A big thanks goes out to Joe Lawyer for betaing. I'm in a rush, here it is, enjoy!
"Has Potter seen the snitch, or is this just another ploy by the first year to once again make Diggory look like a joke?" Lee Jordan screamed over the roaring crowd while intently watching the Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw quidditch match.
"Jordan!" McGonagall said curtly, cutting him off before he could continue.
"What? It's true Professor, Potter has been leading Diggory around the sky and into clever traps since the match began! The only question people want to know more than how it is a first year is so talented on a broom, is how Diggory is able to stay mounted on his after the beating he's taken here today?"
It was the day of the Ravenclaw vs. Hufflepuff match and the entire school had turned out to see if the first year who had garnered as much recognition as Longbottom, could play quidditch as well as he had dueled. The match had been going on for well over an hour now and Harry had spent the entire time leading Cedric into bludgers, his own team mates, and the ground on two separate occasions.
What stumped Harry about the situation was that Cedric wasn't attempting to find the snitch, instead he had been trying to chase him down all game for what he was sure wasn't Diggory's need to tell him how talented a flyer he was. He couldn't shake the feeling that Cedric's actions had everything to do with how close he was to Cho. The older boy was really starting to freak the Potter heir out, while at the same time, greatly annoying him. Wasn't it his job to obsess over girls younger than him?
His last thought caused Harry to snort as he weaved through the group of Hufflepuff players in possession of the ball, disrupting their play and causing Cedric to clip one of his own team's chasers, resulting in them dropping the quaffle.
Harry flipped head first over the handle of his broom, turning it so that he was flying upside down, giving himself the best chance to catch the falling quaffle. Snatching the large red ball out of the air he blurred away from the trio of Hufflepuff chasers who were attempting to converge on him and toward Cho and one of the other Ravenclaw chasers.
He was forced to perform a continuous barrel roll when both beaters from the opposing team hit both of the bludgers at him within mere seconds of each other. He hadn't come fully out of his final spin when he threw the quaffle straight into the second Ravenclaw chaser's hands.
Having let go of the ball he dived nose first for the ground, aware that as he did so that Cedric had once again started tailing him.
'He's making this too easy,' Harry thought, as he hooked his left leg more securely around his broom handle.
With his leg locked into place Harry turned as sharply to the left as he could, only his hooked leg keeping him from falling to the ground. Behind him he knew that Cedric had been forced to take the sudden turn at a much wider angle than he had wanted, just as Harry had planned for him to do.
Aiming for the out-of-bounds area, Harry slowed just enough to give Cedric a chance to catch up to him. It was as he was fixing to hit the mark where the monitoring charms were at - Cedric less than an arm's length behind him - that he once again pulled left shooting straight up into the air missing the boundary line by a hair's breadth. Cedric wasn't so lucky.
With a smile splitting his face Harry slowed to a snail's pace as Madam Hooch's whistle sharply blew. "Hufflepuff's seeker out-of-bounds! This is the first and final warning, if it happens again he will be booted from the game for a span of no fewer than ten minutes. A single penalty shot will be awarded to Ravenclaw," she announced to the crowd using a Sonorus charm. Harry chuckled as the Hufflepuff fans released a collective groan at the ruling.
As all the other players lined up for the penalty shot, Harry flew toward the stands. Since he was the seeker he was exempt from having to line up with the rest of his team. He soon reached the stands where the families coming to watch the quidditch games sat. Spotting his family, he flew level to them while ignoring the glares the parents of the Hufflepuff players were sending him.
"Does anybody know the score?" He called out to his family with a smug grin on his face, making James and Iris laugh.
"Ravenclaw is winning 260 to 50," Iris called out, as Ivy waved happily at him from within her arms. "You're doing amazing; no one out there can touch you!" Harry smiled widely at her, enjoying the confidence she had in him.
"You know it's bad luck to say that type of thing, right?" Iris nodded, returning his smile with one of her own beautiful ones that he so loved to see.
"You looked as if you could use a challenge out there!" She called back mischievously.
Harry opened his mouth to respond when he felt a chill run down his spine. Glancing over his shoulder he could see Cedric making a beeline straight for him, this wasn't new as he had been doing so all game, however, the look in his eyes startled Harry enough that he lost his playful mood instantly. The golden haired boy was staring at him the same way he had on the day he had been in the library with Cho. It was a look that said he could, and would kill him without a drop of remorse.
Turning back to his family, he was only able to hide how much the boy's look had affected him by using his substantial mental shields. Plastering on what looked like a genuine smile, he shouted out to them. "I should probably end this before I can start to regret your words." Not waiting for even Iris to respond, he gave his broom a firm, yet swift jerk, whipping it around and flying off in search of the snitch.
Combing the skies for the tiny, golden ball he continued to make sure he knew where Cedric was at all times. While he had spent most of the game toying with Cedric and interrupting plays attempted by the Hufflepuff team, he hadn't been so brass as to pass up on the snitch. The ball had yet to show itself and as Cedric stalked him through the mid-afternoon sky; Harry was starting to wonder if it ever would.
When the snitch finally did decide to come out of hiding, it did so in the worst possible place for Harry. The tiny charmed ball was mimicking Cedric's anger driven flight patterns right behind the boy's back, practically sitting on his broom's back end where he couldn't see it.
Harry let loose a bitter laugh. It was ironic really, he had spent the entire game pissing off the Hufflepuff seeker by letting him get close and leading him into painful crashes, but now that he wanted to stay away from the enraged 'puff, he had to go near him or risk not seeing the snitch again for who knows how long a time.
Giving one last glance over his shoulder to make sure the snitch was still closely following Cedric, Harry pulled up on the handle of his broom, shooting straight up into the air. Over the roaring of the wind in his ears, he could hear Lee calling out that he had spotted the snitch as the cause for his sudden direction change, and the resulting cheers and cries of disappointment that his announcement brought with it.
He had flown high above the other players and spectators and was continuing his straight shot into the air when he suddenly stopped his upward rise completely. He hung suspended in the air for less than second, but to those watching it felt like near an eternity. Just when gravity was starting to pull him back to earth, Harry flipped himself backwards; his chest pressed painfully close to his broom handle, and shot straight down at the oncoming seeker and the snitch that was still trailing him.
To those watching from the stands, Harry and Cedric's race to what most were sure was their inevitable crash, was seen as two blurs, one of red and the other of gold, charging unrelentingly at one another.
"I WAS WRONG! POTTER HASN'T SEEN THE SNITCH; HE'S CHALLENGING DIGGORY TO TEST HIS DARING! WHO WILL BE THE ONE TO TURN - WILL ONE OF THEM TURN, OR WILL THIS END IN DISASTER?"
The location of Harry's gaze was rapidly changing as he looked over the boy flying straight up at him, searching for the best route to take to both get by him safely, and yet still capture the snitch in the process.
His eyes were darting at speeds that his mind would have failed to keep up with before he had started using his mental shields. Their use had unlocked the early stages of Harry's eidetic memory. Things were now easier than ever to remember and surprisingly his vision had increased, making spotting things easier to do. And at the moment Harry didn't like what it was that he was seeing.
As his emerald eyes would dart a fraction to the left, the body of Cedric Diggory would adjust to them. Green eyes would flash right and Diggory would move accordingly. Harry would adjust his broom slightly aiming to fly under the Hufflepuff and said boy would rear his knee back to deliver a blow... Somehow Cedric Diggory was following his moves just as Harry was his.
'How is it that he can follow the movement of my eyes?'
Harry was only just able to track the boy's every movement, down to the smallest of twitches, thanks to his gift from Kar. So how was it that Cedric was doing the exact same thing? Were his eyes really that good, or was he experiencing some type of anger fueled adrenaline rush that allowed him to track him?
Was it possible Cedric had been born with an eidetic memory? If so, then it was also possible that Cedric could have been reading his lips that day in the library, instead of him using some type of eavesdropping spell. Either way, things had just gotten a whole lot harder on the long-haired Potter and something was telling him that Cedric's ability to follow him wouldn't be limited to just his eyes and the slight shifts in his position.
Despite his mind being in the right place, Harry couldn't find it in him to run away from Cedric, even though it was the smart thing to do. It was true that he had been leading him on all game, but there was just something about right now, facing down the older boy he had respected so much in his past life - the same boy who had beaten him out in every way in his past life that made Harry want to prove himself worthy in this life.
Not seeing any other way to slip past the boy who was now only seconds away from trying to knock him from his broom, Harry started to spin like a top as fast as he possibly could. It was a dangerous move for the redhead - a move that could be labeled a double-edged-sword. The speed he was moving at added to his spinning, making it impossible to track which way it was he was going to go, but at the same time made it significantly harder on Harry to keep track of Cedric and the snitch's movement.
It was just as Harry was pointing at Cedric upside down that he pushed downward (or at least the direction that was downward for him) on the handle of his broom, shooting him right over the boy's head, still spinning. Harry lashed out like a snake strike and snatched the snitch out of the air at the same time he felt the back of his quidditch robes rip. Cedric had grabbed - swung - at him and had torn his robes, exposing his back to the harsh, piercing December air.
As the whistle blew, either to signal an end to the game or to pause it for Madam Hooch to call Cedric out for his blatant foul, Harry flew around the pitch, the snitch held high for all to see.
It was as his teammates flew toward him screaming about their overwhelming victory that he saw a trembling Cedric glaring murderously at him from the opposite side of the field. Grasped tightly in his violently shaking hand was the back of his blue and bronze robes.
Even without his freshly created occlumency shields and his budding eidetic memory, the sight of the enraged Hufflepuff would be seared into Harry's mind for the rest of his life...
S2ndC
Sirius Black was sitting alone in his breakfast nook, reading the morning edition of the Daily Prophet and enjoying a strong cup of tea, when his fireplace burst into green-flames, admitting an ash covered James Potter. As the man that was next in line to become the next Lord Potter and family head attempted to dust himself off, Sirius summoned him a cup of coffee, before taking pity on his best mate and cleaning the remaining soot from his robes with a second flick of his wand.
"Thanks mate." Sliding into the seat across from his best friend James pulled the cup of coffee to him and took a deep whiff. "Ah," James sighed after taking a sip of his hot drink, "that always hits the spot on chilly days like these."
Sirius said nothing as he finished reading the article he had been in the middle of when James arrived. When he was done, he folded the paper and threw it on the table in front of him, giving James' choice in beverage a small, disgusted look.
"I don't see how you can drink that mud," he said with obvious distaste lining his voice. "It's only redeeming quality is that women can drink it the same way they like their men."
James raised a questioning eyebrow at his longtime friend, as he once again placed his lips to the coffee containing cup.
Sirius smirked, pointing to himself, "Black!" James snorted, rolling his eyes at the man's lame attempt at humor.
"I just finished reading in the sports section of the Prophet that Ravenclaw's first year seeker, 'one Harry James Potter, led his team to victory yesterday in an impressive display of flying ability and aggressive game play'," he said repeating what the paper had written. "Any truth to this, or is it more of the normal spew of material for me to use in the loo?"
James' face lit-up as Sirius spoke, grabbing the paper up off the table before the Lord Black had finished speaking. "He was amazing Sirius! I've never seen someone so young before, play so well. And how he finished the game was bril-"
"James - James - James!" Sirius called cutting the man off. "The paper goes into detail about what he did during the match. You obviously haven't seen the paper yet, read it first - then tell me what it left out." James agreed to this, nodding as he raced through the article.
"It seems they got the gist of the match," James commented, laying the paper down, looking very satisfied with himself and what he had read.
"It looks to me that after this article and the one they published after he showed off his - how do they put it... Oh yes, 'his first-rate accuracy and precision, coupled with his use of obscure spells' that Harry's got fans at the Daily Prophet, or at the least in their Sporting Department."
"He does... for now," James replied, shaking his head as he lost some of his earlier joy.
"Any reason behind those grim words of yours, or are you just extra cheerful this morning?"
James rolled his eyes. "With how much attention Harry has been gaining himself as of late, I'm worried that word will get out about the relationship between him and Neville. Things have never been good between the Longbottoms and any of the other three families, but the way I saw that boy glaring at Harry put how much he hates him out on display."
Sirius sent his best friend a thoughtful look as he took a sip of his tea, pondering over what he had been told. "It's possible that if it does get out how they feel about one another, that the tide may turn in Harry's favor. You know how the Prophet loves to tear down those they build up," Sirius pointed out as he flicked his wand, opening a window to allow an owl to fly in.
"They've been building up Neville for a long time now, but in the same edition that they praise Harry so heavily for his dueling skills, they also tear into Neville over his cheap shot on Harry's best mate. And don't forget that it didn't go unnoticed that Harry ended his duel with Longbottom's lackey by using the same spell Longbottom had cast on the wandless, Whatshisname."
"Blaise Zabini," James supplied absentmindedly, his full attention on the scarlet envelope the owl had clutched in its talons. "Padfoot, it looks like you've made someone mad... Oh Merlin, please don't tell me it's Molly Weasley again!" James jumped up from the table and flew across the room, well away from his friend and the now smoking letter. "My ears rang for a week last time she sent you one of those."
Sirius threw the trembling letter onto the table just as it started to tear itself apart.
"SIRIUS ORION BLACK! YOU DISPICABLE LITTLE PRICK, YOU ARE MADE UP OF THE THINGS THAT MAKE THIS WORLD SO UGLY! HOW COULD YOU BE SO CRUEL AS TO TAKE ME OUT AND SHOW ME SUCH A BEAUTIFUL TIME - WHISPER SUCH SWEET WORDS TO ME - TELL ME THAT I WAS THE ONE FOR YOU, THEN USE ME AS YOU DID AND DISAPPEAR THE NEXT MORNING - NEVER TO BE HEARD FROM AGAIN?"
"I THOUGHT EVERYONE WAS WRONG ABOUT YOU.'HE'S FILTH' THEY SAID - 'HE'LL USE YOU LIKE A HOUSE ELF, HE WILL' THEY SAID. BUT ME BEING THE FOOL I AM, I TRUSTED YOU AND DENIED THAT ANY OF WHAT THEY SAID COULD EVER HOLD ANY TRUTH TO IT. WELL THE EGGS ON MY FACE AND I PLAN ON DOING THE SAME FOR YOU! GUESS WHO'S PREGNANT SIRIUS - GUESS WHO'S GOING TO BE A DADDY SIRIUS? THAT'S RIGHT YOU ARSE, YOU ARE!"
"I MAY NOT BE ABLE TO TAKE YOU FOR ALL YOU'RE WORTH, BUT I CERTIANLY CAN MAKE YOU COME OUT OF THIS LOOKING WORSE THAN I DO. RITA SKEETER IS GOING TO LOVE THE STORY I HAVE TO TELL ABOUT HOW THE HEAD OF ONE OF THE FOUR GREAT FAMILIES OF BRITAIN SEDUCED ME!"
"YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW, MUTT!"
As the shreds of the letter floated to the floor, a pale and sick looking Sirius failed to see a second letter appear in the pile of debris. The last male Black swallowed painfully as he stared off into space, lost as to what he was supposed to do now.
James who had seen the extra letter appear, hid his smile as he made his way over to his friend, wearing a look of concern. "Padfoot? Mate, you alright?"
James' words snapped Sirius from his stupor - seconds later he was bent over a dustbin, heaving painfully into it, his rear in the air twisting as one did when one was sick. When he had finally emptied everything from his stomach, he resurfaced, red-eyed and looking slightly deranged. Starting for James, Sirius tripped over his own feet making him stumble over to his best mate, where he desperately grabbed James by the front of his robes.
"What do I do Prongs?! I'm not cut out to be a father! There are nappies and baby food involved with babies, and-and babies as well. I can't handle that Prongs, I can't!"
James was finding it extremely difficult to keep a straight face, though if he had laughed, he very much doubted Sirius would have noticed in his current state.
"I'm not the parenting type! I've got too many mummy-issues to raise a kid! You and Moony are the parents of the group! I was supposed to be the cool uncle that everyone loved."
"Why don't you floo this girl and find out if you can talk it over with her."
"How am I supposed to know who she is?" Sirius demanded, incredulously. "Do you expect me to remember every woman I've slept with in the past year? Damn it Prongs, use your head! I need your brains now more than ever!"
Sirius suddenly stopped talking and let James go. Grabbing his chest he started breathing heavily as he stumbled backwards and fell into a chair. "Which arm is it that hurts when you're having a heart attack?"
"The right one," James lied, knowing his friend was overreacting.
Sirius let out a deep hiss, grabbing his right arm, cradling it to his chest. "I think I'm going to die! Damn brats not even here yet, and already it's killing me. Prongs, if I don't make it-"
"Padfoot," James chuckled as he crouched down to grab the letter before holding it out to him. "I think you should read this before you go too far and become melodramatic!"
Sirius, still holding his arm and breathing deeply took the envelope and opened it. As his eyes trailed over the letter he slowly regained his color, and if James wasn't too mistaken, a small twitch to his eye.
You not only got the last prank this summer, but you turned Marcus Greengrass on me! Payback's a bitch, huh pup? Your move, mutt!
Yours truly,
Harry
P.S. Be happy I chose not to send this to you while you were at work or around my mum!
"Bloody hell..." Sirius whispered, stunned by the young boy's masterful prank.
Laughing heartily, James took the letter from his friend to read, making his laughter grow until his entire frame was shaking. "He was kind enough to ask ahead of time to see if you wanted kids." James explained. "I think he felt that it would be going too far if he got your hopes up, if on the off-chance you actually wanted to be a dad. But, when he found out you detested the very idea of having children he started laughing like a mad man."
James beamed down at his friend. In that moment he was beyond proud of his son, the quidditch and dueling star, who on top of being the top in his year was also a master "pranksman." Damn, he loved his boy!
"You helped him with this?" Sirius demanded, scandalized.
"Besides telling him that you didn't want kids, no, I had no part in this," James denied, holding his hands up. "I did, however, know it was going to happen this morning. It's why I showed up this early."
Sirius nodded, rising to his feet. "You know I'm going to get him back, right?"
James nodded. "Of course, but be careful. Lily gets wind of what you two are doing and she'll come after the both of you."
S2ndC
Harry slipped out of the front door of the Shrieking Shack, fluidly making his way through the uncut, damp grass, toward the path that led down to Hogsmeade. Every breath taken by him left its misty mark on the harsh December night air. He had more than three hours before he was due back in his common room; this however did nothing to slow the brisk pace he was moving at. He wanted to hurry and be done with his current business that had him out on this frosty night.
Drawing near the edge of the village, he cast a single illusion on his person, making him look and sound like one of his primary school teachers from the past time-line. He couldn't risk someone finding out who he was, for fear it would affect his father's job if he were to be found off school grounds in the company of a known criminal. He highly doubted anyone would recognize the person that he had chosen to disguise himself as.
Entering the famous pub, The Three Broomsticks, Harry was surprised to find it as crowded as it was despite the fact that it wasn't a Hogsmeade weekend. Every table in the pub was filled by at least two people and a good number of those individuals looked dangerously close to waking up in the morning in great need of a hangover potion.
Navigating his way through the crowded room, he stopped at the bar where Madam Rosmerta was located, digging under the counter for something.
"Can I get a firewhiskey, please?" Pulling out a few coins he laid them on the counter without waiting for an answer. Once his drink was firmly in hand, he turned to scout the room for any sign of the human-stain that he was there to meet.
Harry spotted the disheveled and dirty-looking man sitting nervously in a corner of the pub. It appeared as if Mundungus Fletcher was the only person in the entire pub to have a table completely to himself.
Harry slinked his way through the crowded room, being careful not to draw too much attention to himself as he did so. Sliding into the seat across from Mundungus, he cast a number of spells to make sure their private conversation stayed that way.
When he was finished protecting their privacy, Harry saw that the thief was eyeing him and his wand suspiciously. "Don't fret Dung; I'm not going to use any of my knives, or wand on you this time... Or at least, I don't think I will." As he spoke Harry dropped the illusion on his voice, it was a move that allowed the man to know it was him.
Dung flinched when he realized this was who he had come here to meet. He had been hoping to see what the young boy looked like, but now that the man in front of him had shown up he realized how unlikely it had been to hope for such a thing. "Y-ya said ya had need of me?"
"All I need of you at the moment Dung is to find a way to lift the 'Trace'." Harry had used the same smooth, steel-laced voice he had the first time they had met - from the way the man continued to flinch, he knew it to be working.
"But that's impossible, that is! Everyone knows that," Dung protested. The man shut up when Harry shot a weak, but effective mental probe his way. He was unskilled in the use of Legilimency, making all of his attempts at invading someone's mind, even the weak ones, painful for the recipient if they were unversed in the use of Occlumency.
Waiting for the man in front of him to stop withering, Harry spoke. "Do you honestly think the purebloods' children have to wait before their traces are lifted?"
Pulling his hands out of his ginger hair, Dung gazed at the person before him with watery eyes. "I don' exactly run in 'he same circle as 'em folks, 'ow do I?'Ow am I to find out 'ow 'hey do it?"
"You're the crafty type, Dung. I'm sure you'll figure something out." Harry rose to his feet, downing the last of his firewhiskey before banishing the bottle. "I'll tell you what, if you can get me a way to be free of the trace, by the end of the school year, then I'll give you a reward for all of your hard work." Dung's watery eyes instantly turned greedy, disgusting Harry by how much they reminded him of Vernon Dursely's.
"But, fail to bring me anything before the next school year starts..." Harry let the man come up with the rest of the message on his own.
"And when me've found something, 'ow do I reach ya?"
Harry grew still; he hadn't thought of this when he had planned the meeting out in his head. He couldn't tell the man his name for obvious reasons. But other than through the use of owls how was he supposed to keep in contact with the man.
Sighing, Harry came to a realization that there was one title he had been called by in the past time line that no one knew of or had in this one... at least not yet, they didn't.
"Make the letter out to the Chosen One." He didn't wait for the man's reaction or reply, turning; he quickly made his way out of the pub and into the now lightly sprinkling snow.
Checking his wand he saw that Honeydukes was still open. Making a split second decision he headed off for the sweets shop, to pick up something for the train ride home in the morning, and a little something extra for Iris and Ivy when he saw them.
He was excited to be heading home for the first time since the Necro incident. Not only would he be getting to spend time with his family, but his father had told him he would be starting the first steps of the animagus process. Little did the man know that Harry had already begun meditation and that he would now only be required to find the right state of mind before he could start learning to shift at will.
Once he made it into Honeydukes and out of the falling snow, it didn't take him long to find what he wanted and slip into the storage room, where the trapdoor leading up to the castle was located. Crouched low as to not bash his head in, Harry made the long trek up to the school, at a far faster pace than he had been able to at the start of the year. Even though he hadn't given his muscles the proper rest they had needed during all his time in the Room of Requirement, he had been going at it for almost six months, if you added in time spent using the time turner. It was only natural that he was seeing results.
Crawling out of the statue of the one-eyed witch, Harry started to dash off like had become a habit for him when going anywhere, no matter how early he was. He stopped however, when he realized he had nothing to occupy his time back in the common room. Checking his bag he saw that he had his copy-book on him and decided to head to the library in the hopes that he could find something interesting to copy that he hadn't already read yet.
He was flipping through the copy-book looking for anything he might have missed after reading it three times, when the entrance to the library came into view.
"This should be interesting," Harry mumbled, when he glanced up to see most of the Gryffindor first years exiting the library in a loose group. Raising his mental shields, he went back to reading his book, ready for what he knew to be coming.
Neville had been livid when Harry had won his duel as easily as he had, especially when it had appeared in the paper that he had used the same spell to end his match that had gotten Neville in so much trouble for using on an already disarmed Blaise. His anger had only been inflamed greater when the cutting remarks about his dirty shot on Blaise had ended up being passed around the school.
Since then, Neville had attempted on more than one occasion to start a fight with him, but more times than not it would end with Harry merely firing off a cutting remark that would enrage the Longbottom heir. It hadn't helped Neville's hate for him when Harry's name had once again showed up in the Prophet after the match against Hufflepuff.
The first of the group to spot Harry was Zacharias. "It's Potter," he barked angrily, pointing out his sudden appearance to the rest of the Gryffindors. "And he's all alone."
Harry didn't bother looking up from his book. "Wotcher, cubs," he greeted, feeling like Tonks while using this dated form of greeting.
"Cubs?" Lavender asked from beside Parvati and another girl that Harry had rarely spoken to in his past life, named Fay Dunbar. All of the Gryffindors had stopped walking to stare at him, unintentionally blocking his way to the library.
"Lion cubs... The youngest of the pride." Seeing that they didn't plan on moving Harry leaned casually against the wall. Glancing up he met the girl's blue eyes, causing her to blush a deep red that only became more pronounced when he smirked at her.
"And what about a pride?" Parvati asked, shuffling forward, slightly. Harry very much doubted she didn't know what a pride was; if he was guessing right he figured her to be seeking the same type of attention as her friend had received.
"It's a gathering of lions. You have a murder of crows, schools of fish, an unkindness of ravens, and a pride of lions." As he answered her, he gave her and Fay a charming smile that had all three girls giggling.
Seeing Dean, Ron, and Seamus standing to the side watching the girls with questioning looks, Harry turned his focus on them. "I haven't had the chance to say so yet, but you had a good duel Finnigan."
Seamus was at first surprised to hear Harry speaking to him, but that quickly gave way to confusion as he was unsure if the Ravenclaw's words were meant to be sincere or insulting. "If you have something to say, Potter, then say it!" Seamus snapped heatedly, finally settling on being offended by his words.
"If I was going to insult you, I would have done so, outright. I truly meant what I said, you had a good duel. While you may not have won your match, you did go into it wanting to win with your dueling ability alone and not with cheap tricks."
Seamus stared at him for a second or two without saying anything back, pondering as he did so, if everything Neville had said about the long-haired boy was true. "Thanks mate... you too."
Neville scoffed harshly, stepping forward he leered disapprovingly at the Irish-born boy. "You're telling someone from a different house 'good job for beating us.' What's wrong with you?" He sent Seamus and the rest of the group a sneer before he turned and glared at Harry. "And you better watch yourself, no one's here to protect you should we decide to put you in your proper place."
"I very seriously doubt you'll do anything," Harry replied, closing his book with a sharp snap.
Neville tried to smirk and scoff at the same time before he settled on sneering at the Potter. "And why is that?"
"Because you and I both know you'll never beat me. It's why you've never tried anything more than running your mouth off," Harry chuckled. "Hell, you only do that when you're in the safety of a full classroom and a professor is nearby, or in a crowded hallway. You're about as intimidating as a flobberworm."
"Do you want to see just how scary I can be Potter?" Neville growled, pulling out his wand. Behind him Zacharias copied his action, but was the only one to do so - the rest looked on in excitement, wanting to see what was going to happen between the three.
"What is going on here?" Came the angry voice of Professor McGonagall as she exited the library from behind the Gryffindors. "Why is it two of my lions have their wands drawn on another student, while the rest watch on as if it was a quidditch match?"
Neville glared at Harry as he put his wand away. It was clear that he thought the red head had known McGonagall was coming and that he had kept quiet about her in an attempt to get him in trouble. The truth was, Harry hadn't been paying enough attention to see the woman approaching and had been just as surprised as all the others when she had called out to them. The rest of the Gryffindors looked shocked by the woman's sudden appearance and had yet to process that they would be more than likely getting in trouble if someone didn't do something.
"It's my fault Professor." Harry claimed, taking everyone, including McGonagall, by surprise.
The older woman fixed him with a searching look, trying to figure out what it was he was up to. "How is it that two of my students pulling their wands on you, an unarmed student, was your fault Mr. Potter?"
"They both know how effortlessly I won my duel a while back, so when they saw me out here they begged me to teach them the proper way to hold a wand. You know, to better improve their dueling." As he spoke his grin grew wider, as Neville and Zacharias, both of whom had their backs to the professor, started shaking in anger, the former even turning a puce color that would have done Vernon proud.
"Isn't that right you two?" Harry knew he had the two of them, if they denied it then they would both be in trouble.
When neither boy turned to face her or say anything, McGonagall stepped forward to face them. "Is this true or not Mr. Longbottom, Mr. Smith?"
Though it looked to pain them greatly to do so, both boys ended up nodding. The rest of the lions wore small smiles as they watched the going-ons, making Harry wonder just how annoying Neville was in the confines of their common room that his own house mates would enjoy watching him have to swallow his pride.
"Somehow I find that hard to believe." McGonagall said, making them all freeze. Seeing the look of shock on the gathered first years' faces she closed her eyes and took a deep, tired breath. "Tomorrow is the beginning of winter break. Please try to keep from starting trouble before then." Opening her light-brown eyes she fixed them all with her normal curt look. "This is not only a time of relaxation for you students... I'd like to have some time where I don't have to call any of you out for misbehavior."
"As unlikely as it is, if I happen upon any of you starting something, like I know was about to take place here, before the train leaves tomorrow, then I'll make it so that you all spend the winter holiday here at the castle, with me... in detention."
S2ndC
"I was sitting there first!"
"You left, so you lost your spot. Get over it!"
"Move Katie!"
"No Cho!"
"Girls!" Harry interjected. "There's another empty spot, on my other side. Why don't one of you just sit there?"
Harry, along with Blaise, had picked out a compartment to themselves when they had boarded the train. It wasn't long after the train had pulled away from Hogsmeade station that Cho had come along and asked if she could join them, after being told she could, she had left shortly after to go to the bathroom. It was in the time she was gone, that Katie had shown up and took the seat Cho had been occupying, leading to the situation they were in now.
"I shouldn't have to move," Katie defended, glaring at her friend. "She wasn't even in the compartment when I showed up. If she wanted this spot so badly, she shouldn't have left."
Cho tore her heated gaze away from Katie to look pleadingly at Harry. "I may not have been sitting there, but my bag was." Her stare once again shifted, this time back to her 'friend', where it once again became hostile. "I doubt it was Harry who threw my things to the floor."
"I didn't throw your things; I placed them on the floor." Katie shot back.
Blaise didn't say anything. The dark skinned boy simply sat back, a book in his lap and a knowing smirk upon his lips as he watched Harry try and calm the two girls down from the other side of the compartment. He knew that Katie had recognized Cho's things when she first arrived, by the way she eyed them, and that she had in fact thrown the other girl's things. He also knew that they both liked Harry, and that this was the true cause of the argument over who sat where, and not both their inexplicable need to sit on his left side. There was never a dull moment when Ravenclaw's resident trouble magnet was near.
"That's it!" Harry yelled, before either could say another word. Reaching over he snaked a hand around Katie's waist and the other under her thighs, earning a squeak from her as he pulled her across his lap to his right side. Before Cho could feel she had won some type of victory, he grabbed her hand and pulled her swiftly into the seat she had been fighting for since re-entering the compartment.
"Now let's be big boys and girls and not fight over who's sitting where." Both girls made to speak, but stopped, turning deep shades of red when Harry placed a hand on each of their thighs - high enough on the inside of their legs that both girls lost all interest in fighting about where they wanted to sit - their attention now shifting to more important things, like where his hand was placed.
Blaise released a soft chuckle, drawing a glare from Harry that quickly turned into him shaking his head tiredly. "Sod off, wanker."
Harry failed to see the smug look his words drew from the boy as there was a knock at the compartment door at that moment that garnered his full attention. "It's open."
The door slid open to reveal Daphne. Her long blonde hair hung loosely in her face obscuring the view of her right icy-blue eye from those in the compartment. The one that was clear for them to see was focused solely on Harry.
"May I speak to you in private?" Daphne requested in her soft monotone, her features reflected her voice with their lack of emotion.
"I don't have any problem with that." Rising to his feet, Harry glanced back at the two girls as he headed for the exit. "Try and behave while I'm gone, you two. If you feel an overwhelming need to fight with someone, then I give you permission to test any new spells you've learned on Blaise."
"Come again?" Blaise asked incredulously, throwing wary glances at the two witches.
"Don't worry Blaise," Harry called over his shoulder, "it's for the greater good."
Stepping out into the hallway, he came to a stop just in front of Daphne, who had only taken a step back to allow him to exit the compartment. Reaching behind him, Harry pulled the sliding door shut and stood there watching his friend, spotting tiny signs in her demeanor that only he and those who knew her best could spot, that told him she was nervous about whatever it was they were going to talk about.
"Come on, we'll head to the public cart and find a table there where we can talk without others hearing what's being said." He tried walking away but was stopped when he felt her pull lightly on the sleeve of his black, wool coat.
"No..." Her golden hair dance around her pretty face as she shook her head. "The booths in the public cart are on top of each other. It would be too easy for someone to overhear us there."
With her hand still wrapped around the sleeve of his coat, he twisted his hand to grasp the front of her heavy traveling cloak. "I can keep anyone trying to eavesdrop from hearing anything we say." He informed her. Turning, he started for the public cart, where those who couldn't find a private compartment sat.
Harry was a slightly surprised when Daphne didn't let go of her hold on him, and that she continued to allow him to lead her by holding her cloak. It made him wonder if their friendship was as damaged as he had previously thought.
The public cart was as long as the one that housed the private compartments that the students of Hogwarts tended to favor. Set back-to-back were 'booths' that composed of a small table set between two high-backed benches. There weren't many people occupying the open cart, but had someone gone by the noise level they would have thought they were attending a Hogwarts sporting event.
With her cloak still grasped loosely in hand, Harry led the girl with the subdued personality to an empty booth. Letting her slide in first, he took the outside seat before casting a spell to keep others from hearing what it was Daphne wanted to speak about.
When he was positive that no one could overhear them, he turned to give her his full attention. As he waited for her to speak, he watched her struggle to say what it was that was bothering her so. Her normally pale skin was lightly flushed, and her lips that were only a few shades darker than her creamed colored skin, would open slightly only to close once again.
It had been some time since they had last spoken to each other like they used to, he could still remember how she would often pause in the middle of talking and the way her monotone voice would at times carry slivers of the emotions that she was experiencing. But what she was doing now was nothing like the girl he had grown to call his Daphne.
"At least the part of you that talks my ear off is still the same." He said trying to lighten the mood and make things easier on her. He was hurt by how she had stopped speaking to him all together, but he still cared for her and didn't like seeing her struggle for words, especially when she so rarely wanted to speak to anyone.
Daphne released a small sigh that shook her dainty shoulders. Meeting his eyes, she showed him the light dancing in her eyes and the small quirk of her lips that let him know she found his comment funny, however, both quickly gave way to what Harry thought he recognized as embarrassment, shame, and maybe a hint of guilt.
"I asked you here because I wanted to apologize for how I reacted after the tryouts, and how demanding I sounded when I found out about the troll. I get... nervous when I feel someone I care for is in danger. More so, apparently when I feel they make themselves a target."
"Daphne," Harry sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Everyone gets 'nervous' when those they care for are in danger. It's an unavoidable part of letting yourself become close to others. But to let your fears keep you away from those people makes it feel like you don't care for anyone but yourself." Harry grew quiet for a few seconds before he came to the decision to tell her how he felt.
"I was going through a hard time Daphne; it would have been nice to have my closest friend by my side. It hurts to know that you would just up and stop having anything to do with me, because you don't like how I do certain things. I'm a reckless person by nature, and that's just something you'll have to learn to deal with if you want to try and be friends again."
"I didn't stop talking to you because I was mad about how careless you were." She informed him, her normally soft monotone taking on a strained feel to it. A faint amount of red had started to trace across her cheeks, and Harry was getting the feeling she forcing herself not to stare downward. "I saw your... reaction that day in the hospital."
Harry's now faster mind took no time at all to start coming up with reasonable explanations for why it was that he had an erection during his hug with his two sisters. While at the same time another part of him was screaming for him to kill himself. 'It's not bad enough that my mother saw that, but now Daphne too.'
"I-I can explain that," he stammered, his face as red as his hair. "It was the potions I had taken, they made me... react that way."
Daphne shook her head, giving him an understanding look, or at least he thought that's what it was. "No it wasn't. When it happened Madam Pomfrey had yet to show up, so it couldn't have been a potions side-effect." Harry bit his lip nervously.
"It's a natural response for someone around our age, those who have magic mature far faster than our muggle counterparts do, and Iris is a very beautiful girl. That being said, it... shocked me to see that you could react that way. I didn't think any males our age were able..." She trailed off, looking at the table ahead of her.
"Daphne, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. It just happened! I can't really control it, and believe me, if I could, it would not have happened in a room full of my family and friends."
"That's just it, I wasn't uncomfortable, I was scared." She told him, her words coming out in a rush. The red that had been on her cheeks had now spread down to her neck and disappeared into her collar. She continued to refuse to meet his eyes.
Harry was stunned. "Why would you be scared of me? I've never done anything that would suggest that I would-"
"I know," she said, cutting him off by raising her voice. "It's a number of things that caused this. My father has always been protective, overly so even. You know that, you've seen it." Harry nodded, the man had yet to look at him without giving the impression he wanted to hurt him for bring near his daughters. "I don't know what happened in the war, but it's affected him greatly, enough so that he's always warned me away from the opposite sex. Telling me that they can't be trusted, that they're scum that only truly want one thing. It's part of the reason he trained me to duel from so early on - to protect myself and Astoria."
"I've never been close to any boys, none of the small group of friends I have have been either. So when I saw you react that way it... I guess saying I was 'scared' is over-the-top; it's more like…it unnerved me. All at once how you acted around girls and how you're so much sweeter on them came to mind. It didn't take me long after that to realize, that out of all the girls you're around, I was the one you spent the most time with... I know now- I knew then - the entire time we weren't speaking, that you'd never do anything intentionally to make me feel like I shouldn't trust you."
Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing. Sure he knew the importance of warning a child away from the dangers in the world, it was part of being a parent, but to go so far that your daughter reacted the way Daphne had was outrageous. If all Marcus' warnings had resulted in was Daphne pushing him away as she had, then it was feasible that his being overly protective had made Daphne as introverted as she was.
"Surely your father realized he was going too far with his warnings," Harry challenged heatedly. "What would possess him to be so overbearing?"
Daphne looked about to recoil back into her introverted ways, but stopped when Harry took her by the hand. Looking up she saw how upset he was, not at her for how she had treated him, but by how her father had treated her. "I think it has to do with Astoria." She suddenly confided in him. She hadn't told anyone that she thought this before, not even Iris, who she had told more than once about her father and his overbearing ways.
"Astoria," he repeated looking puzzled. "Why..."
"Astoria is only a year younger than me, but she acts so carefree that I think he worries that she'll be an easy target for someone to take advantage of, and that's why he always focuses on me. He wants me to protect her."
"I... can actually see where he's coming from there," he admitted, knowing how Luna-ish the girl was. "But Astoria is an extremely intelligent girl, anyone who spends more than a few minutes talking to her could tell you that. I know he's worried about her, but you're just as much his daughter as she is. He should be as attentive to your wellbeing as he is hers; not making you feel as if everyone is out to stab you in the back."
Daphne couldn't help but agree. Her father had always been firm, almost standoffish with her as he pushed her to be the best in everything she did, whereas he had always doted on Astoria and allowed her to do as she wished. She loved her sister more than anything else in the world, but it was hard not to feel jealous of her, and harder still not to resent her father for his contradictory standards.
"You've yet to tell me if I'm forgiven," Daphne pointed out, breaking the silence that had settled after her friend's words.
"I honestly don't see you as being at fault for our situation. We'll call it even if you promise to come to me if anything like this ever comes up again." Daphne stared at him blankly. It took Harry a few seconds to realize that his words could have been misconstrued for him being a pervert. "Bad choice in words," Harry chuckled.
Daphne, who had swiftly slid back to her old emotionless self, only gave him a slight twitch of the lips. "After all," Harry said, throwing his arm around her shoulder, pulling her into his side. "I have to forgive you!"
"Why is that?" She questioned softly.
"So it's easier on you when you realize just how head-over-heels in love with me you are," he said knowingly, smiling charmingly at her, his face only inches from her own.
Daphne stared at him unblinkingly, her face void of any emotion.