Ron Gets Lucky

Katie was sent to Saint Mango. The news spread around and terrified students. Harry was sure Malfoy was behind the incident, and that meant business as usual; People would gossip, Harry would complain and Hermione would try her best to ignore all the above.

Harry had to wait for his meeting with Dumbledore in order to warn him about Malfoy, and he had already decided to go to Moriarty again if Dumbledore wouldn't listen.

The Headmaster wasn't spotted during meals on Monday. Harry almost doubted that the he would make it at all, but when Harry went to his office Dumbledore was waiting for him.

"Good evening, sir. I thought you weren't in Hogwarts."

"Ah, Harry, I just arrived an hour ago. I had a talk with Professor Moriarty and v he told me that you've been quite busy yourself. You children handled Katie's situation pretty well, Harry. As professor Moriarty put it, excellent response." he said, offering Harry some cockroach clusters.

"Sir, is Katie going to be alright?"

"Your captain is going to be fine, thanks to Miss Lestrange's swift reaction. Professor Moriarty fixed most of her injuries, but she has to spend at least a week in Saint Mango." Dumbledore then looked at the necklace and continued, "Greek Cross is a nasty curse, Harry. Katie has been extremely lucky."

"Regarding that curse, has Professor McGonagall told you about my … suspicion?" Harry asked carefully.

"About young Draco? She has, Harry. I assure you, we will be investigating whomever might have been involved, but we must presently concentrate on our lesson." said Dumbledore disappointingly.

He then reviewed what they had previously learnt about Lord Voldemort and started to add more pieces to the puzzle by showing him a new memory from Caractatus Burke. Harry got excited when Burke mentioned Slytherin's locket. Then he became very angry upon hearing that he had paid Merope only ten Galleons for it.

"So this was Voldemort's first Horcrux. How did he get it back?"

"No, Harry, in fact the first was destroyed by you. If you recall, the diary of Tom Riddle did indeed possess young Miss Weasley. Concerning how Voldemort found the locket, I'm afraid we have to dig a bit deeper to find out. Right now we need to see another memory which is mine. You'll find this one more satisfactory in regards of details, for sure."

And he was right. The memory was much more vivid and clear. It was pure fun to see a woman called Ms. Cole mispronounce Dumbledore's name two times in a row, which made Harry laugh before he could stop himself.

Once they reached the room of young Tom Riddle, Harry saw him reading a book that he instantly recognised. He wondered if Hermione knew the Wuthering Heights was in Voldemort's reading list too. It would surely annoy her as it was her favourite muggle book, and it made her feel connected to her non-existent Muggle roots.

Riddle initially mistook Dumbledore for a doctor who had come to have a look at him. He behaved with hostility, but then calmed down a bit as the old professor dismissed that idea.

Harry was impressed by Dumbledore's composure and calm, who patiently explained where Hogwarts was, and who or rather what Riddle himself was. The contrast of Riddle's reaction with Harry's own reaction surprised him. He accepted being magical almost too easily.

In Harry's opinion Dumbledore's speech about not tolerating thievery had little effect on the boy. The Dumbledore in the memory was a bit disturbed by the young boy. Tom told Dumbledore about being Parselmouth. His description of his magical acts were quite disturbing for even an adult let alone a child his age.

As they left the memory Harry remained quiet for a few seconds. He waited for Dumbledore to explain his own view and then he talked.

"Riddle was unstable, professor. He obviously needed help." Harry finally said to Dumbledore who froze at his words.

"Riddle had clear signs of trust issues, kleptomania, sadism and aggressive behavior. Don't we have some ways to deal with these things early on?" Harry continued, "He himself asked if you were a doctor. He knew he probably needed a doctor."

Dumbledore looked at him grimly.

"Harry, unfortunately, despite its many advantages, magical society lacks many aspects of muggle society. As I understand, mental health care is mostly a neglected issue." he explained, "I'm afraid we don't have the very necessary occupation of Psychotherapy."

"I guess we don't. Otherwise my parents would be alive today." said Harry dolorously.

"Harry-" Dumbledore began with a shaky voice.

"Past is past, sir. Let's stop it from happening again." Harry shook his head uncomfortably, and then changed the subject. "I guess at least we know why he chose to forego his real name. Tom was too ordinary for him."

"Yes, exactly. Tom hated ordinary. That I suppose was the reason he was so friendless and, as I told you earlier, had developed a secretive and highly self-sufficient character. He used Lord Voldemort as his new identity only a few years later."

"You said Death Eaters were deluded to think they were close to him. What about Bellatrix Lestrange?" Harry asked. "They share a child after all."

"Bellatrix is a servant, Harry. She has no higher place above that. Voldemort plays with her however he likes. Surely, he feels the same about Rodolphus. Otherwise he wouldn't fornicate with his wife."

Dumbledore sighed unhappily as Harry started at Fawks. He then faced Dumbledore and said, "I'm sorry, sir, but I fail to see that as a logical strategy. I believe Rodolphus married Bellatrix to divert people's attention away from her. The same happened when he claimed to be Hermione's father."

Dumbledore looked at him thoughtfully and then he smiled knowingly.

"Harry, I can see why Voldemort fears you so much. You never underestimate your enemy." He said smiling brightly. Dumbledore stared at the ring on his desk.

"Professor, this ring, was it a horcrux, too?"

Dumbledore picked up the ring with his thumb and index and put it in Harry's palm.

"Of course. Surely, you saw Marvolo wearing it. The story of how Voldemort got it is also for another time." Dumbledore put the ring next to the diary. "I was lucky to think of calling Professor Snape to accompany me, otherwise I might have severely damaged myself. We did have more difficulty destroying it than Miss Lestrange had with the locket. Her control over Fiendfyre is legendary. So much so that I only know one other who had a similar amount of control over it."

"Who was it, sir?" asked Harry curiously.

"Gellert Grindelwald."

*R*B*

Regulus absolutely hated London, because he hated dampness. And now far away from London's rainy weather he was being drenched by cold rain. His friend next to him, however, loved rain.

"What a lovely weather, isn't it?" said his companion.

"No one in their right mind would call this lovely."

"No, they wouldn't. Unless they came from the great dessert."

The man was wearing a muggle suit and a Homburg hat. His facial expressions were usually stiff and his short goatee beard gave the appearance of an educated villain. To Regulus, his long wand made John Dee seem ludicrous in that attire.

Dee put his wand on a piece of rock and whispered a spell.

Suddenly, in front of them stood a tall building with a horrifyingly unsound structure.

"Welcome to Nurmengard, Regulus."

"He's alone in there. Why him though? Wasn't he evil?" said Regulus.

"This is a prison with only one prisoner. That ought to mean something, Regulus. He knows things we don't know and I know him enough to keep him under control. We need him."

He hit the ground with his wand and the area under their feet split from the earth and began to take them up. Regulus yelped and crouched down.

They soon reached the top and Regulus jumped onto the roof immediately.

"John!" he yelled as a stone gargoyle attacked him.

John jumped forward and hit the gargoyle with his wand. The gargoyle shattered into a hundred pieces.

"Here, you're saved." he smiled idiotically.

Then he created a hole in the roof effortlessly and they jumped into the cell of the most notorious Dark Lord of the century after Lord Voldemort.

There was an old man on a small bed. He couldn't see them due to the darkness.

"Are you here to kill me?" he asked with a shaky voice.

"Unfortunately, no." said John.

The old man froze upon hearing his voice.

"Who are you?" asked in horror.

"I thought you would recognise your old friend, John Dee."

John's wand emitted a soft blue light from its little jewel on top.

"You-"

"Guten morgen, How are you?" Dee smiled.

"Ich werde-" said Grindelwald as he launched toward Dee, but he was kept in place by Dee's wand.

"You think you can me, Gellert?" he said calmly. "I don't think you ever could. Look, you want out, I can take you. I'm sure you don't want to spend your remaining years here, do you?"

Grindelwald stepped back, suspicion evident in his eyes. He looked at the young man next to Dee.

"What's in it for you?"

"Not much. I just want to stop a maniac called Voldemort." said Dee.

Grindelwald smirked, "Why?"

"Regulus here, tells me that he made a horcrux."

Grindelwald grinned. His old face brightened a bit. "Ah. So he has become the enemy of mankind. Interesting! I need more to help you Mr. Dee."

"I know a lovely café in Paris. We could talk there, Are you interested?"

"Of course. I think it would be nice. We could also meet an old friend." Grindelwald smiled madly.

"You cannot kill him. Try to play well for once." Dee warned.

"Sure. Provided that I get my morning coffee."

*H*P*

Harry woke up quite early the day after. It was still dark and others were asleep. He couldn't go get his books and the book next to him was the history of magic. He tried to fall back to sleep, but gloomy thoughts were preventing that.

Voldemort's life had been too similar to Harry's, to the point that Harry wondered why hadn't he turned into something like Voldemort. All the things Dumbledore had used to describe Voldemort, Harry could have been. He had done similar things apart from stealing and hurting people -depending on the definition of hurt -

"God, that time at the zoo. Dudley must have freaked out." Harry whispered grimly.

What had made Harry so different.

"Are you truly different?" A weak voice whispered in the back of his mind.

The thought made him shiver. His path had been dangerously close to Voldemort's. Hadn't Harry gone to save Hermione in their first year, he could have turned into someone different.

These dark thoughts persisted until Ron woke up.

Over breakfast, he decided to tell Hermione and Ron about his meeting with Dumbledore, but something in the newspaper buried that subject in his mind.

Hermione didn't have to open the paper as it was printed on the very first page.

Grindelwald dead

was printed boldly on the newspaper.

"Wow, they found his body intact. He has died of natural causes." said Hermione.

"What else?" asked Harry. He remembered that Dumbledore had brought up his name last night.

"Well, most of it is history, actually. How Dumbledore defeated him. How he ended up in Nurmengard. Nothing about his death." Hermione said disappointedly. "Oh here are some accounts of his historical acts."

Hermione kept reading the newspaper avidly. The article was covering his time in school to adulthood and his move to power.

"Harry, he knew a lot of people. Did you know he was much worse in number of murders and social damage than Voldemort. He just wasn't here."

Hermione kept reading until she saw something that almost stopped her heart.

The fire of Paris

Perhaps one of the most famous incidents regarding Grindelwald was his rally in Paris - a turning point for his movement.- During which a supporter of him was killed by an auror. Grindelwald told people to spread the news and claimed to be non-violent. After people left the rally he murdered most of the aurors by Fiendfyre.

"He asked us to join him," said Newt Scamander, brother of late Theseus Scamander, "Or die. He created a circle of fire. The most beautiful blue color I'd ever seen. We did not appreciate the danger back then. Theseus ordered us to run but it was too late. The fire didn't harm his followers. Those who chose him, were spared, but those who didn't, perished in front of our eyes."

Hermione's palms were sweating madly, her face ashen as she read Scamander's description of the fire. It felt like someone had poured a bucket of ice water on her head. She looked at Dumbledore at the high table. He had a grim expression on his face. He looked at her and smiled heartwarmingly.

"Harry, Hermione, what's wrong with you two today?" Ron asked.

"Is Hermione pregnant?" asked Lavender cautiously.

That caused chaos. Before either Harry or Hermione could answer McGonagall was behind them.

"May I ask who's pregnant here?" she asked lividly. Her face was red and her fingers pressed hard on her book.

Lavender instantly pointed at Hermione. McGonagall gasped and dropped her book.

"M-Miss Granger…. You of all people…"

"Professor, she's not pregnant. I promise you. We were a bit under the weather and Lavender assumed that she was pregnant." explained Harry swiftly.

"Ah, thanks Merlin for that." said Minerva.

Harry could see Moriarty laughing his head off over the high table as Snape gave him a distasteful look.

"I think we need to … ehm … Have a talk in my office later, Miss Granger. I'll be waiting after dinner."

She strode back to the high table.

"Hey I just realised. McGonagall is still calling you Granger." Ron said.

"She actually calls her Hermione most of the times." responded Neville. "Flitwick has started to call her by first name, too."

With that Harry lost his chance to talk about his class with Dumbledore. He finally managed to find some privacy with Hermione and Ron on the way to Herbology and told them what he had seen last night.

"You don't pity him, do you, Harry?" asked Ron.

"No, but I don't have to like they way things turned out, do I?"

"Yeah, my dad could have been more handsome and less gruesome." joked Hermione.

Ron halted his walk and made a funny noise.

"Sorry. I didn't know you were still a bit touchy about that." she apologised insincerely as Ron had hinted her father multiple times in the past.

Ron did not snap out of it until Professor Sprout called them in.

They got to work and Hermione started a new conversation about Slug parties. Which annoyed Ron and Harry greatly.

"Come on Harry. You have to try Slug Club once."

"Merlin's pants! Is that name for real?" was Ron's response.

"Of course, Ron. He introduced Gwenog Jones last time. She said Slug Club was the best."

Ron was impressed by that, but it also depressed him that he wasn't invited.

"He's organising a Christmas party. You have to come Harry. Because, I'm pretty sure McLaggen is going to try something funny."

"Oh, alright. The pain I have got to take for my future wife... Ouch" Harry moaned as he was attacked by his plant.

The word wife made Hermione blush. She looked at him fondly and didn't say anything.

For the next few days, Harry, as the temporary captain, halted finding a temporary replacement for Katie until eventually the match with Slytherin became too close.

"Hermione you have to replace Katie for this match." He finally told his girlfriend during dinner.

"Will you come for the party?" she said.

"I promise."

"Then I'll be your chaser, honey." she said and kissed Harry's nose.

"Wow, Harry, I didn't know you could blush like that." said Dean.

Hermione didn't disappoint the team by performing well as a chaser. Ginny was extremely happy to work with her. It pained Harry how much passion Ginny had for Hermione. He felt sorry and jealous simultaneously.

Ron was Harry's big problem. He had little confidence in himself and that resulted in playing so violently that he punched poor Demelza in the mouth.

Harry fixed her mouth and warned Ginny to stop aggravating Ron.

Due to Katie's absence and Harry's lack of experience as a coordinator, this was the worst practice they had had in yeras, a fact which Harry decided to hide by saying it was good.

Harry and Hermione tried their best to give Ron more hope. Alas they failed as the practice took a worse turn next day and Ron almost resigned.

The night before the match Harry stayed up late to think of a solution and he finally had one in mind. It needed good execution though.

The following morning Gryffindors cheered Harry and Ron as they approached the table.

"Ron, honey, you're going to crush them." said Lavender Brown enthusiastically.

"Tea?" asked Harry. "Coffee? Pumpkin juice?"

"Doesn't matter." said Ron as he looked at his breakfast disinterestedly.

Hermione arrived a few seconds later. She seemed tired and sleepy.

"I can't believe I have to fly today." she said. "How are you two?"

"Never better. Here's your drink, Ron." said Harry innocently.

"Don't drink it, Ron."

"Why not?" he asked .

Hermione looked at Harry furiously. "You just put something in his drink."

"Beg your pardon?"

"You have the bottle in your hand."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, darling." Harry swiftly put the bottle in his pocket. "Must be your imagination running wild."

"Ron, please don't…"

But he had already drank the juice.

"Stop ordering around, Hermione." he said indifferently.

Hermione sat next to Harry.

"You should be expelled for that."

"Oh really. Haven't you confunded anyone lately?" Harry smirked, "We're going to make a great couple."

"Great news guys." said Ginny as they reached the changing room. "We got jackpot. Vaisy was hit in the head by a bludger yesterday and he can't play. Malfoy's sick too, so Harper is playing instead. And he is an idiot."

"Draco's sick?" asked Hermione as Harry diverted his gaze to the Slytherin table, "What's wrong?"

"Worried about your cousin? I don't know. It's good for us though." Ginny giggled.

Hermione was curious to see what Harry was thinking about and what she saw scared her. Harry's mind was meticulously checking every possible reason why Malfoy would call sick.

"Fishy, isn't it?" Harry asked Ron.

"Lucky is what I call it." Ron responded gleefully. "Also Vaisy is out, too. He's very good. I couldn't think of… Hey, wait a minute." He looked at Harry with an unreadable expression. "You didn't- you didn't really add anything to my - ehm - my …"

Harry raised his eyebrows and said, "You should probably get your boots on, we're starting in five minutes."

The stadium was packed by students. Harry saw Luna and her lion topped hat among the crowd and waved his hand for her. He almost forgot that he was the captain today and was reminded by Madam Hooch to shake Urquhart's hand who was the new Slytherin captain.

They mounted their brooms and kicked off. Harry kept his eyes busy looking for the snitch.

To Harry's dismay the commentator was Zacharis Smith, who kept bashing Ron. Ron however managed to save the first Quaffle.

"Wow, look at Lestrange everyone. She is outflying everyone like a white pole dragon. She's showing her true colors." said Smith in awe.

Hermione indeed was fast. Harry had never seen her fly so fast. In the first ten minutes she scored seven goals.

At some point Harper saw the snitch and Harry was too far away to reach it, but Hermione conveniently choose a path to the goal that was in Harper's way and went by him so fast that he lost his balance and almost fell. That was enough for Harry to catch up and grab the snitch.

"Yes." Harry yelled triumphantly. Team members surrounded him to hug him in midair, but Ginny didn't join them. Instead she sped up and hit the commentator's podium hard. The team flew to her to see what had happened.

"Sorry, Professor. I forgot to brake." Harry heard Ginny say.

Of course, after such an epic success a party was in order, therefore most team members changed immediately to get to the tower. Harry, Ron and Hermione remained behind.

"Harry, you heard Slughorn. You shouldn't have done that. It's illegal." Hermione finally snapped. "As you can see, even if Ron hadn't saved a single quaffle, we would have won by 310 to 90."

"Well, we won 310 to 0, which is much better." responded Harry.

"What are you going to do? Rat us out?" spat Ron.

"Look, I don't understand what you two are talking about." said Harry with a straight face.

"Yes, you do. You put Felix Felicis into his drink that's why everything went well, and Slytherin players were missing." Hermione ranted.

Harry wordlessly showed them the full bottle of Felix Felicis.

"You see, I wanted you guys think that I'd done that, so I pretended to be adding something to his drink when you were watching, love." He faced Ron and continued. "You saved everything because you felt lucky. That's all there is to it."

"But it felt so real, Harry."

"Indeed, and that's why it worked. Fortunately, you won't need it next time."

"Harry, you're such a Slytherin. I must ask the hat how you were put in Gryffindor." said Hermione.

"Well, could you guys keep a secret?" said Harry, "I almost wasn't."

The look on Ron and Hermione's face was priceless.

"I don't think it would be wise to ask what was the alternative," said Hermione. "Let's go back to the tower. There is a party waiting for us."

The party was wild. Ron left them the moment he saw Lavender Brown. What transpired between those two was disturbing.

"Ah, isn't that cute?" said Ginny. "I think he's trying to eat her face."

"That's a bit disturbing." Harry admitted.

Ginny sat next to him and gave him, a glass of butterbear, from which he took a gulp instantly.

"Oh my! I think McLaggen is about to get Hermione really angry." said Ginny.

Suddenly there was a commotion from where Hermione had gone to fetch drinks. Harry saw McLaggen fleeing a deadly flock of angry birds attacking him. Ginny pointed at the drink boot where Hermione was fuming, her pose very much like her father when dueling. In that moment, Harry decided that he would do everything is good power to avoid angering his girlfriend.

He turned his head toward Ginny's smiling face and just for a brief moment felt his heart jump.

A/N: I will be posting the next chapter before Friday.