Um…hi? Sorry for the wait, this teaching lark takes far more time that I'm used to. Anyhoo read on and enjoy.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter nineteen:
By Rosa241
Harry POV:
Sighing heavily I finally give up on sleep and sit up in my bed. I've spent most of the night tossing and turning, spent most of the night trying to force myself to stop thinking about it. But how?
Snapes trying to steal something that Professor Dumbledore has hidden in the school. I can't say that I know him all that well but if Dumbledore has hidden it here then he's got to have good reason for it. After all it was Hagrid who said that Hogwarts was one of the safest, if not the safest, places in the country. Then again with that three headed dog guarding the…whatever it is…I can't see anyone getting past it anytime soon.
That thought finally alleviates some of my worry, not all of it but some. Snape's tried to get past it before. He tried on Halloween but he didn't get past it then. The only person who probably knows how to do that would most likely be Hagrid and he's not stupid, he won't go telling people that. It's not in any immediate danger.
But then that begs the question…what is it? What is it that Snape is so desperate to get his hands on? What is it that he's so determined to steal? So determined that he'd risk going up against Fluffy to get his hands on it. It has to be something powerful. It must be. If we could only find out who Nicolas Flammel was then maybe we could figure out what it is. We've looked everywhere of course but so far we'd had no luck. It's not like we can just go right out and ask people. Not without looking dead suspicious of course. Sighing I flop back onto the bed and roll onto my side. There is of course something else on my mind…
With everything going on it seems so pathetic to be worrying about it but I can't help it. It'll be Christmas soon. I've never been that big on Christmas. It's strange. All the kids in my school would get so excited about it, they'd get so worked up about decorating the tree and trying to guess what presents they'd be getting. It was hard to get excited about watching Dudley open his mountain of presents whilst I didn't get a single one. It was hard to be excited about Dudley spending the day watching Christmas films on TV whilst I spent the entire day helping Aunt Petunia cook the dinner. The dinner was about the only thing I could look forward to and even then I had to eat it alone in the cupboard. Needless to say Christmas was never an enjoyable experience but this one was going to be even worse. I hadn't given it a second thought when I'd raced off to Hogwarts but there was no way Uncle Vernon was going to be happy to have me back. What if they didn't let me back in? What if I had nowhere to go?
My stomach churns horribly with the uneasiness that settled there.
What am I going to do?
Percy POV:
Lying awake in the night is something I suppose I should be used to. From being very young I'd been plagued with insomnia and once I'd reached Hogwarts I'd found a way to put it to good use. The truth is I'd spent many a night sat in the common room doing homework whilst everyone else was asleep. It was after becoming friends with Oliver that I was able to put my extra time to better use. Seeing as though he usually left his homework until the night before it was due in (or in some cases the morning it was due in) I was able to spend my evenings helping Oliver get everything done. The thought of my best friend brings my mind back to my previous train of thought.
Oliver believed me now. He knows that I'm telling the truth. Part of me knows that him finding out might not be the best idea but then lets face it who'd believe him if he told anyone? He hardly believed me as it was. The truth is I'm just glad that I finally have someone to talk to about all of this. That's been the worst part of it all. Having all this worry contained up inside of me and not being able to say anything about it. But now…having someone to talk to, having someone to help me make sense of my brain…I already feel better about my task.
I still don't know how I'm going to stop Voldemort from rising, honestly how do you stop the most evil, and most powerful, wizard of all time from rising? Ask nicely? Write a letter? Beg?
I know exactly how I'm going to have to stop him. There's really only one way to do it. Death. The only way to stop him, the only way to ensure that he never rises again is to kill him. But how in the hell am I supposed to kill him? It took Harry, Hermione and Ron the better part of a year to track down the Horcruxes and dispose of them. Of course I've got more than a year to do it but I'm stuck in school? How the hell do I get my hands on them? Part of me wishes I could just tell everyone the truth.
"But you can't. You know that." I barely jump at the familiar eerie voice that glides through my ears. "Revealing the truth would cause more damage than you could possibly fathom."
"I know, I know. But seriously how the hell do you expect me to be able to stop Voldemort from coming back to life? What exactly am I supposed to do?" My voice has risen now as my anger comes out.
"We cannot tell you what we do not know." For a moment I sit in silence before the full weight of her words hit me.
"Wait, let me just get this straight. You guys hijack my life, send me back in time and tell me that I have to stop Voldemort from rising. Now as if that isn't bad enough I find out that you have no idea how the hell I'm supposed to do it!?" I'm shouting now but I don't care.
"We do not see the journey, only the destination. We can see. You will stop him." Easy for you to say love you're not the one who has to do it.
"But how? I mean logic dictates that I destroy the Horcruxes, that's what Harry did before. But how the hell can I do that when I'm stuck in school? If I could wander about the world without having to worry about anything else then yeah maybe I could destroy them."
For a few moments everything descends into an eerie silence. I can feel her eyes on me as she weights up what I have said but eventually she speaks.
"Remember the past."
With that she vanishes once again and, just like always, she leaves me with a shed load more questions than when she appeared.
What the hell does she mean by that?
Remember the past…
Why does she keep saying that?
Oliver POV:
"You okay?" We've been wandering around the schools grounds for most of the afternoon now and he's barely said three words. After everything that happened last week I was worried about how to handle this but so far we've avoided talking about it.
"I'm just…nothing. It's nothing I'm fine." Sighing I bring him to a stop before forcing him to face me.
"Don't tell me it's nothing. I can see you're worried about something, and I've got a sneaking suspicion as to what that something is. I told you last week. You're not in this alone now. You've got me. Now talk." He gives me a sheepish smile at the reprimand and finally confides in me.
"How the hell am I supposed to stop Voldemort from rising? He's the most powerful wizard of all time and somehow I've got to stop him from rising. How?" Shrugging my shoulders is about all I can manage right now. I wish I had an answer to give him but I don't. Truth is I'm still reeling from all of this.
"I can honestly say I've got no idea mate." He sighs and shakes his head. For a few moments neither of us says a word. How can we? "If your problem has a solution then you shouldn't worry about it. If your problem doesn't have a solution then worrying about it won't solve anything."
"What?" He turns to me with confusion written across his face.
"It's something my dad says a lot. He always says that worrying about something you can't change won't help anything. Maybe he's right. Maybe you need to stop thinking about it for a while."
"How can I? This is what I was sent back to do Ol. I was sent here to stop him I can hardly just ignore it can I?" The anger coming from him doesn't worry me one bit. I know Percy well enough to decipher between when he's angry and when he's frustrated. Sometimes they can appear the same but they're not. With Percy it's a fine line.
"I'm not saying you should forget about it but maybe…I don't know maybe push it to one side for a few days. Focus on what you can change and start with that." He tilts his head before smiling. It's a small smile and the tension behind it clear to see but it's a start.
"You see this is why I need you in my life. You're the only person who can make me see sense when I'm freaking out. So where do we start then?" Just like that he's back. I can tell he's still worried but then lets face it if he wasn't worried about everything then I'd seriously be questioning his sanity. That's one thing that people don't get about him. He always worries about everything it's just who he is, when he isn't worrying is when I know that there's something seriously wrong. "The most important thing to do is to make sure that those three come to me about their suspicions. It'll be much easier to keep track of things if they do. If they come to me then maybe I can be more involved this time and help them better. Keep them safe."
"What about other people?" Once again he tilts his head in confusion. "Well you keep talking about Harry, Ron and Hermione but what about other people? Surely there must be other people who are important in all of this."
"Well yes there are actually, quite a few if memory serves. Maybe it's time I widened my view a little. Since I already know what's going to happen maybe we can pin point people who are going to be important here, maybe we can twist things to our advantage."
"So tell me, who's important?" Now that his mind is out of its worry he's finally himself again. Most people on this earth will never get the chance to see the brilliance that is Percy Weasley.
"Neville Longbottom proves to be a rather large part of the puzzle. Then there's Ginny of course and not to forget…" He trails off as a light comes into his eyes.
"What?" His smile is blinding and for a moment my breath leaves me as he throws his arms around me in a tight hug. "What?"
"Neville." At my confusion he smiles again and claps his hands together. "You are a complete genius. Neville plays such a huge part in this whole thing."
"Neville. He's scared of his own shadow." He shakes his head still smiling of course.
"Neville Longbottom is one of the most important parts of this story. It all starts when…" My smile matches his own as he sets about explaining just how important Neville turns out to be.
Georges POV:
"Any idea what Percy wants?" Ron asks as he sits down. Shaking my head no I can't help but wonder.
"Right you lot." He says as he steps into the room. "Got a letter from mum this morning and apparently she and dad have decided they want a big family Christmas. They've already spoken to Bill and Charlie, both of whom have managed to wangle some time off over Christmas."
"Seriously? But I thought mum and dad were going off to see Charlie this year?" My twin asks as his confusion matches my own.
"They were but after everything with Scabbers and Peter Pettigrew mums decided she wants us all together this year." I can't help the smile that grows at his words.
"This is going to be awesome." Fred smacks me on the shoulder as he speaks and I can't help but agree. He's right of course. Life was so much better when the whole family was together. With Bill being off in Egypt and Charlie over in Norway it felt like it had been forever since we were all together.
"Hang on what about Harry?" It's Ron who speaks. What on earth are you talking about? Percy apparently shares my confusion.
"What do you mean?" He asks as he takes a seat next to me.
"Well he's going to be all alone isn't he? I don't know if he's staying at Hogwarts but what if he decides to go home?" From the look that crosses Percy's face I get the distinct impression that there's something I don't know and judging from the raised eyebrows of my twin he doesn't know either.
"Right I hadn't thought of that. Leave it with me." Ron smiles at this and his expression instantly brightens.
What was that about?
Apparently sensing my thoughts Percy mouths the word 'later' in my direction. Throwing my confusion to one side I settle instead for focusing on the building excitement within me.
Three weeks until Christmas…this is going to be great.
Hmm. Not happy really with the way I've ended that chapter but I got fed up of rewriting it. It'll do, I can always change it later. Any comments? Feel free to let me know dear readers.
Until next time
Bye!