And here's the fifty eighth chapter of "A Year Too Soon"! Enjoy!
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orion0905, to be perfectly hones, this year - just like the first one - didn't even have a major issue to be solved to begin with. But, no, I indeed was just burnt out and out of inspiration, at least for this story.
magitech, wasn't something like that discussed in the sixth year when the instant darkness powder was mentioned by the Weasley twins? Or was it just one story I can't recall anymore that did it? Either way, airborne poisons have that very big problem of being a bit too indiscriminate, even with Magic. So, probably, not the best idea, even if it will render all standard defensive maneuvers useless.
erbkaiser, yeah, I see Draco as someone who is too unwilling to compromise his believes in how the world should work for his own good. As for Harry's house, I don't think that (normal) building materials made in the Magical world inherently possess some special properties that those from the other side don't. Things like protection against doxies can be applied to both equally.
N0iS3, no idea, to be honest. There is no strict, already-made script that I follow when I write the story. But the current intent is to finish it either at the end of the next year, or at the very beginning of the one after that (Harry's sixth).
Mimi-Kintal, Lord Voldemort is dead, but Crouch Junior and Wormtail don't know that and believe that they can restore him. That is a plot not yet wrapped up. And it will unfold during the next year (instead of the original revival subplot from the books). Next, Sirius will escape from Azkaban, just a year later than in canon. Mostly because here he didn't yet have the reason to do so when he did in the books, and when he got it here, he couldn't attempt it right away: even as a dog he can't survive North sea in late autumn / winter. Finally, to address the pairing. I don't really have much to say about the first three points beyond "it's fanfiction" and that I wanted to use some rare characters (how many stories with Carrow twins at the front are there?). As for the final point - friends-to-lovers thing happens. And probably a lot more often than we all might expect. I might have handled in not that well in the story, but it is certainly a progression that could've happened.
* AN: This chapter has not been beta-read.
Disclaimer: I DO NOT own "Harry Potter" franchise. No profit is being made. Same goes for any books, video games, anime or manga I may or may not use for ideas.
"speaking"
"parseltongue"
'thinking'
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A Year Too Soon
Chapter LVII: St. Valentine's
The first Hogsmeade weekend of the semester took place just a couple of days before St. Valentine's and to no one's surprise young wizards and witches of Hogwarts were very excited about it. They were also somewhat scared of being denied the opportunity to visit the village by Mrs. Mason.
While the witch didn't have any hate for the students like her predecessor did, she definitely wasn't benignant with those who broke the rules. And as a fully-trained witch, she was quite capable of catching the rule breakers. Even the Weasley twins had trouble evading her and, after a few evenings of scouring various parts of the castle by hand, swore off the dung bombs and other prank items that would instantly get them in trouble with her.
That is not to say that Mrs. Mason was a monster or anything like that. She helped the younger students find their way around the castle and she let a few students who couldn't get back to their common rooms before the curfew go without punishment. Perhaps all those detentions she was giving and the points she was taking were her way to scare everyone straight and establish herself as a respected - or, at least feared - caretaker of Hogwarts?
Thankfully for the students, it didn't look like Mrs. Mason would deny them a visit to Hogsmeade for some petty reason. Indeed, the only ones she refused to let out of the castle were the students who had lost the privilege due to their bad behavior and a too-clever third-year Ravenclaw who tried to forge his guardian's signature on the permission form.
Everyone else - Harry, Flora and Hestia included - had no problem passing the check. It didn't even take that long even if Mrs. Mason didn't yet have the experience to handle these as quickly as Mr. Filch or Professor McGonagall could.
"So, what are our plans for today?" Harry asked once he and the Carrow twins finally boarded the 'horseless' carriage that would take them to Hogsmeade. This was more or less their St. Valentine's date, and he definitely wanted his girlfriends to enjoy themselves.
"Well…" Flora began just as their carriage started moving. "We do need to do some shopping, and it might not be wise to leave it until later since we're not the only ones out there. Other than that, I don't know… Let's have a nice lunch at 'The Three Broomsticks' and, if the weather is still nice, have a nice, relaxing walk around the village."
"Sounds good." Hestia said, not seeing what else she could suggest here. Indeed, for all of the hype built around it, Hogsmeade couldn't actually offer much beyond its shops and a couple of places of interest. Especially to someone who has been there several times already.
"Alright." Harry said.
The trio spent the rest of the ride to Hogsmeade in silence, quietly enjoying each others' company. Upon arriving at the village, once the carriage came to a stop on the central square, he got off first before helping his girls disembark. Then he asked:
"Where do we go first?"
"Let's stop by the Honeydukes first, while they still have the sweets we want." Hestia said. Her suggestion was met with nods of agreement: the shop was extremely popular with the Hogwarts population and stock of their best candies rarely lasted long whenever the students came to the village.
And so the trio made their way to the Honeydukes. By the time they got there, the shop was already crowded. It wasn't anything really bad yet, though. The three teens nodded to each other and by an unspoken agreement Harry got in line while Flora and Hestia went to browse sweets on display. Then, after they've made their choice, it was his turn.
The selection was more or less the same as always with a very noticeable addition of various, mostly heart-shaped, boxes of St. Valentine's chocolates. The young Potter immediately made a mental note to buy a couple of those for Flora and Hestia. Beyond that, he was getting his usual selection of sweets: Honeydukes-brand chocolates, cauldron cakes, fudge flies, coconut ice and more - hopefully, enough to last him until the next Hogsmeade weekend in the spring.
Once he was done browsing the goods, Harry rejoined his girlfriends in the queue. They were still a few people away from the checkout so him taking longer than usual to make his choices wasn't an issue.
Actually buying sweets was kind of awkward as they couldn't keep the fact that they were buying St. Valentine's chocolates a secret from each other. Other than that, their visit to Honeydukes went without any real issues and the trio was able to get everything they wanted there.
"Where do we go next?" Harry asked once they managed to push past the crowd within the sweet-shop.
"We need to pick up an order from Gladrags, so let's go there." Flora said. Seeing no reason not to do so, the young wizard nodded in response. And so the lover trio headed for the Hogsmeade's premiere clothing store just a few houses down the street.
And, thankfully for his male self, Harry didn't need to suffer through the twins taking their time as they tried on whatever they had ordered from the shop. They simply walked up to the counter, exchanged a number of Galleons for a brown-paper parcel bearing the Gladrags' emblem, and that was it.
"Alright, we're done here." Flora said as they left the shop. "Where do you think we should go next?" She then asked Harry, letting him pick their next destination. The said teen went silent for a few seconds before finally replying:
"Why don't we hit Scrivenshaft's next?" He suggested, recalling that he could use a spare bottle or two of ink - all those big homework essays their Professors had them write were eating through his ink supplies quite quickly.
"Sure." The witch said. And so the trio headed for the Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop. After restocking on ink, quills and parchment, they hit 'Dogweed and Deathcap' in order to buy some extra Potions ingredients. They also visited a couple of other stores to finish up their shopping before dropping by 'The Three Broomsticks' for some lunch.
By the time they arrived at the pub, it was already packed with Hogwarts' students, though there still were some unoccupied tables. And the Slytherin trio was quick to claim one of those for themselves. They had to wait for some time for Madam Rosmerta to stop by their table though, as her other customers were keeping her rather busy.
When the witch finally came to their table to take their orders, Harry insisted that he'll be paying for everyone's meals.
"Are you sure, Harry?" Flora asked while giving him a rather wicked grin that made him worry for his wallet. She could keep this act only a few moments and soon her grin turned playful, indicating she had no actual desire to abuse his generosity. In the end, she only switched her dessert for a bigger and fancier one. Hestia, after a couple of seconds of hesitation, followed her sister's example and too picked a different and more interesting dessert to go with her meal.
Having taken their order, Madam Rosmerta relayed it to the kitchens via a Charmed note before going on to serve her other clients. And while they waited for their lunch to be prepared, Harry decided to do something he should've, in all honesty, done way earlier: drawing his wand, he shrank his bags and applied the Feather-Light Charm to them. Like this, they won't be getting in the way later on during the walk around the village.
"Want me to do this for you as well?" He asked Flora and Hestia then.
"Yes, please." The girls replied almost in chorus. Nodding, Harry proceeded to cast the same spells on his girlfriends' bag as well.
The trio then fell into peaceful silence as they waited for their meals to arrive. There just wasn't much for them to talk about at the moment. Eventually, Madam Rosmerta brought them their orders and the teens started eating. And after the main course, it was time for the desserts.
"Want some?" Flora asked Harry as she offered him a bite-sized piece of her cake.
"Sure." He said with a nod.
"Say 'ah!'" His girlfriend prompted him. Doing as she asked, Harry opened his mouth and accepted the piece of cake Flora spoon-fed him "So, how was it?" She asked him then.
"Mhm…" He hummed. "Pretty good." The cake wasn't exactly to his tastes, but there was no denying that 'The Three Broomsticks' had excellent kitcheners.
"Try mine too, Harry." Hestia spoke up, offering him a piece of her own cake. The young Potter had no reason to refuse and so he kindly accepted the piece of confection from her. "Was it good too?" She asked after he had a few moments to taste it.
"It was." He told Hestia.
There was a small pause as the twins looked at him expectantly. Realizing that they wanted him to return the favor, Harry cut a piece from his cherry pie and offered it to Flora, who was quick to snatch it off his fork. He then cut another piece and offered it to Hestia, who followed her sister's example.
"That's one very good pie." Hestia said as she finished sampling her boyfriend's dessert. Her sister hummed in agreement.
The three teens then went on to eat their desserts, occasionally spoon-feeding each other pieces of their own. It was actually an interesting experience and Harry couldn't say he didn't like it. The girls seemed to be enjoying themselves as well.
After they were done with their desserts, he beckoned Madam Rosmerta and asked her to bring them three more cups of coffee. And their bill. The witch nodded and with a quick 'Of course.' disappeared towards the kitchens. She returned a couple of minutes later with his order. Thanking her, Harry paid for the lunch along with a rather generous tip.
And when Madam Rosmerta went on to serve her other customers, he pulled his wand and transfigured some one-off napkins into disposable cups. Next, he applied a few Charms to these cups to make sure they wouldn't soak or leak and that the drinks in them would remain hot for a long, long time even outdoors. Once he was done with this task, Harry returned his wand to its holster and poured coffee from the pub's branded cups into the ones he had just made.
"Shall we?" He asked as he handed Flora and Hestia their cups. The girls nodded and the trio got up from their table and headed out into the village for a romantic afternoon walk.
~/ *** \~
The actual St. Valentine's that year fell on Tuesday and much to everyone's relief, there were no grumpy scratchy-voiced dwarves dressed up as cupids anywhere in sight - or earshot - this year. Gilderoy Lockhart was likely the only man insane enough to believe that was a good way to set the mood.
Of course, that didn't mean the castle wasn't decorated for the occasion. Garlands of flowers could be seen in the Great Hall and along the corridors, some of them tended to by small flocks of fairies. There also were a few post boxes placed in the more prominent locations, such as common rooms. Whenever someone put a note into one, this note would transform into a paper butterfly and fly towards the intended recipient whereupon it would revert back into the note it originally was. Judging by the number of paper butterflies in the air, this service was liked much more than singing dwarves.
Harry, Flora and Hestia all agreed that this year's St. Valentine's was far more tastefully done than the mess that Professor Lockhart had cooked up the year before. But since they were already happily together, it didn't matter all that much to them as they were going to celebrate it in their own way.
Once the classes were over for the day, the trio stopped by the Slytherin dormitories where they changed out of their robes and into more comfortable clothes. Then they retreated to the privacy of Harry's 'secret' hideout to spend the afternoon enjoying each others' company.
It started pretty innocently with them gifting each other chocolates they had bought a few days prior but didn't stay like that for long as the lover trio got to eating those chocolates together, often hand-feeding each other. And then Flora got the idea that kicked things up a few notches: with a devious grin, she picked a piece of chocolate and put it into her mouth before locking her lips with Harry, sharing it with him through a rather heated kiss.
It was quite an experience and the two definitely enjoyed it. Hestia could see that clearly. And she wanted in on action.
"C-Can you… Can you please do this with me, H-Harry?" She asked, not feeling daring enough to do it the way her sister did. Giving her a small nod, the young wizard put a small piece of chocolate into his mouth before leaning in and kissing her. "Ua-ah!" She breathed out when they finally broke their kiss. Then, after taking a moment or two to catch her breath, Hestia locked her lips with him again, her tongue darting into his mouth as she tried to get some more chocolate from him.
Flora then decided it was the time for her to have her turn again and, as soon the two parted, she stole Harry back for herself.
Things grew heated rather quickly and it wasn't long before the three teens were making out intensely. The chocolates lay to the side, forgotten as their hands were busy roaming across and exploring each others' bodies. The clothes stayed on for the moment, but it wasn't evening yet.
As dinner time approached, Harry, Flora and Hestia reluctantly ceased their current activity and did their best to make themselves presentable. Even with Magic, that wasn't an easy task. And not even Magic could completely hide the fact that they have been up to something naughty. No, they didn't go all the way this time either, but they certainly got pretty close to that and much further than they did during that time the previous summer. And it was pretty noticeable, especially to those who knew them well.
"Are congratulations in order?" Tracey asked almost as soon as Harry and the twins joined the rest of the Clique at the Slytherin table.
"W-What? N-no!" Hestia exclaimed, probably a bit too loudly, as an atomic blush burned her face. It didn't stop Tracey from drawing the 'right' conclusions - namely, that something did happen.
"Oh? But you still did something, right?" She asked next. "I want deta-... Mmph…"
"No." Daphne cut in, placing her hand over her friend's mouth. "There will be no discussions about that here. And especially not where Tori can hear you." The said girl clearly wanted to know what her sister was trying to keep a secret from her, but she knew better than trying to force the issue when Daphne was like this.
"Fine, fine." Tracey caved in. Though, judging by her expression, she was still going to bug Harry, Flora and Hestia about their escapade later.
~/ *** \~
Bartimer Crouch Jr. re-read the same page of an old and musty tome for the fifth time, still not believing that after months of searching he has finally found the ritual he was looking for. But apparently he did. The book in front of him indeed described a ritual for bringing a dead person back to life. Some of the steps were missing - likely left out intentionally - but the Death Eater was confident that with his knowledge of Dark Arts he could fill in the blanks.
"Finally!" He uttered. "Finally I have found it!"
"You did?" Wormtail asked as he peeked into the study, having set aside… whatever he had been previously doing.
"Yes!" Junior replied. "I've found the ritual to bring our Master back. And it might even make him an even more perfect wizard!" Indeed, while it was presented as a wild guess, the book's author theorized that with a better sacrifice, more power could be given to the resurrected person.
"That's great." The rat animagus said, not sounding quite as enthusiastic about this whole thing as did his 'partner in crime'. "When are we going to start setting up this ritual?" He asked then.
"Well… There are a few more things that I need to research before we can begin." Crouch Jr. replied. "And even then, don't you think that the Dark Lord deserves a grand return to the world of living. It simply wouldn't do for us to bring him back to life in some old shed, would it?"
"I guess not." Peter Pettigew agreed.
"Good." The other Death Eater said with a nod. There was a brief pause, before he continued: "I need to figure out some of the finer points of the ritual's procedure before we can proceed with it, though."
"Can I help?" Wormtail asked then.
"Unless you've inexplicably become a genius of ritual Magics - don't think so." The other man said. "So, just keep making sure my father is properly Imperioused and doesn't suspect a thing about all this." Pettigrew nodded.
"A-Alright."
That's all, folks!
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