Out of the Shadow- Year 2

By the time Friday had arrived I was certain I was not going to be able to even balance on my broom let alone fly it. I marched down to the quidditch pitch at ten am on Friday morning. It was nice having a random weekday off, apparently there was some big teacher meeting. According to the Twins something like this never happens. Before I went down to the try outs, I had Ashley and Rhea help me locate Harry, Ron and the Twins just to make sure they were busy doing other things instead of going to watch the tryouts.

Ashley and Rhea sat in the stands. I gazed around trying to make sure no one else I knew was there, apart from the rest of the Ravenclaw team. When the captain called us together, he first asked what position we wanted to try out for. Cho had selected seeker, until she turned and looked at me. "Sorry, did you want too?" I shook my head. "No way. That is all for you." She smiled and turned back to the captain. "Potter?" He turned to me finally. "Chaser?" I nodded. I had no idea what position I was going to play, I just did this because of my friends, but I wasn't going to tell him that.

As it turns out, I am rather good at being a chaser. A couple of times I even outsmarted Roger, and he had been playing for a few years. "Okay. I will post my final choices on the notice board in the common room a long with the first date for practice. Please keep all quidditch team information to yourself, even the team sheet. We like to play with an advantage."

On the walk back towards the school Ashley said. "That Captain sure is intense." We both nodded. "Yeah, but I think that's part of the job. Harry says Wood can be that way too." We walked into the great hall and sat at the Ravenclaw table ideally picking at the food that was set out for lunch. Just then Fred and George sat closely beside me, and Lee Jordan sat down next to Ashley. By the look on her face, she might have actually died of embarrassment, if Lee spoke to her.

"Your hair is up." Fred said.

"You've been playing quidditch." George added.

I rolled my eyes. "Have not."

"Tsk. Don't lie."

I looked up at them trying to figure out how they knew, they I looked over at Lee Jordan. "You were there weren't you?" I eyed him suspiciously. Lee Jordan was laughing when he put his hands up defensively. "Yes. Alright. Fine. You happy?" I asked the twins. They smiled at me. "You tried out for the Ravenclaw team, did you? Why didn't you tell us? We would have trained more over the summer!"

I just shrugged. "I hadn't decided to do it until our first night here. They've been going on about me doing it, so I did. I'll not get it." Fred and George exchanged a look. George placed his hand on shoulder. "You know, you are a good flyer when you step out of that shadow." I know what he meant. When I knew Harry was good at something, I just left him to it. Quidditch was something Harry was amazing at and I didn't want to be getting in the way of that.

"Yeah, maybe." I said smiling at him weakly. "Just, don't say anything to Harry. We'll see what happens." George gave me a nod and they all headed back over to their own table. "Good thing they left, I thought Ashley was going to pass out." Rhea said pointing her fork at Ashley. I looked at her and realized how pale she was. I shook my head and laughed. When she recovered herself, she cleared her throat? "I don't know why you are laughing at me; I think there's a certain Weasley who likes you."

"Don't be ridiculous." I said not feeling as confident as I did a second ago. The look that was shared between Rhea and Ashley made it clear that there was something going on there. "Don't even start." I put my hand up. "I'm not interested in talking about boys." We finished our lunch and started to walk out of the great hall. "Miss Potter." Professor Snape's cold voice called out from a few paces behind me. I turned and he motioned me to go to him. "Wait here." I said to the girls before turning to walk up to him.

I kept my head held high as I saw Harry and the others watching me walk towards him. He handed me a piece of paper. It was a note from Dumbledore to meet at his office prior to dinner this evening. I looked up at Snape. "Okay." I said. Snape gave me a single nod, before I turned on my heels and walked out. "What was that?" Rhea asked me. "Oh, uh. Nothing." I said unable to think of a lie. "Just a question I asked him regarding a potion. Nothing important, I just didn't feel like looking it up."

Later that night I headed down to Professor Dumbledore's office feeling a little under dressed. Why is it when you are dealing with someone in authority you always feel the need to dress smart. I was currently in trainers, jeans and old hoodie. Dumbledore didn't seem to mind either way. "I just wanted to see how you were feeling with your new teachings." He said simply. I shrugged. "So far it's been great." Dumbledore nodded.

"Tell me. What is your favorite subject?"

"Transfiguration, easy."

"Professor McGonagall says you have a knack for it."

I smiled unable to hold in the praise. "Thank you, sir."

"I know it might seem frustrating right now going over basic charms, but I promise we will be moving you into Dark Arts and transfiguration once we feel you got everything under control. You have thought about the process for an Animagi?" He asked it like a question, so I answered him.

"Yes, sir. I've always wanted to do it, but I was scared people would assume that means I'm evil."

"Professor McGonagall is, along with your father, and Sirius. Do you think them evil?"

"Not personally; but Professor. You know what people say about Sirius."

"I do. That's why your parents are on the case."

I let myself sag in the chair I was sitting in. A sudden, intense wave of sadness rushed over me as I thought about my parents, Sirius and Lupin. That was our family, and it was so broken right now. "I think you should talk to Professor McGonagall about it, for next year." I gave him a small smile before nodding. "Let us get down to the feast, you'll need your rest tonight, you have a full day of training tomorrow."

I had totally forgotten that I was meeting with Professor McGonagall tomorrow. I reached the great hall and sat beside Roger, across from Rhea and Ashley. "What are we doing tomorrow?" Ashley asked. "I've got a meeting with Professor McGonagall." I said quietly. "For what?" Rhea asked. I shrugged pretending that I just heard of the meeting itself. "Remember to keep an eye on that board." Roger whispered in my ear. I nodded. When he left Ashley asked what he whispered, and I told her. That much I knew I didn't have to keep a secret from them.

The following morning, I was up early and walking towards Professor McGonagall when I ran into the entire Gryffindor team. "Oh, boy. Don't you guys look threatening." They looked like they were all going to collapse on the floor, except Oliver Wood, who looked angry. "We've been up since dawn for practice." Harry started. "She doesn't need to know." Wood snapped as he glared at me. "Hey, keep your secrets man, I've got places to be." I turned to Harry. "Did you eat?" I asked him. He shook his head, so I tossed him the apple I hadn't had a chance to eat and kept walking towards McGonagall's office.

Professor McGonagall and I walked to an abandoned classroom that she had changed to benefit our training. I ran though so many charms I thought my head was going to spin, and all of them nonverbal and wandless. There wasn't a charm we didn't attempt. For six hours I practiced with either Professor McGonagall or Professor Flitwick, who acted like a child at Christmas whenever I preformed a spell perfectly. I learned though the training that even though I didn't have my wand as a prop, I did have my hands, and using them helped me control some of my magic.

"Okay. Are you ready to try again? This one is a little more difficult." Professor Flitwick said. "Do whatever you need to prepare yourself." I nodded. This was a spell I had never practiced before, and I was convinced above my age rang. I put my left leg slightly behind me as I grounded myself. I lifted both my hands and sighed heavily. Across the room a large dummy was making its way towards me.

'Bombarda.' I let the thought right loudly in my head as I felt a warm pulse flow from the palm of my hands. The dummy dissolved into ash, but I was thrown backwards, and I landed on a desk at the far wall. "That was perfect! Now we just need to keep you grounded." Professor Flitwick ended the training then and I dragged myself back to the great hall just in time for dinner.

"Holly!" My name was being shouted from two different directions. "Where have you been? We've been looking for you all day." Rhea asked sounding scared. Ashley was standing with her, and Fred and George behind them. All of them looking a bit relieved at my sudden reappearance. "Sorry. I had a thing." I said simply. "What thing?" Rhea asked. "I can't talk about it. Not right now. Please trust me."

"Trust you? Holly have you looked at yourself? You are bleeding from the lip and your hands look like they are burned!"

I ran a thumb along my lip as I gazed at my other free hand. "Oh." I said simply. Rhea and Ashley shared a look, and the Twins didn't look convinced either. "I promise I'm not burned. I bit my own lip when I tripped earlier." Just then Roger walked up to us. "Hey Potter." He clapped me on the back of the shoulder, and I winced. My body was in a lot more pain from hitting that desk than I had thought.

"See you in the common room?" He said with a wink. "Yeah." I said rubbing my shoulder. "If you were just fooling around with your boyfriend, you could have just said." Georges words were cold, and I didn't know how to react. "What? I don't have a boyfriend." I had to urge to reach out to George and explain to him that I wasn't interested in people romantically, but I was afraid that would hurt him too.

"Oh yeah, tell that to Davies."

I have a small laugh. "Come on George. Don't be ridiculous." The stare from him gave me a chill before he walked away with Fred behind him. I looked at Rhea and Ashley in confusion, however they looked at me with I-Told-You-So faces. "He's not jealous of Roger. I mean Roger and I are barely friends." Ashley shook her head but walked back to the table so I could follow and get some dinner.

I climbed the stairs to the common room that night and the moment I walked in the room it broke into applause. I was swept off my feet by Roger, who had me wrapped in a hug. "What is going on?" I asked once he put me down, feeling awkward. "You got on the team!" He said excitedly. I looked at him, wide eyed before turning to Ashley and Rhea. They smiled at me. "Congratulations!" This had to be one of the only times I've ever seen a full house party break out in our common room.

The captain pulled everyone together, the team standing behind him. He gave a short inspiring speech about how we hoped to bring home the gold. "Alright team. Rest up. We are the first game this season and training starts tomorrow." I groaned feeling how stiff my body was anyway. "Are you sure you are going to be ok to practice tomorrow?" Rhea asked me. I nodded. "I'll be fine once I get some sleep."

The following morning Cho and I walked down to the quidditch pitch together. My body was feeling better thanks to sleep, but I wasn't look forward to this practice. "Everything we practice today; we will use for the first match against Hufflepuff." As much as Roger sometimes gave me the creeps, we worked amazing together on the team. He was down for any trickery I could think of, it meant getting the ball and scoring goals.

After practice I walked to the library to meet up with Rhea and Ashley. On the way in I ran into Ginny. "Oh man Gin, are you feeling okay?" I asked her. She looked a little surprised by my question. "Of course." I raised an eyebrow at her. "You sure?" She nodded. "Besides, are you injured? I heard George saying he thought you were in pain yesterday." I gave her a small shrug. "It was nothing. Is he still mad at me?"

"I didn't know he was mad at you. He doesn't seem his normal self though."

I walked over to my friends when I said goodbye to Ginny with thoughts George sitting heavily on my chest. I valued his friendship so much; I could imagine him being mad at me forever. I sat down next to Rhea and dived into my homework without another word or thought about it.

Halloween arrived quickly this year, or at least it seemed that way. I hadn't spoken to either of the twins, not like I had much of a chance between classes, training with McGonagall and Quidditch practice. Our first match was coming up against Hufflepuff and our captain was anxious, and it showed on all of us. I don't know how we managed to keep the new team sheet under wraps when we all reflected what our captain looked like.

I ran into Harry, Ron and Hermione on my way to the great hall. "Holly. Do you want to come to a party with us tonight?" Harry asked. I raised an eyebrow. "Who is brave enough to throw a party here?" I asked curious. "It's a death day party." Ron said flatly. "For nearly headless Nick." I raised an eyebrow. "Hard pass." I said and kept walking towards the great hall. "Come on, please!" Harry was practically begging. I shook my head. "No way, I promised to meet up with my friends. Have fun!"

I slipped into the great hall before I could he could say anything else to me. When I reached the Ravenclaw table I looked up to find the Twins looking at me. I felt the corner of my mouth turn up in a smirk as an idea popped into my head. I sat down next to Ashley. "I've got a plan to make the twins talk to me again." I said excitedly. Ashley and Rhea smiled at each other before turning to me. "What's that?" Rhea asked. "The best way to get a Weasley's attention. Pranks. Good old fashion Muggle pranks should do it."

"I wish you'd just admit you like one of them."

"Don't know which one of course, we can hardly tell them apart."

"I am not falling for that." I said crossing my arms defensively. "I will not admit that I have a crush on anyone."

"Why do you shy away from it so much? It's only natural!"

I shrugged. "Don't know. Too many other things going on. I'll worry about it later when I have nothing better to think about."

I finished up my lunch and rushed up to the Ravenclaw tower to gather some of the Muggle pranks my father had sent me last year. Once I stepped into the stairwell; Ashley and Rhea joined me. "They are coming up!" Rhea said nervously. In the common room I had filled the balloons with water, and now I stood preparing for a show down. I looked over the railing of the stairs I was standing on and watched as Fred and George made their way up.

There was one staircase that was positioned perfectly under ours. "How are you going to manage to hit them?" Ashley whispered. I kept my eye trained in the spot that the twins were approaching. "Perfect aim, and pure luck." I said. "Now be quiet." I picked up two balloons and waited silently. Two seconds later Fred and George stepped into view. "Three…..two…..one." I counted as they each took a step inside the area that gave me the best shot and I released the water balloons.

"AH! What the…."

With a satisfying splash Fred and George were soaking wet. I stood above them holding a spare balloon with a smirk on my face, while Ashley and Rhea covered their mouths trying not to laugh. Fred looked up first and gave me a I-should-have-know kind of look. George looked up next when he realized that was where Fred was looking. "We are coming for you, Potter!" Fred said with a smirk on his face.

I turned on the spot and ran towards the top of the staircase that brought them to the common room. I took a small fishing wire from my pocket and tied it to each end of the staircase before taking a few steps back. I could hear them racing up the stairs now. "What is that?" Ashley hissed. "You'll see." The boys reached the last staircase and looked up at us. As they ran up, they dripped over the practically invisible wire and fell to the floor.

The twins pulled themselves off the floor and laughed, thankfully. "What was all this about?" Fred asked. I shrugged. "I knew this was the best way to get you guys to talk to me again." I handed the extra water balloon to Rhea and walked over to the staircase to remove the wire before anyone else became a victim to it. I turned around and gasped as cold water cascaded down my face.

Fred had taken the extra water balloon from Rhea and held it over my head, as George poked it open with his wand. "Rhea!" I said looking at her. "Why did you give it to him?" I asked. She shrugged. "He asked nicely!" That was her only defense. I looked back at the twins. "Truce?" I held my hand out. Fred took it first and shook it. I turned to George. "Friends?" He looked me over before reaching over and shaking my hand. "Truce and Friends." He smiled at me. "Good, because I was going to run out of ideas on my own." We stood facing each other, his red hair plastered on his face, with a lopsided grin on his face. I felt something inside me flip and it sent a shiver down my spine.

"I'm going to go change." I said simply. They agreed and we went our separate ways for now. Ashley and Rhea followed me to the common room. "Well that was eventful." Ashley said dropping down on a sofa near the fire. I ran upstairs and threw on a dry set of robes before going back to meet them. "Come on. Let's get a jump on this homework before dinner." I started saying. Just then Professor Flitwick entered the common room. "Ah, yes. Miss. Potter. The girl I was looking for. Can you come with me?"

I said goodbye to the girls and followed the professor into an empty classroom. "We just wanted to go over a few things. It might be a little while until we can meet for this training again." I nodded and followed along with everything that Flitwick asked of me. I was finally gaining control over my magic and aim it better then ever before. We practiced until it was time for the feast. I met up with Rhea and Ashley at the Ravenclaw tower. We ran into Fred, George and Lee Jordan on the way down.

It was nice to have them talking to me again. I also made a mental note to ask Ashley what was up with her and Lee Jordan as they walked together behind the rest of us. We split off long enough to eat our dinner. "Ashley." I said once we were at our own table. "I saw you talking with Lee Jordan." I teased her. She instantly blushed as red as the twin's hair. "It was nothing." She said quietly.

"If you are going to tease me, it's only fair I get to tease you." I pointed out. Ashley blushed again and tried to burry her face into her hands. I laughed but didn't question her again. We finished our dinner and we walked with the twins back towards our common rooms. As we walked though, we ran into a blockade of people and I could hear Filch arguing. "That sounds like Harry!" I said pushing through the crowd.

I gasped when I saw the scene before me. Fred and George appeared behind me a moment later. Harry was standing beside Filch who looked beyond distraught. Behind them there was a message written in blood. "The chamber of secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir…. beware." Mrs. Norris was hanging by her tail next to the message. "You'll be next mudbloods." Malfoys icy tone broke into my thoughts as he turned to face Hermione.

I took a half step backwards and let the weight of the Twins keep me steady. Just then Professor Dumbledore stepped up to the group and looked over the message on the wall. "Everyone will proceed to their dormitories immediately." Instantly everyone turned to go back to their houses. "Everyone except you three." He said pointing to Harry, Ron and Hermione. I took a step towards Harry, but Dumbledore caught my eye.

Harry turned to me. "Go. It's fine." I stared at Harry for a long moment, not wanting to walk away from something I knew nothing about. I felt a small tug on my arm and realized it was George trying to usher me back with the rest of my friends. Harry gave me one last small nod before I let George lead me away. "Why do they always get themselves in these situations. I can't help him; I can never help him. I'm useless in Ravenclaw." George wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

"You aren't useless. You are brilliant, and Harry knows you are always in his corner."

I didn't remove George's arm from my shoulders until we reached the Ravenclaw tower. There was an odd comfort in having him around, even if I didn't understand it fully yet. George was becoming my comfort this past year, and Fred in his own way. Harry and I were becoming our own people, but yet remained forever connected by our choices of friends.