Chapter 36
"I'm not hungry," Ron protested as Harry shoved him out of their dormitory and towards the stairwell leading down to the common room.
"Yeah, right," Harry retorted with a laugh.
"No, seriously. You and Hermione go on ahead. I'll just meet you in class."
"And how exactly do you plan on doing that," Harry asked, "if you don't come down to breakfast and pick up your timetable first?"
"I'll meet you in the hallway then."
"After the mail has been delivered?"
"Um ... yeah," Ron admitted.
"Will you two hurry up?" Hermione's voice resounded up the stone staircase. "We're going to be late."
"It's only breakfast," Ron shouted back as Harry gave him another shove and forced him to descend to the stairs. "It doesn't matter if you're a few minutes late. The food isn't going anywhere. Well, that's not exactly true," he added as he entered the common room. "It's not like it sits there on those platters all day. You two better get going."
"What's he talking about?" Hermione asked Harry after giving Ron an odd look.
"Apparently Ron isn't hungry this morning," he replied.
"Oh please," Hermione scoffed.
"That's his excuse anyway," Harry chuckled. "He said the two of us should go down to breakfast without him."
"Don't be ridiculous," Hermione replied, snatching her bag up off the floor. "Come on," she demanded, grabbing Ron by the arm and pulling him towards the portrait hole.
"No," he protested, yanking himself free. "I said I'm not hungry."
"Oh for heaven sakes," she cried, spinning around to face the two boys once more. "And I suppose that is Harry's stomach that just growled?"
Bugger.
"He's worried about the mail," Harry explained, when Ron didn't answer.
"You can't hide from the mail," Hermione said as she rolled her eyes at him. "Errol will find you wherever you are. When he finally gets here, that is. He's bound to be late," she added. "He won't even show up until lunchtime."
"Don't say it," Ron said to Harry, who was just about to tell him that Hermione was probably right. "Fine," he snapped, willing to miss one meal, but not two. "I'll come down to breakfast," he continued as he marched over the portrait hole, "but I'm skipping lunch."
"Don't be such a baby," Hermione said as she followed Harry thought the portrait hole and into the hallway.
Here we go, Harry thought as he watched the tall redhead bristle. They're going to spend the entire day rowing. Either that or they won't even be speaking to each other by the time we reach the Great Hall.
"You'll be singing a different tune when yours goes off in front of the entire school," Ron retorted with a smirk.
Or not, Harry amended when Ron failed to take the bait and Hermione chuckled at his reply.
"Your mother is not going to send me a howler," she assured him. "And she isn't going to send you one either."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Ron replied as he led his friends down the corridor and towards the flight of stair that would take them to the lower levels of the castle.
"You didn't do anything wrong."
"I got detention, didn't I?" We haven't even had a bloody class yet and I'm already in trouble.
"Well, yes," Hermione agreed quietly, "but that was going to happen anyway. It doesn't have anything to do with what happened on the train. Our detention was prearranged."
"What?" Ron and Harry cried is unison as they both froze in the center of the staircase and turned to stare at Hermione in disbelief.
"What are you talking about?" Harry asked.
"Tonks told me about it on the train," Hermione admitted in a near whisper.
"You knew and you didn't tell me?" Ron asked crossly.
"I couldn't," Hermione insisted. "Not with Neville and Ginny sitting there. And it wasn't supposed to happen so soon. Tonks asked me to...er... to pick a fight with you during Potions."
"Oh that's brilliant," Ron muttered. "I'm not that thick you know?"
"I would have told you beforehand," Hermione shot back, looking as if she was fighting the urge to roll her eyes at him again. "I would have told you last night, but you two went to bed before the common room cleared out," she added.
"Why?" Harry asked.
"Huh?"
"Why what?" Hermione replied.
"Why did she want you to provoke Snape into giving you both detentions?"
"Um...," Hermione answered somewhat awkwardly. "She said something about using that time to give us a few extra defense lessons."
"Oh," Harry replied impassively. "Just the two of you?" he added as an afterthought.
"She um... said it was something you already knew how to do," Hermione responded, glancing at Ron uncomfortable before meeting Harry's gaze once more. "And that you'd be busy practicing your Occlumency."
"So Snape is going to give Harry detention too," Ron asked.
"I am NOT going to practice Occlumency or anything else with him," Harry snarled. Sitting in his class was going to be hard enough. There was no way in hell he was going to give the Potions Master an opportunity to rummage through his memories of what happened in the Department of Mysteries. And he wasn't going listen to any more snide comments about Sirius or his father either. The next time he insulted the memory of someone Harry cared about, he was going to find himself on the receiving end of one of Ginny's infamous bat bogey hexes.
"But Harry," Hermione argued. "You have to keep practicing. It's really important. You have to keep up with it. You know that you do. It's the only way you'll be able to block Voldemort out."
"The dreams have stopped," Harry retorted angrily.
"But," Hermione persisted, looking over at Ron who was fidgeting and staring at them both nervously, "you haven't exactly been... dreaming about anything, have you? I mean... you've been drinking Mrs. Weasley's tea every night before bed."
"Not every night," Harry protested.
"Most nights," Ron interjected, choosing a side and drawing the weight of his best mate's glare. "Not that I blame you," he added, shifting a bit. "But what if they do come back? You want to be able to block them, don't you?"
"Of course I do," Harry snapped, even as he wondered if he really did. He definitely didn't want to be possessed again, but the dreams weren't so bad. Ok, so they are unpleasant, but they can be useful. One of those dreams saved Mr. Weasley's life after all, Harry reminded himself. And one of them cost Sirius his, he added. They're only useful if they're real. "It doesn't matter," he argued. "I'm not working with Snape."
"But...," Hermione began and then cut off when Ron caught her eye and shook his head. It wasn't the right time to have this argument. She knew he was right, but it was still very hard for her to hold her tongue. She wasn't finished with this conversation, but she'd go along with Ron and drop it for now. It was their first day back after all and the dreams hadn't returned yet. It could wait.
"All right mate," Ron said, clasping Harry on the shoulder before proceeding down the staircase. "He's a git and the less time we have to spend with him the better. If we didn't have to take potions to become Aurors..."
....................
Despite the fact Ron was fairly certain Errol wouldn't be able to make it to Hogwarts in time for the morning mail, be continued to gaze up at the windows of the Great Hall apprehensively throughout the entire meal. He barely even heard the conversations taking place around him. It wasn't until his sister walloped him on the arm that he turned around to see what she was yammering about.
"What?" he snarled.
"Your timetable," she said, waving a sheet of parchment with his classes under his nose before shoving it at his chest. "I've only told you four times."
"Whatever," Ron replied, yanking the schedule out of his sister's hand and scanning it quickly. Double Transfigurations followed by Charms after lunch. That wasn't so bad. "We don't have Defense Against the Dark Arts until Wednesday," he complained, dragging his eyes off the parchment and glanced up at the staff table again, looking for Tonks who still hadn't show up for a meal.
"Yeah well," Harry replied, "it will give us something to look forward to after a double dose of Snape in the morning."
"You're sure she's our DADA teacher?" Ron asked Hermione, who was still studying her timetable.
"Yes, Ron," she replied without bringing her eyes up.
"Let me see your schedule," Ron said, reaching around Harry who was seated between them and trying to snatch her course list out of her hand. Unfortunately she was faster than he was.
"Why?" she asked, jerking it out of reach.
"I want to see what you're taking," he admitted, leaning in further and taking another swipe. The fact that she didn't want to show it to him, only made him more determined to see it.
"I'm taking the same things you are," she informed him, folding her schedule up and shoving it in her bag where he wouldn't be able to get at it.
"Is that so?" Ron asked, eyeing her suspiciously. "Then why can't I see it?"
"Because you don't need to."
"That's what I thought," Ron muttered, his suspicions confirmed. She was purposely hiding it from him and he knew why.
The sixth years had been encouraged to drop some of their previous courses and fine tune their schedules. They were supposed to give up their electives and focus on the specialized courses designed to help them pass the N.E.W.T.s required for their chosen professions. Ron and Harry, who wanted to be Aurors, had been only too happy to drop Herbology, Astronomy, and Divinations. They would have dropped History of Magic too, expect it was a core course and still required. Hermione on the other hand wasn't sure what she wanted to do once she graduated and she was liable to pull a stunt like she did in their third year and keep every class she had.
We'll just see about that, Ron though as he whipped his wand out of the inside pocket of his robes, leaned back in his chair and pointed it at Hermione's book bag. "Accio Timetable."
"RON!" Hermione cried in outrage as she watched her schedule zoom into his outstretched hand. "Give that back," she demanded, jumping to her feet at the exact same instant he did and lunging for it.
"You didn't drop anything," Ron said, holding the open sheet of parchment up in the air above his head as he continued to scan it.
"Yes I did," Hermione argued, making another grab for it.
"What?" he asked holding it out of reach.
"Astronomy," she snarled. "Now give it back or I'll..."
"You'll what?" Ron scoffed.
"I'll make you," she declared, lunging at him again, only this time rather then trying to grab her timetable, she latched on to his side, dug her fingers into his robes, and tickled him. The effect was immediate. Not only did he double over to protect his stomach, he jerked the hand he was using to hold the parchment out of the air and used it to shove her away.
"HAAA," Ginny cried as she watched Hermione stepped away from her brother with her timetable clenched firmly in her own hand.
"I didn't know you were ticklish," Harry stated, looking at Hermione oddly. Ginny must have told her.
"I'm not," Ron insisted, flopping back down on his bench. "I just don't like being poked, is all."
"Liar," Ginny muttered as she caught Harry's eye and nodded her head. She was sorely tempted to 'poke' her brother in the side until he admitted the truth, but she knew from experience how stubborn he was, even in the throes of a laughing fit. Charlie had once used a tickle charm on him for a full 15 minutes before Ron cracked and confessed that he'd been flying on his brother's broom without permission.
"You're not seriously going to keep all those courses, are you?" Ron asked, his attention focused on Hermione once more. "It's too much. You'll make yourself batty like you did third year. You don't need that Rune rubbish anymore."
"It is not rubbish," Hermione cried, sounding seriously affronted. "It happens to be one of my most fascinating courses."
"Surely there must be something you can drop?" Ron shot back, rolling his eyes at Harry as he did so. "What about Herbology?"
"What about Quidditch?" she replied taking him completely by surprise.
"What about it?"
"I'll drop Ancient Runes and Herbology when you two drop Quidditch."
"WHAT!" Ron yelped. "It's not the same thing."
"Yes it is."
"No, it's not. It's not even close. Quidditch is fun. Schoolwork isn't."
"That's a matter of opinion."
"You can't possibly take nine N.E.W.T. level courses."
"Well I'm going to," Hermione declared, grabbing her book bag up off the floor and flinging it over her shoulder.
"You'll drive yourself, and more importantly us, mad when exams roll around," Ron snapped before she had a chance to walk away.
"Is that so?" she cried, spinning around to face him again. "And how many hours a week do you waste on Quidditch?"
"WASTE!" Ron shouted. "Did you hear that, Harry?" he asked, turning to his best friend for support. "You aren't just going to sit there and let her get away with that are you?"
Apparently he was because he didn't reply. He'd learned along time ago not to get in the middle of their arguments. It didn't matter that Ron was right. Harry still wasn't going to go there.
"Did you or did you not just tell me that my Ancient Runes course was a waste of my time?"
"No, I said you must know enough of it by now and you didn't need to wear yourself out trying to learn more."
"I'll remind you of that the next time we have a paper due and you go off to practice instead. We'll see who wears themselves out when I refuse to help you and you have to sit up all night working on it by yourself."
"I won't be working on it by myself. Harry will have practice too, so he'll be right there with me."
"At least you'll have company then," Hermione snapped. "I'll see you in class, Harry," she added, spinning around and marching towards the double doors on the other side of the room.
"What's her problem?" Ron wondered out loud as he watched her go.
As if you don't know, Ginny thought. It's the same problem you have.
Everyone else at the table might be fooled, but Ginny knew the truth. They weren't angry with each other, they were frustrated. They hadn't been alone together in days and it was starting to take its toll. The longer they went without snogging, the more they were likely to bicker. If it got any worse she'd have to do something drastic like distract Harry and lock the two of them in a broom cupboard or something.
"Come on," Ron said, jumping up and grabbing his own stuff up off the floor. "Let's go. If we're late to McGonagall's class I'm liable to get another detention.
....................
All and all, as far as first days went, Harry couldn't complain. In fact, the day actually flew by. They spent the whole of their double Transfigurations class reviewing spells they had learned the previous year and then forgotten over the summer holiday. The last half-hour of the class had been devoted to practicing Vanishing Spells because they was the opposite of Conjuring, which McGonagall informed them they were due to start next week. Fortunately, Harry had Vanishing Spells down and it only took Ron one botched attempt to get back in the swing of things. At the end of the lesson, Neville was the only one that receives any homework. It was ironic really, when you considered the fact he once accidentally vanished the leg clean off McGonagall's desk, and yet he couldn't successfully vanish a rat when he wanted to. It didn't matter how many times he tried to do it, he always left the tail behind.
Ron, of course, refused to accompany his classmates to the Great Hall for lunch after their lesson. Not that Harry didn't understand. He'd rather be in a nearly deserted Gryffindor common room than a bustling Great Hall should he ever receive a howler. Hermione muttered something about him being ridiculous under her breath, but she waited until he was out of earshot before she did it.
Lunch was peaceful and rather quick considering they didn't have class again until one. Hermione was finished before Harry even really had a chance to begin, but as luck would have it the fifth years showed up as she was loading a napkin full of food, which meant he'd have Ginny to talk to.
"Let me guess," the feisty redhead teased as she plopped down at the table just as her bushy haired friend stood up. "You're going to the library."
"I want to review my charms notes before class."
"You can't eat in the library," Ginny reminded her, eyeing the bulging napkin in her hand.
"It's not for me," she replied, hauling her bag up off the floor, dropping it on the table top, and stowing the napkin full of food inside. "It's for Ron. I have to go up and get my notes anyway," she explained when Harry arched an eyebrow in surprise. "I might as well feed him while I'm up there. There's no use having him get all hungry and cranky."
Harry couldn't argue with that. He'd have taken some food up himself for that exact reason, if Hermione hadn't beaten him to it.
"See you in Charms," she said, looking at him questioningly and waiting for him to reply.
As soon as he nodded his head she was off, but she never made it to the library. She was seated beside Ron on the couch in the common room perusing her notes when Harry arrived.
"Well," he asked, falling into a chair opposite Ron.
"Nothing," the redhead replied, dropping the copy of the Daily Prophet he'd absent-mindedly been flipping through back on the table where he'd found it. "Not even a regular letter."
Hermione snorted into her notes, but refrained from saying 'I told you so' out loud. "We better go," she said, closing her notebook and shoving it into the bag at her feet.
"We have a half-hour," Harry replied, glancing at his watch.
"Fine," she replied, rising to her feet. "I'll meet you downstairs then," she added, before walking off towards the portrait hole by herself.
"Not much we can do in a half-hour though," Harry said, after she'd gone.
"We can review the Quidditch Stats," Ron answered, snatching the paper up again and quickly flipping to the back.
"Now that she's gone?" Harry chuckled.
"Yup."
"Because that would be a waste of time?"
"Shut up."
"So what were you looking at before?" Harry asked, rising up out of his chair and sitting beside Ron on the couch so they could look at the sports section together.
"Nothing really," he admitted. "HA! Look, the Tornados lost to the Harpies."
"The Cannons lost too, I see," Harry pointed out.
"What else is new," Ron sighed, "At least they didn't lose to a bunch of girls," he snickered, taking comfort in the knowledge that the Tornados had been beaten by the only team in the league that limited its roster to witches. The gender restriction was purported to exist only as a means of uphold the image of the teams name. Although Ron had always suspected that even without it, they'd have a hard time recruiting any decent male players. No self-respecting wizard wanted to be known as a Harpy. It would just be humiliating. "We'll see how many people are still wearing their badges after a loss like that."
....................
"You know how to do it," Hermione said to Neville, waving her wand at a quill lying on the table in front of them and turning it into a mouse. "You're just not concentrating hard enough. You have to envision the entire mouse in your head, tail and all," she instructed. "You're only focusing on the body. Try again."
"All right," Neville replied, closing his eyes and trying to picture the mouse in his mind as he waved his wand. "Damn," he muttered when he opened them again and realized he'd left the ears behind this time.
"But you got the tail," Harry said, trying to sound encouraging. "That's something."
"One more go and you'll have it," Hermione assured him as she transfigured another quill. "But you better get rid of those ears first," she added. "Harry will help you," she said, glancing over at Ron who was hunched over a jar containing a Bluebell flame trying to master the Flame Freezing Charm Professor Flitwick had showed them earlier in the day. "I have to go to a prefect meeting."
"Oh, ok," Neville replied. "Thanks for the help."
"Anytime," Hermione replied, rising out of her seat and walking over to Ron. "Ready?" she asked.
"For what?" he replied, waving his wand over the jar of flames and then touching the glass to see if it was still hot.
"The meeting."
"Oh, uh yeah. Ok. Just give me a minute. I almost have this," he said, waving his wand over the flames again.
"You're doing it wrong," Hermione said, trying not to smirk when the small piece of parchment he dropped into the jar burst into flames.
"No, really?"
"You need to flick your wrist at the end, like this," she instructed, miming the proper hand movement despite the fact she wasn't holding her wand. "Go ahead, give it a try."
"You might have told me that a half-hour ago," he said, mimicking her actions.
"I wasn't exactly expecting you to sit down and seriously start on your homework tonight," Hermione replied, as she watched Ron drop another bit of parchment into the jar and then smile when nothing happened to it. "We don't have Charms again until Thursday."
"I have my reasons for getting it done early," he whispered, shooting her one of his lopsided smiles.
"Oh you do, do you?" she chuckled. "And what would that be?"
"I suppose I could tell you," Ron said, standing up and shoving his wand in his back pocket, before retrieving his robes off the back of the couch. "But I'd rather show you. Of course I can't do that here."
"Which is why I asked you if you were ready to go to a meeting that doesn't really start for another 45 minutes," Hermione admitted quietly.
"Indeed?" Ron asked with a grin. "Oy, Harry," he shouted while walking over to the portrait hole. "Prefect meeting," he said, explaining where they were going.
"Right," Harry replied as he watched his two best friends duck out of the common room. "Aren't you going?" he asked Ginny, who had remained in her chair.
"Not yet," she said, her eyes glued to the notebook in her hand. "I want to finish reading this first. I have Potions first thing tomorrow," she explained, "and Hermione leant me her notes from last year. Just let him try and stump me once I've read his entire first lesson."
"Aw."
"Don't let me forget to go though," she added as an afterthought. "Remind me again in 15 minutes, if I'm not finished will ya?"
"Sure thing."
....................
Unlike their first day of classes, the second dragged on ad nauseam. Starting the day off with a double dose of History of Magic was pure torture as far as Harry and Ron were concerned. Most of the 6th years, with the exception of Hermione and Ernie Macmillan were practically comatose by the time the bell sounded for lunch.
The next day was even worse, but for an altogether different reason.
"Well that was fun," Ron said quietly to his friends as they followed the rest of the class, comprised solely of Slytherins, out of the dungeon their Potions classes were held in. "Honestly, I don't know what's worse. Being bored stiff for an hour and a half like yesterday or having that twisted git pick on us all morning."
"It might help if you double-check the instructions before you start adding the ingredients," Hermione suggested.
"Please," Ron retorted with a snort. "He'd find a reason to criticize us even if we were bloody perfect. Or didn't you fail to notice that Harry is his new favorite student, now that Neville is gone."
"Oh I noticed alright," Hermione replied, narrowing her eyes and pursing her lips together in a way that reminded the two boys very strongly of McGonagall. "Don't you rise to his bait, Harry," she added. "He's just looking for a reason to throw you out of his class."
"She's right," Ron agreed. "Did you see the look on his pasty face when you handed in your essay? HAA!"
"Thanks for that," Harry said looking at Hermione gratefully. He'd completely forgotten about the essay he was supposed to write over the summer until Ron handed him a finished version, written in Hermione's neat script, the night before and instructed him to copy it over in his own writing. "You really saved my butt. He'd have given me a detention at the very least."
"That's what friends are for mate," Ron replied.
"Don't go getting used to it," Hermione added. "I expect you can do you own homework from now on."
"Yes Mum," Ron retorted. "Is it just me," he leaned over and whispered to Harry as they followed Hermione through the double doors of the Great Hall and over to the Gryffindor table, "or is it a little scary the way she can channel my mum like that?"
"I don't know," Harry replied, remembering the way Ginny had yelled at him during his own birthday party. "I think your sister's impression might be a spot better."
"You're telling me," Ron chuckled. "She's got the body language and the glare down pat."
....................
"Wotcher Harry," Nymphadora Tonks said, looking up from a textbook lying open on her desk when the door to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom opened and a young man with disheveled black hair and glasses peered in somewhat hesitantly. "Well, don't just stand there. Come in."
"Er... I know we're a bit early," Harry replied as Ron pushed past him and tried to enter the room, only to be thwarted by Hermione who grabbed the back of his robes.
"We didn't mean to disturb you," she said, jerking Ron to a standstill. "We know class doesn't start for another 10 minutes and you're still getting ready."
"I'm as ready as I'm liable to get," she sighed, coming around from behind her desk, then leaning back and hopping up to sit on the edge. "Remus warned me it would take a while to get used to, but it's not so bad. Well, except for the Slytherins. Those cheeky little...," she began and then caught herself. "So what do you think of the new look?" she asked, holding her arms out at her side so they could take in her modest robes. "Respectable enough?"
"Is that your normal color?" Ron asked, pushing Harry into the room and coming up behind him while staring at her hair, which was no longer a flamboyant hue, but a gleaming dark brown.
"Ron!" Hermione cried, smacking him in the arm.
"What?"
"You don't ask women questions like that?"
"Why not?"
"Because it's rude, that's why."
"It wasn't rude. It was just a question. I was curious, that's all. So is it?" he asked, focusing on Tonks' shoulder length hair once more.
"For heaven sakes. Just ignore him," Hermione sighed, but it was clear from the look of amusement on her face, that Tonks didn't really mind.
"I suppose it is. Or close to it," she chuckled. "I've been changing it for so long that I'm not entirely sure anymore to tell you the truth. It's a bit... plain, but necessary I'm afraid. I'd appreciate it if you didn't let on about my...er... special ability," she said, lowering her voice.
"Yeah," Harry agreed. "Hermione already told us."
"She told us about the detentions too," Ron added. "So what exactly are we going to...?"
"Not here, and definitely not now," Tonks said quickly, cutting him off before he could get any further. "We'll discuss that on Saturday."
"But..."
"I'm sorry Mr. Weasley," Tonks replied, shifting into teacher mode when the bell rang, signaling the beginning of class. "If you'd kindly take your seats," she added with a subtle wink just as the door opened again and the rest of Gryffindor shuffled into the classroom, silently assessing their new professor as they moved towards their desks, not quite sure what to expect this year.
"Good afternoon," the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor said, once they were all seated. "You may address me as Professor Tonks or just plain Tonks if you prefer. Any student foolish enough to address me by my first name, will find themselves on the receive end of the most ghastly detention I can come up with. If you don't believe me, I suggest you ask my cousin and his mates, who spent the better part of last night scrubbing the floors in the owlry with toothbrushes.
"Seriously?" Ron hooted, before dissolving into a fit of laughter.
"Mr. Weasley."
"Sorry, Professor," he apologized, trying to get himself under control despite the fact he had a crystal clear image of Draco knee deep in owl droppings clouding his mind.
"No doubt some of you have heard the rumors circulating around the school by now so I will take this opportunity to put them to rest. Yes, it's true; I am a fully qualified Auror. No, I have not been sacked, suspended, or dismissed from my position. I did however take a leave of absence at Professor Dumbledore's request. He is of the opinion that you lot are in desperate need of some hands on training and I tend to agree."
"I've reviewed the O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. scores from last year and I have to say they were appalling. Although, you Gryffindors did extremely well over all. You beat the other houses out at least two to one. In fact, everyone in this class passed, which is quite an accomplishment, considering the... er... professor... you were shackled with. We all know, of course, who the real teacher was, so Mr. Potter, what exactly did you cover in your D.A. sessions, if you don't mind telling me?"
"Er...," Harry stammered, caught more then a little off guard. "Um... mostly just stunning, disarming and some random jinxes."
"And the Patronus Charm," Hermione added, trying to be helpful.
"Other than Mr. Potter here, how many of you can actually produce a corporeal Patronus?" Tonks asked, her eyes scanning the group of students assembled in front of her. "Only one?" she added, noting that Hermione's hand was the only one in the air. "Well it is rather advanced magic, so I suppose that is to be expected. What about the rest of you?" she continued. "Anything at all? Any non-corporeal vapor? Any silver mist?"
"Well done, Mr. Potter," she chimed when the rest of the group, save Neville, put their hands in the air. "I might actually get something accomplished with you lot yet. So you've covered the basics. I know Professor Lupin tackled dark creatures. What else have you covered, in class," she added.
"Curses," Seamus replied promptly.
"I suppose it's somewhat fitting that a crazed Death Eater taught you those," Tonks retorted. "Now you know what you're up against. Although I wager he kept most of the really powerful dark stuff to himself."
"Except for the Unforgivables," Neville muttered.
"Yes," Tonks agreed, "but he didn't teach you how to cast those spells did he? He just showed you what they did. All right then, what do you say we get started?" she asked, sliding off her desk. "You won't need your notebooks, just your wands," she instructed.
"Everyone up front please," Tonks said, waiting for the students to rise up out of their seats before whipping her wand out of her inside pocket and waving it at the desks, causing them to part down the center of the room and shoot to the sides, where they landed in two jumbled piles against the walls.
"Best way for you to survive a duel with a Death Eater," Professor Tonks informed her students, "is to avoid it altogether. That's something this group in particular needs to work on," she added, giving Harry and his friends a pointed look. "Duck. Run. Do what ever the hell you have to do to get out of their line of fire. The last thing you want to do is stand there like some noble fool and try and fight them if you don't have to, because I promise you, they won't fight fair. A Death Eater NEVER takes on an opponent alone if he can help it. That's not to say he won't fight you, because he most certainly will. And he'll throw some very nasty stuff your way as he does it. If he can take you down on his own, so much the better. But you can't fight him and watch your own back at the same time, which is what he is counting on. He'll want you focused completely on him, so he'll hit you with anything and everything he can think of. And while you are busy warding off curses and throwing a few of your own, one of his mates will sneak up and nail you from behind. That's why Aurors work in teams; so we can watch each other's backs. That's something a friend of mine learned the hard way during the prison break last month," Tonks added, staring directly at Ron as she spoke. "It was a nasty lesson, but you can bet he won't be running off half cocked without back up again."
"But for the sake of argument, let's say you find yourself face to face with a single Death Eater, like my friend did; only this one has no mates around. It's just you and him and you have no choice but to stand and fight. What's the first spell you are going to use, Mr.... Finnigan?" Tonks asked, glancing down at a sheet of parchment lying on her desk with a list of the Gryffindor student's names written on it.
"Expelliarmus, I guess," Seamus replied uncertainly.
"You guess?" Tonks questioned. "You don't have time to hesitate. Mr. Weasley, partner up with Finnigan. On the count of three I want you two to duel. Last one standing wins."
Rather than reply, Ron simply nodded his head and took a deep breath as the rest of the class backed away and left him and Seamus alone in the center of the classroom.
"Ready," Tonks asked, when Seamus had put some distance between them and turned to face Ron. "Know what you're going to do?"
"Yup," Seamus replied.
"Mr. Weasley?" Tonks asked, glancing at Ron who nodded his head again. "On the count of three then? 1... 2... 3."
"PROTEGO!" Ron shouted the instant he saw Seamus open his mouth. He didn't even bother to listen to what curse was being sent his way; he was so intent of deflecting it.
"Interesting strategy," Tonks remarked, giving Ron an appraising look. "I expected you to respond like your brothers and react offensively rather than defensively."
"I'm the one still standing aren't I?" Ron asked, smirking at Seamus who had been knocked to the ground when the tripping jinx he'd sent at Ron rebound on him instead.
"You are indeed," Tonks agreed with a smile. "Well done. In a dual your first order of business should always be to protect yourself if you can. A strong shield charm can be more effective than a curse in the right situation. Time to see what you've got," she insisted. "Take your robes off and partner up. We've got twenty minutes to practice. Shield Charms and Disarming spell only. We don't want random curses being deflected all over the room. Mr. Weasley," she added, noting that there were an odd number of students, "Why don't we let Mr. Potter partner up with Miss Granger for the first 10 minutes and then you two can switch."
"Right," Ron replied, stepping away from his two best friends and moving off to the side where he could stand beside Tonks out of the lines of fire.
"I have to admit I'm rather curious to see which one of them will loose their wand first," she leaned over and whispered to Ron as the partners rounded on each other and raised their wands. "Ready? On three," she added much louder.
"It'll be Harry," Ron informed her quietly.
"Really?" she asked. "ONE!"
"Yeah well, Harry might be more powerful, but Hermione's quicker," he whispered back. "Besides, she won't hesitate."
"Like you do?" Tonks asked with a knowing smirk. "TWO!"
"Yeah ok," he admitted as his ears darkened. "I might hesitate a bit too, but it's Hermione. We can't seriously curse her."
"THREE!"
"Looks like you were right," Tonks whispered, noting that Hermione had managed to get her shield up before Harry could disarm her. He was a bit quicker with his own Shield Charms when they switched roles, but by the forth go, she managed to disarm him.
"You aren't doing her any favors holding yourself back you know?" Tonks whispered to Ron several minutes later as wands were handed back and partners prepared to square off again. "All you're doing is lulling her into a false sense of security. You don't get any real practice and she comes away thinking she's better than she actually is. That kind of thinking could get her hurt, or worse. You might want to consider that when it's your turn to take her on. Potter!" she shouted, "Time for you to switch with Weasley."
"What got into you?" Harry asked Ron as after the trio had retrieved their book bags at the end of the lesson and started making their way up to Griffindor Tower. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you'd been practicing over the summer."
"Just motivated, I reckon," Ron replied, hoping Harry would drop it if he brushed it all aside.
"Neville did really well too," Hermione added. "Did you notice?"
"Yeah," Harry agreed. "His aim has really improved."
"I wonder," Hermione muttered under her breath. "You don't suppose it has anything to do with the fact he has a new wand, do you? Was it different for you," she asked Ron, "when you got a new wand?"
"As opposed to using a broken one? Gee, let me think. Um... yeah."
"No," Hermione groaned, "I mean was it different from using Charlie's wand when it did work? Is it easier when the wand is attuned to you as opposed to someone else, even if they are a close family member?"
"Maybe a little," Ron replied. "Here," he added, whipping his wand out of the inside pocket of his robes and handing it to Hermione. "Give it a try and then you tell me if it makes a difference."
"We're in the middle of the corridor."
"So."
"We're prefects."
"And?" Ron asked, failing to see what that had to do with anything. "Prefects do cast spells you know?"
"Not in the corridors they don't," Hermione snapped. "Because it is forbidden."
"Oh, right," he replied somewhat guiltily. "I forgot."
"You forgot."
"Well I did. It's a stupid rule. The only one that cares about it besides you, is Filch. Isn't that right, Harry?"
"Sorry," Harry replied glancing at Hermione somewhat apprehensively before turning back to Ron. "You're on your own mate," he muttered, taking a step back and watching Ron to see what he'd do next.
The sensible thing to do would be to shut up and let Hermione get to her Runes class. But then, Ron wasn't always the most sensible bloke and Harry wouldn't put it past him to start an argument on purpose. He'd been on Hermione for the past three days about her course load and it seemed like one of those illogical moves Ron sometimes made. If he started a row, she'd tell him off for making her late and he could twist it around and use it as further evidence of why she ought to drop the course. It was hard predict how Ron would respond at times. Just when you thought you had him pegged, he was liable to do or say something totally unexpected.
As in this case, rather then start a fight, as Harry suspected he might, Ron let the matter drop and jumped onto a different one altogether.
"Harry and I will meet you in the common room when you're finished," he said to Hermione, "and then the three of us can go down to dinner together. And don't even bother telling us to start on our potions, because we don't have the foggiest idea what happens when you add hellebore to a memory potion and it will take us at least an hour to find anything useful in the library, so what's the point? You'll be finished with your class before we even find the right book."
"Maybe we ought to meet up in the library then."
"Naw, dinner first," Ron chuckled. "You know I work better on a full stomach."
"Fine," Hermione acquiesced, turning her back and hurrying down the third floor corridor towards the classroom her Ancient Runes course was held in just as Seamus and Neville reached the top of the third floor staircase.
"So what do you make of the new DADA prof?" Seamus asked as the four boys made for the tower. "Bit early to tell really, but she seemed pretty cool."
"Tonks?" Ron said, without really thinking about what he was saying "Oh yeah, she's cool."
"So you do know her?"
"What?' Ron replied. "Oh uh, sorta. She was at Hogwarts with Bill and Charlie. Not sure what year she was in though."
"Don't happen to know what her first name is do ya?" Seamus inquired.
"You could always ask Malfoy," Harry replied with a smirk. "I'm sure he'd love to loan you his toothbrush."
"Malfoy?" Neville snorted, as Ron doubled over with laughter. "No way?"
" She's a Slytherin?" Seamus asked, sounding a bit wary.
"No," Harry replied quickly. "Well," he corrected when he realized he really didn't know what house she'd been in. "I suppose she might have been. Do you know Ron?"
"No," the tall redhead admitted, sobering up considerably. "But Bill must to know. I can ask him if ya want."
...................
Author's Notes:
Thanks so much for all the wonderful reviews. I know a lot of you are anxious to know when Harry is going to actually find out. Soon. VERY soon. Chapter 39 to be exact. Those of you that want to skip ahead, can read it and the aftermath at Checkmated.
khaos, I'd love to update at Checkmates as easily as I can here, unfortunately there are two things holding the chapters up over there.
1. The chaps I post here are already written, shich means I could technically post up to chap 44 here today. The chaps at Checkmated get posted as I get them finished, and writing long chapters does tend to take a long time (Every two or three days just isn't going to happen)
2. Even when I do get the chapters finished, I'm unable to update them myself. They have strict rules and guidelines at checkmated to assure the quality of the chapter is there. They must be read and edited by a beta first and ONLY the beta has the ability to actually update the story. All I can do is submit my update and then I have to wait, just like the rest of you, for the editing and updating to be done by somone else. It's inconvenient for people that want their fix right away. I know, as I'm hopelessly addicted to Fan Fic myself, but I'd rather read a good, edited chapter than a fast one chalk full of mistakes.