DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
NOTE: This chapter contains a scene with intense violence
"Come on, Harry!"
A bright light tore through the curtain around Harry's bed. Blocking most of it was Ron Weasley, but enough got through to shine through his eyelids. Harry flopped over and covered his head with his pillow.
"No you don't," Ron said as he reached in and ripped the pillow from Harry's grasp. Before Harry could reach for the other pillow, Ron had tossed them both to the floor and was pulling Harry out of the bed by his ankle.
"Go away, Ron!" Harry said groggily. "I'm tired."
"You can be tired after breakfast."
"I don't want to go to breakfast."
"Well I don't want to go to History of Magic today, but I don't have much say in it."
"I'm not going, Ron!" Harry shouted as he kicked his foot free of Ron's grasp.
"If you don't, Hermione's going to be furious."
"Fine!" Harry shouted. "Let her be furious! Send her up here, if you want. Let her hex me all she wants. I don't care."
"That'd work just fine for me, but you're not the one she said she'd hex if you weren't at breakfast."
"I'm not coming, Ron. Tell Hermione I attacked you. Tell her I barricaded myself in my trunk. I don't care."
There was a pause, and Harry could hear footsteps as Ron approached Harry's bed again. "Maybe you should start," he replied. "Unless you'd rather I tell Ginny that you were begging Voldemort to kill you last night after she left?" Harry was sitting upright in a second, a smoldering gaze pointed at Ron.
"Figured that would wake you up. Hurry up, Harry. I'm hungry."
Ron waited in the common room while he finished cleaning up and dressing. When Harry was finally finished he saw Ron pacing by the portrait hole. "About time," Ron said. "Hermione had some Runes work to do. She said she'd meet us in the Great Hall."
Harry and Ron made their way to the Great Hall. Harry was worried about what it would be like when he got there, but as he walked toward Hermione and the spot she'd saved them a spot near the back of the hall, Harry realized that no one was even paying attention to him. They didn't know what had happened last night.
Hermione was drinking juice and gracefully writing on a large roll of parchment. She hadn't seen Ron and Harry approaching. Ron sat down heavily and immediately reached for some sausages.
"I told you I'd get him down here," he announced as he poured himself some milk.
"Yes Ron, very impressive," Hermione said without looking up from her scroll. "I can't believe I ever doubted your abilities." Ron just shook his head and concentrated on his food. Harry sat silently, doing nothing.
Now that he was awake, all the memories from the previous night were coming back to haunt him. How could so many horrible things happen in one night? How could everything go so wrong? Harry tried to think of where it had started. Had it been that summer? It felt like ages ago that he had been struggling with the loss of Sirius.
It had started before that. Sirius had died. He never should have gone to the Ministry. He'd been so stupid then. He thought he had to save his godfather. He thought he could save his godfather. He'd been doubly wrong, but even that wasn't the beginning. Voldemort had a body because he'd wanted the Triwizard Cup. He had a body with Wormtail's help.
Peter Pettigrew. Harry's mind latched onto that name. He'd betrayed Harry's parents. He'd framed Sirius. He'd helped bring Voldemort back to power. And Harry had let him escape. He'd had the chance to end it, to prevent all of this. All it would have took was the death of Peter Pettigrew.
A deeper part of him knew that it never would have happened. He wasn't a murderer. He couldn't even bring himself to correctly cast the Cruciatus Curse against Bellatrix Lestrange. He'd been doomed from the start, it seemed. Why did others have to suffer for his fate? What was the point in prolonging the inevitable? Why did Ginny have to get involved? Harry searched the table for Ginny's face, expecting to find it where they normally sat, but she wasn't there. She wasn't at the table at all. Harry checked the Ravenclaw table, but she wasn't there either.
"Where's Ginny?" he asked.
Hermione looked up from her parchment. "She's in bed still," she said quietly. "She still looked a bit bad this morning. She's taking more potions, and she should be up and about by noon."
Harry scowled in annoyance. "Why'd she get to sleep in, while I get dragged from my bed by Ron?"
"Because Ron isn't allowed in the fifth-year girls' dormitory?" Hermione said flippantly.
"I'm not laughing, Hermione."
"No, you're not," she said as she slapped her quill onto the table, "You're in a foul mood, but you won't tell us why. Why should I talk to you?"
"You shouldn't," Harry said angrily as he stood up. "I'll be in the common room."
"You'll sit down and eat or I'll jinx you until you do!" Hermione ordered with a perilous stare.
Harry fixed her stare with an empty glare of his own. "Then do it. I won't stop you."
Her voice dropped to a low, threatening whisper. "If you leave before Hannah, Cho and the Slytherins see you, they'll call a D.A. Council meeting."
"They'll do what?" Harry sat back down and stared at Hermione. "They'd call a meeting just because they didn't see me at breakfast?"
"Yes," Hermione answered angrily. "If you didn't see me for almost a whole day, I'd hope you'd get a little worried, as well."
"So you've all been keeping an eye on me, have you? Waiting for me to go bad? Or just turn up dead? How long has this been going on?"
"You really are in a foul mood," Hermione said with narrowed eyes. "This has been 'going on' since the day after Halloween, when you didn't show up for breakfast. We had to find a way to organize the D.A without you around. After that, we decided that if half of us lost track of you, we should call a meeting to make sure everything was alright."
Harry just glared back at her. "So you are saying I should check in with the Council every morning? You know, just so you know if I'm dead or not?"
"No, Harry, I'm saying that if they call a D.A. Council Meeting, Ginny won't ignore it. She'll show up looking just like she does now. I don't think you want that any more than she does. She's trying to keep this a secret, and I'd think you'd at least respect her wishes."
"A secret?" Harry said with a bitter laugh. "Well, she might be able to change how she looks, but no potion or charm can really hide the fact that we aren't together, can it?"
There was a loud clatter as Ron's fork hit the floor. Hermione's mouth had dropped open.
"Oh? Did Ginny forget to mention that when you were chatting this morning?" Harry said lightly, "It's not often I know something you don't. Today's looking positively brilliant, so far." From the corner of his eye, he saw Cho and Luna walking into the Great Hall with a group of other Ravenclaws. He stood up, and glared at Hermione. "I'm sure Ron will be relieved. Now, if you don't mind, I'll just go ask Cho and Luna if I'm free to go."
Harry turned and walked away. He thought he heard Hermione call his name, but he ignored it and walked purposefully toward the Ravenclaw table.
He saw Claire sitting not far from Luna and Cho. She noticed him and the weary look on her face seemed to fade. She smiled cheerily. "Good Morning, Harry."
"Not bloody likely," Harry mumbled as he strode past her to stand between Cho and Luna, who seemed to be discussing the O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s.
"I'm still alive," he announced flatly. "No guarantees about tomorrow. I'm sure Hermione will keep you up to date." He turned and walked away without another word. As he left, he noticed several of the nearby Ravenclaws staring at the two girls as if they had any better idea of what had just happened.
Harry walked back to his dormitory. He normally spent his Wednesday mornings in the common room, preparing for an afternoon of Potions class. Today he didn't want to see anyone and he didn't care about Potions.
And so he spent the first part of his day in his dormitory, alone. He eventually did take out his Potions text and study over the pages they would be going over that day. Part of him didn't want to have to deal with Snape that day, and part of him was simply bored. He didn't know that there really was a purpose to going to class. Potions weren't likely to help him against Voldemort, and it seemed like a waste of time to study anything that couldn't help him immediately. Still, he didn't have anything else to do, and McGonagall would lecture him for hours if he skived off Snape's class.
When the time came for Potion's class, Harry tried to say as little as possible. Snape, however, seemed to sense his mood, and made sure to call on Harry as often as he could. Harry was relieved that his boredom had given him the time and ability to read over the days potion many times, and Snape was unable to find a reason to berate him.
Hermione was only slightly more friendly. She didn't fight with Harry, and she refused to allow him to partner with anyone else when it came time to attempt the potion for the day, but she seemed to be in a similarly bad mood. Harry wondered if she and Ron had been fighting.
They worked together in silence, speaking only to give each other instructions about how to chop the scorpion tails, and when to lower the heat on the cauldron. The result was a nearly perfect Diminishing Draught. Following the pattern of the day, Snape said nothing to them.
As they both walked back to the Gryffindor common room, Hermione finally broke her self-imposed silence.
"Are you coming to dinner?"
"Does it matter?"
"You should eat something, Harry."
"If I don't are you going to call a meeting to discuss it?"
Hermione made an annoyed sound. "Honestly, Harry. We are just doing what Dumbledore told us to do. You might lead us, but we aren't your followers. You don't control us."
Harry stopped short of the top of the stairs they were climbing. She was right. A small bit of the weight Harry felt seemed to be lifted. However, when he looked back and saw the anger on Hermione's face, he began to feel guilty. He'd had a horrible night, followed by a rotten day, and he'd taken it out on Hermione, who'd only been trying to help.
"I'm sorry," he said sincerely. "I— I've had a bad time, recently."
"I know, Harry," Hermione said. For the first time, Harry realized that she looked exhausted.
"If I nick food from the elves, will people worry about me?"
"Honestly?" Hermione asked, "Probably. You made a bit of a scene at breakfast, and people noticed you weren't around for lunch."
"I'll go to dinner, then. I didn't want to deal with Dobby, anyway."
"Thanks," Hermione said with a sigh. They resumed their journey toward the common room.
"Did you have an argument today" Harry asked as they neared the Fat Lady.
Hermione seemed to wait a moment before answering. "Not that it's any of your business, but yes, I did. You're not starting to read minds like Ginny, are you?" Hermione stopped in front of the Fat Lady. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—"
"It's alright. You can say her name," Harry said with reassuring look. "She can read minds?"
"Well, no, I— I mean, how could she? But you must have noticed that she's annoyingly good at ... well, knowing when you're lying."
"Yeah, I guess I did know that," Harry said as he walked into the common room. Hermione had a point, and Harry realized that some part of him already knew. She'd always caught him when he was lying. Was she able to tell what he was thinking? How much did she know?
Hermione convinced Harry to stay with her in the common room. They sat and talked lightly about Potions and all the other things the D.A. had been doing without Harry's knowledge. Among the more interesting things was a network of odd pets in the different houses that could be used to transfer messages without any of the members leaving their houses.
"That's how we got the word out last night that you were with Dumbledore. The Aurors wouldn't let us out, but Crookshanks was able to leave and return without them even knowing," she explained. "It isn't that we were keeping it a secret. We just... didn't want to bother you with it."
"Did Ginny know?"
"Of course."
"She used to tell me everything," Harry said, his voice dropping a bit.
"She would have told you, Harry. It wasn't a secret, I swear. Last night was the first time we ever tried using it. We've also got a number of D.A members who've agreed to make sure that at least two of them have their owls in their rooms instead of the owlry, just in case we can't get to it. I don't know why we'd need that, but Zabini suggested it, and it can't hurt."
"I guess," Harry said.
"We would have told you if you'd asked, but why would you care about all that? Students and professors are being attacked. You know when it happens. You can do something about it. We just have to sit around and wait. We just... we needed to feel like we were doing something to help, even if it was pointless and silly."
Harry had to admit, again, that Hermione had a point. As they sat and talked about the Transfiguration essay due next week, Ron stepped into the common room, followed by a number of other students. More of the Gryffindors were returning from class. Harry ignored the rest of them, and watched Hermione's reaction as Ron walked over to them. If they were going to argue, he wanted to try and get comfortable in a place as far from them as possible.
But Hermione didn't seem tense at all. Neither did Ron. He flopped down on the couch next to Hermione with a smile. Hermione seemed relaxed.
"Rough day?" Ron asked. Hermione nodded.
Harry stared at his friends. They always seemed to get past their arguments quickly, but this was abnormal. Just minutes earlier, Hermione had seemed almost depressed. As soon as Ron showed up she seemed to forget all of it.
"I thought you'd had an argument," Harry said.
Ron looked almost insulted. "Argument? Why would we be arguing? You were the one acting like a prat." Hermione threw a nasty look at him. "Right, like you didn't think so? Maybe you're forgetting about breakfast?" In a higher pitched voice Ron started mimicking Hermione. "'If he wants to be a prat, then maybe he should just stay in his room for the rest of the term.'" Hermione rolled her eyes and covered her face with her hand. "What? Then why'd you look at me like that?" Hermione dropped her hand and stared at Ron in annoyed disbelief. Ron stared back. "You're flipping mental, you know?"
Ron looked over at Harry and shrugged. "She's had a bad day—missed lunch. I'd be a bit tetchy, too."
Harry realized that Hermione was trying not to look at him. If she hadn't been fighting with Ron, who had she be fighting with? She'd seemed quite upset. Harry's curiosity got the better of him.
"So, who were you fighting with?"
Ron's eyes widened and he looked at Hermione, too. "You were in an argument? Bad marks on the Runes essay?"
Hermione crossed her arms over her chest. "It's neither of your business," she said in an irritated voice. "I thought you knew, but if you don't I'm not going to tell you."
"See? Tetchy," Ron whispered to Harry with a nod.
"And I got full marks on that essay, by the way," Hermione added. As she turned to look away, Harry saw her eyes lock on something behind him. Hermione seemed to suddenly tense up, the way he'd expected her to when she saw Ron. Harry turned to try and catch whatever had caused the reaction.
Behind him, a small parade of students were coming through the portrait, still wearing some protective clothing from their Care of Magical Creatures class. In the middle of the group was Ginny. As Harry watched, she glanced over at Harry and Hermione, but immediately turned away and dashed up the stairs to her dormitory.
"What were you and Ginny arguing about?"
Hermione just shot him a glare as if it were the stupidest question in the world. She wouldn't say anything more about it, even when Ron started to ask questions. Instead, she distracted him by suggesting they head down to the Great Hall.
They sat in their normal places. Ginny sat about ten feet away, surrounded by other fifth years, and refused to make eye contact with Harry. It felt annoying that Ginny refused to even look at him, but not as annoying as the looks he was getting from everyone else. He found it a bit distracting, and doubt slowly stole his appetite from him.
"Is there a reason why I keep thinking everyone is talking about me?"
"Ignore them, Harry," Hermione said without looking up.
"So they are talking about me?"
"Mate, they've always been talking about you," Ron said between bites of food. "I'd say it's a little late to start getting paranoid about it."
Harry scowled at him. "So you're on her side, then?" Hermione rolled her eyes and mercilessly stabbed a carrot. Ron looked from Harry to Hermione. "I guess so," he said with a shrug before going back to his food.
Harry tried to ignore them, but the more he tried, the more conspicuous the looks became. Was everyone talking about him? What had happened since that morning? Surely they weren't talking about his strange behavior during breakfast. Harry picked at his food reluctantly, wishing that time would pass faster, or that at least Ron would eat faster so they could leave.
Well after Harry had pushed his plate away, and shortly after Ron had moved on to a small plate of one of the puddings, Katie Bell walked over and pushed aside some second years to make room to sit down.
"Hello Hermione, Ron," she said with polite nods, "Nice to see you back, Harry."
Harry nodded and pretended to drink some pumpkin juice so he wouldn't have to say anything. If only they put larger cups on the tables.
"So, is it true?" she whispered toward Harry.
"Not here, Katie," Hermione said through gritted teeth.
"Is what true?" Harry replied, as his curiosity forced him to give up on the juice. Maybe she'd tell him what everyone was talking about.
"Relax, I'll be really quiet. It'll look like I'm talking to you about Quidditch," she whispered. "Is it true about you and Ginny? You're not together anymore?"
"Well, she hasn't said a word to me all day. She hasn't even looked at me. If we were together, I'd say that we were doing about the worst possible job of it."
"So what about the rest?" Katie whispered.
What else had she heard? Even the Aurors didn't really know what happened. Madam Pomfrey probably didn't either.
"What else is there?" he said with narrowed eyes.
"That's what I thought. I didn't really ever believe it. It was pretty far fetched. It's probably just a bunch of second years trying to make friends." Katie was about to leave, but Harry stopped her and made her tell him what she'd heard.
"Supposedly, a few Ravenclaw second years had a bit of an accident with some potion ingredients and had to dash to see Pomfrey. But on their way there, they saw Ginny leaving the Wing." Katie's voice got a little louder as she started talking faster.
"They said her eyes and face were all red, like she'd been beaten up. They figured she'd just come from a D.A. meeting, but then they heard this afternoon that you'd broken up, well... you know. They assumed they were related. It didn't help when Ginny didn't come down to breakfast."
"Katie, lower your voice," Hermione hissed.
"What? Everyone's talking about it already, aren't they" Katie replied, "It's not like I'm the first person to mention it. I didn't believe it for a second," she said quickly with a quick glance at Harry. "I mean, it's preposterous. I've been telling the other Gryffindors to ask people to stop spreading it around."
"Why?" Harry asked in a dead voice.
"Well, its silly, isn't it?" Katie said in an even louder voice. "The idea that you'd beat Ginny senseless, and that she'd dump you is just a bit—"
Harry's voice seemed to cut through the noise of the hall. "I'd say that's a pretty accurate description, actually,"
Katie's mouth dropped open, and her eyes were larger than Harry had ever seen them. Down the table there was a loud clang as a cup bounced off a plate. A series of gasps made Harry look over at the source.
Ginny Weasley was standing near the spot where she'd been sitting earlier. Her face was turning more red every moment, and her eyes were staring at Harry with more anger and malice than he'd imagined possible from her.
"YOU SHUT UP, HARRY POTTER!" she shouted. "How DARE you? How—" Ginny was shaking with rage, but Harry noticed a single tear rolling down the side of her face. "How... How COULD YOU? Don't you even THINK about talking about... about..." She almost finished, but restrained herself once she realized everyone was watching her intently.
With a shout of anger and frustration, she launched a roll at Harry's head. He ducked and blocked it with his arms, but when he looked up again, Ginny was racing along the tables toward the door. Harry stood up.
"Sit down, Harry," Hermione said angrily. "I think you've done quite enough."
Katie sat as still as a statue, her eyes still fixed on Harry, as if she expected him to change into someone (or something) else at any moment.
"Come on, Katie. I'll try to explain it to you," Hermione said as she stood up. She turned back to look at Ron. "Do whatever you want with him," she said with a nod at Harry. "I'd like to suggest a pair of Bludgers, or perhaps a bag full of books, but I honestly don't care right now."
Harry sat limply in the chair by the fire. The common room had finally quieted down, and he took the time to enjoy a moment of irresponsible laziness before he went to work on his Potions essay.
He and Hermione had gotten the potion right. It worked just the way it was supposed to. Snape had assigned them the essay anyway, claiming that it was by mere luck that the potion turned out. He'd said that their wormwood was old and that their beetles hadn't been crushed quite right. Of course, it had been the wormwood Hermione had prepared and the beetles Harry himself had crushed.
Harry decided that he wanted to finish the essay as soon as possible. It wasn't like he had all that much else to do. There was only so many times he could play chess in one night and without Hermione or Ginny to talk to, Harry found himself getting a little bored.
The common room was empty. Most of the students were either in the Great Hall watching McGonagall and Flitwick demonstrate some advanced charms or in the library studying for O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s. As he rolled out the parchment and began to write, he saw Ron and Hermione walk past him to the portrait hole. Perhaps it was fortunate that Harry had a Potions essay to write. He'd have felt even worse if he'd have stopped Ron and Hermione from spending some time alone with each other.
Harry watched as they stepped through, but he didn't hear the click of the portrait swinging back into place. When he looked up, Ron's head was poking into the room, and looking at him strangely.
"You feel like joining us?" he asked.
"Joining... you two?" Harry asked. What was Ron thinking?
"Well, yeah," Ron said. "Why are you looking at me like I just asked you to eat a flobberworm? If you don't want to, that's fine with me, but Hermione and Ginny won't be happy."
Ginny? Harry squinted back at him, "What are you on about? What exactly would we be doing?"
Hermione stepped back into the common room, looking distinctly impatient. "The D.A. Meeting? You didn't feel it this morning? We changed the time twice."
Harry instinctively reached for his pockets, but he knew they were empty. "No... I guess I haven't been carrying my coin."
"Brilliant, Harry," Hermione replied with an annoyed look. "There's a meeting. Now. You can finish the Potions essay tomorrow."
"Why are we having a meeting?" Harry asked as he closed his text, rolled the parchment back up and stuffed them both back in his bag.
"Because we haven't had a meeting for a while," Ron replied. "Hurry up, everyone's probably taking the best seats."
Harry reluctantly slung his bag over his should and followed Ron and Hermione to the Room of Requirement. Part of him liked the idea of doing something other than writing a Potions essay, but another part thought there wasn't much point in a D.A. meeting right then.
He seemed to be the only one, however. The Room was packed with what looked to be every single member of the D.A. It had been impossible to pull off gatherings like this earlier. What had changed?
Harry took his customary seat in the corner, facing the rest of the students. The various Council members sat nearby, including Ginny, who was looking at Harry openly for the first time in a week. She didn't look happy, and yet not actually angry. She seemed instead to be watching him, and waiting for him to do something.
Harry tried to ignore her. Instead he focused on the rest of the students. They were chatting idly as the last few members filtered in and shyly took seats in the back of the group. The group was slowly becoming quieter as they began staring at him.
"What?" Harry asked defensively.
"There are more people here than we've had in a long time, Harry. I don't know who else you could possibly be waiting for," Cho said evenly. "Maybe we should just get started."
"Get started on what?" Harry asked with a shrug. "I didn't even know there was a meeting. Why are we all here?"
"Been that long, has it?" Blaise Zabini laughed. "If memory serves, I think it has something to do with learning to defend ourselves." Harry glared at Blaise, and he returned a defiant smile.
Harry hadn't had any time to plan anything. He wasn't even sure what more they could learn that would be worth their time. He didn't have any ideas, and wasn't in the mood to do much thinking about it. Instead he called the Council into a corner while the rest of the students watched as they paired up and dueled each other.
The Council didn't have any more ideas than Harry did. Ginny remained conspicuously quiet. They had called the meeting simply because so many of them were eager to get more practice in.
"Fine then," Harry said finally. "Let's get some practice in."
The others looked at him oddly. They clearly didn't know what he meant, but they seemed happy that a decision had been made.
Harry got everyone's attention and they gathered around him. He started by asking everyone why they thought they needed more practice in. Their answers, however, didn't make him happy. Again and again, members would say that they wanted a stronger Stunner, or they wanted to work more on one of the many other attack charms the Aurors had told them about, or they wanted to get better at fighting more than one opponent. It didn't take long before Harry stopped.
He looked at the fourth year who'd just answered him, and shook his head. "When do you think you're going to actually use a Flame-Whip Charm?" he asked the smaller boy.
The boy seemed a bit confused. "The Aurors said it was good for attacking wizards around corners."
"Precisely," Harry said with frustration. "And what are you doing attacking anyone around a corner? Now, you may have a chance if it's only one Death Eater, but if there's one around the corner, there are probably going to be two more down the hall. If you ever find yourself around the corner from a Death Eater," Harry said pointing his finger at the boy, "Run. It may be your only chance to escape."
"That goes for the rest of you, as well," Harry continued. "A good Stunner will only help if there isn't another wizard behind that one. Firing off spell after spell will only make you a target. None of these things will really help you. If you make yourself a threat to them, they will make certain that threat is removed."
"What are you saying Harry," one of the Hufflepuffs called out, "Are we supposed to practice running and hiding? I could do that well enough before I joined up."
"Could you?" Harry challenged. "I'm only alive because I ran. The spells we learned. All the practice of fighting in groups. It's all just an exercise. If any of you ever face the Death Eaters, you're only chance will be to run."
"So we're just supposed to run away as soon as we see danger?" one of the Ravenclaw girls said in a disappointed voice. "I thought Dumbledore said we were supposed to help?"
"What help would you be?" Harry questioned them. Everyone was silent. "Can any of you stand against a group of enemies for any period of time?"
"We've done it before!" a small, but energetic Gryffindor shouted. It was one of the third years. "It's not like it's impossible. You and Ron did it."
Harry gave them an emotionless smile. "Well then, I believe we've found our lesson for the night."
Harry gathered all the students on one half of the room, and asked for a volunteer. The same Gryffindor third year who'd been so sure of himself volunteered immediately. Harry shook his head as he led him to the other half of the room.
"You'll stand here," he told the boy, "and the rest of you will take turns attacking him. At first, just two at a time. Now, you—" he said as he pointed at the boy. "—You cannot attack them at all. And those of you in the front may want to keep your wands ready in case any spells come flying back."
The boy looked distinctly less confident than he had when he volunteered. Hermione gave Harry a concerned look, but he ignored it and sat on the back of a sofa which was conveniently located against the wall halfway between the boy and the rest of the D.A.
"First two," Harry called out, "Nothing dangerous. Don't stop until he's disabled. Start when you like."
A pair of Ravenclaws stepped forward. Without any other word, they pulled out their wands and fired off a pair of spells. The young Gryffindor had dodged the first spell, but didn't have time to do anything against the second. His body went stiff, and he fell to the floor.
A moment later, he was walking back to the other side of the room, and a fifth-year Slytherin girl was in his place. She'd dodged the first two spells by diving to the ground, but the next spell was a Floor-Binding Hex, and with her hands cemented to the floor, she'd been unable to do anything against the stunner. The next boy failed to finish his Shield Charm before the first spell hit him, and the boy after him managed to dodge four spells before tripping over an ottoman and tossing his wand into a corner.
"Dodging spells will only work for so long," Harry announced from his perch. "You can run from one hex, but eventually you will have to run where a spell is already headed." He tried to hide his disappointment. They were worse at this than he'd hoped. Of course, the older students seemed to be watching and waiting. Finally, Katie Bell walked across the room, wand in hand.
She did better than anyone before her, deflecting one of the spells with her own spell, a move that got complaints from the other half of the room. But she hadn't attacked her attackers, she'd used a spell to deflect another spell. She blocked the next spell, sending it back at the Ravenclaw who'd cast it. As many of the students put up their own Shields to block it, the other attacker summoned ropes around Katie. She was easily disarmed.
Others tried, and few did as well as Katie. Cho Chang had a go, but by then, Harry was making the older students face three attackers. She didn't last long, but made a fine attempt.
It was slowly becoming clear to the students just what Harry had been talking about. He interrupted the session.
"You'll never be able to face more than two opponents unless you're able to cast a decent Shield Charm. Let's see how you handle just protecting yourself with the strongest Shield Charms you can."
They did slightly better with this exercise. Each student took turns trying to protect themselves again and again against the strongest hexes the rest of the students could cast. They kept the spells coming, but never faster than a Shield Charm could be put up. Eventually, the strongest members took positions up front, and the rest of the students just watched.
Ron took his turn defending himself, and did pretty well, until Ginny surprised him with a powerful Banishing Charm. He didn't get his Shield up before the next spell from Katie hit him. After that, he forced Ginny to take her turn.
She calmly cast Shield after Shield, seeming only mildly tense. More than one spell rebounded off into the crowd of students, and Harry was fairly convinced that the two which had shot toward him had done so intentionally. As the 'attackers' fired off spells faster, she had a harder time covering herself with Shield Charms. Finally, Ginny's wand leapt from her hand as it swooped through the air, landing neatly at Hermione's feet.
"Shield Charms are not perfect," Harry said as Ginny walked back. "They can be broken. Death Eaters will not be attacking you only with Tickling Hexes and the Jelly-Legs Jinx."
Hermione took her place, and the older students started firing spells at her. They tried their best, but she simply didn't make any mistakes.
"We'll never get through them," Hannah said after another failed attempt.
"Try harder," Harry said.
Several of the older students glared at him. They took their time, focusing as hard as they could on their spells, but Hermione held on. Even Ginny was only able to make her flinch for a moment.
"Am I done yet, Harry?" Hermione asked after deflecting yet another spell.
"Not yet," Harry answered. She blocked a couple more spells. As she put up another shield, Harry quickly pulled his wand from his pocket.
"Stupefy!"
The jet of red light slammed into Hermione's left side, bouncing off into the ceiling. Hermione however, had been sent sprawling by the impact, eventually crashing very un-gracefully to the floor. Her wand skittered across the floor until it hit the baseboards on the far wall.
"What was that for?" Ron shouted.
"That was to show you how much you can rely upon Shield Charms to keep you safe in a real fight," Harry replied flatly as he put his wand back in his pocket. "They work quite well until someone puts it in their mind to defeat you."
Hermione picked herself up off the floor. She retrieved her wand and walked back to the rest of the students as she rubbed the side of her face. A large section of her cheek was bruising under a series of long scratches from her temple to her jaw.
The rest of the students returned to the Shield Charm practice. The younger students were slowly improving, and the older students seemed to understand what it took to break them, now. Harry watched half-heartedly, and he didn't notice that Ginny and Hermione had separated themselves until they were right in front of him.
"When is it your turn, Harry?" Ginny asked. It had been one of the few things Ginny had said to him —without yelling— in the past week.
"I'm not taking a turn," he said without looking at her. He'd desperately wanted to be able to look her in the eyes. He hoped that if he would look, he'd see sign that Ginny was alright, some spark of happiness that would tell him that she still cared for him. It would be worth whatever she said if he could just see that. Instead, he focused on the students practicing in the center of the room. It was better to simply imagine that it was possible, than to turn and have to know the truth.
"Why not?" she asked, with as little emotion as Harry had answered.
"Not much of a point, is there?" he responded in a much lower voice.
"And why not?" Ginny asked with a hint of anger entering her voice. "Why shouldn't you practice just as much as the rest of us? Why shouldn't you be practicing more?"
"Haven't you been listening?" Harry shot back. He'd almost turned to look at her, but caught himself, and stared at the floor instead. "I have no more chance of fighting like this than any of you. Unlike them, I already know that it's not worth fighting a battle you cannot win. That's the purpose of the lesson. I could take a turn and show them, but what's the point?"
"What's the point?" Harry could hear the resolve in her voice. "You're willing to just give up? You can't imagine a reason to fight?"
"The more I fight, the more people get hurt."
Abruptly, Ginny turned and walked off, leaving Hermione standing nearby, staring worriedly at Harry. With a frown she turned and followed Ginny.
A moment later, the room flashed red, as sparks shot into the air and bounced off the ceiling. Everyone stopped, and looked to the source.
Ginny was standing behind everyone, her wand raised. "It's been suggested that we show you just what we are talking about defending ourselves against." Ginny glared at Harry as she continued. "So, we are going to try something new."
Ginny walked over to the empty half of the room and faced the rest of the D.A. "Hermione. Ron. Cho. Katie. Would you join me?" Hermione slowly walked over to stand behind Ginny. Ron followed close behind her, but gave Ginny a questioning look as he passed her. Katie and Cho looked just as confused, and after a moment, joined Ron and Hermione.
"Third- and fourth-years, stand against the far wall."
They did as they were told, though a few of the third-years seemed a bit paler than usual.
"The rest of you are going to attack us." Katie, Cho and Ron all gaped at Ginny. "No Stunners, no Full Body Binds, but nothing too lethal, please. We will fight back using whatever we can. We won't be going easy on you, so you'd best disable all of us before we have a chance to hurt you." Ginny turned to look at Harry. She looked almost apologetic. "I'm sure Harry will make sure that anyone with serious injuries gets treated ...quickly."
"Are you insane?" Katie hissed. "Five against twenty? It's impossible."
"What are you playing at, Ginny?" Ron asked. Behind him, the rest of the D.A. looked just as confused, but Hannah, Daphne Greengrass, and Blaise Zabini were slowly organizing the rest of the students.
"I'm showing everyone what we're really talking about in this little club of ours," Ginny answered. She turned to Harry and raised her voice. "We still have the Portkeys, don't we?"
Harry narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out what Ginny was trying to prove. "Yeah," he answered. "We haven't had to use them in ages, though. Will the still work?"
After a bit of discussion, Cho and Ron agreed that they should work just fine. "Don't use them until it's all over..." Ginny told Harry, "but... you know... Be quick about it after that."
Harry summoned a number of small cloth bags across the room and set them on the couch around his feet. The Aurors had given them to the D.A. earlier that year when they'd learned various curses to disable opponents. Inside each bag was a small cube which, once touched, would transport everyone holding it to the Hospital Wing after six seconds. They'd only ever used three of them, and two had been used the night they'd received them.
He didn't know what Ginny had planned, but how many of them could they really need? When he looked back at his friends, they were huddled together and whispering. The other students were looking curiously at each other.
Finally the smaller group turned to face the students who would be attacking them shortly. Ron and Hermione stood in front, with Katie, Cho and Ginny squeezing in behind them. They're using Ron and Hermione as shields, he thought to himself. What had Ginny planned? She must think she can defeat them all. Harry straightened his glasses and jumped off the couch to get a better view.
"We'll start as soon as you fire the first hex," Ginny announced. She was concentrating intently on the line of wizards on the other side of the room. Cho looked a little frightened, and Katie looked like she didn't want to be there. Ron and Hermione were too focused on their attackers to show any emotion.
Without warning, blue sparks erupted from one of the corners of the room. A shot of blue light raced toward the defenders, but ricocheted harmlessly into the ceiling as it struck Ron's Shield Charm. In the split second after everyone realized that the exercise had started three spells were headed back toward the attackers. Luna Lovegood and another Ravenclaw fell to the ground, completely bound together with rope. Two other students fell to the ground, seemingly unconscious.
The remaining students fired off a chorus of Disarming Spells and a few other odd hexes. The sheer number of spells made it easier for Ginny and the others. Few of the spells reached their intended target, and Ron and Hermione blocked those. A moment later, two more attackers fell, but they had begun to use their own Shield Charms. The next round, a fifth-year Hufflepuff lost his wand after being hit with a Leg-Locker from Cho and being pushed to the ground by a friend trying to dodge another spell.
Harry hadn't imagined it would go quite that well for his friends. He had to admit that it was mostly due to a lack of organization on the other students behalf. And unfortunately for his friends, that was changing.
Blaise Zabini charged out along the far wall behind a group of sixth-years, forcing Cho and Katie to try and stop them. While they focused on the new threat, Hannah Abbot was quietly muttering a spell along the opposite wall.
From behind the group of defenders, a chair jumped off its stack and sailed toward Hannah. Before it could reach her, however, it slammed into Cho Chang, sending her sprawling to the floor as the chair landed nearby. As Cho dove for her wand, Zabini saw an opening, and Banished the chair back toward Cho. It struck her arm, causing her to yelp in pain. A moment later, ropes from four different wands wrapped around her. Only four of the defenders were left.
Harry watched as Ginny turned to find Hannah, who was aiming her wand at another chair. He wasn't terribly far from her, and his mind picked her voice out of the noise.
"Fractus!"
There was a dull crack followed by a shriek as Hannah dropped her wand and slumped against the wall, holding her right upper arm. Katie paused to stare in shock at Ginny. The rest of the attackers seemed stunned for a moment as the tension in the room rose significantly. She'd said they would defend themselves however they could.
Without any orders, the attackers realized that if Ginny could use it, so could they. The next barrage of spells was much more dangerous. Without Cho, only Katie was really able to send any curses toward their attackers. Ginny was busy trying to keep Blaise from getting behind all of them.
Katie sent a chair flying into the crowd, sending a number of students to the floor. They were still conscious, but they weren't firing spells. In the break however, Harry could see three students crouched to the floor, aiming their wands to the ceiling.
"Difindo!" one shouted. The other two were simultaneous, and only a fraction of a second behind the first.
"Difindo!"
The three spells raced toward the ceiling. The first one struck the heavy chain holding an large iron lamp from the ceiling. The second one missed, but the third struck just where the first had, snapping the chain clean.
CLANG!
The lamp struck the ground in a shower of sparks mere feet behind Katie. She whirled around looking for someone to attack. There was no one there, and by time she'd turned back to face the others, a number of curses were headed her way. The first was just a Leg-Locker. The next was not so painless. A bolt of silver sparks slammed into her chest, knocking her to the ground. As she gasped for breath, her wand leapt from her limp hand, and ropes fastened themselves around her.
Blaise Zabini was running along the wall with the only three Slytherins in the D.A. They were almost behind Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. Ron saw what was happening.
"The wall! Left!" He shouted. "We have to get to the wall!"
Another group of students were making their way along the wall opposite Blaise. Ginny and Hermione both turned and ran for the wall not far from Harry. Ron put up a Shield and dashed after them. Ginny and Hermione turned as the reached the wall, but Ron stumbled over Katie's legs and fell the ground.
When he tried to get up, he found himself frozen to the floor. As Hermione quickly cast the counter-spell, a number of hexes struck Ron. Harry swallowed hard as Ron shouted in pain. He finally pulled free of the floor and limped toward Hermione and Ginny. Harry could see blood from Ron's shin soaking through his trousers.
This was getting serious. Harry looked around the room and saw a number of students lying on the ground. Some of them nursing broken bones, some tied in ropes, and some who'd simply given up, and were sitting against the wall, wincing in pain. The rest of them, were closing in on Ron, Hermione and Ginny.
Ron stood gingerly on his good leg and fired off a couple spells, eventually sending Anthony Goldstein running as he tried to pull off his flaming robes. In the confusion, Ginny raised her wand.
"Turbosus!"
A large white mist rushed out of the tip of her wand, and she pulled Ron and Hermione with her as the dashed through the other students. Before they got far, Ron shouted in pain, and fell to the ground again. A pair of Hufflepuffs saw him and took aim with their wands.
"No!" Hermione shouted as she leapt between them and Ron. Her Shield Charm blocked the first one, but the second charm broke through, and struck her in the temple. She dropped to the ground and curled up in pain, coughing and gasping for air.
Ron struggled to his feet, but too slowly. Hermione was surrounded. Ginny had moved to the corner nearest Harry, and was slashing the air in front of her with a large strand of flame coming from the tip of her wand. Three students had fallen to the ground in front of her, nursing burns and searching for their wands.
It was getting out of control. What was this supposed to teach anyone? Ron was slowly working his way over toward Ginny. Most of the remaining students were focusing on her. Ron's limp was getting worse. He took another student by tripping them and tossing their wand to the third years.
There was a loud shriek and everyone turned to find its source. Ginny was pushing herself back up with one leg.
"Fractus!" she shouted, and Blaise Zabini retreated holding his shoulder, and stumbling in pain.
There weren't many attackers left, but it was still too many. They started firing off spell after spell, hiding behind a pair of students casting Shield Charms. Ron tried to help Ginny, but he was tied up before he could reach her.
Ginny kept fighting, though. She hadn't hit anyone with any spell in some time, but she stood in her corner fighting. She'd been hit many times, yet she refused to give up.
There was another sickening crack followed by a choked scream. Ginny's right arm hung limp at her side. The students stopped celebrating a moment later when two of them dropped to the floor limply. The rest of them turned on her and unleashed a round of Clubbing Hexes.
Ginny was bent double in the corner. The last students had stopped again, waiting to see if they'd succeeded. Slowly, Ginny straightened. Blood was dripping from her nose, and her breathing was slow and rough. Slowly and shakily, she raised her wand. The other students raised theirs, and started to shout their own spells.
Harry had seen enough. With a flourish, he sent the nearest one crashing into the rest of them.
"ENOUGH!" he shouted. "IT'S OVER!" The students on the floor seemed more relieved than upset at his interference. "Fourth-years, make sure everyone gets down to the Hospital Wing. There are only seven Portkeys, so get as many people as you can on each of them. Leave one for me."
Ginny stood in the corner while Harry freed Ron, Hermione and Katie. Cho was already up and helping organize the rest of the members.
"Why'd you stop it, Harry?" Ginny asked as Hermione put Ron's leg in a splint. When Harry didn't answer, she spoke up. "Why'd you stop it, Harry? We weren't finished! Why did you interfere?"
"Because it was meaningless!" he shouted back at her. Instantly everyone's attention was drawn to them. "You were just getting hurt!"
"That's what happens when you fight back, Harry. People get hurt. What are you going to do about it? Are you going to fight even though they get hurt, or are you going to turn your backs on them, and run?"
"No!" Harry yelled. "I'll fight for them!"
"Then fight me!" Ginny challenged.
"I've already dueled against you. What's the point of doing it again?"
"Fight me now," Ginny said calmly. "Fight me right here."
"What the bloody hell is wrong with you?" Ron said from behind Harry, "You can't even walk."
Ginny gritted her teeth and held her wand in her right hand. With her other arm she pushed off from the wall and took two shaky steps forward, putting her face to face with Harry.
Harry watched as the color drained out of Ginny's face and a single tear ran down her cheek.
"You need to go to the Hospital Wing. We'll duel later," Harry said as he reached for her.
"We'll fight NOW!" shouted Ginny as dodged Harry's hand and instead shoved him away from her. He tripped over a pile of ropes and fell to floor. Ginny slowly advanced on him as he got to his feet.
"Come on, Potter," she sneered. "Are you a coward? What are you afraid of?"
"You're hurt, Ginny—"
"And when did you develop this sudden aversion to me being subjected to pain, Harry?" she said as she shoved him again. Harry stayed on his feet this time.
"I'm not going to fight you like this, Ginny. I said I was sorry. Don't do this—"
Ginny's pace increased as her eyes flashed in anger. "You'll fight me or you'll leave." Ginny waved her wand, and the door to the room burst open behind Harry. "Which is it, Harry? Are you going to give up and run away, or do you have the spine to finish it?"
"Finish what?"
"What we've started! Will you see it through? Or are you going to give up and run away at the end because you don't want to see me hurt?"
"I won't hurt you," Harry said. "Not again."
"If only you'd have thought of that a WEEK AGO, you selfish coward!" Ginny took two quick steps and shoved Harry with both her arms. He tried to keep his balance, but Ginny had been stronger than he expected. Before he knew it, he was lying on his back in the hallway. When he looked back into the room, Ginny was lying on her side, taking shaky breaths as Ron and Hermione kneeled over her. A small group of students walked over to her, and a few seconds later, the lot of them blinked away into nothingness.
Harry walked back into the room. The last group of students disappeared, leaving him with only the third- and fourth-year members, and a few of the older members who weren't seriously injured. They were all looking at him strangely, as if they didn't quite understand what they'd just seen. To be honest, Harry still didn't understand.
"I... er... I think we're done for tonight," he said to them. "I guess I should go to the Hospital Wing. You lot... I— I really don't care. Do whatever you like."
Harry walked out of the Room of Requirement. He felt numb. He'd been wrong. He didn't quite understand how or why, but he knew he'd been wrong. It wasn't about the D.A. at all. Ginny was trying to show him something. It seemed to be in his mind somewhere, but he couldn't see it yet. All he could see now was her, curled up on the floor, shaking with pain.
He pushed the image from his mind. He had to get to the Hospital Wing. Pomfrey would call Dumbledore, and Dumbledore would want to talk to him. Harry just wished he had answers to give him.
When Harry finally got down to the Hospital Wing, the full weight of what had happened hit him. Madam Pomfrey was running from bed to bed frantically distributing potions while trying to heal the worst injuries. Even Snape was there, filling bottles out of a large cauldron. He saw Harry standing in the doorway, and his face twisted into a smile.
"I will assume there is some explanation for this, Harry?" Harry spun around to find Albus Dumbledore standing before him. He looked quite serious.
"There was a D.A. meeting. We were... er... practicing."
"I see," Dumbledore said. Without another word, he swept off toward Madam Pomfrey who was busy mending Ron's leg. Harry followed slowly, trying to stay out of the way.
"Albus!" Pomfrey exclaimed when he walked up to her. "Would you please send someone to look for Harry Potter? I can scarcely imagine what he's done to himself this time, but I'd rather patch him up now than later."
"Harry is here, Poppy," Dumbledore said evenly, "and he is uninjured." Dumbledore turned to look at Harry. "Or to be correct: he is no more injured than he was this morning."
"How curious," Snape commented as he stirred a steaming cauldron. "Were you simply lucky, Potter, or were you the source of all this mayhem?"
"Well, that's one less student I have to deal with," Madam Pomfrey said as she ran off toward one of the beds surrounded by curtains.
"Harry Potter!"
Harry didn't have to look to know that the voice came from Professor McGonagall.
"What is the meaning of this?" she said as she strode toward him. "At least you had the sense to keep the younger students out of this, but this behavior is completely irresponsible! If you were a prefect, I'd take your badge! As you are not, I am a loss to imagine a punishment suitable for such gross misbehavior."
Harry felt heat rising in his face. If he'd been a prefect, he'd still have been doing the right thing and being scolded for it.
"I didn't—"
"—Think?" interrupted Professor McGonagall. "You didn't know Cracking Hexes worked on bones? Or perhaps you weren't watching while half of the students were attacking each other. Honestly, Potter, have you lost your sense? I don't care what you thought you were teaching these students, but this lack of judgment cannot go unpunished."
"I DIDN'T DO IT!" Harry shouted at her. The rest of the room became silent.
"You didn't..." McGonagall muttered as she tried to recover from the shock of being shouted at. "Are you saying they did this all themselves? Whose idea was it, then?"
"It was mine."
Harry, Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall all turned to stare in shock at Hermione. She was sitting on a nearby bed and giving Ron an angry look.
"We wanted to give everyone a demonstration of what it was really like to have to defend yourself," Hermione explained. She stood up and walked over to where Harry was standing. The bruise on her face was little more than a pinkish patch on her cheek, now.
"Was there any reason why, Miss Granger?" McGonagall asked. She seemed caught between outrage and betrayal.
"Well, yes. We... er... I'm not sure I can really explain."
"You can't explain?" McGonagall replied with an astonished look. "I'm afraid that simply unacceptable, Miss Granger."
"She can't explain because she doesn't know. Hermione only helped," Ginny said as she limped across the room. "It was my idea to do it.
"Miss Weasley! Get back to your bed!" Madam Pomfrey called out from across the room. "That leg was broken only a minute ago!"
"I'll be fine," Ginny replied over her shoulder. Madam Pomfrey didn't respond.
McGonagall was glaring at Ginny now. "And do you have a good reason for endangering so many students?" Ginny nodded and said nothing. She stared at Dumbledore for a tense moment, then at Harry.
"Perhaps we should discuss this somewhere more private?" Dumbledore suggested as he guided Ginny toward one of the side rooms. "Harry, Hermione, if you would join us."
After the door was closed Ginny limped to a chair and slowly sat down. The color was back in her face, but she had bandages around her arm. She immediately explained what they had done, and tried to briefly describe the outcome.
Dumbledore watched her closely the entire time. "And this was done for a specific purpose?"
Ginny sat back in her chair, and closed her eyes. "A lesson must be learned." Harry felt a twinge in his mind. Those were Voldemort's words. She knew they were. He'd shared them with her through the Mirrors during the summer.
Dumbledore's eyes remained locked on her face, seemingly oblivious to the source of the comment. "And there was no better way of teaching them this lesson?"
"It was not their lesson," Ginny said in dull tones.
"Stop it," Harry growled.
"Stop, what, Potter?" Ginny replied. "Stop revealing how weak you are? Stop showing you how you'll fail?"
"Stop talking like Voldemort!"
"Why? You seem to actually listen to what he says!" Ginny yelled in a dry voice. "Open your eyes and look at what's happening, Harry. Whatever else happens, you must finish it. No one else can do it. If I could do it with you, I would. So would all of us. But we can't. We all have to rely on you. If you can't..."
Ginny's face fell and looked suddenly mournful. She stood up slowly on a shaky leg, and walked to the door.
"I still believe in you, Harry Potter," Ginny said as she opened the door. "That's all I have left. I'm afraid I've lost everything else. Even you." She turned and quietly slipped out of the door. Harry sat through an uncomfortable silence as everyone stared at him.
"I hope you have learned something from this, Harry," Dumbledore said as he followed McGonagall out of the room.
Harry sat down heavily. "Yes. I think I have." Though in his mind he wasn't sure if he understood everything Ginny had tried to say. Hermione said nothing, but just smiled at Harry and waited for him to leave.
He couldn't do it alone. He simply couldn't. If it came down to just him, he knew he'd fail. How could he fight without anything to fight for? How could he make Ginny understand that?
Author's Notes:
I want to thank everyone who kept reading after the last couple chapters. I did warn you, didn't I? It was hard to hear all the reviews about how happy Ginny and Harry made people knowing that was coming up. Of course, after all of you were hoping for some sort of reprieve. There is something like that coming up eventually. I'll take a moment to respond to some comments, and I'll get back to that.
Overall, from the reviews I get the impression that it was an enjoyable set of chapters, but that I have a sick mind for doing all sorts of things. It's perfectly understandable. Again, this was supposed to be Voldemort's plan, and he's trying to kill Harry. It wouldn't do to have Voldemort dislocate Ginny's shoulder. That's not nearly enough pain, and it's not nearly devious enough.
To rdprice29:
Thanks for the reviews, and the validation of my plot hints. I'm glad someone is following them. Perhaps you can convince Melindaleo that it's worth getting past the Harry/Hermione kisses. I have to admit that reading through your reviews just kills me. What happened to Ginny in Chapter 13 (Diagon Alley) doesn't look so bad now does it? Course, after Chapter 41, you hoped for them to be able to recover, not knowing that I was going to toss Chapter 42 at you. Now, you're demanding they get back together. Don't worry about that.
You still have other things to worry about.
To Doffy99:
I think there is no greater compliment to a writer (of anything: stories, songs, poems) to have a reader react emotionally rather than intellectually to writing. Its one thing to understand what is written, but its completely different to have a reader feel what is written. I'm happy I got there. I only had to mercilessly torture the main characters to get there. Splendid.
And no. I'm not JK Rowling. She'd be in serious danger if she did any of this. As for editing, I'm trying, but I'm only one guy. I've lost all my beta readers. I've edited it a couple times now, but there's only so much I can do.
To Regulus:
I agree. I honestly figured that no one would really ever read this, and that it would get lost in the mountains of other stories. I'm glad you found it.
For wyadra:
I think everything should eventually be explained in "Falling" (Chapter 45, a pivotal chapter), but there are parts of this chapter related to Ginny's behavior at the D.A. meeting that wyadra was confused about. In an attempt to prevent others from falling victim to the same problem, let me clear some things up here:
Ginny didn't stop the fight. Harry did. Ginny called Harry a coward because of that (sort of). I admit that the theme and meaning here is subtle, but I'm trying to give you one of the major themes of the book in small pieces. If I had Hermione explain it all, where would the fun be? So, to be clear: Ginny wanted Harry to let the fight continue. She wanted to keep fighting until it wasn't possible anymore. That was the point of her lesson and it was her plan from the start. Harry got in the way of that. He stopped the figtht because he didn't want her hurt any more. More importantly, he stopped the lesson because he didn't want her hurt any more. It was the latter which angered Ginny, since it signalled his failure to understand what she was trying to teach him.
This is when that first chapter might start getting a little more interesting... I can almost guarantee that no one understood the real message behind the dream.
Does that help anyone? If you find this part confusing, please let me know and I'll mark it off as a part which needs a little re-working for the next edition.
Moving on...
So, the other good news is that the story is now a whole chapter longer. I'm sure that's what everyone was hoping for. An even longer story. Well, to make everyone happy, I didn't really lengthen the story (yet). I just split Chapter 45 (which had been about 80k on disk) into two chapters. The first one is still "Falling", but I haven't thought of a name for the second. I was considering "Keep Reading, Melindaleo" or perhaps "There's only four more chapters it cant get much worse". I had named it something else, but it gave too much away.
Anyway, to celebrate this happy event, I'll give you all a teaser. Now remember, this is a teaser for Chapter 46:
"Of course," Hermione said, sounding almost annoyed, "that's why I sent Ginny to fetch that book. It isn't even up there. I just returned itto the library. It should give us plenty of time." Hermione stood and walked to Harry. She put one hand on his shoulder.
"Time for what?" he said.
Hermione rolled her eyes and sighed, "Harry..."
"Wait a minute," Harry said backing away. He looked behind him at the stairs to the girls dorms. They were empty and silent. "Who exactly are you starting fancy?"
"Honestly, Harry. You're almost as bad as Ron," Hermione laughed. Her eyes stared directly into Harry's as her hands nimbly worked down the front of her robes.
"Does this help?" she asked smugly.
Wow. That's so horribly wrong. I should do that more often. Just remember my promise, and keep reading. The Harry/Hermione anti-fans out there shouldn't stop reading. You just have to trust me. If you're at all worried, just ask yourself: Do I honestly think that the same guy who wrote Chapters 41 and 42 is the kind of guy to suddenly turn the story into an romantic drama? After having Harry almost torture Ginny, do you really think the climax of the story is really going to include a new romance for Harry? Shouldn't you be spending more time imagining the worst possible outcome after the teaser text?
I'll try to post more soon. I hope to post through Chapter 46 or 47 soon.