A/N: The songs used in this chapter do not belong to me, they belong to Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana), Taylor Swift and Adele respectively, I am none of these people, nor am I J.K. Rowling (I wish!) So Don't sue me! And R+R please!
Chapter 3
Horace Slughorn
When I was in the hallway of the house, I turned to Harry.
"What are we doing in here?" I whispered, gripping my wand tightly.
"Apparently, we're helping Dumbledore sway an old colleague out of retirement to take up the Defence Against the Dark Arts post." Harry said, walking into the war zone the sitting room had become.
The couch was ripped apart, there was a red stain on the wall and the piano that was in the corner of the room was smashed, nearly making me cry at the destruction of such a beautiful instrument.
In fact, the only thing that wasn't touched, let alone destroyed was a large squishy armchair, but I had a feeling that wasn't just an armchair.
Professor Dumbledore seemed to agree with me, seeing as he chuckled.
"Obviously there was a struggle." Harry said, looking at the red stain on the wall. "You don't think he's died, do you, sir?"
I gave Harry the Hannah Potter patented "You're an idiot" look and shook my head "No, Harry, if he was killed, the Dark Mark would have been set over here, idiot."
As I said that, Dumbledore walked over to the armchair and prodded it with his wand.
The chair shouted "OW!" and I smirked.
I was right, I was right! I said in my head as the chair started morphing into a man…well, a man that looked like a walrus.
"Good evening, Horace." Dumbledore said kindly.
The man was wearing pyjamas that was the upholstery from the armchair. Pyjamas that just barely fit
He had a moustache that would have rivalled Uncle Vernon's and his watery eyes were giving Dumbledore a look.
"You didn't need to stick the wand in that hard, Dumbledore, it hurt." the man said, rubbing his enormously fat belly.
Dumbledore's and Harry's wand light made his pate shine brightly to rival the buttons on his maroon dressing gown. The top of Horace's head barely reached Dumbledore's chin.
"What gave it away?" the man asked Dumbledore.
"Horace, Horace, Horace, as Ms Potter so wisely told me, if the Death Eaters had really been in the house, the Dark Mark would be set over the house. Brilliant deduction, by the way, Hannah."
I smirked as walrus-man clapped a hand to his forehead. "The Dark Mark…I knew there was something missing, oh well, wouldn't have had time…just finishing off my upholstery when you came in."
I turned my eyes to the wrecked piano and sighing. It must have been a beautiful instrument. I thought.
"Would you like some help clearing up?" Dumbledore asked, holding his wand aloft.
"Please." said Slughorn.
The two men raised their wands and waved them around, making everything in the room fall back to its original position. The piano (which I was fixated on) keys were one by one falling back onto the newly repaired base with a plinking sound for each key.
Before I knew it, the entire room was repaired, and I agreed with Harry telepathically (it's a Twin Thing.) that the house must've belonged to a rich, fussy old lady.
"What was that blood on the walls, exactly?" Dumbledore asked as the stain was wiped clean.
"On the walls? Dragon." the man said "My last bottle, and prices are sky high at the moment, but it still may be reusable." he added, shuffling over to a crystal vial and looking into the thick liquid inside.
"A bit dusty…" he sighed, putting it back on the shelf next to me before pausing and doing a double take to look at me. His eyes fell to my scar, then he turned to Harry and his scar, then back to me.
"Oho…" he said, gaping as he turned back to Harry, then me. "Oho! I thought I was hearing things when you said what Ms Potter had told you about the Dark Mark…OHO!" he said, a gleam in his eyes.
"Horace, this is Harry and Hannah Potter, Harry, Hannah, this is an old friend and colleague of mine, Horace Slughorn." Dumbledore said.
Suddenly, Slughorn freed me from his gaze and turned to Dumbledore with a shrewd expression.
"That's how you thought you'd sway me, is it? Well, the answer's no, Albus." Slughorn said as I turned back over to the piano.
I wonder how it sounds… I thought smiling. Would it sound any like the piano I learned on in the Muggle school music room?
Slughorn pushed past Harry and I as if he was trying to resist temptation.
"I suppose we can have a drink at least?" Dumbledore asked "For old times' sake?"
Slughorn sighed "Fine, one drink." he said insolently as he walked into the kitchen.
Dumbledore smiled at Harry and I and told us to sit on a couch that was nothing like the chair Slughorn had Transfigured himself into.
Slughorn came back with a decanter and glasses, huffing.
"Humph." he said, looking away from everyone as though frightened "Here." he said, handing a drink to Dumbledore, who then sat down.
Slughorn handed the tray to Harry and then sat down with his own glass. I took my glass somewhat nervously.
Silence. My eyes stole a quick glance at the piano again before Dumbledore broke it.
"Well, how have you been keeping, Horace?" he asked, turning to Slughorn as I sipped my drink.
"Not so well, slow going these days, wheezy, weak chest. Old age, fatigue." Slughorn said, sighing as he took a sip of his drink.
"Well, you must have moved fairly quickly to prepare such a welcome for us at such short notice," Dumbledore said, smiling. "you must not had more than, what? Three minutes notice?"
"Two. Didn't hear the Intruder Charm go off, taking a bath, but still." Slughorn said, drawing himself up proudly.
I yawned and stared back at the piano, secretly wanting to play it, but also wanting the guitar which was now most likely at the Burrow…and the time that I caught Draco playing guitar:
…
Flashback
It was in first year and I was bored. I had to loan Blaise my Potions notes for some reason. I was walking up to the boys dorms when I heard someone playing guitar and singing.
"She's on the phone with her boyfriend, he's upset, he's going off about something that she said, but he doesn't get her humour like I do.
I'm in my dorm it's a typical Friday night, I'm playing the sort of music I know she likes, but he'll never know her story like I do.
Because he's a Dueller I play Seeker, he's kicking ass while I'm on the bleachers, dreaming about the day when you'll wake up and find that what she's looking for has been here the whole time.
Can't she see that I'm the one that understands her, been here all along so why can't she see? She belongs with me. She belongs with me."
I looked through the crack in the door as he played…it wasn't Blaise.
It was Draco, playing a black guitar with the Slytherin emblem on the neck.
When he finished the first verse and chorus, I couldn't help but applaud, making him tense and stow the guitar away to pull out a slingshot and a Dungbomb
"Who's there?" he asked, pointing his wand at the door "I've got a lethal weapon!"
I laughed "Put the slingshot away, Huck Finn, it's me!" I said, leaning against the door frame. "Why didn't you tell me you played?" I asked.
Draco looked down "I'm not the best, I was nervous you'd laugh." he said.
I smirked "I play, remember I told you?" I said "And I sing. So you wouldn't be the only Slytherin."
Draco smirked "Play for me, then." he said, handing me his guitar.
I blanched "Like…now?" I asked.
Draco nodded "That was the plan, Princess." he said.
I bit my lip and sat on Draco's bed "Fine, then. There was a song I've been working on…" I said. "It tuned?"
Draco nodded "Go on." he said.
I sighed. What did I get myself into? I thought as I started to play.
"Smooth talking, so rocking, he's got everything that a girl's wanting. Guitar cutie, he plays it his way! And I can't keep myself from saying something stupid, think I'm really falling for his smile," Draco smiled and I blushed (he was the one I wrote the song about)"get butterflies when he says my name…Woo!
He's got something special, he's got something special! And when he's looking at me I wanna get all sentimental. He's got something special, he's got something special. I can only presume something telling me, telling me maybe he could be the One. He could be the one. He could be the one. He could be the one, he could be the one, he could be the one."
I stopped, blushing.
"Why'd you stop?" Draco asked "It's pretty good."
I shrugged "I haven't got anything else." I admitted, embarrassed.
…
"EARTH TO HANNAH!" Harry shouted, elbowing me in the stomach.
I shook my head "What?" I asked, snapping out of the memory and realizing Dumbledore had gone.
"Slughorn was talking to you." Harry said nodding to Slughorn.
I blushed "Oops." I mouthed "Sorry, zoned out." I said to Slughorn, who oddly smiled.
"Quite alright, we all zone out sometimes." Slughorn said "I was noticing you staring at the piano…do you play?"
I shrugged "I dabble…" I admitted.
"Play away, then, dear girl." Slughorn said brightly, nodding towards the piano.
I blushed "I am a little rusty…" I admitted.
"Go on, your brother and I won't judge." Slughorn urged, gesturing to the piano.
I gulped "Um…ok…" I said, standing up and walking over to the piano, sitting at the bench.
I took a deep breath and started to play.
"I let it fall, my heart. And as it fell, you rose to claim it. It was dark…and I was over. Until you kissed my lips, and you saved me. My hands, feel strong, but my knees were far too weak. To stand, in your arms, without falling to your feet.
But there's a side to you that I never knew, never knew, all the things you say they were never true never true and the games you played you would always win, always win!
But I set fire to the rain! Watched it pour as I touched your face! Well, it burned while I cried cause I heard it screaming out your name…your name."
I took a breath to sing some more, but Dumbledore walked back into the room.
"What kept you? Upset stomach?" Slughorn asked.
Dumbledore shook his head "No, Horace, I was merely reading the Muggle magazines. I do love knitting patterns." he said before turning to Harry and I "Well, twins, we'd best be going."
"You're going?" Slughorn asked as I got up from the piano, Harry coming up behind me.
"Yes I think I know a lost cause when I see one." Dumbledore said starting towards the door "Hogwarts would have been happy to see you again, but you are always welcome to come and visit."
Slughorn nodded and mumbled something about "Very gracious, as I say."
I turned to Slughorn as I followed Harry out.
"Goodbye, Mr Slughorn." I said before walking out.
Just as we were getting out of the gate, Slughorn came out.
"All right, Albus, I'll do it!" he shouted.
Dumbledore turned around, me and Harry following.
"You'll come out of retirement?" Dumbledore asked, smiling.
"Yes, yes." Slughorn sighed "I must be mad, but yes."
Dumbledore's smile broadened "Well, Horace, Harry, Hannah and I shall see you on the first of September." Dumbledore said before walking out of the front gates.
I gave Slughorn a shy smile before rushing to catch up with Harry and Dumbledore.
"I'll want a pay rise, Dumbledore!" Slughorn shouted to our back.
"Well done, Hannah." Dumbledore said to me.
I creased my eyebrows together "I didn't do anything." I said.
"Yes you did. You showed Horace what he had to gain by coming out of retirement by playing the piano." Dumbledore said. "Did you like him?"
I smiled "Yeah, he was ok." I said.
Harry said "Uh…"
"Horace likes his comfort." Dumbledore said to us, relieving Harry from having to say anything "But he also likes to be in the company of the famous, the successful and the powerful. He likes the feeling of influencing these people. In fact, when he was last at Hogwarts, he hand picked people he thought would be successful, which he dubbed 'the Slug Club'. He will undoubtedly try to collect the two of you. The Boy and Girl Who Lived…or as they should be calling both of you these days…the Chosen Ones."
I shrugged "Ok." I said, slightly taken aback. There was never anything on me in the Prophet about being a Chosen One…
"This will do, twins. If you will grasp my arm."
Harry grabbed Dumbledore's arm and I grabbed Harry's before we Apparated again.
When I was finally able to breathe again, I was looking up to the silhouette of my second favourite building: The Burrow.
I couldn't help but be excited. Ron was in there, Hermione and Ivy were probably in there, Ginny was in there, Mrs Weasley, who in my opinion cooked better than anyone I knew…
"If you two don't mind, I'd like a word with you somewhere private before we part. In here, perhaps?"
Harry and I were shepherded into the old outhouse where the Weasleys kept their brooms.
Dumbledore walked into the shack and lit up his wand tip, smiling down at Harry and I.
"I'd first like to mention how proud I am of you two for coping after what happened in the Ministry…Permit me to say that Sirius would have been proud of you."
I gulped. Sirius…he died saving me from Bellatrix. It was my fault he was dead.
Stop blaming yourself, Potter! I thought Bellatrix killed him, not you!
"It's just hard…" Harry said "knowing he'll never write me again."
"Naturally, the loss is devastating. He represented something you direly were neglected of."
"But while I was at the Dursleys…" Harry started "I realized I couldn't shut myself away…or crack up." Harry said.
"And besides." I said, finally finding my voice "Life's too short, look at Madam Bones, look at Emmeline Vance…it could be me or Harry, next, couldn't it? And…I'll say right now, that if it is, I'll take as many Death Eaters with me as I can…and Voldemort too, if I can manage it."
Dumbledore applauded "Spoken both like your parents' daughter and Sirius' true goddaughter!" Dumbledore said proudly "I'd take my hat off to you, if I wasn't afraid in showering you in spiders."
I shrugged.
"Now, I'd like you and Harry to take private lessons with me this term."
I gaped "What?" Harry and I said together.
"I would like you to take private lessons with me this term." Dumbledore repeated "It will be on the prophecy, that Harry found, Hannah." Dumbledore added as I opened my mouth to ask. "Your prophecy is more self explanatory with your apparent romantic affair with Mr Draco Malfoy."
Harry gave me a look "You have your own prophecy!?" he asked.
I shrugged "I guess so. Seeing as I found it in the Department of Mysteries." I said.
"Now, these lessons are going to involve the both of you. What the Daily Prophet doesn't realize, is that the both of you are in this prophecy." Dumbledore said before starting to recite "And should he fail, his equal opposite will take over the job."
I blinked "So I'm like an understudy?" I asked.
"Yes. Harry is the one destined to destroy Voldemort, but should he be unsuccessful, you will be the one to get rid of him."
I gaped, slightly disappointed "Oh." I said, half expecting that he'd say something like it was both Harry's and my job to get rid of Voldemort.
"That is all I need from you, Hannah. You may go into the Burrow. I have another matter I wish to settle with Harry before I send him back to you. Besides, we need not give Molly further waiting to deplore how thin you are."
I nodded "Thank you, sir." I said, leaving the shed and heading up to the house.
I took a deep breath and knocked, taking off my backpack.
Mrs Weasley's voice sounded from inside "Who is there? Declare yourself!"
"Mrs Weasley, it's me, Hannah Potter!" I said loudly.
The door flew open and I was enveloped into a bone crushing hug.
"Oh, Hannah, how are you? How have the Muggles been treating you? Still skin and bone like always, come in, come in, we didn't expect you and Harry until morning? Oh, sit down, sit down, I'll make you a cup of tea." Mrs Weasley said, leading me into the house and sitting me at the kitchen table beside a heart shaped faced woman with mousy brown hair and a pale complexion.
It was Nymphadora Tonks.
"Wotcher, Hannah." Tonks said to me, smiling.
"Hi, Tonks." I said back.
"Skin and bone as always, I see. But I guess that's the Malfoy magnet." Tonks joked.
I giggled and noticed that Tonks looked a little glum without her signature shade of bubblegum pink hair.
"Here you are, Hannah, dear. Are you hungry?" Mrs Weasley asked.
My hand flew to my suddenly rumbling stomach. In all the excitement, I had forgotten how hungry I was. "Yes." I admitted.
"Sit tight, I'll knock something up for you and Harry."
I smiled as suddenly the door knocked again. Mrs Weasley left the kitchen and said "Who is there? Declare yourself!"
"It is I, Dumbledore, bringing Harry!" Dumbledore shouted through the door.
Mrs Weasley opened the door and let Harry in. Tonks got up and started from the front door, giving me a smile.
"See you around, Han." she said before leaving the kitchen.
…
A few minutes later, Harry and I were sitting in the Burrow, eating hot onion soup and sharing a loaf of bread when the door knocked again.
"That would be Arthur." Mrs Weasley said brightly (we were just talking about his promotion.) as she walked to the door again.
"Arthur, is that you?" Mrs Weasley asked.
"Yes, but I'd say that if I were a Death Eater, too. Now ask the question!"
Mrs Weasley sighed in annoyance "What is your dearest ambition in life?" she asked.
"To find out how aeroplanes stay up." said Mr Weasley. "What do you like me to call you when we're alone together?"
Mrs Weasley went as red as her hair and whispered "Mollywobbles."
"Correct. Now you can let me in." Mr Weasley said as the door opened.
…
After Harry and I finished our soup and were greeted by Mr Weasley, Mrs Weasley sent us to bed in Fred and George Weasley's old room.
I plopped myself into the bed with the ornate "F" on the headboard and Harry took the bed with the "G".
I breathed in the faint smell of gunpowder as Mrs Weasley bade us goodnight and blew out the candle.
I was instantly asleep.
