Disclaimer – It has come to my attention recently that I unfortunately do not own Harry Potter. Who knew.
Author Note – I enjoy writing short stories for my own enjoyment but at a suggestion from a friend, I have decided to start posting some of my stories that I am working on or have completed. All feedback is welcome (hopefully constructive!) Looking forward to what you think!
Suspicion dawned upon her face as she turned to look at Harry…only to find he had disappeared while she had been talking. She whirled back to Rosaline and asked "Do you know who that was? He…reminded me of someone?"
Rosaline opened her mouth to answer before pausing, "Actually… I never caught his name, had just told him my name when you arrived."
Meanwhile at the start of the tree line just in the shadow hiding under the branches of a pine tree, Harry looked at them and waited until the medi-wizards arrived and began to assess and help Rosaline. Harry had planned to stay with her until help arrived but with the arrival of Tonks and her declaration of an official statement, Harry had decided that he did not need that scrutiny; it always seemed to work against him. Seeing that Rosaline was receiving care, Harry turned around and started walking in the direction of the Dark Mark hoping the Weasleys were still there or at least someone was still there… as he was positive he had no idea how to get back to the camp.
After fifteen minutes of walking through the trees, Harry made it to the original field where he had left his friends. He had barely taken two steps from the treeline before a bushy-haired incoming projectile impacted with him and almost knocked him over.
"Where have you been?" Hermione asked doing her best Mrs. Weasley impression, so good in fact, Harry almost shuddered, "Are you okay Harry? We were so worried about you! Someone came into the clearing and cast the Dark Mark…that thing in sky… it is Vol…You-Know-Who's mark…it was really popular in the last war, used to strike fear into the hearts of everyone…they usually cast it above areas where they killed someone. But the Ministry does not think anyone was killed, or at least Mr. Weasley says they have not found evidence of that yet. However, the fact that you had disappeared and then the Mark was cast…we were worried you had been killed." Hermione's voice caught and it sounded as if she was trying to stop herself from crying.
"Right after the mark was fired into the sky, we tried to see who had cast it but we were almost attacked by Ministry officials, luckily Ron managed to grab my hand and pull us to the ground." She looked back at Ron, who had just made it over to where Hermione had almost knocked Harry over, and nodded appreciatively before continuing. "They accused us of casting the Dark Mark, Mr. Crouch was even there, but luckily Mr. Weasley managed to convince them that we were just kids and that is extremely dark magic and likely a very, very complex spell. I am not even sure how to go about creating something like that. It seems very powerful; two wizards have been standing there for about ten minutes performing what I think is the counter curse. I assume they know what they are doing, but nothing has changed yet." She paused looking up at the mark before shuddering, "Based on that I am pretty sure it is just a very powerful spell that needs time to undo."
Hermione paused taking what seemed like her first breathe since she had tackled Harry. The breath seemed to calm her and allow her to collect her thoughts. In a much more calm voice she looked at Harry, "Are you ok though? Where did you go? What happened to you?"
Harry looked at his friends feeling incredibly guilty. Of course, he felt he had done the correct thing, after all who knew what would have happened to Rosaline if he had not served to distract Lucius Malfoy until the Dark Mark was cast. However, seeing that he had left his friends to go through something like this made him feel extremely guilty. The only reason he had left in the first place to investigate the scream, was that he was certain that because nothing had happened to him the last time, that nothing was going to happen to them this time. However, going through that experience without Harry and then worrying that he might have been killed was surely an agonizing experience. This realization served to erase the feelings of happiness and pride that he had been harboring ever since he had saved Rosaline.
Harry leaned forward and embraced his two friends in a hug. They immediately returned the hug, however he felt another wave of guilt as he felt both of them still shivering. He really hoped that it was from the brisk night air and not concerning what they had just experienced.
He then leaned back and faced his friends, "I am so sorry you two, I can only imagine what happened, it sounds awful, but I am glad nothing occurred to you."
He looked at his oldest friend, and addressed him "Ron, thanks for saving Hermione. When I left this field, I initially got a little turned around and did not really know where I was but then I stumbled upon a girl that was a couple years older than us who had been hurt. I made sure she was alright and stayed until help came. Almost as soon as I saw the Dark Mark and knew she would be okay I came back to make sure that nothing bad was happening here. Although I had never seen something like this before so was not entirely sure what it was but figured it could not be good." He paused before letting out a little chuckle to break the tension. "After all a giant floating green skull can't be a good omen, but Professor Trewlany always made everything seem like a bad omen and that never comes true, so wasn't entirely sure what to believe."
Ron laughed and even Hermione could not stop a small smile from gracing her face.
Harry looked around the field and saw that other than the two wizards who were apparently trying to reverse the Dark Mark, there were two other wizards walking around the tree line, probably looking for clues.
Harry looked at his friends once more, "What happened after the wizards appeared though, did they catch the wizard who had made the Mark?"
Harry was actually curious. Did his lack of presence here change things a little. Was Barty Crouch Jr apprehended? Maybe his cloak slipped off or he decided to confront the Ministry or …
Before he could finish thinking about what might have happened, Hermione answered. "Well…maybe…?"
Harry looked between Ron and Hermione for clarification.
Ron looked at Hermione and slightly shook his head before looking to Harry and answering his question. "Well someone was caught right below the mark with a wand that registered as having cast the mark. However, it was weird as the person who cast the mark was Mr. Crouch's house-elf Winky, she had actually been in the box with us saving a seat for Mr. Crouch even though he never made it. However, apparently at some point during the match grabbed my wand from my pocket, it was the wand used to cast the Mark. Winky was found stunned right below the mark. Although there is some debate among the wizards who found her though and Hermione agrees with the ones who think Winky did not do it. House elves do not need wands to cast magic and actually are forbidden from carrying wands, but no one knew if house-elf magic was capable of creating the Dark Mark so maybe she needed a wand to actually create it as her magic could not do …that." He explained pointing to the Mark hanging above them, "But it was weird, and even I agree with Hermione, I do not know why house elves would want to cast the Dark Mark. Especially Winky. As I imagine that an elf who works for Crouch would have heard her fair share of stories about dark wizards and the ways they treat non-human creatures and she herself would only do what was asked of her by her Master. Definitely can't imagine that Crouch would be the type of bloke to want that casted." Ron finished as he again pointed back to the Dark Mark which seemed to have shrunk in size and brightness.
Hermione took over from Ron, "I find it ridiculous that Winky was accused of the crime when there was no evidence other than having a wand in her hand, that for all intents and purposes she did not need. Eventually the wizards agreed that there was enough doubt that she might not have done it. However, Mr. Crouch released her from service, which resulted in his elf breaking down. He was going to give her clothing, all because she left her tent and was found with a wand. It was tough watching."
She paused to collect her thoughts clearly having trouble with what had happened to Winky and even Ron looked troubled by what he had seen.
Hermione looked back at Harry. "Once that happened everything happened quickly, they formed search parties to go see if anyone else could be found in the vicinity, especially once they found out that you had disappeared into the forest a little while before and had not returned, while several stayed here to deal with the Mark and look for anything they might have originally missed. Mr. Weasley had wanted to bring us back to the tent immediately but we refused and said we were going to stay here until you were found. Mr. Weasley finally agreed as there were Ministry wizards here who could look after us, actually Mr. Weasley said he should be returning to check on us and bring us back to the campsite, any time…"
At that exact moment, Hermione was cut off with the sound of a large crack as someone apparated behind them. Turning around they saw that a very relieved Mr. Weasley was standing right behind them.
"Oh thank Merlin you are alright Harry!" Looking back and forth between Ron and Hermione, he continued, "I assume your friends have filled you in on everything that has happened here. Quite the evening, but I am so relieved you are alright. Well we have quite a walk back to the tent so best be off, I am only supposed to be preforming apparition for emergencies right now. Everyone else is back at the site, Fred, George, and Ginny returned only moments ago. I imagine no one will be able to sleep until we get back, so best be off. On the walk you can fill me in on what happened to you and I can answer any questions your friends might not have been able to answer for you."
Mr. Weasley motioned for them to start towards a path at the other end of the field. When Harry passed him, Mr. Weasley preformed a double take, "Actually Harry where is your jacket, I could have sworn you had left the campsite with one."
Harry paused, remembering he had given his jacket to Rosaline in an effort to help calm her down. Harry looked back in the direction he had come from before turning to Mr. Weasley and answering, "Ummm…actually I am not sure, once I had started into the forest I had taken my coat off as it had been warm and I was running. And then… I think I put it down at some point, maybe when I was helping the person I had found, who had been hurt and separated from her group. But then… I think I forgot it in that field. Must have been in a hurry to head back once I saw the Mark in the sky." Harry turned around to point to it. His timing was perfect for just as he pointed it seemed to shrink in on itself, with a pop and slight breeze of warm air that radiated out from the center of the field, the Mark disappeared.
Mr. Weasley looked at Harry and shrugged before conjuring up a basic robe. "Well put this on, don't want you to get a cold on the way back. No doubt Molly will already be ready to go off when she finds out what happens, no need to make it worse."
While Harry was putting on the robe, he failed to overhear Hermione whispering to Ron. "Ron, I thought Harry told us he was unhurried after he helped the girl in the woods. Why would he have forgotten his jacket?"
Ron shrugged and looked back at Harry unconcerned, "Not sure, maybe he was distracted by the girl or maybe he just forgot. It's not like it is that cold out and even without knowing what the Mark was, I am sure that seeing it was quite the distraction."
Hermione looked back at Harry once more before turning around and continuing down the path listening as Harry Potter filled in Mr. Weasley on what had happened once he left Ron and Hermione in the field.
It must have been nearly four in the morning before Harry finally crawled onto his mattress. After telling his "story" to Mr. Weasley on the way back he had been forced to recount the "story" to the rest of the family once they returned and listen to Ron and Hermione share their story as well.
As Harry lay in bed enjoying the sound of what seemed like the entire Weasley family snoring, Harry reflected on what had been his first day since his return from death, hoping that events would settle down and things did not continue at such a frenetic pace.
Eventually Mr. Weasley woke them up after what Harry felt was only mere seconds after finally managing to fall asleep. Together they made a thankfully uneventful trip from their site to the Portkeys and from there to the Burrow.
Harry Potter managed to beg off the joyous reunion with Mrs. Weasley, who was demanding to hear exactly what had occurred the previous evening, citing his exhaustion. Harry headed up to the room he shared with Ron with the intent of laying down for a nap, of course not before receiving a smothering embrace from Mrs. Weasley, who was thankful that he was alright. He had been positive the adrenalin would have left his system by now, leaving him able to relax and catch up on sleep. However, Harry found that he was not able to stop reflecting on the fact that the previous day had to truly have been one of the busiest and most emotionally charged days in anyone's life, and that was without taking into account that he had started out the day as having been dead, only to be brought back in time. Finally realizing the futility of trying to sleep Harry shook his head and got up and pulled a roll of parchment from his trunk, deciding to try and organize his thoughts by putting ink to parchment.
After looking at the parchment for several seconds to organize his thoughts he dipped his quill and began writing:
Things that need to get done:
Stop Voldemort
List of Horcruxes
Diary – Destroyed
Gaunt's Ring – In Gaunt House, careful even Dumbledore had trouble
Slytherin's Locket – In Black house, get Sirius to help
Hufflepuff's Cup – In Bellatrix's vault – Sirius help?
Ravenclaw's Diadem – Room of Requirement – take care of when at school
Nagini – ?
Myself – Find out if I am still a horcrux, preferably without dying
Gain weapon to destroy the horcruxes
Either Find some way to use Sword of Gryffindor or go to chamber for Basilisk Fang, is it possible to get goblin made steel and impregnate it with Basilisk venom
Help Sirius
Get him to safety
Exonerate him
Save my friends, do not let them die fighting Voldemort
Save Dumbledore
Learn advanced magic from Dumbledore
Learn Occlumency
Has to be better way than Snape's method and don't want to be affected by Voldemort or have anyone see into my mind
Harry looked at the list, shaking his head at the complexity of what he had to achieve. Surely, there would be a significant list of other things he should, could, and would work towards changing, but at least he had the start of a plan coming together.
He looked back down at the list, before deciding to add a couple of items.
Save Draco… somehow
Make sure Rosaline is alright
When he had first started thinking of things he should do when he came back, these issues had not been thought of but Harry realized that as yesterday had progressed he had put himself into a position where he would be able to help out.
Starring at the list, this time Harry let out a little smile, as he mentally congratulated himself on the start of a list.
"You can do this Harry. You will be able to make a difference. You will be able to make the most of this second chance. Evil will not succeed. I will not let it."
With those self-affirmations, Harry focused on the list, making sure to commit ever line to memory. Once completed Harry closed his eyes and shook out his shoulders before opening his eyes and uttering 'Incendio', wanting to remove any evidence of this list, especially in a house in which Fred and George lived in.
Realizing he was unlikely to get any sleep this morning, Harry decided to head downstairs to grab a little breakfast.
Passing Percy and Mr. Weasley in the front hallway, they said their goodbyes and let Harry know they were heading into the office to help deal with the fallout that would likely befall the Ministry as a response to the handling of the Quidditch World Cup.
Feeling bad for them, Harry wished them luck before continuing to the kitchen where he helped himself to a large serving of breakfast. Harry realized that after years of malnourishment at the hands of the Dursleys he probably could stand to eat an entire summer's worth of Weasley sized meals and promised himself that he would do his best impression of Ron at a meal for the remained of the summer.
After finally finishing his breakfast, Harry joined the rest of the Weasleys on the patio outside. Ron was only too excited when Harry agreed to his suggestion of Quidditch. As they were heading inside to grab Harry's broom, they bumped into Ginny at the doorway who had gone inside to grab a book.
"Hey Ginny how are you doing after last night?" Harry asked.
To her credit, Ginny only froze for about a minute, starring at Harry, before stuttering out her response, "I'm fine…Harry…thanks for asking." In reality it sounded more like 'I'mfineHarrythanksforasking.'
Harry held back a smile, thinking that maybe being able to converse with him was at least a little progress. However, Harry was unsure how he felt about Ginny. While he definitely cared about her, as a member of the Weasley family, and could not forget that eventually she became a capable friend, including helping Neville organize and help the students when Hogwarts had been taken over; for now she was still such a young girl who had not gotten over her hero worship. Additionally she was his friend's little sister and would prefer not having to have that conversation with Ron, much less have Fred and George angry at him if anything ever happened in their relationship.
Harry and Ron started to move past her to enter the house, however Harry stopped and looked over his shoulder to look back at Ginny who had not moved from that spot. "Actually Ginny we were going to all go play Quidditch, did you want to join us?"
This caused Ginny to snap out of her stupor and whirl around. "You mean in? I can play with you all? That would be great! I will see you down there! Just going to grab my stuff!"
And with that, Ginny blew past them back into the house and practically flew up the stairs towards her room, if Harry had not been positive he had seen her a second ago with nothing but a book in her hands he would have sworn she had already had her broom with her.
Actually laughing, Harry turned to Ron ready to continue their trek to grab his broom, feeling that by the time they grabbed the broom Ginny would already be on the field and would have likely already put the Quaffle trough the hoops several times.
He paused when he saw Ron was just starring at him.
"What did you do that for? She can't play Quidditch."
Harry looked at Ron, "What do you mean she can't play? You heard what Charlie had said and you saw her scores yourself. I am pretty sure she can play. Plus won't the games be more fun with more of us. We will actually be able to run plays."
Ron opened his mouth to no doubt argue before he himself paused and looked up towards the stairs. "Huh, ok …maybe… let's see how it goes. But she is on your team."
Harry laughed and agreed to Ron's terms, thinking that Ron was in for quite a surprise when he had the chance to see Ginny on a broom.
In the end, they ended up being the last to arrive on the pitch, joining everyone who was impatiently awaiting them. Harry was surprised that even Hermione was there holding a broom.
"Hermione?" Harry asked.
"What? Ginny let me know she had been invited to join and it's not that I do not know the mechanics behind flying…I…am just not very good at it …yet." Hermione answered, seeming very reluctant to admit there was not something she could flawlessly preform. "Also she mentioned it would make it easier to fly 4 on 4 rather than have an extra flier to try to incorporate somehow."
Harry was perfectly comfortable having Hermione join, although he was a little surprised that Ron was unable or unwilling to find some reason to not have Hermione join, seeing how unwilling he was initially with the thought of Ginny participating.
Eventually they decided that Harry, Bill, Fred, and Ginny would take on Ron, Charlie, George, and Hermione. By the end of the game even Ron had to admit, although slightly begrudgingly, that Ginny was good at Quidditch, very good, as Harry's team won by a wide margin, Ginny being involved in almost every single point for them.
Walking off the field, Ron pulled Harry aside, "Wow I did not see that coming, I still can't believe she is that good... Whatever it takes to get more practice in with you this year I will do. I would even do double potions with Snape…" Ron paused, "Okay maybe anything short of that." With that they both laughed and Ron took off in direction of the kitchen no doubt in order for a pre-lunch snack.
Harry noticed that Hermione was the only one left on the field and made his way over to her.
"That was great Hermione." He said.
Hermione looked at him almost embarrassed, "Oh come off it Harry I was bloody awful. No need to patronize me."
"I am not being patronizing, everyone has to start somewhere and lets be serious you are probably better at flying than I am at potions or divination." Harry said with a chuckle.
This caused Hermione to let out a giggle before covering her mouth with her hand, looking embarrassed again, that she had laughed at her friend, "Well it's not that you are awful at potions or divination. First of all divination is just a waste of a class and potions…well…Professor Snape does you no favors, but with my help you seem to be in no risk of melting you cauldron."
Harry paused and starred at her, and with faux shock he exclaimed, "Did Hermione Granger just make a joke about my potion making ability?"
They both broke into laughter before Harry continued in a serious tone. "I really do appreciate the help you have given Hermione, without it I would have been in trouble. I realized I have not been taking my courses very serious. Which is ridiculous, as I always seem to be in situations where a better grasp of magic would be a valuable thing. But I promise you, that you will see a much better effort from me this year."
Hermione looked at him, "Well its not that you aren't being serious with …"
Harry gently grasped her hand, "I was not joking Hermione. You really have been amazing and I appreciate all that you have done for me over the last couple of years, but with the exception of possibly History of Magic, I will do my best to prepare and be ready for all my classes. Later today I am going to send an owl to Flourish and Blotts to organize delivery of my books for the upcoming year, rather than just wait to pick them up in person later in the summer, and I will start reading them."
Harry gave her a smile and joked, "As for your flying, it's not that you are much worse than Ron and I agreed to give him flying pointers. If you ever want to go flying, in a non-pressure situation, just a pleasantly relaxed environment, just let me know and the two of us can go."
With that, Harry released her hand and started back to the house, missing the slight blush that graced her face as she starred down at her open hand, before glancing up and starring at his retreating figure as if he had suddenly sprouted a second head before mumbling quietly to herself, "Did he just ask me on a date…"
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