Chapter 7: The Last Of His Days
"Ahoy, mate! We're runnin' a bit late, it's Monday morning, and we've got about five minutes to get to Defense Against the Dark Arts!" Ron said frantically. He and Hermione were trying to get Harry up, but were reluctant, as he looked more peaceful than ever in his sleep.
"Wha? But I don't want bacon with Bludgers, thank you very much!" Harry murmered, then turned over, covering his head with his pillow.
Hermione rolled her eyes. Pointing her wand at Harry, she said, "Watoringas!"
In that instant Harry leaped out of his bed, gasping for air. He felt cold, and not to mention, sopping wet. Shivering, Harry blinked back the water, only to realize that there was no water. Having just awakened, he was confused.
"It's about time you decided to wake up! Now let's move, get your robes and books, we've got to go!"
"How...how come water was splashed all over me and then dried off?"
"There wasn't any water on you! It was an illusion, you needed to wake up! Now get a move on! WE NEED TO GO!" Hermione shouted this in his ear.
"Alright! No need for the yelling," Harry answered, grumpily. No thanks to his friends that he couldn't get his usual eight hours of sleep.
A bell struck in the distance. Ron groaned. "That was the bell."
"No need to tell us, I think our ears are working in fine order," Hermione snapped.
"What is your problem?" Ron asked, taken aback.
"My problem," She answered, whole body trembling, "Is that this is the first time EVER that I've never been punctual to a class! Thanks to you and Harry!"
"Wait here a minute," Ron growled, "I did nothing to make you late! And so now it's the end of the world because you are? Oh no, the sky is falling!" Ron ran around in circles in a frantic motion, arms covering his head as if the sky were to fall any moment.
"Haha, very funny," Hermione said, sarcastic smile turning to a scowl.
"WILL BOTH OF YOU JUST SHUT UP! I'm ready to go, see? No more arguments now, let's just go! Please?" Harry ended with a desperate note in his voice. He couldn't stand the bickering! If only they had a permanent non-bickering kind of charm cast upon them! "Not a bad idea, but I'd be struck silly if there ever was a charm for it." Perhaps one day he could invent that spell, but with the future he had ahead of him, he knew that it would never be accomplished.
None of them spoke after Harry. All rushed out of the dormitory into the common room, and through the portrait hole. "Tsk tsk, three students late to class! That's what you get for staying up late!" The Fat Lady said.
Ron grunted. "We don't need lectures, much less from a portrait!" With this they ran off down the corridor, hoping that they wouldn't get any more lectures from anyone on the way to class.
"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger. You're late for class," Professor Lawrence said to them as they rushed into some seats.
"We know," Harry, Ron, and Hermione replied, bluntly.
"Good, then you should also know that I take five points off for each person that is late," the professor said cheerily. It was as if she enjoyed the torture of others. "Well, at least it wasn't such a bad amount of points taken," Harry thought, grimly.
Professor Lawrence was a slight woman, with lines of age starting to appear on her face along with greying hair. More silverish, to be precise. She had a peculiar habit of keeping her wand tucked back behind her ear, much the same as Luna. Apart from that, she looked exactly like her daughter, but had a completely different personality. To start with, the most annoying thing the professor did was state the obvious, as when she noted that they were late. She also was quite cheery, but had an awfully short-tempered fuse. The last thing was her peculiar liking to cough drops, which was strange and totally random. "I don't really like this woman, but at least she knows things about the Dark Arts, other than Umbridge did."
"Well then, let's start the lesson!" Lawrence continued, happily, as if nothing had happened. "We've been learning about jinxes, as you all know. The jinx we'll learn today, however, will be Tangled Jinx, quite properly named, it is. Now, everyone, find a partner so we can practice this!" People got out of chairs and found partners, Harry partnered up with Ron (of course) while Hermione partnered up with Neville.
"Now listen closely, I will get some cushions-" with the wave of her wand, cushions appeared. "-Is that enough? Yes? Good, now, the incantation is hilgilius. Let's repeat this three times, altogether now! Hilgilius!" No one spoke aloud with her. "Repeat this three times," She said, an edge to her voice. There was also the faint smell of cherry- indeed, she was sucking on a cough drop, the strange old bat. "Stop thinking that! I've got to make an impression. She doesn't seem the type to not mind who her daughter was seeing...but why am I even thinking that! It's not like I am seeing her daughter, although, I wish I was..."
Harry's attention snapped back to the present as he heard a yelp coming from somewhere to his right. He turned seeing Neville turning a bright purple in the face, and starting to levitate off of his seat.
"Mr. Longbottom! We are merely practicing the incantation before we use it, you silly boy! You do realize your face is turning a vivid purple, and you're floating atop your seat, don't you? Well stop that madness and start practicing the spell along with everyone else!"
"But, I...Professor!"
"What? Neville, you are supposed to be sitting on your chair!"
Everyone else in the class gasped as Neville stopped floating and then all of a sudden skyrocketed upward, his head colliding into the ceiling.
"Dowryfon!" Hermione holding her wand high then slowly pointing it down to the ground. Neville sank down to the floor, unconcious. He lost the purple on his face, but his head had swollen greatly.
"My! His head has swollen considerably fast," the Professor gasped, joining along with the rest of the class circling around Neville.
"WE KNOW!" the class roared. Hardly into the start of school and they were already taking a disliking to the witch. How much slower and annoying could one possibly become?
"Well, after this incident, we should send him down to the hospital wing. Mr. Thomas and Finnigan, if you so kindly could?"
"Dinner! I'm awfully famished after this wonderful start of the day, especially after missing breakfast," Ron said, brightening.
"What about lunch? We had that, you know," Hermione said.
"Lunch is more of a snack than anything, dinner is the real meal!" Ron said, after piling up his plate chuck-full of any food within his reach. He then tucked in like an eager rabbit would nibble a carrot.
"I don't-"
"Let's just enjoy a peaceful meal, shall we?" Harry asked, glaring and giving a strained smile at his two best friends at the same time.
"Right, well, Defense Against the Dark Arts was amusing, was it not?" Ron said, abruptly changing the subject after a brief silence. "Sure, she knows things of the dark arts, but she sure is slow to take in what is happening! Ugh, she has a dull and terrrible personality, she's along the lines of Lockhart!"
Hermione choked on her steak-and-kidney pie. "What? Gilderoy is not like that! How dare you-" Hermione stopped shortly after Harry gave her another glare.
"You take that back," Hermione said instead, huffily.
"Anf wgyu shouf fy? Hif gall fru!"
"Come again?"
Ron swallowed the potatoes stuffed into his mouth. "And why should I? It's all true!"
"Argh! I think I lost my appetite, sitting next to the lot of you! Neither of you can talk without fighting- it's a wonder you are seeing each other!" With this Harry got up and walked meaningfully out of the Great Hall, outside into the chilliness of November.
Harry found a spot near the lake on a rotted log. He looked around, thinking. "It's so awkward being around my friends now, I don't feel as connected. I wonder what Sirius would be doing if he was still alive?" The renewed thought of Sirius hit Harry hard. His tears were stopped short at the feeling of his anger at himself- even Dumbledore. "It was like Dumbledore didn't even want him there, like he was in the way," Harry thought, anger rising by the second. "But it wasn't Sirius's fault, I mean, he was trying to save me! And to think, he had spent the last of his days inside the house that he would have never dreamed of returning to. He had spent the last of his days moping inside a house that he had had a terrible past in! Bloody, I would've hated to be stuck in a place that I would relive things I wouldn't want to think of too! It's all my fault! Why couldn't Sirius had just taken Buckbeak and have stayed in hiding in the moutains? Then none of this would've ever happened! Argh!" Harry then picked up a rock and chucked it hard into the lake. A tentacle emerged from the the lake, writhing around in an angry or annoyed manner. That hadn't been much of an outlet as Dudley would've been, but it had helped lower his anger level a bit.
"I suppose this isn't a good time to say hello." Harry turned to see Jacoba standing there, her hair swaying gently in the breeze. His stomach fluttered, as usual. "She's so pretty.."
"Er, no, it's okay- I've just been a bit frustrated with things," Harry said, sheepishly.
"Um, I can tell," Jacoba answered. She hesitated, then sat down alongside him.
"So, have you been enjoying the weather?" Harry asked, then winced, remembering it was the middle of November and then noticed that Jacoba was shivering.
"No, not really," Jacoba replied.
"Erm, well, here! Take my robe," He shrugged his robe off, offering it to Jacoba. She took it, looking grateful.
"But, you won't be too cold without it?"
"No, I won't," Harry answered. There was an awkward silence.
"So," Harry said after awhile. "How is it having your mum teach here?"
"Terrible," Jacoba answered, shortly. "I thought it wouldn't be so bad, but I was wrong. She keeps batting me around, and tells me what to do and what not to do. But it doesn't mean I always listen to her.." A devilish grin formed upon her face.
"I'm surprised about that, I never thought of someone like you to do that, you seem too...innocent."
"I'm not always," She sighed, a slight frown on her face.
"That doesn't make you a bad person," Harry said, quickly.
"Thanks, I'm glad to hear that from someone."
After that, they had talked until well after sundown. Harry was surprised at how nice it was to have a conversation like that- one that he paid attention to and didn't grow angry in. Finally, their conversation had ended.
"Well, it was nice talking to you, Harry."
"Erm, what- well, I..." After receiving a strange look from Jacoba, he quickly said, "Yes, it was a nice conversation."
She smiled and leaned over, kissing him on the cheek. Harry was in seventh heaven, and became unaware of his surroundings right then and there. Jacoba muttered something of a goodbye, then got up and left. Was she blushing? Oh well, it didn't matter. Perhaps it was just more of a friendly thing to do, not because she liked him that way. But still it didn't matter. It just mattered of how he felt. Still dazed, Harry somehow managed to make it to the dormitory, hours later, and put pajamas on and lay down on his four-poster bed.
Ron noticed Harry's arrival. "What have you been doing since dinner?"
"Oh, I was just outside," Harry answered, not really listening to what was being said.
"C'mon mate, tell me what happened!" Ron pleaded.
"Nothing...it was nothing.." Harry answered. What had happened had definitely made his day.
A/N: Yesterday was the last day of school, so now summer is with me- YES! However, I'm already terribly bored, which is why it's shorter (gotta have a few short chapters, right?). I will probably post the next chapter faster than this (yay, I posted this faster than usual- Kudos fer me! (eh, ignore the kudos thing)), and I've already started it- which is quite unusual for me. Thanks again to my reviewers coughs (which is only two for the last chappie). POWER TO THE PARANTHESIS! ALL HAIL! ( Ahahahaha! ) Now to be serious with a few words: Please, if you read this, review, I'd appreciate it if you did, be angry if you read it and didn't. Though there isn't much I can do 'bout that, is there? Lol, just REVIEW!