/I don't own anything you recognize in this story. /

Chapter Ten

The next several days suddenly seemed to be going fast for Harry. The Quidditch season was coming up fast, so the Quidditch practices were coming in full speed. Between homework and the practices, it seemed to Harry that he had barely time to catch his breath before he was launched into something else.

When September melted into October, the new month found Harry bending over his Potions homework in the library. It was a particularly difficult lesson and Harry really wanted to get this piece of homework finished. Partially, he wanted to impress Snape, though no matter how hard he worked on the paper, he knew that Snape would just call him a know-it-all and want to be like Hermione who knew all the answers.

"Hello, Harry," a voice said behind him and Harry nearly jumped in surprise when he saw that it was Cho Chang, his old crush from last year.

Harry grinned weakly and made some room to allow Cho to sit down next to him. When Cho sat down and gave Harry her usual sweet smile, Harry felt something inside him twinge even though he knew that he no longer cared for her in that way. Or did he? Nothing seemed certain anymore.

"What are you doing here in the library? I was watching you for a couple hours now and you have barely moved a muscle," Cho commented.

"I, uh, was trying to finish my Potions assignment. Snape gave a unusually difficult assignment today and I really wanted to do good on it, so I came down here," Harry said, inwardly beating himself up for being stupid.

"You're still taking Potions? I dropped that one after my fifth year, because it didn't pertain to what I wanted to do in life," Cho said, her smile still painted across her face.

"Well, I want to become an Auror, and that was one of the recommendations to become one," Harry said.

"I hear that people who want to become Aurors have to be in a bunch of advanced classes," Cho commented.

"Well, yeah, basically. I have Advanced Transfiguration, Advanced Potions, Advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts, plus Care of Magical Creatures, which obviously there's no advanced class for, really.

Cho nodded knowingly. "I'm going into Muggle Studies and banking. And possibly have a job in the Ministry. That's really all I want to do after Hogwarts. Nothing major like an Auror, but I do say that it's a gallant job to have, plus you'll get a lot of money."

"Oh, no doubt about that one. But that's not why I'm going into it. It just sounds interesting, so I want to get into it," Harry commented.

"So what are your friends Ron and Hermione wanting to be?" Cho said, continuing with the pleasantries.

"Well, Ron wants to be an Auror, too, and so does Hermione, but she's got other things on her list that she wants to do but I can't really remember what she said she was considering," Harry replied, wondering where this conversation was going.

Cho nodded. "That's good. But hey, I came over here to ask you if you wanted to Hogsmeade next weekend. They're having a Hogsmeade trip then," Cho said.

Go to Hogsmeade with her? Harry's stomach flip-flopped. He remembered all too well about the one time he went there with her on Valentine's Day, which basically added in disaster when he told her that he had to go meet Hermione in the Three Broomsticks.

"I thought you were going out with that Michael what's-his-face? What happened to him?" Harry blurted out before he could stop himself.

"Well, if you don't want to, I could easily bring him along with me, after all, he is my boyfriend," Cho said, standing up, "I just thought that you would like to go along as friends."

"Hey, Cho, wait! I would really like to go with you to Hogsmeade next weekend, I was just a little surprised that you wanted me to, is all. At the end of last year, I thought you couldn't have given me two rats tails. Please forgive me," Harry exclaimed jumping up from his seat.

Cho turned back around and smiled. "I thought you were going to say that. Next weekend then."

"Yeah," Harry said as Cho walked out the library, "next weekend."

It took Harry several minutes to shake himself out of his current state and go back to his Potions assignment. Imagine a beautiful girl like her wanting to go with the famous Harry Potter. But who wouldn't? After all, he was famous and anyone wanted to be with him. This was something he had to tell Ron and Hermione.

Several hours later, Harry packed up and headed back to the common room. It was nine o'clock now and 6th years had to be in their dormitories by ten. As he walked back to the common room, he heard two people arguing around the corner.

"…He is not ready, he's only a teenager."

"He cannot be locked up and asked to stay inside while everyone else can go as they please. No one likes being held captive. You know how I hated that, like I was some kind of animal that couldn't take care of himself."

"Yes, but it's all for his own good."

Harry stopped short. What were they talking about? He had a strange feeling that it was about him, who else would they be keeping an eye out for and to keep from going outside for safety? Harry quickly walked around the corner to find Sirius and McGonagall standing at the corner of the hallway, looking shocked to find Harry standing there.

"Potter, what are you doing here?" McGonagall asked, her eyes narrowing down her face, "you should be up in your common room right now."

"Not until ten, professor," Harry said nervously, hoping that he wasn't about to get in trouble with a detention.

"It's dangerous for you to be out right now, Harry. Anything could be worse than you out here if Voldemort comes," Sirius said sternly, making Harry jump in surprise. Why would Sirius suddenly go on McGonagall's side instead of his?

"Professors, I mean no disrespect, but I don't think anything's going to happen while Dumbledore's around," Harry said.

"Potter, you are forgetting the end of your fourth year. Please think rationally that anything can happen," McGonagall said.

Harry's face suddenly looked sad and serious. How could he not remember the end of his fourth year when the Goblet of Fire turned into a Portkey and where Cedric was killed, Voldemort returned and Harry narrowly escaped with his life? Where Harry had found out that Professor Moody was an imposter?

"How could I forget, professor?" Harry asked, "when one of the worst things that could happen to me in my life happened to me at the end of my fourth year?"

McGonagall's face suddenly softened. She quickly gripped Harry's shoulder before letting her arm fall back to her side again. Rarely did she find any signs of sympathy to any one of her students.

"Yes, of course. How could you ever forget such horrors in your life? I'm sorry, Harry, just when you were memory of it was almost fading…" McGonagall sighed. "Go back up to your dormitory, Harry. You won't be in trouble for an old woman's worries."

Harry nodded and saying goodnight to both Sirius and McGonagall, headed up to his dormitory. So all of his suspicions were right, all the teachers wanted to keep him under their lock and key so Voldemort would have a harder chance at getting at him.

Reaching his dormitory, Harry flopped onto his bed and looked up at the ceiling, thinking about everything that had happened. Finally, after a couple of hours of restless tossing, Harry finally fell asleep, with worries that weighed him down like no other.