I certainly have no rights to Harry Potter, but this won't stop me writing this story. However, you probably already know this. As it is my specialty, and as in my other big stories, this shows how things go if something went different right at the beginning. Please note that I'm not a fan of bashing and also don't expect the pairings to differ from canon. However, the path to them sertainly will be quite different. I also want to try and subvert certain plots and things that became common in the fandom over the years.
For now, the story will update every second Saturday, until I say otherwise.
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Chapter 6: Times of Growth
It had been a relatively normal Monday in September at school, with nothing to make it different from any other Monday. Right at the moment Harry Potter walked out of his school after school was over. Second year was not too different from where the first year had let off, but his extra work over the summer clearly had paid off and improved his standing grade-wise.
Of course not everyone liked that - most certainly an overweight boy in his class - but Harry for now was glad he no longer felt he was lagging behind. Truth to be told, he couldn't care less what Dudley the bully was thinking of him, if not for the fact that the fat boy always was in the background like a menace only waiting to finally strike against him. This also had become part of the school experience, just not a good one.
However, as good as the day had been up to then, all good things had to come to an end at some point.
While walking home Harry noticed Dudley following him with an expression that spoke volumes - it was barely held back anger and frustration. Clearly, Dudley had become sick of Harry constantly evading him at school and now wanted to take his chances after school was over. While Dudley was on his own, this didn't make it any better.
"Oh, crud!" Harry gasped. Smelling the danger, Harry made a run for it and Dudley attempted to follow.
Why now? Why now? Harry thought in slight panic while trying to run as fast as he could.
Thing was, while Dudley was fat and slower than him, he got amazing reserves and could keep up his tempo for quite some time, while Harry already felt the first signs that he couldn't keep this up for too long. Harry simply was not a kid that liked sports too much, nor did he have strength reserves like Dudley did. Thus if nothing happened, Dudley would catch him before he could reach safe territory.
He didn't even want to imagine what Dudley would do to him, should he catch him. Outright flattening him was the first thing that came to mind. He had also heard how Dudley had threatened one kid with punching him into the face. That sounded like the most likely thing he would do to Harry after catching up with him. Either way, Harry knew he would be in for lots of pain.
He'll beat me up if he catches me! Anything to make him fall behind! ANYTHING! Harry wished dearly, not wanting to get beaten up by Dudley.
"Wahhh!" -boff!-
That sounded like Dudley had fallen, but Harry was not stupid enough to stop and look. He just thanked fate for hearing his wish and made a dash for it, vanishing into a small alley between houses and out of sight, so that Dudley wouldn't be able to follow him any longer. He could catch his breath once having found a hiding place.
Already feeling a pain in his side from the running, Harry spotted a really good hiding place just ahead when he saw the open and currently empty tool shed of the street sweepers and quickly ducked into it, closing the door behind himself but leaving it unlocked.
Trying to get his hammering heart under control, Harry thanked whatever fortune had made Dudley stumble. That was really lucky... he thought.
Dudley meanwhile was cursing while trying to sit up after he'd fallen flat onto his face - which had hurt. Getting up was not easy due to his bulk hindering him. It had went so well and he would have gotten the pipsqueak, if not for suddenly stumbling. Now Potter had made a run for it and was nowhere in sight. He was sure the boy would tell everything to his guardians, so there would be no chance to catch him for some time.
Looking down, he finally saw what had made him fall.
"Huh, what is that...?" Dudley gasped when seeing that his shoelaces were now tied together.
There was no way they could have been like that before, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to chase Harry. It was like all of a sudden they had become tied together while he was running after his prey. However, that had to be impossible, right? After all, how could that have happened, since there was no thing like snapping your fingers to cause magic to happen.
He decided while trying to separate his shoelaces to better say nothing to his parents, as they wouldn't believe him if he told them.
...Granger home, October 3rd...
Sitting at the desk in her room, Hermione Granger felt that the world was unfair.
School really was not turning out as she had hoped, as this school year continued where the previous one had left off. Oh, she was getting nothing but praise from her teachers for her accomplishments and she was easily the best student in class and year, but that helped little with the other students. They were now starting to actually resent her and made no secret of that very fact.
How can I make friends when they can't stand me?she thought, remembering how small tight-knit groups had developed, leaving her out.
It was not only that however. She had heard the other girls make fun of her bushy hair and her steadily developing overbite in cruel words she was meant to hear. The boys were little better, since she could hear the resentment from them when calling her a teacher's pet and pest in their conversations. Again, they made no effort to hide their words from her.
Hermione couldn't understand why they didn't like her while putting away the now finished homework, having decided to do all of it in one go right after school was over, so that it was done with. Of course, with that distraction now gone, it left her with her frustration at her social situation.
She found it incredibly unfair that the other students were cold to her just because they were less talented than her. Was it her fault that they were not applying themselves properly to school work? It did not exactly cross her mind that perhaps she should be more humble about her abilities and try being less aggressive at always trying to be the best in class, which was riling up the other students. Alas, Hermione had gotten it into her head that being aggressive about being the best was proving her worth, thus starting a vicious cycle.
Her obliviousness could partly be chalked up to her young age, though she also was starting to tune out this truth unconsciously. After all, people didn't want being confronted with things they didn't like and thus started to ignore these things, even if being unaware of doing so. That however was a fact she would only discover once being older and wiser.
Not wanting to dwell on her school problems, she wanted to do something else. Right now she didn't feel like reading even further ahead in the school books than she already did, as that would only remind her of her problems.
I really need something to distract myself. I WANT something to... Her thought stopped when noticing something.
Sitting on her desk was a book she could have sworn had not been there a moment ago. Perhaps she simply had not been attentive enough to her surroundings while feeling sorry for herself? Reading the title, she recognized it as a storybook her father had bought her, but she had not yet gotten to actually reading it. Strange, she could have sworn she'd put it into her bookshelf.
"Ah, who cares..." she finally decided.
Lying front down on her bed she opened the book to read about the strange adventure on a mysterious island.
...the Burrow, October 12th...
"I have to say, Arthur, it really seems to start to work. Sure, Ronald at first didn't take it seriously, but now he seems to start to get into it," Molly Weasley told her husband while sitting with him over some tea at the kitchen table.
"Yes, his teacher's advice certainly seems to work. After all, it's easy enough to understand and his grades are already starting to improve," Arthur had to agree with his wife. "He certainly understood when you gave him his favorite dessert for him applying himself."
Truth to be told, finally having found a way to get Ron to apply himself properly at school was a big weight off their shoulders. Granted, he was not at the top, but somewhere in the upper third was good enough for them. They had started to be a bit at a loss with their youngest son, as he didn't seem interested in schoolwork and also couldn't be reigned in like the twins. Also, that Ron was closest to Bill and Charlie of all his brothers was a bit problematic, as these two were at school for most of the year.
Truth be be told, of the siblings that were still at home, Ron was - surprisingly - closest to Ginny. Percy's love for intellectual challenge and following the rules went contrary to Ron's nature and the twins had always been closer to each other than to their siblings and Ron was actively keeping his distance from them. They had thought that Ginny being a girl would create a barrier in interests, but surprisingly, that was not the case. If anything, ever since starting school, Ron seemed to spend more time with Ginny at home.
"We only have to make sure this becomes permanent without such reward and punishment," Molly added, knowing this would only work for so long.
"You know, Molly, I still wonder which way that son of ours will go. Bill already said he wants to do field work with the electives he selected. Charlie wrote us so much about magical creatures, that I think he'll do something in that regard. I have a feeling that Percy is striving for an administrative desk job. Only with the twins I have no idea what could be in their future," Arthur thought aloud.
"Don't remind me about Fred and George. I don't even want to imagine the official letters we'll get once they attend Hogwarts," Molly sighed, thinking of her two problem children. "If they don't get their act together, they'll be in for a hard future."
The thought was sobering for the Weasley parents.
The Weasley family had fallen onto difficult times due to a combination of the Ministry obstructing the department Arthur was working in for petty reasons, thus his salary never increased while his workload did, and the financial cost of being such a big family. Their finances and big family also had gotten them the ridicule of many pure-blood families.
These families never considered that each of them only having one child - most even no longer having enough juice in their loins for a 'spare' - would mean their extinction in due time, while the Weasleys would go on easily.
It was pure irony that in the long game, the Weasleys in the end were bound to win big.
Up in Ginny's room meanwhile, said five-year old girl was venting to her friend Luna over some cookies and milk.
"It's unfair. I'll always be last to everything. Being the youngest blows," Ginny complained.
"Well, Ron is older than you," Luna said while carefully breaking a cookie in two.
Truth to be told, her not exactly seeing the world like other people helped to weather when Ginny was like that. In her mind, it was pretty obvious Ginny was afraid to drift apart from her brother and her anger actually was worry. On the other hand, she could not exactly show much emotional support for Ginny, always having had trouble to express her emotions.
Ginny rolled her eyes, not being fazed by Luna's calm behavior. "I know that. Not that I can change it."
Luna gave Ginny a thoughtful look while dipping her half of the cookie into the milk. "And what can you change?" she asked.
At first Ginny said nothing, trying to come up with anything. Then she gave Luna a look. "I could work really hard to get into his class..."
Luna gave her a slightly impressed look. "Why don't you?"
"I... I would lose you," she admitted reluctantly, blushing a little.
Luna at first said nothing. She had not expected that she meant so much to Ginny and her pale face reddened a little, that was how moved she felt at this admission. "You... would miss me?" Luna then hugged Ginny, feeling so warm at this admission. "I won't leave you."
"R-really?" She was not used to Luna showing her emotions so openly. It was quite out of character for her.
"Whatever you do, I'll follow you," Luna promised.
Ginny felt moved how loyal Luna was to her. Luna on the other hand normally never felt her emotions this direct. But the fear that Ginny could move up a class without her had shaken her. She did not see the world as everyone else did, but some things were universal and she didn't want to be alone.
...Diagon Alley, January 14th 1987...
It was a slow day in Diagon Alley, the magical shopping district of London. With it being winter and the school year being in session, traffic was lower than normal. Those that did visit the alley enjoyed the relative peace and used the opportunity to take their time for their shopping for once.
One couple doing so were Xenophilius and Pandora Lovegood. Their daughter Luna currently was at school, so they did use the opportunity to stock up on several magical supplies they needed. Especially Pandora needed some new ingredients for her potions experiments, while Xenophilius mainly came along to spend time with his wife and have his ear out for what's new on the streets - a must for his job.
Both of them were aware that their way of life, living in the middle of a Muggle town and adapting to their surroundings, was not endearing them to certain parts of magical society, but they couldn't care less if they were called Muggle-lovers and blood-traitors. After all, their daughter Luna seemed happy with how they were living, and that always was most important.
"Have you noticed it too, Xeno? Luna seems to apply herself very much at school. Her teacher after all is giving us nothing but praise that she easily is doing double the work expected, even breaking into material for the next year," Pandora told her husband while putting her purchased ingredients into her basket.
"That's our little pumpkin," Xeno said with pride. "I heard from Arthur that his own daughter is applying herself above all that's expected as well. Smells like a little conspiracy between these two."
"Ohh, maybe these two are Ravenclaws in the making? A Weasley in Ravenclaw, that would be a first," Pandora laughed. "Remember, her teacher told us that they are starting to consider her skipping a grade. The same goes for little Ginny as well."
Xeno gave her a knowing smile. "As I said, looks like a little conspiracy these two are cooking up."
Their next stop was the stationary shop, Amanuensis Quills.
Looking at the prices for quills and ink while his wife was making her purchases, Xeno noticed that they were quite a bit lower than he remembered, which was unusual, and spotted the owner standing behind the counter. "Ah, Jason, is there a sale of quills and ink I have not heard about?" he asked, smelling a story behind it.
Jason Hackson, the owner who knew Xeno, frowned when hearing the question. "No, I had to lower the prices to stay competitive. You know that over half of my sales goes to Hogwarts students, most by owl-order? However, recently demand for quills and ink has gone down."
"I don't think they'll write any less at school, so what could be the reason?" Pandora asked.
Mr. Hackson snorted. "Competition from the Muggle market. It's an open secret that the number of muggleborn and half-blood students at Hogwarts is rising steadily. Turns out many of them prefer to use these modern fountain pens and recently started to do so at school as well. Well, and since our ink is meant for quills and doesn't work with those pens..."
"...they buy the ink on the Muggle market as well," Xeno concluded. He already could see the article in the Quibbler form in his mind: 'Are Muggle Products Better?'. Yes, that would be a great story.
What Mr. Hackson did not say, was, that he blamed Headmaster Dumbledore for this change in purchasing patterns. After all, the Hogwarts letters now stated, that while quills were the norm, other writing utensils using ink were explicitly allowed as well. While the Headmaster had introduced this change due to many complaints from muggleborn and half-bloods about how impractical quills were, Mr. Hackson saw it as a move to hurt his business.
When they again left the shop, Pandora finally confessed "I didn't want to admit it whie he was present, but ever since we had to buy school supplies for Luna in a Muggle stationary shop, I've started to buy there as well. It's been weeks since the last time I used a quill and parchment."
"Well, looks like I can get a first-hand experience account," Xeno chuckled.
Continuing their stroll down Diagon Alley, they stopped when seeing a window display in Flourish & Blotts. A new book was showcased, which read in golden letters on the dark green book cover: Potions for Experts - written by Severus Snape.
"Oh, a new potions book! Now this sounds interesting!" Pandora said excitedly, her love for potions experiments shining through.
A sign next to the book in the display gave more details.
Potions for Experts
This comprehensive book was written by Severus Snape, professor at Hogwarts and potions expert. Within these pages, Professor Snape not only reveals new potions he developed with diligent work, but also countless ways how to get better results with existing potions. Due to the nature of this book, its usage in school by students is banned by the Ministry of Magic.
A list of reviews from several famous potion brewers followed, all of them praising Snape for his thorough and detailed work, many pointing out how this book would make the brewing of many potions for many much easier than before.
"Oh, Xeno, I need to buy this book. This is exactly what I needed for years." She didn't even wait for his reply while walking to the entrance to buy a copy.
"This is my Pandora, she gets a one-track mind once it comes to potions. Not that I love her any less because of it," Xeno mused, before following his wife into the book shop.
...St. Grogory's Primary School, January 27th...
Even during a rather cool January, children under then age of ten didn't mind getting outside after being cooped up in a classroom for hours; they simply needed the movement. Such also was the case during recess at the school that Harry Potter attended during this Tuesday in January. It was cold enough you could see your breath, but the children didn't care at all about that while milling around in the schoolyard.
Such also was the case for Harry.
The two boys he was talking with right at the moment were not close friends of his - thanks to Dudley and his gang he didn't have those - but they were still friendly enough that they could talk about the kind of stuff six to seven-year old boys liked to talk about. In this case it was about that latest episode of a popular animated TV show.
"Man, He-Man really did a number on Skeletor," the boy to Harry's left said.
"Yes, but he didn't humiliate him like some episodes ago," the boy to Harry's right added.
"You know, they did dig out that trick with the sword again," Harry remarked.
Harry really liked these conversations, as they eased up the otherwise rather dry school routine. Also, talking with other boys about all this stuff certainly helped him to forget some other annoying things at school. However, sadly, the easy time he'd had was about to come to an end right at that moment when one of the boys noticed something and pulled on Harry's sleeve.
"Harry, look over there..." he whispered.
Harry did look and grimaced. Dudley had gathered his faithful gang of Piers, Dennis, Malcolm and Gordon and was watching him like a hawk. Quickly looking around, Harry realized that no teacher currently was present on the schoolyard, which was not good. Clearly, Dudley had realized this as well, as he said something to the other boys and they started to advance to his position.
"Oh crud! Guys, I need to get away!" Harry said hastily, before trying to make a retreat, already having a good idea what Dudley was about to do.
However, depite not being the sharpest tool in the shed, Dudley clearly had thought ahead about how to corner Harry, as he and his goons had positioned themselves between the doors and Harry to make sure he couldn't escape inside. Other students also made a run for it when realizing they could drawn into something nasty. After all, they by now knew it was better not to get pulled into whatever Dudley was about to do after some rather bad things in the past.
Since when is he this smart? ... Oh no! Now Harry panicked when seeing what was ahead.
Harry saw the only thing ahead was the low perimeter brick wall of the schoolyard, which separated the yard from the street. While it was just a bit over a meter tall, to a six-year old boy this pretty much was an obstacle he couldn't overcome. The gate also was out when seeing that Dennis had cut off that way. Harry was trapped!
"Now you can't get away," Dudley leered, before suddenly his fist made contact with Harry's face, causing Harry's glasses to fly off.
"Boys, Harry Hunting is good, Harry Beating is better!" Dudley laughed cruelly.
That was the signal to his little gang and all of them started to rain their fists down onto Harry, laughing at his cries of pain and adding some kicks for good measure. It never crossed their mind that beating someone green and blue was bound to have consequences, unable to think that far. They just saw a perfect opportunity to finally teach the little pipsqueak, who had avoided them so far, a lesson. That also would be a message to others.
Ahhh! NO! Get away! GET AWAY! Harry panicked.
An invisible force suddenly pushed the boys away from Harry. They stumbled a bit, then though it had been their imagination and decided to continue when seeing Harry trying to get back onto his feet. However, that would not happen.
"What do you hooligans think you are doing?!"
Dudley and his gang froze when seeing seeing a bobby standing on the other side of the wall, giving them very displeased looks. After a few moments they did recognize Constable Black and realized that this could end badly for them, especially when Black looked down and saw the condition Harry was in. That caused his expression to turn outright icy.
Sirius for his part cursed himself that he clearly was arriving too late and Harry already had gotten a nasty beating from these overgrown apes. He'd been on foot partol through the neighborhood when suddenly he'd gotten a really bad feeling that something was wrong with Harry. His duty has Harry's godfather came with a magic that told him when Harry's well-being was in serious danger. That magic would evaporate once Harry started Hogwarts, but for now it was very useful.
Thus he had made haste to reach the school, only just to arrive to see Harry unleash a small pulse of accidental magic to push his attackers away.
You hooligans won't get away with that, Sirius thought, struggling with keeping clam.
"Uh, Constable Black..." Dudley stammered, while Harry made his escape to the gate leading to the other side of the wall, staying close to Sirius and feeling his calming hand on his shoulder.
Harry for his part couldn't believe his luck that his Uncle Sirius had been close by and stopped the beating from going on - he had not noticed the pulse at all. Sirius had told him often enough that when he was in uniform, he had to act professional, so he said nothing, trying to clam down instead and the pain from the beating was starting to set in.
"It saw that!" Now things were getting worse when a teacher stormed out of the door, looking very disappointed. "I saw it all from the window. You boys are in trouble!" She then took in how beaten up Harry was. "Great goodness... Constable..."
"Miss Marchs, I also witnessed these boys ganging up on their victim and beating him green and blue," Sirius said, recognizing the teacher, then noticed some other students approach. "And it looks like there are even more witnesses."
"Dudley, Piers, Dennis, Malcolm, Gordon... How could you?!" Miss Marchs said, also trying her best to keep her emotions under control. Getting no answer, she knew what it meant. "I thought so."
Sirius meanwhile had escorted Harry back into the schoolyard, acting as professional as he could while comforting Harry. "Miss Marchs, this is bad enough that we officially need to bring it before the Headmaster."
The teacher took some deep breaths to calm herself, before agreeing. "Yes, this is way too bad to be dealt unofficially." She then gave Dudley and his gang another very disappointed look. "You boys are in deep trouble now, you know?"
"Better also call the school nurse. The boy got a nasty beating," Sirius reminded her.
Miss Marchs' expression softened when taking in the extent of Harry's bruises. "Yes, I'll call her from the Headmaster's office as soon as we are there. She also will tell us how much these little hooligans hurt the poor boy."
Despite the pain he was in, Harry understood one thing that made it somewhat bearable. Unlike many other instances before, Dudley and his little gang now were in deep trouble. That was a first to Harry and despite them having beaten him badly, he felt that now they would finally get punished for what they had done. Deep inside it gave Harry some satisfaction.
Picking up his fallen glasses, Harry was relieved that they weren't broken. It would have been insult to injury if he hadn't been able to see clearly until getting his spare glasses from home. Finally getting a clear look at Sirius, Harry had no trouble to see how he was barely holding his fury at bay. Harry only noticed because he knew him so well, others would just see a calm man.
For the moment Harry mostly felt numb, too shocked for the moment to really understand.
Dudley and his friends paled when they were marched to the Headmaster's office under the eyes of all other students, escorted by the teacher and Constable Black. They had the very strong feeling that the day would not end well for them.
Over an hour later, Dudley felt like vanishing into the ground.
The events in the Headmaster's office were still on his mind, but what was even worse was this walk of shame he was forced on. Piers, Dennis, Malcolm and Gordon had been picked up by their respective parents, who clearly were not pleased with their sons actions, but he had it worse. Constable Black had said that he would personally escort young Dudley, the ringleader, home after clearing it with his direct superior.
Dudley didn't know what was worse: dreading how his parents would react to the news, or the looks everyone in their neighborhood was giving him while he was escorted home by a police officer. That was a new experience for Dudley, who for his entire live had been coddled by his parents.
Finally reaching Privet Drive No. 4, Sirius saw the car in the driveway and realized that Vernon was home as well. That in his mind would actually make what was coming up even better. He rang the doorbell and then waited.
It did not take long for Petunia to open the door. Her eyes widened for a moment, but then she collected herself. "Constable, may I ask why you have escorted my son home?" She was fooling no one with her false politeness; it was clear that she was angry and suspicious.
"Mrs. Dursley, for this official matter I have to ask for your husband to be present as well," Sirius told her in his best bobby-voice, finding it even better if he would stay fully professional.
Petunia had a bad feeling about this, but called for Vernon, who arrived promptly, not being in the best mood due to the cold that had forced him to take a few days off on doctor's orders. He as well barely managed to hold back his contempt of Sirius. "What is the problem, Constable?"
"In my official function as an officer of the law, I have to witness both of you reading this official document," Sirius told them while fishing an envelope out of his breast pocket, handing it over to them.
Vernon and Petunia now got a really bad feeling when seeing the official seals of Surrey and the school administration on the envelope. It had to be something bad, that was for sure. Vernon opened it and both of them read its contents, paling the further they read. When they were finally done, they gave Sirius a look of disbelief, clearly still trying to process this nasty surprise.
Vernon first found his voice. "Two weeks suspension for assaulting another student?"
"As you read, Mr. Dursley, it was not only your son, but his friends as well. They ganged up on their victim and attacked without any mercy. The injuries are all documented and all of them got the same punishment," Sirius told Vernon.
"But... a permanent entry in his file?" Petunia almost stammered, horrified that Dudley was now officially on record for excessive violence in school.
"As the document states, the injuries caused to the student make this punishment justifiable. Sir, Ma'am, I wish you a good day." That said, Sirius left, feeling this brat deserved it after all all the crap he did. If only Harry hadn't paid such a high price. He would need to comfort him as soon as his shift was over.
"Dudley, go to you room," Petunia said, and Dudley knew better than to argue after the day he'd had.
Once Dudley was gone, Petunia finally let it all out. "Oh, Vernon, what can we do about this?"
Now, while Vernon Dursley was an impulsive man with a temper, he wouldn't have climbed so far on the career ladder without understanding certain things. One of them was, that fighting against the law was not smart. "Pet, I fear we can't do anything against it. It's all said and done and trying to reverse it only will make it worse."
"It's unfair how they treat our Dudders. Aren't you angry as well?" Petunia complained.
"Of course I'm angry! Yet, there is nothing we can do about it." Vernon took a moment to think. "That freak from next door escorted Dudley home. I bet he got his fingers all over it."
One could argue that the ability of the elder Dursleys to delude themselves concerning their son was an impressive ability, considering how they managed to ignore all and every proof that did not fit into how they saw the world. Even such an undeniable event could be twisted by them until it fit their narrative. Others would consider such behavior concerning.
One thing that was clear however, was, that it was a lousy attitude for parenting.
Upstairs in his room, Dudley was sulking.
This had been a horrible day for him, as it was the very first time he got a severe punishment. He could not understand it, finding it unfair. Yet, he also knew that trying anything at school would be a big no-no. While not the sharpest tool in the shed, even he knew that the teachers would now keep an eye on him and his friends. That however didn't mean Dudley was any less angry.
Instead of accepting that he had messed up, he took the easy way and blamed Harry - one day he would make Harry pay dearly.
o
"I can't believe it came to that... Petunia is doing nothing but create a delinquent. I almost fainted when I saw Harry and how bruised he was," Veronica told the others, trying not to get overwhelmed by her emotions again.
By now it was evening. Thomas and Veronica had invited Sirius and Remus to meet them at the evening, after Harry and mark were already asleep in their beds, to talk about that day's disaster of Harry getting beaten up by Dudley and his little gang. None of them had thought it would escalate to such a level of violence.
"I saw it first hand. I really had to control myself not to do something I would regret later," Sirius growled, reflecting how he'd first thing beaten up a sandbag after his shift was over.
"Don't blame yourself, Padfoot. We can't hover over Harry all the time," Remus reminded Sirius, though he himself also was upset over what happened. Years of having to control his temper due to his nature now showed in him staying calm.
Sirius tried his best, but it was difficult. "How is Harry? When you took him home, I think he hadn't fully realized yet what happened."
Thomas knew what Sirius was talking about. He remembered his wife's panicked phone call and leaving work early to pick up Harry, who was in no condition to go home on foot. "He... was very silent at first. It was only once we were home that he started to cry, and that not only from the pain. It was the first time he'd become the victim of violence that he could remember."
Everyone knew that Harry had become the victim of murderous intent before, but thankfully Harry didn't remember that (at least not in detail). They also remembered Harry telling them how he'd barely managed to run away from Dudley clearly trying to beat him up after school. This time Dudley had made good on his threat and Harry clearly would be changed by the experience.
"Besides being beaten green and blue, he's afraid it could happen again," Veronica said, remembering Harry's tearful confession. "I honestly don't understand why they didn't put that hooligan into a different class after what happened."
"Oh, that's simple. They don't want to risk having him in a class together with his accomplices," Sirius explained, having been present for it. "They in turn plan to be extra watchful concerning Harry and Dudley."
"This is not very reassuring." Being a mother, Veronica couldn't help but to worry that this could end badly. "Should anything else happen, I swear I'll sue the school."
"Calm down, Veronica..." Thomas held his wife close, feeling her tremble in helpless anger. "It's not like the Dursleys can overturn the school's decisions."
"I bet they'll try," Remus snorted. "Seeing how much they coddle their son, they would do anything for him. They're raising him to become someone completely useless."
"They won't get anywhere with that," Sirius remarked. "The Headmaster told me that the Dursleys have become less popular in their neighborhood. Should the school show any kind of favoritism to Dudley, they would get crucified."
"At least something... Not that it helps Harry." Veronica sighed, looking to the stairs leading upstairs. "They allowed him the rest of the week off to recover. How do you think this will change him?"
Remus, working a lot with children due to his job as a private tutor, looked thoughtful. "I think he will become more careful - always make sure that the coast is clear. It wasn't a trust issue, as he already knew Dudley hates him. He'll think he needs to be more careful in the future."
It was a depressing thought that a six-year old boy would feel the need to always make sure that no one was nearby who could want to cause him harm. Again Dudley Dursley had destroyed a part of Harry's innocence far earlier than it was comfortable. Harry now certainly would be less approachable and more guarded than before.
...Hermione's school, February 23rd...
It was a normal day in the 2nd grade class in which Hermione was in. She knew there would be a writing test today, thus she wanted to make sure that her fountain pen was full, as she didn't want to waste any time during the test. Good thing that she was good at it and didn't cause ink droplets.
However, just as she was done with her fountain pen... -bonk- "NO!"
Hermione reacted with plain horror when a girl walking by her desk hit the still opened inkwell with her elbow, causing it to fall over. She was quick to set it uptight again, but the damage was already done; the ink had spilled all over the book she had sit open on her desk, essentially ruining it in the span of mere two seconds.
"Ooops, sorry. I didn't notice that," the girl, Eloise Greene, said in a very insincere voice, before simply walking away.
Hermione looked in shock at her ruined book. Even with her young age, she had realized that she had become an outsider in the class, the other students by now gladly excluding her from their social circle. However, she had not thought it possible that another student would willingly damage her property. She was not stupid, as this without doubt had been a fully intentional act of cruelty instead of an accident. Worse, it was hitting her hard.
She had developed a love for books, thus having one of hers destroyed in order to hurt her felt doubly bad. Also, that her classmates no longer were above damaging her property was a new low and made her wonder how others could be this cruel.
Looking at the ruined book, Hermione was close to tears. Destroyed, gone! I can never get this ink out. Never... Huh?
Hermione was stopped in her depressing thoughts when seeing the ink start to move. It was separating itself from the paper, before flowing back into the inkwell. Hermione looked in astonishment at the now again pristine book, before quickly closing the inkwell to prevent another disaster.
How did this happen? she wondered while everyone scrambled to their seats when the teacher arrived.
For the first time since starting school, Hermione was not attentive in a lesson and never once rose her hand to answer a question, much to the astonishment of everyone. No, she was very much occupied with what had happened with the ink, since she had watched it clearly and had proof with the clean book that it had not been her imagination.
It was undeniable that... something made the ink to get out of the book and back into the inkwell. Thinking about it, Hermione realized that it happened right after she had thought how she would never be able to get the ink out of the book. Her already sharp mind concluded, that this couldn't have been a coincidence. That however left her with the confusion of what exactly had happened.
Ink doesn't move on it's own! There has to be a force moving it, she concluded.
That of course did raise the question what kind of force it could have been. For the time being Hermione was at a loss with that particular question, but vowed to be more observant, in case something strange happened again.
...Ottery St. Catchpole, March 3rd...
Man, someone that can move that fast is awesome. I really like these comics, Ron thought while walking through town on his way home from school.
Today had been an ordinary day at school - meaning it had been quite exhausting for Ron due to him being attentive to the lessons. However, Ron didn't mind how exhausting it was for two reasons. For one, he did want to get rewarded for good progress at school instead of having to do unpleasant stuff like de-gnoming the garden. Second, attending a non-magical school had shown to have numerous positive sides.
He finally understood why his father was so mad for Muggle stuff, now that he was in contact with it on a daily basis. There were so many wonders to be discovered! Of course that also went for stuff that he had personally taken a liking to. The other boys at school always got the most interesting things and more than once he got things simply because they didn't see them as having a high value.
Today had been especially good in that regard.
He had gotten not one, but two comic books that the other boys no longer wanted after reading them several times. One was the first issue about some saga where someone was using a white wave of nothing to destroy many Earths. That one currently was in his school bag while he was reading the other one about a man in a red outfit that could move at incredible speeds.
I still can't read it that well, but the pictures alone are worth it, Ron marveled at his find.
School also was a bit... weird.
Ginny and her blond-haired friend seemed to throw themselves into school work like made. It honestly felt like Ginny always had a book in front of her or was busy with practicing her writing or basic math. He'd once asked why why she was doing that to herself, and she'd bluntly told him she wanted to be in the same class as he was, and her friend therefore didn't want to be left behind as well.
Ron honestly had no idea what to think about that. It sounded a bit insane to him, but if Ginny wanted to prove something...
During all this however, he was not attentive to his surroundings, walking and reading at the same time after all never was a particularly smart idea. Thus he was crossing the street without giving a thought to traffic, which right away turned out to be an error.
-meeeeepp- -screeeetttchhhh-
The sound of a car horn and tires grinding over the pavement made him look up in shock, only to see a car coming towards him at high speed, despite the driver having already stepped onto the brakes. Ron knew enough to realize that getting hit by that meant not getting back up. No way he could jump aside in time and Ron panicked...
Only for him suddenly being pulled away by an invisible force, landing hard on the sidewalk.
Ron still tried to process what had happened while the pale-faced driver of the car finally managed to stop and several other pedestrians ran to him after the near-accident. No one saw anything unusual in the act that a six-year old boy seemed to be in shock after nearly being hit by a car.
"Great goodness, lad!"
"Are you hurt?"
"I could have sworn something invisible pulled you."
While that all was going on, Ron finally understood. My magic... saved me. He of course knew of accidental magic - had also suffered from some of it - but this was the first time he was old enough to witness his magic acting out.
Then another thought came to him, concerning the consequences of this event. Oh no, Mum and Dad will hear of this! Not to speak of the forget-guys Dad spoke of...
Suddenly the day looked to become worse for Ron.
No one paid any attention to a woman who had watched the whole thing from a distance. She looked unremarkable; simply a woman somewhere in her mid-forties who looked like she had just returned from a shop visit with the basket she held in one hand. After some more moments, she quickly walked away and down several streets until reaching one of the many red phone booths that were found all over England. Getting into it, she quickly put in some coins and dialed a number.
"Four," the voice at the other end said.
"Twelve, code 'watering can'," the woman replied.
"Code is correct. What has happened to warrant a speedy report?"
"The youngest son of the Weasleys had a pubic manifestation of his magic. He was almost hit by a car, but an invisible force pulled him onto the sidewalk. I left right away, but wanted to report in case of Obliviators," the woman reported.
"Remarkable luck you were in position to witness it. You are our lone operative in the entire area. Also good nothing happened to the boy. Go home and wait a day. No need to risk memory loss."
"Understood." That said, she hung up the phone and left.
...Little Whinging police department, April 15th...
"I thought these new computers were meant to help us write our reports faster instead of slower?" Sirius asked a fellow constable while trying to write his report on the new hardware. That proved to be more difficult than anticipated.
"Yeah, I do miss my typewriter, but what can we do? Guess we oldtimers all have to get used to it," his colleague said, carefully moving his coffee cup away from the keyboard after getting an angry eye from across the room.
"Well, it's not like you can get it back," Sirius remarked, playing upon the fact that all the typewriters had been collected and shipped off to some kind of government warehouse, to be stored until the government could figure out what to do with them.
It had happened some days ago, when their police station finally got a shipment of the new computers that were meant to replace typewriters and also take over several other roles that before had to be done by hand. Needless to say, the old coppers had a hard time getting used to the new hardware - especially Sirius, due to his origin in the magical world. Right at the moment it still was all about getting used to it instead of raising work efficiency.
At least I'm not blowing it up by touching it, Sirius thought, always having expected to have a bad relationship with technology - though thankfully that didn't turn out to be the case.
"Hey, Sirius, you did notice what was coming together with these?" his colleague then asked Sirius.
"How could I not, Freddie? After all, she is watching like a hawk that we don't break anything." Sirius was playing at the coffee incident just a few moment ago. "Well, the Chief Inspector always wanted more constables, so two birds with one stone."
They were of course talking about the person who came together with the computers: Constable Diane Watson. While she was a fully-trained police officer, it was pretty obvious that she mainly got this specific transfer because she also was an expert with the new computer technology. In other words, her second job was to teach them how to use it and make sure they wouldn't break the expensive hardware. She was really good at that job, too.
"Well, she's giving you different looks. I mean, like right now," Freddie told Sirius.
Sirius caught it barely. Watson had watched him with a different kind of interest, but once she noticed that he had noticed, she quickly tried to hide behind the computer screen. Was that a light blush he was seeing? His old experiences from Hogwarts with female behavior came to his mind and after some moments he realized what this actually was about.
"She's got a crush on me? We've barely spoken," he whispered to Freddie, unsure what to think about it.
"Well, whose fault is that?" Freddie then gave Sirius an interesting look. "I don't really get you. Ever since you started here, you pretty much lived like a monk. Also, you haven't heard this from me, but some of the blokes are starting to whisper since you live in a house with your best pal."
Rolling his eyes that this was again coming up, Sirius decided to shoot it down. "Just for your information, I did do the deed with several girls in my school days. It's just with so much happening in my life the past few years, I never got the chance to even think about that."
"Man, that's sad. So, what do you want to do about Watson?" Freddie asked.
"As I said, I barely know her. What would be a good point to start at?" Sirius wondered.
"How about talking with her? You know, learn what kind of woman she is. Maybe do some patrols together. Get her a coffee. You know, just small stuff. After all, I did go slow when meeting my wife," Freddie offered showing off the wedding band on his left hand.
Again looking to where Watson now was busy with her own report and no longer giving him her attention, Sirius began to wonder. He had not given women any thought ever since that day over five years ago. His time had been taken up by other things and he had mostly forgotten abut it, though he had become aware of it some time ago. Now looking back, perhaps he really should have been a little selfish as well, as while he had thought about everyone else, Sirius Black the man had drawn the short stick.
It still is kind of depressing, he thought.
While that revelation was depressing, now that things were running smoothly, it perhaps really was time to think about himself in that way as well? After all, he would not get any younger.
He tried to concentrate on his own report, but couldn't help but to glace to the woman from time to time, until realizing he was drifting into the same behavior that she had been doing. Diane Watson certainly was a good-looking woman with her steel-blue eyes and her dark blond hair, which for duty had been put into a low bun hairstyle. However, he could say little about her personality until actually talking to her.
It did raise the question if he really was that starved for female attention. Perhaps he was, after his life had gotten into predictable and comfortable waters. He certainly didn't want to end up like those men who had to rely on porn. Also, what was he going to do about it?
I bet I'll screw it up and she'll slap me within minutes. After all, it happened often enough in school, Sirius thought, feeling this would be the most likely outcome.
However, it couldn't hurt to at least try to talk to her, right?
Time passed.
Things turned out different from how Sirius expected them to go.
Several weeks later, Sirius was again at his desk, writing the day's report.
By now he was used to the new computer and also seemed to be in a good mood, whistling while writing. That was not lost on Freddie when he returned from a smoke break and saw how relaxed his colleague was. Even though they would never call it that, men were just as likely to gossip as women, and he saw a prime opportunity to get interesting news.
"So, what is it? You wouldn't look so utterly relaxed otherwise. The others are already making bets," he asked Sirius.
"Oh, get your mind out of the gutter. The only thing that happened, was, that the two of us had a really nice evening at the local pub as friends. Just one pint, lots of talking and I discovered she's really good at darts. Certainly not a date of any kind" Sirius did not lose his relaxed air.
"Well, if you say it was no date..." It was pretty obvious Freddie didn't believe that part. "Looks like you really enjoyed it."
"Actually, both of us did. She's quite different from these girls I dated at school. I can't see her cry over a broken nail, which she keeps short anyway. Not that she's unfeminine, just a lot tougher and down-to-earth than most other women I dated," Sirius tried to explain.
Sirius couldn't help but to find it admirable that Diane Watson did not feel herself above digging into the dirt and do the dirty work as well. That pragmatic attitude probably had helped her select the police as her career choice. Honestly, most of the girls he did date in school had been kind of high maintainance and looked like outright sissies compared to her. Perhaps that was the reason why it never had worked out in the end?
His past dates after all had all been very reluctant to enter the Three Broomsticks - good thing he never tried the Hog's Head - and also felt that butterbeer was way too strong for them. Not exactly women that had much in common with him. Watson on the other hand had not blinked an eye when he had invited her to the pub and also had no problem with enjoying a pint of good ale - something that was quite a bit stronger than butterbeer.
"Well, just listen to yourself talking," Freddie remarked with a knowing look while sitting down at his desk to write his own report.
What is he...? Oh. No, he must be wrong. After all, she just is a friend who happens to be a woman, Sirius tried to rationalize it, but didn't sound very convinced of it.
Right then she came in to do her own paperwork and Sirius all of a sudden found it rather difficult to concentrate on his own work. Something after all was on his mind.
Who am I kidding?No, I won't make the same errors like I did in the past. Friends it is for now. Anything more has to come on its own later on.
At her own desk meanwhile, Diane Watson also had some trouble doing her work.
She remembered her first day and how she had seen that dashing constable at his desk. She was not exactly a woman who fell easily for a man's charm - after all she had somehow managed to get through her teenage years without even a single boyfriend due to the boys finding her being too much like themselves interest-wise, clearly preferring stereotypically feminine girls.
Is it my fault I grew up only with my father and brother? She had asked that herself in the past due to that having shaped her.
Yes, that meant she was highly inexperienced with these things. She had felt like an idiot when acting like a shy girl around him, but couldn't help it. After several past rejections she was afraid that yet another man would find her uninteresting once learning more about her beyond looks. However, things turned out to be quite different from what she had imagined.
It had taken weeks for both of them to no longer be tongue-tied outside of duty. It looked like Sirius actually was not repulsed by who she was. Right now both of them were friends who just happened to be of opposite genders; not that this was bad, after all love on first sight only happened in stories. The friend-zone right at the moment felt being the safest option for both of them until they felt more comfortable with each other.
She had no wish to mess things up by stumbling into something both of them clearly were not ready for.
Even better, Sirius didn't mind at all that she was a bit of a ladette, she even got the feeling that he found it attractive. That honestly had never happened before and gave her a warm feeling. He had said not yet anything about the why, but she guessed that some bad past experiences with stereotypically feminine girls played a major role in it.
Don't be hasty. Remember, you don't know if he wants that kind of relationship. One slow step after the other, she reminded herself.
...June 26th, end of the school year...
Hermione knew her parents were proud of her accomplishments, but she also felt that there was something else they wanted to tell her after congratulating her on her good marks. All three of them had made themselves comfortable in the living room of the house and Hermione wondered what it could be.
"Now, Hermione, your exceptionally good marks have opened up another important topic we need to talk about," Ian Granger finally breached the silence.
"Yes, darling. Your teachers told us that with the way your are ahead of the material, your teachers feel you could easily skip a grade or two," Jean finally spelled out the elephant in the room. After all, even the teacher who previously didn't want to suggest it had changed her opinion, considering how ridiculously far ahead Hermione was compared to everyone else in class.
"Skip a grade?" Now Hermione's expression soured, looking outright offended. "That would be unfair! I want to earn my progression, not get carried to the goal. I won't agree!"
"And you are sure about that, darling?" Jean asked her daughter.
"Yes! I will not take the easy road," Hermione said, crossing her arms to show that this was final.
Ian felt like sighing. "Well, if you are so set on it..." While having such a strong opinion about not taking a shortcut normally was a good thing, he felt that Hermione was making things unnecessarily difficult for herself.
"You better believe I am. Now, I'm upstairs." That said, Hermione went upstairs to her room.
Ian gave his wife a look. "It looks like she get more stubborn with each year once she thinks she is in the right. It was an error to ask her about it, now she'll sulk for some time."
Jean sighed, knowing her husband was right about the matter. "Sometimes I think she is too smart for her own good. All the school work comes too easy for her and I fear she doesn't even notice how it influences her."
Hermione's second school year had ended that day, and their daughter had nothing but top marks to show off on her report card. However, it were several comments from her teachers that concerned her parents. Hermione had become practically an outcast in class and by now she seemingly no longer was even bothering with trying to make friends. Her teachers chalked it up to her high intelligence alienating her from the other students.
They knew that even though it looked like their daughter was not bothered by having no friends, inside she was hurting from the social rejection. Even more concerning, it seemed that she in turn was starting to develop an attitude that she can't be wrong about things once she felt she had informed herself enough, as well as an overly strong belief in authority figures.
Upstairs meanwhile, Hermione was oblivious to her parents' worries. Instead, she was thinking about some findings of hers.
Ever since the ink incident, Hermione had been on the lookout for other strange things happening, and indeed a few had happened. They weren't as obvious as the ink thing, but thanks to her increased attention, she had noticed. It mainly happened when she was in need of something, and the item in question was suddenly nearby, though one time she did see it hover to her before setting down.
Perhaps the most telling incident had happened a few weeks after she'd started being more observant. She had still been angry with Eloise Greene over her attempt to destroy her book, so when the girl had commented while refilling her own fountain pen that ink can ruin books, Hermione had become really angry, and suddenly ink had sprayed out of the inkwell and onto Greene's school uniform.
Hermione had made the connection that her own anger at Greene had caused that to happen, but it also scared her since it opened up the possibility that she could hurt others should she become really angry.
She had looked as far as she could with her limited means to understand what was going on, but there was little of worth. There weren't many books on that topic a girl her age could understand, regardless how high her intellect was. Seeing that man Uri Geller on TV, who claimed he could bend spoons with telekinetic powers - such an obvious fraud - didn't make it much better.
I know so little that I can't make sense of it, she thought in dissatisfaction.
She however wouldn't tell her parents, who clearly wouldn't believe her. After all, she had no idea how to cause these strange effects, and without a sure way to show them, there was no way they wouldn't claim she was making up things.
She needed to find out more before she could make any sense of all this.
o
Unlike other households, where the end of the school year gave the parents reason to be proud of their children, a dark cloud seemed to hang over the Dursley home. While that was not that big of a surprise due to Dudley not being a good student, it did play out differently than one might expect. Normally, bad marks reflected badly on the student in question, but of course in the Dursley house it was a different matter altogether.
"How can that school give you such bad marks?" Vernon asked while looking over Dudley's end-of-year school record card.
"The teachers don't understand me," Dudley complained, not wanting to admit that he simply was too lazy to invest enough work to get better marks.
Petunia was quick to agree with her son. "I'll give them an earful at the next teacher-parent meeting."
Dudley had banked on his parents taking his side in the matter, as they always did. Even the incident with the bespectacled freak months ago had not had any serious repercussions with them. School, however, was a different problem, as he now clearly was seen as a problem student. While he for some reason had not been switched into a different class, even he knew keeping a distance from Potter at school was the only chance to keep it that way.
"It's unfair," Dudley whined, knowing that would get him what he wanted.
"Oh, don't be upset, Dinky Duddydums. We'll take care of it. Why don't you change out of your uniform?" Petunia tried to pacify her son, giving in right away.
"Oh, alright..." Dudley walked upstairs, but then faked closing his door and tried to listen in to what his parents were talking about downstairs.
"This is scandalous, Vernon! How dare these teachers to give our son the same marks as those that freak nephew of mine has?" Petunia complained, ignoring the fact that she had no idea of Harry's actual marks (much better than Dudley's).
"Don't be upset, Petunia, we'll make this right. You understand however, that we have to be careful. My word has lost some weight with them. We know who is responsible for that," Vernon told her, grumbling the last part.
"I know... Black. Of course he does everything to help the little freak," Petunia hissed, sounding even more offended now. "That man is a blight on our lives."
That was of course their prejudices at work. In reality, Sirius couldn't care less about the Dursey's and also had strictly worked within the law during the incident with Dudley. While the incident had of course damaged their reputation - after all the other parents now saw them as having a problem child - it was the behavior of the Dursley parents which had reduced the weight of their word. Experiencing them for a longer time, one tended to be less than impressed.
Having heard enough and not wanting to get caught, Dudley quietly retreated into his room.
While changing clothes, Dudley tried to understand what he had heard. He'd had no idea that Harry actually was related to them, with Harry being his cousin. His parents had always treated the existence of Harry Potter as little more than that of a stranger they didn't like. To Dudley it was an enigma why his parents would do so. On the other hand, the only other relative he knew of was Aunt Marge, so it was difficult to compare, though he tolerated Marge since she gave him all kind of stuff.
In his mind however, that his parents disliked Harry could only mean that Harry must have done something to wrong them, which for him was only more reason to see Harry as someone to dislike. Also, he hated to be compared to him.
However, even Dudley knew that for the moment it would be really bad to make any kind of move against Harry. No, he would have to be patient - something he was not good at - until things had calmed down and then try to get his hands on Harry in a place where no one would witness it. That way, he could evade punishment.
One day I will get you...
o
"I honestly still don't get why you did it," Ron commented to Ginny. "In the end you often looked like you could keel over. Did you sleep at all?"
"Of course I did sleep." Ginny's tired expression however spoke a different language. "It was worth it. Now I'm in your class."
Truth to be told, one reason why Ginny could stay awake at the moment was the decor of Ron's room. The bright orange color that Ron used to honor the Chudley Cannons Quidditch team, his favorite team, almost screamed at her and prevented her sleepiness from taking over. It was kind of a miracle that Ron actually had no trouble to find sleep in this room.
The topic both of them were talking about of course was the small miracle that Ginny and Luna managed to accomplish. Both of them had managed to skip directly from first to third grade, and thus would be in Ron's class come next school year. Both of them however also had paid a high price for that feat. Doing the work of two school years compressed into one AND understanding all of it had been very time-intensive and cost them lots of strength. In fact, Ginny was sure the first few weeks of summer would be her mostly sleeping. Luna most likely would do the same.
"Of course there's no way I could do it again. It was one time only," Ginny added, knowing that it had been the result of insanely hard work instead of talent. "It was easier for Luna. She's really smart when she wants to be."
"So, what now?" Ron asked.
"Now... I think I'll sleep for a week." That was not hyperbole, Ginny really wanted to sleep for a long time.
Ron chuckled a little. "Good, I heard Mum was already planning to put you on sleeping potion."
Ginny grimaced as she hated the taste of sleeping potion. "Yuck, don't remind me! It was a good plan, but I never want to do this again." She then gave Ron a look. "Aren't you annoyed how they're praising me?"
That stopped Ron for a moment. He had seen how much praise their parents had heaped onto Ginny for accompishing such a feat. In the past he would have been incredibly angry at Ginny for outshining him and would've thought she was trying to monopolize their parents' attention. However, he knew better now. He had seen how Ginny had worked herself half to death to get this far and wouldn't be able to do so again. Also, she had done it because she wanted to be in the same class as he was - had told him so directly.
He honestly could not be angry at her for that.
"No, I'm not. You didn't do it to be better than me. Aren't you going to miss your old class?" Ron asked, still wondering about that part.
Ginny snorted very unladylike. "Hardly. All the girls go gaga over stupid stuff I don't care for. Luna is with me and that's enough."
"Oh, it's stupid stuff?" Ron of course knew from his own class what the girls went crazy over. "So your Harry Potter Adventure Books are not stupid stuff?"
If anything, Ginny's face attempted to match her hair color after she heard Ron's teasing accusation. "No, they are not stupid! They... they... they are not stupid stuff like talking ponies or them thinking they are princesses."
Seeing that Ginny was getting too tired to even put up a good shouting match, Ron knew that even though it was only afternoon, his sister needed her sleep. "Better go to bed. You look like you could fall over."
Ginny wanted to argue, but then again she did feel tired. "Maybe you're right..."
That said, she did go to bed after telling her mother and slept soundly for hours.
Of course, it also meant that she woke up in the middle of the night and it took her some moments before realizing that nature was calling. After being done however, she had difficulties to again go to sleep after having slept for hours. She twisted and turned until finally finding it useless. Getting up, she looked out of the open window into the summer night. Being awake in the middle of the night was new to her and the silent summer night looked beautiful.
Looking at the clear night sky, her thoughts started to wander.
She had not exactly been lying to Ron when it came to these girls at school, but what she didn't want to admit, was, that she did had some interests that were seen as feminine. However, she mostly kept that to herself, partly out of a sense of rebellion, since her mother was trying hard - too hard - to get her interested in stuff stereotypically feminine. It was an irony that this only resulted in Ginny becoming less interested, since no one liked being told what was the right thing to spend your time with.
He eyes traveled to the broom shed in the garden.
That was one of the issues she had with her mother: she felt that a girl didn't have to know how to fly a broom. To Ginny it was pretty stupid, especially after Ron had shown her pictures of a match the Cannons had against the Holyhead Harpies, an all-female Quidditch team. To her it just was her mother trying to fit her into a mold that she had no intention of fitting into.
Should I...? She thought about it for a moment, and she felt if her mother didn't let her, she would have to take the initiative. No one will see me.
After getting dressed she sneaked downstairs, taking pains to avoid the creaking stairs, and then outside to the broom shed. Taking the smallest broom she could find, she tried to remember everything from watching her brothers fly on these.
Trying to emulate them, her first attempt resulted in her getting thrown off, faceplanting in the grass. "Hmp, not as easy as it looks..." Getting up, she tried again.
It was trial and error, but finally she did manage to stay on the broom and have it fly - even if only two meters above ground. To her it was a huge success while flying through the garden, feeling all the pent-up tension fall from her.
In her happiness, she never bothered to look up, otherwise she would have noticed someone watching her from the window directly below the attic.
Despite what other people say, while Ron normally was a deep sleeper, something out of the usual could wake him up. Thus when hearing the creaking of the shed door through his open window, he did wake up and watched in surprise how his little sister blatantly broke the rules and attempted to use a broom during the night.
He knew he should have alerted their parents, but he didn't. He just watched.
Ron at first wondered why he wasn't ratting Ginny out when she was breaking the rules like that, but the more he watched, he remembered that they had never seen Ginny anywhere near a broom before, apart from an unenchanted one used for sweeping the floor. Their mother had always insisted that flying on brooms was not something that girls did - which Ron knew was a big pile of dung.
He watched her a bit longer, before he made a decision and went back to bed.
He would not spill her secret.
to be continued...
Next Episode:
"Small Steps to Enlightenment"
Notes:
Here the notes.
Yes, more insight on the lives of the children before Hogwarts. I have to admit, that Luna is really difficult to write, I hope you like my interpretation of her, that she does have the same range of amotions like everyone, but has difficulties to express them. Not to speak the her brain in general is wired a bit different.
Oh, Dumbledore's actions and what happens at Hogwarts does have effects on the outside world. I hope you liked this little insight how even seemingly insignficant changes can have unforeseen effects. Even if it is something as simple as quills and ink.
Ouch, that was painful what happened to Harry, but Dudley this time got caught and this landed in his and his friends files. That actually is quite serious if you think about it. That never happened in canon, thus Dudley will become more careful about going after Harry. Vernon and Petunia of course stay oblivious.
And Sirius seems to start get a ladyfriend. She's as nonmagical as it can get, but to Sirius this if anything is a plus. We'll see more of her, that's for sure.