Author's Note: YO PEOPLE! Thanks for the birthday wishes and also for reviewing, yeah you keep doing that and I'll be a happy author xD Hmm…I bet most of you are trying to piece together bits of information thrown about in the story to figure out what hidden message the previous chapter conceived lol. Then again, maybe you already figured it out haha. Well, I guess I should just shut up and get on with the story eh? Enjoy chapter 32 of Acceptance~
Acceptance
Chapter 32
Training
I stopped abruptly in my tracks. Glancing at my watch, I saw that I had only one minute to get to Defence Against the Dark Arts class. Apparently visiting Draco didn't go as well as I hoped it to be, in fact, it was a downright disaster. Hell, it seemed as if none of the de-ageing days existed anymore. He didn't remember a thing and we were back to being enemies. At least, that's probably what he thought. I guess he'd never know that my love for him wouldn't lose its spark just yet. And it was because of this that my heart was aching.
"Just…leave, Potter…"
I was going to tell my friends about what happened during class. They were probably wondering where I took off to anyway.
"Go away…"
I felt terrible, hearing him say those words to me. Where were the days where he would hug me whenever he saw me? Where were the days that we had random parties together? Where were the days that we sat in the common room and had lively conversations with everyone? Where were the days where we shared the same bed and cuddled each other to sleep? Where were the days that I knew you'd be there for me? Where were the days that you told me you loved me…?
"Get out of my life!"
Gone. That's where they were; gone… But those memories would continue to live within me. Draco…looks like you failed to keep your last promise to me…And I can't blame you for that either…
"Harry, there you are, I've been waiting," came the voice of the elderly headmaster. I twisted my head to the side and noticed him standing in a corner, beckoning me to follow him. I suppose my individual training would be beginning soon. "Coming, sir," I replied, running towards him. As we walked, Dumbledore constantly gave me a knowing glance, I just smiled nervously when he did. It was kinda creepy actually. It's that feeling that you're walking down a dark alleyway with an old pervert by your side, waiting for the right chance to rape you. Ugh.
Finally, we reached the room of requirement. Everyone else was already inside, listening to Snape's quick lecture before beginning actual sparring trials. Now everyone knew about this room. I could tell that this was something big, something serious, something Hogwarts needed to be really prepared for. I was afraid too, afraid for the countless lives I knew we would lose. But now, all I can do is begin my training as well. The more people prepared, the higher the chances are of destroying Voldemort…and…keeping Draco safe…
"Come, Harry. Let us proceed to our area of the room."
"Aren't I practicing here too, sir?"
"No. Tell me Harry, you know there are cases of dreams within dreams and secrets within secrets and such baloney, don't you?"
"Err…this IS a magic school after all…so yeah?"
"Good. Then I'll have you know that there is another secret room within this room."
My eyes opened wide, scanning the room for any possible sign of another hidden room, but to no avail. With that, Dumbledore pulled me aside and tapped on a wall. There was a sudden slight vibration as the wall faded away right before my eyes, revealing another room similar to the one we were in. "Wow…"
The headmaster gently pushed me in. And just like that, the image of the wall faded back into position and we were alone. I looked around; yup, just another wide, spacious, empty, grey, sad looking room.
"Alright, Harry. Are you ready?"
"Sure…?" I muttered with uncertainty.
How was I supposed to know if I was ready or not? Nobody really mentioned what kind of lessons I was going to have. All I knew was that my life, as well as Draco's , would be put on the line, and we had to be extremely prepared for this. Dumbledore smirked and pulled out his wand, telling me to do the same. Hmm…I sense some serious training coming up…
~*~*~*MEANWHILE~*~*~*
Sparks of color were zipping and zapping around the Room of Requirement. It had only been a few minutes and Snape had already begun the hands-on part of the lesson. There was a target deatheater dummy that hovered around while students had to hit it with any attacking spell. The aim for today's lesson, according to Snape, was simply learning how to keep a disarmed deatheater at bay. But it didn't stop there. Every day the lessons would get harder and definitely much more challenging.
Day 1: Disarming, tackle disarmed Deatheater dummy
Day 2: Attack an armed Deatheater Dummy
Day 3: Attack multiple armed Deatheater Dummies
Day 4: Official simulation
Everyday Hogwarts students were to review the previous day's lesson and after day four, every other day they would have to engage in simulations against Voldemort's army of dummy deatheaters. It was going to get serious and students COULD get hurt during the simulations. But it would be worth it. Every step took us closer to defeating Voldemort.
"Who's idea was this anyway?"
"Oh, shut up, Ron. It's going to be a matter of life and death. Would it kill you to take this training more seriously?"
"Sorry, Hermione. Damn, while we're here, what the bloody hell is Harry doing?"
Hermione spun around, her bushy hair swaying in the process dramatically. Eyeing the wall that she saw Dumbledore and I going through, she gulped,
"I don't know, Ronald, but I hope he's doing well."
*~*~*MEANWHILE~*~*~*
"Stupefy! Whoa! Stupe-Stu-SHIT!"
"You do not swear in front of Voldemort, Harry. It's not, as you teenagers call it, 'cool' to swear during a serious battle."
Dumbledore had been working with me on impromptu reactions. He casted random spells at me while I was supposed to SOMEHOW know exactly when he was going to attack, and block the spell or shoot one of my own at him. It was harder than I thought. The old man was Hogwarts' headmaster after all; the unpredictable senior.
"Concentrate, Harry. Lord Voldemort will not wait for you to react! Giving him any hole or open area to show that you are unready will increase his chances of hitting you. You do not want that, Harry. You and Draco are Hogwarts' greatest hope now. Both of you die, and Hogwarts, as well as every part of the wizarding world, won't stand a chance either. You need to focus! Voldemort could hit you with ANY spell!" Dumbledore shouted. He was getting really worked up somehow. Honestly, I never saw him flare up like this before, it was a totally new thing that terrified me to pieces. Dumbledore was throwing a heavy load of pressure and responsibility onto me now and my self-esteem had reduced over the past few minutes. I was beginning to fear for my own life as well. Dumbledore was right, if I wasn't ready and fully focused, Voldemort would have the upper hand. Just like how he killed my parents…he would be perfectly capable of killing me…and Draco…
"I know, sir. I just need more practice."
"Yes…yes…I'm sorry for shouting, Harry. But you need to understand how serious of a situation this is. And I must tell you, Voldemort's first curse at you might just be the killing curse, and you would die before you even get a chance to enforce any skill you've learnt from me. We can't afford to lose the life of one of the world's greatest hopes that soon. And then there's Draco…Know this, Harry…" Dumbledore's voice dropped to a whisper. I stood closer so I could hear him better.
"Should you…really die…There will be no one to back Draco up as efficiently as you do. He might not be able to make it, Harry. Don't forget, Voldemort's main target is HIM. But the difference this time is that YOU have gotten mighty attached with Draco over the past couple of months, and I am positive that he will be willing to accept support from you. That's why I need both you and Draco to attend these training sessions with me every day. Both of you must learn to cooperate and have each other's back at all times. As long as both of you become united, you become one powerful force that might just be able to eliminate Voldemort from the face of the earth."
I gulped. Draco and I were supposed to work together to destroy the man that murdered my parents. It was something I was dying to do for years, but now that the actual mission was thrown in my face, and I had to cooperate with the boy I loved for so long, I wasn't feeling really up to it. Not that I wasn't willing, but I was just worried. What if we failed…?
"Harry," Dumbledore sighed. "I know this may sound like a great deal of pressure, but I know you both can accomplish this as long as you work hard. Both you and Draco are brave boys. In fact, Draco almost very readily agreed to start lessons tomorrow."
"Tomorrow? Is he even in the right condition to start-"
"There is no time, Harry. Draco was willing, and I hope you respect his decision."
"I…I don't want him to get hurt…His stomach…Shit, I don't know. I just don't like the idea of him going through the kind of training you're doing with me now. I know it's going to get harder, and you're going to do the whole simulation thing too, aren't you? If Draco gets hurt here, we can't possibly let him fight the REAL battle!"
"Harry, Harry, you're too anxious, my boy. One of the reasons why we need to give this a shot is because…over here, in this training session, you will learn to protect each other. If you can do this, Draco will be unharmed, and both of you will stand a higher chance of survival and success in the actual battle."
I wanted to cut him off and tell him I didn't want Draco to do any training whatsoever in his current condition. From what I saw in the infirmary, the poor Slytherin wasn't even capable of getting himself a glass of water on the table next to him. How the hell did Dumbledore expect him to begin training the next day? It was just absurd.
"But-" I tried again. This time, Dumbledore was ten times more firm with his words. He furrowed his eyebrows and glared at me, "Do. Not. Argue. Harry."
I nodded, tears welling up in my eyes. Upon seeing this, Dumbledore shook his head, and apologized again. But I told him apology wasn't necessary. I guess I made up my mind. Yes, Voldemort would come, and everyone, especially Draco, needed preparation. Once again, I placed the weight of another responsibility heap on my shoulder; I was going to protect Draco at all cost, no matter how risky the situation would be. Draco was mine to protect again. And I would not fail the task like before.
"Well," I clapped my hands together. "What are we waiting for, we're here to train, aren't we?"
Dumbledore noticed the sudden tint of motivation in my voice and a smile crept upon his lips. "Very good. Okay, wand at the ready…"
And thus began the training…