A/N: Hello again. I'm back with another chapter for you all to read. Once again, thank you to my reviewers who encourage me to write. A note to Chanchi76: don't bother me about the "strange" names. I intended them to be that way. To RussianGoddess: Thank you for the shirt and I can't wait to see your dress. However, enough about my friends and me. Enjoy the chapter.
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Harry got out of bed. Everyone was still asleep because it was still dark. It's probably 3 in the morning, mused Harry, looking out the window. He silently went down to the Common Room. A woman wearing pajamas was standing in the Gryffindor Common Room, looking out the window. Harry knew it was Rachel and turned to leave the room.
"Don't go," she said, not turning around. "Just stand with me, quietly."
Harry walked over to Rachel and stood by her side. Her eyes were sad. Harry desperately wanted to cheer her up, but he couldn't think of anything to say. They stood together, saying nothing for ten whole minutes. Finally, Rachel broke the eerie stillness.
"Harry, I wanted—" Rachel began.
She was cut short because the door behind them abruptly opened. The pair spun around and there was a sudden flash of green light. Rachel fell to the floor, dead. A cruel, high-pitched cackle that Harry knew well rang out. Harry dropped to his knees on the floor and held Rachel's lifeless body in his arms. Her eyes were still open and she had a surprised look on her face. Harry ran his fingers over her eyelids and closed her eyes shut. He gently kissed Rachel's forehead and stood up to face Voldemort. Tears of anguish were streaming down Harry's face. Voldemort advanced to Harry and cackled again. Harry's scar began to throb, but he paid no attention to the pain. Instead, he focused on his rage.
"You…" Harry whispered, his voice shaking with fury, "you ruin EVERYTHING!"
Voldemort did not appear fazed by Harry's deafening shout. In fact, his wicked smirk deepened.
"Ah, Harry," he said softly, his voice full of mockery and malevolence. "You misunderstand me. I am just a simple man trying to avoid my destruction. You see, if I let you live, you'll be the end of me."
Voldemort's red eyes narrowed in contempt and he folded his arms.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. That won't do," he continued. "I plan to stick around for a long time. You could ruin my plans."
"SHUT UP!" Harry roared and began pacing around. "YOU'VE KILLED MY PARENTS, CAUSING ME TO LIVE WITH MY RELATIVES WHO DESPISE ME! BECAUSE OF YOUR DEATH EATERS, SIRUS IS DEAD! HE WAS THE CLOSEST THING I HAD TO A FATHER! ON YOUR ORDERS, DUMBLEDORE WAS KILLED…" Harry was beginning to lose his voice now, "and now, you've killed Rachel. But you aren't going to kill me."
Harry whipped out his wand and found Voldemort's wand facing him as well.
In unison, both opponents screamed "Avada Kedavra!"
Green light flashed everywhere and with that, Harry Potter suddenly sat up in bed, wide awake. His heart was beating like a racehorse's after a competition. He was also out-of-breath. Harry lay back down and rubbed his scar, which was tingling painfully.
"It was just a dream…" Harry muttered to himself and went back to sleep.
When he woke up in the morning, Harry had forgotten the dream completely.
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Hermione and Rachel were waiting for Harry and Ron in the Common Room. The four of them went to the Great Hall together, hungry for breakfast. Hermione and Ron were still guarded around Rachel. They talked little around her. Harry, on the other hand, was having an avid conversation with Rachel about the Slytherin household.
"Come on, Harry," Rachel said while Harry was offending the Slytherins. "They can't be all bad."
"You wouldn't know," Harry was saying in disbelief. "You haven't been in this school long enough to judge them.
"If all Slytherins were bad, I doubt they'd be at Hogwarts," Rachel replied coolly. "Even though Voldemort was at Hogwarts, he's just one bad egg."
At the mention of the name Voldemort, Ron winced and Hermione looked at Rachel in shock. However, Rachel seemed to notice none of this. She continued walking as if nothing happened.
"You say Voldemort's name too?" Harry asked incredulously.
"Yes," Rachel replied, watching her step down the staircase with the trick stair at the bottom. "I don't see the point of saying 'You-Know-Who', 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named', or the 'Dark Lord'. Just say his name, for goodness sake. The 'Dark Lord' is what the Death Eaters call him and I'm not a Death Eater. 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named' is too long of a name, and 'You-Know-Who' sounds childish. I don't see what's so scary about the name 'Voldemort'. If his name was Lord John or something like that, the man himself wouldn't be any less fear-provoking. He would still have his horrible power. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet…or in this case, as malodorous."
A/N: There I go with Romeo and Juliet…Juliet's all upset that her love (Romeo) is a Montague, her family's enemy, so at the famous balcony scene she says, "What's in a name/A rose by any other name would smell as sweet…" Anyways...back to Harry Potter.
Harry briefly absorbed Rachel's philosophy. It was one she had obviously thought about for a while.
"But anyway," said Harry, going back to the original topic, "you didn't know Draco Malfoy. He was a Slytherin and he was definitely bad."
At the mention of Draco's name, Rachel paled. However, she said nothing more on the subject and Harry decided not to pick it up again, even though he was burning with curiosity why Draco's name affected Rachel so much.
The quartet arrived at the Gryffindor table and began eating breakfast. The mail arrived shortly aft the four sat down and owls were flying everywhere. Rachel was the only one of the four that received mail. It was a letter from Hagrid. Rachel opened the letter and read it aloud to the trio.
"Rachel,
Haven't seen you in a while. When you get a break, come over for a cuppa. Bring Harry, Ron, and Hermione with you. Give my best to Will.
Hagrid."
There were tears building up in Rachel's eyes, not yet spilling down her cheeks.
"Rachel," said Hermione, tenderly putting her hand on Rachel's shoulder, "what's wrong?"
"Oh God," Rachel gasped. "Will…Hagrid doesn't know that he's dead…"
Rachel dropped the note on the floor, and then buried her face in her hands.
Who's Will? Ron mouthed to Harry, who shrugged.
"My brother is dead!" Rachel moaned, mostly to herself. "Oh, Will! Why did you tell me to go?"
Rachel then put her head on the table and quietly sobbed.
"Oh…" Hermione said in a small voice.
Hermione took out her wand and conjured a Cheering Charm on Rachel. Although Rachel did not give the impression she was happy, her crying ceased. Rachel lifted her head off the table and dried her tears.
"Thank you, Hermione," Rachel said gratefully. "Forgive me. My brother and I were once inseparable, but he was killed over the summer by Voldemort in front of my eyes."
Harry instantly felt a surge of emotion for Rachel. It contained empathy, compassion, sorrow, and an overall deeper feeling of affection for her.
"How did your parents take it?" Ron asked, using the gentlest tone of voice he had.
"My parents were killed by Voldemort as well," Rachel said; her face now as unreadable as a stone. "My brother brought me up since I was a baby."
"I'm so sorry, Rachel," Hermione whispered.
"Don't be silly," said Rachel, avoiding everyone's eyes. "You have nothing to be sorry for."
The rest of breakfast was spent mostly in somber silence. When the quartet received their schedules, the mood finally lifted when they were compared.
"Blimey," Ron said. "Rachel, Harry, and I all have the exact same schedule.
It was true. Today, they started off the day with double DADA, then Potions, then lunch, then double Transfiguration, then Charms. Hermione had double Arithmecy instead of double DADA. It was the N.E.W.T. (Nasty Exhausting Wizarding Tests) year, the last year of Hogwarts and the one that decided which career path a wizard would take.
"I suppose that we are all going to be Aurors," Rachel said with muse.
Hermione blushed and said, "Well, actually, I wanted to be a teacher at Hogwarts."
Harry and Ron stared at Hermione, who in turned blushed deeper.
"I couldn't decide what subject I wanted to teach, so the Headmistress gave me the same schedule as all of you!" Hermione said abashedly.
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DADA was the first class of the day. No one (except for the Slytherins) was really eager to meet the new teacher and Head of Slytherin, Prof. Lithgow. The last Head of Slytherin Hogwarts had was totally biased and turned out to be a Death Eater who turned on Dumbledore and killed him. With little enthusiasm, Harry, Ron, and Rachel sauntered into the class and chose three seats in the second row of the class. Ron sat on the left of Harry, who sat on the left of Rachel. Harry looked around at his classmates. Since N.E.W.T. year depended on O.W.L. (Ordinary Wizarding Level) scores, there were people from every House. Most of his classmates were in Gryffindor, but there were many Ravenclaws, and several Hufflepuffs as well. To Harry's relief, there were only two Slytherins: Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini. There was chattering all over the class, but once Prof. Lithgow entered through the class doors, it became as silent as a tomb. She was dressed in all black and wore her white-blond hair up. Her black robes make her look even paler—and more cheerless. Lithgow proceeded to the front of the class and began taking the role.
"Boot, Terry," she called in her quiet, cold voice.
The role went on and on, until finally…
"Ah. Potter, Harry."
"Present," Harry replied, biting his lip.
For the first time, Prof. Lithgow looked up from the role book and looked at Harry with her icy-blue eyes piercing into him.
"So, the famous Harry Potter is here," Lithgow said, lightly stressing "famous".
Harry gazed at her as impassively as possible. However, instead of the sharp rebuke Harry was expecting, Lithgow said nothing more and looked back down at her book to continue role. Harry let out a sigh of relief. He was expecting a first meeting like the one he had with Snape in his first year at Hogwarts.
The professor had finished taking role and announced, "You may put everything away except your wand. There is no need for your books today."
There was slight excitement and unease in the air. Whenever books were asked to be put away, the lecture wouldn't be boring. However, no one knew what the professor had in mind.
"As you all know, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has returned to public notice," the professor began, her voice barely above a whisper.
Many students shifted in their seats uncomfortably. Lithgow paused for a bit and then continued,
"What is less known is that You-Know-Who is one of the world's most skilled Legilimens and Occlumens. Mr. Potter, can you tell me what exactly Legilimency is?"
Harry, who took Occlumency lessons from Snape in fifth year, replied, "It's what the Muggles call 'mind-reading'. It's the ability to be able to see what is in the mind of the person you are talking to. It's usually used for seeing if the person is lying."
Lithgow looked mildly surprised and answered, "Correct. Two points to Gryffindor."
All of the Gryffindors were wondering What just happened? Two points to Gryffindor from the Head of Slytherin?
Ron elbowed Harry and whispered, "You sounded like Hermione just then."
"Is there anyone in this class that has practiced Occlumency, which is the ability to block Legilimency?" Lithgow asked once the talking had subsided.
Harry raised his hand and to his disbelief, so did Rachel.
"Ah, Miss Dalton," Lithgow said, looking at Rachel. "What are the requirements for Occlumency?"
"When telling a lie, one must shut their mind down and clear it of all thoughts," Rachel began. "It is a difficult art that requires skill. One must always be on their guard. The spell, Legilimens,can be conjured nonverbally, sometimes even without a wand. When conjured verbally, one can be caught off guard as the thoughts in your head are 'ripped' from your brain. The best way of defense is to disarm the opponent or conjure a spell that will stop them, such as the Full-Body Bind."
"Detailed explanation, Miss Dalton," said the professor with a raised eyebrow. "Now, is there anyone who would like to come up for a demonstration?"
No one raised their hand. Professor Lithgow sneered.
"I can see that none of you are skilled in Occlumency except for Miss Dalton here," Lithgow said, slightly scathingly. "Mr. Boot, you are scared of me. Mr. Zabini, you are worried about a pimple on your face that you have tried to unsuccessfully cover up. Mr. Weasley, you are thinking about a recent severance in a relationship you had. Mr. Potter, you are focusing on how Miss Dalton knows all of this, and Miss Abbott is not paying attention to my lecture."
Everyone snapped their attention on the professor. She was obviously a skilled Legilimens.
"Only Miss Dalton's mind eludes me," Lithgow said, attempting to stare Rachel down. "Two points from every House for not paying attention to me."
Everyone except Rachel shifted in their seats in embarrassment. She and the professor were still staring into each others' eyes, both looking rather vicious. The professor blinked and enlarged her eyes in surprise and Rachel smirked.
"And the professor," Rachel said softly, "is wondering where she has seen me before and how did I gain my skill in Occlumency and Legilimency."
Everyone looked back and forth between the professor and Rachel. They pondered on what punishment the professor would give for such defiance.
Lithgow narrowed her eyes and said coldly, "Come to me, Miss Dalton."
Showing no signs of embarrassment or worry, Rachel went up to the professor.
"Stand over there, please," said Lithgow, pointing at a spot about five feet to her right.
Rachel walked to the spot and faced the professor.
"If your skills are so great, do a demonstration on someone," Lithgow said with a tinge of mockery in her voice. "For instance, Mr. Potter. He has taken Occlumency and should be a worthy opponent."
The professor then went to the back of the class and sat in the darkest corner, watching.
"Very well," answered Rachel to the professor with no sign of emotion. "That is, if Mr. Potter does not object."
"Oh, I'm sure there is no objection," came Lithgow's voice from the corner. "Mr. Potter, go up and face Miss Dalton like I did, five feet away."
Harry was dumbfounded, but he did as the professor asked. He faced Rachel and looked her in the eyes.
"Begin," the professor announced.
"Legilimens!" Rachel cried before Harry could react.
Harry saw his thoughts flash before his eyes…Snape lecturing Harry on Legilimency…Harry's fat cousin, Dudley, taunting him…Quirrell taking off his turban, showing Voldemort's face on the back of his head…Harry kissing Cho Chang after a DA Meeting under the mistletoe…Harry's desire of kissing Rachel…
"Protego!" shouted Harry.
He had conjured up a Shield Charm and he could no longer see his thoughts. Neither could Rachel.
"Thank you, Miss Dalton and Mr. Potter," Lithgow said, no longer in her corner, but at the front of the class. "You may return to your seats."
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After the professor taught the incantation and correct wand movement for Legilimens, everyone was instructed to practice Legilimency and Occlumency with their partner. Ron partnered with Harry, leaving Rachel alone. Harry felt angry at her for not telling the professor to choose someone else she could "demonstrate" Legilimency on and for not warning Harry she was going to do the spell so suddenly. He was also mortified that Rachel had seen his fantasy of kissing her. Now she knows I like her, Harry groaned inwardly. He glanced at Rachel, who did not have a partner. Her chin was cupped in her hand and she was drumming her fingers on the table. Her eyes were faraway and distant. Harry briefly wondered what she was thinking, then continued practicing with Ron. Harry did not speak to Rachel for the rest of class.
A/N: I'm going to leave off here. I was thinking of including Transfiguration and Potions, but that will be next chapter. Sorry. Hope you liked this one. Now REVIEW!
