A few weeks passed after the whole pregnancy incident, and Harry, his girlfriend and his best friends found themselves doing their homework at their favorite spot in front of the fireplace in the Gryffindor Common Room. They found themselves in the month of February and Daphne had started making the potion to get rid of Shade two weeks ago, leaving just another two weeks until she could start the ritual. She had already informed Hermione and Ron of her plan and how it was absolutely imperative that they keep it a secret from Harry. She had a bit of trouble convincing them both to do so, but she had even more trouble reading the page the potion instructions were on. She was slowly becoming adjusted to the ancient language it was written in. "It's interesting, isn't it? How only Hagrid, Luna and Neville can see the Thestrals?" Hermione asked her friends. "Not really. I mean, they can only be seen by people who've witnessed a death. That in itself would be pretty traumatic." Daphne told Hermione.
Hermione pondered that statement and just shrugged her shoulders. "Well, we don't have to draw them since we can't see them. So he just told us to draw the Blast-Ended Skrewts instead. That won't be too hard." Ron said. "You can say that again. I think everyone won't forget what happened when we had to raise them." Harry said. Ron started laughing and Hermione had a look of disapproval on her. "It's not funny. We could've gotten seriously injured from those things." Hermione told her boyfriend. "Sorry Hermione." Ron quickly told his girlfriend, since he knew that she was scary when she got angry. Hermione huffed and went back to her homework while Harry and Daphne were silently laughing to themselves. "Back to work you two." Hermione told Daphne and Harry after she caught them laughing to themselves. "Aye aye Lady Prefect." Harry jokingly told Hermione. Even she had to laugh at that joke, but the laugh only lasted a short while. "Okay seriously. Let's get back to work. You and Ron still need to do the Vanishing Spells for Professor McGonagall after this." Hermione told Harry. "Don't remind me. How is it that you two can already vanish a cat, but Ron and I can barely vanish a mouse?" Harry asked.
"One, because I'm focused when I'm in class. Two, because I pay attention in class. Finally, because I'm not looking at my significant other during the entire class period." Hermione told him bluntly. "I do not look at Daphne the entire class period." Harry muttered embarrassingly. "It's alright mate. I do the same thing." Ron told Harry. "Let's just get this over with. We've got Quidditch Practice in half an hour Ron." Harry replied to Ron. "Don't remind me." Ron said anxiously. "Honestly. I don't see why you're so nervous Ron. It's just Quidditch Practice. Not the game." Hermione told her boyfriend/best friend. "Did either of you not tell her how practice has been going yet?" Daphne asked Harry and Ron. Harry shook his head no, and Ron suddenly developed a high interest in his homework. "What has been going on at Quidditch Practice?" Hermione asked Ron with her eyes narrowed. Harry could feel the heat coming from Ron's cheeks as the redhead blushed in embarrassment and in fear. "You've got until the count of three to tell me Ronald. One...Two…." Hermione started.
"Alright already." Ron said out loud. "The Slytherins have been coming to the Quidditch Pitch while we practice and keep critiquing my Keeper skills. They even came up with bloody song while they were at it." Ron told her. "I think I hear it now." Daphne said. Even though the weeks passed by, she still had superhuman hearing, but everything else had left her system. "Let me guess. They're by the Black Lake?" Harry asked his girlfriend nonchalantly. Daphne nodded as she finished her Arithmancy homework. Harry got up from his spot and decided to take a homework break. "I'm going to fly around a bit. Be back in a moment." he told his friends. Before he could transform into a bird, Daphne glared at the back of his head with her Sapphire-colored eyes. Harry gulped as he felt that sensation and turned around to face her. "Is there something wrong Daph?" Harry asked cautiously. "Oh no. Except for the fact that you've yet to teach me how to turn into an Animagus as well. From what I've heard, you've taught Ron and Hermione how to do so." Daphne coldly told Harry. This time it was Harry who was glaring, but not at Daphne, but at his two best friends who were trying their hardest to act like they were doing homework. "Fine. I've been trying to put it off for as long as possible because I don't want you to get hurt. Since you want to learn so bad, I'll teach you. Ten o'clock tonight. The Room of Requirement. Be there." Harry told Daphne grumpily.
Daphne gave a pearly white smile to her boyfriend, since she was finally going to learn how to turn into an animal. "I'll be there early Love." she told him innocently. Harry sighed and opened the window to the Gryffindor Common Room, and turned into a Phoenix. As a Phoenix, Harry had a lightning shape design on his right wing. He flew out of the window and felt the wind rustle through his feathers."It's been way too long since I've done this. Way too long." Harry thought to himself as he flew around Hogwarts Castle. He perched himself on top of the roof of the Astronomy Tower. "It's so peaceful here right now. It almost makes me forget about the war coming up. The final battle between Voldemort and I. I have to win if I want a future with Daphne and a future with all of my friends. The only question is: how do I win when Voldemort has way more experience and knowledge than I've got?" Harry thought to himself. He kept thinking this same thought over and over until he heard somebody whistling from the Gryffindor Common Room window. He quickly flew back to the window and landed inside of the common room before turning back into a human.
"What is it?" he asked Hermione and Daphne when he got his bearings. "You've got ten minutes to get your Firebolt and get down to the Quidditch Pitch for practice love." Daphne told him bluntly. Harry went wide-eyed since he almost completely forgotten about Quidditch Practice. Angelina would've killed him if he had missed it. Like a shooting gun, Harry sped up the stairs to the Boys' Dormitory, unlocked his trunk, grabbed his Firebolt, closed his trunk, ran back downstairs and tripped on the rug on the way to the Fat Lady's portrait. "You alright love?" Daphne asked while trying to stifle a laugh. She helped up her boyfriend who was mumbling and muttering curses under his breath. "Fine. I assume Ron has already headed down to the Quidditch Pitch?" Harry asked. Hermione nodded and told Harry "It would just be quicker if you flew your Firebolt out the window if you want to make it to the Pitch in time."
Harry took Hermione's advice seriously and perched atop the broomstick Sirius had gotten him for Christmas his Third Year. It was a good thing the window he flew out of earlier was still open, and he zoomed out of the common room quickly as if his life was on the line (which it technically was). He spotted the Quidditch Pitch from the horizon and he was approaching it quickly. He also saw that Ron was heading there looking as nervous as always. Harry zoomed towards Ron and hopped off of his broom when he was close enough to the ground. "Don't be nervous Ron. You'll be just fine." Harry told his best mate. "Where in the bloody hell did you come from? Nearly gave me a heart attack." Ron said as he jumped at the sound of Harry's voice. "Long story short: I flew my broom out of the Gryffindor Common Room and landed next to you." Harry explained simply. "After the next match, I'm going to resign." Ron had told Harry miserably. "No you're not. You're getting way better. All you need to do is calm down and focus." Harry told his best mate encouragingly.
Ron shook his head in denial and just looked at his broomstick for the rest of the walk to the Quidditch Pitch. "There you two are. Hurry up and get changed so we can start." Angelina told Harry and Ron hotly. Not wanting to incur the wrath of their Quidditch Captain, they both quickly changed into their Quidditch uniforms and got onto the Pitch. As usual, the Slytherins were at their usual spot ready to sing Ron's theme song at the top of their lungs. "How about I help you out Ron?" Harry asked his friend with a wicked smile on his face. "How can you do that? You're the Seeker remember?" Ron asked rather pathetically. "I can make the Slytherins be quite." Harry told his best mate. At this, Ron's ears perked up as Harry managed to pique his curiosity. "How can you do that?" the redhead had asked. Harry took his wand out of his Quidditch shirt pocket and pointed it at the Slytherins. After charging up the spell, he shouted "SILENCIO!"
You could tell that the spell was quite effective, because the entire Slytherin section became deathly quiet. "How did you manage to quiet all of the Slytherins?" Ron asked in wonder. "Remember how I told you and Hermione how I unlocked my magical core?" Harry asked simply. "Oh. That's how." Rom returned in a dazed but happy tone. "Now let's practice without their input." Harry told his best mate. With a smile on his face and a newfound confidence, Ron nodded his head and got on his broom. When they kicked off, they headed to their proper places and began playing practice games of Quidditch and trying out different Quidditch plays. Since the Slytherins were all silenced, Ron's playing increased dramatically since he couldn't hear them singing that absurd song. He didn't let a single Quaffle into the goal and was looking at the Slytherins with a proud smirk on his face. The Slytherins just had open mouths at the way Ron was playing, and some of them even left when they saw how he was saving goals. Harry's Seeker skills were exceptional too, since he was quickly catching the Golden Snitch since he didn't have to worry about Ron. He even tried doing the Wronski Feint a few times, like when he saw Krum use it during the Quidditch World Cup.
Overall, it was an extremely successful Quidditch Practice, and most of the team congratulated Ron on his newfound Keeper skills. "I think the Slytherins will stop coming to our practices after that." Angelina happily replied. "Why don't we just get Madam Hooch to just chase them off for us? Or even better yet, how about Professor McGonagall?" Fred asked with a smile on his face. "Yeah. That way she can glare at them to death." George finished for his twin with a howl of laughter. "I'm surprised you found that funny, Mr. Weasley." Professor McGonagall told George. Almost immediately, George stopped laughing and that look of joy on his face turned into a look of fear. "H-h-hello Professor M-M-McGonagall. What're y-y-you d-doing here?" George asked the Head of Gryffindor House. "I'm here for Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley. I've been sent to give them a message from Professor Black." Professor McGonagall explained curtly. "What's the message?" Harry asked rather quickly, when he heard it was a message from Sirius. "The message is 'come to my office for a spot of lunch at around five o'clock this evening.'" she told them automatically. Harry nodded and told Professor McGonagall "Thank you Professor." McGonagall nodded and headed out of the locker room. She stopped inside of the doorway and told the entire Gryffindor Team "Nice form out on the field. You guys are more than ready enough to win next week's game against Slytherin." Everyone on the team cheered in response, while changing back into their regular clothes.
Back in Hogwarts, Daphne and Hermione were checking on the potion needed for the ritual to get rid of Shade. They had decided to use Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, since no one ever went in there. Of course, Moaning Myrtle had a problem with it until Daphne explained it was to help Harry. Then she was all for them using her restroom. "Excellent. It's slowly turning into the right color that it's supposed to be turning. Now, all we have to do is check on it for the next five days, then add the last ingredients." Daphne told Hermione. Hermione nodded at her and looked down at the small cauldron on the ground. "When you do the ritual, won't you need to say an incantation?" Hermione asked Daphne. Daphne nodded at her and said "I can barely read the potion instructions, but I can clearly read the inscription for the incantation." They walked out of the bathroom, but Daphne quickly pushed Hermione back in and walked back in herself.
When Hermione was about to ask what was wrong, Daphne held a finger up to her lips in a shushing movement. A few seconds later, Draco and his goons came down the hallway talking about something. "I can't believe Weasley was really that good. We've got to take care of him before the match next Saturday. Potter as well. They could very well ruin our chances at the Quidditch Finals." Draco told Crabbe and Goyle. "How do we go about doing that?" Crabbe asked Malfoy. "Yeah. How do we do that? Every time we confront him head-on, he always ends up beating us." Goyle said. "That's why we're not facing them head-on this time. We're going to take them out from behind. They'll never see us coming." Draco explained with an evil smirk on his face. At this point, they turned around the corner and left out of sight, but Daphne could still hear them. They were finished discussing what to do with Harry and Ron, and they were starting to talk about how better they were since they were Purebloods. "We've got to go warn our boyfriends….LIKE NOW!" Daphne told Hermione.
Hermione nodded her head and they started running towards the Quidditch Pitch, not knowing that the two they were looking for were already on the Third Floor. "Wait a minute. I hear Fred and George coming through the Entrance Hall. I'm guessing Quidditch Practice is over by now, which means that Harry and Ron are on their way to the Gryffindor Common Room. We can still catch them, if we hurry." Daphne deduced. Hermione once again nodded her head and they ran to the Grand Staircase. After five minutes of running and dodging other students, Daphne and Hermione caught up to Ron and Harry, who were in the middle of discussing Quidditch Techniques. "Hey you two." Daphne said after catching her breath. "Hey Daph. What were you guys doing?" Harry asked when he turned around. "Looking for you two. To warn you." Hermione told Harry. "Warn us about what?" Ron asked. "Draco and his goons. They're plotting to take you guys out before the Quidditch Finals next week. I overheard them on the Second Floor." Daphne told her boyfriend. "I'll keep the Marauder's Map with me then." Harry answered simply. "Aren't you worried at all?" Hermione asked her best mate as if he was mental. "No. It's Malfoy." Harry once again answered.
"That's Harry for you. Malfoy isn't on the chart for people wouldn't pay attention to." Daphne explained to Hermione. "Boys." Hermione muttered, while they followed Harry and Ron. When they reached Sirius' office, Hermione and Daphne ended up looking at the office door confused. "Why are we at Sirius' Office?" Daphne asked her boyfriend. "Sirius sent for me and Harry after Quidditch Practice." Ron explained. "Oh. Well we'll leave you to it then." Daphne told Ron and Harry, after giving Harry a quick goodbye kiss. "We'll just find something to do until you two return to the Gryffindor Common Room." Hermione added. Ron gave his girlfriend a quick kiss on the cheek and nodded at her statement. Daphne and Hermione headed back towards the Grand Staircase, while their boyfriends went inside of Sirius' Office.
"You wanted to see us Sirius?" Harry had asked his godfather when they stepped into his office. It was different from what Harry saw the last time he was there. He could tell that Sirius redecorated a lot. For one, the walls weren't the same color as the bricks in the rest of the castle. They were now Jet Black and it had a portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black on the wall. He also had two bookcases filled to the brim with a ton of books on defending yourself from the Dark Arts. There were even a few cages and practice dummies stored away in a corner. Sirius looked up from the papers he was grading and smiled at his godson and his godson's best friend. "Harry, Ron. Welcome. I did in fact wanted to see you both. The tea and biscuits should be here any minute now." Sirius said. By the time that he finished his sentence, a platter filled with tea and an assortment of foods appeared on his desk. Sirius took his wand out of his robe pocket and flicked it in the direction of the front of his desk.
Two comfortable chairs magically appeared out of nowhere, and Sirius gave a motion to both Harry and Ron that said 'sit down and make yourselves comfortable'. They gladly sat down and in typical Ron fashion, he went straight for the food. "What did you want to see us for Sirius?" Harry asked. He was resisting the urge to dive straight to the food like Ron had. "I just figured that it's been awhile since us men had sat down and enjoyed each other's company. I also have a question that I need both of your answers on." Sirius admitted. "What is it Sirius?" Harry asked with concern in his voice. After swallowing what food he had in his mouth, Ron also asked "Yeah Sirius. What is it?" Sirius tapped the edge of his desk with a look on his face that showed he was trying to figure out how to word his question. After five or ten minutes of unbearable and awkward silence, Sirius sighed and just came out with it. "Would you two be my best men if I were to marry Courtney?" Sirius had asked. Both Harry and Ron's jaws both dropped since they did not see that coming.