Chapter Twenty Five

"You're dumping me?" Daphne laughed, setting up an obstacle course of chairs and desks for the last DA lesson of the year, "Less than two days before the Slug-club Christmas party and you're dumping me?"

Harry felt a twinge of guilt, he hadn't really thought about the fact he's already agreed to go to the party with Daphne when Cho asked him.

"I said I was sorry." Harry said, poking his tongue out at her, "Besides I'm sure we can think of someone else for you to go with?"

Daphne glared jokingly at him, "Who?"

"Draco?" Harry suggested.

Daphne smirked, "He's already asked Luna."

Harry grinned, "Seriously?"

Daphne nodded, "He caught a load of third year Ravenclaws making fun of her, calling her loony and stuff and asked her to the dance in front of them. Full on bowing and asking her for the honour of her hand and all that jazz."

Harry looked at Daphne, stunned for a moment, "Wow."

Daphne nodded again, "Yep. He seems to really like her."

Harry agreed, "Yeah, I think he thinks she kinda sweet and he likes the way she doesn't treat him differently than anyone else."

"It's good, and I'm pleased for him." Daphne smiled, "But it does mean that he is out, so next suggestion please?"

"Neville?" Harry said, running through his list of friends.

"Taking Hermione." Daphne sighed, "Nothing going on there, just Hermione didn't want to go romantically with someone; she's still writing to Viktor after all."

"Then why doesn't she just go alone?" Harry said, rolling his eyes.

"Because Slughorn made very clear that wasn't the done thing, stop shifting the blame." Daphne smirked.

"I assume William is taking Pansy?" Harry sighed.

Daphne nodded, "Yep. And very lovely they are too, kissing during our fabulous match!"

Harry let out a loud laugh, "I know! So rude!"

"Almost as rude as you! I'm glad Cho said she'd go with you," Daphne smiled, "I know it's been hard for the both of you."

Harry smiled and nodded, "Yeah, it... she really missed Cedric and it's just been tough…"

Daphne nodded understandingly, "That's to be expected. I just hope that you can both move forwards from here together."

Harry grinned, "I hope so too. Now we just need to find a date for you!"

"Bad enough I'm the un-dateable one, but I'm apparently the only one who turns up to help you get everything set up!" Daphne said, letting out a loud and dramatic huff.

Harry's ears flushed red, "Sorry, my fault again. I asked if you could come early so I could talk to you… the others will be here in a couple of minutes."

Daphne hopped up onto one of the desks and crossed her long legs over one another, "It is a good job that I love you, Potter."

Harry grinned and shrugged, finishing setting everything up alone, just as the classroom doors opened and the students filtered into the room. Professor McGonagall took her normal seat in the corner of the room, opening her book and all but ignoring the classroom full of students.

Harry spotted a very nervous looking Ron come into the classroom with Ginny. Harry made a point of waving to him before standing at the front of the class, Ron was starting to loose hope that he'd ever manage to catch up.

"Hello!" Harry said cheerfully, "And welcome to the last DA lesson of the year."

There was a loud mutter of disappointment around the room.

"We'll be back next year." Harry assured them, "So today I thought we could try and work on spells coming at us from multiple angles while also going over rough terrain."

"So what? We jump from chair to chair while you fire spells at us?" Zacharias Smith snorted.

"Yes!" Harry beamed back at him, "You first then, Smith."

The colour drained from Smith's face as he stepped forward to a smattering of applause from the group.

Harry could see Professor McGonagall peeking over her book to see what was going to happen. Draco, Hermione, Daphne and Pansy took their places around the room and waited.

"Task is pretty simple." Harry explained, "The course goes in a big wibbly line, which, yes, is the technical term. You need to get the cup from the other end of the room and bring it back, no touching the floor. Avoid the spells coming at you and if you do get hit, try and work through it."

"We're allowed to shoot back though? Right?" Smith asked, growing more and more worried by the second.

"Nope." Harry smiled, trying not to look too smug, "Because you're only taking on two at a time, there's no way to know how many you could have to face in the future so for now, only shields, ducking and fighting through it."

Zacharias Smith stepped up onto the first chair, wand at the ready. Harry nodded to him and he set off.

Draco fired the first spell, a simple electric shock spell that Zacharias managed to send away, jumping to the next desk quickly, slipping slightly.

He made two more quick jumps, missing the edge of the chair with his foot and crashing to the ground.

Harry reached his hand down to help him up, Smith ignored it getting up on his own, rubbing his shoulder. Harry rolled his eyes and made a note of the floor where Smith had gotten too.

Next came Ginny Weasley, who managed to get to the cup and was on her way back before Hermione hit her with a jelly legs curse that caused her to fall off. Once again Harry marking the place she'd made it to.

William fell just before he reached the cup, rubbing his hip as he walked back to the group of students.

The others were getting a little disheartened by this point so Harry offered to go next. He took his place and made his way slowly along the rows of obstacles. Speed, or rather lack there of, was key here.

The desks and chairs were at different heights and several of them were slightly wobbly as old furniture tended to be. Harry carefully jumped from obstacle to obstacle, ducking out of the way of the spells his friends were firing at him, rather more enthusiastically that they had been at the other students.

He made it to the cup and picked it up, dodging a bat boggy hex.

Harry felt strange for a moment, memories of grabbing the Triwizard cup flashed through his mind, memories of holding onto the prophecy following them. Harry took several deep breaths and made his way back to the other end of the room.

The class clapped and patted him on the back. Harry forced a smile and calmed himself.

"Are you all right?" Draco said quietly.

Harry nodded, "Yeah just… it just brought back some weird memories." he walked, rubbing his scar to return the cup to the other end of the room.

"Ron, how about you go next?" Daphne suggested, giving him a friendly smile.

Ron stepped forwards carefully and got his wand out. He climbed onto the first chair and jumped easily enough onto the first desk, Quidditch had made him fairly physically fit and agile.

However the first spell was a simple zapping spell, which should have been stopped with even the most simple of shield charms. It hit Ron with full force, breaking through his feeble shield and hitting his leg.

Ron gasped in pain and fell to the ground, looking around embarrassed. Harry was shocked, he knew that Ron was still behind the others but this was seriously behind, far more than Harry had thought. He had a wave of guilt for not noticing earlier.

"Can you guys carry on for me?" Harry asked.

Daphne, Draco, Pansy, Neville and Hermione all agreed to take over the class. Harry walked over to Ron and pulled him to the side.

"How about we ask if we can go into another room and practice a bit?" Harry suggested, "Help get you more up to speed."

Ron ran a hand through his hair, looking firmly at his feet, "Yeah… I mean…. If you want. Not sure there's much point. I've been trying for ages, I'm just useless."

Harry rolled his eyes before looking closely at Ron's face, "You can't really think that?"

Ron glared at the ground, pushing a bit of dirt around the floor, "Whatever. You wouldn't get it."

Harry decided not to push it, "Professor McGonagall, would it be all right if I took Ron next door to give him a bit more one on one coaching?"

Professor McGonagall raised her head from her book and gave him a sharp nod, "Yes. I think that would be best."

Harry smiled and thanked her before leading Ron to the classroom next door. It was mostly used as a store room, a large pile of chairs stacked neatly against one wall and several desks against the other.

Ron looked around and ran a finger over the layer of dust that coated everything, wrinkling his nose.

Harry wasn't sure where to start- he needed to find out where Ron was up to, that had been the main idea of the current lesson, to see who was struggling and needed some extra help but it was clear that even the test was too advanced for Ron.

"Are… are you taking Defence Against the Dark Arts as a NEWT?" Harry asked after a few moments.

Ron shook his head, "No. I totally failed it."

Harry nodded thoughtfully; he wasn't surprised there. Ron had gotten into an awkward situation last year, trying to suck up with Umbridge that had ended with him betraying her which led to Ginny shoving her into a vanishing cabinet.

"I was working on my Patronus charm." Ron volunteered, "After last time…"

Harry smiled, "Well then, show me what you've got."

Ron closed his eyes and flicked his wand, a small ball of wispy smoke formed and stayed for a moment before fading.

Harry wasn't sure how to respond, looking at Ron's disappointed face.

"I see… well, better than nothing." Harry said cheerfully.

"I couldn't get anything when I first started." Ron sighed, "No wonder I never make anything of myself."

Harry rolled his eyes, "You have to stop putting yourself down." he told Ron frankly, "You've got more talent than you think and it's because you're doubting yourself that you can't get enough power into your spells."

Ron clenched his fists and tried not to explode with anger, "You don't get it! Everyone before me has been amazing, Bill, Charlie and Percy are all prefects and head boys! Then Bill works for Gringotts, Charlie works with literal dragons. Even annoying Percy is already high up in the Ministry. Fred and George are these great inventors. Ginny is one of the best in her year and then there's me…. Barely scraping by any of my subjects, yeah I'm on the Quidditch team, sure, but not exactly a star player or ever going to be team captain."

Harry leaned against one of the desks and shook his head, "I… I'm not even sure where to begin. Firstly I know you come from a long line of… supposed brilliance; in a lot of ways so do I and I have this huge destiny that I will never escape no matter how hard I try. I get feeling like you're never going to be good enough but it's not true and if you don't fight it you will never get anywhere."

Ron looked down at the floor again, "You're right. I just… I feel like it's too late."

Harry knew exactly how that felt, "Ron, you're sixteen. You've got a while before your life is over."

Ron gave him a half smile, "Sorry to be so down in the dumps."

Harry shrugged, "No worries. So, lets try and get some more shield spells sorted and get your Patronus a little stronger."

Ron nodded, after all it couldn't hurt to try, "So where do I start?"

Harry walked over and stood behind him, "We'll start with the shield charm as it's more technical rather than emotional. Firstly, feel a bubble around you and then point your wand, speak clearly and flick your wand quickly… go!"

Ron flicked his wand, Harry shooting a shock charm at him.

"Ouch!" Ron hissed, rubbing his arm where it had broken through his shield.

"Again." Harry said firmly.

"Ouch!" Ron said again, this time rubbing his side, "I can't do this!"

"Yes you can!" Harry assured him, "You've just got to keep trying."

Five more attempts later and Harry felt like he could jump for joy as the room filled with a flash of white light, as Harry's charm bounced off Ron's shield.

"You did it!" Harry cheered.

"I did it!" Ron said, looking more shocked than pleased.

A few more attempts and Ron had really gotten the hang of the spell, managing to cast it while Harry was firing at him as well as just at a stand still.

"Patronus next, yeah?" Ron asked, rather nervously.

Harry nodded, "Yeah. The Patronus is a very emotional spell. You need to think of your happiest memory and let it fill you up, every single fibre of your being."

Harry took several deep breaths and pulled up the memory of meeting Danica for the first time, "Mine is my baby sister coming home; I can smell that new baby smell, remember the exact blue of her eyes that would turn to green as she aged, the feel of that purple blanket and her hand wrapping around my finger…" Harry blinked, bringing himself back to the present, "What's yours?"

Ron looked awkwardly at Harry, "Do I have to say it out loud?"

Harry smiled and shook his head, "No, not if you don't want to."

Ron nodded, "But it might help?"

Harry shrugged, "I think so, makes it more real but you don't have to."

Ron took a deep breath, "It's my first day at Hogwarts, it's cold but not too cold on the boats… I… can see the castle, all lit up, it's amazing. The sorting hat on my head, saying Gryffindor quickly, I'm meant to be somewhere, part of the family…"

Ron flicked his wand but it was only the feeble Patronus that he had managed before. He looked at Harry disappointedly.

Harry smiled kindly, "I think… it's more of a hopeful memory that a happy one if that makes sense?" it seemed the kindest way to tell Ron that was a crap memory choice.

Ron shrugged, "I don't know any others."

Harry looked worriedly at him, "You must have some. Maybe playing in the garden? Baking with your family? Christmas?"

"None of those are stronger than seeing Hogwarts for the first time." Ron grumbled.

"Maybe, but they are purer and that's what Patronus Charms need, they need pure happiness." Harry tried to explain.

Ron nodded, "Worth a try I guess." he mumbled.

Ron let a memory fill his mind, it was from years ago. He and his brothers running around under the drying laundry as the sun set in the back ground. A small smile fluttered on his lips as he remembered them all squealing with laughter.

"Ron… carefully, open your eyes." Harry smiled.

Ron opened one eye and gasped, seeing a small Jack Russell jumping around his feet, shining with a bright, white light.

"I did that?" Ron asked softly.

Harry nodded, "Yep. It's cute!"

"I did it! I actually did it!" Ron said excitedly.

He let the Patronus dog run around the room for a few more minutes before letting it fade, the room growing dull.

"That was brilliant Ron, truly!" Harry said, grinning, "You should be really proud of yourself."

Ron blushed and nodded, "Thanks."

"We should head back through." Harry said, checking his watch, "I think they'll be finished."

Back in the Transfiguration classroom, Hermione had just managed to fall from the final desk after returning with the cup and rubbed her arm.

"I was so close!" she grumbled.

"How's it going?" Harry asked, having a quick look over the marks on the floor, showing where everyone managed to get to.

"Did really well." Draco smirked.

Daphne rolled her eyes, "Guess who was the first one after you to make it back with the cup?"

Harry grinned, "Well done."

"How did it go with Ron?" Daphne asked quietly, so that no one else could hear them.

Harry nodded, "Really well. He's got more talent that he thinks he does, he just needs to work on his confidence."

"I figured it might come down to that." Daphne said, "Glad it went well though."

Harry smiled, "Right, everyone. Thanks for coming and I hope you had a good time this evening. Well done to those who managed to get the cup. I'll try and come up with some new things for next year and I hope you all have a very happy holiday!"