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SIYE Time:23:04 on 28th March 2024
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Duel of the Mates...Or Enemies Rather
By person13

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Category: The Duel Challenge (2006-5)
Characters:None
Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Fluff, General, Humor
Warnings: None
Story is Complete
Rating: PG
Reviews: 13
Summary: When a certain ferret commits a heinous--to Harry anyway--crime, what will come of it? When a duel is proposed, how far will it go? When the Headmaster accepts defeat, why? When help is offered, who is doing the offering?
Hitcount: Story Total: 4523



Disclaimer: Harry Potter Publishing Rights © J.K.R. Note the opinions in this story are my own and in no way represent the owners of this site. This story subject to copyright law under transformative use. No compensation is made for this work.



Author's Notes:
My first fic, and its a challenge, so let's see how it goes...




ChapterPrinter


All grew quiet, and the silence was nearly tangible as every head turned to look at Draco Malfoy. I’m dead, he thought idly, and then he came to realize he was correct in his absentmindedness thinking. This is Harry Potter, the same one that has survived the Dark Lord several times, and me countless other times…I am dead.

However, Draco Malfoy could not allow anyone to walk over him, so he stood, inwardly shaking, and outwardly he looked a little constipated, trying to find a good facial expression to rival the murderous gaze Potter was giving him. He cleared his throat, and called across the room. “I accept, Potter!” Several gasps shot through the Hall and Dumbledore made to interrupt, but Malfoy continued, saying, “Unless of course, you don’t want to go through with it now that I’ve accepted.” A little to late, the blond teenager realized his voice sounded hopeful rather than derisive.

The Boy Who Lived laughed out loud and yelled, “Noon, then. Saturday. Hogsmeade.”

Draco nodded, smirked, or at least he hoped he did, and sat back down. A buzz then filled the Hall about what had taken place. Draco was able to pick out little bits, and nothing seemed to boost his confidence.

“The Malfoy kid has no chance. He’s Harry Potter!

“Poor guy. Did you see his face? He looked ready to throw himself into the lake and let the Squid take care of him.” It didn’t help that this bit came from his own table.

“What do you think Malfoy did to him this afternoon?”

Malfoy cringed. He knew he had taken it too far. It was ground that no one dare step. It had never been done before, but everyone knew what Potter was about, and how he would react. Everyone knew something like this would put him over the edge. But I had to be stupid, and cross the line.

“Oh, Draco, you are just going to kill him.” Pansy. Oh, no, not her. “He’s going to rue the day he challenged Draco Malfoy to a duel.”

“Oh shut up, Pansy,” Draco spat. She huffed and turned away, but he didn’t care. He picked up his fork and stabbed at the pudding. Why am I using my fork to eat pudding? He then found he wasn’t hungry at all, and he decided to strike up a conversation with Pansy anyway. It might take his mind off things.

“I’m sorry, Pansy. I didn’t mean that.” She instantly turned around smiling widely and burst into conversation. Unfortunately, it was about the topic he had wanted to avoid.

“So how do you think everything’s going to be set up for the duel?”

~~~

“Oh I imagine Dumbledore will set up a Dueling Shield. I’ve…er…read about them, they’re supposed to block out nearly every spell. I personally hope I can talk him into creating a dueling zone, as opposed to the old fashion ten pace style, points and all.” Harry finished speaking, swallowed a spoonful of pudding, and looked up at Ron and then to Hermione next to him. He had been avoiding looking at Ginny, sitting next to Ron.

“Yes, that would be all great, but Harry…” She looked over to the Slytherin table nervously. “What if he wins?”

Ron snorted, which was inopportune, for his mouth was also full of pudding. The result was Harry, Neville, and Hermione having faces covered in house-elf prepared, banana flavored, goodness. Ron either didn’t notice, or didn’t care, for he went on to say, “Malfoy beat Harry? Oh come on. He’s been failing all year in a guerrilla fashion, how is he supposed to beat Harry out in the open?”

“How do you mean, guerilla fashion?” Neville asked, wiping his face off, disgustedly, with his napkin. “What has he done?”

Ron looked thoughtful for a moment. “Oh, dozens of things….Oh here’s just a small one: We were walking into Defense Class. Snape, the ruddy git, called for our projects on nonverbal spells. Malfoy had forgotten to do his, or he knew he would just as easily…well, he walked over to Harry, and said very loudly that Harry had stolen his project and switched names. Just as easy as that, Snape marched over, docked Gryffindor forty points and gave Malfoy full credit. I bet Harry wouldn’t have gotten half credit on that thing, no offence.”

“None taken,” Harry said nonchalantly as he bit into some treacle tart. “I’m surprised Malfoy chose my project to steal and not Hermione’s. Snape had to give her full credit, it was so good.”

“That’s just a small one?” Neville asked, fearful.

“Oh, and that other time, he set up a trap that Harry saw right through. At the bottom of the stairs, he had set a tripping snare. I still don’t know how he did it, but Harry saw it and pointed it out. The tripping would result in falling on a slippery floor, which had also been hexed, being sent down the next staircase and into the broom closet, which was set to close and lock instantly. Malfoy came to watch, and somehow, I have no clue how, but Harry ended up reversing it so that Malfoy got stuck….it was a good one.

“Oh yea, some end up good for me, others end badly. We just don’t like to talk about them. Bad memories. Besides, just a couple more days, and I’ll be rid of him. He won’t try anything once I’m done with him.”

“Oh Harry, I really think you are downplaying his skill. He could really hurt you. You shouldn’t have done this. He could have been getting training from his father, or other Death Eaters. It definitely was a bad move. I just know you are going to lose or get killed or something.” Hermione took a breath to replace the large amount of air she had just used to speak. She then stood up and walked off muttering something about the library and calming nerves.

"Could she be more pessimistic- I mean…really. She’s giving you false hope, Harry. It’s going to be a lot tougher than she made it out to be." Neville chuckled at Ron’s sarcasm but still looked anxiously at Harry.

Harry took another bite of treacle tart. Wow this stuff is good. Harry really wasn’t worried. In his five plus years of dealing with the youngest Malfoy, he had learned that this dragon’s roar was a lot worse than his fire, bite, strength, and spikes. He was a rather pitiful dragon, really.

Besides that, Harry had become quite the duelist. He was no match for Dumbledore, but he had begun to put some pressure on the old man in their training sessions over the past few months. Speaking of Dumbledore, Harry thought, as he looked up at the staff table. As if sensing his look, Dumbledore turned his gaze to meet Harry’s, and Harry shivered. He was in trouble. Dumbledore gave him a little nod with another look that meant, ‘We need to talk, tonight.’ He then stood up and left for his office.

Harry gulped and brought his gaze down, which fell on Ginny. She also happened to be glaring at him, and the look of impatience made Harry think she may have been doing it since he first made his announcement. Her look also said, ‘We need to talk later…or yell some.’ However, Harry didn’t get scared by her, as he was too busy taking in her beauty.

It was simple. When the youngest Weasley got angry, she became even more gorgeous, which, to Harry, seemed an impossible feat. Her face got slightly red, and her hair waved wildly behind her. He wondered not so vaguely how it would feel to run his hands through her vibrant, auburn hair. He stared into her beautiful brown eyes and was lost. He was so immersed that he did not notice her glare falter as their eyes locked, and he finally forced himself to look away.

He stood up and left the Great Hall, humming “Hoggy Hoggy Hogwarts,” under his breath. He turned the corner and pondered over the youngest Weasley. She meant more to Harry then he had realized until earlier that afternoon. He had recognized during the summer how attractive she was. But it didn’t stop at looks.

She had helped him deal with the death of Sirius so much it was incalculable. Sometimes she would just sit and talk with him, and other times, she would match his anger and put him in his place. He couldn’t stand her, or so he thought, but then he would feel incredibly good the day after she confronted him and ended up thanking her.

To thank the Weasley’s at the end of the summer, he had managed to talk them into letting him take them out to dinner. When Ginny had come down the stairs of the Burrow, dressed in striking dress robes, her hair let down, dancing behind her, he knew he could never look at Ginny Weasley the same way.

The great companionship they had built did not end once they arrived back at Hogwarts. Rather, it got stronger, especially when Harry was there for her when Dean had broken it off with her. She had been rather upset and Harry had been a good outlet. And until earlier that day, Harry was content to think of himself as Ginny’s great friend who happened to think she was the prettiest person in school. It had changed, though. He no longer wanted to only be Ginny’s great friend.

Harry made his way up the stairs, and he found himself just down the corridor from where the Fat Lady was sipping something dark red out of a martini glass in her portrait. Before he took another step down the hall, he heard a familiar whooshing noise of a cloak that made his fists clench.

“Potter!”

“Professor,” Harry said slowly as he turned around.

“First of all I want–“

Harry interrupted saying, “To say how arrogant and just like my father I am? How stupid I was to challenge a student of Malfoy’s past to a duel? How moronic it is of me to think I can make him stop his petty remarks and lame attempts at my life if I win a duel?”

“Right in one…or three. Three points to Gryffindor.” Harry mouth dropped in disbelief. Severus…Snivelus…Snape, giving points to Harry Potter for a correct answer? Then he realized what his answer was, and closed his mouth.

“Second of all?”

“What?” Snape said sharply.

“You started with ‘First of all I want,’ and then I filled in that bit…so what’s the second of all?”

“Right…well.” The greasy-haired professor seemed to be rethinking something, then said, “Well…I just thought I’d let you know that Malfoy knows some dirty tricks…and even though I hate you with all my being, and I despise your very existence…” He trailed off.

“Go on…” Harry said, quite bored of the conversation.

“Even though your presence in this world–nay, this universe–is a waste of space that could be used for other matter, I do not want to see you dead.”

“But that doesn’t make any se–“

“You know what, Potter? Just accept my help!” Snape was no looking around nervously as though he feared being caught speaking with the boy. Harry then realized he didn’t want to be seen talking with his ex-potions master either.

“What’s this about, sir…you haven’t helped me since my first year.”

Snape thought hard about the question. “Let’s just say I want Malfoy to stop his…what did you say, ‘petty remarks and lame attempts at your life?’”

Harry nodded. Snape continued, “Look, we’re both in the Order, and if Malfoy ever manages to get you, I’ll have to answer to everyone else as to why I didn’t help you at all.”

Harry still felt there was more to it, but decided to wrap up the conversation. “Ok, so what help will you be giving me?”

“Meet me in my office tonight at eleven. Don’t be late, Potter.” And with a swish of his robes, which were billowing after him, Snape was off. I hope that the robe swish will be part of what he teaches me, Harry thought, staring off after him before moving on towards the Fat Lady, who was now threatening to fall off of her chair, as she was giggling madly at the armrests.

He managed only to get a few more paces before he heard another, “Harry!” Ginny…

Harry turned around very slowly and spoke softly, “Yes, Gin?”

Her eyes flashed menacingly as she marched up to Harry. “Don’t ‘Yes, Gin’ me!”

“Yes, Gin,” he said affirmatively, then remembered what he was agreeing to and cringed at what Ginny’s reaction would be. He was relieved when she let out a slight chuckle.

“Harry…how come I can’t be mad at you? You always go and mess it up.”

“Aw come now, that’s not true. We’ve had a couple good rows, and you always win…so added bonus there.”

Ginny sighed. “You shouldn’t have done that, back there, Harry,” she said, defeated.

“You can do better than that. Say it like you mean it, Ginny!”

This got Ginny riled up again. “Harry, why did you decide to retaliate this afternoon, when you never have before?” she asked, exasperated.

“That’s not true; I’ve retaliated plenty of times.” Harry countered, beginning to count off his fingers.

Eyebrows raised, she requested, “Name one time.”

“Ok…three weeks ago, he dropped a Portkey into my bag, and when I reached to get my quill out in Potions, I grabbed it and was sent into the middle of nowhere…I’m not sure where I was, but obviously he did.”

Ginny had her mouth open, and she was staring at Harry. “How come you never told me about this?”

Harry grew flustered. “Well, I never…I didn’t want to worry you over no big deal.”

“No big deal? If he would have planned it out right…You could have ended up in the middle of Voldemort’s inner circle!”

“That’s exactly it though…It’s Malfoy…he even failed to make it a one-way Portkey like Crouch. I just let go of it and grabbed it again, and I came right back to Potions class. Oh you should’ve seen his face…it was priceless.” Seeing the upset and slightly betrayed look on Ginny’s face, Harry stopped making it out to be such a small topic.

“Hey, Gin…I’m sorry I didn’t tell you…I just, well I don’t want you to worry. Come here.” Harry reached out and pulled his friend into his arms. She fit so nicely, it was eerie, yet the most natural thing in the world. He absentmindedly ran his hands up her back and into her hair, and began stroking it. It was the most wonderful feeling he had ever had.

“Harry, what if…I don’t even want to think about what it would be like…without you.”

The noise of a large group of Gryffindors making their way to the portrait hole reached the two teenager’s ears. “Come on,” Harry said, and led her into a secluded passageway, that few knew about, behind a tapestry of Romulus, Remus, and the she-wolf.

Harry pressed her against the wall lightly and gazed into her eyes, his hands on her shoulders. For a fleeting moment, as he stared into the brown abyss of her eyes, he nearly kissed her, but shook his head against it as he thought of her saddened state, and the fact that she would reject him. “Listen, Gin…I’m fine. I’ve been…learning things with Dumbledore to help me in these situations. Voldemort is after me, and inside sources, namely Malfoy, are trying to get me to him. I’m fine, and I can handle this.”

“Then why aren’t you letting me handle what happened this afternoon?” She asked, getting a little of her anger back.

“Wait,” Harry said, trying to change the subject a little. “I never told you what I did when I got back to Potions. We had been making acne-removal potions, and they were on our desks….You have to know that until the potions are ready, they have an exact opposite effect….So I silently blew his cauldron up, and the potion went all over him. For the next three weeks he had irremovable acne.”

“That was you? I was so jealous of whoever did that.” They enjoyed a short laugh before Harry thought he’d take advantage of the moment and made to leave. “You never answered my question about why you didn’t let me handle it this afternoon.”

“It involved me, too,” Harry said turning back around, hopeful.

“How?”

Harry sighed. “Because Ginny, you are…my friend, and I can’t stand to see you…er, my friends hurt. I have no doubt that you will get back at him as well, but I need to defend you.”

“I don’t need you to defend me Harry,” she said, her voice clearly rising.

“I know,” he said, also raising his voice. “I just…am protecting you.”

“I don’t need your protection Harry!” She was now all but yelling. “I definitely don’t need another brother!”

“Then it’s a good thing I have no intentions of being your brother!” Harry turned and marched out nearly tearing poor Romulus off the tapestry. He strode up to the tipsy Fat Lady, who didn’t even wait for a password to swing the painting open–she appeared to be having fun. Merlin, I hope she doesn’t think too much about that last statement, he thought concernedly as he climbed in.

“Harry, mate, where have you been?” Ron was sitting on the couch beside Hermione who looked up from her book. Harry walked over to them shaking his head.

Trying to get his mind off of Ginny, he decided to tell then about Snape’s suspicious offer. “I just talked with Snape…he wants to help me so I don’t die tomorrow.” Ron’s eyes bulged and he immediately began shaking his head quickly.

Hermione, on the other hand, sat up straighter and said, “Harry, you’ve got to let him help you. You have no idea what Malfoy may plan to do.”

Harry shrugged. “I don’t know, Hermione. Snape helping me? Do you smell something fishy?”

Ron stopped shaking his head and looked thoughtful, sniffing the air. “You mean like that delicious fish I had when you took us to dinner? That Nebraskan Salmon?”

“Alaskan, Ronald…” Hermione corrected

“How am I supposed to know which sta…?”

Harry tuned them out and thought about the strange behavior of his least favorite teacher. He had seemed quite sincere with his proposal, and Harry couldn’t see Dumbledore allowing any misbehavior from Snape. But then again…it was Snape. Harry would have to go and spy on the man, to make sure he wasn’t planning something. Harry looked up to find Ron nodding enthusiastically at the ground.

“Ron, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

Ron turned to Harry and nodded harder still. “Yea…but where are we going to get one at this hour?”

Harry stared at Ron, not understanding what he was saying. Then he realized he had had the whole conversation in his head, and Ron would have no idea of his plan to spy on their teacher. Harry shook his head at Ron and asked, “Get one what?”

Ron looked at Harry as if he was a little child. “A Nebraskan–“

“–Alaskan, Ronald.”

“Right,” he said, jerking his head at Hermione. “A salmon…where could we get one? I suppose the house-elves could…”

Harry once again tuned out his best friend and decided he would just have to trust Snape, and maybe he could learn something from him. After all, if he had taken previous lessons with Snape more seriously, Sirius might still be with him.

~~~

Dumbledore was not pleased. Sure, the junior Malfoy had been a nuisance to Harry, but was a duel the answer? He had spent the past few months secretly training Harry, and now he was going to ruin it all in one duel against young Draco Malfoy.

Dumbledore had considered expelling the young man for some of the things he had done, but that would only ensure his movement to Voldemort’s forces. He hoped that Severus would be able to persuade him somehow, but now as he thought about it, the man couldn’t do anything without blowing his cover as spy. No, he was just hoping that over the next couple years, Draco would come to find the good side as the better one.

He would not allow it. He had not said anything more during dinner because he thought that it might perhaps blow over and the whole thing wouldn’t happen. Oh how wrong he was. According to the many portraits in his office, the duel wasn’t only going to happen, but the whole school was going to watch.

Maybe he could call off the Hogsmeade trip…yes that would work. Then all of the student body would hate him for two reasons, canceling two major forms of entertainment. Suddenly there was a knock at the door, and without Dumbledore’s permission, Harry Potter strode in.

This intrusion did not, of course, help Dumbledore’s mood. “I don’t recall saying, ‘enter,’ Harry,” he said with disappointment and a bit of anger in his voice.

“I didn’t enter!” Harry said a bit hysterically, as he backed out. “I am merely sending an image thorough the door as if I had walked in.” He was now closing the door, and with a soft click he said loudly through the door, “May I enter now, Professor?”

Dumbledore gave a small chuckle despite himself. “Yes, Harry, enter.” The door opened again, and a bashful Harry came in.

“Sorry, Professor.”

Dumbledore took a deep breath. “You will not be dueling Mr. Malfoy this Saturday.”

Harry’s head shot up. “But…Professor, come on, look at what he’s done; he needs to be taught a lesson, and you haven’t done anything, much less Snape.”

It struck Dumbledore quite hard. Hard enough, in fact, that he failed to correct Harry’s disrespect to himself and Professor Snape. Harry had felt that Dumbledore had done nothing to punish Draco Malfoy of his crimes, which some were quite bad. And Dumbledore realized, sadly, that he had indeed done nothing. He had failed to give Harry a reason to trust him yet again.

“Yes, well, that has been my choice…and whether it is a bad choice or not, we shall see in due time. It is my choice to make.”

“He’s tried to kill me, Professor…don’t you think that requires a little punishment?” Harry sat back in the chair across from Dumbledore and looked out the window into the now-starry sky.

Dumbledore was indeed feeling quite guilty, but he wanted the subject changed. “So why are you fighting back now, after this incident?”

Harry head shot back to Dumbledore’s, and they locked eyes. It would be so easy to see what he was thinking, but Dumbledore respected the young man’s privacy. “What…what do you mean?”

“It was serious today, no doubt, but why put an end to it now, as opposed to when he tried to take your life?” Harry dropped his gaze and looked at his hands.

“It’s all just too much now,” Harry said, softly, looking around the room. “It was me coming to realize all that he had done over the years.”

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows at the raven-haired student in front of him. “You were never good at Occlumency, Harry.” He would never use it of course, but it was a good way to get Harry to talk.

Harry suddenly stood up and looked hard at Dumbledore. “Alright, I love her, ok? Are you happy? When Malfoy hit her with that curse, I nearly lost it. It took every fiber of my being not to hurl him down the corridor, through the glass in that stupid window with little red and blue squares, down several floors, and onto the ground! If she hadn’t have needed to go to the hospital wing immediately, I may have!” Harry was breathing heavily and slumped back into his chair.

“I’m going to finish this now, before he can do anything else. And if you forbid it, Headmaster, this may be one time I will deliberately disobey you…disappoint you further.”

Dumbledore knew it couldn’t be helped now. This was one determined man, and no matter how much Dumbledore knew it was an unwise move, it couldn’t be stopped. So, Dumbledore fell back on the wise saying, ‘If you can’t beat them, join them.’

~~~

Harry walked dazedly down the staircase and past the gargoyle and slipped on his invisibility cloak. As he made his way to Snape’s dungeons, he tried to make sense of what had just occurred. He had said he loved Ginny Weasley. It certainly was a strange thought for him to think that he loved someone, much less shout it out loud to his mentor.

It had come as quite a shock to himself as he said it, yet after the fact, he knew he couldn’t and wouldn’t take it back. In an attempt to get to Harry, Malfoy had hit Ginny with a curse, that, had he not gotten her to the hospital wing in moments, she could have been seriously hurt. Luckily, it was a relatively quick fix because the curse hadn’t had much time to take effect. As a result of his terrible actions, Malfoy would now be hit very hard, and hopefully unable to speak for the rest of his life, whether from a spell or a smack to his pride.

Most surprising was the agreement of Dumbledore. He had said that if a duel was inevitable, there must be safety precautions for all those that viewed, and they needed to respect the ancient act of dueling with a proper setup. Dumbledore agreed to set up a dueling dome in an old-fashion style, where no point system was used, but merely a fight to the death, or incapacity, in their case.

And so it was as Harry knocked on Professor Snape’s office. “Enter,” a voice said, mirroring Dumbledore’s. Harry opened the door to the office he had grown to hate. He was relieved when he saw no pensieve, assuring him that there would be no Occlumency tonight.

However, his room was cleared out in the middle, and seemed to have been magically extended to allow for more room. Snape stood at one end of the room, and as soon as the two had made eye contact, he waved his wand, sending a red curse hurdling at Harry.

Harry had gotten a pretty quick draw over the months he and Dumbledore had been practicing. However, the stunner came as such a surprise to him that he hardly had time to whip his wand out and cast a poorly constructed shield.

The spell was weakened by the small shield, but it managed to get through. Due to its weakened state, the stunner only managed to make Harry’s head spin a bit. However, it took enough time to clear his head that Snape had easily gotten off another petrifying curse. Harry yet again threw up a weak shield that managed to stop the spell but left Harry panting, and he dropped to his knees.

Expelliarmus!” Harry watched as his wand flew through the air and landed in his teacher’s outstretched hand.

“What did you learn?” Snape asked shortly.

Harry shook his head to clear it again and said, “You don’t wait for me to get ready, you don’t respect ancient dueling rules in that you don’t wait for me to recover, and you don’t greet me when I walk into your room.”

Snape’s lip curled, and he waited a moment before nodding. “Right.” Harry couldn’t help but smile. “Malfoy will act along the same lines. He certainly won’t wait for you to get ready...I doubt he even knows ancient dueling standards, and I am surprised you do. Although, he may greet you in some fashion or another, perhaps to throw you off guard. It is best to be on your guard constantly, and don’t listen to a word he says”

Harry stood up and his breathing evened. As he expected, Snape again shot a wordless spell at Harry. This time, Harry was ready and defending himself. The two began to exchange curses and it fell into an almost regular pattern. “Surprised, Professor?” Harry said, hoping to get a rise out of the man he hated so much.

It turned out to be a bad move because in the next moment, red light hit him and he was out cold. He found himself being awakened on the floor of Snape’s office. “Not quite,” Snape said coldly. “Do not lower yourself to Malfoy’s tactics. It does not help, and in actuality all it did was open up a place for me to hit you with a stunner.”

“Right,” Harry said, sick that he had reverted to something akin to Malfoy. He stood up quickly and made ready with his wand in front of him. As a spell came speeding at him and Harry put up a shield, Harry found he was thankful for the lesson.

Dumbledore had taught him to fight in a duel, no doubt. Harry had never stood a chance against the man, though, so he never felt comfortable enough to focus on anything other than the fight, and the spells Dumbledore was teaching him. Snape was still good, but he was low enough in level that Harry could begin to take in more aspects of the duel, learning which spells would be best to dodge and which would be best to block. He learned to change his approach every few minutes as to not give his opponent an advantage of knowing his style. All in all, his lesson with Professor Snape was more helpful than any one lesson Dumbledore had given him.

~~~

Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny, although the air was brisk. Harry awoke as the sun crept over the mountains and cast a dull orange glow into his dormitory. Angry at himself for not drawing the curtains, Harry climbed out of bed, knowing he would not be able to get back to sleep.

It had been another late night, with his third lesson with Snape in a row. He surprised himself at how much he had actually looked forward to the lessons, and began to fear that a little respect for Snape had been built. Shuddering, Harry stripped and stepped into the shower. After all, he needed to look nice for the duel; five sevenths of the school would be watching–years three through seven.

Harry finished showering, got dressed, picked up his dueling robes for later, and headed down the stairs. To his horror, Ginny was lying peacefully on the couch, in a light slumber. Harry moved over to her slowly, and gazed at her, lying in front of the fire, which seemed to always be alight when needed. Her hair was displayed beautifully behind her in several shades of red, flickering in the firelight and highlighted in the early morning sunrise.

Harry’s breath hitched as he gazed at her. He had missed her so much over the past few days. He had been avoiding her, and if he wasn’t mistaken, she had been avoiding him, as well. According to Hermione, Ginny had said that she needed to think about something. Harry had no idea what to think about her thinking.

Harry stared as his hand moved forward, and he was unable to stop it as it gently caressed Ginny’s cheek. Horrified, Harry stood frozen as Ginny’s eyes flickered open and rested on Harry’s, blearily. “Harry?” she said softly.

Harry could either face the situation and address the problem, or he could run. He decided on the latter. “Goodnight, Gin,” he said, hoping to put her back to sleep quickly. He turned around and walked out of the common room, preparing for the duel ahead of him.

The morning passed by quickly as Harry went to Dumbledore’s office to confirm certain arrangements and clarify decisions. “Are you one hundred percent sure that you want to go through with this? You know that you will risk exposing all of your new skills and advanced knowledge. You’re serious?”

Harry looked hard at Dumbledore, and thought back to the fear and dread that had seeped through him as Ginny hit the hard, stone floor. Even though the days since then had been very confusing with Ginny, Harry knew that he would do nothing less than attempt to stop Malfoy from causing anymore harm…especially to Ginny.

“I’ve never been more serious.”

Dumbledore nodded, and a faint twinkle returned to his eye, one that had not been seen by Harry in a while. “Very well, Harry. I will arrange everything, and it will be ready by noon. Have a good morning.”

And Harry did. Ron and Hermione joined him at the breakfast table, and they held a last minute discussion of the duel. They were having a rather pleasant conversation about the duel when Ron suddenly asked, “Where is Ginny? She always eats with us? She hasn’t been around at all these past few days.”

Hermione’s head shot up to Harry’s and she gave him an inquisitive look, but thankfully remained silent. Even more fortunately, a new platter of bacon arrived, and Ron completely forgot about his question. Harry ate contentedly with the two, and before they knew it, it was time to go to Hogsmeade. Harry told the others he planned on just scoping out the dueling area until noon.

“But Harry, that’s still a couple hours away!” Hermione exclaimed.

“You’re the one that’s nervous about this; don’t you want me to be as prepared as possible?”

Truth be told, Harry had a small sense of uneasiness in him, and he wanted to make sure everything was set up; ensuring other’s safety and a fair duel. When Hermione nodded, the three of them stood up and left the Great Hall towards Hogsmeade. As Harry had previously noted, the air was bracing even though the sun was rapidly approaching its high point. The cool air was almost stimulating, and Harry found himself wide awake and ready for anything.

As the trio entered Hogsmeade, and made their way to the open courtyard, Hermione gasped, and Ron’s mouth dropped considerably. There was a large, clear dome that covered the dueling grounds. The dome could have just fit inside that Great Hall, and its light green-blue tint glimmered in the sunlight. Harry could tell that the shield was strong enough to penetrate most, if not all, of the spells he knew and had learned from Dumbledore.

Inside of the dome looked to be an exhilarating set. Harry smiled as he looked at the area he would be fighting Malfoy. There was a small, rocky hill set to one side, and at the base of the unsteady rocks, there was a stream, which seemed to start and end at two ends of the dome. On the other side of the stream, many trees were placed sporadically throughout the rest of the dome.

“All of this for one duel?” Ron asked shortly.

Harry opened his mouth to reply, but Hermione beat him to the punch. “Ron, you don’t understand; Harry formally challenged Malfoy to a duel. It isn’t done very often, and throughout all of history, each duel is treated with respect and acknowledged as a sacred practice, especially with families as old as the Potters and Malfoys. I just can’t believe Dumbledore allowed for all of this.”

“I convinced him,” Harry said shortly, before he began walking again towards the dome. Before he got close, however, an Auror who was stationed in Hogsmeade stopped him. Just before the man spoke, Harry noticed several other Aurors patrolling the area.

“We aren’t to allow anyone close to the dueling grounds, sir. If you could come back just before noon we’ll allow you in.” Harry nodded and went back to where Hermione and Ron were standing, extremely pleased with the security Dumbledore had put in the courtyard. He was convinced that no one, specifically Malfoy and his cronies, could cheat by altering the playing field.

Harry explained what the Auror had said, and they decided to grab a quick drink at The Three Broomsticks. There were several other students who had made their way into Hogsmeade that were in the shop. The majority of the students greeted Harry and wished him good luck in the duel. The three sat down and enjoyed a nice butterbeer to calm each of their nerves.

Before Harry could stop it, time had decided to move quickly. At twenty minutes to noon, Harry stood, and left the table, saying goodbye to Ron and Hermione. “I’ll see you after the duel.”

“Oh, good luck, Harry, and be careful!”

“Make him pay for it all, mate.”

Harry smiled at his two best friends and left the pub, heading back to the dueling area. When he arrived, he noticed stands had been erected and we placed around the dome, making a small stadium. Tonks appeared out of no where and greeted him enthusiastically. “Wotcher, Harry!”

Harry grinned and said, “So you are going to be here as well?”

Tonks threw Harry a questioning glance. “Who isn’t going to be here, Harry? A chance to see the ‘Chosen One’ in action? I doubt this,” she said, waving her hand at the small stadium behind her, “will be enough to hold everyone who wants to see this.”

“Well, where is everyone then?”

“We won’t allow anyone for another ten minutes, then the chaos will ensue. Malfoy is already in his tent,” she said pointing to one end of the dome, where, sure enough, a green and silver tent was connected. Harry looked to the other side and found a red and gold tent. “So, I will escort you to your tent now, so that no one can pick you off before the duel.”

Harry nodded and was followed Tonks to his tent. Apparently, a lot more than just the school would be observing the duel. Harry now felt a little sicker. They reached the tent and Tonks held a flap open for him. “Have fun, Harry.” And with that, Harry was left to ponder over exactly how many people would be watching.

As if to answer his musings, Harry began to here chattering of people. Soon, he heard many cracks, signifying the arrival of many via Apparation. Before too long, he could just feel the stadium, as it was, brimming with people. Harry could tell that wizards had added on to the stadium to make it larger. He silently changed into his dueling robes, which Dumbledore had gotten him for his birthday.

About five minutes to, Dumbledore entered the tent. “Hello, Harry. We will be starting soon. I will announce the duel, and you will enter. You are to bow with Malfoy, just as we’ve practiced so many times. As soon as the bell rings, you will start. You will no longer be able to hear the announcements as it will be a play by play and may offer some help as to where you or he is hiding. Good luck, Mr. Potter...and nice robes.”

“Thanks for everything, Professor,” Harry grinned. Dumbledore smiled and left the tent. Not two minutes later, Harry heard his headmaster’s voice ring out, “Welcome to Hogsmeade in the first formal duel of Hogwarts in seventy-two years. We will be observing the challenged, Draco Malfoy…” The voice broke off and the people in the stands began booing. Harry reckoned Malfoy had just entered the dome. Dumbledore waited for a moment before starting again. “And the challenger, Harry Potter, facing off.” The flap leading to the dome flipped up on its own accord and Harry strode towards it.

Harry stepped into the world Dumbledore constructed and gasped. Amidst the roars of the crowd, Harry gazed around the zone, taking in every angle. Before him was an open area, with grass at his feet. To his right was the forest, and to his left were the stream and rocky hills. He then looked though the blue-green dome and his mouth parted slightly in surprise. The Stadium had been enlarged and was filled with about double the amount of students attending. Harry’s eyes landed close to his tent where he had emerged, and he saw Ginny standing there.

She smiled at him and nodded. He wasn’t quite sure how to interpret that, but then he realized she was nodding at him to turn around. He saw Malfoy standing there, looking terrified and sour. He flashed a quick smile back at Ginny before turning around fully and bowing modestly at his school nemesis while extracting his wand. The bells rang shortly afterwards and the duel began.

Instantly they began a volley of curses. Harry was pleased to note that Malfoy had not mastered nonverbal spells, but was sad to note that he could not hear any incantations anyway because of the cheering and jeering.

Harry shot many shield penetrating curses at Malfoy, but he was surprised to find the blond actually knew what he was doing and knew to avoid those spells as opposed to try to block them. Harry also found, however, that he was putting too much pressure on Malfoy and his opponent had hardly shot off an attack.

Soon, it became obvious that Malfoy could not turn this formal duel in his favor, so he shot off into the forest, dodging a couple hexes that Harry shot off after him. One of the trees Harry’s curse hit lit on fire, and it slowly began spreading up the bark of the tree. Harry darted into the trees to his own right, and cautiously stole around; waiting for a sign that Malfoy was near. He cast a silencing charm on his feet to prevent Draco from easily detecting him.

The fire that was slowly overcoming the single tree cast a strange flicker in the darkened trees. Harry often mistook a particularly large flicker for a curse and had thrown up an unneeded shield. He moved toward the tree swiftly and shot water out of his wand to put it out while glancing all around him to insure Malfoy wouldn’t land a curse on him.

Just as the tree’s fire was extinguished, leaving an ugly black rash across half the tree, Harry’s hair stood, and he felt energy rushing at him. Instinctively, he threw himself onto the ground and rolled just as a nasty cutting curse cleaved the already weakened tree through the trunk and it fell slowly down. Harry rolled out of the way and leapt to his feat as he saw Malfoy duck back into the wooded trees.

Harry sprinted off and headed towards his last sighting of his prey and quickly found him, panting loudly behind a tree. Harry initially thought about taunting him into the open, but remembered Snape’s lesson. Harry shot two curses in quick succession. The first sped by the right side of the tree, doing no harm. Malfoy had rolled to his left to get away from the passing curse and landed right in the path of the second, which effectively sewed his mouth shut.

Malfoy’s eyes grew wide when he caught sight of Harry, and he took off, yet again. This time, he headed for the rocky hills. Harry gave chase and reached the edge of the woods just as Malfoy finished wading through the stream and began hastily scurrying up the large rocks. Harry ran past their starting point, where they had first bowed, and leapt far into the stream, effectively cutting down on wade time. He watched Malfoy climb as he sent off a couple warning stunners and finished wading through the waist deep water.

Malfoy now had the upper hand as he was able to cast spells down on Harry while he climbed. Harry moved to the side behind a large boulder, where he quickly took in all of his surroundings. He spared a glance to the side of the boulder to find Malfoy on top of the small hill, and a deep orange light moving quickly towards him. The light sped right by Harry as he again ducked behind the great rock. The spell went right into the stream and steam began to come out. Harry used the small distraction to roll the other way and, finding an opening, shot his most powerful bludgeoning hex at Malfoy’s feet. Malfoy put up a shield, but it did no good as the spell hit below him. Malfoy opened his mouth and shouted, “Nice aim, Potter!” It appeared that Malfoy had used the time, which Harry had used to plan, to undo the previous spell that had connected.

Harry merely smiled as the rocks below Malfoy began to crumble and sent the arrogant boy tumbling with them. Harry crossed the stream again and went back to his starting position in the open field. He looked over to Malfoy, and noticed the boy getting up from the ruble. He was bleeding heavily on his left arm, and he walked with a limp when he started back towards the open field where Harry was.

Harry respected the ancient unwritten rules of dueling. When someone was hit hard, but was not out of it, they were allowed time to gather themselves. The second they cast a healing charm, or any other spell for that matter, the duel was back on. Harry failed to remember, however, that Malfoy would not respect the tradition. Instead of nodding to put the duel back in play,, Malfoy opened his mouth, raised in unharmed right hand with his wand, and said loudly, a scowl on his face, “Avada Kedavra.

Harry’s eyes widened and he jumped out of the way, as if in slow motion, he watched the green light narrowly miss him. The first time Malfoy had attempted to kill him flashed instantly in his mind.

“Back already?” Harry asked, his eyes closed as he leaned against the wall of the compartment on the Hogwarts Express. Ginny had told him she wanted to grab Dean and come back to the compartment, but she had only been gone a moment.

“Accio wand,” a voice drawled. Harry’s eyes flew open as his wand flew just outside of his grasp. Malfoy raised his wand and before Harry could do anything, he opened the window and levitated Harry up to it. Harry latched his legs to the inside as his head went outside into the wind, so Malfoy couldn’t drop him outside.

“So, Potter, not so hot now, are you?” He walked up to where Harry was and stepped in between his legs, putting a hand on the bottom of each foot and began to put pressure on them to force his legs to unhook and Harry began to slip outside. Harry quickly brought his feet together, smashing Malfoy’s head effectively knocking him out. At the same time, he lifted his body up and grabbed on to the windowsill.

He pulled himself inside the window just as the compartment door slid open and Ginny stepped back in. She looked down at Malfoy as Harry bent to pick up his wand. “Already taken care of him, then?”

Harry, still shaken, just nodded and let out a small laugh. “Sorry I didn’t wait for you.” There was no point in worrying her over this. He’d just keep this one to himself.


Harry followed the movement of the green light, and to his utmost horror, it moved right through the barrier, obviously, and speedily towards the side of his tent, where Ginny was still standing. His heart was about to fall apart, he would never get to tell her, hold her like wanted to, and kiss her. Ginny’s eyes had widened and she dropped, seemingly in slow motion as well, to the ground. The light passed over her, narrowly missing her head, and relief Harry never knew swept through him.

They followed the progression of the spell as it hit the elevated stands and created a large hole in the metal. There was silence throughout the audience. Ginny’s head turned back to Harry and she mouthed, “Hit him hard, Harry.”

Harry was unable to acknowledge her unintentional alliteration, however. He was also unable to acknowledge the cutting hex that slashed his own left arm, spraying blood out around him. Again, he was unable to acknowledge the look of fear that replaced Malfoy’s previous proud and haughty expression when Harry turned around and they looked at each other. Finally, he was unable to acknowledge that the dome changed to a deep blood-red color, although still clear, as his own blood splattered against it.

The hardly controlled fury that entered his being, and the overpowering need to protect Ginny, caused a change in Harry. He could still control himself, but it was as if he was in overdrive. Harry raised his wand arm slowly, took a deep breath and unleashed this new power within him.

Malfoy was able to block three of the next thirty-five spells that Harry cast in the next ten seconds. Unfortunately for him, the three he blocked were the only three that would’ve ended the duel instantly. Instead, Harry found himself finally calm and starring at a Malfoy that was suspended in the air by an ankle. Not only that, but he also had a jelly-like skin, which miraculously was still able to be covered in boils. He had tentacles growing out of his ears, which were mushrooms, and his teeth had grown incredibly large. However, the best addition Harry found he had put on the boy was where the teeth were coming from. The ferret’s face was just that, a ferret’s face.

Harry glared at the suspended figure. “This one’s for Ginny,” he said as he released the dreaded Bat-Bogey Hex, although not as good as Ginny’s, followed by a stunner. Malfoy was hit unconscious just as bats began flapping around his face madly, and he was thrown backwards out of the air.

Instantly the dome disappeared, signaling the end of the duel and the crowd applauded loudly, hollering and cheering. But Harry didn’t hear it. He didn’t care. He turned his gaze instantly towards Ginny, who was escaping her mother’s worried hug. Most of the Weasley’s were standing nearby, and had apparently come to watch the duel as well. Ginny rushed forward onto the dueling grounds and Harry met her in an embrace. They separated slightly and looked at each other. Then, not caring that he was in front of hundreds and hundreds of people, he leaned down and kissed her.

~~~

Dumbledore smiled genuinely as he looked at all the happenings. Sure, Voldemort would find out Harry cast three and a half spells per second, but that would’ve happened before their final encounter anyway. Sure, Malfoy would never be able to be seen in public again, but maybe now Voldemort would not want him on his side, and he would be forced to side with the Order.

Dumbledore chuckled as Madam Pomfrey took her sweet time in getting over to Malfoy to care for him. He smiled at the shocked, yet quite please, expressions of the Weasley family. Then Dumbledore’s eyes fell on the reason for their happy expressions. Dumbledore beamed happily as Harry Potter pulled Ginny away from everything towards an emptier Hogsmeade area–perhaps to the seclusion of the Shrieking Shack. Yes, the duel was definitely worth it.
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