The next chapter is up. Sorry it took me so long. Enjoy! R&R
Thanks for all the reviews!
Reminder: Harry Potter and the other characters are not mine….
Chapter 10: She died!
Friday passed quickly, with Harry attending the lessons and then his detention with Remus Lupin, during which Remus helped Harry with the missed Transfiguration material. After talking with Harry, Remus asked Prof. McGonagall to let go of her demand of Harry to bring a note from Madam Pomfrey. He explained her that Harry probably felt a lot of tension and was tired from the nightmares and his talk with the headmaster. McGonagall, surprisingly, agreed but made Harry promise that he'll stop skipping classes without permission from a Professor. Harry promised her.
The next day was Saturday; it was a day of their first Quidditch match Gryffindor vs. Slytherin.
Ron was very nervous and lost his appetite. Ginny was a wreck and Hermione tried to calm them both, since Harry wasn't helping a bit. Every time he saw either Ron or Ginny he would throw some comment about the difficulty of the game or about the humiliation they would suffer if they miss. By the time the team was about to gather, Ron and Ginny were ready to declare that they are sick. Ron even tried to tell that to Angelina and was almost killed by her. Finally Ron, under Angelina's pressure admitted where his and Ginny's fears come from and Angelina in her turn cornered Harry and yelled at him and even threatened to throw him from the team. Harry shrugged her away, but stopped his comments.
At two o'clock the whole school was at the Quidditch pitch. Harry was about to go with Hermione, but at the entrance to the castle he was stopped by Prof. McGonagall.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Potter, but you are not allowed to attend the game," she said.
"What… Why?" Harry was almost speechless.
"You are banned from Quidditch, Mr. Potter, it means watching it too! Now, please go to the castle and occupy yourself." With that she left to the teachers' stand. Hermione sent Harry a sympathetic look.
"Maybe I'll stay with you?" she suggested.
"No, you should go and cheer for Ron, he'll expect you to. Don't worry about me…" he faked a smile.
"Well, if you sure, then, see you later," and she left. Harry stood at the entrance for another few seconds, watching the other students making their way to the pitch and then he left to the Gryffindor tower.
-aaaaa-
Once he got to the dormitory, he thought what to do. Harry wondered if he should do his homework but decided against it. Then he thought about just lying on his bed and to do nothing, he tried it for a few minutes, but then disturbing thoughts came to his mind and he decided that he need to do something with himself. Suddenly his gaze fell on his slightly opened trunk, and he saw his Invisibility cloak. His face lit.
He grabbed the cloak and covered himself with it.
'Now I can attend the match!" he said to himself.
Harry made his way to the pitch, careful not to trip over. When he got there he saw that the game barely started. Probably the introductions were over just now. The score was just 10-0 to Slytherins. Harry quietly made his way towards Hermione. Luckily it was pretty cold outside so he was wrapped in his winter cloak with his hood up to avoid the wind, so he was able to take his invisibility cloak off and still be mixed in the crowd, without being seen by the Professors who were sitting on a different stand.
"Is this place occupied?" Harry asked as he reached Hermione, placing himself as low as possible for not to be seen from the teachers' stand.
"Harry?! What are you doing here?" she whispered with a surprise.
"Couldn't stay inside!" he shrugged.
"What if McGonagall sees you? You still serving detentions, you'll be in trouble."
"No, if they don't see me, I won't!"
Suddenly a loud uproar was heard, and then Lee Jordan's voice was sound: "10 points to Gryffindor!!! It was spectacular throw by Katy Bell!!!"
The game was brutal. The Slytherins were playing dirty as always. Harry was watching with concern as Ginny was almost hit by a Bludger. Harry noticed that she was doing a really good job. Ron on the other hand, Harry noticed, was a total wreck. It didn't help either that the Slytherins were singing nasty songs about him. Ron was so nervous that he missed almost every Quaffle. The score was 120-40 when Angelina called for a time out.
Harry was dead curious what she is going to tell the team, so he covered himself with the Invisibility cloak and made his way to the pitch.
"Ron, what's wrong with you?" he heard Angelina's angry voice, "You were damn good at the practices…"
Ron's face was red from embracement; he looked at his feet and mumbled something that sounded like 'Sorry'.
"Don't be sorry, try harder and stop paying attention to those Slytherins!" Angelina kept talking. Ron nodded.
"Ginny, please catch the Snitch as soon as possible, we can't loose this game!" Angelina turned to Ginny.
"I'll do my best!" the other girl promised.
"Fred, George," Angelina turned to the twins, "I think we have no options but to play dirty as the snakes. Do your best!" The twins gave her they famous evil green.
"You can count on us!" they said in unison.
When the team returned to the pitch, Harry made his way back to the stands.
He saw as the game resumed. The Gryffindors indeed started to play dirty. After a few minutes the Slytherin Chaser was out of the game and was taken to the hospital wing. The Slytherins didn't stay behind and Alicia Spinet joined him. The game was more and more desperate. Both teams were as if fighting for their life.
Harry saw the Snitch on several occasions and was sure that if he was playing he could end the game. But nor Ginny nor Malfoy saw it. Truth be told, they were more occupied in staying out of the Bludgers' way.
Suddenly the sky turned dark grey, almost black and it stared raining. Soon the rain turned into the hail. The teams and the audience were soaking wet. Everybody tried to shield themselves from the big pieces of ice that were falling and hitting very hard.
Suddenly a loud whistle was sound. Madam Hooch announced that the game would resume as soon as the weather is better. The game will begin with the score 180-50 in Slytherin favor.
The students along with the teachers headed back to the castle. The Gryffindors were glad that their humiliation ended for now, the Slytherins were ranting and complaining that this was their opportunity to win the game. Prof. McGonagall along with Prof. Flitwick stood at the entrance and cast a Drying Spell on the soaking wet students who still couldn't cast the spell themselves.
Harry stayed outside; he couldn't enter the school while the teachers stood at the entrance. He was wet and cold. When finally all the students were inside, he sneaked in.
-aaaaa-
The Gryffindors were happy that the game was over before they totally lost. People were skeptical that Ginny could catch the Snitch, although she was doing pretty well up there. Even Ginny herself admitted that Malfoy was better and their only chance was for Harry to return to the team.
"We must convince Prof. McGonagall to postpone the game till after Christmas," said Katy Bell, "Slytherins did it two years ago when Malfoy faked being seriously injured by the hippogriff."
"I'm going to talk to her right away," said Angelina, "and Potter better behave himself!" she sent Harry a warning look.
"We wouldn't be in such situation if somebody was less sensitive," sixth year, Mark Daniels, said, nodding toward Ron.
"It was his first game, Daniels," Fred defended his brother.
"Look who is talking about being sensitive, Daniels," commented George, "You were moping around the whole day because you didn't make it to the team."
"You know, Mark has a point," said Harry by the way, "Ron should learn to concentrate on the game and not on the audience."
"And how do you know?" asked Ron. He was still angry at his best friend for the comments before the game, "You weren't supposed to be at the game at all."
"But I was," Harry shrugged, "and I saw…"
"MR. POTTER!" all the students turned around to see their Head of the House entering the Common Room, "You were at the game after I told you that you are not allowed?!"
Harry realized that he just admitted that he disobeyed his professor and was caught. He thought fast.
"I wasn't at the game, Professor," he lied, "You never told me I couldn't watch it from the castle. I used omnioculars."
"Fine, Potter, let's say I believe you," said Prof. McGonagall, "The next game is in two weeks, during it you will be at the library, doing your homework." Harry cursed under his breath.
"The main reason I came was to inform you that your match against Slytherins will take place the first Saturday after the New Year," said McGonagall, "I hope our star Seeker won't be in any troubles by then." With that she left.
As she left Angelina turned to Harry. "Some friend you are," she accused, "instead of teasing Ron, you could help him…"
"It's not as I could fly with him," said Harry angrily.
"Well, it was your fault!" snapped Angelina, "you found the perfect time to show your teenage rebellion! Why couldn't you do it over the summer with your relatives?"
Harry paled. "You don't know what you are talking about!" he said in a shaking voice and fled from the Common Room.
"What's wrong with him?" Angelina addressed to Ron.
Ron shook his head, "I don't know," he said, "We still trying to figure it out, he is like this since he returned from the summer vacation."
"I think he is angry at as for not contacting with him over the summer," said Hermione, "but we couldn't, it wasn't safe for him with Voldemort back and everything."
"STOP TALKING ABOUT ME BEHIND MY BACK!!!" yelled Harry angrily from the top of the stairs. Everyone in the room looked toward his direction.
"I'm going to talk to him," said Ron. He and Hermione got up and followed Harry upstairs.
Harry was sitting on the window sill and gazing at a box of owl treats. He picked some out and let them fall back to the box; he repeated this for a few times and then, with a rage of fury threw the box out of the window. When he turned his head to look at the people who entered the room his eyes were red from tears.
"Harry, what's happened?" Hermione came near him.
Harry, feeling ashamed, turned his head toward the window and whipped the tears.
"Harry…," tried Ron.
"Nothing wrong!" Harry snapped, "Leave me alone! You've done enough!"
"Harry, please," pleaded Hermione, "Talk to us."
"What do you want to hear?" he asked.
"Is it something that Angelina said? About your summer?" Ron asked.
Harry averted his look.
"What happened over the summer?" Hermione asked, "Is it has something to do with the last year?" Harry didn't answer; he just kept looking at the Hogwarts' grounds through the window.
"Is it has something to do with Hedwig's absent?" asked Ron. Harry jumped and turned to look at his best friend.
"It is, isn't it?" continued Ron, "Where is she, Harry? And don't tell me she is delivering a letter."
"She… She… died!" Harry finally used the lie he wished he would never use, but Hedwig's live is more important than his friends knowing the truth.
"O, no!" whispered Hermione in horror, "how?"
"I don't want to talk about it!" said Harry. He didn't want to invent some story about his owl death. The talk brought back his thought about Hedwig and her possible suffering.
Besides, he was still angry at his two best friends for banishing his bottles of Fire Whisky. And right now he felt like he desperately needed that stuff.
"Harry, with everything that you went and are going through this must be terrible for you," said Ron, "Does Sirius know?"
"No! And I'll hex you if you tell him anything!" snapped Harry, "I'm dealing with it fine and I don't need anybody's pity!"
"You sure know how to deal with it," said Ron sarcastically.
"What do you mean by that?" inquired Harry.
"You've been acting weird since you came back from the summer vacation! First Cedric, then your nightmares and finally Hedwig! You are breaking down, Harry! Talk to somebody!" said Ron.
"I… DON'T… WANT… TO!" Harry spat every word as if speaking to mentally challenged kid.
"Harry, we are sick of you releasing your anger at us! If you need help just say so, we won't think any less of you. Please." Hermione was on a verge of tears.
"LEAVE ME ALONE! Which of those words you didn't understood?" Harry stormed out of the room.
"Fine, be it your way!" shouted Ron, "I'll give him some time to cool up, then I'm writing to Sirius," he said to Hermione. She nodded.
-aaaaa-
Harry wondered the corridors for an hour, he tried to avoid everybody. Then he returned to the dorms. Nobody was there so Harry took his broom and left the Common Room under his Invisibility Cloak. He made his way outside and went straight to the Forbidden Forest. There he found a clearing and took off. He flew for a while above the Forest then headed to Hogsmead. He was tempted to go to the same pub he was last time, but he had no money. He missed his detention with Remus, but he didn't care.
In the air he felt free and careless. A year ago he still felt that Hogwarts was his home, right now he felt as it was a prison. He felt that he traded one awful prison at the Dursley's to another, more pleasant but still a prison, especially when he was banned from the one thing that kept him sane after last year, Quidditch.
After few hours of flying he felt dizzy, his head was spinning and he felt warn liquid coming out of his nose. He brought his hand to his face and whipped the liquid, and then he looked at his hand. Although it was still dark, Harry managed to see that the liquid was in some dark color and had an iron smell. Harry realized that he had a nosebleed.
Feeling frightened he landed at some Hogsmead street and evaluated himself. His head was still spinning and he felt weak. Gathering his powers he made his way to the caves that Sirius used to hide in last year. As soon as he reached the caves and found someplace to lie down, he fall asleep or maybe he just fainted.
-aaaaa-
When Harry woke up he saw that there was a bright light outside and very cold. He realized that he was asleep for at least five – six hours. The temperature was law, he was lucky it wasn't raining. He felt his nose and discovered that his face was covered with dried blood. Harry wondered about the reason for the bleeding. Once, he managed to hear some medical program his aunt was watching; it was about anemia and one of the symptoms was a thin blood ending in nosebleeds. Thinking about it he had the other symptoms too: tiredness, weakness and dizziness, he was deprived of food during the summer and he didn't eat much at Hogwarts so he had almost no opportunity to refill his iron stocks.
Inside the cave Harry found a small puddle of water and washed his face, and then he covered himself with his invisibility cloak and sneaked back to Hogwarts. He entered the castle and made his way straight to the dorms. When he got to the Common Room he saw Ginny and Hermione talking quietly near the fire while Ron was asleep on the couch.
"Where have you been?" demanded Ginny, "We were worrying when you didn't returned last night."
"It's none of your business," Harry snapped, feeling immediately guilty, "I'm tired, I'm going to bed."
"Harry, wait…" called Hermione, but he was gone already.
-aaaaa-
While Harry was asleep, Hermione woke Ron up and together with Ginny they left to find Remus Lupin to inform him that Harry returned.
When Harry didn't show up to his detention, Remus cornered Ron and Hermione and asked them where Harry is. They told him about his last outburst and about Hedwig's death although they made him swear first that he wouldn't tell Harry who he got this information from.
Remus was worried about Harry so he asked the teenagers to inform him immediately as soon as Harry comes back.
Hermione tried to reassure everybody that Harry probably was hiding somewhere in Hogwarts but when Ron reported that his broom, cloak and the map were missing Remus decided to go straight to the headmaster if Harry wouldn't come back till curfew.
Harry didn't show up, so Remus reported to Dumbledore.
"If he wouldn't show up in 24 hours I'll arrange a searching party," the headmaster decided, "meanwhile keep your eyes open and come straight to me if you see him. Don't tell anybody."
They left the headmasters office. Remus headed to his quarters and the teenagers went to the Common Room. They stayed there the hall night, sleeping in turns. At ten o'clock in the morning Harry returned, covered with mud and drops of blood on his robes.
-aaaaa-
"POTTER WAKE UP!" Harry suddenly was woken by an angry voice. His first reaction was to back as far as possible from the blow that may come. Only then he opened his eyes and immediately regretted doing so. He saw two people standing around his bed. One of them was Professor McGonagall and the other Remus Lupin.
"Where have you been?" demanded Prof. McGonagall, "you missed your detention…" she was cut in the middle of the sentence when she saw Harry's state.
"What happened? Why are you covered with mud and blood?" she asked.
"I was outside flying and I had a nosebleed," he answered, "I was too upset to go to the detention, thanks to Johnson, that it." His voice was cold and indifferent.
"Harry, you are the best to know that it's dangerous to run off like that! It was very irresponsible of you, no mater the reasons!" said Remus, "and I'm really sorry about Hedwig; if you need to talk I'm more than willing to hear."
"How do you know about Hedwig?" inquired Harry.
"It doesn't matter, Potter," said McGonagall, "what matters is that everybody worries about you, trying to help you, trying to protect you, but you are running off instead, endangering yourself and braking the school rules."
"I was fine!" spat Harry, "what else those traitors I used to call my friends told you?"
"How dare you to call your friends who care for you, traitors?!" demanded Lupin, his usually calm voice raising, "you should be ashamed with yourself!"
"Well, they are!" shouted Harry, "and I'll call them whatever I want!"
"Potter, you're gone too far!" said McGonagall, her voice cold as ice, "the headmaster wants to see you right now! Clean yourself and come!"
-aaaaa-
"Mr. Potter, I'm sorry for your loss, I know how special Hedwig was to you and it's normal to grieve," said Dumbledore as soon as Harry, Prof. McGonagall and Remus were seated in his office, "but last night your behavior was beyond the acceptable. You broke school rules; we almost contacted the Aurors to search for you. Do you have anything to say in your defense?"
"I don't like people talking behind my back!" he said stubbornly.
"If you are talking about Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley, they had no choice but to tell because that was a serious matter!" answered Dumbledore.
"I WAS FINE!" snapped Harry.
"If you say you are fine, why did you run away?" asked Dumbledore. Harry shrugged.
"I'm going to ground you, Mr. Potter," said Dumbledore, "you are not to leave the Gryffindor Tower, only for the classes and Oclumency lessons. I'll know if you disobey! You'll spend everyday, from six p.m. till curfew with Prof. Lupin, who generously offered his help to tutor you. On Sunday you'll help Madam Pomfrey in the Hospital Wing from ten a.m. to seven p.m., with brakes, of course. I'm confiscating your broom, cloak and your map…"
"You can't confiscate my possession!" Harry interfered, "They are mine and you are not my parent or guardian!"
"No, I'm not, Mr. Potter, but I'm your headmaster and as such I have the right to confiscate possessions that interfere with your education. You will receive them at the end of the term if your behavior and grades would change for the better."
"If I may add, Albus," Remus joined the conversation, "Harry, I have the all rights to confiscate at least one of those things, the map, since I'm one of its rightful owners."
"It's not fair!" Harry mumbled under his breath, and crossed his hands on his chest as an act of protest.
"Another thing I wanted to ask you Mr. Potter," Dumbledore ignored Harry's complaints, "is how you were sleeping. Did you have any more visions or nightmares?"
"I'm fine!" was Harry's only answer, "And I'm fine with the Prophesy that ruined my whole life so don't bother to ask about it either!"
Dumbledore sighed; he knew that Harry wasn't fine at all. He wasn't happy with the punishment he had to inflict upon Harry. But the teenager wasn't cooperating and wasn't talking about what bothers him and him, as a headmaster couldn't afford students acting the way Harry is, no matter what.
'I'll give him another opportunity,' Dumbledore said to himself, 'time with Remus should help him. Another breakdown and I'll call the Mind Healer.'
-aaaaa-
Harry was escorted to the Gryffindor tower. Prof. McGonagall took his broom and Remus his Marauders Map and the Invisibility cloak. Harry was glad that none of his friends were in the Common Room when his humiliation took place. That right, for Harry it felt like humiliation. Then Prof. McGonagall cast some spell on him. Harry was sure it was some kind of tracking spell and McGonagall confirmed his suspicions.
"Now I'm going to escort you to the Hospital Wing, since it's Sunday," said Prof. McGonagall, "you are allowed to leave at one o'clock for lunch and then on seven p.m. for the dinner. The brakes in between is for Madam Pomfrey to decide. When you are finished you will go to the library and stay there till curfew to finish your homework for Monday at least."
Harry felt himself as in prison. On one hand he was angry at everybody. He felt like a prisoner, but on the other hand he felt that he deserved everything he got for being weak, for Cedric's death and for being responsible for the deaths he witnessed in his visions.
He made his way to the Hospital Wing, he didn't mind to help Madam Pomfrey as long as she wouldn't insist on checking him up. His day passed quickly. Harry learned that there is a lot of work to do around the infirmary. Madam Pomfrey tried to convince him to do his check up, but Harry refused. At seven o'clock he left, but instead going to the dinner he went straight to the library and hid himself in the distant corner to avoid his classmates. When he returned to the Gryffindor tower, just before curfew, he ignored his friends and went to bed with wish for a dreamless night.
-aaaaaa-aaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaaaa-
To everyone who asks me when they're going to found about the abuse – the next three chapters will lead to it, so be patient!!!!