Chapter 28

Stand By Me

"I hate potions class," Ron muttered as he brewed another batch of polyjuice potion. Once a month, they were forced to make a new batch of polyjuice potion. Everyone now knew every aspect of the potion by memory.

"Shut up Ron! We don't want Snape to dock points," Hermione hissed stirring the potion cautiously. Harry was standing around his friends brewing his own potion, cursing Snape.

"Five minutes! If you are finished, bring your potion up and leave. If you aren't finished, hurry up and bring your potion up and leave," Snape yelled to the class. He was walking around all the cauldrons and critiquing each batch saying it was too green or too lumpy. It was very aggravating.

"Why do we have to keep making polyjuice potion anyway?" Harry grumbled to himself. He didn't notice Hermione's reaction.

"TIME'S UP! Bring your potion up here and go to your next class," Snape ordered. The students filled a small glass vial with the potion and left their cauldrons. Dropping the vials off at his desk, Harry, Ron, and Hermione scurried out of the room before the professor could tell them off.

The next month passed in a haze. Students were getting ready for O.W.Ls and their N.E.W.Ts. In the midst of all the pandemonium, sixth years were resting happily since they only had their end of the year exams which weren't as big as the O.W.Ls or N.E.W.Ts.

The Hogsmeade trip had been decided on May 15. Student's eagerly awaited the trip since no one had gone the whole year. Dumbledore was taking new precautions with having auror's guarding around the small Wizarding town and having more teachers escorting.

Harry was working harder now in his lessons with the headmaster and Hund. He was studiously trying to higher his level in wandless defense magic. He had succeeded in mastering his occlumency and legillmens. He was passing with flying colors as the teachers said to him time after time.

The day before the Hogsmeade trip was filled with mayhem and students hurriedly trying to figure out their plans for the following day.

Every girl was fervently trying to pick out their clothes and how they should do their hair and make-up while the guys were picking out what cologne to put on or picking out if they should wear boxers or briefs; hard decisions to make in such a short amount of time.

May 15th being a Saturday was a tough thing as well. Students had to finish most of their homework that Friday and prepare.

As Harry and Ron played chess in the common room they could hear the girls stomping around their dormitories.

"Girls," Ron muttered moving his bishop, "can't they just put something on in the morning? We don't leave until 11:30! How long does that take?"

Harry looked up from the game and saw that Ron was smiling.

"Well mate, if you want Hermione to look extra good you should give her some of that time," Harry said slyly. Ron blushed the color of his hair and picked up a broken piece from the board and threw it at Harry.

"Ow," Harry mumbled as he tried to get out of Ron's bishop's way. Harry obviously was losing to his friend who seemed to be an unbeatable chess player.

A bang came from upstairs and the boys could hear the girls screaming. Every boy's head in the common room turned to the door and they looked at it oddly as Ginny came out. She looked like she had just been ambushed; her hair was tousled and her clothes were slightly falling off on the shoulders.

Harry stood up and walked up to her. She was huffing and puffing as she came up to him.

"Gin, what happened up there?" he asked trying very hard not to laugh.

She was continuing on with her huffing and mumbling about "bloody girls". She hadn't even noticed Harry was speaking to her.

"Gin?" Harry asked again. This time she noticed and turned her flushed face to look at him.

"Girls are witches!" she screamed alerting the whole common room she was there.

Harry couldn't help but chuckle, "I'm sorry to break it to you, Ginny but… all those girls up there are witches."

This blew Ginny up.

"OH SHUT UP HARRY POTTER!" she screamed again. She then proceeded to stomp back up to her dormitory where she slammed the door shut.

"What did you do Potter?" Seamus called to him. Harry turned around and shrugged.

"Girls are nutters."

The morning of the Hogsmeade trip was once again pandemonium. It took Harry and Ron about ten minutes to get dressed and ready. They waited patiently for the two girls to come down but it wouldn't be another hour until they finally came down the stairway.

Hermione was dressed to impress for Ron who was gaping at her. Wearing a pair of ripped jeans and a white wife-beater shirt, she had Ron drooling.

When Ginny came down, Harry had the same reaction as Ron. She wore a jean skirt with one of Harry's old black muggle band t-shirts.

"Wow, now I understand why you guys take so long," Harry muttered kissing Ginny on the cheek and grabbing her arm. Ginny blushed and followed Harry out of the portrait hole and to Hogsmeade.

Harry was being dragged from store to store for hours. Ginny was going mad with shopping since Harry had pushed her to buy a new pair of robes. She had opened up and went on a shopping spree.

After a visit to Gladrags Wizardwear, the newly opened Madame Malkin's Robes shop, and the also new store; Muggle Clothes for the Wizard Teen, Ginny decided to take a break making Harry happier than he had all day.

They casually walked into the Three Broomsticks where Madame Rosmerta awaited at the entrance.

"'Ello, loves. What'll it be today?" she said happily guiding them to a booth.

"I think two cold butterbeers would be good," Ginny said smiling at Harry as she took his hand. Rosmerta looked back and forth between them and her smile grew.

"Of course. You know Mr. Potter, your mother and father used to do the same thing you and Ms. Weasley are doing," she told Harry before walking off to get their drinks.

"Me and my dad seem to have a lot in common; same with you and my mum," Harry said to Ginny.

"Your mum was really pretty you know," Ginny said shyly. Harry looked up at her surprised.

"You've seen a picture of my mum then?" he asked. Ginny nodded.

"Yeah, mum was friends with them. She had Ron not to long before your mum had you. She told me stories about her and your mum speaking about baby names and they would imagine you when you were 11 and 17 and all the things mum's do when thinking about their kids," Ginny explained. Harry's reactions were mixed. He was feeling happy to learn more about his mum but at the same time it hurt to hear about the things she wished for him and they never came true.

"Well, I see your mum would tell you quite a bit about me when you were a kid," Harry whispered to her smiling. Ginny blushed more.

"Yeah, she did. She thought you to be amazing to be honest. I would hear bed time stories about the famous Harry Potter and his defeat of the dark lord at the age of one."

Harry laughed at the statement. He knew people knew about his story but telling bed time stories about him? That was too much.

"It wasn't just me you know! Ron heard them too! I'm betting he won't ever admit that to you though," Ginny told Harry laughing a bit herself.

As Madame Rosmerta came up to the couple with their cool butterbeers, a loud bang reverberated through out the whole town.

The laughter in the school-kids filled pub silenced as another bang was heard.

Suddenly, a barrel of screams came from the street and the students began to panic.

Harry looked at Ginny, "something is wrong Ginny, and I can feel it's them."

Fear flooded through Ginny's eyes as Harry got up and ran for the door. Getting up herself, she followed him.

They ran out to the middle of the street with their wands at the ready. Looking down the street, they could see fire spreading from building to building slowly burning each one.

"Ginny, yell for them to get out of the pub, I'll stay here," he yelled to her over the noise. She nodded and disappeared into the pub.

Harry let out a sigh of relief as people began coming out and running down the street. Ginny came back to his side and stood triumphantly waiting for what was to come.

A black shade covered the once bright sky. It was obvious of what it was.

"Dementors," someone whispered from behind Harry. He turned around and saw the former D.A. standing around and behind him.

"You all go back! You can get up to the castle safely if you just leave now," he yelled to them. Harry couldn't understand why all of them were staying when they could take the easy way out of the small town.

"Look Harry," Neville said, "we aren't leaving. We want to help fight what's going on here and I don't think any of us are willing to let you fend off these dementors all by yourself."

Harry was startled when a chorus of "yeah's" talked back to him. With a curt nod, Harry turned back to the dementors who were getting closer by the second; his mother's shrill screams were going through his mind but he had to block it off.

The battle for Hogsmeade was just beginning.