AN: Thank you so much for the response! This chapter didn't want to be written, but I struggled with it for you guys:)
A big cheers for my new Beta: Beau2809!
Oh and I know you don't learn to swim this fast, but he's learning to swim properly not swimming at all:)
Chapter five
The next day was an ordinary plain Monday. Despite the revelations Harry had had the evening before he didn't feel any different. He had thought these big introspective things came with a new feeling of self, but he just felt like Harry. Harry was glad however that they had arithmancy that day. He wanted to speak to Terry about learning to swim properly and see if he knew some solution. He didn't really know why he preferred to speak to a guy about it rather than a girl, but he didn't really have time to dwell on it.
Harry got his chance later that day. The lessons had been packed with people and while it was very interesting Harry was looking forward to speaking with Terry. Making some excuse to Hermione and Susan Harry darted after Terry. Harry caught up with him after a few paces and fell into step with him
"Terry, could I ask you something without you laughing at me?"
"Of course, why would I laugh?" Harry shrugged and fixed his book bag strap and in the process he managed to avoid looked in Terry.
"Well I don't really know how to swim properly and all… But I'd like to learn." Terry nodded thoughtfully.
"That's fine, it happens more than you'd think. You know there is a prefect's bathroom, but I also know they used to have these swimming lessons at Hogwarts some time ago when that was more common. I'll check with Penny, she might know more about it." Harry smiled at Terry.
"Thanks. And could you help me, you know?" Terry nodded.
"Sure, of course." Feeling very relieved Harry headed to the library to get as much of the days homework done as possible.
The next day after classes, Terry and his friend Anthony met Harry in the library next to the table they, Susan, Hermione, Ron and a bunch of other Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs sat and did their homework at. They dragged him back outside before the librarian could spot them.
"So Penny gave us a tip. I think we have a solution to your problem." Harry raised his eyebrows.
"That was fast." Terry huffed.
"Well, now you deal with the house of the clever and efficient." He winked at Harry who elbowed him at the dig at Gryffindor. Laughing, the boys made it to the first floor, to a corridor Harry had never really been into. There was a huge pool in the centre, quite shallow but with large dimensions. Harry thought aunt Petunia had once said something about 'Olympic size'. Perhaps that was it.
The boys jumped in the shallowest part where they could stand yet still have their head over the water.
"Okay, show us how much you can do. We promise not to laugh." Anthony nodded at Terry's words.
"I didn't learn until I was ten, so no worries." Feeling self conscious Harry nodded and began paddling. After a few strokes Terry stopped him.
"Okay, try to move your arms like this." Harry copied.
"Good now try to do some more of that, Anthony will you help him?" Terry stepped back and looked at Harry's technique. He nodded.
"Good. It'll take some getting used to but you've gotten the technique down, it was almost what you did before. Now with your legs you just sort of swing them right now, try to kick them more like this. Hang onto the edge and kick a bit." Harry did as Terry said and felt really silly. They boys looked at each other and they all started laughing. After some more attempts and practises they started helping Harry to do laps. It went slowly and the feeling was very weird, Harry thought, but he did manage to slowly swim around the pool.
"Great! Should we try again in a couple of days? Do you have practise on Wednesdays?" Harry nodded. The boys gathered their things and walked out of the room.
"But not today, so Tuesday's fine and Fridays or Sundays as well." The other boys thought about it as they started up the grand staircase.
"Well not on Sundays, but perhaps Tuesdays and Fridays?" Anthony said and the other boys nodded.
"Sounds good. And we should do it for a few weeks. Perhaps until the end of term?" Terry said and the other two boys agreed. The boys separated on the fourth floor as the Ravenclaw boys headed to their tower.
With another thing added to the list of things Harry did he had no time to figure out how to handle his growing irritation with Hermione and Ron. They still had fun sometimes, and they laughed together. Harry just shrugged it off and decided that he could try to figure it out some other time.
Wood seemed insistent that the team should make sure to be almost asleep with exhaustion at all times. Harry had lost count the times he had to drag himself back to the tower after practice. Usually the girls supported each other and the twins and Harry tried to not fall into a combined heap on the floor. As they finally managed to fall into the tower after practise one day before Hufflepuff versus Ravenclaw one of the twins managed to speak a bit.
"I think that I will throw Oliver over the edge of the north tower if he ever mentions extra practises again." With a tired laugh, the rest of the group agreed as their house mates helped them on their feet and into the showers.
The next day was dismal, but still not as horrid as the game the dementors had stormed the pitch in, and Wood was bouncing around as Ravenclaw dismantled the Hufflepuff team.
"This is brilliant. Now we can still win. Had Hufflepuff won, the points would have been hard to recapture, but now if we beat Ravenclaw we are at even keel. Then we still need to worry about Slytherin, but then we can still win. We should schedule more practises, I will go and do that…" at the last word the twins threw themselves over Oliver and pinned him down. Then they carried him up to the boys dormitories, similar to the way they had carried their brother during Harry's first Christmas in the castle.
The happy news, for Gryffindor, did make Oliver more fanatical, but the rest of the team forced him to realise that this was a school and most of them had OWLs or NEWTs. So they needed time to study as well. The term progressed in a stream of tests and essays. The next game wasn't until after Christmas. The only indication the students really got that the weeks were slipping away was the fact that one day professor McGonagall was gathering the names of the students who were going to stay in the castle for Christmas. Harry was obviously staying, and was glad to find that not only had Hermione and Ron decided to stay, but also Terry. Susan and Luna had mentioned that they were their father (in Luna's case) or aunt's (in Susan's case) only relatives, so they always returned home for the holidays. Harry hugged them, because he knew that he was one of the reasons they thought about staying.
With more friends an unexpected problem arose for Harry. What on earth would he get them for Christmas? He wanted to give something they wanted but also something practical. He didn't want to give them something like candy/sweets; he really wanted to give them something they could use.
He had already decided what to give to Hermione. He had found in an owl order catalogue (that Penny had given him) a hair pin thingy that was spelled to not let any stray hair lose. Since Hermione always complained about her hair after tests, potions and herbology he thought she would like it. It was in carved wood that was coloured blue. Harry thought it looked pretty. He hoped Hermione would like it.
Ron always tried to borrow other's 'quidditch bi weekly', a very popular quidditch magazine, so Harry had decided to give him his own subscription. He knew that Ron didn't like that Harry had more money than Ron did, but Harry could always inform him that Hermione's gift cost just as much and their friendship was worth more than gold.
Harry's new friends were a bit more difficult. As a seeker Harry knew that Cedric would appreciate the new seeker gloves he had bought him as cold wrists became stiff and up where seekers flew, the air was always freezing. Penny's present had been easier as she had made sure to point out several things she liked in the owl order magazine. He bought her a charm for her charm bracelet. It looked like a guardian angel, something he thought she was for Luna.
Luna liked to make things, so he had ordered a make your own jewellery kit for her. Conventional jewellery would not fit Luna. Terry had wanted a new book about Nordic mythology that was really expensive for a Hogwarts student, so Harry and Susan had collaborated on that present. Susan would be getting a similar present as the one Harry was giving Hermione. She said she always needed to have her hair in a plait to control it and sometimes wanted to let her hair hang loose. He couldn't help her completely but a charmed headband in changing colours might make it easier for her. Anthony had wanted a wizard wireless, which Harry had gotten him.
The quidditch team had also been slightly challenging. The twins also needed flexibility and warm wrists, so they also got gloves. Oliver couldn't wear gloves but he got a form of wrist warmers. Angelina, Alicia and Katie had looked over his shoulder into the magazine, flipped a few pages and marked size and colour for undershirts for female quidditch players.
"I want this in green, Katie that one in blue right? Yeah and then Alicia, purple right? Got that Potter?" Harry nodded as the girls smirked at him and moved away.
"Thanks!" He yelled after them as he had no idea what he would have gotten them otherwise, as all three had excellent gloves. Harry wouldn't have dared to give undershirts to them if they hadn't told him, he'd be too afraid to get his ass kicked.
The rest of the term continued on as normal with the promise of dementor repelling lessons from Lupin after the holidays. In the midst of end of term exams, results given on Christmas Eve, thank you very much, and ordering and wrapping presents for friends Harry had no time to worry. After the exams and everything was wrapped Harry watched Ron and Hermione go off on another Hogsmeade visit.
Feeling down Harry was on his way back to the library when he was dragged into an old classroom. He liked the twins; they never tried to humiliate their victims like Malfoy or Dudley did, but he himself would never become a prankster because even if you meant well you might still hurt people. The map they showed him was brilliant. Harry wondered what kind of charms that had been used to create it.
"Has it got any safety features?" The twins smirked and pointed with their wands at the map.
"I demand you to reveal your secret, I am a prefect." Harry snorted, as if McGonagall would ever be mad enough. The twins grinned as Harry raised his eyebrows as insults appeared on the previous blank page. Since they had given Harry the password and code to clear the parchment as well as the map itself, the twins winked and went on their way. Harry was still smiling trying to imagine the twins as innocent. Nope that had probably never been true. He paused as they walked away. Should he?
"Guys? You know your mom probably would be easier on you if you put a bit of effort into school work. See it as a way to do research. You never know when a spell, plant or potion might come in handy." The twins nodded thoughtfully and grinned.
"Perhaps we will, are you offering to become our new test subject." Harry smirked.
"Wood would kill you if anything hindered me in the next game." With a shudder the twins agreed and went off in pursuit of trouble while Harry fetched his invisibility cloak and slipped down into the passage way. This would be fun, perhaps not smart, but definitely fun, Harry thought.
As he walked through the passageway he thought about what he would do in the village. The snow would be a problem. He cast a charm on his feet to move the snow back up when he walked away. That way he wouldn't leave foot imprints in the snow.
But with whom should he spend his time in Hogsmeade? Hermione would flip, so she and Ron were out. Cedric and Penny were both prefects. Luna was doing her holiday work, but had shooed him away. Since she was a second year, she wasn't allowed into Hogsmeade yet. Terry and Anthony were with a larger group. But Harry did spot Susan alone. Perhaps it wasn't a great idea, her aunt was in the law enforcement, but Harry didn't want to be responsible today. He wanted to have fun. He snuck up on Susan.
"Don't scream please Susan but I'm in an invisibility cloak right beside you." Susan swirled around.
"Are you insane?! You nearly gave me a heart attack. Show me your face." Harry did and Susan quickly motioned for him to put it back on again. Harry rushed to give her the story, well a summary at least.
"Right, you can't stay long so what do you really want to do? The candy/sweet shop crowd's thinning out but the joke shop is cramped." Harry thought about it.
"I'd like to go to Honeydukes and the shrieking shack? I'd really like to try a butterbeer though." She nodded thoughtfully.
"I'm supposed to met Hannah and Ernie later at the pub, why don't you keep your cloak on then and I'll get pints for all of us and you can smuggle yours into your cloak." Said and done, they slunk into Honeydukes, where Harry spent more time just absorbing everything rather than choosing what to buy. As he knew that Ron and Hermione, as well as Terry and Anthony were going to buy him sweets, he didn't buy much. After some careful arranging of candy from Susan to Harry, as he agreed to carry hers as well as she had to act like she was alone and felt weird about it. The shrieking shack was a bit of a let down but they could talk more freely there as no one was around. They went back to the village and the three broom sticks.
The pub was crammed but Susan managed to find a table and get drinks. Harry wriggled the butterbear under his cloak and tried to enjoy it and still drink quickly.
Soon the door opened and Harry froze. Thankfully it wasn't Hannah or Ernie yet, but it was worse. In came Hagrid, Professor Flitwick, Professor McGonagall and the Minister for Magic. It felt like a bucket of ice water had been poured over him. He quickly put back his drink and tried to see a good way to leave, but there were too many people to get through to leave now. Harry forced himself to be still. He just needed some more people to leave and then everything would be fine. Then the professors and the Minister sat down on the table next to Susan and Harry's.
When they decided to talk about Black everything became blurry for Harry. Was he really going to find out about whatever it was while he had to be silent and still?!
It was worse than Harry had thought. That man had betrayed Harry's family. He had been their friend, Harry's godfather and he had been the one who had handed them over to Riddle! Harry was furious. The professors were leaving. Susan hissed into his ear.
"I'm so, so sorry, Harry but Hannah and Ernie are coming." Hearing the panic in her voice Harry managed to get up. He didn't really know how, but somehow he ended up back in the castle outside the passageway. Feeling shocked, he slowly walked up to his dormitory and lay on the bed. The others would ask why he was in bed if he didn't say something. Harry sighed and put an arm over his eyes. He quickly wrote a note about a headache, nothing big, and lay down again.
A few hours ago, fun was the only thing on his mind as he thought about sneaking out. He wanted to be reckless and just enjoy himself, going around the village like everybody else. He had been so stupid. He wished that he had never gone to the village. Harry thought about what would make someone betray a friend. Not only a friend; Sirius Black had betrayed someone he pretended to see as a brother. He had sold them to Riddle!
Now he knew what Malfoy had meant with his questions in potions that day but he didn't care. Should Black come his way, Harry would act, but it might be a good idea from the sound of things to get a bit more training under the belt before confronting him. He wouldn't be getting revenge if Black murdered him.