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Harry Potter and the Prophesized Six | ||||||
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Category: Alternate Universe Characters:Albus Dumbledore, Draco Malfoy, Harry/Ginny, Hermione Granger, James Potter, Lily Potter, Neville Longbottom, Remus Lupin, Ron Weasley, Severus Snape, Sirius Black Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Romance Warnings: Extreme Language, Sexual Situations Rating: R Reviews: 668 Summary: This is the sequel to my previous story, Harry Potter and the Twists of Fate, starting off a few hours after the last chapter. Harry and his friends are now aware of the part they will play in the coming war. Can their friendship and love hold them together or will they allow jealousy and uncertainty to pull them apart, allowing Voldemort to win? Hitcount: Story Total: 328089; Chapter Total: 7155 Author's Notes: Here's the next chapter. I hope you all like it. |
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Chapter 18: Meetings unexpected Sirius opened the front door of the Leaky Cauldron and looked around. The place was empty except for a man snoring in one corner table, apparently a drunk who had been too pissed to go home. It was understandable considering it was seven in the morning on Boxing Day, which was also a Sunday. Sirius figured the regular clients were still sleeping off the effects of the previous day’s celebrations. He wished he was still in his warm bed beside his lovely pregnant wife. However, he had to see what the person he was meeting wanted, at least for the sake of his adopted son. He entered the bar. As soon as the door closed, Tom, the owner of the pub, stepped out of a door behind the bar. “Good morning, Mr. Black,” Tom said cheerfully. “Isn’t it a bit early to be drinking?” “I know, Tom,” Sirius said in a low tone then he dropped his voice to a whisper. “I’m here to meet someone, discreetly. I’ll take that booth over there.” He pointed to a booth near enough to the door to see anyone entering but far enough not to be seen immediately. “If someone asks for me, point them in my direction. For now, let me have a butterbeer.” “Of course,” Tom whispered back and nodded. He handed Sirius a bottle of the drink. Sirius went over to the booth he had pointed at and sat down, facing the door. After about ten minutes, the door opened again. A slight figure in a cloak with the hood up came inside and took a look around. The unknown person then approached Tom and talked to him in whispers Sirius couldn’t hear. Tom nodded his head in the direction of the booth Sirius was sitting in. The person looked that way and finally saw Sirius. With a nod of thanks to Tom, the person headed that way. The person sat down opposite Sirius. “Thank you for coming, Sirius,” the cloaked figure said softly in a feminine voice before dropping the hood to reveal the face of Narcissa Malfoy. “Ordinarily I would have ignored any message from you, Narcissa,” Sirius said, “However, I was curious when your note mentioned Ti.” Narcissa sighed and lowered her head while she spoke, “I had to know if he’s all right.” She looked up at him and Sirius was surprised to see the tears hovering in her eyes. “Please tell me my little boy is all right, Sirius. When I heard that Ti had been hurt in the attack on Diagon Alley, I wanted to head for St. Mungo’s as fast as I could.” “Then why didn’t you?” Sirius growled at her. “Even after everything, he is still your son, Cissy!” “I just couldn’t,” Narcissa said. “Lucius would have killed me. I couldn’t let him know I still loved my youngest son, even after he was disowned by his father.” Sirius looked sharply at her. “Then why didn’t you stop him from doing that? It broke his heart, Cissy. Ti was a wreck after he received the owl telling him of his disownment. If it wasn’t for Harry and his friends, I don’t know how he would have survived.” Narcissa now had tears running down her cheeks. “Don’t you think I know that, Sirius? It broke my heart too. I know you think I’m an awful mother for allowing that to happen. But I had no choice. If I hadn’t gone along with Lucius, he would have kept Draco away from me as well. I couldn’t lose both my sons, Sirius. They’re all I have. Lucius only treats me like his wife in public. When we’re alone, he ignores me unless he’s angry over something. Then he beats me.” She wiped her tears with a lace handkerchief then looked at Sirius with haunted eyes. “Do you know how Ti was conceived? After Draco was born, Lucius and I seldom had time together. He was always out doing the Dark Lord’s bidding and I was usually tired from caring for Draco. Then a month after Draco turned one, Lucius came home drunk early in the morning and demanded that I join him in bed. Draco had been up all night crying after a nightmare and I was exhausted. I refused. He hit me twice then dragged me to our bedroom. He then forced himself on me. He raped me, Sirius. He left after getting what he wanted. A month later, I found out I was pregnant. At first, I was afraid that Lucius wouldn’t want another child. But he was very happy, especially when it turned out to be another boy. Unfortunately, as Ti grew up, Lucius noticed that his second son didn’t seem to accept his pureblood ideas. Since my husband was often out of the house on business, he blamed me for the way our son was behaving. After he disowned Ti, Lucius hasn’t allowed me and Draco to be alone together. I think he’s afraid I might corrupt him too. So, you see, I can’t allow him to separate me from Draco.” Sirius sighed and nodded. “Now,” Narcissa said with a pleading look in her eyes, “please tell me how Ti is doing.” “He’s much better,” Sirius said. “He doesn’t seem to have suffered any ill effects from the Cruciatus. In fact…..Cissy, what is it?” Sirius noticed that Narcissa’s face had gotten very pale. “You didn’t know, did you?” “Know what?” Narcissa asked. “That it was your sister, Bellatrix, who attacked Ti. She even used the Cruciatus on your son.” Narcissa paled even more. “No! Not Bella!” “It’s true, Cissy,” Sirius said. “Your sister used an Unforgivable on your flesh and blood.” Tears started to fall again from Narcissa’s face then she dropped her face into her hands. Sirius sighed again. After Andromeda, he had liked Narcissa when they had been younger. The three of them had fun playing together then. However, when she had met Lucius Malfoy through Bellatrix and fallen in love with him, Narcissa had distanced herself from him and Andromeda. For the sake of those old times, he knew he should be compassionate toward her. He got up and sat down beside his cousin. He placed his arms around her. Narcissa turned around and cried in his arms. After several minutes, her sobs slowed down. Narcissa separated herself from Sirius and took a deep breath. She looked at Sirius. “Thanks, Siri.” “It’s all right, Cissy,” Sirius said. “So,” Narcisa said, looking back down at the table, “he’s all right now?” “Yeah,” Sirius replied. “He’s fine.” Narcissa closed her eyes and took another deep breath. “That’s good.” She looked at Sirius again. “Thank you, Siri, for coming here and telling me. I’m glad he has you and your wife. I just wish I could be there for him also.” “You still could, you know,” Sirius said. Narcissa looked at him, clearly puzzled. “All you have to do is leave Lucius, Cissy,” Sirius said. “Bring Draco with you if you want but get away from your husband. His involvement with Voldemort will only end badly. Old Snake-face is going down, Cissy. Anyone who’s with him will go down with him.” “I don’t know, Sirius,” Narcissa said. “If I leave him, Lucius will hunt me down.” “Then come to me,” Sirius said. “We can go to Dumbledore. He’ll protect you and Draco. It’s the only chance you’ve got, Cissy.” Narcissa looked at Sirius for a few moments, as if trying to determine the sincerity of Sirius’ offer then shook her head. “I don’t know, Sirius. Let me think about it.” Sirius sighed and nodded. “All right, but don’t take too long. Oh, there is one more thing I need to tell you about Ti.” Narcissa looked fearfully at him. “What is it?” “He’s got a girlfriend,” he said, grinning. “I’m not sure if Draco would have told you that.” “No, he hasn’t said anything about his brother since Ti was disowned,” Narcissa said. “Who’s his girlfriend?” “Rose Potter,” Sirius said, his grin growing wider as Narcissa’s eyes widened. “How long have they been together?” Narcissa asked. “Roughly two months now,” Sirius said. “In fact, they were together when Bellatrix attacked them. She also used the Cruciatus on Rose.” Narcissa closed her eyes and shuddered. “I’m sorry, Sirius. I know how close you are to the Potters. In spite of what my husband and sister are, I cannot imagine using that kind of magic on someone else.” “That’s another reason you should leave him, Cissy,” Sirius said. “You aren’t really Death Eater material. Please think about it. I think Ti would be very happy to see you and have you close to him again.” Narcissa nodded, “We’ll have to see, Sirius.” She got up. “I have to go. Lucius may be up soon. I can’t let him know we met.” Sirius nodded then, on impulse, pulled her into a hug, “Take care of your self, Cissy. I hope to hear from you soon.” Narcissa returned the hug for a moment before breaking away. She pulled the hood back over her face. She looked around the pub then walked to the door and exited the pub. Sirius watched her leave then leaned back in the booth, his mind going over his encounter with Narcissa. He wished he could tell Ti but he didn’t want to get his adopted son’s hopes up. He shook his head and got up from the booth. Pausing just long enough to pay Tom for the butterbeer, he headed for the back door that led to the entrance to Diagon Alley so he could Apparate back to Grimmauld Place. ******* Boxing Day was a quiet one for the kids, spent relaxing and having fun at the Burrow. But that night, James asked Harry to join him in the library after the Potters had had dinner. “What is it, Dad?” Harry asked him after they were seated inside the room. “We had an Order meeting today to discuss the attack on Diagon Alley,” James said. Harry tensed and focused his attention on his father. He knew Ginny had felt his tension but didn’t answer her mental question. He sensed her opening up to their Bond. When Harry didn’t say anything, James continued. “We mostly discussed what occurred during the attack, which areas they struck first, how much damage they did, the casualty list and the response of the Aurors. Then Albus asked Snape why he hadn’t given us any advanced warning of the attack. Snape said he had only been informed of the plan to attack Diagon Alley a few hours before. He said he wasn’t part of the group assigned to the attack and couldn’t get away to tell us because Voldemort kept him at his side until after the attack.” “You believe him?” Harry asked. James shrugged, “Not really but Albus does. He didn’t question Snape any further but asked him to try harder to warn us of future attacks.” “I hope he does,” Harry said. “I’d hate to see any more attacks like that.” James sighed. “No, we sure don’t but it was like that the last time. It was happening almost every day, at least until that night.” Harry grimaced. He hated to be reminded of that night, even if he could barely remember it. He sometimes wondered how his life would have been if Voldemort had killed his parents instead of just knocking them out. He shuddered at the thought. “Harry, don’t think about that,” Ginny’s voice came into his mind, soothing away his fears. “Just be grateful they’re there for you.” “Thanks, Gin,” he said to her. “Harry,” his father said, startling him. “Sorry,” he said with a sheepish grin. “I was just having some morbid thoughts about that night and Ginny just knocked some sense into me. James grinned. “I’m glad she’s there to do that to you. Your mum is the same with me. Speaking of you and Ginny, I was amazed by what you guys did during the attack. Thanks to you two, we managed to catch seven of the bastards. I really haven’t had the chance to tell you two how proud I am of you.” “Yeah,” Harry said. “We were doing pretty well until one of them used the same trick we did on some of his fellows and blasted the boxes we were hiding behind.” “You still made a brilliant recovery by using your animagus forms,” James said. “All you need is just a little more practice. Of course, there are a couple more things we can teach you and Ginny which I think you may be able to do, considering the level of magical power you both have.” “What is it, Dad?” Harry asked. “I can’t tell you yet,” James said. “I have to run it by Albus first. But I’m sure he’s already thinking of the same things I am. We’ll see about that when we get back to Hogwarts. For now, let’s go relax by the telly.” Clearly puzzled and intrigued by James’ behavior, Harry could only agree. They both left the library and headed for the second floor sitting room and its large screen television where they spent the rest of the night watching Muggle Christmas shows. The following day, the other kids came over to Potter Manor after breakfast to resume their animagus practice and dueling sessions. Even then, Harry and Rose found ways to have some private time with their girl/boyfriend, much to Ron’s jealousy. He missed Hermione and was wondering if she had heard about the attack. Unfortunately, due to the excitement over the attack and Rose’s hospitalization, he hadn’t been able to send his Christmas present to Hermione by long-distance owl. He told Harry that he hoped Hermione would take that into consideration instead of reminding him that he should have gotten her a present several weeks before. Due to Hermione’s absence, they were short one person in pairing up for dueling. James decided to take part in the dueling sessions and usually faced off with Harry. Due to James’ greater experience, he won most of the time but couldn’t deny the power and skill his son was developing. He also noted with some trepidation that his daughter seemed more focused on her training that ever before. She even chose more harmful spells to use in her dueling practices with either Ginny or Maggie. He hoped that Rose wasn’t adversely affected by the torture inflicted on her by Bellatrix. It was on Wednesday that, much to their elation, Neville and Rose managed to completely transform to their animagus forms. The others congratulated them. Ron jokingly mentioned how jealous Hermione would be once she heard about it. Their success made the others all the more determined to complete their own transformations. On Thursday, they had started some stretching in the Dueling Room prior to dueling practice when the door burst open. They all turned at once with their wands pointed at the door only to find Hermione standing there. The bushy-haired girl took a look around at them then launched herself at Ron, embracing him tightly. Caught off guard, Ron almost stumbled before awkwardly embracing her back. “Hermione, what’s wrong?” Hermione pulled back and the others were surprised to see her eyes glistening. “I-I’m sorry, Ron,” she sniffed. “I was so worried when I heard about the attack on Diagon Alley. I wanted to come back sooner but there were no available flights out of Jamaica. It was too far to Floo and it would take too long to get permission for an international portkey. I had to wait for our return flight. We got back late last night but I couldn’t sleep a wink and waited impatiently for your dad to pick me up. I just dropped my things off at the Burrow and Flooed right over.” “Hey, it’s all right,” Ron said, wiping a stray tear that was streaking down her cheek. “We’re all fine though Rose had to stay at St. Mungo’s overnight.” She looked at him in surprise then turned to Rose, “What happened?” They all sat down on the floor. Then the five who had been at Diagon Alley that day recounted the events of the attack. At the end of their narration, Hermione looked stricken and horrified. “I’m so sorry, Rose,” she said. “You and Ti shouldn’t have had to go through something like that.” “I know,” Rose shrugged. “At least now I have an idea of the kind of evil we’re up against. I can really appreciate now how prepared we have to be to fight her and the other followers of V-Voldemort.” “Right,” James said. “It’s very important to be ready to fight them, but only if you come across them. For now, I don’t want anyone of you to go looking for them. Now, with Hermione here, we can pair you guys up and I can just observe again.” That afternoon, at the start of their animagus session, Neville and Rose showed Hermione their forms. “Oh, that’s so wonderful,” Hermione said, clapping her hands. “I’m so glad you were both able to fully transform.” Ron looked at her in surprise. “I thought you’d get mad and fume about their getting it before you did, just like you did when Harry and Ginny did it last month.” Hermione shrugged her shoulders. “I probably would, Ron, if I couldn’t do it yet. As it is….” In the blink of an eye, where Hermione had been standing, there was a brown and white owl whose feathers on its head were a little curled. Another second and Hermione stood once more before them, grinning madly. “Wh-what….how…..when?” Ron stuttered, the shock apparent on his face. He wasn’t the only one. “With all the worrying I was doing after learning of the attack on Diagon Alley, I had to distract myself,” Hermione said. “Since it doesn’t need a wand and can’t be detected like spells, I decided to practice transforming whenever I was alone in Jamaica.” “Hermione,” Harry said, waggling an index finger at her as he grinned at her. “You know that was dangerous without someone there just in case you couldn’t turn back into your human form.” Hermione shrugged her shoulders, her cheeks now turning red. “I know. I guess I didn’t care, as long as it took my mind off of my worrying.” Rose looked at her suspiciously. “Okay, who are you and where’s the real Hermione?” Neville snickered. “She has a point, Hermione. It’s just not like you to disregard rules and such. I’d say going around with this bunch has corrupted you.” They all laughed at that statement. Then they settled down to practicing their animagus transformations. ****** New Year’s Eve was celebrated in the Burrow at Lily’s insistence. Aside from the Potters and Weasleys, the Longbottoms, Remus, Sirius, Sam, Ti, Tonks, Andromeda and Ted Tonks were there. Unfortunately, Charlie had to return to Romania the day before, much to Molly’s own disappointment. They also invited Hermione’s parents who were always fascinated with the world their daughter was a part of, especially since now it seemed their son would also be in it. Daisy and Andrew were excited to see their friend Daniel again and the three toddlers happily played together. Molly cooked up another fabulous meal. Everyone enjoyed it, even Augusta Longbottom who had initially looked with mild disdain at the lopsided home of the Weasleys. As usual, the night ended with another fantastic display of fireworks from Fred and George. Everyone slept late on New Year’s Day then spent it with their own families. Harry and Ginny didn’t mind since they could still talk to one another through the Bond. With a lot of begging, Rose was able to visit Ti at Grimmauld Place in the afternoon though she had to be back for dinner. The following day, Harry and Rose decided to again spend it at the Burrow. It had snowed heavily the night before so they soon got involved in a snowman building competition with Ginny, Hermione and Ron in the backyard. About an hour after the Potters had arrived; Molly came out and walked up to them. “Kids, I’ve just gotten a Floo-call from Mr. Lovegood,” she said. “Luna’s coming over for a visit.” She looked uneasy as she spoke. “You have to be extra nice to her. She and her father were at Diagon Alley during the attack and she saw some of people die, including several Hogwarts students. Her father said that she’s been more quiet than usual. He hopes a visit here will be good for her. Maybe you can get her to talk.” She looked at each of them, especially Rose which puzzled Harry. “Sure, Mum,” Ginny answered. “We’d be glad to see her.” She looked pointedly at Rose who grimaced for a moment before nodding. Harry, Hermione and Ron also nodded. Molly gave a sigh of relief then went back inside the house. Harry turned to Ginny. “What’s going on, Gin?” he asked Ginny through the Bond. “Why did your Mum look at Rose like that?” Ginny sighed. “Harry, you remember two years before you and Ron started to go to Hogwarts when there were times Rose wouldn’t come over to the Burrow?” Harry nodded. He vaguely remembered those times but he and Ron were usually concerned with doing boy things then. “Well, those were the times Luna was visiting me. We’ve actually known her since we were six. You probably don’t remember since you and Ron weren’t paying us much attention then.” Harry felt a surge of guilt over that. Ginny felt it through their Bond. She squeezed his hand and smiled to reassure him. “Don’t worry about it, Harry,” she said. “You two were typical boys. Anyway, we usually got along until her mother died when we were nine and she changed. You notice the dreamy voice and spaced out look she often has? Well, it started then and Rose couldn’t understand or handle her unusual behavior. So, Rose didn’t come over to visit whenever Luna was here.” “But she was at your birthday parties last year and the year before,” Harry said. “Yeah,” Ginny said. “I wanted her to know I still consider her a friend even if my best friend is uncomfortable with her.” “So that’s why Rose doesn’t even talk to her,” Harry said. Harry remembered that during the school year, he only saw the strange girl from afar or through Ginny via their Bond. He only saw Rose at the periphery at those times instead of beside Ginny. Just then, Harry saw the blonde girl step out of the front door of the Burrow, wearing her bottle cap necklace and radish earrings. He looked at Rose and saw she looked uncomfortable. He placed a hand over hers. She looked up at him in surprise. “Hey, sis,” he said. “I know you feel Luna is a bit strange. I do too but she’s been through a lot and it seems she doesn’t have many friends at Hogwarts. Gin told me that the three of you were friends before. Maybe if we let her hang around us a bit more, she won’t seem so strange. Give her another chance, okay?” Rose sighed and nodded. “Okay, Harry. I’ll try.” “Hi, Luna,” Ginny said with a bright smile on her face. “Hello,” Luna replied in her usual dreamy voice. “You can go on with what you’re doing, just watch out for the snow monkeys. They love to hide in freshly made snowmen then animate them to scare people.” She sat down on the ground, ignoring their confused looks. After staring at her for a few seconds, they looked at each other. Rose looked at Hermione and mouthed “Snow monkeys?” to the older girl who shrugged her shoulders. Shaking her head, Ginny walked up to Luna. “Why don’t you join us and build your own snowman, Luna?” Ginny asked. “Oh no, I can’t,” she said. “Snow monkeys and I have never gotten along.” Rose snorted in an unladylike fashion and Ginny threw her a glare. The other redhead managed to look sheepish and sorry. “Come on, join us,” Ginny prodded Luna. “Well, okay,” the blonde girl said. She got up and started rolling the snow. She made one large ball then proceeded to roll another one of the same size. A few minutes later, she had three snow balls of the same rectangular shape and size stacked up on top of each other. “Um, Luna,” Ron said. “Shouldn’t they be of different sizes with the smaller ones on top of the larger?” “Oh, I don’t want to have a fat snowman, Ronald,” she said, smiling in a dreamy way. “I want him to be lean. The snow monkeys don’t like thin snowmen since they can’t fit in the bottom to animate them.” No one could say anything to that so they continued their building in. Strangely enough, Ron kept glancing at Luna. Finally, Luna looked at Ron and said, “Its okay, Ronald. You can ask me who I saw die in Diagon Alley.” Ron looked at her in surprise. “How did you know I was going to ask that?” Luna smiled a genuine non-dreamy smile and shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. Ever since I saw my mother die, I felt different, like I could sense certain things.” “What things?” Ginny asked. Luna turned to her, smiling. “Like you and Harry were destined for each other.” The others stared at her. “How do you know that?” Harry asked. “When did you know that?” Luna shrugged. “I’m not sure how I knew it but I sensed it back at Ginny’s birthday party two years ago. I felt that the two of you were linked to each other in a way you haven’t discovered yet but were close to finding out.” Harry and Ginny looked at each other in shock. They remembered that party and Luna commenting about how good a couple they made, photographically and in other ways. At that time, they hadn’t discovered about their bond yet. “W-what other things do you know, Luna?” Hermione asked. “I sense that the five of you have a destiny to fulfill,” Luna said, now assuming her dreamy voice, “especially you, Harry. I feel all of you have powers and training few people know of.” “I know Harry and Ginny managed to defeat several wizards much older than the two of them,” Luna said. “Oh, don’t look at me like that. I saw them do it. I was several stores down from where they were and saw the whole thing. It was an amazing sight, so much better than seeing the ones who died. Now that was really too bad.” “Why’d you say that, Luna?” Ginny asked. “Well, two of the ones I saw die were seventh years from my house,” Luna said. “They tried to fight them but didn’t really match up to the Death Eaters. I was wondering if they had the same training Harry and Ginny obviously had been having then maybe they would have done better.” Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Rose looked at each other. They had not thought of that, having concentrated on their own training. Harry had assumed that the practical lessons his Dad had been giving in DADA class would help other students but it seemed that he was wrong. “I don’t know, Luna,” Hermione said. “That may be a bit too intensive for most of the other students. We don’t want to encourage them to go out and fight the Death Eaters.” “No, Luna’s right, Hermione,” Harry said. “We’ve been too selfish training by ourselves. I think we should find a way to extend the dueling sessions to other students, at least to give them the skills to escape if they’re attacked.” “Are you sure, Harry?” Hermione asked. “Yeah, I am,” Harry answered. “I’ll talk to my dad about it tonight. Maybe we can start with you, Luna. Would you like to join us when we have dueling practice? We’ve been doing it at Potter Manor but I can ask Dad to give you access through the Floo.” “That would be wonderful, Harry,” Luna said dreamily. “Then I’ll be able to fight off the Dinglewatts.” The others looked at each other in puzzlement then shook their heads. They went back to their snowman making activities. A few minutes later, Molly called them all to lunch. Luna left them a couple of hours later. Harry promised to get back to her about joining their training. That night, Harry asked to talk to James in the library. Once they were inside, Harry told him his idea about allowing other students to learn dueling through a club, like the one Lockhart wanted to set up in his second year. Of course, this time, there would be a competent person supervising the club, James. “I don’t know, Harry,” James said. “I guess I can run it by Dumbledore. I do have to agree that DADA class twice a week is still not enough time to practice dueling.” “All right, Dad,” Harry said. “Just let us know. I haven’t asked the others but we can help you teach those who want to join the club. In the meantime, I’d like to have Luna Lovegood join us for the dueling lessons we’ve been having.” James looked at him in surprise. “Well, I guess that can be arranged. I’d have to ask her father though for permission to teach her spells she normally wouldn’t learn at Hogwarts.” “Okay, Dad,” Harry said. ****** It took James a day to convince Luna’s father to let her learn spells to defend herself with. Luna came over the following day and started learning the spells the others had already learned. The Longbottoms, Ti, Fred and George were surprised to see her but accepted her anyway. Harry and his friends were surprised by how quickly she learned the spells she was taught. By the weekend, she had mastered the shield charm, disarming charm, Reducto curse and the Patronus charm. Now they knew why she was in Ravenclaw. Harry asked the permission of the others and Professor McGonagall to also invite Luna to learn to become an animagus. Luna seemed mildly interested but said she’d think about it for now. On that front, Ron, Maggie, Fred, George and Ti were able to complete their animagus transformation by the end of the week. Unfortunately, Harry and Ginny were still only able to transform their hands into their magical forms front appendages which were still an improvement over the start of the holidays. Sooner than they would have wanted, it was time to return to Hogwarts. When he and his family passed through the magical barrier to Platform Nine and three-quarters, Harry noticed several changes. Very few of the students were running around or acting excited. Families were all huddled together. People were talking only in whispers. He also noticed several Aurors scattered around the platform. “They’re here to protect the train,” James said. “It’s too tempting a target for Voldemort.” His friends soon arrived and they boarded the train. They noticed the same somber mood on the train. Neville met with Lisa Turpin and left them to join her with her friends. Fred and George wandered off to look for Lee Jordan. Maggie also went to find her fellow Gryffindor second years. This left Hermione, Harry, Ron, Ginny, Ti and Rose in the same compartment. After three games of exploding snap, Ron and Ti decided to play Wizarding Chess. Ti was actually much better at the game than Harry so Ron found him more of a challenge than his best friend. Ti brought out an ivory chess set that seemed brand new. “Nice chess set, Ti,” Ron said, taking hold of one of the beautifully carved pieces and admiring it. “Did you get it for Christmas from Sirius?” “No,” Ti said. “Er, I got it from Draco.” He said the name in almost a whisper while looking down at the floor, as if he was embarrassed. The other six teens looked at him in surprise. Before anyone could comment, the door of their compartment opened. “Oh, good,” a familiar voice said. “You’re using my gift already.” The six occupants of the compartment turned to find Draco Malfoy standing in the doorway, smiling but not in a sneering way. Crabbe and Goyle were behind him as usual but they looked a bit bewildered. “Yeah,” Ti said brightly with a grin on his face. “Thanks. It’s great.” “You’re welcome,” Draco said. “Thanks for the ring, too.” He thrust forward his right hand. Sitting on the ring finger of that hand was a silver ring with a dragon’s head on it. The eyes were tiny red rubies. Ti’s cheeks turned a bit red. “Oh, you’re welcome. I found it in the attic of our house. Sirius said it was an old Black family heirloom and I thought it would be fitting for you considering it’s got a dragon’s head and you are a Black through Mum.” Draco nodded. Then he looked down at the ground. “I’m sorry about Aunt Bella cursing you, and your girlfriend.” He looked up at Rose. “I’m really sorry.” Without another word, he stepped outside the compartment and closed the door. No one in the compartment spoke or moved for several minutes. Finally, Rose sat down beside Ti and placed her hand over one of his. “It looks like he’s coming around, Ti.” “Yeah,” Ti said, grinning again. “It sure does.” “I’m happy for you,” Rose said, giving him a quick kiss on the lips, causing Ti’s grin to get even wider but annoying Ron. “Oi! Enough of that,” he said. “Let’s play.” “Ron!” Hermione scolded, “How can you be so callous?” “What?” Ron asked. The three girls sighed in exasperation at Ron. Ginny turned to Harry. “You’re skeptical of Draco’s behavior, aren’t you?” she asked him mentally. “Just a bit,” Harry replied. “It’ll take a lot more than giving out Christmas gifts to convince me that Draco Malfoy’s seen the light and decided to treat his brother the right way.” “Yes, I agree with you, Harry,” Ginny said. “But I hope he has, for Ti’s sake.” “Yeah, me too,” Harry said. “Well, we can’t worry about it for now.” He looked over at Ron and found him engrossed in his game with Ti. He pulled Ginny into his lap. “It seems Ron’s oblivious to everything except that chessboard now. I think we should take advantage of his distraction.” “Yeah, he is,” Ginny said, giving him a mischievous grin. “And how are we taking advantage of that, Harry?” Instead of answering, Harry leaned forward to capture her lips with his. Ron took almost an hour to notice what his sister and best friend were doing a mere three feet from him. The only reason he did was because he had finally managed to beat Ti. Of course, any outburst from him was silenced by Hermione kissing him as well. Ti and Rose looked at each other and, grinning at each other, decided to imitate the other two couples. It was a very enjoyable trip for all six of them because of that. It was snowing lightly when they got into Hogsmeade. Tightening their cloaks around them, they quickly piled into the nearest carriage for the ride up to the castle. As they entered the Great Hall for the Welcome back feast, Harry and his friends noted that several black banners were hung along the walls, stretching from the ceiling, replacing the usual House banners. Some of the other students looked pale and a few were now crying. Even the Slytherins were silent. Once the students had all taken their seats, the food appeared on the table but the students were not really in a mood to eat, even Ron. After an hour, Dumbledore stood up and everyone turned their attention to him as he spoke. “Several days ago, a great tragedy occurred that marred what should have been a festive season. In that tragedy, we lost several students.” Several sobs were heard around the Hall. “We mourn their loss and the void it will create in our lives. Let us not forget them. Professor McGonagall will now read the names of these students.” McGonagall stood up, looking stern and pale. She unfolded a long piece of parchment and started reading the names of the dead students with their House affiliation and year. Among the ten dead students were three Gryffindors, three Hufflepuffs, two Ravenclaws and two Slytherins. The Gryffindors were a seventh year, a sixth year and a first year. None of the other students were in Harry’s year though one Hufflepuff was in Ginny’s year and one of the Slytherins was a second year, like Maggie Longbottom. After reading the names, McGonagall sat down again. Dumbledore then resumed speaking. “Never forget them. They were your friends and classmates. They died because of a vicious madman and his followers who care nothing for the suffering of others. We must continue to fight him so that their deaths will not be without meaning. Let us bow our heads and observe a minute of silence in honor of our fallen friends.” Dumbledore bowed his head. The staff and students did the same. After a full minute, Dumbledore raised his head and resumed speaking. “Now, in the light of this tragedy, it seems that Voldemort and his followers are now intent on resuming the manner they held our world in terror many years ago, which means that they would not hesitate to attack underaged wizards and witches like you. I’m afraid that the regular DADA lessons will not help you in such a situation. To improve your chances of surviving that and escaping, Professor Potter has come to me with a suggestion which I have approved. He will explain further.” Dumbledore sat down. James stood up, looking more serious than he had ever been. “In order to equip you better for an encounter with Death Eaters, we are going to have a dueling club.” The Hall exploded into a cacophony of noise as the students excitedly reacted to James’ announcement, chattering to each other. Harry and his friends exchanged grins. After a few seconds of chaos, James raised his wand and fired some red sparks. The students slowly settled down. “Now, as I was saying, a dueling club will be formed here in Hogwarts. I know that a predecessor of mine attempted to do this a few years ago.” A wave of laughter greeted that comment. “But,” he continued, “at least this club will be under someone who seems to know what he’s doing.” Another wave of laughter filled the Hall. “However, I don’t intend to have you going out and finding Death Eaters. The purpose of the club is to give you the skills you need to survive your initial encounter with these monsters when that happens and be able to get away from them. These people are dangerous and only qualified wizards, meaning adults and Aurors, should think of really fighting them. There will be a sign up sheet in each common room tonight. Unfortunately, unless they have special permission or ability, first and second years will not allowed to join the club.” Groans sounded out from the first and second years. “I’m sorry but the spells I will be teaching are usually beyond the skill of those below third year. The first meeting will be here in the Great Hall on Wednesday evening an hour after dinner. Further details about the club will be given then.” He sat back down. McGonagall now stood up and ordered the prefects to lead their housemates back to the dormitories. The students followed, talking excitedly about the dueling club. When they got back to Gryffindor Tower, Harry and his friends sat down at their usual corner. The fireplace was lit and its warmth thawed the chill from their bones. Soon, the common room emptied as the other Gryffindors retired to their dorms, leaving the New Marauders. After a few minutes of silence, Maggie spoke up. “What about me? I’m only a second year. I’ve had little problem learning the same spells you all have. Are we going to continue our secret sessions?” “Maggie’s got a point, Harry,” Neville said. “Have you noticed the time of the dueling club meetings? It’s at the same time as our own sessions. Will we be able to join the club because of that?” “I don’t know, Nev,” Harry answered. “He hasn’t told me any of his plans after I suggested the dueling club to him.” Just then the portrait hole opened and James stepped inside. He looked around the room and spotted them. As he walked over to them, he said, “Good. You’re all here. I wanted to talk to you about the club.” “Yeah, we also wanted to, Dad,” Harry said. “We spotted a couple of problems for us with the club.” “Oh, I don’t really see a problem there, Harry,” James said. “In fact, it’s perfect for you. Now, this is what I plan….” |
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