I decided to post an extra chapter because I got so many lovely reviews from the last one. Unfortunately, Harry being Harry soon finds himself on a date with Cho Chang., Im sure you remember the Valentines Day fiasco at Madame Puddifoots? I kept it in (dont flame me please)
A lot of the second half of this chapter is true to the book, not mine. Will post the next chapter midweek. xx
They caught the Knight Bus back to Hogwarts, accompanied by Tonks. She and Ginny were as close as anything by now, and Harry looked out the window, tuning out their conversation.
They'd spent New Years Eve at Longbottom Manor with a small group of friends. Amelia Bones, the head of the DMLE had joined them, along with Susan, her niece. Ginny and Harry had been happy to sit and talk with her and Neville and catch up on gossip from the other Houses.
Harry and Susan had shared a sweet small kiss at midnight, as had Neville and Ginny. Harry was confused as to why that bothered him, but then Ginny kissed him, and all was well. Still, he got the feeling that something had changed, and he wasn't sure what. He had an ache in his chest, which he rubbed a lot when Ginny was around.
He hated they were in different houses. He wanted to see her all the time, which he knew was crazy because she was in a different year from him. He was so glad he had Neville with him in Gryffindor. He barely acknowledged Ron and Hermione these days, as he pondered more and more what could possibly be in the Department of Mysteries.
"Harry? Hey, Harry?"
Harry stopped wandering from the Great Hall after lunch. It was Cho Chang. "Oh, hi," he said.
"Have a good Christmas?" she asked.
"Yeah, pretty good," said Harry, thinking of Ginny and Sirius.
"Mine was pretty quiet. Hey, did you see there's another Hogsmeade trip next month? It's on the notice board," she said.
"Oh, well, I haven't checked it out since I got back," said Harry.
"It's on Valentine's Day. Just after Gryffindor play Ravenclaw," said Cho.
"Right," said Harry, wondering why she was telling him this. "So, I suppose you -"
"Oh, I'd love to," gushed Cho.
"Um, what?" asked Harry, confused. He was sure she was going to ask who was taking over his position as Seeker.
"I'd love to go to Hogsmeade with you, Harry," she cried, beaming at him.
"What? Oh, ah, right then. I'll, ah, be in touch," nodded Harry.
Cho gave a funny look at him and laughed. "Okay, well, bye. Marietta, wait up. Guess what..."
Harry shook his head. What the hell had just happened? He was going to Hogsmeade with Cho Chang. Ha!
He was still trying to work out how the hell he'd managed to get a date to Hogsmeade the rest of the afternoon. Cho was definitely pretty, he knew that, but, well, there was nothing between them. He'd barely spoken to her, and when he had, it was about Cedric, which had made her cry. Harry didn't do well around girls that cried. Oh well, he'd suck it up and take one for the team. As he went to bed, he wondered what Ginny would think of him going with Cho. For some reason, her opinion on it mattered to him.
He fell asleep quickly, but was quickly jolted awake by such a pain in his scar. Luckily Neville was the only one in the dorm when he let out a cry.
"Harry? HARRY!" cried Neville. Harry leaned over the side of his bed and threw up. He rolled back perspiration shining on his brow. His scar was bright red and throbbing painfully.
"What happened? Are you okay?" asked Neville.
"I-oh Merlin, don't know what happened. He's just...really happy," stuttered Harry, wincing as he put his hand to his scar.
"You -Know-WHo? ..Voldemort?" whispered Neville
Harry nodded. "He's really happy about something. Something he's been hoping for," whispered Harry. He wondered what it could possibly be that made Voldemort the happiest he'd beeen in fourteen years.
He found out the next morning. It was all over the Daily Prophet. 'MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN, MINISTRY FEARS BLACK RALLYING DEATH EATER ARMY.'
"Fudge is blaming Sirius?" asked Harry aloud, absolutely furious.
"Ssh, not so loud," nudged Neville, nodding his head Ron and Hermione's way. She'd read it and was watching his reaction.
Harry glanced over at the Slytherin table. Ginny was reading it too, and he could see her pale the further she read. She glanced over and his eyes met hers. Without saying anything, he knew she wanted to talk.
He glanced over at Draco, surprised to see he didn't look too happy at the news either. At that moment, Draco met Harry's gaze, and he flushed and looked away.
"Come on," Harry muttered to Neville. "Let's go talk to Ginny."
Ginny caught up with them as they waited for her at the Room of Requirement. The room opened to be a replica of the lounge at Grimmauld Place, complete with Christmas tree. Harry smiled, but Ginny was too upset to notice.
"Did you read that shit! Fudge is placing the blame on Sirius!" she cried, pacing furiously.
"That's why he was so happy last night. Voldemort, I mean. Most of his allies are free to join him," said Harry. "I had a nightmare last night. My scar was burning. Now I know why," he explained to Ginny.
"Fudge is trying to cover his ass," said Neville, reading the paper again. "After all, he's spent the last six months telling the wizarding world that you and Dumbledore are liars, so now he can hardly turn around and say, hey, Dumbledore and Potter warned me this was going to happen, but I didn't listen, can he?" he asked, rhetorically. "Wait, what?"
"What? What is it?" asked Harry, sitting up.
'Ministry of Magic worker, Broderick Bode was discovered in his bed at St Mungo's, strangled by a pot plant. He'd been injured in a work place accident some weeks prior to his death. I saw him. I was visiting... somone, and I saw the healer bringing it in. She said it was a gift, a Flitterbloom. I thought it was strange, because I thought it looked like Devil's Snare, although I haven't seen any since our first year. I should have said something. Damn it, I should have said something." Neville banged his fist on the arm of the couch.
Ginny came and laid a hand on his shoulder. "It's not your fault, Nev. Who would expect Devil's Snare to turn up as a gift. It was a clever murder, unfortunately."
"Bode...Bode, I know that name from somewhere," said Harry, trying to think. He snapped his fingers. "He worked as an Unspeakable...in the
"Department of Mysteries," said Ginny with him. They looked at each other grimly.
"Bellatrix Lestrange," muttered Neville, angrily as he read the list of names of the ones who had escaped. "Isn't she some relation to Sirius?"
Harry nodded. "She's his cousin. Andromeda, Bellatrix and Draco's mother are sisters. Why?"
Neville shook his head as he looked at the photo of Bellatrix. His stomach clenched in anger as he looked into her mad eyes. He silently vowed revenge, in the name of his parents.
Over the next few days, rumours were spreading throughout the school about the ten escaped Death Eaters. Those who had come from wizarding families had heard their names spoken in fear as they had grown up, almost as much as Voldemorts. There were even relatives of the victims, like Susan Bones. She had lost her uncle and cousins to one of the ten and told Harry that now she had an idea what if felt like to be Harry. Harry held her hand and squeezed it in consolation, as they worked on their Herbology project with Hannah Abbot and Neville.
Umbridge was getting out of control too. Lee Jordan had a go at her, and came back to the common room with a bleeding hand. Harry recommended Essence of Murtlap for him.
Hagrid had forbidden him, Ginny and Neville from visiting him, particularly after dark. It seemed as if Umbridge was taking away everything that made his life bearable at Hogwarts. He, Neville and Ginny talked often in the Room of Requirment, and one night, he and Nev were working on their defensive spells.
"You know, we should ask Tonks to train us in defense. She's an Auror, she could teach us some spells. We already know loads, from helping Harry last year," said Ginny.
"What? You mean in the summer break?" asked Harry, blocking Neville's Jelly-Legs jinx.
"We're under-age, we can't do magic outside school, " reminded Neville.
"But if we're under the Fidelias at Sirius' would it register?" asked Ginny, twirling her wand with her eyes lit up at the thought of breaking some rules.
"Sirius and Remus could help too," said Harry, warming up to the idea. "Sirius would love it."
"I'd love to, if you don't mind me coming over," said Neville. He itched to be doing something more for when he faced Bellatrix. It was his own personal goal.
"No, it would be great," said Harry. Ginny nodded too.
"Can we afford to wait that long though," said Neville, ominously. "School won't be out till June. It's February, anything can happen between now and then."
Ginny shivered. Harry nodded grimly.
Valentine's morning brought a sunny morning with it. Owls were flying all over the Great Hall when Harry arrived. He saw Ginny receive one, open it and seem happy. He wondered who had sent her a Valentine. The thought of her getting a Valentine made him grumpy.
Ginny caught up with him as he left to go and meet Cho. "Harry, do you think you could meet me at the Three Broomsticks around midday?" she asked. "You can bring Cho too."
Harry shrugged. "I guess so." He didn't really have any plans for him and Cho today, apart from wandering into the various shops. To his surprise, Ginny hadn't said much about his date with Cho, and he wondered why that bothered him.
He met up with Cho and once they got signed out by Filch they started the walk to Hogsmeade. Harry didn't know what to say to her. They passed the Quidditch pitch and saw the new Gryffindor team practicing.
"You really miss it, don't you?" asked Cho. She had seen Harry's wistful gaze in their direction.
Harry nodded.
"I hear Oliver Wood got signed up professionally. Pride of Portree, is that right?" she asked.
"Nah, it was Puddlemere United," said Harry.
"Oh, right," said Cho. They walked silently for a few moments longer. "I follow Tutshill Tornadoes, myself," said Cho.
"Right. Good," said Harry.
The silence continued. It was almost painful.
They finally made it to Hogsmeade. "So, ah, what do you want to do?" asked Harry.
Cho frowned. "Oh. Ah, let's just look in the shops, shall we?" Harry nodded so they set off.
They went passed Dervish and Bangs and Scrivenshafts. Harry was about to say he needed to get some more ink when Cho asked, "Can we go for a coffee?"
"Sure", said Harry. "Where?"
"Oh, over here. There's this cute little place..." Cho's face lit up as she grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him over. "Madame Puddifoot's. Isn't it great?"
Great wasn't the word that came to Harry's mind. It was all frilly, with bows on the back of the chairs. Being Valentine's Day, she had golden cherubs flying over the tables, throwing pink confetti over the occupants. Harry could see Roger Davies sitting with a pretty blonde girl, and they were holding hands and talking intensely. Harry hurriedly sat down, soon observing that the room was full of nothing but couples, all holding hands. He gulped.
"What can I get you, m'dears?" asked Madame Puddifoot.
"Two coffees and a slice of treacle tart to share, please," said Cho. "I know it's your favourite," she whispered to him.
Harry smiled uneasily. How did she know it was his favourite? Had she been watching him? Spying on him? It gave him the willies. Out the window, he saw Ginny, Astoria, Luna and Neville pass by, laughing and talking. It looked like they were having fun. He wished he were with them.
He saw Cho watching Roger Davies, her fellow Ravenclaw, kissing his girlfriend. "He asked me out, you know. Roger. I turned him down, though. I came here last year, with Cedric."
Harry said nothing, although she looked at him expectantly. A passing cherub threw pink confetti, which landed in his drink. Harry scowled. "Look, let's no talk about him right now...let's talk about something else," he said.
Cho's eyes were filled with tears. "I-I thought you, of all people, would understand. I NEED to talk about it, and I would think you'd want to talk about it too. I mean, you were there, when..."
Harry glanced around. Cho's voice had risen as she'd got more and more upset and most of the couple had broken apart to look at him and Cho, who was now crying and sobbing.
"I have talked about it, with my friends and family," he said, unsure what was actually happening.
"Your family..but you don't have a family?" she asked, hiccuping. She then became aware her comments had made him scowl, and she quickly asked, "Who do you mean?"
"My godfather. Ginny Weasley. Oh, that reminds me, I told Ginny I'd meet her at the Three Broomsticks at midday. Do you want to come too?" he asked.
Cho stared at him for so long he wondered if she was waiting for him to talk. "Er..."
"Maybe you should just go and meet Ginny Weasley right now. I don't know why you asked me to go out with you in the first place if you're goijng to make arrangements to meet other girls, Harry," she said, angrily.
"I didn't actually ask you," started Harry, just to clarify. He heard Cho draw in a hiss, and realised how that sounded. "But I-"
Cho scraped her chair loudly as she stood up. Now, everyone was looking at them. "I'll see you around, Harry," she said dramatically. She raced to the door, wrenched it open and ran outside.
Harry smiled weakly as every eye in the place that had watched Cho leave now turned to him. He threw a galleon on the table, shook the pink confetti from his hair and left the shop. He looked left and right, but didn't see Cho anywhere. "Bugger."
He decided to go to the Three Broomsticks, even though it was still too early to meet up with Ginny. He waved to Susan, who was there with Terry Boot. He detoured to Scrivenshafts to get some ink and spent some time talking with Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davies. He had to leave them when he realised it was five to twelve.
Ginny called out to him when he walked in. He expected to find her with the group of friends she was with earlier, but it was just Luna, Ginny and a strange looking man.
"Hi, Ginny, Luna," said Harry, sitting down.
"Hello, Harry. This is my dad, Xenophlius Lovegood. Dad, this is Harry Potter," said Luna, beaming at her dad.
"Blooming Binkies, so it is. Hello, Mr Potter. It's a pleasure to meet you," said Xeno, half standing to shake Harry's hand.
"Hello Sir. Are you visiting Luna?" asked Harry.
"Harry, Mr Lovegood is the editor of the Quibbler. He's an old family friend, the Lovegoods live near us in Ottery St Catchpole," said Ginny, smiling at Mr Lovegood, who nodded.
"Daddy and I believe you, Harry. When you say He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back. Daddy would like to tell your side of the story, not those lies that the Daily Prophet are writing," scoffed Luna.
"Thanks Luna, Mr Lovegood, that means a lot. So, do you think a lot of people will read the story and believe me?" asked Harry.
"Oh yes," nodded Luna. "Daddy has hundreds of subscribers, don't you Daddy?"
Xeno beamed. "One or two hundred," he said proudly.
Harry looked at Ginny. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"
Ginny nodded and stood up. "We'll be right back." Harry took Ginny's hand and led her to the bar.
"Are you sure this is a good move, Ginny?" he asked.
Ginny nodded. "Look I know it's the Quibbler, but as long as you get your story out, it might make people stop and think. Right now, they've only got the word of the Daily Prophet. At least this way, you can say that they were warned."
Harry sighed. His desire to forewarn the wizarding world about Voldemort over- took anything. "Ok then."
They started to walk back to the table. "Hey, how did your date with Cho go?" asked Ginny.
Harry shook his head. "Don't ask."
Harry and Ginny sat back down with Xeno and Luna. "Let's do it."
"Excellent," said Xeno, getting out a Quick-Quotes-Quill.
Harry took a breath and started talking.
"It was the right thing to do," agreed Neville, back in the Gryffindor common room. "It must have been tough, talking about it, though."
"Yeah, well, people have got to know, don't they. Just what Voldemort's capable of. After all, Cedric was just a normal kid."
He heard Hermione suck in a gasp from behind him where she was doing some homework.
Fred and George popped down on the lounge where he and Neville were sitting. "Saw you with old Xeno Lovegood today," said Fred. Harry nodded.
"Do you know him?" asked Neville.
Fred and George nodded. "Yeah, they live near us. Gin and Luna used to play together all the time. Bill and Charlie used to help Luna's mum with chores sometimes, and they'd babysit. Good people," nodded George.
"Got some crazy ideas, but a good bloke," said Fred. "His paper's a hoot. Did you give an interview?"
Harry was about to nod, when Neville coughed and indicated Hermione, who was taking quite an interest in their conversation. "Nah," he winked to them both. "Why would they interview me. I'm nobody."
Fred and George caught on quick. "Right you are, Mr Nobody. Well, did you hear who they got as Seeker. Demelza Robbins. She's a fourth year. Wanted to play chaser, but she was the best of the bunch. Angelina's going crazy, trying to get the team together," said George, sadly.
"Bloody Umbridge. Quidditch was the only thing in this place that was worth sticking around for," said Fred. "Sod the exams."
"I feel that our talents lay outside the world of academics," grinned George.
"You said it well, brother," grinned Fred.
Neville and Harry exchanged worried glances as the twins hurried up the stairs to their dorm, followed by Lee Jordan.
It was several days later that Harry's story was published. He'd actually forgotten about it, until he got bombarded by lots of owls in the Great Hall one morning. He grabbed a brown package, and unwrapped it. His own face grinned back at him and winked. In large letters, he read-
HARRY POTTER SPEAKS OUT. THE TRUTH ABOUT THE NIGHT HE SAW HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED-RETURN. EXCLUSIVE TO THE QUIBBLER.
"Harry, what have you done," groaned Hermione, reading over his shoulder.
"It's good, isn't it. I asked Dad to send you a free copy. These other letters are probably from readers,"said Luna happily. She skipped off to the Ravenclaw table.
Neville, Fred and George looked interested in all the letters. "Do you mind?"
"Go ahead," said Harry, ripping open another one. "Hey, this one believes me."
"Oh boy, this one sent you a photo of herself. Says you're cute. Hmm, I suppose there's no accounting for taste, is there?" grinned George. He flicked the photo onto the table.
Hermione gasped. "That's disgusting. She's just wearing her underwear."
"Let me see," said Ron, eagerly.
Seamus, Dean and Ron were laughing at the photo. Harry and Neville were reading more of the letters. None of them noticed Umbridge come up behind them.
"What is going on here?Why have you got all those letters, Mr Potter?"
"Is that a crime now, getting mail?" asked Ginny, now standing behind Harry with Luna.
"Be careful, Miss Weasley, or I shall have to put you in detention. Well, Mr Potter?" she demanded.
Harry knew he couldn't keep it a secret. "I gave an interview about what happened to me last June. These are from people who read the story," he said, indicating the letters.
"You did what?" she gasped. She picked up the copy Xeno had sent him. Harry's face on the cover of the paper poked his tongue out at her.
"When did you do this?" she asked him coldly.
"Last Hogsmeade weekend," said Harry.
Her hands started to shake. Harry glanced up at her, seeing her shake in a rage.
"There will be no more Hogsmeade visits for you, Mr Potter. Fifty points from Gryffindor and another week of detention for you. We'll see if that stops you from spreading your lies."
She stalked off, clutching his copy of the paper. By the afternoon signs were up everywhere, proclaiming – ANY STUDENT FOUND IN POSESSION OF THE MAGAZINE 'THE QUIBBLER' WILL BE EXPELLED. EDUCATIONAL DECREE NUMBER TWENTY SEVEN.
"Isn't it good news," said Luna happily, as Harry and Ginny read the new sign.
"Good news? I don't follow," said Ginny.
"The best thing she could have done is ban it. Now everyone will read it. Daddy's printing off another hundred copies. He hasn't had this much demand since they printed he story about Stubby Boardman. You know, the lead singer of the Hobgoblins? Daddy had photos claiming he was really Sirius Black, and he was having dinner with Doris Purkiss the night he allegedly killed Peter Pettigrew and all those Muggles," said Luna, happily.
Ginny chuckled. "I have to admit, she's right."
"About Stubby Boardman really being Sirius Black. He's a free man now, you know," said Luna.
"We know," grinned Harry and Ginny together.
Luna looked curiously at them. They blushed and looked away.
"No, I meant about the ban. If word spreads that it's been banned, everyone will be wanting to read it. Luna, you're a genius," said Ginny, hugging her.
"I've often thought so," agreed Luna. "Hugs are nice. Thank you, Ginny." She waved goodbye to them and walked away.
Harry and Ginny watched her start to skip. "You know, I really think I'd like to spend one day in Luna's head. It'd be fascinating," said Ginny.
Harry chuckled. "I think YOU'RE a genius. I'm glad I did it. Even if it means only one new person belives me and stays safe, well, thats something, isn't it?"
"I'm sorry you've got detention again," said Ginny. "Guess I'll be seeing you in the Room of Requirement straight after."
"Yeah," sighed Harry grimly. For every silver lining, there had to be a dark cloud.
...