AN:/ Hello and sorry for the late update. There were technical difficulties. As usual I own nothing but the plot. Thank you all once again for your reads and reviews. They mean the world to me. Also thank you AlphaFlash for your assistance with coming up with ideas for this story.
Harry was excited; today was the first Hogsmeade trip, and he was planning on going with the three girls and Remus. He was sitting in the Great Hall as Flitwick went around picking up permission slips. When he got to Harry, he spoke. "Mr. Pendragon, do you have your slip?" He squeaked.
"I don't need one, Professor. I am an emancipated adult. Technically, I could leave school for anything I needed. I can, of course, sign my own slip if you need one," Harry told him.
"Hmmm, give me a moment, Mr. Pendragon. I will need to talk to the headmaster for this," he said before making his way up to Dumbledore.
"Harry, what's going on? You're going to be able to go, right?" Lily asked concerned. He noticed both Andie and Amelia looking at him with the same concern.
A moment later, Flitwick called him up to the head table in front of Dumbledore. 'This should be good,' he thought to himself as he approached. "Yes, Professors?"
"Ah, Mr. Pendragon, I see that there is a problem with your Hogsmeade permission slip. You see, Mr. Pendragon, I cannot allow you to go into the village without your guardian's signature. As such, I'm afraid that you must remain behind today," Dumbledore said with a small, fake sad frown.
"Actually, Professor, as I have explained to Professor Flitwick, I am an emancipated adult. As such, you have no say in how I spend my free time. You are more than welcome to make an inquiry to the Ministry if you feel it is necessary," Harry said with a small smile. He still didn't like the headmaster much after finding out he wanted him to die in his last life.
Dumbledore's frown was more pronounced and genuine now. He didn't like that the boy was not simply bowing to his decision. He stood up from his place at the table. "Very well, Mr. Pendragon, I shall look into it. However, I must warn you that if you are, in fact, lying to me about this, it shall mean detention."
Harry had to grit his teeth. "Are you suggesting that I would lie about the death of my parents, Professor?"
Many people were now watching them, though Dumbledore didn't seem to notice or maybe he just didn't care. "We shall see, Mr. Pendragon."
Harry clenched his hands as he watched the headmaster and his head of the house leave the Great Hall. He walked back down to the Ravenclaw tables and took his seat once more next to Lily. The whole time Larry had stuck a few heads from his shirt and was hissing comfortingly in his ear. It wouldn't do to have him blow a fuse here in the Great Hall.
"That was rather uncalled for on the headmaster's part," Lily grumbled as she picked at her eggs.
Harry just grunted a bit at that and bit into a piece of bacon. He was brought out of his dark thoughts of strangling the old man by a soft hand grabbing his own. He looked down to see a smaller hand over his. He followed it up and to yellow-trimmed robes. Eventually, he came to the soft smiling face of Amelia.
"Don't worry, Harry, it will be okay," she said softly.
Harry gave her a small smile. "Yeah, thanks, Melia."
A few minutes later, Dumbledore came into the Great Hall once more, followed by Flitwick, who seemed to be frowning at the headmaster. Dumbledore stopped behind Harry but wouldn't look him in the eye as he spoke. From his tone of voice, he was not happy with what he was about to say. "It would seem, Mr. Pendragon, that I owe you an... apology for my behavior. I was not aware that you were indeed emancipated. As such, you do, in fact, have the right to leave the school grounds. I would ask that you at least inform a professor if you do so choose to leave."
Harry had to resist the urge to smile at the professor. It was obvious that he was not used to being told that he didn't know something nor was it wrong to begin with. "Of course, Professor."
He watched as the headmaster headed off to the head table not looking back. The old goat should just keep his crooked nose out of other people's business. He turned back to the girls only to notice Andie now sitting next to Amelia. "Well, are you girls ready? All we need to do is pick up Remus."
They gave him a large smile each, and the four of them were off to the Gryffindor table, where Remus was talking to Frank and Alice, who were sitting rather close. When Remus spotted them, he said goodbye and hurried over to them. "Hey guys, ready to go?" They nodded their heads and went to catch a carriage. "So apparently, Frank is taking Alice to the village today," Remus said slyly.
"Oh?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow. "Well, good on them then. I'm happy for them and hope it works out."
"Right, me too," Remus said happily. It was good having so many friends and being able to talk about normal things.
The three girls were now looking a bit pouty at Harry. Couldn't he tell that they wanted him to ask them out to Hogsmeade? Then they noticed the same look they were giving on the other two girls' faces and quickly blushed, looking away. They knew the other two liked Harry, but how could they all get the same guy? This was now a bit of a competition, at least for Amelia and Lily. Andie would be okay as long as she was at least his mistress.
The rest of the day was spent exploring the village together. They would laugh and jostle each other about. Harry bought the girls each something at Honeydukes, and Remus a book he had been looking at on magical creatures from France. All in all, even with the rough start, it had turned out to be a very good day.
A few weeks later, and Lily had been walking down the hall with Severus on their way to the library to study. As they walked, Lily couldn't help but think about how strange her longtime friend was being lately. He was always making odd comments about Harry or Amelia. None of which was very nice. Then there was the comment he had made to Petunia over the summer that had her a bit worried. She didn't understand what had changed in the nice boy she had met a few years back, but she didn't really like it very much at all.
She was pulled from her thoughts as Severus started to speak. "You know, Lily, you really should stop letting that Pendragon and Bones hang about. They are a bad influence on you and are nothing but trouble," he said smoothly.
She sighed; here we go again. "Sev, I like the both of them, okay. They are not a bad influence on me at all. Amelia is a great friend, and we get along splendidly. It is nice for a girl to have a little girl talk every now
and then, you know. And Harry... well, Harry is special, you know," she said, getting a little faraway look in her emerald eyes that made him grit his teeth. "He is sweet and kind and caring and helps me out with anything I need. I don't know, there is just something about him that I just love."
Severus was now gritting his teeth so hard one may snap. "He is just using you, Lily. Why can't you see that? He is nothing but a pompous, spoiled brat that doesn't deserve your time. Besides, you should be spending it more with me anyhow. I can get you into the right crowds, you know. Pendragon is nothing and..."
"That is enough, Sev!" Lily said, turning on him, her emerald eyes ablaze. "I am sick and tired of hearing you always complaining about Harry and my other friends. They always try to include you, but you always glare at them, and I'm sick of it. It's not right, Sev. I... I don't know what has gotten into you, but I think that you need some time to yourself for a while. I... I can't keep doing this. I can't keep having you get angry every time I hang out with someone else. Please just think about it for a while, okay Sev. For me."
With that, she spun on her heel and marched back down the hall toward the Ravenclaw tower. Severus watched her retreating form with his fists clenched and his jaw tight. Couldn't she see he was simply trying to protect her? Protect what was his. Pendragon was ruining everything before his very eyes.
The life he had pictured with Lily as his bride was slowly escaping his grasp. The children he pictured having with her. The nice little cottage they would share. Her screaming his name out as he pleased her. He wouldn't let that happen, though. No, he wouldn't let Pendragon ruin what was his by rights.
He twirled around on his heel and marched toward the library. He just needed to bide his time was all. Yes, that was it indeed. Lily would still be his soon. He just needed to think of the right time to enact a plan. Perhaps over the summer, he could go to her and tell her he had changed his mind. Work back into her life, and then perhaps he could arrange a little accident for Pendragon over the following year.
Harry was walking by a closed-off classroom on the fifth floor at the end of the last class when he suddenly found himself being dragged backward into the dark room. He quickly spun around and slapped the hand off his robes. However, what he found there was James Potter looking at him with hard brown eyes.
"What is the meaning of this, Potter?" Harry asked, keeping his voice calm.
"I'm going to tell you this once, Pendragon; you need to leave Lily alone," James said threateningly.
"And why, may I ask, would I need to do that?" Harry asked, looking around him. He noticed a little movement behind him.
James started moving in front of the door, blocking his one egress from the room. This wasn't good. "Because I said so, Pendragon. I am the only one that is worthy of her. To me, you are nothing but a stain on my boot. She deserves better than some magically lame bastard like you."
"Now look, James, you don't want to do this. No matter how this ends, it will not be good for anyone. You need to stop this obsession you have with Lily. Who she spends her time with is neither my nor your business," Harry said, taking a few steps back to make distance between himself and the other boy. He also needed to keep an eye on the movement he had seen earlier.
James drew out his wand, and Peter came slinking out from the shadows by the door, wand already in hand. Harry could see the other boy's hand shaking. It was clear that he didn't want to be doing this. He was also jumpy, and his eyes darted around the room. That was not a good combination.
Harry slowly drew his wand behind his back. He needed to do something, or this was going to get out of hand, and it would not end well for anyone. He decided on what he would do but now he only had to pray someone would hear it.
"Hope you enjoy the hospital ward, Pendragon," James said, raising his wand up. "Reducto!"
James's spell flew toward him, and he dodged but barely. The desk behind him exploded as Peter tossed some low-powered Bombardas. They were already making a lot of noise, but Harry needed more. He let out a loud bang from his wand that seemed to be screaming at him to fight back. He continued to dodge spell after spell. Peter's spells were low-powered and hardly had any bite to them. James, on the other hand, made it easy to tell why people said he was a powerful wizard. Neither were overly accurate with their casting, so quite a few missed, with Harry being able to analyze the trajectory of many. A couple of moments later, and the door to the classroom flew open, but the other two were too busy trying to get Harry for them to notice.
"Just hold still, Pendragon!" He shouted over the noise.
"What in Merlin's name is going on in here?" McGonagall's shrill voice carried over the explosions from the two boys.
Instantly, James spun around with a look of fear. Peter, on the other hand, let out a loud squeak and spun around, throwing another exploding hex. Flitwick moved faster than Harry could have thought for the little man and shielded both him and McGonagall. The older witch, on the other hand, disarmed both boys.
Harry dropped to his knees in exhaustion. Looking at his watch, he had been dodging for nearly fifteen minutes straight. He thanked the heavens for his usual workout routine. "I repeat. What. In. Merlin's. Name. Is. Going. On?" She asked through gritted teeth.
Neither boy would answer, so she turned to look at Harry, who was panting on the floor. "I was walking by the door when I got dragged in here, Professor. Potter told me to stay away from Lilly, and then he and Pettigrew attacked me. The only spell I have cast since Charms earlier is the noise-making spell. I am willing to provide my wand for inspection to Professor Flitwick as my head of house."
She looked down at the little professor and bustled over to Harry, who offered his wand. With a quick check, he spoke. "He is correct, Minerva."
Harry took back up the story. "I only used it as I wanted to gain someone's attention who could help me. I really didn't want to hurt them and figured this was the best way."
McGonagall nodded her head. "Well, that was a very good plan then, and I am sorry that we could not get here sooner. That being said, thirty points to Ravenclaw for avoiding a fight and for an amazing show of dodging in a magical fight." She turned to scowl at the other two boys. "You two shall be coming with me to the headmaster's office. I am very disappointed in both of you."
Certainly! Here's a corrected version of the text:
James threw Harry a dirty look before he left his head of the house. Peter just walked out with his head down. Flitwick looked around before turning to Harry. "You know, Mr. Pendragon, that was, in fact, very good dodging. Against two opponents as well. You know you could do really well in the dueling championships."
Harry had finally started catching his breath after the fight and explanation. "You think so, Professor?"
"Oh yes. You know, I was once a champion in the ring when I was a little younger," he said while looking Harry up and down. "You know if you are interested, I wouldn't mind sponsoring you for the upcoming league this summer. I have never done so before for anyone, but I think I am willing to do so for you. Not only are you an excellent student, but you have good reflexes, as shown here, and can think on your feet. Not only that, but you also showed control by not fighting Mr. Potter and Mr. Pettigrew back but held out for backup. That showed a good amount of maturity, Mr. Pendragon."
Harry thought about it for a moment. This could be a good way to practice dueling for the upcoming war he knew would be coming before long. After a long moment, he nodded his head, still deep in thought. "Professor, could I accept but we maybe practice a bit before this summer, and you can judge my abilities more as the year goes on? I would feel more comfortable with you putting your name behind me if you've seen more than just my school work and dodging."
Flitwick's smile only grew wider. "Now that right there is what I really wanted to hear. Again, it is a show of your maturity that you didn't just jump on it, and you showed concern for others. I can agree to your terms, Mr. Pendragon. I shall expect you in my classroom on Saturdays at five, where we will start by going over the rules for a dueling competition. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day." And with that, he watched the little Charms professor leave to go talk with the headmaster and Minerva.
Later that day, Harry found himself sitting at the lake's edge when he heard three sets of running footsteps behind him. He looked back only to see Andie, Amelia, and Lily running toward him. He stood up to greet them, but before he could say anything, he was knocked off his feet. Each girl started looking him over as if looking for any injuries.
"Ah, not that I am not happy to see you girls as well, but what's going on?" he asked, amused.
"Harry, they are saying that you were attacked earlier. No one is saying who did it, but McGonagall looks furious," Amelia told him, giving him a hug.
"We have been looking all over for you, but you weren't in the hospital wing. Are you okay?" Andie asked him, hugging his other side.
Harry chuckled a bit. "Yeah, I'm just fine," he said, returning the hug that all three were now giving him.
"Is it true that you were attacked then?" Lily asked from her place on his chest.
Harry grimaced a bit. "Yeah, I was. Potter and Pettigrew caught me by surprise and attacked me." The three girls started to get up, but Harry held them down. "Hey, hey, where are you three going?"
"To hex those two idiots," Andie said through gritted teeth, trying to get out of Harry's strong arms.
Harry felt a jolt in his heart seeing how protective they were of him. "Hey now, that won't do anyone any good. Besides, I would be devastated if any one of you got expelled for those two."
The three girls stopped and looked at him for a moment. Finally, they reluctantly laid back down on him, none of them minding the compromising position. "So what happened anyway?" Amelia asked after a moment.
"They attacked me, and I didn't want to harm them, so I sent off a noise jinx. It alerted McGonagall and Flitwick who stopped it, and after I explained, took them to the headmaster. Flitwick even offered to sponsor me in the upcoming dueling competition this summer." He said offhandedly, thinking about how he liked feeling them in his arms.
Andie cuddled up to him more. "Really, that's great, Harry."
"Wait, but why aren't they expelled or even suspended then? We spotted them laughing with Black earlier," Lily asked, confused.
Harry sighed. "Honestly, the headmaster probably made an excuse to give them a second chance. Though I am thinking that he doesn't know when to stop giving second chances."
The girls all looked up at him. "What do you mean, Harry?" Andie asked.
"Well, it seems there is a lot of bullying going on around the castle that, while getting reported, gets overlooked. I have heard from a few people that the headmaster calls them little mistakes of childhood. It's one thing to say that about a hurtful word or something but not an attack. One of these days that mentality could get someone really hurt," he said, shaking his head.
The girls all nodded absently, thinking over his words. After a while, they pushed that to the side and lay there just enjoying each other's company. They devolved into talking about Harry possibly getting into a dueling competition. They were all excited to see that and promised him that they would be there to cheer him on. Harry couldn't help the small smile that came to his lips as he sat by that lake with these three beautiful girls. It was shaping up to be an interesting third year.