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Year Five...
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A/N: Damn! 40+ chapters, for one year? Maybe I am a slow writer...
Anyways, I would like to thank for all the support I have been getting from you guys. I also received some PMs regarding 'Verum Genus' and trust me, that story is under works. Thank you all once again for sticking with me.
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Harry opened the door to let Daphne, Astoria and Tracey inside the cabin before he looked at the corridor to see if anyone was there.
"I made sure no one followed us," Daphne said. They were halfway to Hogwarts and almost everyone on the train was talking about the Azkaban breakout. Harry wondered how Neville had been holding up since that night. The two hadn't really talked much after that.
"Hey, Neville," Tracey said as she received looks from both Harry and Daphne which she shrugged off. "How are you?"
"I'm okay," the boy replied with a fake smile before continuing to look outside the window.
"You know, we were looking forward for you to join us for the training during the summer holidays," she said. Daphne elbowed her which Tracey again ignored.
"I was busy," Neville replied uninterestingly.
Tracey pressed her lips while constantly getting looks from both Harry and Daphne to just stop. She didn't. "I know what happened to your parents," she said sounding solemn. Harry wanted to face-palm so bad while Daphne looked like she would murder her best friend. Neville slowly turned to look at her with surprise. He surely hadn't expected – just like everyone else inside that cabin – for Tracey to bring up his parents. "I can't imagine what you are going through following this breakout."
"Tracey," Daphne finally said in a rigid tone as she looked at her best friend. She then glanced at Neville wondering what the boy was thinking. He had an expressionless look on his face now which only made Daphne more worried.
"What?" Tracey said. "It's not like you cannot talk about it! A lot of the people lost their families. Harry here lost his parents. I'm sorry to bring it up," she said looking at Harry who simply looked at her in defeat and surrender. Tracey then looked at Neville again. "We are your friends," she said. "You can talk to us about anything. It helps, you know? Besides, if you want to take revenge for your parents you should train to become stronger. Lestrange isn't gonna be all nice and caring towards you."
Harry felt like Neville would blow up any moment as he looked at the boy's expressionless face, as did Daphne. Astoria was simply enjoying the moment, finding it all to be somewhat entertaining.
"Sorry, for not being able to join you guys in training," Neville finally said slowly. "My grandma didn't want me to go anywhere."
"It's alright, Neville," Daphne said as she placed a hand on Tracey's shoulder before the girl could speak anymore. "Tracey is just worried about you," she said looking at her best friend. "We all are."
Neville nodded before focussing back on the fields outside the window.
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A few train cars ahead sat Draco with his group which consisted of Crabbe, Goyle, Nott and Zabini. Theo was sitting next to him when he patted Draco rather hard on his back.
"You've been quite for some time now, Draco," the boy said. "What is up?"
"Nothing," Draco replied.
"Surely it must be something interesting that has gotten you all quiet," Theo insisted.
Knowing Theo won't let this go Draco decided to distract him. "I was thinking about how things will go from here on," he said, "with the dark lord's return and him freeing everyone from Azkaban."
"You do know that it was my father who led that breakout mission, right?" Theo said sounding a little proud. "As for how things will go, I can tell you that whatever it is, it'll be bloody brilliant for us. If we keep doing what we are told then soon enough we can have whatever we want."
"Are you still talking about Greengrass?" Blaise Zabini said. Theo glared at him. "Everyone here knows that her father annulled her betrothal with you. That was the only thing which ensured she would end up with you. Now you have nothing to lure her."
For a moment it looked like Theo would kill Blaise but then he grinned, rather sickly. "Well, there are other ways to get what you want," he said before turning to look at Draco. "Am I right, Draco?"
"Do whatever you want," Draco said sounding uninterested, "but keep me out of it. It's hard enough to make Professor Snape see reason behind everything that you do. I want to be focussed this year. I think you should too. We can get orders any time on any day of the week. None of us, who are sitting in this cabin, are going back to Hogwarts as students. We each have our respective duties that we have to complete otherwise we will end up failing the dark lord. I know none of us here want that to happen."
Theo had no reply for that so he just pressed his lips together. He then looked at Crabbe and Goyle who were busy eating from the small mountain of snacks they had bought from the trolley lady. "You two buffoons better not mess things up," Theo said. "Otherwise I will kill you."
"Twust us. We wun't," Goyle said with his mouth full.
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The train stopped at Hogsmead station. Harry and Neville got off before heading for the carriages when they saw Hermione. She was just standing there looking at Harry before starting to head towards them.
"I'll save us a carriage," Neville said.
Harry nodded in response before Neville left. By then Hermione had arrived. He looked at her with an expressionless face and waited for whatever it was that she had to say to him.
She looked conflicted as she chewed her lower lip – a sign which told Harry that Hermione was nervous. He had been her best friend for three years after all. "You're not wearing your glasses," she said with a nervous smile as she slowly rubbed her left elbow while squeezing her shoulders slightly. "How are you?" she asked after a small pause.
Harry blinked wondering if that was all that she had to say to him. It probably wasn't, considering how nervous she looked so he waited, waited to see if she had anything else to say but when she didn't he could feel his anger rise. He didn't want to shout at her or lose his cool by saying anything he would regret later so he simply turned around and began to walk.
"I'm sorry!"
Harry stopped when those words fell in his ears. He then slowly turned around and looked at her. Hermione looked like she would cry.
"I'm sorry," she said again, in a croaked voice. "I didn't know what I was thinking. I should've been there for you."
"You should have," Harry said in a low tone. "I have never cared what other people think about me. I never cared on that day either. But when I saw that you, of all people, weren't standing by my side; it had hurt. You were the one person who I trusted more than anyone and you weren't with me."
"I wanted to," Hermione said, "but Ron said that he won't be friends with me if I did."
"Ron has always been a jealous git," Harry said. "And since when do you care about what he wants? The two of you are always fighting, over the smallest things! You two can't agree on anything! He has always treated you poorly. He has always made you do his homework without ever being grateful to you and you still chose to listen to him?" The tears couldn't stop falling from her eyes as Hermione looked down. "You tell me why you have stayed loyal towards him and then maybe I will consider forgiving you otherwise, don't bother talking to me."
With that he turned around and left. Hermione watched him go. She had really messed it all up, she thought. She wiped her tears before leaving the place. His words had made her wonder why she had ever stood beside Ron. She had thought the same the whole summer.
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"Isn't that Umbridge?" Tracey said looking at the head table. They were in the great hall waiting for the first year students to arrive.
"I thought so too," Daphne said. "It's almost impossible to miss that pink sweater. My father said that the ministry was sending an inquisitor to Hogwarts. Maybe she is here because of that."
"If she is the inquisitor then I don't know what to say about it," Tracey said. "If there is anything I know about her it's that she is fiercely loyal to Fudge, and she would do anything he tells her to. It's kind of unnerving when you think about it. It's like she wants to please him in every possible way. Makes you wonder whether Fudge has taken advantage of her by..."
Daphne put her hand on Tracey's mouth before she could speak further.
"All I know is that Fudge is after Dumbledore," Daphne said. "Maybe that is why he sent his most loyal undersecretary to keep an eye on him. To be honest, that may be a good thing for us."
"How?" Tracey asked as Daphne slowly removed her hand from mouth.
"If she is here to make Dumbledore's life miserable then I'm all for it," Daphne said. "I don't like him and neither do my parents. He's manipulative. He made Harry live with his horrible relatives. He is secretive and makes others do his bidding. If you put it roughly – Dumbledore is like Voldemort."
"Well, now I'm sure how much you hate him," Tracey said dryly before she looked at Theo and the rest. "I guess we will have to be extra careful this year."
"They can't do much at Hogwarts," Daphne said. "Making things difficult for Professor Snape would be the last thing Nott and the rest would want to do. Besides, with a ministry-appointed inquisitor at Hogwarts this year, I think we will all be instructed to keep it down a little anyways."
It was then that the gates to the great hall opened and the first years were led in by McGonagall. The next half hour was spent sorting them in the four houses before Dumbledore stood up and gave his welcome speech. Much to Daphne and Tracey's surprise he introduced Umbridge as the new DADA professor. He said nothing about her being an inquisitor, although he did told the students to be at their best behaviour.
Daphne looked at Harry and wondered whether he knew who Umbridge was. Her guess was he didn't. That made her worried for him. If Fudge had sent his undersecretary to keep an eye on Dumbledore then Harry was most probably on that list too. After all, he was the one who said it first that Voldemort had returned after he had come out of the maze holding the Tri Wizard cup and three dead bodies.
The feast ended an hour later and the students were told to go back to their respective house towers. As Daphne joined her fellow Slytherins she saw Nott give her 'that' look. It sent a chill down her spine as her jaw tightened. She didn't want to admit it to anyone but she was worried, especially for Astoria. She looked to her right where her sister was and put her hand around Astoria's neck before pulling her a bit closer. The youngest Greengrass didn't mind as Daphne often did that whenever they were in public. It was a way for her to let any prying eyes know that Astoria was under her protection. However, Daphne wondered if she would be able to deliver on that duty of hers this year.
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Harry didn't join his housemates to go to the Gryffindor tower after the welcome feast ended. Instead, he had gone to the room of requirement. Last year he had found that one could hide things there so he wanted to try it for himself. He had brought several books from the Potter manor to study and practice magic from, while he was at Hogwarts. Considering how rare and valuable they were he didn't feel safe keeping them in his trunk in the dorm, especially since he wasn't on talking terms with the rest of the Gryffindors. He had also thought about keeping them in Salazar's library in the secret chamber. However, it was a hassle going down there every single day so the room of requirement was the best place for the books.
A few minutes later Harry walked into the common room only to interrupt an ongoing commotion. Everyone turned to look at him as he wondered what had happened now. He saw Ron standing by the fireplace looking angrier than ever with Hermione facing him with a determined look on her face. She then turned to look at Harry and did something which the latter hadn't expected.
"I'm sorry," Hermione said looking him straight in the eyes. "I wasn't the friend that I should've been. I should've been by your side. I am ashamed for what I did and I would like to make up for it."
Everyone's eyes shifted from her to Harry who stood there with a stoic look on his face. He looked from her to Ron and then back to Hermione before giving her a curt nod. Then, without waiting for her response Harry left for his dorm, leaving behind a crowd of shocked and confused Gryffindors.
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Thanks for reading...
