Chapter 19: For Now
Harry got a good night's sleep, and felt almost normal the next morning. Letha turned up with his breakfast, and to tell him he was due to be released the next day.
"Why not today?" asked Harry grumpily. "I feel fine."
"Keep complaining and you'll stay in that bed until we levitate you down to the train, Harry Potter, and then you'll miss the end-of-year feast."
"I think I'd rather," said Harry through a mouthful of porridge. "Slytherin won the house cup, didn't they?"
"Yes, but you'll fix that next year, I'm sure." Letha gave him a severe look. "No more hexing people until you learn how to do Memory Charms on them afterwards."
Harry almost sprayed milk over his blankets.
"Speaking of Memory Charms, we've been going through Lockhart's things," said Letha, handing Harry a napkin. "It seems you and Ron and Hagrid aren't alone. He kept a journal which brags in great detail about the wizards and witches he's Obliviated over the years – usually with some incident or other from one of his books attached to the names."
"So he never really did any of those things."
"No, he never did. I doubt many people will mourn for him."
Harry made a rude noise.
"Precisely."
"Who's going to teach Defense next year, then?"
"Oh, Albus will find someone." Letha smiled knowingly.
Harry looked at his Pack-mother. "Since when d'you call him that?"
"Since a few days ago, when he asked us to. So don't even think about trying to get me in trouble with him, you little monster." Letha dipped her finger into the jam and smudged the end of Harry's nose.
The rest of the day passed pleasantly. Madam Pomfrey grudgingly allowed Harry's friends to stay in the hospital wing, on the understanding that they were not to overexcite him or make a great deal of noise. One of the Pack-parents had brought the Wizard's Monopoly set from the Den, so they played that for several hours, making illegal alliances when they got close to bankruptcy and eventually all teaming up against Ron, who still managed to hold his own for several turns until landing on "Hogsmeade", which had three broomsticks on it, the turn after he'd hit "Diagon Alley", which had a shed.
Hagrid came by as well and a bit tearfully apologized to Harry for putting him in harm's way. Harry pointed out that Hagrid couldn't have known Lockhart was working for Voldemort, shocking Hagrid out of his crying fit with the name, and after that the visit was quite pleasant.
After Madam Pomfrey gave him a final checkup the next morning, Harry was allowed to leave the hospital wing. Ron turned up with Harry's day clothes and walked him back to Gryffindor Tower, which Harry wasn't sure if he found funny or annoying. "Did you think I'd forget how to get there?"
"Just thought you might want some company."
"All right."
The common room was, thankfully, nearly empty when they got there, since almost everyone else was outside. Harry and Ron went up to their dorm and started packing their trunks, which kept them busy until lunchtime.
They met the rest of their friends in the Great Hall for lunch, and Harry tried, mostly successfully, to ignore the whispers and stares he was garnering. Still, he ate quickly and returned to Gryffindor Tower to spend the afternoon finishing his packing and relaxing with Draco and Ron, chatting about Quidditch and other topics of interest.
The whispering was worse, if anything, when Harry and the others went down to the feast that night. The room went silent as soon as they walked in, and people started standing up to look at them. Fortunately, Professor Dumbledore stood up almost as soon as they'd sat down, bringing the conversations to a halt.
"Another year finished," said Dumbledore cheerfully. "And quite a year it has been, too. I dare to hope that some of you have learned a few things over the course of our terms of learning... but you have the whole summer ahead of you in which to forget as much as you care to."
A ripple of laughter went through the school.
"I do believe the House Cup needs awarding, then," said Dumbledore, waving to the large, golden cup which stood on a stand in front of the teachers' table. "Gryffindor stands in fourth place with regards to house points, with three hundred two; Hufflepuff in third place with three hundred forty-two; Ravenclaw in second, with four hundred thirty-six; and as our decorations indicate, Slytherin House, with four hundred seventy-two points, in first place..."
He had to stop for the enormous cheers which rose from the Slytherin table. Draco rolled his eyes and Ron made a gagging noise.
"Yes, good work, Slytherin," said Dumbledore over the cheering. "However, I have a few last-minute points to award, as is my right as Headmaster."
Harry noticed Snape's smile, the most genuine one he'd ever seen the Potions Master wearing, beginning to fade a little towards the man's more usual scowl.
"First, for Mr. Draco Black, for successfully defeating a fearsome opponent, forty points to Gryffindor."
"That puts us even with Hufflepuff!" whispered Hermione excitedly as the table erupted in cheers. Draco looked as if he didn't know whether to smile or hide under the table.
"Second, for Mr. Ronald Weasley, for excellent and intelligent use of strategic planning, forty points to Gryffindor."
The Gryffindors cheered even louder as Fred and George leaned over to deliver hearty slaps on the back to Ron, who looked like a victim of shellshock.
"Third, for Miss Hermione Granger-Lupin, for conquering a deficiency common to many of our kind, forty points to Gryffindor."
Hermione stared at the Headmaster, who smiled politely at her. "What deficiency?" she hissed to Harry out the corner of her mouth over the sounds of celebration up and down the table.
"I think he means that thing you said about logic..." Harry didn't have time to say anything else, since Dumbledore was about to speak again.
"Fourthly, to Mr. Harry Potter..." The Hall went absolutely silent. "For sheer nerve and surpassing courage... fifty points to Gryffindor."
The sound of the cheers seemed to raise the invisible rafters of the Great Hall. "We're tied with Slytherin!" shouted Draco over the noise. "We'll both win the cup!"
Dumbledore waited patiently for the Gryffindors to finish. "Finally," he said. "Facing our enemies is certainly an act of bravery. So, too, is facing our friends, trying to keep them from doing something we believe is wrong. Ten points are hereby awarded to Mr. Neville Longbottom."
The roof might indeed fall in, Harry thought, on his feet and cheering at the top of his voice, and he wouldn't much care if it did. Neville was chalk-white and mouthing the word "Me?" as the Gryffindors mobbed him, chanting his name. Even the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were cheering for him – or maybe they were just cheering for the end of Slytherin's winning streak. Harry didn't care.
Smiling serenely, Dumbledore clapped his hands, turning the green and silver decorations scarlet and gold and changing the Slytherin serpent to a Gryffindor lion, provoking a fresh wave of cheers. A wave of his wand levitated the House Cup into Professor McGonagall's waiting arms. Harry watched the other teachers shaking her hand once she'd put it down, congratulating her. He thought Snape's smile wouldn't have looked out of place on a torture victim.
Draco poked him and motioned to the Slytherin table. Several girls, including Pansy Parkinson, were in tears, Crabbe and Goyle looked confused, Dursley was staring up at Dumbledore with his mouth open, and Nott was glaring straight at them. Harry and Draco glanced at each other, then, in perfect unison, lifted their right hands and waggled their fingers in a snide little wave.
As the food appeared on the tables and everyone got down to the business of eating, Harry decided this night ranked as the second-best of his life.
Nothing, of course, could ever top the Pack's first night of freedom.
"We'll owl you, Neville," promised Hermione as the friends waited in line at Platform Nine and Three Quarters the next day. "And the Pack will talk to your gran. I'm sure she'll let you come and stay for a while."
"I'd like that." Neville was still a bit dazed by being the hero of the hour, but all in all, Hermione thought, he was taking it rather well.
They passed through the barrier. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Theodore Nott and Dudley Dursley, off to one side talking to a small man in a cloak whom Hermione assumed was Theodore's father. As she watched, the man held out his hand, and Dursley took it and shook it.
Odd. Why would a pureblood, a Death Eater, shake the hand of a Muggleborn?
Maybe he's just being nice to his son's friend...
She shook her head and filed the sight away in her mind to think about later. Right now, it was time to go home.
"Father, this is Dudley Dursley," said Theodore. "I think he may be of some use to us."
The End
(for now)
(A/N: Guess what, everyone... it's break time! That's right, I'm going on a LwoD break! Having finished all the pre-Hogwarts stuff and year one, without ever really taking a break, I feel I deserve one. Not going to say how long it will be, because I don't know. So don't go getting all steamed up, and remember that threats do not generally encourage me to write!
I fully intend to continue writing this story – I have lots of stuff planned for year two, year three, and beyond, all the way to year seven – so don't get too worried. I WILL be back. Promise. So cheerio and all that, and please don't forget to review – and if you have questions, now's the time to ask them!)
