I do not own anything. I'm just translating. The characters belong to the great J.K. Rowling. The story belongs to the amazing Brigi. Her e-mail: tbwtpbe [et] hotmail com

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THE BOY WITH THE PIERCING BLUE EYES

Chapter 40 – Bittersweet Happiness (part 1)

Harry felt like he was floating. Snape got better quickly thanks to the mediwitch and his strong body. Remus required a bit more nursing since he was a werewolf but neither of them spent much time in bed. Their heroic act got them the much deserved recognition too and while Remus took the award shyly, Severus stood there with no expression, at least that's what the students saw in the Daily Prophet the next day.

Ron and Hermione suspected that Snape was like that because he could have received the award three years ago, if the trio hadn't helped Sirius escape. And now, it was a weird coincidence, that he eventually got the award thanks to the Black family in the end. Harry said it couldn't have been a coincidence and he was bound to get the Silver Merlin award sooner or later. However, all this didn't change their opinion that the two men deserved to be recognized for what they did.

It was good that the press gave them more attention and so the three injured could recover in peace and the people who went to the hospital with them were not in the middle of the attention. It wasn't only the two professors that got them back; the Order helped out a lot too. It would have been awkward if some reporter started asking about how the Weasley brothers and Fleur Delacour got to St. Mungo's while the two captured and brought Lestrange to Hogwarts. The three suspected that the headmaster dealt with everything before the details could come out so the Order could still be hidden from the public.

Bellatrix was forced to endure the hospitality of the castle since they couldn't find a place where she would not be able to escape from. Nothing leaked to the public about her punishment or fate only that the Winzengamot will deal with it. The date of the trial however, was top secret because the members feared the Death Eaters will attack and free the prisoner. She was under twenty-four hour surveillance in Hogwarts. One guard stayed in her cell – without a wand so she couldn't take it – and five more stayed outside, authorized to use Unforgivables too in case the woman did something to warrant it. Their goal was to keep her alive to get information from her so they took everything from her that she could use to harm herself. No one could visit her unless Dumbledore accompanied them. Because of this she quickly became a prominent prisoner.

Actually, no one really knew what the headmaster's plan was with her, but when Dumbledore summoned the two professors to his office along with the Order members working in the school Harry decided to sneak in too. Since they were going to talk about the circumstances too they let Mrs. Weasley, George and Bill attend and even Ron managed to get in after pleading with his mother. Dumbledore let it slide since it affected his brothers too, but Ginny wasn't allowed in. At the appointed time, Ron and Harry stood there with the others while Hermione looked at them enviously. However, when Snape saw Potter, he smirked and shooed him away. Harry pulled out his necklace with the medal he got from the man.

"Unfortunately, you didn't participate in the initiation ceremony, so you can't come in. That's only symbolic…"

Harry's smile slipped.

"Come on."

He glanced at Remus who was holding Tonks' hand. The young woman looked at the man admiringly.

"Remus, is that true?"

The way Severus looked at Lupin told Harry that it had nothing to do with the truth, but Remus only smiled and shrugged.

"I'm sorry, Harry," Ron said.

However, the boy didn't come unprepared. He elbowed Hermione and led her to the end of the corridor, feigning sadness. As soon as they turned the corner, he pulled out his father's cloak. They both got under it and went back to sneak into the room with the others. Bill closed the door and the two took their place behind Mrs. Weasley because Harry knew Dumbledore could see through the cloak. However, the woman moved suddenly and stepped on Hermione's foot. The girl almost yelled out but Harry covered her mouth. However, Mrs. Weasley heard the squeak and jumped away in terror. In all the fuss, the two fell over and the cloak slipped off them, revealing their legs and waist.

"You would have failed the 'stealth and concealment' exam," Tonks chuckled.

"Harry, do you ever give up?" Dumbledore asked with some surprised in his voice.

Hermione felt terribly ashamed while Harry tried to get up and gather some of his lost dignity.

"Apparently not…" he mumbled in embarrassment.

"I have to ask you to leave my office."

"It's not fair! Why can everyone be here but me? Sirius was my godfather! I have to know what you plan on doing with that woman…!"

"Another time."

"Ron will tell me anyway!"

"Not if I ask him to keep it a secret. Harry, if you keep resisting, I'll have to take points too…"

"Come on, let's go…" Hermione pulled his clothes.

However, Harry stood there for a few more moments filled with anger and most of the people present shivered at the look. He didn't even try to hide his emotions. They only noticed it later that his fist was shaking and some shiny pieces of metal fell to the carpet. The beautiful phoenix pendant lay on the floor broken. Rowena gasped in shock. Harry, to give weight to his contempt, even trampled on it before leaving the room without a word.

"You really know how to shock people," Ron sat down next to them at dinner.

"Ron, please…" his girlfriend warned her.

Harry didn't say a word as he ate his food.

"Dumbledore made me swear not to tell you anything yet," the boy continued, fearing his friend's anger. "He said he'll tell you in person… you can imagine how envious everyone is."

"Ron, don't be ridiculous," Harry finally spoke up. "Just shut up, okay?"

"He just wants what's best for you. But he doesn't want you to have to think about things you're not emotionally ready for. Not to mention your private missions…"

"He's the one who made me do it…" his friend muttered. "With his behavior…"

"Snape was really pissed too… because he was the one who gave you the medallion… You shouldn't have defiled their symbol…"

"They can put their medal to wherever they want!" Harry snapped. "I learnt just what I needed to know today. If they want to act like that, then I'll do the same."

He took a sip from his glass and stood up.

"I don't need his stupid Order to stand behind me. They won't hold my hand when I'm aiming at Voldemort. I'll figure out the things I need to know. With my own methods. I would like to see their faces when Voldemort kills me because of their attitude. Then they can keep secrets from me…"

"Harry, don't say that!" Hermione protested.

"This argument is over," Harry said then left.

"Why is he like this?" the girl moaned helplessly.

"Because he's a teenager," a familiar voice said behind them.

George and Lamerin arrived and sat next to them to eat.

Harry walked towards the exit. Since Ron just came here, he suspected that the other participants will arrive shortly to have dinner and he didn't feel like meeting them. Unfortunately, Snape just arrived with Rowena and Remus.

"What was that unspeakable behavior up there?" he asked with an edge to his voice.

Harry raised an eyebrow but before he could say anything rude someone called his name.

"Potter!"

They all turned towards the sound and found Draco Malfoy standing at the entrance of the great Hall.

"We… have to talk…"

Harry glanced back to the teachers waiting for his reply then followed Draco back to the Great Hall without a word. A new feeling of pulsing anxiety came over him as he looked back at the adults. So his feelings towards Draco could only be described as indifference.

"Where are we going?"

"To my table."

"Your table? You bought it?" Harry asked sarcastically.

"You can't expect me to go anywhere near the Gryffindors…! And I don't want to stand in the middle of the Great Hall."

"Wait a minute! You think I will sit on a Slytherin chair? You're gravely mistaken…"

"You can stand," the blond boy shrugged and sat down gracefully.

Harry rocked back and forth on his heels. No, he didn't feel like standing until Malfoy finally said what he wanted.

Since the Slytherin table didn't have many students just yet he felt it wouldn't hurt to stay at the table. To his friends and supporters surprise he sat on its edge, idly swinging his legs while he waited.

In front of Draco appeared a large plate of food and the boy started eating.

"So… what is it?"

"Let me finish…"

"I don't have all day… Anyway, you eat like a pig, so it doesn't matter if you talk too."

Draco swallowed the insult and threw aside the cloth he used to wipe the stain he made on his trousers.

"Alright. I guess you know whom I want to talk about."

"I have absolutely no idea…"

"Lestrange, you smartass."

Harry made a puzzled face.

"Are you afraid she'll testify against you?!"

"No. I'm worried about my mother."

"Oh, yeah. The lovely Narcissa," Harry feigned surprise. "She has a reason to be afraid."

Draco sighed and tried to control his temper.

"Would you stop it? I didn't call you here for that… If that bitch says anything then it's over for my mother. They'll take our money and put me in an orphanage…"

"…only if you don't get arrested too," Harry added.

"And do you know what that means?"

"You know, it's shocking that you're more worried about your family's assets than other's getting injured or killed. A little… selfish… It would be a tragedy if it came to light again that the Malfoy family isn't on the side of our beloved Minister… Draco, I don't know what you're expecting. Only a fool can't see where your whole family's loyalty lies."

"Do you know when her interrogation will be?"

"Oh," Harry snorted triumphantly. "So this is what you wanted."

"I just want to prepare… mentally."

"Of course," the other jumped down from the table. "Look… no matter how much it hurts to say this, that woman would sooner bite her own tongue off than say something. It's the reason she spent fourteen years in Azkaban. I though you didn't need me to figure that out…"

Draco didn't answer as he considered his words. Harry spent the time looking around to see the world from a Slytherin's perspective. It was interesting, especially since everyone was looking at them with their mouth hanging open. Ron was kneeling on the bench frowning at him while the teachers ate their soup in while looking at them in surprise.

"Oh yeah, one more thing," Harry realized. "I wanted to talk to you about the Quidditch training sessions."

He pulled out a calendar from his bag that Hermione gave him for Christmas and turned to the end of February.

"The Ravenclaw and the Hufflepuff teams booked a lot of practice times so we have to share the remaining ones…"

"What's free?" Draco drank from his glass.

"Tomorrow evening at seven…"

"It's too dark by then! You can have it…"

Harry circled the time in his calendar.

"The twenty-second, from five-thirty to seven?"

"Why is it always in the evening?"

"If we have to practice tomorrow evening, then we deserve to have the four o'clock training on the twenty-second. We want to be able to see something too."

Draco grimaced then motioned him to continue.

"On Friday, we have two early times; from two-thirty to four and from four till five-thirty…"

"Um," the Slytherin boy said with his mouth full then swallowed his food and continued. "The first one won't be good; one of our Chasers goes to Madame Pomfrey at three."

"What for?"

"Long story," the blond boy waved. "Someone took off the cushioning charm from his broom and he has a lot of bruises…"

"That's… not good," Harry grimaced then chuckled quietly. "So we can have the first one? I'll write you at the second one…"

"There's a match on Saturday so I guess we can't use the field."

"No, only on Sunday, but then the whole day is open."

"Then we'll go in the morning and you can have the afternoon…"

Harry shrugged and was glad to be able to sleep in that day.

"Monday and Tuesday afternoons are free so we could share those too…"

"I want Tuesday."

"But we have a test with McGonagall on Tuesday!"

"That's why. I want to study on Monday," Draco said with an evil grin.

Harry rolled his eyes in annoyance. Wednesday and Thursday afternoons were completely booked and he wasn't happy about it. If the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw teams had the match on the weekend why didn't they have the curtesy to let the other two team practice?

"Only one time remains on Friday…"

"… which is ours of course."

"But you're practicing today too."

"Tough luck."

"No. I won't let you have it." Harry put down the calendar. "Come on! Rock-paper-scissors!"

"What?"

"On three! One… two…"

And Harry lost. He wrote the Slyterin team's name at the remaining time on Friday afternoon and he thought about how Monday would be the last time they could practice before the match that was going to be on a Saturday. He thought about talking to the team to have a little practice before breakfast on Friday – though he didn't feel like sharing this information with Draco Malfoy.

"Then next Saturday…"

"Just don't get too scared…"

"Don't count on that. We'll crush you."

"You wish…" the Slytherin said as Harry made his way towards the door.

Harry was terribly hurt by Dumbledore's behavior. Despite Ron's words the headmaster didn't summon him to his office which strengthened his belief that the old wizard didn't want to involve him in the planning and only wants to tell him the facts. Of course Harry didn't like that one bit; no mater what Dumbledore planned it had something to do with Sirius and thus indirectly with Harry as well. And if he couldn't be a part of the panning then why should he obey the commands?

Bellatrix, that awful woman… The thought of what her involvement in the plan will be always nagged at him. He passed in front of the stairs leading to the place where they kept her several times a day. He didn't dare take even one step closer in fear of loosing it and wanting to cause harm to her no matter the consequences even if he had to endure her guards.

He wanted to cast a Crucius on her again but he knew that with his anger now, the woman wouldn't get out of it with only a few scratches.

He didn't have much time to wonder about that because he had a lot of homework to do and when he wasn't writing essays he was on the field practicing Quidditch. The team proved to be a little out of shape most likely because of the winter holiday. At home, no one really though about exercising; instead they spent the time in front of the fireplace eating cookies and sweets. It showed on some of them; Veronica Morgenstern for example, cried almost every day for how much cookies she ate. Ron, when he got bored with her whining, told her quite rudely that she really was fat and he hoped the broom won't break under her weight. Vera was so angry that she didn't talk to him for a week.

Their two Beaters, Andrew and Jack didn't show much of an improvement but Harry didn't expect anything anymore. From time to time, he went to see the first-years' flying lessons to see whom he had to persuade next year, but most of them looked too immature to be really good at Quidditch, not to mention the fact that it didn't help his current problem.

Flying above the field he wondered about their chances as he watched the players. The Snitch has long been released but he just looked down feeling empty and helpless. Vera was trying to stop Ginny who was clutching the Quaffle as she looked for her teammate Wilburt but he was held back by Ron. This way she couldn't pass it or score. Andrew looked for one of the Bludgers because he hit it towards the seats and it didn't turn back. And Jack…

"Jack!" Harry shouted angrily. "Is there something wrong with you hand? Don't just hit the Bludgers to the left! The opponent could come from your right side too!"

"I know but this stupid Snitch is always in the way! It's following me!" he flailed angrily. The small golden ball was hovering above his shoulder and ticking his ear with its wings. "Someone must have put a spell on it…"

He tried to shoo it away with his hand but Harry yelled at him.

"It's against the rules for you to touch the Snitch! Even if it disturbs you! It can happen during a match too so you have to be prepared! Ron!"

His friend stopped nagging Will to look at him.

"Yes?"

"What you're doing with Vera is really good; we should do it during the match too! But don't leave the goal post unattended for too long!"

He flew closer to them.

"We should further develop this to surprise the Slytherins."

"Surprise them?" Ginny looked down. "Pansy Parkinson is standing there with a telescope. The first thing she'll do will be to tell her team about our new tactics."

"And what do you think she saw?" Harry raised an eyebrow. "That everyone's just struggling. The two Beaters hit the Bludgers like some lunatics, and the Chasers can't pass or throw at all… and no one's protecting the goal posts. Draco's not as stupid as he looks but I don't think he can see anything in this."

The team members looked at each other feeling that his scolding was well deserved.

"Though we have good Chasers, they are physically less developed than the Slytherin team's older members. They are seventh year students, muscular and strong which affects their movement but makes their hits and kicks all the more powerful. Therefore our options are quite limited so we have to use everything we can. Girls," he looked at Vera and Ginny, "…you're small, so you can fly faster even if they have Nimbus brooms. No, Vera, you're not fat," he added when the girl looked down.

Vera sent a glare towards Ron.

"Will," Harry continued. "…you're not as big as Crabbe or Goyle so you can easily slip out of their hands."

"And the Bludgers? Even if we leave behind the Chasers those can stop us…"

"Yes, so the two Beaters have to be good so we have the two balls most of the time. That requires intensive flying which puts pressure on the body and the muscles but necessary so we can take advantage of every opportunity. Come on, ten rounds around the field to get used to the drill!"

Andrew and Jack reluctantly flew up above them to start.

"Considering this tactic thing," their Seeker spoke again. "It's a really good move but requires coordinated movements. The Slytherins' cooperation suffers because of Goyle and Crabbe so I don't think they notice how important it is to help each other. Take a different approach! Will, a lot of guys would be happy to stand with two pretty girls like them! Ron, Ginny, you two are siblings so you know each other well. Vera, I suggest you and Ron stop fighting or you can take rounds too."

The two looked at each other before shaking hands reluctantly.

"Good! I was watching you from above and what you were doing really seemed great… But it can only be used in certain cases because Ron can't leave his place… At least it's not recommended."

"Right. So it would only work if someone flew at me."

"They don't fly at you, they fly at the hoops," Ginny grinned.

"That's what I meant," Ron muttered.

"Well, yes. You shouldn't try it otherwise. If one has the Quaffle and let's say the other Chaser comes to pass to we could take advantage and two of our people could go at them."

"But that's risky because then no one would be guarding the hoops in case the third Chaser comes and takes the ball."

"And they can see through it after some time."

"That's why I said we will have only a few opportunities to do this. One, maybe two times, but should only be done when we really need the element of surprise. The third Chaser should be held back by the two Beaters."

He sighed loudly.

"I'm open to suggestions to motivate them. Even illegal tips are welcome…"

Vera and Ginny invited him, Will and Ron closer to whisper something…