get some shelter from the gusts.
"Was that Charlie's Owl at breakfast? What did he say?"
"I don't know. I haven't been allowed to read it yet," Ron said with a pointed look to Hermione, who drew the scroll out of her pocket and handed it over.
Ron read the rather lengthy but animated letter out loud. When he reached the end he handed it to Ginny.
"So he's got a new girlfriend," she commented.
"Where does it say that?" Ron asked, looking confusedly at the letter.
"Here, look, she read: 'Went to the National Park last weekend to enjoy the last of the good weather.' See? Charlie never goes far from the Dragon Reserve on his days off without good reason. He likes to be on site in case there's an emergency or something. Besides, Charlie loves the winter. Ron, don't you remember when he was still at home and he'd stay outside building igloos in the snow until Mum dragged him in and cast warming spells on him? The only reason he would go away for the weekend is if he was trying to impress a new girlfriend."
"Well then what happened to the last one?" Ron puzzled.
"Who? The florist?" Ginny shook her head. "When will you boys learn? She was completely wrong for him. All she ever wanted to do was arrange flowers and play happy families. She didn't even like flying. You know what Charlie's like; he's far too adventurous to stay with somebody like that."
Hermione frowned. "So just because I don't like flying I'm going to end up with a complete bore?" she asked.
"No!" Ginny said, shaking her head. "Of course not. That's not what I meant. It's just that, well, that's Charlie's nature. He always ogles the pretty ones with Flobberworms for brains but they never last for long."
Ginny looked away with a small smile on her face, which made her look almost as dreamy as Luna.
"When Charlie really falls for someone it won't be because they worship him for being a Brave Dragon Tamer," she said. "It'll be someone who listens to his stories and wishes she could be up there flying with him, by his side, dodging the flames. Someone who can appreciate what he has to face and love him all the same."
Ron had wrinkled his nose whilst Ginny was talking but Hermione was smiling in a similarly dreamy fashion. Harry, however, found himself nodding in agreement. He hadn't really had much of a chance to get to know the second eldest Weasley son but what Ginny said had made a lot of sense and Charlie would be a fool not to see it eventually.
Dean came over and Ginny's dreamy expression faded as she was brought back into the real world and the couple said their goodbyes. Rather like the twins' red Owl, Charlie's letter had put Harry in a decidedly lighter mood as he went back into the castle for his next lesson.
x
Harry' first month back passed quickly, with more and more teachers piling ever longer homework assignments on them. They hadn't even had time to make use of the twins' care package. He and Ron had tried to keep their word to Hermione that they wouldn't leave everything to the last minute, but as she was doing six subjects she was kept busy enough herself with her own work that she didn't infringe too much on theirs.
The weather had forced people to dig out their gloves and scarves and the leaves on the trees on the Hogwarts grounds were turning golden brown and gathering in heaps on the ground, just waiting for a student to come along and kick them into the air. The first Hogsmeade weekend had been announced and school felt like a routine he'd never left.
They had all become accustomed to Tonks' often bizarre weekly challenges (the latest being to rescue a Kneazle from the top of the Astronomy Tower). No-one had quite worked up the courage to tell her what they thought their greatest strengths and weaknesses were so far, although Hermione would often ask Ron and Harry what they thought hers were.
Ron and Hermione's Prefect Duties didn't seem to be letting up and it felt to Harry like they were constantly attending meetings or patrolling the corridors. He had offered to keep them company once or twice but Hermione pointed out rather guiltily that she'd have to take points from Gryffindor if he did. Harry assumed she was putting in the extra effort in a bid to become Head Girl next year and that Ron had just been unwittingly dragged along for the ride.
They were out on Duty again one evening when Ginny received a late owl. A delivery outside of breakfast was an unusual enough event to catch the attention of most of the common room as Ginny unlatched the window and let Errol hop in from the window sill.
As she read, Ginny's face became quite pale until her freckles contrasted significantly with her skin. The letter contained a date for Percy's hearing, she told them. It was to be held in the Ministry building one day next week.
Harry immediately offered to search for Ron as Ginny was distracted and he really ought to be told.
Rushing back out of the portrait hole, Harry felt torn. He knew that the Weasleys, who were like family to him, were upset at the accusations against Percy, yet he couldn't stop his adrenalin rushing at the thought of using his invisibility cloak again. There was nothing quite like wandering through the empty corridors knowing that no-one could see him. Harry had been secretly hoping to use it to sneak into Snape's private Potions stock in the name of one of his Defence challenges but the need had not arisen yet.
Harry silently hurried along the corridor on the third floor making his way to the Prefect Common Room. Remembering the password that Ron had covertly given him against all the rules, he tapped the painting at just the right angle and the door swung silently open.
At first, Harry thought the room was empty. It was quite dark apart from the glow from the fire and a few scattered candles. He was just about to go back up to his room to fetch the Marauders' Map, which he's forgotten in his excitement, when he saw two figures in one of the darker corners, hidden in the shadows. He couldn't see who it was, but as long as they weren't Slytherins he decided they might tell him which part of the castle Ron was patrolling tonight.
He moved closer and was about to remove his cloak when he realised that the two figures were kissing. Both surprised and a little embarrassed, Harry started to creep quietly out of the room. He doubted very much that they wanted to be interrupted. He had hardly moved two steps when he stood on a floorboard which creaked underneath his feet. In the quiet it seemed intolerably loud. He turned quickly to see if the couple had heard him but they were evidently too concentrated on their own activities.
Harry was just about to turn towards the door again when something caught his eye. The candle in the far corner of the room had just flickered in the draft from the open door and, for an instant, spread light on something red... red hair in fact. Unable to turn away, Harry looked more closely and noticed that the other figure had rather fluffy brown hair. A sudden realisation dawned on him and he escaped from the room, not bothering to replace the painting behind him, and ran.
x
His mind was a whirl as he collapsed into one of the squashy sofas. Ron and Hermione. Hermione and Ron. Of course, it had been on the cards since their fourth year - since they'd had that blazing row after the Yule Ball - but so much time had passed since then with nothing happening that Harry had sort of become accustomed to their pre-relationship relationship.
But now things had changed. Harry wasn't really sure how he felt about it. His head was telling him that he was happy for them – after all, they'd obviously fancied each other for a while - but another part of him, located somewhere painful in his chest, told him that he was disappointed. He felt a bit left out and couldn't stop himself imagining lonely evenings when his friends would be off snogging somewhere whilst he sat doing homework or staring into thin air... rather like he was now.
But then Harry remembered the day that Ron and Hermione had got their Prefect's badges. He'd made an idiot of himself that day, ruining what should have been a happy time for them, and had felt rotten about it afterwards. He decided not to make the same mistake again.
After his first kiss with Cho, Harry had walked around in a bit of a daze with a goofy smile on his face. When Ron and Hermione returned in the same condition he would keep his chest quiet and let his head tell them how happy he was that they'd finally stopped dancing around each other.
Harry waited.
The common room started to empty around him and the sky darkened. At around quarter past ten his two best friends climbed through the portrait hole into the common room. They spotted Harry and made their way towards him.
But something strange was going on. Or rather... nothing was. Neither of them were wearing silly grins and neither seemed to be in a happy daze. Surely they couldn't have had a fight already? No, that didn't fit; they looked perfectly friendly... That was it - they looked friendly, just as they had done for the past five years.
Maybe Harry's eyes had been playing tricks on him in the Prefect Common Room? No, that was ridiculous – he'd seen them. Maybe it was two other people... two other Prefects... who'd both taken Polyjuice Potion so they looked like Ron and Hermione? No, that was even more ridiculous – who would do that? Maybe the reason they didn't look like they'd just shared their first kiss was because it wasn't their first? No, that was the most ridi-
Harry blinked at his sudden realisation. What an idiot he'd been. His two best friends were going out and hadn't told him.
He shivered coldly but then began to warm quickly as his anger grew until it burned inside him. More secrets. More people keeping things from him. The bitterness resurfaced and all the upset and anger at losing Sirius churned in his stomach. Harry felt betrayed. This was far worse than last summer – at least then when they had avoided telling him anything it was for fear of their letters being intercepted. Now though, they just didn't want to include him. That hurt.
"Alright, mate?" Ron said. "I wouldn't sit too near that fire; you look like you're about to melt."
Harry nodded absently, not trusting himself to speak yet.
"Did you get that Charms essay done?" Hermione asked.
At this point her words weren't even making sense any more. It was as if she were speaking Mermish. He took a deep breath and took control of himself in preparation to speak calmly.
"So, how was Prefect Duty?" he forced himself to ask.
Hermione looked hesitant but Ron spoke straight away.
"Oh, you know. Quiet."
Harry raised an eyebrow and let his face slip into a scowl.
"Yes, I'm sure it was," he said flatly.
"I knew we didn't leave the door open," Hermione murmured to Ron. "Listen," she said turning back to Harry with a pleading look in her eye, "we were going to tell you but it just never seemed like the right time. When you arrived at The Burrow-"
"This has been going on since the summer?" Harry interrupted, almost spitting with rage.
Ron and Hermione stood wordlessly, shocked at his furious outburst.
"Well?" Harry yelled.
Fortunately, it was quite late and the only people left in the common room were three second years who obviously decided that they shouldn't be hearing this and left quickly to go to bed.
"Well?" Harry repeated even louder than the first time, making his throat sore.
Hermione threw a desperate look at Ron.
"Look," Ron started rather uncertainly, "it's not that big a deal. I mean, you must have known that-"
"Not that big a deal?" Harry shouted.
"I know you're probably a bit jealous-"
"Jealous?" Harry asked, his voice unusually high as he let out the sort of laugh he'd previously thought only mentally unstable people capable of. "You think I'm angry because I want to go out with Hermione?"
"Well, no... but... we're Prefects and I'm Quidditch Captain and we're, well, I've got a girlfriend... and you haven't. I mean, it makes sense that-"
Harry was no longer laughing. He'd got to his feet and was staring straight into Ron's eyes, the muscles in his jaw clenching.
"You, Ron," he said in a voice that surprised Harry by being powerfully calm and quiet, "were only made a Prefect because Dumbledore wanted to give me a break. And if I remember rightly, McGonagall offered me the Captaincy. And I went out with Cho months before you even had a clue, so you can drop your superior, pitying act and bugger off 'cos you're nobody, Ron. You're worthless."
Something in Harry's guts didn't like the words that were coming out of his mouth but he seemed powerless to stop them. His ears refused to tune in to Hermione's furious objections and his eyes continued to bore a cold hole in his former best friend's.
Ron tore his eyes away, but not before Harry saw moisture beginning to well in them.
Triumphantly, Harry turned and climbed the stairs to his dorm before Ron could gather himself together then fell on top on his bed, quickly pulling the curtains around him. The only sound was his own ragged breathing.
He'd won. He'd made Ron cry. So why did he feel like the bottom had just fallen out of his world?
x X x
Next chapter: A word on fate.
More notes: Just a quick note to say thanks for your reviews. Thanks to Bernie Boosie (hello again!), Emmalee and the reluctant TheBlackDragon. ; ) Do feel free to drop me a line. Any constructive criticism is welcomed and nice words are good too!
