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SIYE Time:7:04 on 29th March 2024
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Harry Potter and the Prophesized Six
By bengpotter31

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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: 327486; Chapter Total: 6164





Author's Notes:
Here's the next chapter. It's got action, romance and a bit of drama. I hope you like it. Thanks again to those who nominated me for the Silver Trinket award. You guys inspire me to go on writing.




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Chapter 20: Hogsmeade Demented

As January passed into February, Harry and his friends continued teaching and guiding the Dueling Club under James Potter’s watchful eye. They did so well that James soon spent the time correcting his students’ homework.

The students in the club learned more spells including the disarming spell and began to have mock duels. Harry was pleased to see most of the Gryffindors doing well in these duels. He grinned as he watched Colin Creevey duel with Luna. The odd Ravenclaw had a style that was so unique to her yet showed a power he never would have known she had. He was also happy to see Colin’s younger brother, Dennis, in the club, having gotten his parents’ permission to join the club.

The only annoying thing about the club to Harry and Ginny was Cho Chang’s continued blatant attempts to flirt with Harry at every opportunity during their meetings, rushing to him whenever she did a spell correctly. Harry would just smile and congratulate her then return to whatever he was doing. Ginny knew through their bond that underneath his pleasant face, Harry was feeling disgust and apprehension. He didn’t want to hurt Cho’s feelings by ignoring her. Still, he realized that sooner or later, he would have to tell her that he wasn’t interested in her.

The New Marauders continued their private training sessions. They started incorporating some martial arts moves into their dueling maneuvers. They even practiced how to get close enough to manually disarm their opponent, given the opportunity.

On the animagus front, Harry and Ginny continued to practice their magical forms. However, they still could not completely transform into the whole creature which was frustrating to Harry since he still had another form he wanted to practice on.

With O.W.Ls only four months away, Harry and the other fifth years were getting more swamped with homework and studying. Harry and Hermione, being prefects, also had to patrol the castle after curfew once a week. Then, in mid-January, Angelina decided to hold Quidditch practice twice on weekdays and on Saturday evenings because their match against Ravenclaw was set in the third Saturday of February.

Harry was becoming so exhausted that he was glad when it was announced that there would be a Hogsmeade visit day on the weekend before Valentines’ Day since that day fell on a Monday. Angelina initially contemplated having another practice that Saturday instead of visiting the village but the rest of the team had protested and she was forced to drop her idea or face a mutiny.

The sky was clear, though it was windy when Harry and Ginny joined the line of students going to Hogsmeade. Just behind them were Ron and Hermione. Harry couldn’t see Ti and Rose anywhere. He wasn’t sure but there was something off about them lately. They seemed less lively around each other, seldom joking around or laughing together. In fact, Harry thought he had seen Rose grimace a couple of times as Ti wound his arm around her shoulder. Thoughts about his sister’s relationship with the younger boy left his mind when he found himself and Ginny facing Filch.

As they walked on the path to the village, Ginny spoke to Harry through the Bond. “Harry, I know you’re thinking about Rose and Ti. Please leave it alone.”

Harry looked at her. “Do you know what’s going on there, Gin? I sense that something is wrong.”

Ginny sighed. “I can’t tell you, Harry. It’s something Rose has confided in me. She’s the only one who can tell you and I doubt she would.”

“But, I’m her older brother,”
Harry began but Ginny cut him off.

“Harry,” she said, “Remember a few months ago, you said that it was her life and you wouldn’t interfere?”

Harry sighed, “I know I did. But if there is something wrong, I might be able to help make it right.”

Ginny smiled and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. “I know you’d like to, Harry. Your willingness to save others is one of things I love about you. However, this is their problem. You have to let them sort it out, on their own.”

Harry sighed. “All right, Gin. I just hope it sorts out well.”

“Me, too, Harry,”
Ginny said, “Me, too. Anyway, we’re meeting them for lunch at the Three Broomsticks, so we’ll have an idea if they managed to fix it.” Seeing that they had arrived in the village, Ginny added, “We’re here. Let’s head for Honeyduke’s first.”

Harry chuckled, amused by the greedy look in his soulmate’s eyes as she gazed at the candy store.

They came out a half-hour later with bulging bags of sweets. By then, the streets were filled with their fellow students going around the village. They next headed for Zonko’s Joke shop which was already crowded. They spotted Ron going over the shelves while Hermione looked on with a look of disapproval on her face.

“You’d think that after four years with the New Marauders she’d have lightened up enough about pranking and joke stuff,” Harry said.

Ginny snickered. “Well, at least she isn’t dragging him away from the store.”

They decided to leave the store after a few minutes, convinced that there was nothing new. They couldn’t wait until Fred and George opened a store of their own.

Next, they walked over to Scrivenshaft’s since Ginny needed a new quill. Afterwards, they walked over to the newly opened branch of Flourish and Blott’s which was across from Gladrags. They again found Ron and Hermione inside, in a reversal to the way they had been at Zonko’s. Hermione had a look of bliss on her face as she peered into the shelves filled with tomes while Ron just stood to one side, arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face.

Harry and Ginny moved quickly outside to a side alley beside the store and collapsed against each other in howling laughter.

“D-did you see the l-l-looks on their f-faces?” Harry asked.

Ginny could only nod, the similarity between their attitudes in different stores making her unable to even talk mentally.

It took them another twenty minutes to compose themselves enough to lean against the wall, taking deep breaths. Finally, they smiled at each other and took hold of the other’s hand before continuing their walk around the village. They turned down the road across from Gladrags and walked on past the Hog’s Head pub.

Soon they found themselves walking down a lane past quaint cottages with almost no one about. They passed a few people who were in front of their houses like a couple of women talking over a stone wall, another woman using her wand to hang out her laundry and an old man sitting on a rocking chair on his porch.

“This is nice,” Ginny said softly. “I wouldn’t mind living in one of those houses one day.”

Harry looked curiously at her. “You’d like to live here?”

Ginny shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe not here, but somewhere like this, a quiet place without many people about, just like this village.”

“Gin,” Harry said gently, “The Burrow and Ottery St. Catchpole is just like that.”

Again Ginny shrugged her shoulders. “I guess so. I guess I can’t imagine living in a big city with so many people around. I’ve always loved the peace and quiet around the Burrow and the village.” She looked up at him. “You don’t mind, do you? We’ve never really talked about what we’ll do when we’re done with school, about getting married, where we’d live.”

Harry smiled down at her and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. “No, I don’t mind. I don’t care where we live, as long as I’m with you.”

Ginny smiled and pulled him behind a large tree. She wrapped her around his neck, drawing him down to her lips. After a pleasant amount of unknown time snogging, the young couple continued walking down the road, looking over the houses and occasionally greeting the few people they saw.

*******

Ron shook his head as he watched Hermione scour the shelves of Flourish and Blotts, Hogsmeade branch. He wondered how she could spend so much time over books. Yet, it was a side of her he found very appealing because it brought a look on her face of concentration that he found incredibly sexy. For that reason, he tried his best to endure the utter boredom he felt at the moment.

Resigning himself to a least an hour in the bookstore, Ron moved around the store, peering at the shelves. He grinned when he came to the sports section. This is more like it, he thought. He quickly found the Quidditch books and looked around for something he hadn’t read yet.

He was so engrossed in a new book entitled “10 Greatest Keepers of all time”, that he jumped when a pair of arms encircled him from behind.

“I thought I’d find you here,” his girlfriend said. “That’s just about the only type of book that would interest you.”

Ron turned around and returned her embrace. “Yeah, well, you know me and Quidditch. So, are you done?”

“Yes,” Hermione answered. “Let’s go. I need to get a new quill before we meet the others for lunch.”

*******

Rose sighed inwardly as she walked out of the new Flourish and Blotts branch holding hands with Ti. She hoped this Hogsmeade visit would bring back the initial magic in their relationship.

So far, they had been content with going into the different stores while talking about their classes. They had already gone to Honeyduke’s, Zonko’s, and Scrivenshafts’s. In Scrivenshaft’s, they had run into Draco and Pansy Parkinson who had been polite but seemed a bit distracted. Rose wondered about that but couldn’t think of a reason for it.

She turned to Ti. “So, where do we go now?”

Ti shrugged his shoulders. “Why don’t we take a walk towards the Shrieking Shack?”

“All right,” she replied. “Let’s go.”

They walked over the hard ground, thankful for the lack of snow or mud. Soon, they were in the woods outside the village. After another minute, Ti gently pulled her up to one of the trees. He encircled his arms around her with his hands between her shoulder blades as he brought his lips against hers.

Rose returned his kiss, not paying attention to his hands as they played with her hair and slowly slid down her back until she felt them on her bum. She immediately pulled back and playfully slapped his arm. “Watch your hands, Mr. Black.”

He grinned at her. “Sorry, I get so lost while kissing you that my hands seem to get a mind of their own.”

“Well, just watch it,” she said. “I’m not fond of being groped like that.” She took hold of her hands and placed them on her shoulders. “Now keep them there. No wandering down.”

“Oh okay,” Ti said, closing the distance between their lips again. His hands came up to caress her hair.

After a few minutes, Rose pulled back and glanced at her watch. “Oh Great Merlin!” she exclaimed. “We’d better get going. We’re going to be late meeting the others.”

“So what?” Ti asked, not removing his arms from around her. “I’m sure they won’t mind waiting for a while.”

“They probably won’t,” Rose said, “But I don’t want Harry to worry. He might think some Death Eaters ambushed us out here.”

Ti scowled as he disengaged his arms from around Rose. “Oh, all right. Let’s go.” He took her hand and the two headed away from the woods toward the Three Broomsticks.

*******

Harry looked anxiously toward the door of the pub as he sat in his table with Ginny, Ron and Hermione. The pub was crowded with many students. In a corner, he could see Hagrid, Professors McGonagall and Flitwick and his father sharing a table. He wondered for a moment why he wasn’t at Potter Manor with his mother and twin brother and sister.

“Harry, relax,” Ginny’s voice came up in his mind. “They’ll be here. Stop worrying.”

“I can’t help it, Gin,”
Harry answered her. “They’re already five minutes late.”

Just then, the door opened and ones they were talking about stepped inside, breathing heavily.

“Thank Merlin,” Harry mumbled before he raised his voice to call them over, “Rose, Ti, over here.”

The two teens moved through the crowd toward them.

“About time you got here,” Harry said. “I was starting to wonder if you had forgotten to meet us.” He then noticed the swollen lips of the pair and the slightly disheveled hair of his sister, causing him to smirk. “Then again, I guess you did and I know why.”

“Oh, shut it, Harry,” Rose whispered. “Dad might hear you. In case you didn’t notice, he saw us enter. I think he might have already seen my appearance. I don’t need a lecture from him about looking like I was snogging.”

Harry looked toward James and saw that he was grinning at them. He turned back to Rose. “Nah, I think he doesn’t really mind.”

Madam Rosemerta came up to them just then and they ordered their food. Once they had eaten, they decided to split up by gender to do some friendship bonding though they arranged to meet at outside Dervish and Banges at three so they could walk back to the castle together..

While the girls headed for Gladrags, Harry, Ron and Ti walked to another newly opened store, the Avid Fan Shop, which was a sports and game store and across from Zonko’s. In it, they found Gobstones, decks of cards for Exploding Snap, Chess sets and a large section of Quidditch Equipment. Ron gazed longingly at one of the pewter chess set just like the one Ti had, giving Harry an idea for a birthday gift for his best friend. They looked over the Quidditch section, finding items from all the known manufacturers of Quidditch gear.

Thirty minutes later, they headed for the Little Menagerie where they hoped to get gifts for the girlfriends for Valentine’s Day. Harry knew that Ron was worried. Hermione had loved the perfume Ron had given her for Christmas but they remembered how long it had taken him to decide on that gift.

After an hour of looking at various objects, Harry was deciding between a set of hairpins shaped like cats, a gold and bronze griffin-shaped charm to add to her bracelet or a hair band with semiprecious stones as his gift to Ginny.

“Not the hairpins, Harry,” Ginny’s voice said in his mind. “I’ve got too many of them and don’t use them much anymore.”

“Ginny!”
he said back to her. “You’re not supposed to know. That’s cheating.” He could almost see her smirk.

“Sorry, Harry,”
she said, not sounding like she meant it. “I couldn’t help it. I was curious and I didn’t want something I didn’t need.”

“Shoo off, you,”
he told her. “I want to surprise you.”

“Oh, all right,”
she said, the playful pout clear in her voice.

Harry felt her presence in his mind diminish and sighed. Bloody Bond! Sometimes it just made it hard to hide things from her. Not that he wanted to keep secrets from her but it made surprising her so bloody difficult.

Harry chose the charm and paid for it after having it wrapped. He grinned as Ti picked up the hairband he had set aside. The stones, though worthless, would sparkle in his sister’s hair. He firmly resisted the urge to complement the younger boy on his choice, knowing it would embarrass him.

He turned to see Ron anxiously going over the shelves. Finally, he said, “Come on, Ron. I saw a charm bracelet Hermione would love.”

Ron sighed. “Thanks, Harry. I really can’t get the hang of this.”

“No worries, mate,” Harry said. “I’m sure you will, eventually.”

“Yeah, in ten or twenty years,” Ron said gloomily.

Harry laughed as he handed him the silver bracelet with the single owl charm on it. “You can add other charms to it. That’ll give you at least two birthdays, one Christmas and another Valentine’s worth of gifts.”

They left and headed down the road. Harry glanced at his watch and saw that it was five to three. They had just enough time to get to Dervish and Banges to meet the girls.

As they came near the said store, Harry noticed that the area around them was getting misty. Then, he started to feel colder than the weather could account for. He turned to look down to road to the woods outside the village. Dozens of cloaked figures were gliding out of the trees which were now covered in frost.

“Dementors!” he cried out, pulling his wand out. He reached out to Ginny with his mind, sensing her to still be inside the store. “Gin! There are Dementors coming out of the woods and headed into the village. Get everyone out of there!” He merged his mind with hers to see through her eyes.

There were several people inside the store, aside from Ginny, Rose and Hermione.

“There are Dementors coming out of the woods, headed this way,” Ginny said. Gasps and cries echoed in the store at her statement. “We have to get away from them. Everyone, get out now! Head back to the castle.”

The students and store staff ran outside in a panic. Rose, Hermione and Ginny were the last to leave the store, running up to join their boyfriends. Harry saw that the Dementors were only a hundred yards from them. He could feel the coldness seeping into his body.

He felt the memories of the graveyard coming to the surface in his mind, sending shudders through his body. Through the Bond, he sensed that Ginny was seeing her memories of the Chamber of Secrets. He reached for her trembling hand and held it in a tight grip as he sent images of love and comfort into her mind.

“We have to give people time to get away,” he said. “Form a line facing them so we can use the Patronus charm. Think of your happiest memory.”

The six teens did as Harry said and faced the oncoming tide. Harry settled his mind on his memory of kissing Ginny for the first time. He saw On Harry’s signal, they cried out, “Expecto Patronum!”

Six glowing white shapes came out of their wands and hurtled towards the Dementors. An owl came out of Hermione’s wand, a small dog from Ron’s, a eagle from Ti’s and a hawk from Rose’s. What surprised them were the shapes that came out of Harry and Ginny’s wands — two huge tigers.

The other four Patroni drove the Dementors back but the ones that the two tigers attacked gave a loud mournful wail before dissolving. The six teens watched that happen in awe. Soon, the remaining Dementors were fleeing back to the woods, still being chased by the six Patroni with the two tigers in the lead, clawing at the Dementors’ backs.

“Harry, did you see that?” Ginny asked him in his mind.

“Yeah, Gin,” he answered her, “That was amazing. But why are our Patroni tigers now? What happened to my stag and your lion?

“I don’t know, Harry. We’ll have to ask your father or Professor Dumbledore about that.”


“Harry,” Hermione said, causing Harry to shift his attention to the bushy-haired girl, “Didn’t you tell us that your Patronus was a stag and that Ginny’s was a lion?”

“I know, Hermione,” Harry said. “They were. I don’t know why they’re both tigers now.”

“Who cares?” Ron asked. “Wasn’t it bloody brilliant how they plowed through the Dementors and dissolved several of them?”

“Ron!” Hermione exclaimed. “Doesn’t it seem strange to you that Harry and Ginny’s Patroni have changed form? We need to know if that is really possible and why. Maybe that will explain what they did to the Dementors. It’s not supposed to be possible to destroy those creatures.”

“We’ll figure that out later,” Harry said. “We’d better see if there are more of them in the village.”

“Harry’s right,” Ginny said. “We don’t know if this was the only part of the village they came to. Harry, we’d better check the houses we passed by earlier.”

“You’re right, Gin,”
Harry answered back. “That would be a good spot to enter the village from.”

“This way, guys,” Harry said as he turned off down the road toward the Hogs Head. “There are several houses over this way. The people in them might not have seen the Dementors coming into the village.”

They hurried down the lane Harry and Ginny had walked through earlier in the morning. They saw one of the houses had its door hanging open. Harry led the way inside, wand out in front of him. Inside, they found a woman lying on her back, her eyes staring at her ceiling. Harry recognized her as the woman they had passed earlier hanging out her laundry.

Ginny and Hermione bent down to check her out. She was breathing but wouldn’t respond to them. Even an Enervate failed to bring her around.

“I’m afraid she’s been kissed,” Hermione said sadly.

Harry felt sick at the thought of the woman’s family coming home to find her in that state. They moved outside after laying her on her living room couch and making sure there was no one else in the house.

They continued their search of the houses. Most were empty but they found the old man on his porch and one of the gossiping women had been kissed as well. After another half hour, they turned back toward the main village.

As they came up near the Hogs Head, they saw a pair of Dementors coming their way. A burning rage consumed Harry as he remembered the sight of the people they had found kissed.

“Expecto Patronum!” he cried. The tiger came out of his wand and ran at the two Dementors. It jumped on both and swiped its paws at them. Wailing, the two creatures dissolved into mist.

The Patronus tiger then continued running forward. The six teens followed it. In rapid succession, Harry’s Patronus found three more Dementors and destroyed them before dissipating.

By now, they were approaching the main street of the village. They could see some smoke coming from some of the stores. They crouched down and moved to the side of the road. Slowly moving forward, they saw several masked figures in black robes taking cover around the store beside Dervish and Banges, casting spells towards Gladrags.

Harry motioned the others closer. “I don’t think they’ve seen us,” he whispered. “Let’s see if we can take them out. Fire as soon as I do.”

They took cover across from the Death Eaters and got ready. As they moved into position, several spells came from Gladrags, hitting two of the Death Eaters, throwing them back into the store.

After three seconds, Harry pointed his wand at one of the remaining Death Eaters and shouted, “Stupefy!” The red spell hit his target who dropped down. Immediately after, the others hit their targets, knocking all the Death Eaters out.

Harry and his five companions moved forward carefully toward Gladrags. “Whoever is in the store, you’re safe now,” Harry called out. “We’re students from Hogwarts. We managed to get all the Death Eaters.”

Slowly, a head pecked out of a window. It was Neville. He grinned when he saw his fellow Marauders.

“Hey, guys!” Neville said. “Thanks for getting those Death Eaters. Now, get your sorry arses in here.”

The six teens conjured ropes around the eight unconscious Death Eaters they found then they hurried into the store. Harry paused at the door to look up the street. He could see spells being cast around in the distance, probably near the Three Broomsticks.

Inside Gladrags, there were several more students that they recognized from the Dueling Club including Lisa, Luna, Colin, Parvati, Dean and Susan Bones. Together with the owner of Gladrags and two shop assistants, there were a dozen people already in the store. Adding Harry and his five friends made it a bit crowded.

“That was great spell work, Harry,” Neville said. “We managed to hit a few of them but we couldn’t get all of them quickly enough.”

“Is anyone hurt?” Harry asked.

“Nothing serious,” Neville said, “just a couple of spell burns on Parvati and Susan.”

“You should have seen us, Harry,” Colin said enthusiastically. “They could barely hit us.”

“Yeah,” Dean said, grinning widely. “Those exercises from the Dueling Club really helped us with those Death Eaters.”

Harry grinned back but inwardly felt a wave of relief and pride. It seemed that their work with the club was paying off earlier than he would have wanted. But now, he knew they needed to cover the Patronus charm in the next meeting.

“Did you see the Dementors?” Hermione asked.

“Yes,” Lisa said, shuddering. “I thought I’d never be warm again. But Neville managed to drive them away.” She looked adoringly at Neville who looked down at his shoes as his ear turned red.

“I’m glad for that,” Harry said. He paused for a few seconds before going on. “We need to see if there are anymore Dementors or Death Eaters around, not to mention other students.” He turned to Ginny. “Gin, you, Rose and Hermione stay here while Ron, Neville and I take a look around.”

“Oh no you don’t, Potter,” Ginny said in his mind, glaring at him. “You promised me we’d be together in any situation like this. Remember, we’re stronger together.”

Harry sighed. “Oh, all right, you, me and Neville then.” He turned back to the others. “On second thought, Ginny, Neville and I will scout around. The rest of you stay here and keep a look out.” Harry ignored the strange looks he was getting from the non-Marauder students and the smirks on his fellow Marauders faces.

Just then, Rose gasped and turned pale. “Harry, we have to get to the Three Broomsticks right now.”

“What’s wrong, Rose?” Harry asked.

“Don’t ask questions, Harry,” Rose said, heading to the store’s front door. “Come on!” She quickly opened the door and ran out.

“Rose, wait!” Harry shouted, running after her. He felt Ginny’s presence just behind him but paid her little attention.

Harry’s longer legs enabled him to catch up to Rose just after she passed the Post Office which had broken windows and a couple of gaps in its walls. He grabbed Rose from behind and pulled her behind a tree.

All around them, there were bodies of students and adults. Harry couldn’t tell if they were alive or dead. Ahead of them, he could see a group of about ten Death Eaters clustered around one of the stores across from the Three Broomsticks, firing spells into the pub. Someone inside the pub was firing spells back at the Death Eaters.

Ginny, Neville and Ti appeared beside him and Rose; all of them crouched down to avoid being spotted.

“What do we do?” Neville whispered to Harry.

“We should try to help whoever is in the pub,” Harry answered him in a low voice.

“Harry, there are ten of them,” Ti whispered, fear evident in his voice. “There are only five of us.”

“So?” Harry asked. “Once we open fire, the Death Eaters won’t like being caught on two sides. We can make them choose between leaving and getting captured.”

“All right,” Ti said.

They slowly moved forward. Just then, a Death Eater shot a purple hex that hit the roof of the pub, causing an explosion. Part of the roof collapsed on the building.

“NO!” Rose screamed and she suddenly ran forward.

“Rose! Wait!” Harry shouted again. He ran after her again and managed to tackle her to the ground just as two red spells shot over their heads.

Harry managed to drag her behind a fence a few feet from the pub which was now burning.

“Dad’s in there,” Rose said, tears now falling down her cheeks. “I had a vision where I saw him crouched down in the part of the Three Broomsticks that was just hit by that hex., just as the spell hit it.”

Harry paled. “Well, we can’t do anything until we get these Death Eaters out of the way.”

He began casting spells at the partly hidden dark wizards. A couple of spells slammed into the fence, forcing Harry back. He started firing again, managing to hit two of the Death Eaters in succession. Then, someone in the pub started throwing spells again just as Ginny, Neville and Ti began casting their own spells.

Then, Harry saw Professor Dumbledore Apparate on the other side of the building where the Death Eaters were taking cover. He immediately started casting spells at them while taking cover behind some trees. Caught on three sides, five Death Eaters were quickly stunned. Seconds later, Harry heard the unmistakable crack of three people Disapparating away. He remained alert for several seconds but the area remained silent.

Rose ran over to area of the Three Broomsticks that had collapsed. She started pushing some of the debris aside, unmindful of the flames.

Harry and the others rushed over to her. Harry pulled her away from the burning building, pinning her arms when she tried to go back to it.

“Rose,” Harry said, “Wait. We’ll try to put the fire out first.”

He, Ginny and Neville all pointed their wands at the flames and yelled, “Aguamenti!” They played the stream of water from their wands over the flames.

As they were doing this, Harry heard his name being called. Before he knew it, he and Rose were wrapped in their father’s arms.

“Thank Merlin you’re all safe,” James said. “I was worried when the Dementors came and no one knew where you were.”

Rose was sobbing into James’ shoulder. “I-I thought y-you were in there, Dad, under all that. I h-had a vision. I saw you at that spot just before it collapsed.”

James stroked her hair as he comforted her. “I was there but Hagrid managed to pull me back before I got buried.” He noticed the bodies around them for the first time. Fortunately, Dumbledore, Ginny and the others were already checking them out. “Bloody hell. It’s a good thing we got almost everyone back to the castle before the Death Eaters arrived.”

“How did you do that, Dad?” Harry asked.

“It was all Fred and George’s idea,” James said. “They knew of a tunnel under Honeyduke’s that led back to the castle. When the Dementors started coming in, they started moving the students into the store while I and the other teachers kept the Dementors back. Unfortunately, some of them got through. Then the Death Eaters showed up. After that, we had to keep them busy to give the students time to escape. They forced us to seek cover inside the Three Broomsticks.”

Behind his father, Harry saw Professors McGonagall, Flitwick and Hagrid come from behind the pub. Madam Rosmerta was leaning on McGonagall, her eyes starting to tear as she stared at the ruins of her business.

Just then, Harry heard Ginny cry out and felt a wave of alarm and shock from her through their Bond. He immediately ran to her. She was crying as she knelt beside the body of another student. When he came up beside Ginny, Harry saw that it was Lisa McDougal, one of Ginny’s roommates. The girl was still breathing but her eyes were staring straight ahead, just like the woman in the house earlier.

Harry pulled her into his arms and let her cry against his chest. “Shh, I’m so sorry, Gin. I know she was a good friend of yours,” he said as he rubbed her back and stoked her hair to comfort her.

“W-why her, Harry? She was so young and full of life. Now, she’s been Kissed. Why did it have to be her?”

“I don’t know, baby. No one knows why these things happen.”


Harry was vaguely aware of Rose coming up to them, tears also flowing down her cheeks as she stared at Lisa’s body. Then Harry became preoccupied comforting his grieving soulmate. After several minutes, he noticed that she had fallen asleep from exhaustion and grief. He picked her up and, after a few hushed words with his father, carried her all the way back to the castle and the Hospital Wing.

Madam Pomfrey did a brief examination and healed them of the few bruises and cuts they had sustained in the battle. By then, Ginny was awake though still depressed. They walked back to Gryffindor Tower where they lay down in the couch in front of the common room fireplace. Holding Ginny’s hand firmly in one of his, Harry drifted into a slumber thankfully clear of any disturbing images.

*******

James tried his best to comfort his daughter as she wept beside the body of Lisa. It wrenched his very soul to see children suffer a fate like that. Finally, he gathered her in his arms and brought her to the Hospital Wing. After she had been cleared by Madam Pomfrey, James brought her to the Gryffindor common room, handing her over to her friends after kissing her on the forehead.

Much later, he rode the winding staircase up to the Headmaster’s office, holding the list of the casualties of the Hogsmeade attack in his hand. Aside from Lisa McDougal, ten other students had been Kissed by Dementors. These included Albert Dowley and Bradley Martin who were both two Gryffindor third years and Ti’s roommate, three Ravenclaws, four Hufflepuffs and a Slytherin third year.

Six students had been injured in fights with Death Eaters including Katie Bell, Justin Finch-Fletchley and Terry Boot and were staying in the Hospital Wing. Luckily, no students had died, unlike some of the residents of Hogsmeade.

Twenty citizens of Hogsmeade had been Kissed, including three children younger than eleven. Twelve more people were dead at the hands of Death Eaters and fifteen severely injured. Three people were rendered insane from being tortured with the Cruciatus Curse.

He felt so angry that so many people had been either Kissed or severely injured in the attack. Like the attack on Diagon Alley, there had been no warning in spite of the Order having a spy in Voldemort’s ranks.

He arrived at the top of the stairs and heard Albus ask him to enter. James shook his head and marveled at how Dumbledore always knew when someone was waiting to get into his office. He opened the door and stopped in shock upon seeing who else was with Dumbledore — Severus Snape.

Before either man could say anything, James leapt forward and grabbed a fistful of Snape’s robes, jabbing his wand under the man’s chin. “Why didn’t you warn us, Snivellus?” he asked in a deadly tone. “Do you have any idea how many kids had their souls sucked out by those monsters? I ought to kill you now.”

Snape didn’t flinch. He merely stared back at James and said, “I was not told of the attack, Potter. Despite what you may believe, the Dark Lord does not inform me of every plan he has.”

“Then what good are you?” James spat. “This is the second major attack you failed to warn us about.” He pressed his wand into Snapes’s skin. “I should just finish you off.”

“James, that’s enough,” Dumbledore said. “Let Severus go. We were just discussing that very point.”

James let Snape go, pushing the Potions professor away. He turned to Dumbledore. “Why do you trust him, Albus? He could be just using us or even spying for Voldemort.”

“I have my reasons, James,” Dumbledore replied, “just one in face but a very good one. Trust me if you do not trust Severus.”

James sighed, dropping the list on the Headmaster’s desk. “Very well, Albus. Here is the list of casualties from the attack. It’s bad but, if it wasn’t for Harry and his friends, it could have been worse, much worse.”

Snape snorted, causing James to turn round again, glaring at Snape. He raised his wand.

“James, please, not here,” Dumbledore said. “You can go, James. Severus and I have a few more things to discuss. There will be an Order meeting tomorrow evening. Please inform Remus, Sirius and your lovely wife.”

James continued to glare at Snape as he answered, “All right, Albus. I have to get to Potter Manor anyway and tell Lily about this attack. I may need the whole night to calm her down so she doesn’t rush her to see our children.” He caught a flicker of something in Snape’s eyes as he said Lily’s name and the phrase ‘our children’. What was it….regret?.....jealousy?.....anger?

James knew that Snape had feelings for Lily. He knew the whole time they were students here. He had always feared that Snape would get her to love him, instead of James. He was glad he had gotten his head out of his arse at the beginning of their seventh year. He knew he’d never had lived it down if Snape had married Lily instead of him. Smirking in triumph, James swept out of Dumbledore’s office, his mind now on spending some time with his wife and twin children. He hoped it would help numb the pain he felt over the losses of the day.
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