Great Hall, Hogwarts, 9/5/1995, 08:39
Harry entered the hall to find Hermione already seated at the Gryffindor table. The first thing that he noticed was that she looked very troubled about something.
"Good morning," Harry said as he took a seat beside her and gave her a quizzical look.
"Good morning, Harry," Hermione said distractedly, looking to be miles away as she sipped her morning coffee.
"How was your detention?" Harry asked curiously.
"Boring, she had me writing lines," Hermione said in an overly casual tone that told him she wasn't telling him everything.
"Lines, that's it?" Harry said sceptically as he studied Hermione.
At first glance, Hermione looked as she always did, but her features were tight and she had the same look on her face that she usually had before exams. She also seemed a little paler than usual which concerned him.
"Why is that so hard to believe?" Hermione asked, sounding a little defensive.
"Because I've known you for four years and you are a horrible liar," Harry said bluntly as he turned to look her in the eye.
"Alright fine, it wasn't just lines. She made me write the lines with this awful quill that cut the words in the back of my hand before it healed a few seconds later. I had to do that over and over again for two hours," Hermione admitted in a soft voice.
"What did she have you write?" Harry asked his green eyes staring into hers
"H-Harry it doesn't ma-
"What did she make you write, Hermione?" Harry demanded, his voice dripping with barely restrained fury.
"I must not question my betters," Hermione mumbled only to jump when a crystal pumpkin juice pitcher a few feet away from them shattered, drenching the table in pumpkin juice.
"I am going to kill that bitch!" Harry hissed as he made to stand, only for Hermione to grab his arm and stop him from getting up.
"Let me handle her. Didn't Andromeda tell you to keep a low profile?" Hermione asked in a soothing tone.
"Yeah, but Umbridge crossed the line, this can't be legal," Harry exclaimed hotly.
"I've been looking into that all morning," Hermione admitted as she repaired the pitcher and vanished the spilt juice that was seeping into the white tablecloth.
"What did you find out?" Harry demanded as he continued to imagine ever more painful ways to deal with Dolores Umbridge.
"There is a good chance that it is. The ministry has used blood quills as a form of punishment since the seventeen hundreds," Hermione explained as she poured Harry a cup of tea.
"You know what this means, don't you?" Harry asked with a sigh as he accepted the tea.
"That the ministry is being influenced by death eaters otherwise they wouldn't have given that woman carte blanche to punish minors with instruments of torture," Hermione muttered darkly.
"My thoughts exactly, especially after that little speech Umbridge gave yesterday," Harry agreed as he looked at the head table to see Umbridge tucking into a bowl of porridge as if she didn't have a care in the world.
"That shouldn't surprise you. How many got off with the imperius defence in the last war? Many of those 'exonerated' death eaters have been working their way through the ministry's ranks for the last decade. And that's not counting the ones like Malfoy who have ministry officials in their pockets," Hermione pointed out, her face getting stormier the longer she spoke
"Well if it keeps up like this, Fudge is going to end up gift-wrapping the country for ole' no-nose," Harry scowled unhappily as he saw Angelina Johnson approaching them.
"Harry I wanted to let you know that quidditch tryouts are this Friday. Every team member has to try out to earn a position on the team," Angelina explained coming to stand over Harry so he had to look up at her.
"I'm not going to play this year, Angelina," Harry said with a bit of sadness in his voice.
"What?! Why not!?" Angelina exclaimed much louder than she meant to.
"I have O.W.L's this year and I need all the time I can get to study," Harry answered with great reluctance.
Harry had realized with the training sessions he would be having with Tonks this year, he wouldn't really have time for quidditch practice as well. This training was obviously very important or Tonks wouldn't be giving up so much of her free time, the least he could do was take it seriously. That didn't mean he wasn't disappointed about having to quit the team because he was. He just thought that some things were more important than chasing after the snitch.
"Please reconsider, you are the best seeker at Hogwarts. If you don't play, then Gryffindor's chances of winning the cup are nil," Angelina said sounding upset.
"I've made my decision. I really do need all the time I have this year for my studies," Harry said as the fourth-year Gryffindors entered the hall.
"Alright, but if you change your mind, the tryouts are at five o'clock this Friday," Angelina sighed in a resigned tone.
"You're quitting the team?" Hermione exclaimed as soon as Angelina had gone over to the fourth-years and began talking with Ginny Weasley.
"I really do have a full plate this year," Harry admitted as he saw Ron enter the hall.
"Ron will be devastated," Hermione muttered.
"Yeah, just keep this to yourself for a bit," Harry whispered as Ron got closer.
"I will but you had better tell him before he finds out from somebody else," Hermione warned as Ron took a seat across from them.
"You two are up early," Ron grunted in greeting as he poured himself some tea.
"I had to do my morning run, I got lazy at Sirius' place," Harry answered which was partially true.
Tonks had been meeting him in the training room at five o'clock every morning since he had returned to school. They would go through her basic P.T training together and would usually be finished by seven.
He was slowly adjusting to the other exercises but he had no trouble with the running as he had been running for most of the summer. Tonks was required to exercise at least three days a week for the auror corp so they were both benefiting from the arrangement.
"So how was your evening with the Puff?" Ron asked, a slight grin playing on his lips as he sipped his tea.
"Pretty boring, did you hear quidditch trials are this Friday?" Harry asked, ignoring the glare Hermione shot his way
"Awesome, I need to practice a bit before tryouts," Ron said thoughtfully, completely forgetting about Tonks *uhm* Wendy.
"I've seen you play before. As long as you don't get stage fright or something, you should be alright," Harry encouraged.
"Stage fright?" Ron asked in confusion.
"Yeah you know, losing your focus because you're being watched by hundreds of people," Harry explained and was a bit surprised when Ron started to look nervous.
"There is a trick to getting over stage fright," Hermione added helpfully.
"Yeah, what's that?" Ron asked as he loaded a plate with bacon and eggs.
"Imagine the audience is naked," Hermione answered matter-of-factly.
"We're teenage boys, Hermione. We imagine half of the school naked quite often and the other half, we don't want to see naked," Harry said, a look of disgust crossing his features as members of the latter category flashed through his mind.
"Yeah, I reckon I'd fly my broom into the pitch if I thought Snape was naked anywhere around me," Ron agreed, looking just as disgusted as Harry felt at the thought.
"Ugh, why do I even bother trying to help you uncouth baboons?" Hemione muttered tiredly.
"They say the first sign of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results," Harry answered helpfully.
"In that case, we're all a little bonkers," Ron pointed out.
"How do you figure that?" Harry asked, his curiosity piqued.
"We've been trying to have a normal year since we started Hogwarts and it always goes mad sometime around June," Ron explained.
"Yeah when you put it like that, I guess we're all as mad as Hermione," Harry said with faux thoughtfulness as he tucked into his eggs.
"Harry, you're getting dangerously close to finding out why it's not a good idea to mess with a woman during her monthlies," Hermione said in a casual tone, though her narrowed chocolate brown eyes conveyed her irritation with him.
"Riiiiiight, so how about those quidditch tryouts?" Harry asked feeling a shudder run down his spine at the look Hermione was giving him.
"I'll see if Ginny will help get me ready, she's actually a pretty decent chaser," Ron said sounding amused at Harry's last comment.
"Good because I will be busy after dinner every night this week," Harry said, ignoring the curious looks his friends were giving him.
"Harry, have you ever had the wands and the cauldrons talk before?" Ron asked delicately.
"Ugh I had sex ed in primary school," Harry scowled at his best mate.
"So you two are being... safe?" Hermione pressed.
"We're not shagging, Hermione," Harry hissed, his face starting to feel very warm.
"Whether you are or not is none of our business. I just don't want to be a godfather before I finish school," Ron said, adopting the tone a concerned parent would use when their child was about to do something reckless.
"Like I'd make you godfather," Harry snorted as if the idea were absurd.
"Who else you got?" Ron smirked.
"Well, there's um... Neville," Harry said, naming the first person he saw at the table.
"Really and what's Neville's middle name?" Hermione asked in amusement.
"Trevor," Harry answered confidently.
"That's his frog," Ron snorted.
"It's a toad," Hermione corrected.
"Same difference," Ron shrugged.
"Alright fine, I guess I'm stuck with you as godfather," Harry sighed.
"I don't know that I want to be godfather if the brat turns out to be as big of a berk as his old man," Ron protested.
Before Harry could defend his unborn child's honour, the warning chime rang signalling that they had five minutes before class started.
"Off to charms we go," Hermione said sounding excited.
"At least we'll get to use magic," Ron said as the three of them made their way out of the hall.
"Tell me about it, practical defence is my best subject," Harry snorted as they began climbing the stairs.
The three of them walked the rest of the way in silence while Harry pondered what to do about Umbridge. From what he had learned from Hermione this morning, there was nothing legally speaking that could be done about her forcing Hermione to write with that disgusting quill.
Regardless of legalities, something would have to be done about her, there is no way he was going to let her get away with torturing his best friend.
He would mention what happened to Tonks tonight but if she couldn't find a way to deal with Umbridge, Harry would take matters into his own hands.
'I am the son of a Marauder, I might as take a leaf out of their book,' Harry thought to himself as the three of them entered the charms classroom and took their usual seats in the third row.
Room of Requirement, Hogwarts, 9/6/1995, 17:39
Harry was starting to get the hang of sidestepping her spells... Or he was until Tonks turned up the heat and her spells started to merge into one continuous stream of stinging hexes.
Harry stepped between two incoming spells and ducked under a third, sidestepping a fourth, and turning sideways to avoid a fifth aimed at his shoulder.
"You are starting to get this. We just need to get you to move more fluidly," Tonks praised as she lowered her wand.
"How uh do you cast your spells so fast anyway?" Harry panted out.
"Spell chaining, I'll teach you after you learn to cast nonverbally," Tonks answered.
"Okay, can I ask you a question?" Harry asked his tone more subdued.
"You just did but go ahead," Tonks said, looking at him curiously.
"Have you ever heard of a quill that cuts whatever you write into your hand when you write with it?" Harry asked as a towel appeared in front of him and he picked it up to wipe the sweat from his brow.
"Yeah, they're called blood quills. The ministry has a large stock of them," Tonks answered quietly, not liking where this conversation was headed.
"Well according to Hermione, Umbridge made her write with one last night in detention," Harry explained.
"Damn, she's already started using them, then?!" Tonks muttered angrily.
"What do you mean she's already using them?" Harry demanded.
"She got express permission to use them in matters of discipline," Tonks admitted with a grim expression.
"And the teachers know about this?" Harry hissed, his eyes starting to glow a soft emerald green.
"Yeah, but they can't do anything about it. The board of governors overruled Dumbledore and forced the bitch on him," Tonks said in a placating tone.
"So I guess I will have to deal with her myself then," Harry muttered darkly.
"Don't do anything rash," Tonks said, giving him a meaningful look.
"I'm not going to kill her, Tonks. I'm just going to make her life at Hogwarts as miserable as I can," Harry said with a look of determination.
"Just don't get yourself into trouble," Tonks warned.
"No shit, if I got caught she would probably have me arrested," Harry snorted.
"Oh, she would. Dolores Umbridge is one vindictive bitch," Tonks assured him.
"So you don't think I should do this?" Harry asked sounding disappointed.
"I am a ministry auror so I cannot officially condone anything you do against her," Tonks said in a firm tone.
"Dammit Tonks, she tortured my best friend," Harry exclaimed.
"I know, so unofficially I would advise you to look into her past. That would be the best place to start any of your plans for revenge," Tonks said, a smirk playing on her lips.
"You know something?" Harry asked
"Yes, but you will have to dig that information up for yourself," Tonks said flatly.
"Fine should we keep going or are we done for the day?" Harry asked.
"No, now that you're starting to get the gist of dodging, we'll start working on nonverbal casting," Tonks said going into lecture mode.
"I've been reading up on that, but they never explain how you actually do it in any of the books I've read," Harry said sounding frustrated.
"That's because there is no one method to do it. It's like occlumency, everyone uses a different method to cast without saying the incantation," Tonks explained.
"Great," Harry grumbled.
"The easiest way for most people is to say the incantation in your head," Tonks said giving him a look of annoyance.
"Okay, that sounds easy enough," Harry said optimistically.
"When using this method you need to focus more on your intent to cast the spell than the incantation itself," Tonks continued.
"Okay," Harry said not exactly sure how to do that.
"Alright we'll start you out with something simple so you can work your way up," Tonks said as a plain school desk materialized in front of Harry with a single feather resting on it.
"Levitate the feather," Tonks instructed.
"O-okay," Harry said a little surprised he was being asked to attempt nonverbal casting so quickly.
Pointing his wand he performed the swish and flick motion and thought the incantation in his mind, only for nothing to happen.
"Did I mention this is the one of most frustrating aspects of magic to master?" Tonks asked in amusement.
Harry ignored her and tried again only for similar results. He made ten more attempts while Tonks wandered off to let him practice. Harry quickly realised that this was not going to be nearly as easy as she had made it sound.
For the next two hours, Harry continued attempting to cast a non-verbal levitation charm while Tonks sat in a chair and read a book that the room had produced for her. Harry was starting to think that she was having him start nonverbal casting so she could have some time to relax.
Harry couldn't help glancing over at her from time to time as he practised. Absentmindedly, Harry thought the incantation as he waved his wand over the feather, his thoughts more focused on the way Tonks was nibbling cutely on her lower lip as she read her book, it was quite... distracting.
Harry turned back to look at the feather expecting to see it still sitting on the desk, only to see it floating gently about three feet over his head.
Harry cancelled the spell and watched the feather drift down to the table and took a breath before casting the spell again only for nothing to happen.
"Harry growled in frustration before practically screaming the incantation in his mind as he waved his wand over the feather, starting to get very annoyed with these repeated failures.
Harry was surprised when the feather shot towards the ceiling at considerable speed only to slow when his irritation turned to surprise and his magic calmed.
'Intent,' Harry thought to himself as he cancelled the spell and the feather floated down to the table again.
Tonks had explained to him the importance of intent when she set him to practice the spell, maybe this was what she meant. Harry needed to want the feather to float into the air and push his magic to carry out his intent.
Staring at the feather again, he focused on wanting the feather to hover and went through the wand motions thinking of the incantation as more of an afterthought. Harry watched with elation as the feather lazily floated into the air, reminding him of when he had learned this spell in his first year.
Harry slowly raised his wand and the feather floated higher and higher until it brushed against the vaulted ceiling of the room.
"You got it!" Tonks exclaimed making him jump and lose his concentration on the spell so the feather lazily floated back to earth, spinning slightly as came to land on the floor in front of him.
"Ye-yeah, I think so," Harry said as he swished and flicked his wand at the feather and it began floating into the air again.
"Excellent, we'll start going through your first-year curriculum so that you can really get the hang of this," Tonks said sounding very pleased with him.
"Okay," Harry nodded as he felt his face getting hot with the look of pride she was giving him.
They worked on his silent casting for the rest of the evening, having to call it a night when the warning bell sounded throughout the castle, signalling there were ten minutes until curfew. After Tonks had changed her appearance to Wendy, the two of them left to head back to their respective common rooms.
"I'll see you in the morning," Harry said as they parted ways at the grand staircase.
"Alright, good night, Potter," Tonks said before capturing him in a tight hug.
"What was t-that for?" Harry stammered after she had released him, a smirk playing on her face.
"In case anyone sees us, they'll think we were having a romantic evening," Tonks explained, a mischievous grin playing on her lips.
"A kiss would have looked more authentic," Harry said blushing when he realised what he had just said.
"In your dreams, Potter," Tonks smirked before making her way down the stairs leaving Harry to stare after her.
'I'm starting to think she just likes messing with me with this Wendy business,' Harry thought to himself as he made his way back to the common room.
Hogwarts, 9/8/1995, 04:29
They were just finishing their training and Harry had done so well tonight. He had avoided all of her spells with ease, none of her stinging hexes had even come close to him during their entire training session!
"You are doing so well," Tonks purred as she stepped closer to him.
"Tha-thanks," Harry stammered as she started unbuttoning her blouse revealing she was wearing his favourite pink bikini top underneath.
Harry's breath caught in his chest when she opened the blouse and stalked toward him.
"I think it's time to give you a reward for all of your hard work," Tonks whispered as she let her blouse slip off of her shoulders and onto the floor revealing her tight-toned stomach.
Harry drank her in as she steadily got closer to him, his heart beating faster when she toyed with the string on the sides of her bikini top.
"What do y-you mean?" Harry asked noticing the smirk playing on her lips
Tonks' face and body glistened with sweat in the flickering light of the chandelier overhead as she was almost within arms reach.
"You're about to find out," Tonks whispered before she ran her tongue over her kissable lips, the distance between them steadily getting narrower.
Harry idly noticed she was unfastening her skirt before she let it slide down her shapely legs to pool over her knee-high dragonhide boots. Harry groaned when he saw she was wearing the matching bikini bottoms underneath and audibly gulped as she stepped out of the skirt and continued moving towards him.
Harry gasped when she stepped closer so that they were now only a few inches apart, her bikini-clad breasts pressing into his chest.
"Do you want a reward, Harry?" Tonks whispered in his ear her breath making him shudder pleasurably.
"Ye-yeah," Harry stammered out as she placed her hand under his jaw, her fingertips grazing over the back of his neck causing him to shiver again.
Tonks leaned in, their lips were almost touching and Harry could feel his heart rate speed up even more. Harry saw her violet eyes looking into his and he began to lean forward ready to close the distance between them and kiss her when-
'RINNNNNNNG RINNNNNNNG RINNNNNNNG!'
Harry jerked up in his four-poster bed and smacked the button on his windup alarm clock, scowling at it for waking him from his dream before it got to the good part.
Sighing in frustration, Harry crawled out of bed and found his workout clothes before he quickly changed. Once he was dressed, Harry laced up his trainers and donned his invisibility cloak.
With one last longing thought about how the dream would have gone had he not woken, Harry made his way to the room to meet with Tonks for their morning workout.
Training had been awkward this morning. The dream he had the night before kept coming back to him whenever he would glance over at Tonks. There were quite a few times that morning when he could feel his face heating up as she did or said something that reminded him of the dream. He just considered himself lucky that his face was already flushed from their workout, so she didn't pick up on his discomfort.
Currently, they were about done with callisthenics and were doing a final set of sit-ups to finish out their workout for the morning. They were lying side by side on the floor using special footholds the room had created for them to complete the exercise. This was one of the many advantages of using this room, it always accommodated the needs of its occupants.
"So I suppose you'll want this evening off from training?" Tonks asked just as Harry lay back on the padded floor catching his breath after finishing the last set of twenty-five.
"W-why do you say that?" Harry asked in confusion as he turned his head to look over at her.
"Gryffindor is holding Quidditch practice this evening," Tonks said as if Harry was being a bit dim.
"I'm not playing quidditch this year," Harry shrugged before he slowly got to his feet.
"Seriously?" Tonks exclaimed looking up at him as if she couldn't believe her ears.
"I have a lot of stuff to be getting on with, the last thing I need is quidditch practice four nights a week," Harry explained as he offered her his hand to pull her to her feet.
"If you're sure. I was planning on working your training around quidditch practice," Tonks admitted as she took his offered hand.
Tonks stumbled forward a little when he pulled her to her feet and Harry was forced to steady her before she fell face-first into the mat. Harry wrapped his arms around her on instinct. Almost immediately he was reminded of his dream, especially when her soft bits pressed into his chest and the scent of her strawberry perfume filled his nostrils.
"T-the t-training is more important, I'm not going to fight death eaters with a Wronski feint," Harry replied as he quickly stepped away from her, his face feeling warmer than ever.
"What makes you think that you'll be fighting death eaters?" Tonks asked sounding a bit put out for some reason.
"Because I always end up smack dab in the middle of any insanity that goes in the wizarding world. And I've already faced death eaters twice in the last six months," Harry answered as if it were obvious.
"Well you really should try to do something other than our training and school work," Tonks said, still looking a bit upset.
"I can still go flying whenever I like. I mean, I'd like to play quidditch but practice eats up too much of my free time and this is my O.W.L year anyway," Harry explained as he picked up a towel that appeared on the floor in front of him and dried the sweat off of his face.
"Alright then. We'll meet here tonight, same time as usual," Tonks said giving up on her argument.
Harry watched her dry the sweat off of her face with a towel that had just appeared on the floor in front of her. Once again he couldn't help noticing the way her tight tanktop was riding up, showing off a sliver of her well-toned stomach.
"Great, I've been reading through that book you gave me and there are a few spells I'd like to try out," Harry said in an attempt to distract himself from his impure thoughts about his instructor.
"Which ones?" Tonks asked as she tossed the towel on the floor only for it to vanish.
"The piercing hex, the bludgeoning hex, and the bone breaker," Harry said as he discarded his own towel.
"As long as you don't use them in some schoolyard fight, all three of those spells can be fatal if they hit the right spot," Tonks warned as she tossed Harry a bottle of water from her gym bag.
"I know. I read all the theory and applications of those spells. They look like they could be useful in a fight," Harry admitted as he caught the bottle of ice-cold water, and twisted off the cap before taking a deep drink.
"Besides the stunner and the incarcerous hex, those three are an aurors bread and butter. They're dead useful in apprehending dangerous suspects," Tonks said as she drained her own water bottle and tossed it back into her bag.
"We had better get back, it's almost seven now," Harry said as he checked his watch.
"Okay, I'll meet you here after dinner," Tonks nodded as she shouldered her bag and Harry donned his cloak.
"That works, I am already dreading breaking the news to Ron," Harry said as he followed Tonks to the door.
"Yeah, he'll think you quit quidditch to have more time with Wendy," Tonks giggled as she changed her features to that of her alter-ego.
"Yeah, I hadn't thought of that. He's probably going to think the Hufflepuff quidditch team put you up to seducing me to take Gryffindor out of the running," Harry groaned knowing exactly how Ron's mind worked.
"How do you know they haven't?" Tonks asked in amusement
"Because there hasn't been any seduction," Harry said, glad that he was invisible so she couldn't see his face flushing...again!
"Not yet, oh I almost forgot," Tonks said as she shut the door she had just started to open and dug in her bag before pulling a book out and offering it to him.
Harry reached his hand out of the cloak and took the book before reading the title out loud, "A Guide To Advanced Occlumency by: Maxwell Barnett".
"What's this?" Harry asked in confusion.
"Dumbledore wants me to teach you the basics of occlumency, I'm not very good myself but mum taught me a little when I was younger," Tonks explained.
"What is occlumency?" Harry asked as Tonks opened the door.
"It's a defence of your mind so that other wizards can't enter your mind and delve through your memories," Tonks whispered.
"Like mind reading?" Harry asked paling at the thought that someone could actually read his thoughts
"Pretty close, we'll go over that next week though," Tonks shrugged as they neared the main staircase.
"Alright, see you later," Harry said as he quickly made his way back to his dorm for a shower and to change into his uniform.
Harry made it to the common room in a few minutes and quickly took off his invisibility cloak, draping it over the occlumency book in his arm before giving the password to the Fat Lady.
Hastily he clambered through the portrait hole looking forward to relaxing under the hot water as it always felt amazing after a workout.
Harry had barely stepped into the common room before he ran into Ginny and two of her friends coming down the stairs from the girl's dormitories.
"Harry, can I have a quick word?" Ginny asked hopefully.
"S-sure," Harry said very conscious of how sweaty he was.
"Go on you two, I'll meet you in the great hall," Ginny said to her friends.
"Don't take too long, Gin," the girl Harry thought was named Demelza said before she stepped through the portrait hole.
"Go get 'em, Weasley," the other girl giggled, shooting Ginny a knowing wink as she followed Demelza through the common room entrance.
"Slag," Ginny muttered under her breath before turning to look at Harry.
"What's up?" Harry asked, hoping this wouldn't take long.
"Is it true you aren't playing quidditch this year?" Ginny asked, getting straight to the point.
"Yeah, it's true. I have a lot of stuff going on this year and won't have time for quidditch practice on top of everything else," Harry admitted somewhat glumly.
"You won't be mad if I try out for seeker then?" Ginny asked, seeming pleased with his answer.
"Depends," Harry said, a bit surprised at the question.
"On what?" Ginny asked nonplussed.
"Are you any good?" Harry asked with a smirk.
"I think so," Ginny shrugged.
"Then no I won't be mad. In fact, you can even use my broom if you like," Harry offered.
"I would look a real prat showing up at practice with a league standard broom now wouldn't I?" Ginny snorted.
"Not my Firebolt, I bought a Nimbus 2000 this summer. I had planned to use it this year before things came up and I realized I wouldn't be able to play quidditch," Harry said, somewhat surprised that she hadn't jumped at the chance to borrow his Firebolt.
"Are you sure?" Ginny asked, her eyes lighting up with excitement.
"Yeah, I still want Gryffindor to win the cup. And I mean no offence, but your broom won't keep up with the other house seekers," Harry said hoping she didn't take it the wrong way.
"I know, my broom was top of the line in nineteen sixty-one but now it's ancient," Ginny sniggered.
"Well if you want it, you can use the Nimbus. Just let me use it every once in a while to go flying," Harry offered.
"But what if I break it or something?" Ginny asked sounding conflicted.
"Then we'll work out a slave contract where you can serve my every need until you work off your debt," Harry said deadpan.
"You've been reading Brown's bodice rippers, I take it," Ginny sniggered.
"Heard her talking about one of them at lunch yesterday. So do you want it or not?" Harry asked, the book in his hand starting to feel heavy.
"Okay but I owe you a favour whenever you need it," Ginny countered.
"Deal, now follow me. It's in my trunk," Harry said as he led her up the stairs to his dorm.
Harry threw open the door to find Dean and Seamus getting out of their beds, both of them still dressed in their boxers. Both boys yelped in embarrassment when they saw Ginny and jumped back into their beds, quickly pulling their curtains shut to protect their modesty.
"I think I owe you two favours now," Ginny muttered, her face slightly flushed.
"Hold on just a second," Harry said as he opened his trunk and put the occlumency book and his invisibility cloak inside it.
Harry shifted his stuff around before pulling the brand-new Nimbus 2000 out and passed the broom to the wide-eyed girl beside him.
"T-this is brand new," Ginny exclaimed as she looked at the broom he handed her in awe.
"Yeah, it'll get the job done," Harry grinned as Neville came out of the bathroom only wearing a towel around his waist.
"G-Ginny," Neville yelped in surprise and no small amount of embarrassment.
"Right, I'll see you later Harry and thanks for the broom... and the show," Ginny said, smirking at Neville before she left the dorm.
"Sorry about that, Neville," Harry said as he dug his uniform out of his trunk.
"Why was my sister ogling Neville?" Ron asked as he came out of the bathroom also clad in only a towel.
"Women are strange creatures, mate," Harry said as he headed towards the bathroom intent on finally getting a shower.
"But why did you let her take your new broom?" Ron asked before Harry could slip away.
"She's trying out for Gryffindor house seeker," Harry said and took advantage of Ron's momentary shock to slip into the bathroom.
'This isn't over yet,' Harry thought to himself as he stepped into one of the five empty shower stalls and began getting ready for the day.
Harry took his seat at the table to find Hermione reading a book while Ron was staring at him expectantly.
"Why is Ginny trying out for seeker?" Ron asked as soon as Harry had taken his seat.
"Because I'm not playing this year," Harry said evenly, bracing himself for Ron's reaction.
"What?! Why not?!" Ron demanded incredulously.
"I have a lot to do this year not counting my O.W.L's. I don't have time for quidditch on top of that," Harry sighed as he poured himself some tea.
"But mate, this was the year we were both supposed to play on the team together!" Ron exclaimed in frustration.
"I can still play next year," Harry said, trying to placate his friend.
"This is because of that Puff, isn't it? Evening quidditch practice would get in the way of you're snogging time, eh?" Ron demanded.
"I told you it's not like that," Harry sighed his patience slipping.
"The Badgers probably put her up to it to take you off of the team," Ron snorted.
"How did I know you would say that?" Harry sniggered.
"Well it makes sense," Ron argued.
"Just let it go, Gryffindor will be fine. You said yourself Ginny is good on a broom," Harry said annoyance creeping into his voice.
"Fine I'll drop it," Ron scowled and attacked his eggs, stabbing the plate so hard Harry thought he might break it.
"You can stop pretending to read now, Hermione," Harry chuckled as he tucked into his own breakfast.
"I was not pretending," Hermione huffed though her cheeks flushed the slightest pink.
"So what do we have today?" Harry asked in between bites of his eggs.
"Potions first thing," Hermione replied.
"At least it's not a double lesson," Harry said optimistically.
"True but we have defence before lunch," Hermione said with a scowl.
"Then all free periods after lunch," Ron cut in.
"Good, we can knock out that ridiculous potions essay before dinner," Harry suggested.
"It's not ridiculous," Hermione protested.
"A foot and a half on the uses of powdered moonstone in potions is ridiculous, you could sum it up in a single paragraph," Harry pointed out.
"Alright so maybe a foot and a half is a bit ridiculous but this should help us prepare for our O.W.L exam. There are essay questions involved in the theory portion and from what I've read, it's usually on some ingredient and how it reacts in potions," Hermione explained.
"So bottom line, Snape's being a wanker," Harry said, giving Hermione an exasperated look.
"He's acting very wanker-ish but I don't think he's being a complete wanker on this essay," Hermione argued.
"Whatever, let's get to potions, the warning bell will ring in a few minutes," Harry said after checking his watch.
Harry was a bit worried, Ron remained quiet the whole way to the dungeons. Harry had known Ron wouldn't take him quitting the quidditch team well but he hadn't expected to get the infamous silent treatment.
He hoped this would blow over but knew his friend could hold a grudge when he wanted to. He still remembered last year.
As Snape stalked into the classroom, Harry hoped that his decision to focus on his training would cause a rift between them like last year.
'Well if it does, at least there won't be any Potter stinks badges this time around,' Harry thought optimistically as the class began taking notes on the strengthening solution.