Chapter 5: Dancing Teacups
"Why am I looking at you again?" Snape muttered as Harry entered his office and shut the door. "First, through some miracle you get into my N.E.W.T. class, and now I have to continue giving you Occlumency lessons!" Snape glared at Harry. "Why are you tormenting me?"
I could ask the same thing sir, Harry thought as he glared back.
Snape sighed with frustration and stepped out from behind his desk. "Very well; let's get on with it. Take out your wand, Mr. Potter..."
About four hours later Harry climbed back into the Gryffindor common room, his knees aching and his scar prickling once again. Ron and Hermione were sitting together doing homework and looked up as Harry plopped into an armchair.
"I can't believe you have to keep taking those lessons with Snape," Ron said. "I mean, the problem seemed to get worse with his lessons last year."
"Well, Dumbledore did say that you two need to learn to get along," said Hermione. "Maybe spending time with you will help him stop hating your father."
"How?" Harry asked, rubbing his forehead furiously. "By getting a free ticket to torture me every week?"
"Well, even if that was what he was doing before, he couldn't do that now, can he?" Hermione said matter-of-factly. "Dumbledore's going to be checking you. Besides, it's not like you were really trying either. At least now you know how important i--" Hermione stopped in midsentence and gasped, but Harry had already caught the gist of what she was saying.
His face changed as he stared silently at her for a moment. "Thanks Hermione," he said glumly.
"Oh Harry I'm sorry, I didn't mean to--"
Harry waved her away as he got up. "No, no Hermione, it's okay, I just--" he looked away. "I um, I think I'll go upstairs." Hermione reached out a hand to him, but he ignored it as he headed to his room.
Harry stared out the window of his dorm at the spot where he once saw Sirius, disguised as a dog, the night before a Quidditch match his third year. Why do these things happen to me? he thought. Why is my life so complicated? I'm only 16!
He flopped onto his bed and stared at the ceiling. He already had a ton of homework to do, but right now all he wanted to do was go to sleep. The moment he closed his eyes though, Dumbledore's voice echoed in his mind, "I will also be checking your progress regularly, so I expect to see you improving." He sat up frustrated. It never ends.
He sighed. Oh well, he thought. If this works, I should at least be able to sleep better. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and allowed himself to relax. Slowly, he willed every thought, every image, every emotion out of his head. It took him a while--he had a lot on his mind--but eventually he cleared his head. To his surprise, his scar actually stopped prickling and he started to feel sleepy. His eyes still closed, he let himself fall backwards and went straight to sleep.
Tonks soon became very popular with the students. She started the D.A. again and they met in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom every other Thursday. Katie Bell became the new Gryffindor Quidditch captain and held tryouts for the two vacant Chaser positions the second Friday. Ginny easily got in, and a third year named Peggy Pomeroy got the other position. Andrew Kirke and Jack Sloper actually improved over the summer and stayed on as Beaters.
With everything that was going on, September went quickly by and, before Harry knew it, the first Hogsmeade weekend arrived, catching him completely by surprise. He grew anxious as the weekend approached; thinking about going brought up memories of hanging out with Sirius there, and by the time Friday came, he decided he wasn't going.
"How can you skip Hogsmeade?" Ron exclaimed at dinner that evening.
Harry shrugged. "I'm getting behind on my homework and I figured I'd might as well spend the weekend catching up."
Hermione eyed him suspiciously. "Are you sure that's the reason?" she asked.
Harry blinked and looked at her. "Of course it is, what else?" he asked, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.
Hermione opened her mouth to answer but seemed to think better of it and lowered her gaze to her plate. "Nothing," she said quietly.
The next morning after breakfast Harry brought his books to the common room and settled down on the couch by the fireplace. Ron stood watching Harry spread out his books while he waited for Hermione to come down.
"Harry, you really should come with us to Hogsmeade," Ron finally said.
Harry looked up. "Isn't this going to be your first real date with Hermione?" he asked with surprise. "Are you sure you want me tagging along?" He eyed Ron curiously. "Is she okay with this?"
Ron stuttered for moment, then regained his composure and sat down next to Harry. "Look, I know I've been spending more time with Hermione these days, and after--you know, everything--I feel really guilty about it. You're my best friend, and I want to be there for you."
Harry grinned at Ron. "It's okay, really, I'm fine. And I'll go to Hogsmeade. Just--" his face changed, "--just not now. Not yet."
They looked up and saw Hermione coming down the stairs from the girls' dormitories with a confident smile on her face. "Hi Harry," she said as she sat on the armrest next to Ron and kissed him on the cheek. "Ready to go Ron?"
Ron gestured toward Harry. "Well, actually, I--"
Hermione got up and pulled Ron off the couch. "It's okay, he'll be fine," she said with a meaningful look.
"But--"
"It's okay," she repeated, and after saying good-bye, she dragged Ron out of the portrait-hole. Ron cast one last concerned glance at Harry and then disappeared.
Harry returned his attention to his books. Gradually the common room emptied as the other students headed out to enjoy the day and soon he was left completely alone. He had been staring at the second page of the chapter he was reading on Animagi for about an hour when he suddenly looked up to see Ginny coming down the stairs.
"Hi Harry," she said as she sat down next to Harry and dumped her armload of books on the table in front of them.
Harry stared. "What are you doing here?" he asked. "Why aren't you out?"
Ginny shuffled through her things and pulled out her Charms textbook. "Well, Dean wanted to go out with some friends, and Hermione's out with Ron, so I thought I'd catch up on some work too. Besides, she told me you were staying here today."
Harry blinked, not sure why this last point was so important. Then it dawned on him. "Hermione sent you here to babysit me?" he exclaimed.
"Oh come now, I wouldn't call it that--"
Harry was getting frustrated. Did they really think he was that helpless? "I'm not five years old!" he yelled. "I'm fine!"
"No you're not and you know it, so stop pretending," Ginny retorted as she put down her book and faced him. "You spent most of the summer by yourself, you isolate yourself here whenever you can--the last thing you need right now is to be alone!"
Harry gritted his teeth and buried his face in his hands. He was really starting to get angry. "Ginny, please--"
"Do you really think you're going to scare me off by throwing a fit?" she laughed. "Please, I've seen you worse--"
"GINNY, LEAVE ME ALONE!"
"NO!" Ginny yelled back as she glared at him, her arms crossed over her chest. "You can carry on as much as you like, but I'm--not--leaving!"
Harry whirled around to face Ginny and yell at her some more, but the second his eyes locked onto hers, his voice left him. There was a fire in her bright brown eyes that left him speechless. Harry opened and closed his mouth several times, but no words came out. Finally, his lips slowly curled up into a grin as he raised his hands in surrender. "Alright," he said quietly. "Alright--I give up."
Ginny beamed at him. "Good," she said as she settled back on the couch. Harry smiled as he watched her. To be completely honest, he didn't really want to be alone today.
"Why can't I get this?" Ginny asked in exasperation. She and Harry were sitting on the floor now, staring at the teacup in front of them. She tapped the cup and, instead of four legs, it sprouted two legs, one on either side. The cup shifted its weight unsteadily to its new legs, then tilted precariously to the side and fell to the rug, its legs flailing uselessly in the air.
Harry performed the counter-charm, set the cup upright, and concentrated. "It took me a while too," he said. "Hermione was the one who really got it--I think it's more like this--" With his tongue between his teeth, he tapped the cup. Four perfect legs sprouted from its sides.
Harry and Ginny whooped with excitement at the success of the spell, but when Harry turned back to the cup, his smile disappeared. "Hey, hey come back here!" he yelled as the cup started sprinting across the common room. He scrambled up awkwardly and, in flying leap, grabbed the cup and fell on his stomach, knocking the wind out of his lungs and sprawling his arms and legs everywhere.
There was a moment of silence. Then Harry could hear Ginny laughing behind him. He caught his breath, rolled onto his back, and pushed himself up on his elbows as he stared at the cup still kicking in his hand, trying desperately to get free. He started laughing too and looked up at Ginny, who was kneeling in front of him.
It was about noon then, and a few of the sun's rays were shining through the window, striking Ginny's hair and making it shimmer. Harry's laughter slowly faded as he stared at her. I never noticed that before, Harry suddenly thought. She's... He blinked, surprised that the thought actually crossed his mind. Then his eyes trailed back to her face. She was apparently unaware that Harry was getting quieter. He quickly covered by continuing to chuckle as he crawled back to the rug they were working on. As their laughter eventually died down, Harry glanced at Ginny. He blinked and shook his head, still trying to dislodge the image he just saw.
What is it?" Ginny asked.
Wha--?" Harry said distractedly. Then he realized that she saw him shake his head. "Oh--well--I'm just amazed that you still can't get the charm," he quickly said, trying to sound as convincing as possible.
"Oh really?" Ginny scoffed. She snatched the cup out of Harry's hand and prepared to have another go at the spell. Harry watched her as she psyched herself up and chuckled to himself. It's silly, he decided, and banished the thought from his mind.