Chapter 8

Fairy School wasn't all bad, Harry thought one night as he got ready for bed. He was top of his class, for one thing. For another, he was still allowed to take some of his Hogwarts classes. The only other person from his year at Hogwarts who had joined (whether forcibly or voluntarily, Harry didn't know) was Millicent Bulstrode.

Still, even Millicent couldn't darken the mood of the entire school. Everyone was always cheerful. Except for the Dark Tower. After a year of schooling, it was decided whether you were a Dark Fairy or a Light fairy. It somewhat reminded Harry of the Sorting at Hogwarts.

Smiling a little, Harry, put his toothbrush in the mirror compartment. Top student had some advantages. His own room (even though it was sort of small), permission to get up and go to breakfast earlier than others (he was mostly to lazy), and he was allowed to be a few minutes late for class (so long as it never happened three times in a row).

So again, Fairy School wasn't all bad.

Harry opened his window a bit to let a breeze into the slightly stuffy tower room. The room was somewhat sparse, but it did have a mirror and a sink. He knew that a little ways down the stairs was a small bathroom. Harry spun slowly, simply looking at everything: his bed against the wall, the little sink and mirror, Ginny Weasley climbing through his ajar window, a set of dresser drawers against–

"Ginny?" Harry said incredulously.

Ginny glanced up, breathing heavily. "Oh, hey, Harry. We– hoped– this was– your– tower."

"We?" Harry said incredulously.

Ginny nodded, then fell heavily to the floor, making a loud thump! sound. "Yeah... Ron, Hermione, and me."

"Ron?" Harry said incredulously. Ginny crawled out of the way as Ron fell she had been.

"Hey...mate..." Ron gasped his breathing more labored than Ginny's.

Hermione's head popped over the windowsill, her face red, her breathing as hard as Ginny's. "Ron," she said, slowly heaving herself up and over, "Move!"

Ron obliged in the same manner Ginny had, crawling over to the side, and Hermione collapsed to the floor.

"Hermione?" Harry said incredulously.

"Harry?" Ginny said, her eyes closed. "I think– you're being– a little bit, incredulous,right now."

"Me?" Harry said incredulously.

"You." The other three said in unison.

"Well, y'know, I guess maybe a little..." Harry trailed off. Sitting down on the edge of his

bed, he waited for the others to catch their breath. He handed them each in turn a drink of water, then asked what he'd been wanting to ask since he'd seen Ginny at the window.

"Why are you all here? And how did you get here?"

Finishing his water, Ron started. "Well, it wasn't my idea– "

"–And it wasn't mine," Hermione interrupted.

Ginny glared. "Well, if it wasn't your's, then whose idea was it?"

Hermione shrugged. "I don't know, maybe your's?"

Ginny's anger flared. " I did not–"

"–I don't care whose idea it was!" Harry said over them. "I just want to know what the idea was!"

The room fell silent. Finally, Ron broke it. "Well, it started out with this Fairy School brochure. We worked out that that was where you were, and the place looked awful."

"We guessed that maybe you were there for protection," Hermione took over. "We thought that since this place looked so horrible, you wouldn't be enjoying it very much, so we could get you and go on the run."

"But first, we had to find out where this place was, and how to get to it," Ginny said. "We still weren't even 100% sure that you were here. Our only evidence were hints dropped from teachers."

"But then we ran into Carl," Ron re-entered the conversation. "Remember, that fairy you told me about?"

Ginny continued talking sending a glare Ron's way. "He was lost while looking for the Slytherin Dorms. A first year had lost a tooth. We agreed to point him in the right direction if he

would tell us where you were."

"He agreed a little eagerly," Hermione put in. "But he wouldn't give us the location. So we pointed him in the direction of the Slytherin Common Room and left, wondering what to do."

"We spent hours sneaking around Hogwarts, looking for information." Ginny said. "All we had was the Marauder's Map that you lent us. It took ages!"

"But we eventually found the location in Snape's office," Hermione continued. "It was just written down on a lone piece of parchment."

"And now we're here." Ron finished.

Harry blinked a couple of times. He looked at each of them in turn. He checked to make sure no one was listening in on their conversation. Finally, he spoke.

"Wait...Why are you here again?"

Ginny and Ron let out exasperated sighs, Hermione just rolled her eyes. "Harry, we're here to rescue you," she said.

Harry felt confused. "Why?"

"So we can escape this place and go on the run!"

Harry's confusion was evident on his face. "But... I'm fine here..."

Ron looked astonished. "Y'mean...You don't want to leave?"

Harry shrugged. "If I got a chance to return to Hogwarts, maybe I'd go back. But here is pretty good. I'm the equivalent of a prefect, my wand is normal, and they're helping me condition Fluttershy to dementors."

"What's Fluttershy?" Ginny asked.

"That's the name of my Patronus." Harry told her. Ron nodded knowingly.

"Looks like an animated pony," he commented. "Scared to death of dementors."

Hermione looked confused. Ginny did as well.

"Look," Harry continued, "I'm fine here, really. It's pretty easy work. And there are some familiar faces. You know Millicent Bulstrode? She's here. And a Hufflepuff boy who wasn't in our year."

"Millicent Bulstrode?" Hermione said, disbelief in her voice.

"The point is, you can all go back to Hogwarts. I'm safe, I have good grades, and Dumbledore's doing whatever needs to be done to defeat Voldemort."

For once, no one flinched. They just looked sadly at him.

"D'you know how long it took us to get here, mate?" Ron said.

"We rode in on thestrals," Hermione said, "which none of us can see. And we all had disillusionment charms, so we couldn't even see each other. And don't even get me started on

how we got through your window..."

Harry smiled. Only now had he realized just how much he had missed his friends.

"I'll write," Harry promised. The others looked doubtful. "I really will," he insisted. "I'll write as often as I can, but I have to be careful what I say for security reasons."

"Promise?" Hermione asked.

"Promise."

Harry's three friends each heaved a sigh and headed for the window, hugging him as they went by. First at the window, Ginny paused.

"Why didn't you tell us over summer vacation?"

Harry's cheeks reddened slightly. "Yeah, sorry about that. It's just that Sirius had already laughed himself to tears before I told him that it wasn't a joke, and, well, I guess I was sort of...embarrassed."

Ginny nodded her understanding and climbed out the window, followed by Hermione and Ron. Harry stared after them for a moment, then closed his window, yawned, and continued getting ready for bed.