Heya guys! I'm so sorry for the long wait, but it took me forever to get this chapter together.
I had to marry facts to angst, which is more difficult than it sounds. I think I did a reasonably good job, especially in the second part and I've truly enjoyed writing for the first time in a long while. I won't promise regular updates, since my schedule is so hectic I have barely any me-time, but I will not abandon this story, or the others.
Now beta-ed
Enjoy!
Chapter 22: Blowing away the cobwebs
Monday 13 December dawned bright and clear. It also had the entire student population on pins and needles as they awaited the changes made by the WEA. Even Harry had no idea what was going to happen. Severus had refused to say anything, claiming he didn't want to give the surprise away.
To heighten the suspense, the head table was completely empty. It also seemed longer than before, but Harry wasn't sure whether his eyes were playing tricks on him or not.
At half eight, the Madame Marchbanks, flanked by an extremely old witch and Professor Tofty, finally entered the Great Hall. You would have been able to hear a mouse scurrying around, so silent did it become. Even the sounds of breathing stopped as the fierce witch turned around in front of the head table and took out a big roll of parchment.
With a flick of the wrist the parchment opened and rolled down to the ground. A cough later and she began.
"Headmaster Dumbledore has been dismissed from his position on account of sever negligence of nearly half a century. Lady Malfoy will succeed him."
A glare cut of any protests starting to form, even as the doors opened for the elegant witch. And she was everything elegant and refined, as she glided through the middle row and took her place at the head table. Though not before she transfigured Dumbledore's gaudy throne in a more sophisticated chair that fit in well with the others.
Madame Marchbanks continued her speech, leaving no room for interruptions.
"Care of Magical Creatures will be replacing Astronomy as a core subject. Professor Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank and her assistant Allegria Madison will be teaching up to 5th year, while Mr Charlie Weasley has kindly accepted to teach the NEWT students."
Ron's eyes nearly fell out of their sockets in his shock, which would have been funny had the rest not been equally surprised.
Assistants for Transfiguration, Charms, Potions and DADA followed, one for the first till third year and one for 4 and 5. When the fading of Professor Binns was mentioned, the whole student body erupted in cheers and applause for a good five minutes.
When the noise finally calmed down, Madame Marchbanks moved on with the electives. First she described the ones that would be introduced from that year onwards, as well as the special arrangement for Seers, before announcing the new teachers. Making Ron groan at having his two eldest brothers at Hogwarts. Thankfully he wouldn't be taught by either of them, this year at least, but still.
When all teachers were seated at the head table, which had been enlarged in fact, each took their turn at swearing the now mandatory oath. They swore to treat all students equally and neglect none of them, nor praise anyone unduly. They would look out for all students and never ignore any of their concerns.
This soothed many fears at having Lady Malfoy as Headmistress and the tense atmosphere lightened up considerably as the students finished up breakfast.
Fleur bowed over the table towards Ron. "Your brother is very handsome, non? The one with the ponytail and the earring."
Ron spluttered for nearly a minute before regaining enough composure to stare at Fleur with an open mouth and eyes falling out of their sockets. Not that she noticed, her gaze was glued on the eldest Weasley brother. He did cut a very handsome figure in his dark blue robes and the fang earring gave him that little extra.
"He's too old for you!" Ron had finally gathered enough of his brain to sputter a somewhat coherent response. An embarrassing one, but he really felt that way. Over the past months he had come to regard Fleur as a good friend, who needed to be protected from men that only saw her beauty and allure. In his eyes Bill was positively ancient and therefor not suited at all to Fleur.
"Who's too old for whom?" a deep, melodious voice asked with a hint of amusement.
Ron flushed deep red at his brother's question. Both Bill and Charlie had snuck up behind him, most likely to get introduced to his new friends. His reaction was little snippy than usual. "None of your business. What are you doing here?"
"At Hogwarts? Why, teaching little brother. I thought that was obvious from Marchbanks's introduction. Heya Harry, Hermione." Bill's voice had a slight mocking tone to it. Not unlike the one Fred and George liked to adapt.
Bill turned to the group, introducing himself with a sweeping bow. "William Weasley, Ron's eldest brother. But please call me Bill. I've no idea what my parents were thinking when they named me." He finished with a grin, and Ron could see what it does with Fleur.
Bill had managed to get her attention for the moment he walked in, and ever since he joined them at their table Fleur has been steadily raising her allure. Thankfully all the boys in their group have become somewhat immune to it, but Charlie was noticeably affected — to Ron at least. Charlie had always been the silent and strong type, but his eyes were slightly glazed over.
Bill on the other hand just continued as usual, barely even noticing the beautiful girl sitting opposite him. Or did he? Ron taught he had seen Bill checking Fleur out for a second, but then he'd blinked and Bill hadn't been looking at Fleur at all!
Fleur was clearly getting worked up the longer Bill remained unaffected under her rising allure. She looked about ready to shed her human appearance and start throwing fireballs. Ron's eyes met Hermione, who had also correctly read the situation, and they gave each other a short nod.
Hermione turned to her right, to Luna. "Luna, do you have appropriate dress robes for the ball? Since you're a third year, they probably weren't on your list, right?"
This seemed to get through to Fleur and she focussed on the small blond as well, leaning passed Neville to talk to Luna. "We will help you to get the best robes you could possibly wish for. There's only two weeks left, but my dressmaker will get it done in time."
Luna blushed and ducked her head. "I haven't been asked, so I might not be able to go at all."
Before the girls could assure Luna that she would be asked, Neville took Luna's hand in his own and gazed deep into her eyes. "Luna Lovegood, would you do me the honour of accompanying me to the Yule Ball?"
The Seer blushed a deep red, but managed a small nod and a smile. Their friends didn't hesitate to express their happiness and congratulate them. Neville would have to endure some days of teasing, but the smile on his face told it all.
And suddenly onlookers were struck by the change in the shy Gryffindor. He'd grown some inches since the start of the school year, not quite reaching Ron's whopping 5'9, and he's lost the last of his baby fat since hanging out with the Golden Trio. The potential of handsomeness was slowly becoming visible as Neville grew into his newfound confidence. The blinds had fallen off and girls were shocked to find they were jealous of Luna, because they wanted to go to the Yule Ball with Neville Longbottom!
"Mr. Potter, please stay. I need to discuss something with you." Professor Babbling asked as Harry walked past her corner. Bill had taught and would teach Ancient Runes to the 3rd till 5th years from now on, but professor Babbling had stayed to observe the first lesson
Pretty quickly everyone had left, and Harry was left standing nervously in front of Babbling. Bill had softly said his goodbyes and left as well. Babbling plonked down behind her desk and took a bundle of papers from her bag. She put them down in front of her and leaned forward, her chin resting on her folded hands.
"Mr Potter. Don't look so frightened dear, you've done wrong." She scolded gently at seeing Harry's 'deer in the headlights' expression. "Quite the contrary really. You see, as I was correcting these tests, I noticed a sketch on the back of yours. To be brutally honest with you Mr Potter, what in Merlin's name are you still doing in my class?"
Harry took a step back, as if Babbling had punched him in the gut. But before he could say anything, Babbling continued. "You doodled a fully working pentagram in less than a hour! While I'm sure this is the result of many hours of work, is still inconceivable for a fourth year, especially one who's only started with Ancient Runes this October. You Mr Potter are wasting your, my, and now Professor Weasley's time by performing under your level."
Harry shrunk back under Babbling's piercing stare. He sheepishly rubbed his neck and mumbled, "I didn't know pentagrams were considered so advanced. "
"Nonsense Mr Potter," Babbling cut him off. "I outlined what would be expected of you in this class when you passed the exam. I also explained about the Ancient Runes OWL last week. Now please, Mr Potter, be honest with me. It goes against my oath as a teacher to let any student intentionally hinder your progress. I'm well aware you are past OWL level already, but exactly how far have you gotten already with your independent study. Would you be able to pass the AR NEWT?"
Harry clenched his fists. He really had wanted to avoid this kind of attention. He didn't even do anything special for Ancient Runes, like Hermione's crazy study habits. He just instinctually understood what they meant and how to link them. He so wanted to be a normal student.
Reluctantly he answered Babbling. "I can activate runes without their incantation by now. I've just started on layered runes, and I'll need at least a month before I can successfully make something like a tesseract rune."
"Mr Potter, are you aware that seventh years don't even touch upon anything more complicated than PENTAGONS? Pentagrams take it a step further, and layered runes aren't touched until a few years in a mastery. I can't even explain how gifted you are. Mr Potter, from what you tell me, you could pass your OWL and NEWT tomorrow, while taking them back to back. Not to say that you should, but Rune Masters, Warding Masters, Curse Breakers, … they all will be begging for to get you as a student. I simply do not want you to waste your potential on this beginners class!"
Harry honestly didn't know what to say. He was that overwhelmed. Never before had he been praised about his schoolwork. Severus took care to regularly compliment him, yes, but his standards when it came to school were set high. The Dursleys had always made sure he performed worse than Dudley, meaning barely passing class.
At Hogwarts he was torn between Hermione's obsessive studying and Ron's slacking. Though honestly, Ron had improved his schoolwork since Halloween. Schoolwork had never been something Harry had expected to shine in.
Realizing Babbling was still waiting for an answer, Harry tried to get his thoughts together and centred on what he wanted to do.
"Honestly professor I don't really know what to do. I don't want to take my OWL and NEWT together, but you are right that I might be a bit bored in your class. Maybe I could take the OWL exam in the Yule Holidays and switch to the seventh year class?" Harry ended unsurely.
"I cannot guarantee you won't be bored in that class either, Mr Potter. But your idea is sound. I will get professor Snape and Headmistress Malfoy permission so you can take the exam. In the meanwhile I will prepare a revision package for, not that I expect you'll need it." With that professor Babbling diminished Harry.
When Harry left the classroom he found another surprise waiting for him: Draco, leaning against the opposite wall. Draco smiled radiantly at Harry and pushed himself from the wall towards Harry.
"Hello love. What did Babbling want?" Draco asked lovingly.
Harry blushed shyly. "She wanted to discuss my progress in Ancient Runes." He kinda wanted to kiss Draco's cheek, but meeting up without a chaperone was already scandalous.
Draco politely offered Harry an arm before continuing the conversation. "Are you going to move up a year? You've told me a little bit about your interest in Ancient Runes, but it just goes over my head."
Harry ducked his head a bit. After the stressful talk with Babbling, he was feeling overwhelmed and slightly uncomfortable at being alone with Draco. Sure he liked him a lot, but he just didn't know how to behave. He wasn't sure how Draco would react to Harry's quirks.
Suddenly they stopped. Draco had picked up on Harry's uneasiness, and he wanted the beautiful boy to feel at ease and secure in his presence.
"Harry." Draco's voice was soft, but not low. He didn't want to force intimacy, when Harry was obviously on edge already. "I didn't wait for you to compromise you or make you uncomfortable. I just missed you, and I kinda hoped to be included into your group."
Harry was fidgeting and glancing between Draco and his shoes, but he didn't look nauseous or ready to faint, which Draco considered a plus. So he continued.
"I like you a lot, but I have realized we don't really know each other, beyond the whole rival thing we had going on before. I want to get to know you, get closer to you. I want to be your friend as well as your suitor. Will you let me Harry? Will you try and open up to me, even if it's just a little?" Draco pleaded wholeheartedly.
It touched Harry, though he also had a suspicion… "Did Sev talk to you?"
Draco took one of Harry's hands, and he was pleased that Harry allowed him to. "He did warn me that you didn't have an ideal youth, which is Sev speak for abuse."
"Sev speak?" Harry asked with laugh.
"He's my godfather. I've known Sev since forever. Ever tried to make a three year old say Severus? I still call him Uncle Sev in private." Draco said with a cute lopsided smile.
"I kinda get why he warned you. I still don't like it though! It's…Talking about it is hard. But maybe…we can talk about it… sometime." Harry stammered out. He felt tears building, and this time he didn't push them back. Crying in front of Draco was refreshing for some reason.
Draco gently wiped away the wetness in the corners of Harry's eyes. "I won't push you. If you want to talk, I'll listen. If you don't feel ready for that yet, we'll talk about something. I don't want to hurt. Not now, not ever. Even by accident. But Harry, I don't know legilimency. I don't know your triggers yet, that's something you need to tell me clearly, okay love?"
Harry nodded, feeling better and more reassured already. He did have a question though. "What's legilim… what you just said?"
Draco took Harry's hand as they began walk again, while he pondered how to best to explain the obscure magic. "I suppose you could call it mindreading, but don't let Sev hear you call it that. It's so much more complex really. Skilled legilimens can not just read surface thoughts, but they can also delve into memories, emotions and spot lies at any time. The last thing is considered a passive skill though and most legilimency masters do it unconsciously."
"Is Sev a legilimens?" Harry asked hesitantly, afraid of the answer, yet needing it.
"He is, though he never uses his power on students. He might have been mean, but he doesn't abuse his power. You know that." Draco hastened to reassure Harry.
Harry did. He felt a little silly for doubting Sev.
"Now Dumbledore on the other hand…" Draco continued.
Harry gasped. The worst part was that he could easily see the manipulative professor use such a power for his own goals. It would certainly explain some of the coincidences that always seemed to happen around the old headmaster.
"Well, at least he's gone now. I'm sure you're mom will do a wonderful job as his replacement." Harry said, determined to bring back a happy mood.
Draco groaned. "Please don't remind me of that." But a smile was playing around his lips and in his eyes.
Seeing the doors of the Great Hall come into view, Harry scraped together the last of his courage. "Would you like to come and sit with me for dinner?" His cheeks must have rivalled his tie, so hot did they feel.
Instead of teasing the adorable boy, Draco answered with a heartfelt, "I'd love to."
Since I had to stop writing somewhere, I decided this would be a nice moment to end the chapter with. Next time: robe shopping, Veela seduction, and fluffy dates!