Room of Requirements, Hogwarts, 9/22/1995, 18:29
Harry entered the room of requirements to find Tonks slurping from a large fountain drink with the KFC logo on the side of the cup.
"Well it looks like the date went well, is that a lovebite on your neck, Potter?" Tonks asked teasingly.
"I am not talking about my date," Harry said as he felt his face start to heat up.
"No point in hiding it, Abbott will be gossiping about it with Bones when I get to the dorm anyway," Tonks pointed out, a knowing grin playing on her lips.
"What are we doing this evening?" Harry asked, pointedly avoiding her eyes.
"I am so glad you asked. Tonight we're going to check the progress on your occlumency and then we're doing some dodging drills," Tonks beamed as two chairs appeared in the centre of the room, just like last time.
"Unbelievable," Harry muttered as he took a seat.
Harry was hoping the exercises he had been doing were working and Tonks wouldn't be able to see the events of a few hours earlier. Harry really did not like this particular branch of magic, it was so invasive. It also made him wonder how many people could use this spell and if someone had done this to him before without him knowing.
"Alright, relax your mind and when you feel me enter, push me away," Tonks instructed, pulling him from his musings.
"O-okay," Harry said nervously.
"Legilimens," Tonks incanted as she locked her eyes with his as the room seemed to fade away.
Unfortunately, his nightly occlumency practice was not quite able to keep her out and Tonks delved through his recent memories with ease, she even saw the parts of his date at Puddifoots much to his horror.
"Hmm, you improved from last time," Tonks said after pulling from his mind.
"Still couldn't keep you out," Harry said as he rubbed his temples to rase the slight headache the mental attack had caused.
"I had to try quite a bit harder to stay in your mind, you kept pushing my presence away" Tonks admitted as she stood up and her chair vanished.
"Did you... did you see, everything I saw?" Harry asked warily as he stood up too, noting his own chair vanishing into thin air.
"Yes. It looked like you and Abbott did a lot of tongue wrestling today," Tonks said in a casual tone, though the way her jaw clenched told Harry that the next hour wasn't going to be pleasant for him.
"I really have to work on this occlumency thing,l" Harry muttered darkly as he readied himself for dodging practice.
"You do, but right now I think it's time for you to work off that chocolate cake," Tonks smirked as she raised her wand.
"Oh bugger," Harry muttered not liking the look in his instructor's eye.
Even though he was ready for it, Harry barely dodged the chain of stinging hexes aimed at his stomach. Luckily for him, he was getting better at avoiding spells coming at him. Though tonight, Tonks seemed to be pulling out all of the stops.
'Holy shit, I think she's trying to kill me!' Harry thought warily as he dodged a low flying cutting curse aimed at his waist.
Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, London, 10/16/1995, 21:39
Tonks sat at the table in the basement kitchen of Grimmauld Place waiting on the meeting to begin. Dumbledore was yet to arrive so that could take a while before the meeting came to order.
The last month and a half had been an experience but she was starting to get tired of the undercover gig. She had been a teenager once and did not relish having to go through it all over again! Between her student having a relationship with her dorm mate and having to listen to said dormmate gossip about everything she got up to with her student, Tonks was getting fed up. Tonight was a reward in and of itself simply because she finally got to sneak out of the school for a bit.
Speaking of her student, Harry was progressing at an astonishing rate and she knew it wouldn't be long before he caught up to her. He seemed to take everything she taught him on board and with the exception of dodging practice, he never complained about what she asked him to do. If she could teach him without having to go undercover, she would absolutely love the job. As it was, she was tired of hearing Abbott bragging to Bones about the size of his wand or whatever else the little slag had to say on a nightly basis.
Tonks watched as Snape slunk into the kitchen with his usual look of disdain firmly in place. Tonks was still amazed Dumbledore had managed to convince Sirius to let the dungeon bat return to Grimmauld Place. Sirius never said what he got out of the concession but it must have been something big to allow that grease stain back into headquarters.
Tonks was brought out of her thoughts as Dumbledore and McGonagall swept into the kitchen, the talk in the room instantly stopped as the two professors took their seats at the table.
"Thank you all for coming, now we have a lot to cover so we might as well get started. Severus, what have you learned from Voldemort camp?" Dumbledore started the meeting off, seeming to be in a bit of a rush.
"The dark lord is planning something big for all Hallows Eve, he is letting Bellatrix lead a large group of recruits on an attack," Snape sneered in his usual caustic tone.
"But you have no idea where they are attacking?" Sirius snorted derisively.
"The dark lord does not confide all of his plans Black, he does not take for granted that a spy could infiltrate his ranks. The only people that know the specifics are LeStrange and the dark lord," Snape replied distastefully.
"Yes, well we shall be setting up guards in major wizarding areas, though I believe the primary target will be the hall of prophecy and the larger attack is meant to be a diversion of sorts," Dumbledore cut in before Sirius could reply.
"If it is the hall of prophecy, are we going to get involved?" Diggle asked.
"No, I will engage him but I would prefer if the rest of you did not reveal your association with me just yet," Dumbledore explained.
"If we get involved in a fight with his death eaters, that will still tip our hand though," Bill pointed out.
"It will appear as if you are simply doing your civic duty to protect others. The death eaters may suspect you are part of the order but they won't know for sure," Dumbledore assured him.
"Are you sure you can handle him alone, Albus? You-Know-Who probably won't come alone," Arthur Weasley asked sounding very troubled.
"I am not concerned by his servants, Voldemort is prideful and will not let his death eaters help him in a fight with someone like me, he would see their help as a sign of weakness," Dumbledore said, seeming completely untroubled.
"If you're sure," Arthur sighed.
"I am. I am not being immodest in saying that I am one of the few people who could survive a fight with Voldemort. I really do not wish to see any more of my friends fall to his wand," Dumbledore admitted.
"I will try and beef up auror guards on the night of Halloween. I can probably run some type of training drill to have aurors patrolling the major wizarding districts, " Kingsley volunteered.
"Excellent, that would be most helpful. If we are lucky the aurors can recapture some of the escaped inmates," Dumbledore agreed.
"I think we can manage that. Bones has been implementing the old-school training drills since the Azkaban breakout. She seems to think the aurors were getting soft," Kingsley chuckled.
"They're a bunch of pussies compared to how the corp was when I joined," Moody grunted.
"I would also like to get Cornelius at the ministry if Voldemort does turn up there," Dumbledore continued before Minerva could admonish Alastor for his language.
"You want to make Voldemort's return public?" Bill Weasley said as he put the pieces together.
"Yes, that is the plan. If I can prove I am not a raving fearmonger then I can get that interfering woman out of my school," Dumbledore said matter-of-factly.
"How bad has she been?" Moody asked, though judging by the look on his face, he feared the worst.
"She avoids the main school after the incident last month," Minerva spoke up.
"What incident?" Arthur asked.
"She was pranked rather brutally in the middle of the great hall, she spent the rest of the day in the hospital wing and hasn't been very active in the school since," Minerva explained in her usual brisk tone.
"From what I've heard, she turned down a position to be high-inquisitor. From what I gather, Madam Umbridge has no interest in teaching at Hogwarts any longer," Kingsley added.
"Whoever dosed her with that potion really scared her," Dumbledore said gravely.
"I told you it was those infernal twins," Snape sighed shooting Molly and Arthur a pointed look.
"The boys don't hurt people with their pranks," Arthur defended, giving the potion professor a glare that seemed alien on his usually cheerful face.
"He's right, they turn people into canaries or give them a trick wand but they never harm anyone," Molly said as she narrowed her eyes at Snape.
"I am quite content not knowing who carried out the attack. As it was, seven students were forced to write lines with those quills of hers. So I don't have very much sympathy for Dolores," Minerva said rather bluntly.
"Agreed, as much as I detest harming others, I believe Madam Umbridge may have gotten her comeuppance and on Miss Granger's birthday, no less," Dumbledore said as his eyes twinkled brightly.
"You don't think this was Potter, do you, Albus?" Minerva asked as if suddenly understanding something.
"I have my suspicions but I am not concerned enough to look into them," Dumbledore shrugged.
"Very well," Minerva nodded, sharing similar sentiments on the matter herself.
"Now onto other matters, Nymphadora, how are your lessons with Harry coming along?" Dumbledore asked pleasantly.
"Very well, he is a very attentive student and has taken to everything I've taught him," Tonks answered, shooting Dumbledore a look of annoyance for using her first name.
"What are you teaching him at present?" Sirius asked with interest.
"Spell chaining, he mastered nonverbal and point casting by the end of September so I have been trying to improve his speed and stamina," Tonks said.
"Potter learned pointcasting?" Snape asked disbelievingly.
"Yes, he hasn't been using incantations or wand movements in my class since the first week, it really is most impressive," Minerva spoke up, sounding quite pleased.
"And his occlumency?" Dumbledore pressed.
"He can push me out, though to be fair, I was never very gifted in the mind arts," Tonks answered.
"Well done, Miss Tonks just keep pushing him as much as he will allow," Dumbledore nodded, looking quite pleased with the report.
"Did you instruct him to resign from the quidditch team?" Minerva cut in and she was unable to keep the accusing tone out of her voice.
"No, I had planned to work around his extracurricular activities but he decided to free up more time for our lessons," Tonks shrugged.
"I was most disappointed to hear he resigned," Minerva sighed.
"Yes, I believe we all were," Dumbledore agreed.
Tonks sat there for the rest of the meeting feeling a bit upset that she was completely passed over for guard duty. Realistically she hew it was because of her undercover assignment but it still galled her knowing the others could be in battle while she was stuck at the school.
After listening to Mundungus give his long-winded report on what the seedy underbelly was up to, the meeting finally broke up.
Tonks was one of the first out of the meeting and began making her way upstairs to visit with her mum for a few minutes before she had to sneak back into Hogwarts.
Tonks found her mum sitting in the drawing room, reading a book by the fire.
"Mum" Tonks beamed as soon as she stepped into the drawing room.
"Nymphadora, I wasn't expecting to see you," Andi said happily as she shot up from her seat and pulled her daughter into a warm hug.
"Order meeting, I can't stay for long. Where's dad?" Tonks asked.
"Emergency at work, some unspeakable was attacked and he's driving himself mad trying to restore the man his sanity," Andromeda explained.
"Damn, I haven't seen him since I left for school," Tonks pouted.
"I will make sure he's here on your next Hogsmeade weekend," Andi promised.
"Thanks, I forgot how much I used to miss you guys when I was at school," Tonks admitted.
"So how are things at Hogwarts, you don't write much in your letters," Andi admonished.
"I am bored out of my mind," Tonks shrugged.
"How is Harry?" Andi pressed.
"He's doing good," Tonks shrugged.
"Really because Sirius informed me he's dating Lord Abbott's daughter," Andromeda said innocently.
"Yeah, he's dating the little bint," Tonks muttered darkly.
"You don't like her?" Andi asked as she guided her daughter to sit beside her on the couch.
"She's my dorm mate," Tonks scowled.
"You're jealous," Andi said in sudden realisation.
"I am not!" Tonks protested.
"Of course not, dear," Andromeda said patronizingly.
"I just hate hearing her constantly gossip about what romantic garbage Harry has done for her every evening after I spend hours training the little twerp," Tonks huffed
"Of course, dear," Andi agreed sounding very amused.
"How is the house coming along?" Tonks asked in an obvious attempt to change the subject.
"Quite well, the framing is finished and they have completed the deck so the next step is electrical and drywall," Andromeda beamed.
"Good, I hate having to come to this haunted mansion to visit you," Tonks smiled.
"How do you think I feel, I hated visiting Aunt Walburga's as a girl," Andromeda pointed out.
"That had to have been awful, she's bad enough as a painting," Tonks snorted.
"So I heard someone really got Dolores good," Andromeda asked sounding very interested.
"From what I saw, it was pretty gruesome," Tonks admitted.
"Yes well she is angling on getting herself a position on the board of governors, Lord McMillan says she wants to completely revise the school rules and reinstate the old punishments," Andromeda warned.
"Bugger, she hasn't been seen much in the school in almost a month," Tonks muttered.
"Slytherin code dictates that you never provoke your enemy until you're in a place of complete safety," Andromeda pointed out.
"And she knows whoever dosed her with that potion could very easily do it again while she is still inside the school," Tonks nodded as she understood what Andi was saying.
"Exactly, until she can guarantee she can not be touched Dolores will keep a low profile," Andromeda agreed.
"Do you think she'll gain the position?" Tonks asked.
"It's possible, she's playing up her ties to the Selwyn's and using her position at the ministry to strong-arm herself a position as the ministry representative," Andromeda shrugged.
"Wonderful," Tonks sighed.
"Tell Harry that was a wonderfully executed prank. It really was a proper shot across the bow, if I ever saw one," Andromeda beamed.
"How do you-
"My cousin was bragging about it, said his godson really showed Umbridge what for," Andromeda sniggered.
"I'll let him know but I have to get back before curfew," Tonks said after checking her watch.
"Very well, I'll tell you're father you stopped by," Andromeda said before pulling her daughter in for a tight embrace
"Give him a hug for me," Tonks said with a fond smile.
"Oh and Nymphadora," Andromeda called to her before she could make it to the door.
"Yeah mum?" Tonks asked.
"First relationships never work out, you haven't lost him yet," Andromeda soothed.
"Mum, he's fifteen," Tonks said sounding incredulous.
"We're magical, Nymphadora. We can live for centuries, what is seven years in the grand scheme of things?" Andromeda asked matter of factly.
"Whatever, mum. I gotta go," Tonks muttered before leaving her mum in the drawing room.
Tonks did her best to ignore the knowing look her mother gave her before she shut the door behind her. She quickly made her way down the stairs and out of the house. As she walked in the cool night air, her traitorous mind wandered back to what her mum had said.
She knew with absolute certainty that she didn't like Harry, well not romantically anyway. She thought of him as a... as a friend.
For some reason, she couldn't think of him as a sibling no matter how hard she tried. They acted more like close friends when they had their lessons and somehow thinking of him as a sibling just felt... wrong.
She knew Harry was nursing a crush on her this summer. At the time she had thought it was cute and had used that to mess with him a bit during their time together.
Then they had returned to Hogwarts and Abbott had come into the picture and taken up a lot of Harry's attention. She didn't know why but for some reason that really irked her.
She couldn't like him in a romantic way, that was utterly ridiculous! Sure she thought he was attractive and she could see the man he was growing into but he was still a boy and she was a grown woman!
She hadn't even considered that she could be having feelings for him but now she couldn't get the silly idea out of her head!
"Dammit, mum!" Tonks huffed in frustration before she turned on the spot to apparate to the shrieking shack.
Room of Requirements, Hogwarts, 10/18/1995, 17:39
Harry began to cast spells at his instructor, over the last few weeks he had been getting much closer to actually landing a spell on her.
"So I have great news," Tonks said casually as she sent a tripping hex at him that he easily hopped over.
"Yeah, what's that?" Harry asked as he cast a stinging hex in return.
"Well, I heard Abbott talking with Bones about asking Pomfrey for a dose of contraceptive potion," Tonks said innocently.
"Huh?" Harry asked as he froze in place and stared at Tonks in surprise.
"Just kidding, incarcerous," Tonks smirked.
Harry was too slow, to avoid the ropes that flew out of her wand and wrapped tightly around his wrists and ankles before he overbalanced and tumbled onto the floor.
"You cheating twat," Harry exclaimed in frustration.
"Yeah because the death eaters follow a code of duelling etiquette," Tonks snorted in amusement, only to jump in surprise as a blue spell left Harry's wand and struck her in the chest.
Harry still had his wand in his hand and used her moment of distraction to vanish the ropes and cast a knockback jinx at Tonks. Harry grinned widely as the spell struck true, sending her flying across the room.
Harry quickly scrambled to his feet and began firing spells at his downed opponent. He knew that he had to take advantage of her being on the floor as long as he could
"You should know to take someone's wand before letting your guard down," Harry exclaimed as he sent a trio of stunners that she only narrowly avoided by rolling to her left.
"Well done," Tonks muttered as she rolled onto her stomach and sprung herself to her feet.
"Thanks," Harry beamed, never letting up on the attack and was rewarded when he nailed Tonks in the bum with a pair of stinging hexes.
"Bloody hell, that hurt!" Tonks exclaimed as she avoided the third spell by rolling gracefully to the right and landing on her feet again.
"No shit, you use them in every dodging practice," Harry said with a wide grin.
The rest of the night continued in this manner with them both receiving quite a few hits from stinging hexes. Harry was starting to realize how much he had improved.
Tonks was no longer wiping the floor with him, she still came out slightly better for the duel but the gap was quickly closing between them.
I am going to be sore for a week," Tonks grunted as they stepped into the hallway, neither noticing the door had taken the form of a broom cupboard door.
"Should have thought about that before tying me up," Harry smirked, only to wince when one of the stinging hex welts rubbed the waistband of his trousers.
"Well you didn't have to be so rough, I'm still a lady," Tonks complained.
"You shouldn't have brought up the contraceptive potion," Harry countered.
"So you had to take it out on my poor bum," Tonks scowled as she rubbed her bum and winced.
"What are you two up to?" A very angry female voice demanded from just to their right.
"Hannah?" Harry asked as he noticed her standing about twenty feet away.
"That's right, why were you two coming out of a bloody broom closet!?" Hannah demanded, looking ready to explode.
"We were studying, Abbott," Tonks in the guise of Wendy said, sounding annoyed.
"In a broom closet?" Hannah snorted derisively.
"Hannah, it's not what you think," Harry said softly.
"So you're not messing around with that slag behind my back?" Hannah asked disbelievingly.
"Who are you calling a slag, bint?" Tonks said as she stepped towards the other girl, her wand already slipping into her hand.
"Alright, that's enough," Harry sighed as he walked over and took Hannah's hand.
"What are you doing?" Hannah snapped as he led her to the door that was thankfully, still set into the wall.
"Showing you what we were up to," Harry said as he threw open the door.
"If you think I'm going to snog you you got another thing com-
Hannah trailed off as Harry pulled her inside the room, the training dummies from his accuracy drills earlier in the evening were still popping out of the floor at random intervals. There were still scorch marks from their spells marring the floor, there was no mistaking the room as anything other than a training room.
"What is this?" Hannah asked as she stepped into their duelling room and looked around in amazement.
"The room creates whatever the user needs, we wanted the room secret so I guess it made itself look like a broom closet because there was a prefect nearby," Harry said gesturing to the badge on her chest.
"Oh," Hannah said weakly.
"Potter, this was supposed to be a secret," Tonks scowled, glaring at him in annoyance.
"Yeah but how else was I going to explain this to her?" Harry demanded.
"Fine," Tonks huffed as she shifted into her real form, "Listen up Abbott, if you breathe a word of this to anyone, I'll sell your knickers to that McClaggen bloke," Tonks warned as she looked Hannah in the eye.
"O-okay, I won't say a word, Auror Tonks," Hannah hastily assured her.
Hannah seemed to be on the backfoot now and seemed a bit alarmed at the way Tonks was glaring at her.
"I'm going to bed, Potter. Don't be late for morning PT," Tonks barked out before changing back into Wendy and storming off.
"I guess, I have to get to the common room too," Harry said, somewhat awkwardly.
"You're with a prefect, you can stay out with me," Hannah offered.
"But you just accused me of cheating on you, with your dormmate no less. Like I would do something that stupid," Harry exclaimed as if she had lost her mind.
"Well can you honestly blame me? You two come out of a broom closet and she's complaining about having a sore bum. It sounded like you were buggering the poor girl," Hannah argued, her cheeks colouring slightly.
"Oh... I-I can promise you that none of that went on," Harry said, his face flushing when he realized how the conversation between him and Tonks must have sounded to an outsider.
"Yeah, I know that... now," Hannah said sheepishly as she stepped closer to him.
"You have to keep Tonks' identity a secret, Ron and Hermione don't even know what we get up to in the evening," Harry said as Hannah wrapped her arms around his waist and snuggled into him.
"I know, and I am sorry for acting all jealous," Hannah apologized softly.
"Well, I guess I can't really blame you. If the roles were reversed, I would probably throw a fit too," Harry conceded as he placed a kiss on her forehead.
"I'll try not to let something like this happen again," Hannah promised, her warm breath tickling his neck.
"So will I," Harry nodded as he leaned down and captured her lips in a deep kiss.
Great Hall, Hogwarts, 10/19/1995, 07:56
Harry felt unusually tired this morning, he had only gotten four hours of sleep last night before he had to be up at five for his morning P.T. Hannah had kept him out until her patrol was completed last night, not that he was complaining, she was very affectionate after their misunderstanding.
The last month had seen Hogwarts go almost back to normal since the tumultuous first few weeks of school.
The ministry substitute defence professors changed every week and they just set them to reading chapters out of the text and summarizing the chapter in an essay as homework.
Umbridge hadn't been seen in the school for weeks and according to the map, she wasn't even in the castle most of the time. Harry knew this was a small victory at best as the ministry was still determined to have a presence inside Hogwarts.
Harry was just grateful he was getting defence training from Tonks considering what was going on outside of Hogwarts. The ministry was hindering their education when they needed it most.
As Harry saw last night, the training was definitely working. He was able to spar with Tonks and even land a few hits every now and then. It was a vast improvement from a month and a half ago when he was hopelessly outmatched by his teacher.
"Good morning, Harry," Hermione said as he took a seat across from her at the end of the Gryffindor table.
"Good morning, Hermione," Harry said tiredly.
"Stay up a bit late, did we?" Hermione asked in amusement.
"I got caught out after hours by the Hufflepuff prefect and she wanted to give me a good telling off," Harry lied easily as he fixed himself some coffee.
"Good, you shouldn't be... wait a minute, Hannah Abbott was the Hufflepuff prefect on patrol last night," Hermione exclaimed shooting him a look of disapproval.
"And she gave me a real... tongue lashing," Harry assured his friend, the caffeine making him feel almost human again.
"I'll bet she did," Hermione snorted while rolling her eyes at him.
"So how was your evening?" Harry asked.
"Almost peaceful until Seamus offered to show me his one-eyed trouser snake," Hermione huffed sounding annoyed.
"You didn't fall for that?" Harry asked in alarm.
"I knew what he was talking about but I was a bit curious about what he had down there," Hermione shrugged.
"Oh," Harry said a bit lost as to what to say to that.
"Yes, well it certainly wasn't a snake. it looked more like an inchworm, to be honest," Hermione said in a carrying voice.
Now Harry understood, Hermione hadn't seen anything. She was just getting Seamus back for trying something so juvenile on her. Already eavesdropping students all around the hall were relaying this gossip to their neighbours.
Poor Seamus would be hearing 'hung like a leprechaun' jokes for quite a while after this.
"Poor bastard," Harry muttered feeling a small amount of sympathy for his dormmate.
"Well he should know better than to try something like that on me," Hermione shrugged indifferently.
"He already gets enough leprechaun jokes as it is," Harry said trying his best not to laugh.
"So Hannah kept you out late?" Hermione asked in a much more discreet tone.
"Yeah, there was a bit of a misunderstanding that she wanted to make up for that," Harry said uncomfortably.
"She thought you were stepping out on her with McDonald," Hermione said as if it were obvious.
"Yeah but we worked that out," Harry assured her.
"And then made up," Hermione said shrewdly.
"Well um yeah," Harry said uncomfortably.
"I have to admit I am a bit envious," Hermione sighed.
"I thought you were too intellectual for a relationship or whatever," Harry snorted.
"I still enjoy a good snog every once in a while," Hermione shrugged, her cheeks flushing slightly at this admission.
"I find that hard to believe after what you did to poor Seamus' reputation a minute ago?" Harry pointed out
"He tried to trick me, I couldn't very well let that go unpunished," Hermione defended.
"There you two are, couldn't wait for me, eh?" Ron grumbled as he took a seat beside Hermione.
"I'm not your mother, Ronald," Hermione shrugged.
"And thank heavens for that or those dreams after the Yule Ball would have sent me to the asylum," Ron muttered so only Harry could hear.
"Sorry mate, I had to get some coffee, today is going to be a long one," Harry said as he shot Ron a look of amusement.
"Shouldn't have been out with Abbott so late, then," Hermione said sounding unsympathetic.
"Like I am going to complain about spending more time with her, have you seen her," Harry snorted as if Hermione were mad.
"Damn mate, you've got it bad," Ron snorted, not noticing Neville listening in from a few seats down.
"Yeah I guess I do," Harry said thoughtf about it for a moment.
"Can't say that I blame you," Ron said with a sigh as he began filling his plate with sausage and eggs.
"I never did ask, what happened with you and Lavender?" Harry asked, giving Ron a curious look.
"I don't know, I thought we had a good time and then she up and took off with Parvati after we had lunch at the Three Broomsticks," Ron said looking nonplussed.
"You took her to the pub?" Hermione snorted in disbelief.
"Yeah, she said she was getting thirsty, so I took her to get a butterbeer," Ron said sounding confused.
"You really are hopeless, she wanted you to take her to the teashop," Hermione said in a tone one would use to explain something to a toddler.
"Well, why didn't she just say that?" Ron exclaimed.
"Women generally like their partner to anticipate their needs," Hermione explained.
"That's not exactly true, Hannah pretty much told me that she wanted me to take her to Puddifoot's, she even told me you suggested the chocolate cake," Harry pointed out.
"You're welcome for that," Hermione said giving Harry an expectant look.
"Yeah thanks a lot, Hermione," Harry said genuinely.
"And I imagine she was so clear because you took the time to put a proper date together," Hermione said as she gave Ron a pointed look.
"Oi, I took Lavender on a proper date," Ron protested.
"Where did you go?" Hermione asked with a put-upon sigh.
"Honeydukes, Zonkos and then we went to the pub and had lunch," Ron explained.
"Where did you take Hannah, Harry?" Hermione asked.
"Well we walked around a bit just talking, then we went to the Lion's Den and had lunch, after lunch, we had dessert at Puddifoot's, and then I walked her back to her dorm," Harry recounted.
"Do you see the difference?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, Harry spent a lot more money and got a good snog out of his date," Ron snorted.
"He also got a second date," Hermione pointed out.
"Yeah well I did too, but Lavender said she would be taking me out this time," Ron said looking very pleased with himself.
"Really?" Hermione asked in surprise.
"Yeah, she asked if I wanted to go with her to Hogsmeade the Saturday before Halloween," Ron said with a note of smugness in his voice.
"Well good on you, try The Lion's Den the place is amazing," Harry suggested helpfully.
"She said she would choose where we're going," Ron shrugged.
Harry had a sneaking suspicion that Ron had a long day of clothes shopping in his future but decided to keep that information to himself. Judging by the smirk on Hermione's face, she had reached the same conclusion as he had.
"Well good luck on that. Now on to more important matters, are you ready for the first game of the season?" Harry asked causing Hermione to shake her head in exasperation.
"As ready as we'll ever be, did you know Crabbe and Goyle are the Slytherin beaters this year?" Ron asked, sounding highly amused.
"Kind of makes sense, hitting things with a club is right in their wheelhouse," Harry pointed out.
"Oh they can sure wallop a bludger but they have no strategy whatsoever," Ron exclaimed.
"Good then the terror twins should tear them apart during the match," Harry grinned.
"That's what Angelina thinks," Ron agreed.
"Speaking of quidditch, where is my better-looking replacement anyway?" Harry asked as he scanned the table for the youngest Weasley.
"Sitting on Corner's lap at the Ravenclaw table," Hermione said as she spotted the girl.
"What?" Ron demanded in surprise as he looked over at the Ravenclaw table.
Harry glanced over as well and saw Ginny, she was sitting sideways in the Ravenclaw boy's lap, and her head was resting on his shoulder. It looked like she was whispering something into his ear because the dark-haired boy's cheeks were flushed.
"Leave her be," Hermione said when Ron went to get up.
"That's my sister, Hermione," Ron protested.
"Well it's not like they're going to have it off on the Ravenclaw table," Hermione pointed out.
"Hermione," Ron scowled looking stricken at the thought.
"She's right, McGonagall would break that up before anything happened," Harry said helpfully.
"I don't want her all over some boy in the middle of the great hall," Ron exclaimed looking furious.
"Well if anything, you should be more worried about what those two get up to when you can't see them," Harry smirked.
"Harry that is not cool," Ron scowled shooting his best mate a glare.
"Oh calm down, Ronald, I'm sure you have nothing to worry about," Hermione assured him.
"Yeah, I am sure they aren't doing anything reckless, and even if they do, I bet Corner knows the contraception charm," Harry pointed out.
Before Ron could reply to this, the bell rang and Harry stood up.
"Come on Uncle Ronnie, let's get to class," Harry said with a beaming smile.
"Piss off, Potter," Ron scowled.
"You'll have to watch that language around all of those nieces and nephews Ginny's going to have," Hermione pointed out.
"I really hate you both sometimes," Ron exclaimed as they started walking out of the hall.
"We love you too, mate," Harry said as he smacked Rom on the back.
Harry couldn't help grinning at his best mate's discomfort and if there was one way to make Ron uncomfortable, it was to mention Ginny's love life.
"That really hurts, when all I try and do is help you," Hermione sighed in faux sadness.
"I know what'll cheer you up, Ron," Harry said as they crossed the enrance hall.
"If it's something about my sister, I will hurt you," Ron warned.
"It's got nothing to do with Ginny," Harry assured him as they began walking up the grand staircase.
"What is it?" Ron asked warily.
"Did you know that Rowena Ravenclaw invented the contraceptive charm?" Harry asked innocently causing Hermione to giggle.
Harry knew Ron would return the favour for his taunts at the earliest opportunity but the look of annoyance Ron just shot him made it completely worth it.
Hogsmeade, 10/28/1995, 09:39
Harry led Hannah through the gates noticing Lavender and Ron walking a bit ahead of them.
"So I see Ron managed to convince Lavender to go on a second date with him," Hannah said giving Harry a questioning look.
"Yeah, but she's calling the shots this time," Harry smirked.
"Poor bastard," Hannah giggled.
"That's what I said," Harry agreed as he led her towards The Three Broomsticks.
"What are we doing today?" Hannah asked as she noticed where they were headed.
"We're taking the floo from the pub to London," Harry answered.
"Really?" Hannah asked excitedly.
"I figured we could see a movie and maybe go to McDonald's after," Harry shrugged.
"Oh, that sounds amazing!" Hannah squealed bouncing excitedly on the balls of her feet.
"I have about a hundred pounds so we can't go crazy or we'll have to go to Diagon Alley to exchange more," Harry admitted as they stepped into the almost empty pub.
"That should be more than enough for dinner and a movie," Hannah assured him as she practically dragged him towards the fireplace at the back of the bar.
Harry couldn't help but grin at how excited Hannah was, clearly the idea to go to muggle London was a success.
Harry let her step through first before he followed behind her, praying that he didn't tumble out the other end like the first time he used the floo.
Great Hall, Hogwarts, 10/29/1995, 08:39
Harry was in a very good mood today, the date yesterday had gone wonderfully. They had ended up watching a teen movie set in America, the lead actress kind of looked like Hannah if he were being honest. The movie wasn't bad, but it was a bit girly for his taste, though Hannah seemed to enjoy it which was all that mattered.
Harry had barely started to eat when Ron slumped into the seat across from him.
"So how did it go?" Harry asked unable to tell anything from Ron's expression.
"We went shopping," Ron muttered tiredly.
"Sounds nice, the lingerie store?" Harry asked innocently.
"Gladrags," Ron scowled.
"Oh, well at least you got to see her model clothes for you," Harry pointed out.
"Yeah, when she tried on dresses, I got to see a lot of leg," Ron conceded.
"Well I'm sorry it didn't go well," Harry said consolingly.
"After the shopping it was amazing, we had tea and cake at Puddifoot's," Ron corrected.
"Oh, good on you, the-
"Won Won," A shrill female voice cut Harry off mid-sentence.
Harry and Ron both turned to see Lavender heading their way and Harry couldn't help but snigger as the nickname made sense.
Harry couldn't comment as Lavender took a seat beside Ron and pulled him into a very noisy kiss.
"If they're going to do that at the table, I may vomit," Hermione muttered as she took a seat beside Harry.
"Now that's just mean," Harry said, giving Hermione a look of amusement.
"You and Hannah have been seeing each other for over a month and I never had to watch you try to swallow her face at the breakfast table," Hermione argued.
"Hannah comes from an old pureblood family," Harry pointed out.
"And mum would have my hide if I did something like that in the middle of the great hall," Hannah added as she joined Harry at the Gryffindor table for the first time.
"Sirius would probably be thrilled if he found out," Harry said thoughtfully.
"But Andi would probably send you a howler," Hermione pointed out.
"She doesn't believe in howlers, she prefers to chew someone out in person," Harry pointed out.
"So how did your date go yesterday?" Hermione asked looking across Harry, to talk to Hannah.
"It was wonderful, we went to muggle London," Hannah gushed.
"Harry, you know that's against the rules," Hermione admonished.
"Hermione, you know perfectly well I don't care about the rules. I had a beautiful date in desperate need of a Big Mac, Gryffindor is all about chivalry," Harry waved her off.
"We were very responsible, Hermione," Hannah assured her as she fixed herself some french toast.
"We went to the cinema then got a quick bite to eat," Harry elaborated.
"So you had a muggle date," Hermione said in understanding.
"Exactly," Hannah beamed.
"I wanted to do something different than last time and the options are kind of limited in Hogsmeade," Harry shrugged.
"You did wonderfully," Hannah beamed before kissing him on the cheek.
"When did she get here?" Ron asked in confusion.
"A little after you two said good morning the fun way," Harry sniggered only to jump when Hannah elbowed him in the ribs.
"Don't be crass, Harry," Hannah admonished.
"Oh, I already like having her around," Hermione smirked.
"I love that top, Lavender," Hannah gushed.
"Thank you, Won-Won helped me pick it out yesterday. Isn't it just lovely?" Lavender asked, shooting Ron an adoring smile.
Harry was starting to see the problem with too many girls in their group, as Hermione (who Harry thought knew nothing about fashion) quickly joined the conversation, leaving Harry and Ron listening to them talk.
"Didn't see this coming did you, mate?" Ron muttered as Lavender leaned her head on his shoulder.
"No, I can honestly say that I didn't," Harry said as Hannah took his hand under the table while she and Lavender argued over which was the best autumn colour.
'Oh well,' Harry shrugged as he sipped his juice, content to let the girls talk.
Ministry of Magic, London, 10/31/1995, 22:39
Lord Voldemort strolled out of the hall of prophecy feeling a bit conflicted about what he had learned. The prophecy had indeed been fulfilled which meant the Potter boy was no longer a threat to him.
The boy would still die as punishment for the thirteen years he spent in exile and the death of one of his best followers but there was no point in delaying the movement any longer. His death eaters were back in fighting shape and he had recruited quite a few new servants in the past few months.
No, tonight was the night that he pulled back the curtain and began his rise to power. The pieces were already in place, all he had to do was give the command.
"Lucius, let me see your arm," Voldemort instructed when he entered the circular room and found the Malfoy lord waiting dutifully for him to return.
"Of course, my lord," Malfoy replied before pulling back his sleeve and presenting his left forearm.
Voldemort placed his index finger on the jet-black tattoo of a skull with a serpent for a tongue branded on Lucius' pale skin. Channelling his intent through the mark, Voldemort sent the signal to every other death eater he had branded. The burst of magic going through his arm made Lucius hiss in agony and collapsed to his knees, not that Voldemort was concerned about Lucius' comfort.
"Now go and help them, I must make my presence known," Voldemort ordered as he exited the room into the hallway of level nine.
"Yes my lord, we will not fail you," Lucius assured him before activating his portkey.
"There has to be a first time for everything, I suppose," Voldemort sighed as he thought of the many times Lucius had failed him in the past.
Stepping into the lifts, Voldemort waited patiently for them to open before stepping in and pushing the button for level eight. There were some of Dumbledore's followers in the atrium when he arrived, they were hidden under disillusionment charms and he had pretended he hadn't noticed them as he wanted to take care of the business at hand first.
Now that he had learned of the prophecy he wanted to thin the order's ranks a bit, perhaps let off a bit of steam.
Voldemort actually hummed to himself as the lift clanked up the lift shaft. He was anticipating the coming battle, or more likely, the coming slaughter.
As the lift doors started to clang open, Voldemort drew his wand and exited into the grand ministry atrium readying himself for the fight.
As soon as he stepped out of the lift, Voldemort knew something had changed. Now he only sensed one presence in the room and it was unmistakably a very powerful presence indeed.
"Good evening Tom, I see you have finally discovered that the prophecy is no longer active," Dumbledore said cheerfully as he looked up to see his old pupil step into the atrium.
"Dumbledore, I am surprised you are here with what is currently happening... elsewhere," Voldemort said sounding amused.
"I have sent the guard stationed here to assist in my stead," Dumbledore said as he walked around the fountain, seeming to enjoy the sounds of the water falling into the pool.
"So the great pacifist wishes to fight me?" Voldemort asked mockingly.
"If I must, You are a tad too skilful for most of my people to tangle with," Dumbledore shrugged.
"I am too much for you as well, Albus," Voldemort sneered.
"Now Tom as gifted as you are, I must inform you that Gellert was far better than you have ever been," Dumbledore chuckled.
"And yet he fell to your wand and I never have," Voldemort rebutted.
"My dear boy, that was almost sixty years ago. You should be ashamed that you could never best me even in your prime when I am slipping into decrepitude," Dumbledore taunted.
"Senile old fool," Voldemort chuckled darkly as he slowly closed the distance between himself and his former teacher.
"As senile as I am I can still give you a good thrashing, Tom," Dumbledore proclaimed, the note of cheerfulness fading away as Albus' eyes seemed to glow a sapphire blue.
"I highly doubt that," Voldemort muttered before sending a killing curse that Dumbledore lazily avoided.
"Decades of magical learning and the first spell you use is a common killing curse," Dumbledore said in a tone of disappointment as he flicked his wand and the floor.
The stone floor around Voldemort seemed to come alive as thousands of life-sized hands made of black stone rose into the air all around Voldemort. With hundreds of grinding 'pops', all of the stone hands balled themselves into fists before flying at Voldemort with lightning speed.
Voldemort was forced to conjure a powerful shield as the stone creation slammed into his shield in a neverending cacophony of deafening bangs. Each fist slammed into the shield and was pulverized into black dust, which quickly obscured Voldemort's view of the aged headmaster.
As the transfigured fist continued to slam into Voldemort's shield, the atrium was soon thick with a fog-like haze of stone dust hanging in the air.
"You see Tom, the trick to any duel is to make your enemy do what you want them to do. They will usually walk into the trap you set for them," Dumbledore said in a lecture-like tone.
Albus swirled his wand over his head forming a twister of rock dust and all of the tiny pieces of rock littering the floor. The debris swirled around Voldemort forcing him to continue to hold the shield or be torn to pieces by the tiny pieces of rock.
While this was going on, Dumbledore flicked his wand at the golden statues in the fountain and animated all but one to attack his opponent, the house elf statue, which he sent through the floo network to bring the minister here.
With a deafening blast of magic, Voldemort pushed everything away from him revealing he was covered in stone dust and his red eyes were glowing in fury.
Voldemort waved his wand again and a gout of black flame flew through the air, Dumbledore cast a spell that surrounded him in a sphere of blinding white fire that literally absorbed the black flame.
"All of that noise and that is all you managed," Dumbledore's voice asked from inside the white sphere of flame, before the sphere exploded outward in a wave of unbearable heat, forcing Voldemort to apparate away.
"Very impressive, Dumbledore," Voldemort conceded from the centre of the fountain where he had just appeared.
Dumbledore turned to see his opponent standing on the raised stone where the golden statues had rested minutes ago.
"That was more of a parlour trick but I could see how someone of your skill level would find it impressive," Dumbledore chuckled.
Voldemort swirled his wand and a black cloud spiralled out of the tip of his wand, shooting off bolts of purple lightning in every direction and causing Dumbledore to nod approvingly.
"That's more what I would expect from someone of your calibre, Tom," Dumbledore as he flicked his wand and a white cloud merged with the vortex flying towards him from Voldemort's wand.
The two powerful wizard's wands were now connected by the stream of opposing magic as they entered into a battle of wills. Flashes of purple lightning illuminated the atrium as they crashed into the ground on either side of Dumbledore though he paid this no notice. The white cloud streaming out of Dumbledore's wand was slowly consuming Voldemort's spell though it was gradually turning grey the closer it got to his opponent.
Out of the corner of his eye, Dumbledore saw flashes of green light as ministry officials arrived to see the demolished atrium. This was the entire point of the battle, Voldemort still had anchors tying him to the mortal plane but he had remained undetected long enough. With a great effort, Dumbledore willed the elder wand to overcome his opponent's spell. Voldemort was forced to apparate to safety a second time, though this time he wasn't quick enough to avoid injury as his wand arm was burnt by the white cloud before he reappeared behind Dumbledore howling in pain
Tom's arm was burnt all the way to his shoulder, his robes were burnt away and the raw, red skin was smoking from the fraction of a second it had come in contact with the spell.
"You must have really gone off the deep end, Tom. That spell only harms the deepest of evil, dementors, lethifolds and the like," Dumbledore said somewhat surprised at this revelation.
"Mark my words, Dumbledore. Soon you will fall and it will be because I have willed it to happen," Voldemort hissed in fury.
"We all must die eventually, Tom," Dumbledore said unconcernedly.
"Not I, I will live forever," Voldemort hissed before turning on the spot and apparating away from the atrium, tearing his way through the apparition wards over the building with laughable ease.
Albus stood there for a moment ensuring Tom had left before looking to his right and acknowledging the dozen or so ministry officials standing near the fireplaces.
"D-Dumbledore that was... that was... he's back?!" Cornelius said in a weak voice.
"I did say that months ago and again when he broke his followers out of Azkaban. Now if you will excuse me, Hogsmeade is under attack and I really must give them aid," Dumbledore said loudly for the gathering to hear.
"Hogsmeade is under attack?" Madam Bones demanded.
"It is," Dumbledore said as a screech of a bird seemed to echo throughout the room.
Everyone froze in place as the hall was filled with unearthly music a second before a Phoenix appeared in a flash of white Flame over their heads. It dove through the air, grasping Dumbledore's shoulder before the bearded wizard and the firebird disappeared in another flash of white fire.
"Dawlish get every auror you can to Hogsmeade, immediately!" Amelia commanded.
"Yes ma'am," the auror to her right answered before taking out his wand and touching it to his auror badge.
"Minister, it would be best if we secure you in your office with a guard until the ministry can be checked for any other threats," Amelia said looking at Cornelius.
"O-okay," Fudge stammered as his personal guard detail led him towards the lift.
"Fuck, why did Albus have to be right?!" Amelia demanded angrily as she brought the ministry's defensive wards up with a wave of her wand.
"Everyone who can fight, make your way to Hogsmeade!" Amelia commanded before disapparating away to give the village aid.
Her last thought before she disapparated, was that she knew this was going to be bad.