Title: Venom, Tears and Potions
Author: Knife Hand
Feedback: Constructive feedback appreciated, flames unappreciated
Spoilers: Nothing Specific, general for first few books.
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I do not own Hermione, or Luna, or Ginny, or Cho, or... I would buy them all but I am broke.
Summary: Events during Second Year have far reaching consequences that no one could have foreseen.
AN: Alix33, I have something else in mind for Ron, I think you might like it.
Ginny was nervous as she walked down to the Quidditch pitch in her newly acquired Quidditch robes. Harry had given her his Nimbus 2000 broom, saying that it was a good Seeker's broom and he no longer had a use for it. Her palms were sweaty as she reached the pitch and saw the rest of the team there.
"Welcome to the team, Sis." Fred said.
Ginny was the only one of the Weasley children who could tell the Twins apart, though she suspected that Angelina and Alicia could also tell them apart. With Ginny joining the Quidditch team, it meant only two of the Weasley Children, Percy and Ron, had not played for Gryffindor.
"So…" Ginny began. "What do you want me to do?"
"We have a specialist coming in to train you." Wood said, before glancing upwards. "And here he comes."
Ginny and the rest of the team looked up to see a figure gliding in on outstretched wings with a smaller figure alongside. As it approached it was revealed to be Harry, accompanied by Hedwig, getting ready to land. He landed gracefully in the midst of the team, while Hedwig took up a perch on the nearby stands and put her head under her wing to rest.
"Admit it, you missed me." He said with a grin, which earned him a wack over the back of the head by the three Chasers.
Ginny was marvelling at the ease of the interaction between the team members and wishing that she would one day have that kind of familiarity. After the three Chasers had finished, Harry turned to look at Ginny.
"Well? Your turn." Harry said with a cheeky smirk.
Ginny blushed as she reached up and gently tapped him on the back of the head.
"Right, let's get going." Wood said.
The rest of the team went off to do their usual training, leaving Harry and Ginny alone.
"Right, let's get started." Harry said. "The first thing I am going to show you is some manoeuvrability exercises. I can't fly as fast as a broom but I am much more agile. Just try to keep up as best you can."
Ginny was still buzzing from her first practice even that evening as she walked into the Gryffindor Common Room. She was also kind of emotional because, just as she had promised, she had gone to see Madam Pomfrey to talk about what had happened to her the previous year. The Medi-Witch had spent over an hour just listening to Ginny, the single longest time she had someone's undivided attention, something that was almost impossible to get in her home life due to the size of her family. She also had some news.
Ginny went over to sit with Harry and Hermione, and waved to the Twins and Percy to come join them.
"Hey sis, what's up?" George said.
"Quite, I was studying." Percy said pompously.
"I just came from the Hospital Wing." Ginny said. I… um… went to check on Ron. He's not there anymore."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked. "He was released? Because we haven't seen him."
"No." Ginny said, and then gulped. "He's been transferred to St Mungo's. Long term care ward. Madam Pomfrey said he was in an unretentive comma."
"Unresponsive Coma." Hermione corrected. "It means his mind has retreated into itself. He has shut himself off from the rest of the world and can no longer get his body to respond or react to outside events. Most Muggles call it a Vegetative State. It is usually caused by either physical or mental trauma."
"I guess you becoming a catgirl and me ascending to Angeldom caused him to snap." Harry said offhand.
Both Hermione and Ginny slapped him over the back of the head at that comment, with Ginny's slap earning a grin from the hybrid boy.
"It is sad, but in retrospect, I guess it was always a possibility." Hermione added.
"What do you mean? I thought Ron was your friend?" Ginny said.
"Not really. Ron was Harry's friend." Hermione replied.
"It's true." Harry added. "Ron and Hermione have very different personalities. Ron, sad to say, is very self centred, wanted attention and was very lazy. He certainly had his own set of skills, but he was often clouded by other's achievements, thinking that others doing well somehow diminished him."
"How dare you speak down about my brother." Percy said in outrage.
"Shut up, Percy." Fred said.
"Everyone knew that about Ron." George added.
"The worst part is Ron only ever saw the good side to other's achievements, not the bad." Hermione added. "Take Harry, for example. Ron saw the fame, the money, the recognition. He never considered the loss of Harry's parents, the strain on Harry's emotions not knowing if people liked him for him or if it was just because he was famous, or having a homicidal lunatic out for Harry's blood."
"Gee, thanks Hermione, that makes me feel a whole lot better." Harry said sarcastically.
Percy huffed off back to his studying while the Twins gravitated back to their friend Lee.
"Thanks for not telling why I really went to see Madam Pomfrey." Ginny said when the three of them were alone.
"Not a problem." Hermione replied. "So how did it go?"
"She wants to see me for an hour each week to talk through things. She said in a few weeks we will discuss if I need to see a specialist." Ginny explained. "I really mean it. Thanks for caring."
"That's it. Group hug." Harry said, standing and pulling the two girls to their feet, before embracing them in a hug and wrapping his wings around them.
As Ginny was enveloped by Harry's wings, she felt a sense of peace well within her. On Harry's other side Hermione was purring and leaning into the hug with a 'cat ate the canary' grin on her face. Here were two people who genuinely cared about Ginny Weasley. Not as the younger sister to Ron, or the Twins. Not as the only daughter in a family of boys. No, they saw her as her, and she was just beginning to understand why.
Five am on Sunday, the day after the first Gryffindor Team practice, saw an unusual sight on the Quidditch Pitch, not that anyone was there to see it but the participants. It was actually an informal class, although probably the weirdest class ever taught at Hogwarts, and that was truly saying something. Part of the strangeness was from the time, part from the fact that it was two teachers and two students, each getting one on one attention. But the strangest part was that the teachers were not members of the faculty. They were House Elves.
The thing most Wizards and Witches forget is that in institutions like Hogwarts, there are many more House Elves than most are aware of and each House Elf is assigned a role not by the Headmaster or Staff, but by the Head Elf, and that each role must be filled, generation to generation. In the early days of Hogwarts, there was still a need for armed warriors trained in the weapons of the day, and there were House Elves assigned to both care for and to observe the training of those weapons, the second task as a back up should all the experienced warriors fall in battle.
That is how Harry and Hermione came to be on the Quidditch Pitch with a pair of House Elves named Neko and Kammy. Neko was running Harry though a series of very basic drills with the Spear. A simple thrust, recover, block, recover routine. Kammy on the other hand was showing Hermione how to shoot a bow.
There had been a lot of discussion over the break between Harry and Hermione about training to fight Lord Voldemort. While they did plan to work on their Magic, it was decided that thanks to their new abilities, other weapons would also be effective, especially since Voldemort and his Death Eaters would not expect them, especially if the weapons were spelled to look like something innocuous.
This was only their second lesson, their first occurring the day before the other students had returned. When they had spoken to Mindy about their idea, and the prank, they had been shown to a room with an array of weapons, from daggers and bows to swords and pole arms. After checking out the weapons in the room, Harry had chosen the long Spear, partly because of the reach in close combat, partly because it was a versatile weapon against multiple opponents, and partly because it looked cool with his wings. Hermione on the other hand had chosen the bow because it gave a stand off capability and with her feline attributes she could get into and out of good shooting positions in urban environments quickly. Plus, with her strength, agility and retractable claws she already had formidable close combat capabilities.
As the only living pair of Zodiac Apotheosis in the world practiced, the two House Elves were supervising and providing assistance as needed, like adjusting Hermione's shoulders in her shooting stance to improve the use of her muscles or showing Harry where he went wrong after he finished hopping around for a minute due to slamming the butt end of his spear into his foot at speed.
Finally at six thirty Neko and Kammy called a holt to the lesson, much to the relief of the their two students, with Harry and Hermione making their way back up to the Gryffindor dorms to have a shower before breakfast, or most of their fellow lions waking up.
TBC…
