Malfoy smirked, zigzagging his wand in front of him and throwing up a shield spell. After Harry's spell dissipated, the blonde rushed towards Harry, sending out a blasting curse.
Harry ducked, but quickly realized his mistake. With Malfoy rushing him, this left Harry wide open to attack. So he did the only thing he could. Slamming the tip of his wand into the floor, Harry growled, "Umbra Subsisto!"
The shadow coming off of his wand shot out towards Malfoy, who only realized what was happening a fraction of a second too late. The wand's shadow had connected with his own which had, in turn, rendered him immobile.
Panting heavily, Harry shot the Slytherin a lopsided grin. "Can't do anything to me now, can you?"
"You can't hold the spell forever, Potter!" Spat Malfoy. "That spell drains the user's energy too fast! And once you've been weakened enough, the spell will break and so will you!"
"Big words, Malfoy. But I haven't seen anything to back the claims up. You're actually pretty slow. I suppose it all comes from being waited on hand and foot. I'm amazed you aren't as fat as your goon squad over there, actually. Did Mummy pay a mediwitch to remove the fat from your body?" Harry taunted.
Malfoy gritted his teeth in a rage, unable to move to retaliate.
Unfortunately, Malfoy had been right about the spell. Harry could already feel its effects. It was meant to halt a target so someone else could properly deal with it. It also wasn't meant to be used on humans. It was an old hunting spell that Harry had found in one of his books. Harry wasn't even sure it would work against other wizards. But, while it drained his energy, it also allowed him to catch his breath. Despite his taunts, Malfoy proved to be surprisingly nimble.
It also let him think. And that was what he most needed to do.
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
"Harry..."
"Nn... go 'way."
"Haaaarrryyyyy..."
"Bugger off...m'sleep."
"Get your lazy arse outta bed, Harry!"
And so it came to be that Harry was forced from a very nice dream by Tonks. He found himself on the floor in a tangle of bedding. Tonks, still in her pajamas, was glaring down at him.
"Mornin' to you too, Nymmy." Harry grumbled.
"Oh, be quiet. Look, we're gonna be late for breakfast if you don't get a move on! The Dueling Club is gonna be tonight, and rumor has it they're already starting to plan for stuff. I wanna be there if Lockhart blows himself up or something" Tonks stated.
"I'm moving, I'm moving. Get outta here. M'not changing in front of you." Harry scowled, removing himself from his bedsheets and rubbing his lower back. "Good thing I'm sturdier than I look... Ice water on my face would've sufficed, Tonks."
"Yeah, but it wouldn't have been as amusing. Need a hand up?"
"Breakfast in bed would be nicer, but... I suppose a hand up will have to do."
Tonks started around the bed from her spot on the opposite side. But as she drew near, something happened that Harry couldn't remember happening before.
Tonks tripped.
And, as he hadn't gotten back to his feet yet, Harry was unfortunate enough to become a makeshift airbag for her to land on.
It just so happened that Solieyu chose that particular moment to return to the dorm room, rubbing his head and muttering about foul-tasting potions. When he entered, he heard a bunch of odd noises coming from one side of Harry's bed, which seemed to have been hit by a small whirlwind of some form. Raising an eyebrow and ignoring the throbbing pain in his head for the moment, Solieyu cautiously walked further into the room.
It was the first time that either Tonks or Harry had ever heard him laugh so hard.
Both Ravenclaws had froze the moment Tonks fell on Harry, both of them blushing. As per usual, Harry had lit up like a Christmas tree and began stuttering again, asking if Tonks was alright. For her part, Tonks was just trying to get back up without falling over again or making the situation worse. But, of course, the situation made itself worse as Solieyu entered and found them practically on top of one another, still in their pajamas.
Once he had helped extract Tonks and got Harry upright, Solieyu promptly asked, with as straight an expression as he could force, what on earth he had walked in on. This led Harry to stare down at the floor while Tonks shuffled her feet and explained what had been going on to their friend.
Once she was finished, Solieyu was chuckling again and shaking his head.
"Get out of here and down to breakfast. Both of you. I've got an awful headache and all this laughing only made it worse... I'm going to take a nap, I think..." Said the long-haired boy.
"Yeah, alright. Harry, I'll meet you down in the common room, alright?" Tonks said, glancing aside at Harry, who nodded a reply. She then got up and, carefully, made her way from the room.
Once she was gone, Harry raised his head, only to find Solieyu staring at him, looking highly amused. "Is there anything you two aren't telling me?" He asked.
Harry threw a pillow at him.
Solieyu, after flinging the pillow back, promptly got into his own bed and stretched out. But after Harry had finished changing and was about to leave, he could've sworn hearing the other boy mutter something that contained the word 'soft.'
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
The day passed by in a surprisingly-quick manner. But as the day progressed, something was visibly bothering Harry. Malfoy kept shooting him looks that were somehow more pompous than the usual lot. Given what was being set up for that evening, Harry had a pretty good idea of what to expect. Somehow, in some form or another, he was going to be facing off against the blonde. Facing him in what was, for all intents and purposes, a proper dueling arena.
Nervous though he was, Harry couldn't help but feel something swell deep within himself. It was a chance to loose all that had been pent up inside of him since the two had first crossed paths. Amongst other things. If there was anything that Harry needed at that point in time, it was an outlet for all the frustration he had been experiencing. His 'home' life, his lovable, if somewhat bizarre, selection of friends, his parents' murderer facing him the previous year, a vindictive arse of a Potions Master...
And poor, stupid Malfoy was going to be the outlet? Harry felt sorry for the boy, as he felt that Malfoy was the type to buy his way through life. The best the Slytherin could do would be to throw some low-class Dark Arts spells at him. And he had done quite a bit of reading on that field of magic since being introduced to the wizarding world. Harry had read up on plenty of counterspells, shields, and the like, as well. But all the theory in the world wouldn't help on a practical application. Once the duel started, it was a think-on-your-feet scenario.
Harry wasn't worried, per se. After all, he had defeated the dregs of Voldemort a handful of months prior. It was more that he'd be watched by the whole of the school, faculty included, that bugged Harry. He didn't like groups. He preferred solitude and quiet. If he could effectively get away with it, he would've been perfectly happy with living a pacifistic lifestyle. So, of course, fate had thrown a monkey wrench into his plans. Fate had a way of doing that to him.
Still, something deep inside of him was sounding off an array of alarms. Whatever was going to happen that night wasn't going to be normal...In any sense of the word.
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
"Damn. I owe you five galleons." Harry scowled, watching as Professor Snape stepped into the dueling arena that had been set up in the Great Hall. Harry likened it to an extended sumo ring that he had seen in a picture book once. Only this ring had an invisible barrier that kept spells from flying off into the crowd and castle.
Tonks giggled, commandeering one of Harry's arms as she leaned in to whisper, "I toooold yoooou. No justice in the world that sweet, huh?"
"So I was wrong. Once." Harry sniffed, turning his nose up. This caused Tonks to giggle again.
Lockhart didn't seem phased by the excited murmurs that had erupted through the gathered student body. Egotistic as ever, the Defense Professor thought they were obviously talking about him. He was right, in a way. Most of the students were busy discussing what kind of spell Snape was planning to use to deposit the smarmy man firmly on his backside. So strong was the general male opinion of Lockhart, even Gryffindors and Slytherins were talking quietly with each other. Most likely to place bets.
Of course, there was always the worried-looking mob of girls looking from Snape to Lockhart. The Defense Professor's fanclub members were few and far between, however. Despite this, Lockhart grinned all around him before speaking.
"Now then! Can everybody...see me? Can you all hear me? You there, off in the back. No need to be shyyy... Come now, step on forward! That's the way! Well, as I'm sure you've all noticed by now, Professor Snape has volunteered to help me with my little demonstration." Said the man, somehow managing to speak and grin at the same time.
"Snape volunteered? Fat chance. I say Dumbledore made him. Probably told him it'd be good for him to exercise more or something." Tonks whispered, causing Harry to bite back a grin of his own.
"Don't worry, you'll get your Potions Master back in one piece!" Continued Lockhart, ignoring the narrowing of Snape's eyes and the obvious, seething hiss of breath being exhaled. "First, I've decided to show you all how to properly disarm someone..."
"Expelliarmus." Harry mumbled a few seconds before Lockhart himself announced the spell name.
"Been studying?" Asked Tonks.
"Quite. I just have this feeling I'm going to be fighting Malfoy in here tonight" Harry grumped. "I just th--WOW, that looked painful!"
Harry's exclamation wasn't the only one to go up as Snape smoothly managed to not only disarm Lockhart, but also throw the man back and onto his hind end. Lockhart actually bounced slightly when he landed.
For quite possibly the first time ever, Harry felt like saying something good about Severus Snape. It was very surreal.
"Snape didn't even look like he was trying!" Tonks said, bouncing slightly.
"Yeah. It was pretty good." Harry agreed. "Coulda used that kind of help against Quirrellmort, but... Whatever. Snape putting the Golden Dandy in his place almost makes up for his utter uselessness back then."
Tonks rolled her eyes.
Harry was about to say something else, but it was then he heard his name get called. By Lockhart. To get into the ring and duel.
"Damn, I hate being right." Muttered Harry under his breath. Tonks disengaged from his arm and patted him on the back as he walked towards Lockhart. Glancing aside as he went, Harry saw Snape plucking Malfoy out of a group of Slytherin boys.
"I really hate being right." He scowled.
"What was that, Harry?" Lockhart asked, smiling jovially down at him.
"Nothing, sir." Harry replied, forcing his tone to be as polite as possible. "What am I supposed to do here? Just duel with him?"
"Yes, I thought the students could benefit more from seeing some of their own duel than watching us..." Said Lockhart. Harry felt that Lockhart needed to limp off and magic some sort of healing charm at his butt, but kept his mouth shut on the matter.
"Anything goes?" Harry asked, locking eyes with Malfoy.
Chuckling, Lockhart slapped Harry on the back and declared, "Use anything you'd like as long as it isn't illegal. Though I doubt I have to worry about that from a pair of second years, now do I?"
"Yeah." Harry gritted out.
"Well, off you go to it, then! Give us a good showing!" Lockhart cried, hobbling out of the ring as quickly as he could.
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
A few quick, furious spells to start the battle and that had been it. The two fought like battle-hardened enemies that wanted nothing more than to see the other laying face down. Lockhart attempted to stop the duel at one point, but a rogue spell from Malfoy had set one of his pantlegs on fire.
"Getting tired?" Malfoy asked, an almost purring tone to his voice.
"Never felt better." Harry lied, smiling pleasantly at the other boy. This only served to anger the Slytherin, however. It was all quite amusing. And if Harry hadn't been feeling so utterly run-down, he would have laughed at how hard Malfoy was struggling against the spell.
Harry had only been kneeling for five minutes, but it felt like an eternity. His limbs were starting to throb, they were in so much pain. But if there was one thing Harry was familiar with, it was pain. He had endured so much worse at the Dursleys. The numerous beatings they had given him over the years made the current, spell-induced agony seem like a pinprick. Dudley and his gang nearly breaking his nose when he was five? Nothing. Vernon nearly breaking his neck after shoving him down the stairs? Nothing. Being locked outside in the frigid, winter weather at Christmastime? Nothing.
As his eyes unfocused and Harry began taking in all of the memories he had tried to keep locked again, something glinted behind his glasses. Malfoy was completely caught offguard when Harry suddenly released the shadow-hold and send a small barrage of random spells his way. He got caught in the side by a jelly-legs spell and was sent wobbling to and fro like a drunkard. This allowed Harry to barrel into the blonde like a freight train, sending him tumbling to the ground.
From the sidelines, Tonks noticed the change and, seeing that Harry wasn't acting normal, called out, "Harry! Bedsheets!"
Harry's train derailed. Which was unfortunate, since a moment later, one of Malfoy's slicing curses plowed into his right shoulder. Harry let out a short cry and clamped a hand to his bleeding shoulder, glaring at the Slytherin, who had reversed the effects of the jelly-legs spell and had since gotten to his feet.
"Pay attention, Potty. Don't want to fall to pieces on me, would you?" Taunted Malfoy, smiling in an entirely patronizing way.
Both stood silent, unmoving, save for the hitched breath coming from Harry. Then, almost as one, the next volley of spells was launched.
"LACER!" Cried Malfoy.
"INVIDIA EXIMO!" Roared Harry.
Harry's spell sliced through the second set of slicing curses and struck Malfoy dead in the chest. The spell, fueled by anger, kicked Malfoy's body back and into the magical barrier protecting the dueling arena.
But Malfoy was quick to his feet, though his breathing looked incredibly labored to Harry at that point. With a strange set of movements, Malfoy growled out, "Serpensortia!"
A huge cobra shot from the tip of Malfoy's wand, landing in the arena somewhere between the two of them. A gasp was sent up from the crowd. Some of the girls closest to the ring cried out.
The snake slithered forward, testing the air with its tongue. Its head bobbed back and forth as if taking its surroundings in. And then, slowly, it rose up and locked eyes with Harry. Its mouth opened again and, in an act that struck Harry in a very sort of deja-vu way, SPOKE to him.
":Who are you? Where am I? Answer:"
Harry blinked down at the snake, briefly wondering if he had lost enough blood from the slicing curse to be hallucinating. His hesitation caused the cobra to lurch forward, hissing (which translated to cursing as Harry heard it) violently. Without thinking, Harry opened his mouth and replied, ":My name is Harry... You're at a wizarding school...:"
Someone screamed. Harry jerked his head in the direction to see Melissa Tracer, a fourth year Ravenclaw and one of their Quidditch team's Chasers, staring at him with wide eyes. She wasn't the only one. Most people there, staff included, was staring at him strangely. Malfoy looked downright horrified. Snape looked. confused - intrigued, almost.
":How do I get out of here?:" Hissed the cobra, startling Harry out of his look-about.
":...I don't know. That guy over there is who brought you here, though.:" Replied Harry, nodding towards Malfoy.
At the same time Harry looked back up at the boy in question, the snake's head twisted around to do the same thing. This seemed to unnerve Malfoy to the point of taking a few steps back. His backpeddling increased when the cobra turned on him and began slithering back at him, hissing up a storm.
But before he could reach the terrified blonde, a burst of magic cut through the barrier, striking the snake and causing it to burn up on the spot. Snape had his wand out, though his eyes were still aimed towards Harry. The magical barrier had obviously been dissolved.
But aside from Malfoy's sudden, frightful retreat from the arena, no one moved. He jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Solieyu was standing behind him, an unreadable expression on his face. Leaning in closer, he whispered, "We need to talk. NOW."
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
"What's the big deal? What happened back there?" Harry asked, once he, Tonks, and Solieyu were all up in their hidden tower.
"You really don't know?" Solieyu asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Do I LOOK like I know?" Replied Harry, starting to feel very cross. It was as if something important had flown over his head.
"Harry... Did you know you were a Parselmouth?" Tonks' quiet voice asked.
"A what?"
"Honestly, with all the reading you do, I'm surprised you don't already know" Tonks said, exchanging a worried glance with Solieyu.
"It's a person who can talk to snakes." Said the long-haired boy.
"...So what? I bet loads of other people--" Harry began.
"No." Solieyu said, cutting him off. "Not loads. Not even a few. It's very rare. Rarer than Metamorphmagi are."
"Wonderful. Another hidden talent." Groused Harry. "But... what's the big deal? So what if I can talk to snakes?"
"Harry..." Tonks began, walking over and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Salazar Slytherin was a Parselmouth. One of the most famous... So was Voldemort..."
Something clicked in Harry's brain. He looked from Tonks to Solieyu, then slumped, groaning. "And since I just told that snake where he was and how he got there, everyone probably thinksI'm the guy that bloody writing was talking about."
"Probably." Solieyu agreed, shaking his head. "...And is that what you said? All we could hear was you hissing back at the snake. Frankly, it was somewhat disturbing."
"Yeah... Your voice sent chills down my spine." Tonks added, shivering at the memory.
"Sounded like English to me, though." Harry said. "Hell, the cobra sounded like it was speaking English... ...Guess this explains the zoo incident, though..."
"The zoo incident?" Asked Solieyu.
"Um... Yeah... Last year, not long after meeting Tonks, I got dragged along to the zoo with my 'family' and one of my cousin's friends. I... Well, there was an incident involving a snake and disappearing glass... Of course, I got blamed for it. Never occured to me that a talking snake was odd, really... It just wanted to be set free..."
Harry slumped down to the floor, sighing. "This whole day's been a mess."
Tonks sat down on one side of him, Solieyu on the other.
Harry laughed mirthlessly. "I can't even imagine what George must have been thinking when he heard me. Bet he wants to beat me black and blue."
"I dunno." Tonks said, leaning against his healing shoulder. Solieyu had applied a basic charm to help close the wound. He would still have to go to Madam Pomfrey later, but it would do in a pinch. "He doesn't seem the type to go with whatever everyone else is. I'm sure he'd think it was odd, but I doubt he thinks you're the one that petrified Fred..."
"From what you told me, he didn't seem very angry at you when you found him" Solieyu added.
"Yeah, but that was before. I wonder if he's looking for me..." Harry wondered.
"Want to go see? You need to properly get that shoulder looked at, anyway." Tonks said, tugging Harry's clothes out to get a look at the cut. "I oughta deck that pompous jerk."
"Which? Lockhart or Malfoy?" Harry asked.
"Both."
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
It was a few hours after supper had been served. Harry was pondering whether to go out and enjoy the fresh, night air or to retire to Ravenclaw Tower and curl up with a good book. He wandered the halls to test waters with the other students, as well. Sure enough, popular opinion seemed to squarely peg him as the Heir of Slytherin. Which was absolutely absurd, since he hated Slytherin and was a Ravenclaw besides.
Still, logic was never something that was spread about with rumors, so Harry tried not to let it bug him.
What did bug him was the strange look George Weasley had given him when he had approached the redhead en route to the hospital wing. Harry wanted to make sure that George didn't think like the rest of the idiotic masses at Hogwarts. The two talked as they made their way upstairs and, to Harry's relief, George thought the rumors were a load of rubbish, as well. After a visit to see how Fred was doing - still no change - Harry had left feeling much more somber.
It was this, more than anything else, that finally decided what he was to do with the rest of the night. And it was in his final resting spot that Tonks found him hours later, gazing out at the stars while leaning on their tower's railing.
"Hey." She said, approaching and moving to lean beside him.
"Hm? Oh, hi... Just get here?" Harry said, snapping out of the slight daze he was in.
"Whatcha doin' up here so late? S'a good thing Filch is useless without his cat or I probably would've been caught on my way up here." Tonks said, nudging Harry in the arm.
"Sorry..."
Tonks blinked. "What's up? You seem out of it."
"Mm... I dunno. This whole day's been... Odd." Harry said, looking away to keep Tonks from catching the slight flush of his cheeks.
"Yeah..." Agreed Tonks, turning her gaze skyward. "Don't think Malfoy's gonna bother you for awhile though. Probably scared you'd summon a legion of snakes on him or something."
"Yeah..."
"...Oh, don't tell me it finally got to you." Tonks said, sighing. "Everyone at this school is a twit, Harry. They'd believe that Ron Weasley was really Dumbledore if you spun a good-enough yarn."
"It's just weird. Very weird. Have you ever had a crowd of people go silent and part as you approached? It didn't bother me earlier, but... I dunno. People seem like I'm poisonous or something. At least the better part of Ravenclaw's acting normal to me still." Harry scowled.
"Except Terry." Tonks noted.
"Did you really expect him to do otherwise?" Harry asked. "It's bloody Terry Boot. The dumbest person to somehow squeak into Ravenclaw ever."
"Here here." Tonks said, grinning slightly.
"Ah, I dunno, Tonks. It's just odd is all. It feels surreal more than it annoys me, per se. I don't mind it, but it's still..."
"Yeah, I can imagine. Hey, maybe Snape'll leave you alone now. Gotta look at the bright side of things!" Tonks said, patting Harry on the back.
"I suppose..."
"Oh, c'mon, Harry. Lighten up! You aren't suited to brooding. You're too scrawny for it."
"Scrawny!" Harry repeated, glaring at Tonks.
"Yeah! Scrawny!" Tonks said, grinning widely now. "There wasn't a lotta padding when I fell on you earlier. If you've put on some weight since then, by all means prove me wrong!"
"You're one to talk, you are!" Harry scowled, his lower lip protruding slightly.
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Tonks asked, narrowing her eyes.
"It means you're just as scrawny as I apparently am, that's what!" Harry declared.
"Oh, does it now?"
"Yeah, it does!" Harry stated, sticking his tongue out at Tonks, who twitched and lunged at him. Fortunately, his Seeker reflexes kicked in and he dodged back inside of the Tower, laughing.
Tonks whirled around and smirked. "And what's so funny, exactly? If you hadn't noticed, there's only one way out of that room and I'm guarding it. You'd never have time to open the trapdoor and escape that way."
"...Crap."
The word had barely left Harry's mouth before he was pounced to the floor in a distinct unflattering way. He was then tickled mercilessly until he had proclaimed Tonks beautiful in every way, stated that he - as a male - was wrong about everything, and that he would stop brooding in the Tower forevermore. Only after all of that did Tonks hop off of him and declare her business there finished.
"Shoulda never... told you... I was ticklish...!" Harry wheezed out, trying to catch his breath.
Tonks smirked, sitting cross-legged next to him. "Probably wasn't a good idea, no."
Harry groaned, but decided to stretch out on the nice, cool stone floor. "...S'not bad down here... Wish I could conjure a pillow or something, though."
"Yeah. Hard head meets hard floor." Tonks said, nodding very sagely.
"Oi!"
"C'mon, you can't sleep up here." Tonks said, rolling her eyes. "You'd catch an awful cold or something. This isn't some kind of nest for you to hide in. Gotta leave it, learn to fly, and deal with the real world again sooner or later."
Harry blinked. "...What did you say?"
Tonks tilted her head. "Toldja you'd catch a cold or something."
"No no, not that part..." Harry said, quickly pushing himself up into a sitting position. There was an odd gleam in his eyes. A grin slowly spread across his face and, when he turned to face Tonks, she could see his eyes practically twinkling - Which, for whatever reason, seemed to cause her to have a sudden shortage of breath.
"Tonks, you're brilliant!" Harry suddenly declared, pulling her into a tight embrace.
Tonks, who was already utterly baffled by Harry's sudden behavior change, blushed at the sudden hug she had been tugged into. "H-Harry, are you feeling alright? I mean, of course I'm brilliant, but... uh... wanna explain why you think so?"
"Some kind of nest!" Said Harry, pulling back to look at Tonks properly.
"...Say what now?"
"It's the perfect name for the tower!" Harry said, backing up so he could try and make sense to the girl. "We're Ravenclaws, right?"
"Right..."
"And as far as we know, only you, me, and Leon know about this spot, right?"
"Right..."
"Well, that's it then, isn't it? Let's call the place the Raven's Nest!"
Tonks blinked. "...The Raven's Nest?"
"Yeah! No one would have a clue what on earth we'd be talking about, so we wouldn't have to be so quiet about mentioning the place around others! And it's much better than calling it our 'secret tower,' isn't it?" Said Harry.
"Sure, I guess so, but..." Tonks was cut off as a laughing Harry once more pulled her into an embrace. The day had been strange, but Harry's random cheerful mood swing was even stranger. Not that Tonks planned to complain or anything.
"So... that's why you're brilliant." Harry breathed as he pulled away once again, that twinkling still in his eyes.
"Yeah..." Said Tonks, feeling once more at a loss for words and breath.
For the longest time, the two Ravenclaws sat there, staring into one anothers' eyes. And, after awhile, something seemed to occur to Harry. There he was, alone in a spot only he and his two best friends knew about, sitting very close to a girl he was certain he cared about as much more than just a friend. It was dark out, the stars were shining, and a faint wind was blowing through the Nest.
Swallowing became very difficult for Harry as he realized all of this.
"Tonks..." He managed to croak out.
"Y-Yeah...?" From the tone of her voice, Harry was almost certain that the same set of thoughts had passed through her mind, as well.
"...I...I'm not sure. I...um... I just..." Harry said, feeling highly annoyed that he couldn't string together one coherent sentence. His babbling was halted when one of Tonks' fingers was placed over his lips. He blinked, going crosseyed as he tried looking at it.
"Shh." Tonks said, smiling. "I know what you're trying to say."
Tonks moved her finger away, leaned in, and very briefly placed her lips to Harry's before getting to her feet and making a quick exit from the Nest.
Harry didn't move for nearly an hour afterwards.
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
Author's Notes: FIRST KISS! Bet no one saw THAT coming!
And look how quickly I got this chapter churned out! This is what happens when I'm ENJOYING writing something. And this chapter was nothing but a joy to write. The Dueling Club was always my favorite part of Chamber. And I wanted to have a LITTLE action, since nothing's really happened at all so far.
Lot of firsts and such in this chapter, too. Harry's first real conversation with a snake, - the zoo incident doesn't count in my opinion - Tonks' first clumsy trip, (what a result, huh? Oh, I SO wish I had some fanart of that scene. Leon standing in the background, laughing at a tangled-up, pajama-clad Harry and Tonks) the very important first kiss, and the naming of the tower. I hope the name doesn't come across as goofy or anything. I thought it fit rather well. And it was a nice lead-in to a sweet Honks moment, so phooey on you if you DON'T like it all.
Chapter 10 will be pretty fun, as well. Harry's Quidditch Accident, the second victim falls, and the plan to infiltrate Slytherin begins to form. I hope you guys have a good idea of how they'd pull it off, since they won't be brewing Polyjuice Potion this time around. I just hope I can write the actual explanation out. -I- know how it's going to go down, I just hope it doesn't come off as being confusing to anyone else. Good thing I made lots of notes for that. The infiltration itself won't be until Chapter 11, though. Chapter 10 will have a good amount of cute little awkward moments between our lead pairing. You've GOT to after having the first kiss, right?
This chapter was also much bigger than the average chapter by a good 5kb. So not only was this a QUICK update, it was a LONG update! Uh, I hope the colons around the Parseltongue lines come through. FFN's wacky removal of random crap. And there was something funky that happened during formatting here. I was randomly jerked back to the top of the file while I was working on the last section. Dunno if I just hit a part of the panel up there wrong or what.The dumb document manager keeps deleting question marks when they're placed beside exclamation points and vice versa. So if there's a line that LOOKS like it should have both, yet only has one... That's why.
Anyway, hope you all enjoyed! Cheers, all!