Author's Note:
Reviews and Comments: To scrappy8: Thank you! To love reading20613: Thank you for saying the chapter update made your day better! To alix33: Sorry that you don't like Romione, but it will be a part of this story at some point. Thank you! To coloredwords: He is a bit too clever, isn't he? Aww, a group photo with Zee surrounded by dogs would be cute. Haha, Dobby is building a shrine to Harry. Thank you! To iKingAnomalyII: Thank you! I hope you will like my take on the second task. To xXMizz Alec VolturiXx: Thank you! To golden phoenix ash: Thank you! I do love Outlander, but honestly just chose some of the Scottish names I liked. It was fun to make the Outlander connection. To Moony The Sheep: Rainbow bath bombs indeed! Thank you! To Guest: Thank you for adoring Zee and her whole family. I'm glad that you loved Harry and Zee teasing Sirius about the bath, how could they not? Harry is definitely oblivious to the fact that he's jealous lol. Thank you!
To Leaf Ranger: Yes, he just needs to learn the charm and work from there. Thank you! To purplevictory: Thank you for saying that the Sirius and Snape bit is progressing nicely. Thank you for liking how Arthur reacted to his kids being so involved. He is calmer than his wife, but still very protective of his kids. As to Sirius and Harry drifting apart, not at all, but Harry is getting older which means he naturally drifts apart from his parents a bit. Thank you! To Wolf's scream: I don't think Crouch's death is ever a cheerful topic lol. Thank you! I don't know who Lucy Van Pelt is so no? To HinnyFTW: No, I mean I do mean "actually;" is that not a term you use? It's very common vernacular for me. Thank you. To supersandman86: Thank you. It's fun to expand on the Patronus Charm and what I think it should be able to do. Sirius in the bath was too good to pass up! Thank you! To trekkifulron: I think reading Christmas in June is meant to feel odd lol. Thank you! To Steelcode: Harry and Remus will definitely not let Sirius live the bath down. Thank you! To Guest: Thank you! I loved Sirius being in the bath with cucumbers on his eyes.
To speedsONEandONLY: Puppy Harry curling up against Lady G? Maybe. Andy was definitely checking for injuries lol. Thank you! To notthatchhavi: Thank you! We will see more Remus and Tonks soon. Snape and Sirius are trying to be more mature with each other, but trying being the key word. Thank you! To Seriously Padfoot: Thank you for saying you "like the ebb and flow of my story." Harry is definitely facing a dilemma with his feelings for Ginny, he just doesn't realize it yet. Thanks so much for loving my mother/son relationship between Harry and Zee. To MinervaMcGee: Thank you so much for catching up! I love giving Harry a family with his dads and Zee. Yes, I agree, everyone needs someone. Thank you! To BurningPhoenix: Thank you! I am updating pretty regularly so you will have to stay in suspense LOL. To geekymom: Thank you! To midnitewanderer: Ha, I love that Sirius' bath time gave you a strangled wheezing choking sound. Thank you! To Hellpony: Thank you. I do know that Selfie's are human on land and seals in the water, but I was using a mix of mythology and Fantastic Beasts information. To Jmcglynn522: Haha, yes, no one had hotdogs and no massive cliffhangers LOL. Misha teaching Harry spells is awesome! Thank you! To Soveliss: Thank you!
Thank you to my Beta — SilverStarwolfe!
My posting schedule: Once a week and sometimes on weekends.
As always, thank you very much for reading and please, please review!
Your reviews give me life! They give me inspiration! And they make me want to keep writing for more than just myself! Thank you for all of your continued support!
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY:
The One Where Harry's In Denial
Harry was pleased to learn that Colt, Flo, Misha, and Sorcha would be staying next door in Zee's cottage for the remainder of the Christmas holiday. Misha transformed the living room into a magic training zone for Harry to practice the new charm. His animals appeared easily as guards, but getting them to do anything else was a lot more difficult than he had expected.
Misha used Sorcha, Colt, and Flo to help him by shooting spells at them and making Harry work to shield them while trying to maintain his Patronus. After two hours of attempting it, Harry was out of breath and sweating, but his shield charms had all held in place. However, his Patronus had failed every single time.
Misha smiled at him as they took a break and Harry guzzled back a glass of water in the kitchen. "You vill get it, Harry. It is hard, I told you this."
"But I can already do the first part of the charm so it shouldn't be this hard!"
Colt put an arm around Harry and grinned. "It takes work. Nothing comes easy, m'boy. You have to practice and you stopped me from getting hit with whatever it was my son-in-law here tried to hex me with."
Misha grinned. "Nothing too permanent, I assure you."
Flo chuckled. "Your shield charms are becoming quite powerful, Harry. You had four shields up covering yourself, me, your grandpa, and your grandmama and yet you still managed to keep one Patronus animal in front of each of us."
"But the animals didn't do anything, Grandma. They just sat there," he whined in annoyance. He felt like he had been working on this charm forever and he just wasn't getting anywhere with it.
Sorcha kissed his cheek and urged him to sit down as she moved to make him a sandwich. "They will. Misha, perhaps you started too big. Maybe Harry should first practice to make the animals do tasks before attempting it with the shield charms and defending himself at the same time. You ask a lot of our grandson all at once."
"I treat him like an Auror in training."
"Which he's not, duine gòrach," Sorcha said, sternly. "He's fourteen and still learning magic. Give him a chance, da?"
Misha gave her a look of annoyance and then smiled when she kissed him. "Da."
They tried again after lunch. This time Misha worked Harry with just the expanded Patronus Charm. Within the first thirty minutes, Harry had successfully managed to get his stag to charge at Misha's spell, knocking it away as if the stag himself was a shield. The stag's head was bent forward, antler's out as it charged head on towards Misha's spell and the impact when the antlers hit the magic was incredible; like a cosmic explosion as the spell blew back and disintegrated before it hit Misha.
Misha grinned, widely. "Da! Just like that! See how your stag vorks like a shield — solid and it hits my magic, propelling it back, da?"
Harry nodded. "Yeah, I see."
"Again. This time, ve try to vork the dog too, da?"
A few more attempts and Harry had each animal of his Patronus as a solid form running towards Misha, knocking back spells and shielding him in their duel. Each one grew more powerful and more like the animal that it represented as it pushed back and attacked Misha's magic. The stag continued to charge forward, to defend with its antlers; the dog bared its teeth, lunging at the force full speed; and the wolf's teeth flashed, standing tall and strong with its hackles raised, the strong arms and legs of the alpha wolf chasing down and attacking whatever it had to. Misha was grinning widely at him the whole time.
"Very good, Harry, very good!" he said, beaming. "Ve vill vork again tomorrow, da?"
They did.
Harry spent most of the rest of the week with Misha, practicing his new Patronus Charm. Sirius and Misha worked together to duel him, sending hexes and spells his way as Harry erected his shield charm to stop them. He sent his Patronus out to guard Colt, Flo, and Sorcha. Zee sent a hex at him from the side and his wolf Patronus dove at her, knocking the spell back towards her, teeth bared and jaw clenched, as it bit into the spell and caused her to fly back and land on her behind as her spell disintegrated into the air. The wolf prowled around her, looking to stop any further attempts she threw towards him.
It took him three days, but he had it.
Misha beamed at him proudly as his animals guarded and worked together in tandem to assist him where he ordered them. "You are becoming a very good duelist, Harry."
"Thanks, Papa," Harry said with a grin.
Harry knew that he could use the Patronus to knock back anything that came towards him no matter how powerful, but like anything else there were some spells and curses that couldn't be repelled. The Unforgivables were one of them. Remus did tell him that sometimes using a spell such as this could be enough of a distraction for him to hide or get away if someone tried to use an Unforgivable on him, but there was no defence against an Unforgivable Curse.
In between learning the new charm, Harry helped Sirius and Zee plan a memorial service for Winky. It would be held the first night that Harry was back at school. Dobby had asked them if they could do it on the shore by the Black Lake by the mountains.
Harry mirror-called Hermione that night to tell her; explaining how and why Kreacher had killed Winky and how they were doing a memorial for her. Hermione was furious at the idea that there was no justice in it; that another elf had murdered her and there would be no trial. Harry explained how they had spoken to Dobby and how he agreed that it was done in defence of Harry and Sirius and how since Winky had no real masters or family to come forward, they all agreed that it would be for the best if it was just forgotten. But Harry stressed that it was the event itself, not Winky that would be forgotten.
Harry had still gotten a twenty minute earful on the rights of house elves in the process and he hadn't been able to get a word in edgewise. He understood where his friend was coming from. It wasn't fair and he completely agreed with that. Zee had explained the law to them and how it worked when it involved magical creatures. He said as much to his friend and told her that the law was Law 15B and he knew that she would immediately research it and add it to her findings for her SPEW list. Hermione said that part of the problem was again the lack of house elf representation on the committee within the DRCMC and Harry had to agree with her.
When he finished talking to her, he told Sirius and Zee as much and Zee immediately began to jot down the laws pertaining to house elves specifically and penned them in a letter to Hermione to help with her research. She thought that Hermione was doing a very brave thing and wanted to help her succeed, even if she didn't fully agree that house elves would support it. It was still a good cause and Zee told Hermione that if she spent the next few months working on a proposal with detailed reasons as to why house elves deserved representation within the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures that Zee would not only back her, but help her get it formally presented. Hermione had been thrilled with this and had promised to work hard on her findings.
By the time the second of January came around, Harry was anxious to head back to school and a little bummed to be leaving his family at the same time. But he was incredibly pleased when he learned that Misha, Sorcha, Colt, and Flo would all be coming to the train station to see him off. He hugged each of them goodbye in turn, smiling when Misha told him that he and Sorcha would see him at the Third Task.
"Unfortunately we cannot be here for the Second Task," Sorcha said, kissing his cheeks. "We will be in Russia for work, but the Third Task, we will be there to support you, I promise."
He hugged Colt and Flo, who were heading home by portkey the next afternoon. Colt urged him to write after the Second Task. They wanted to know everything and Flo told him to keep practicing the charms, spells, and hexes that Misha was teaching him.
"Misha is a very strong and skilled Auror, Harry. If anyone is going to teach you how to fight well in a duel, trust me, it is going to be a Russian spy."
He grinned at that and kissed her cheek before he hugged Sirius and Zee and headed onto the train.
He found Hermione in a compartment at the end of the train and slid into the seat across from her. "Hey."
Hermione smiled at him and moved to hug him tightly. He kept his arms around her as she hugged him close.
"You okay?"
She nodded. "Yeah. It was just a rough Christmas. My parents were horrified when they found out about Mr Crouch. And the paper said that you and Ron had found the body, which resulted in a rather heated argument about the safety of Hogwarts. Mum is worried and Dad really had to talk her down about even allowing me to come back."
"Hermione, I'm sorry. You should have called me and Uncle Sirius, maybe we could have helped calm them down."
She smiled and stretched her legs out. "It's okay. We worked it out. The fact that I've been communicating with them once a week has helped a lot. They understand what's happening and they're worried about you and the tournament as well."
"Did you tell them about Viktor?"
Hermione blushed. "Yes. Dad was a bit upset. Told me that I had promised him I would never date a boy before I turned thirty. Mum said that he can't hold me accountable for something that he made me swear to him when I was four, but he seems to be taking it quite personally, like I betrayed him or something. And when I mentioned that Viktor's an international Quidditch star, he seemed intrigued, but still annoyed."
Harry chuckled. "It sounds like a dad thing."
"That's what Mum said," she told him smiling. "Plus, Viktor gave me this." She reached under her jumper and pulled out the gold chain with the golden key pendant on it. "It's cheesy, but he told me that it was the key to his heart." She blushed as she said it and Harry grinned at her.
"And you love it."
She nodded. "He's wonderful, Harry. He's just… he's wonderful. Mum says that the next time I call them she wants him to be there so that they can kind of meet him."
Harry only continued to grin at her and she cleared her throat, quickly.
"How was your Christmas? Are you still planning on having the memorial tomorrow?"
"Really great and yeah we are," he said, filling her in on what his grandfather had taught him. He explained about the clue in the Golden Egg and her eyes widened in amazement.
"You're going to swim down to the Kingdom of the Merpeople? Harry, that's amazing!"
He shrugged. "In theory, it is. But who knows what I'm going to encounter on the way down there. There's all sorts of creatures and things and well, I still don't know what it is that they are going to steal from me. My broom is probably what I'd miss the most."
Hermione nodded. "That does make the most sense, unless of course it's not an object, but that hardly seems likely. That Patronus Charm extension sounds amazing."
"It is pretty great. Papa says that I've really improved on my duelling skills. With the amount of practice that I get in Defence Club, I can't say that I'm that surprised that I'm improving. I just hope that the spells help in the Second Task."
"I'd imagine that performing spells underwater would be quite different as well," she said, looking thoughtful. "I mean you would be underwater, the oxygen levels and the atmosphere… it could affect your magic. But you'll be practicing?"
Harry nodded. He hadn't thought about that, he realized. What if when he was under the water, his spells didn't work? That didn't give him a very strong sense of reassurance.
"Yeah, we're going to start this Thursday. Zee's taking me down to the beach by our house so that we can work on this Scuba Diving Charm. I didn't even know that there was such a thing."
"Oh, yes! Apparently a Brazilian witch invented it after spending time in the Great Barrier Reef. I hear it's really advanced magic, though."
"Yeah, that's what Zee said. She learned it when she was in Australia. I guess we'll see how it goes. If I can't master it in time for the Second Task, I'll have to find an alternative."
"An alternative to what?" Neville asked as he stepped into the compartment with Ron, tossing his backpack on the seat.
"Learning to breathe underwater," Harry said.
Neville merely raised an eyebrow. "You can use Gillyweed for that."
"What?"
Neville grinned at him. "Gillyweed. It's almost like a slimy seaweed plant from the Mediterranean Sea, but if one chews it, it gives you fish like abilities and allows one to breathe under the water. There's a lot of debate of course about how well it works in freshwater compared to saltwater, but either way it's a helpful plant."
Harry stared at him. "Nev, sometimes I forget how goddamn bloody brilliant you are!"
Neville simply grinned back at him. "Er, thanks, Harry."
He was definitely going to keep the idea of Gillyweed in his back pocket in case this charm didn't work out properly.
It was a few hours into the train ride when Harry made his way to the bathroom and found his path blocked by Ernie Macmillan.
"Ernie," he said politely, nodding his head.
Ernie merely tapped the badge on his chest. "We know that you defeated a dragon in the First Task and everything, Potter, but we all know that you shouldn't be a champion, nor do you deserve to be. It's Diggory who deserves to have his name in lights. It's Hufflepuff House's time to shine."
"I never said that it wasn't," Harry told him, carefully, turning when he recognized Justin Finch-Fletchley coming to stand next to his friend. "I like Cedric. He's a good choice for champion."
Justin scoffed and tapped the badge on his chest. "We changed these a bit and we'll be passing them around the school so that everyone knows who they should be supporting in this tournament. We just thought that you'd like to see them first."
The badge was Hufflepuff yellow with a black badger on it and in bright red letters they flashed 'Go Diggory! #1 Hogwarts Champion.' Harry watched as Justin pushed on the badge and the words vanished to show a dragon setting an image of Harry on fire as the words, 'Potter Stinks!' flashed in an image of dragon fire.
"Clever," Harry said, trying not to show his annoyance. "Of course, the dragon in the First Task actually set Diggory on fire, not me, but well done otherwise."
Justin frowned at that, glaring at a short blond boy next to him. "Damn it, Smith! You said it showed promise!"
Harry smirked as he moved past them to head to the bathroom. He wasn't going to let their stupid badges get to them. He had the support of his own house and his friends and family and that was what mattered most to him.
Draco was standing outside of the bathroom with his arms crossed in front of his chest when he came out. Harry merely raised an eyebrow at him. "Malfoy."
"Potter," he said, nodding. He moved away from the wall to head into the bathroom, bumping into Harry as he did so and shoving something into his hand before he slammed the door behind him.
Harry felt the parchment in his fingers and slipped it into his pocket as he weaved his way back down to his own compartment which unfortunately included going through Ernie, Smith, and Justin again. Zacharias Smith, the apparent third year behind the Harry's head on fire part of the badge, was grinning widely when he saw him.
"We adjusted it, Potter, want to see?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "Not particularly, no."
Smith ignored him and pressed on the badge smugly. This time, the badge flashed to an image of Diggory stomping on Harry's face as the words 'Potter Stinks!' flashed around it.
"Tasteful," Harry told him in annoyance as Ernie passed him a badge proudly.
"Wear it. Show your support for the real Hogwarts champion."
Harry only stared at him. "I'd love to, really, but I have my own champion stuff to contend with."
"Shut it, you blighter!" someone called out as he moved down the train.
He sighed, closing the compartment door behind him to the sounds of their calls and taunts.
"Guess you saw the Hufflepuff Badges," Ron said, his eyes on his friend.
Harry nodded. "Yeah, I did. Clever of them, really."
Ron scowled. "Don't let them goad you, Harry. Ernie's always had a stick shoved up his arse and Finch-Fletchley does anything Ernie tells him too."
"I know and I don't expect Hufflepuff House to support me. They have their own champion, and I get that," he said, honestly.
"But you don't see any of the Gryffindors making negative comments about Diggory," Hermione said indignantly.
"Just leave it," Harry told them. "It's not important."
But the image of Diggory stomping on his face still made him scowl more than he wanted to admit.
He pulled out the piece of parchment that Malfoy had passed him and opened it carefully. The neat handwriting surprised him.
Crouch Jr is alive. He did that to his father. Theo's father helped smuggle him to Croatia to join the Dark Lord. Burn this.
He didn't have to be told twice. He tapped his wand to the parchment and said, "Incendio," watching the paper burn to ash as his friends stared at him.
He told them what the note said and they nodded.
Ron shifted slightly and Hermione moved to sit next to him. "How have you been holding up?"
Ron shrugged. "All right, I guess. I mean, it's not something that I'm going to get out of my head but, I'm fine. Thanks."
She touched his arm and he smiled at her, his blue eyes locked on hers.
Hermione seemed to catch herself and smiled, pulling out her Charms book. "So, did you all finish your homework?"
The three of them groaned collectively in response and she grinned.
It was nice to see that some things hadn't changed.
~ ASC ~
Classes picked up as usual the next day, but to Harry's dismay it seemed that there were a lot of people wearing the new badges. Many of them were Slytherins, all of the Hufflepuffs, and a few Ravenclaws who felt the need to push the badge as he walked by and he would watch Diggory stomp on his face as the words 'Potter Stinks!' flashed across the top.
It irked him more than he wanted to admit.
He had mirror-called Sirius when he had gotten to his dorm the night before and told him about the note from Malfoy. Sirius had only nodded and said that he was glad to know that their suspicions had just been confirmed. He told him that he would meet him on the other side of the Black Lake at eight o'clock the next night.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna, and Ginny all headed around to the Black Lake that night. They were going to have the memorial on the opposite side of the lake by the mountains, looking across at Hogwarts. It was a good walk and took them almost thirty minutes to get there.
Harry saw that Sirius, Zee, Remus, Tonks, and McGonagall were already present with Kreacher standing next to Sirius and to his surprise Dumbledore and Hagrid stood with Dobby. A small wooden coffin had been made for Winky. Dobby was mopping his tears with a handkerchief.
Sirius nodded at Harry and passed him a shovel as Sirius used a heating charm to soften the ground before the two of them dug a hole at the base of the mountain, gently lowering her coffin inside as everyone held their wands up to light their path.
Dumbledore spoke as they covered her coffin in dirt. "A death is not the extinguishing of a light, but the putting out of a lamp because the dawn has come. Life is given to us, we earn it by giving it. Let the dead have the immortality of fame, but the living the immortality of love. Life's errors cry for the merciful beauty that can modulate their isolation into a harmony with the whole. Life, like a child, laughs, shaking its rattle of death as it runs."
Dobby wiped tears from his eyes again. "Winky was a good friend. Those were very nice words, Master Dumbledore, Sir."
Kreacher moved to stand next to Dobby. "Winky was a good worker and a kind elf. I am sad that I hurt her. But she wanted to hurt my masters and I is not letting her do that, Dobby. I is sorry she is dead. I is sorry you lost your friend because of me."
Dobby nodded and to Harry's surprise, hugged Kreacher. "Thank you, Kreacher."
Zee smiled at them as she spoke. "My grandpa said these words when my mama died and I always found them comforting. I would like to share them now, if that's all right with you, Dobby?"
Dobby nodded. "Dobby would be honoured, Miss."
"Warm summer sun, shine kindly here; warm summer wind, blow softly here; green sod above, lie light, lie light; good night, dear heart, good night, good night."
"Mark Twain," Remus said with a smile. "Beautifully spoken, Zee." He cleared his throat and smiled at Dobby. "I always liked Mary Oliver myself. 'To live in this world you must be able to do three things: To love what is mortal, to hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it, and, when the time comes to let it go; to let it go.'"
Tears rolled down Dobby's cheeks as Sirius and Harry finished burying the small coffin by hand. Zee put up a monument at the head of the grave that said:
Here lies Winky,
A loyal and loved elf,
A friend and a confidant,
Rest in Peace.
Dobby let out a big sob as Zee read the words of her tombstone aloud.
Harry put the shovel down and squeezed Dobby's shoulder in reassurance. "I'm sorry for your loss, Dobby."
Then to Harry's surprise, Sirius began to sing. His smooth voice echoing over the wind and offering comfort.
"If I leave here tomorrow, would you still remember me? For I must be traveling on, now, 'cause there's too many places I've got to see. But if I stayed here with you, boy, things just couldn't be the same, 'cause I'm as a free as a bird now, and this bird you cannot change," he sang and Dobby beamed at him.
They stood in silence, offering silent condolences to the elf before Dobby nodded, turning to face them all.
"I is lucky to have met such nice witches and wizards to help Dobby bury his friend. I is honoured that Harry Potter and Lord Black dug Winky's grave by hand. Your kindness will never be forgotten. Winky would be honoured that even Kreacher is here. Winky would know that Kreacher was just doing his job. Nothing made Winky more proud than seeing a good house elf. Nothing Sirs, and Misses. Thank you."
Harry nodded and moved to place his hand on Dobby's shoulder again, squeezing lightly. The elf's hand covered Harry's and he beamed up at him. "We're going to head back to the castle, Dobby. Do you want to come with us or would you like some more time with Winky?"
Dobby stared at her grave for a moment before he shook his head. "No. Dobby is ready to go back, Harry Potter, Sir."
They walked around the lake in silence, coming up on the castle again. Sirius, Zee, Tonks, Remus, and Kreacher said goodbye, heading home. Dumbledore and McGonagall headed back towards the castle and Hagrid towards his hut. Harry urged his friends to go on without him.
"Dobby, can I have a moment?"
Dobby looked over at Harry in surprise. "Of course, Harry Potter, Sir! Dobby always has a moment for Harry Potter!"
Harry smiled at him and gestured him to sit with him on the bench in the courtyard as he watched his friends head back into the castle. "Dobby, I've been thinking about it and I know that you're very happy being a free elf. Dumbledore pays you what you'd like and gives you time off and I think that's great. You're getting what you've always wanted, right?"
Dobby nodded eagerly. "Oh, yes, Sir!"
"Good," he said, not really sure how to say this. "Dobby, I was wondering, and if you don't want to that's okay, I know that we'll still be friends, but… would you maybe like to leave Hogwarts and come to work for me instead? I would be honoured to hire a free elf such as yourself, especially one that I consider a friend. You saved my life, you know."
Tears rolled down Dobby's cheeks as he stared at Harry in awe. "You is — you is — wanting Dobby to — to be your elf, Sir?"
Harry nodded. "Uncle Siri has Kreacher and I know that he's my elf, too, but I would rather have someone else to help out; someone who I know always has my back. You tried to warn me about Vol — You Know Who back in my second year, and I trust you, Dobby. But I understand if you'd like to stay at Hogwarts with Professor Dumbledore. He's a good man. And we'll still be friends, I promise"
Dobby jumped off the bench and threw his arms around Harry's waist. "Harry Potter wants Dobby! Harry Potter says Dobby is his friend! Dobby has never been this happy, Sir, never! Dobby is honoured and Dobby wants to serve the noble Harry Potter, Sir! Dobby does!"
Harry grinned at him, the back of his neck flushing. "Er, good, I mean, great!"
"But Dobby already has a master, Sir."
"You do. Let's go talk to him, shall we? After all, you're a free elf, Dobby, and that's not going to change."
Dobby beamed at him.
Harry led the way to Dumbledore's office and up the spiral staircase, after guessing the password, 'Cockroach Cluster'.
Dumbledore was smiling at him when he came inside. "Harry, what can I do for you tonight?"
Harry cleared his throat. "Um, Sir, I was wondering… I want Dobby to come and work for me."
Dumbledore's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Well, I admit, that's the last thing that I expected when I saw you here tonight."
Harry grinned. "I freed him from the Malfoys two years ago, Sir. He is a free elf and as he is in the employ of Hogwarts, you do not own him. I would like to hire him myself."
Dumbledore smiled, his blue eyes twinkling behind his half-moon spectacles. "And how does Dobby feel about this?"
Dobby held his chin up high, adjusting his bright red beanie around his ears. "Dobby is thankful to Master Dumbledore for hiring a free elf, but Dobby wants to go with Harry Potter, Sir."
"Well, then you of course must go with young Harry," Dumbledore said with a grin. "I thank you for your service, Dobby, but I really must fire you now. You will be provided with a nice severance package for your outstanding service to this school."
Dobby's eyes widened. "Oh no, Sir! Dobby could not accept such a thing! Oh no, oh no, oh no!"
"Oh, yes," Harry told him with a grin. "You will accept it, Dobby. You worked hard here and you deserve to be well compensated and, after all, he did fire you."
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled at them. "Thank you, Dobby. I wish you the best of luck and you will always have a job here if you ever decide to come back."
Dobby beamed at him.
He followed Harry back down the stairs, tugging on his ears nervously. "Tis too much money, Harry Potter, Sir. Dobby does not know what to do with such riches."
Harry grinned at him. "You can save it up for something you might want or you can spend it on new clothes for yourself."
Dobby looked rather unsure.
Harry smiled and knelt in front of him. "Dobby, you are now officially working for House Potter. I am going to pay you one Galleon a day — no," he said when Dobby made to interrupt. "I am going to pay you one Galleon a day. I know it is too much and that you don't want it, but I don't care. You deserve more than that, but getting you to accept this is going to be hard enough. You can stick with your one day off a month, but if you ever want to take a day off, all you need to do is tell me, and I won't disturb you, all right?"
Dobby's eyes were wide as he nodded. "Harry Potter is too good to Dobby, Sir!"
Harry smiled. "I'm honoured that you would work for me, Dobby. Listen, you are my elf, but if any of my family should be in need of your service, I would be honoured if you would help them as well. That includes Uncle Sirius, Zee, Uncle Remus, and Tonks and maybe some of my friends if necessary. Do you agree?"
"Oh, yes, Sir!" Dobby grabbed Harry's hands in his own. "But Dobby insists that Harry Potter let him be his true elf, Sir!"
Harry stared at him curiously. "I don't know what that means, Dobby."
Dobby smiled. "Dobby wants to bind himself to Harry Potter, Sir."
Harry raised an eyebrow. "Dobby, you're a free elf. If you bind yourself to me, you will not be."
Dobby shook his head. "Dobby knows he is free in his heart, Harry Potter, Sir. Dobby wants to bind himself to his new master to better serve him, Sir."
Harry hesitated. "I don't really know what that means, Dobby."
Dobby explained how a house elf was bound to the family in which they served through blood. It was why a house elf could be passed down in a family through generations because the blood bound the elf to the witch or wizard who headed the family. By binding himself to the witch or wizard in question, it allowed the elf to always be able to find his master in times of trouble or great need; sometimes without the master even having to call for him. He explained that if the elf chooses, he can answer the call of any witch or wizard who calls him whether bound to them or not, but if bound by blood, the elf is stronger and the connection between elf and master is complete. If bound, they cannot use magic against the other and the elf is subservient to the master unless told otherwise.
Harry frowned as he listened to the elf explain it to him. "Dobby, I want you to work for me, but I don't want to own you like a slave. That's why I freed you in the first place."
Dobby smiled at him. "You won't, Harry Potter, Sir. I is a free elf and you can say as much when I tie my magic to yours."
Dobby explained it again and why he thought that it was important and Harry could see how much it meant to the little elf for him to do this so he nodded.
"All right, Dobby, what do I have to do?"
Dobby smiled so wide that Harry thought his face would crack. He took Harry's hand in his own and carefully sliced his palm. Harry winced at the cut and watched as Dobby cut open his own palm and dropped three drops of Harry's blood into his open cut. The blood sizzled in a blinding blue when it touched the elf's blood and then vanished, healing the cut immediately. Dobby healed Harry's cut and smiled.
"Now you must say the words, Harry Potter, Sir."
Harry nodded, his eyes on Dobby. "I, Harry Potter, bind the elf Dobby to me as my friend and servant. He will be a free elf forever and always. If I should die before him, he will be a free elf and will not be bound to anyone in my family unless he so chooses to be."
Silver wisps of magic clasped around Dobby's hands and trickled along Harry's. They constricted for a moment and then vanished into the air, leaving no trace behind.
Dobby grinned at him. "I is yours, Master Harry."
Harry shook his head. "Absolutely no to the master thing. You can call me, Harry, Dobby, nothing else."
Dobby looked slightly strained at this, but nodded. "I will do my best, Mas-Harry Potter, Sir."
Harry nodded. "Good. Um, also, I want you to be free to wear whatever you want. Any kind of clothing that you feel like wearing, go right ahead. If I present you with clothes, Dobby, they are a gift for you and nothing more. It does not mean that I no longer want you to be my elf. Do you agree?"
Dobby beamed at him. "Dobby accepts, Mas-Harry Potter, Sir!"
Harry grinned back at him. "Good. Um, so I don't really need an elf right now since I'm at school, but if you go to Black Cottage, I'm sure that Uncle Siri can give you some stuff to do in the meantime, I mean, if that's okay. I will call you if I need you?"
Dobby nodded eagerly, hugged Harry around the middle and Disapparated on the spot. Harry simply stood in the hallway in front of Dumbledore's office a little dumbstruck, but feeling good about what he had done.
Dobby was now under his protection and vice versa and he felt oddly content about that. It had been a good choice, he thought. Definitely a good choice.
~ ASC ~
Thursday night, Harry was both anxious and nervous to learn the Scuba Diving Charm. McGonagall let him use her Floo to head home and he immediately greeted a happy Marauder in the living room. Sirius followed Harry and Zee out into the backyard to assist in any way that he could. He side Apparated Harry down to the Sidmouth Town Beach along the English Channel, the cool wind whipping up from the water and reminding them that it was January.
Harry had changed into warm sweat pants and a Gryffindor hoodie over top of his bathing trunks. He stood in his black combat boots on the sand and looked out across the dark body of water.
"This is completely mad," he told them.
Zee smiled at him. "Well, when I learned it was Australia's clear warm waters so, yes, this is quite the change."
Harry shivered under the breeze and Sirius grinned at him. "Put a warming charm on yourself."
"No, not yet," Zee told him, sternly. "If this charm is performed correctly, it will also keep your body at the right temperature needed depending on your surroundings."
"All good and well, Zahira, but right now he's freezing."
Zee nodded. "No, you're right. Until we have a handle on this spell, absolutely. Recalfacio!" she said, waving her wand over Harry and a warmth seemed to seep out of his clothes and into him.
He sighed in relief.
Zee smiled. "Okay, so before we get started on this, do you have any questions for me?"
Harry scratched his chin, realizing that he was going to have to shave again and nodded. "Yes. Is it harder to perform magic under the water? Hermione was saying something about the oxygen and the atmosphere on top of the water pressure possibly affecting my magic?"
"She's not wrong," Zee told him. "But it is quite simple still. The only difference is how you aim your spells. For example, if you're playing Quidditch in a storm and the wind is howling and coming in strong from the West, but you need to move to the West therefore towards the wind, how do you move your broom differently than if the wind was behind you?"
Harry nodded, understanding what she meant. "I see. Okay, that doesn't sound too bad then."
Sirius grinned at him. He was also in sweats and a hoodie and he kicked off his own combat boots and socks, moving down to the water. "Are we really doing this?"
Harry followed suit, taking off his own boots and socks and moving to the shore. The cool wind biting into him, but the warming charm held up and kept him feeling good. "I think that we're really doing this."
Zee smiled as she stood behind them. "All right, so the key to making this charm work is to understand the difference between breathing underwater and breathing on land. While there is oxygen below the surface, aquatic creatures don't need it to breathe, they breathe on the dissolved oxygen within the water itself, through their skin or their gills or through their organs. They don't need to breathe like we do as humans. The first rule is understanding that dissolved oxygen is not the same as oxygen like we breathe. If you breathe normally under the water you will just ingest the water and choke on it. We can't have that."
Harry nodded. "I think that we all understand the concept of drowning, Zee."
"Smart-arse," Sirius said making him grin.
"What's the charm, Zee?"
"The spell itself is simply, breathe. Respirare. Repeat after me."
Harry did as she asked and she smiled.
"Good. All right, so the charm itself is easy, the hard part is saying it beneath the water."
Harry frowned. "You can't say it above the water?"
She shook her head. "No. It has to be done under the surface so that you get the right amount of oxygen and temperature moderation based on the water you are diving in. That's what makes this charm so difficult. The wand motion must be precise which means, you must move it in a circular motion around your head, despite the water pressure and the currents, understand?"
He nodded and made to step into the English Channel, but Zee called his name stopping him.
"You need to undress, Harry. I know what you have on is warm, but the thickness of the material will only weigh you down in the ocean."
He knew that she was right, but he cursed the cold under his breath as he undressed to the bathing trunks that he had worn underneath, shivering from where he stood on the beach before he stepped into the freezing cold water making his breath hitch despite the warming charm. Sirius performed a quick temperature charm and winced.
"Fuck, it's only seven degrees."
"Does knowing the exact temperature make you want to swim in it even more?" Zee asked, her eyebrow up in amusement.
Sirius merely stuck his tongue out at her before he stripped down to his own bathing trunks and he followed Harry into the English Channel.
They walked into the cold water until it was at their waist, the waves barreling at them in a nice constant stream, but not strong enough to knock them over. The cold wind made Harry shiver.
Zee, who had dressed in a black skintight water suit with long sleeves, followed them into the water. She erected a privacy charm around them despite no one else being on the beach.
"All right, we'll have to get you a wetsuit to wear for practice, Harry. But for now, that works fine. Okay, so wand out. You're going to wave it in a circular motion around your head, above and waving downwards, like this."
Harry nodded as he watched her.
"Now, we're going to go below the water, eyes on me as I perform the spell. I just want you to watch for now."
Harry took a deep breath and plunged below the cold water. The cold seemed to seep into his bones, but he kept his eyes wide open as Sirius lit his wand under the water so that they could watch as Zee moved her wand in the motion that she had just shown him and blue lightning seemed to zip around her and then suddenly she smiled and spoke clear as day.
"I am now able to breathe under the water, talk under the water, and see clearly as if I was above land. It's almost like a protective plate around my face that allows my eyes, ears, mouth, and nose to be covered appropriately." She waved her wand and said, "Finite Incantatem," as she rose towards the surface.
Harry and Sirius broke the surface next to her, breathing deeply. "I could hear you so clearly. It was like we were on land."
She smiled. "And that's exactly what the spell is like. It allows you to be yourself, but beneath the water. Do you think that you're ready to give it a try?"
Harry nodded, glancing up at Sirius who grinned at him. Sirius removed Harry's warming charm and at Zee's command, he took a deep breath and plunged back beneath the surface, the cold seeming more shocking now that the warming charm was gone. He moved his wand in the proper motion, feeling the pressure of the water moving his hand out of whack, but he said the charm anyway, choking on the water as nothing happened.
He broke the surface coughing as Sirius smacked his back.
Harry cleared his throat. "The water moved my arm."
"It's different using your wand down there," Zee said with a smile. "You ready to try again?"
They plunged back beneath the cold water and Harry again tried the movement, holding his wand steady despite the water pressure and he yelled out, "Respirae!"
Blue sparks erupted from his wand, but nothing happened.
He felt Sirius grab his shoulder and tug him back to the surface as he shivered in the cold wind.
"Again," Zee said with a smile.
The tried four more times and each time the blue sparks seemed to get brighter, but nothing happened. Harry choked on the water, gasping for breath when Sirius tugged him to the surface again. He let his father drag him to the shore as Zee hurried after them.
"I want to try it again," Harry said, coughing slightly.
"No," Sirius said, sternly. "We've been out here over thirty minutes, that's long enough." He shot a drying charm at Harry's bathing suit and urged him to put his sweats and hoodie back on. "We're learning this slowly and I won't have you dying of hypothermia in the process."
Sirius put his own clothes on and performed a warming charm on both of them as Zee did the same to herself and then Sirius tugged Harry into his arms and Apparated them back to the house. They sat on the couch in the living room, snuggled under warm blankets and drinking hot chocolate.
"I made sparks," Harry said, smiling as Zee gently brushed his wet hair out of his face.
"You did and that's an excellent start. Now you know what to expect from the feel of the water and the pressure of it on your wand. I think that you have the movement down, but now it's about getting the charm. You have to focus on it. You're not just ordering yourself to breathe, you're ordering yourself the ability to survive under the water."
He nodded, taking a long drink of his hot chocolate as it warmed him. "Right."
"It's going to take practice, Harry, and like Sirius said, we're only going to be working on this in thirty minute intervals. You have to stay healthy as well."
Harry took another long drink before he spoke. "Neville told me about this water plant the other day, called Gillyweed. He said that if you chew it, you can breathe underwater for up to two hours, though he thinks that it's more effective in saltwater and freshwater might alter the amount of breathing time it provides."
Sirius looked intrigued by this. "That sounds promising. Does he know where you can obtain some Gillyweed?"
Harry shook his head. "No. He said that Sprout doesn't grow it in the greenhouses. But if I could maybe find some, it could be an alternative in case something happens and this, you know… doesn't work."
Zee kissed his cheek. "This is going to work, Harry. But you're right, it never hurts to have a backup plan."
Sirius grinned at him. "I'll see what I can find out about this Gillyweed; maybe the Apothecary carries it. In the meantime, we're going to keep practicing this charm. Saturday after lunch, you're coming back here and we're going back out into the Channel to practice, got it?"
He nodded. "Got it."
Zee smiled. "Finish your hot chocolate and then you can head back to school."
Harry grinned at her, feeling a bit more reassured by everything. He was going to learn this charm, he thought and he was going to swim down to the Kingdom of the Merpeople and steal back his broomstick or whatever it was that they were going to take from him. Nothing was going to stop him from doing the best that he could in this task; nothing.
~ ASC ~
Sirius followed Harry back to Hogwarts and made his way up to Dumbledore's office. The headmaster was sitting behind his desk, his fingers tapping when he came in.
"Ah, Sirius, right on time."
Sirius made himself comfortable in the cushy armchair just as Snape stepped out of the fireplace. "Snape," he said, cooly.
Snape only nodded in his direction and took a seat in the chair next to him.
Dumbledore continued to tap his fingers on his desk, his eyes moving between the two men for a moment. "I know that you've spoken to each other and I've spoken to each of you in turn about reforming the Order of the Phoenix. I think that we can all agree that it's a good idea to bring it back and to see what we can learn in terms of what's coming and what we can do to try to stop it, especially with the untimely death of Barty Crouch.
"Speaking of Crouch, Albus," Sirius said, crossing his feet at the ankles. "I've heard word that it was Crouch Jr who killed and tortured his father. He's been smuggled out of the country by Thaddeus Nott, presumably to the Selwyn Manor in Croatia to work with Voldemort."
Dumbledore frowned. "So, he is alive."
Sirius nodded. "Very much so and obviously full of a shit-ton of daddy issues."
Snape stared at him. "I was under the impression that he died in Azkaban."
"I was, too," Sirius told him, quickly explaining about Winky and the World Cup and how he had learned what Crouch had done, how it was actually Mrs Crouch who had died in Azkaban, and how Crouch Jr was now free after spending years imprisoned in his own home by his father. "As I said: Daddy issues."
Dumbledore tapped his fingers together. "Well, there's nothing that we can do about him for the moment, but there is something that we can do about Pettigrew. Severus, Sirius mentioned that he discussed Pettigrew with you. Have you decided on what to do about it?"
"Yes," Snape said, carefully. "I think that taking Pettigrew on as my own prisoner would greatly benefit me in establishing my role with the Dark Lord. If Black can figure out how to get Pettigrew to me in a way that does not reveal him as my ally, I can kidnap him and then insert myself into the inner circle of the Dark Lord once more."
"Do you honestly think that he'll still trust you?" Sirius asked him, his grey eyes watching Snape carefully.
Snape swallowed. "I have to hope that he does. I am going to tell him that by staying here at Dumbledore's side all of these years, I was able to ascertain over a decade of intel on the man he hates. If I also have Pettigrew that could potentially be another point in my favour."
"How are you going to make contact?"
Snape shook his head. "I don't know yet. Once I have Pettigrew and I am able to speak to him, I will form a plan on who to contact. But I think my best bet is Nott or Malfoy. Probably Malfoy considering Nott is still a bit ticked off with me concerning Theo."
Sirius nodded. "All right. The question is: How and where am I releasing Peter to you and how are you going to grab him?"
Snape pursed his lips. "Next Friday evening, you're going to have your elf bring him to a Muggle neighbourhood in Leeds. Make sure the Anti-Animagus charm is still in place. I'll handle the rest."
"And as for the Order," Dumbledore said, carefully. "We need to establish a formal headquarters. For the time being, Sirius, do you think that you could reach out a bit, try to see who may be interested in joining from the old days. Maybe Remus can reach out to the packs again?"
Sirius nodded. "I think that could be arranged. As for headquarters, I think our current location would be great. Remus and I will take care and organize the place for safety."
Dumbledore nodded. "That sounds good to me. You can invite the Weasleys there to discuss the plan and I will speak with them about joining the Order formerly."
"Sounds like a plan," Sirius agreed. "Before we get started with that; Snape, do you know where I can ascertain Gillyweed?"
Snape looked bewildered at the turn in the conversation. "Whatever for?"
"Doesn't matter. Do you know where I can obtain it?"
"I have some in my private stores."
Sirius grinned. "Of course you do. Excellent. I'm going to need you to give me some."
"And why would I do that?"
"Because we're allies now and you should share with your allies." At Snape's annoyed look, he simply grinned. "Okay, let's get started."
~ ASC ~
Pettigrew was lying in his bed in the brightly lit room, thumbing through the pages of the Sherlock Holmes book that Sirius had left for him. He had only seen him once since he had last spoken to him. Mostly, it was just the elf who came in and out with food. He never spoke to him or acknowledged his presence in any way. He felt like a ghost, lost and alone, but grateful to be locked up in a place with no Dementors.
He had no idea where he was, but anything was better than Azkaban, he thought.
He looked up when the door opened and Kreacher stood there, arms folded across his chest.
"My master is tired of keeping you here. He says that you are a reminder of what he lost. We will not be keeping you prisoner anymore."
Pettigrew's eyes widened as he sat up. "But I'm to be somebody's prisoner still? Are you turning me over to the Ministry?"
Kreacher simply grabbed his arm and the feel of being Apparated away made his stomach clench at the sudden upheaval and the elf pushed him to the ground. "I won't let you hurt my master anymore. Go die somewhere else."
Then he Disapparated with a loud crack, leaving Pettigrew lying in the street, vomit on his lips. He glanced around quickly, trying to gauge his surroundings, but he didn't recognize anything. He knew that he was in a Muggle neighbourhood, but he had no idea where. He was wandless and when he tried to transform, the pain sent an electric shock through him.
Of course that stupid charm was still in place, he thought bitterly.
He climbed to his feet and started walking, not knowing where he was going. He couldn't go back to the Death Eaters, not now. They would surely kill him. He had been gone for months, though how long he wasn't sure, but the snow on the ground told him that it had been a long while. He felt like someone was watching him and he turned to look behind him, pulling his cloak closer in an attempt to fight off the chill.
He saw no one.
He kept a slow and steady pace for almost twenty minutes before someone grabbed his arm and familiar oily voice made the hairs on his arms stand on end.
"Peter Pettigrew, as I live and breathe."
His eyes widened when he recognized Snape standing before him. "Snape."
Snape sneered, holding his arm tightly and Disapparating with him on the spot.
Pettigrew fell to the ground as Snape let go and found himself on the ground of a large study, bookshelves covering the walls. "W-w-where am I?"
"The question is where have you been? An escaped Death Eater who snuck into Hogwarts, caused quite a bit of ruckus only to have escaped the Ministry's grasp once again."
"I was being held hostage," he said, quickly.
Snape scoffed. "Who would want to keep a snivelling rat like you as a hostage?"
"Sirius Black! He kidnapped me!" Peter shouted.
Snape kept his expression perfectly blank. "That baboon? Why? And if that's true, how did you end up out here?"
"A house elf brought me. He tossed me into the street like garbage with no wand."
"If you expect me to sympathize with you, I can assure you, I don't. The last thing I expected upon visiting a friend's garden for potions supplies was to see you wandering the street."
Pettigrew's bottom lip trembled. "Are — are you going to kill me?"
Snape sneered, grabbing him by the front of his robes. "I should turn you over to the Aurors and let the Dementors have you; there's a hefty price on your head. Maybe I'll even get a nice reward for it."
Pettigrew yelped. "Snape, please don't do that! Please! You know what's happening! I know you've felt it!" He touched Snape's forearm where he knew the tattoo sat.
"Oh, you mean the Dark Mark? Of course, I have. I'm not an idiot!" He shoved Pettigrew away from him and watched him stumble and fall to the ground. "Have you seen him? Has he truly returned to us?"
Pettigrew nodded, his eyes wide. "He's working on it, and he's close. Or he was. You haven't returned to him yet?"
Snape shook his head. "I've been biding my time. After all, my role as spy on Dumbledore has served me well these past thirteen years."
"You've been loyal to him this whole time?"
"My loyalty has never wavered. I am ashamed to admit that I thought he was dead, but now… feeling my mark come alive again, I've been afraid to hope. Nothing would make me happier than to see our Lord rise again, stronger and more powerful than ever before."
Pettigrew only stared at him.
Snape smirked at him. "Get to your feet, you whimpering sod. I want to know everything that has happened to you since you escaped from Azkaban. Everything."
Pettigrew gulped. "After I tell you, what are you going to do with me?"
"If you're lucky, I'll tell the Dark Lord that you're still alive and ready and willing to serve him. If you don't tell me what I want to know, I'll kill you myself."
Pettigrew swallowed. "There's a potion…"
~ ASC ~
Despite his trying, the blue sparks under the water seemed to be staying just that, blue sparks. Every other day after dinner he would take McGonagall's Floo home and practice the charm in the English Channel. The blue sparks had grown stronger with each casting, but his one and only time that he had gotten the spell to work, it had only worked for thirty seconds before he once again found himself choking on the water.
Zee assured him that it was going to take time, but as January came to a close and the cold burst of February set in, he knew that he didn't have that much time left. On top of trying to find time to work on the Scuba Diving Charm, Harry had been doing his best to comfort Hagrid.
Rita Skeeter had someone found out that Hagrid's mother was a giantess and had written an article about it in the Daily Prophet. Harry had immediately mirror-called Sirius who had helped him by coming down and they set Hagrid straight with the help of Remus, McGonagall, and Dumbledore. Hagrid was convinced that all of his students were going to be terrified of him now and Remus had snorted at that. He told Hagrid that if no one was afraid of the werewolf, they were hardly going to be afraid of the half-gentle-giant with the heart of gold.
Sirius had been furious and had said something about getting Zee to talk to Danny Evangeline again. It only made Harry even more unimpressed with Skeeter and he really didn't look forward to giving her an interview after the Second Task, especially since he was pretty sure that he wasn't going to be able to complete the task in the first place.
He was on his way to the library that evening to try figure out what other spells he needed to learn to protect himself under the water from any magical and non magical aquatic creatures, when he heard a sound that stopped him cold in his tracks.
He turned slowly, his eyes widening as he saw Ginny pressed up against the wall half hidden behind the tapestry, Corner's hands on her waist, slipping up her sides, brushing the sides of her breasts as they snogged, intensely. Her hands were linked around his neck as she kissed him back. Ginny moaned softly when Corner's mouth moved along her jaw and Harry's hands tightened into fists at his sides. He watched in horror as Corner's hand slid off her waist and down to squeeze her bum.
Ginny shoved his hands off. "I don't think so, Michael."
Corner nipped at her lips. "Can't blame a bloke for trying to cop a feel of his girlfriend's lovely arse now, can you?"
She tugged his lips back to hers.
Harry didn't understand what she saw in him. He had just grabbed her bum in public. He had no right, he thought bitterly and he angrily stormed over to them before he could talk himself out of it. He grabbed Corner's shoulder and shoved him back and over.
Ginny's mouth opened in surprise. "Harry! What are you doing?"
"He had his hands all over you!"
Ginny merely raised an eyebrow. "Yes, he did! He's my boyfriend — and I wanted his hands all over me!"
Michael climbed to his feet, wiping his hands on his black trousers. "What's your problem, Potter?"
"My problem is that you are sloppily snogging her in the middle of this damn hallway where anyone can see it! She deserves better than you."
He scoffed. "I'm exactly what she needs and I'm going to touch her wherever I want!"
Harry saw nothing but green at those words and his wand was pointed at Corner before he could stop himself.
Ginny stepped between them, slapping her hands on both of their chests. "If you two could stop acting like children fighting over a toy that would be great! Harry, what is wrong with you?"
"He had his hands all over you, Ginny! You're in the middle of a hall for Merlin's sake! Anyone could have see you! You're lucky it was me and not one of your brothers! You should be ashamed of yourself!"
She merely raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so, when you were kissing Cho all over the castle, that was fine, but with me it's different and I should be ashamed?"
"Exactly!" he exclaimed, his eyes flashing in annoyance. "No — I mean — wait!"
Ginny glared at him. "You are not the boss of me, Harry James! You are my friend and I love that you're worried about my well-being, but I can and will snog whomever I want to wherever I want to and you — can't — stop — me!"
Harry made to protest this and she raised her wand towards him.
"Don't think I won't hex you!"
He scowled as he watched her take Michael's arm and wrap it around her waist, standing on her toes and kissing him chastely.
"Come on, Michael; let's go somewhere more private."
Michael stopped her, his hands framing her face as he kissed her.
Harry's fists clenched at his sides angrily as he watched them walk away. What did she see in him? He thought, bitterly. He was a conceited pillock and if he hurt her he was going to make him wish that he had never set eyes on Ginny Weasley. He scowled as he marched off towards the library, anger still coursing through him.
He slid into the seat across from Hermione and her eyebrow merely rose.
"You look ready to kill someone. Is everything okay?"
"That stupid sod Corner was just pawing at Ginny in the hall like she was a common trollop! What gives him the right?"
Hermione smiled at him. "He's her boyfriend, Harry, and I can assure you that Ginny can handle herself. He's not doing any pawing that she doesn't approve of."
That made him scowl harder.
Hermione smirked at him. "Maybe if you talked to Michael and got to know him a bit you could see that he's a nice enough bloke."
"Ginny deserves better than that gormless tit."
Hermione grinned. "Well, let's let her make her own choices, Harry."
"I just want what's best for her, is that so wrong?"
"No, not at all," she said sympathetically, watching him rant and she smirked. "How long have you fancied her?"
Harry's face turned bright red. "What are you on? I don't — fancy Ginny! That would be — she's — we're — just friends," he spluttered.
Hermione only nodded. "Sorry, my mistake then. You just seemed to be taking her dating Michael rather personally."
"Because he's a stupid sod, that's why!"
Hermione simply grinned at him. This was an interesting turn of events she thought and she wondered how long it was going to take her friend to admit his feelings.
But she did know one thing, she was really going to enjoy watching it unfold.
End Author's Notes:
The quotes I used for Winky's funeral:
Dumbledore's quote was from Rabindranath Tagore
Zee's quote from Mark Twain
Remus' quote from Mary Oliver
Sirius sang the opening lines of Lynyrd Skynyrd's 'Freebird'
(Gaelic) duine gòrach = silly man
Thanks to Bex for the #1 Hogwarts Champion badge idea.
Thanks for reading and please review!