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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: 328053; Chapter Total: 6316 Author's Notes: Here’s the next chapter. I hope you like it. The first part happens on the day of their return from Hogwarts for Easter break, about the same time Lily is talking to Rose. Enjoy and please review. |
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Chapter 24: Tragedy and the first steps After leaving his mother and sister in the living room, Harry settled Rose’s trunk in her room and guided his own into his room. As he unpacked, he tuned into his link with Ginny and was greeted by the sight of the three youngest Weasley brothers hanging by their heels in their living room, most likely courtesy of their irate sister, while their furious mother berated them for their prank on Ti. Harry grinned at the sight and resolved to kiss his bond mate as soon as they saw each other. “I’ll hold you to that thought, Harry,” Ginny said, her mood considerably lightened by that. It turned out that Molly was sorely tempted to leave them that way for the entire night after hearing what they had done to Ti but Arthur prevailed upon her to let them down, much to Harry and Ginny’s disappointment. However, as punishment, the three boys were told to degnome their garden the next day and confined to their room for the rest of Easter break, unless they were called to Potter Manor. Harry spent the rest of the evening playing with his younger siblings. He was disappointed that he and Rose had missed their last birthday party but they didn’t seem to hold it against him, judging by their enthusiastic greeting when he had first seen them. He knew that Hermione was probably doing the same with her brother, Daniel. The next day, Harry did just as he had promised Ginny and kissed her as soon as she stepped out of the Floo, much to Ron’s disgust. It didn’t help Ron that they didn’t stop kissing until James cleared his throat. Unfortunately, the bonded pair’s good mood evaporated when James informed the group about Ti’s declaration to Sirius the previous night. Needless to say, they were again displeased with Ron and the twins. Harry was greatly amused by the sight of the three youngest Weasley males running around the garden of Potter Manor as they tried get away from Ginny and Rose and the Bat Bogey hexes the furious redhead girls were casting at them. Hermione added to Ron’s misery by not letting him come near her for the rest of the day. The New Marauders resolved to continue their dueling training in Potter Manor, though the absence of Ti caused a morose mood to descend on the group. It didn’t help that the Monday issue of the Daily Prophet had reported a large Death Eater attack on four villages in northern England, wiping out two dozen families including five Wizarding ones. The paper reported in excruciating detail the atrocities committed on the victims, including the evidence of rape on several preteen girls before they were killed and dismemberment of several infants which sickened the group. Things got worse as the week passed with Voldemort sending his Death Eaters out almost every night to attack other villages where Wizards and Muggles lived side by side, usually three or four villages on the same night. Due to the randomness of the targets, the Aurors often arrived too late. No one in the Order could detect a pattern in the targets chosen by Voldemort. Even Snape was of little help in spite his being in Voldemort’s inner circle, since Voldemort only informed his followers of the night’s targets just an hour before they attacked. The only thing that brought the group out of their funk was animagus practice. They spent an hour after lunch running or flying around the garden of Potter Manor in their animagus forms. Harry and Ginny used their tiger forms. They were very close to perfecting their magical forms. Harry even started to try his third form which caused the others to laugh hysterically at the sight of Harry having chicken feet or arms. Unfortunately, their worst fears came on Tuesday night in the second week of the Easter break. Rose was staying up to finish some homework when she fell into a vision. She saw a girl she recognized as Lisa Turpin dueling with two Death Eaters in a spell damaged living room. Rose rushed to her parents’ room to find them reading in bed. The elder Potters looked up at her in surprise. “Mum, Dad,” she said. “I just had a vision. One of our friends is being attacked in her home.” James paled and rushed off the bed toward his wardrobe. “Who did you see, Rose?” “It’s Lisa Turpin, Dad,” Rose said. “You remember her, Ravenclaw fifth year, member of the dueling club. She’s, uh, she’s also Neville’s girlfriend.” James looked at her for a moment before putting on some robes and rushing out the door. As soon as her father had gone, Rose went to Harry’s room to tell him what happened. Harry looked like he wanted to follow their father but Lily stopped him. Together, they waited in the living room for James to return, hoping Rose had given her warning in time. It was dawn by the time James came back, tired and disheveled. The look of anguish on his face told them that the Order had been too late. According to James, the Order had found the Turpin’s home destroyed and Lisa’s body under a fallen wall. The one good thing was that she had held off the Death Eaters long enough for her parents and younger brother to escape through the Floo to her father’s sister’s house. Neither Longbottom teen showed up after breakfast that day. Harry and his friends knew Neville was mourning his girlfriend’s death and Maggie was probably supporting her brother. No one felt up to doing much so they decided to take a break from their training. Fred and George Flooed back to the Burrow. Hermione took the opportunity to explore the Potter library with help from Rose, much to Ron’s disgust. Harry and Ginny decided to have some time together, leaving the youngest Weasley male to settle with playing some of the games in the game room on his own. The bonded pair moved to the garden. Harry conjured a hammock and slung it between two trees. They climbed in and spent most of the day cuddling together. Harry’s thoughts kept going over how long it was taking for him to be ready to fight Voldemort but Ginny would mentally chide him and remind him that he had to survive as well as beat Voldemort and that would need him to train longer. She finally forced him to stop thinking such thoughts by occupying his mind with other things. It was a somber Neville that flooed into Potter Manor the next day. Everyone gave him hugs or a gentle squeeze on the shoulder in sympathy but they found the grim look on his face unsettling. In their dueling practice later in the afternoon, his spells were cast with a power they didn’t have before, which allowed him to beat Ron and the twins several times and duel Harry to a draw twice. This brought to everyone’s mind what the prophecy given by Rose two years before had said about Neville being Harry’s equal in power. The funeral for Lisa was held two days later. Harry had insisted to his parents that they allow the whole group to attend. To his surprise, nearly every member of the Dueling Club was there, as were several Aurors for security. Neville stayed beside Harry and the New Marauders in the second row though Harry learned later that Lisa’s parents had wanted him to stay with them in the front row. When Harry went to offer his condolences to Lisa’s parents, he was astonished when Lisa’s mother hugged him. Mrs. Turpin was thankful that Lisa’s training in the Dueling Club had allowed her to save her family, even at the cost of her life. Otherwise, none of them would have survived. Lisa’s brother, Matthew, was turning eleven at the end of June and would probably enter Hogwarts on September first. The boy told Harry that he was going to join the Dueling Club whether his parents allowed him or not, which made Harry grin and lifted his spirits. Of course, Harry warned the younger boy against doing it for the sake of revenge but instead to do it as a way of honoring his sister. Harry then told the rest of the Dueling Club members present at the funeral to practice as much as they could at home and that they’d continue their training when they got back to Hogwarts. The rest of the week passed with the Marauders continuing their duel practices. They also tried to have some fun which included several casual games of Quidditch to take advantage of the wonderful spring weather. They enjoyed this very much though they still missed Ti. According to James, Sirius tried several times to convince Ti to reconcile with the group but only ended up having intense rows over it. Finally, the end of Easter break came and it was time to head back to Hogwarts. Harry and his sister were taken by their father to King’s Cross. James was also riding on the Express, near the front of the train for security. Again, Aurors were visible on the platform and around the train. As he helped his father place his and Rose’s trunks on the train, Harry scanned the station anxiously for Sirius or Ti. His father soon went off to talk to several of the Aurors on the platform. Finally, at half past ten, Harry saw the younger boy come through the barrier accompanied by Sam who had her newborn daughter in her arms. Ti gave Sam a hug then quickly pushed his trunk past Harry without stopping. Harry just watched him go. “I’m sorry, Harry,” he heard Sam say behind him. Harry turned around and gave her a big hug. “It’s okay, Sam,” he said after releasing her. Harry sighed before continuing. “I guess he’ll need some more time to get over that prank. I really don’t blame him.” He looked at the bundle in Sam’s arms. “Is that Elizabeth?” “Yes,” Sam said. “I’m sorry you couldn’t come over to see her the last two weeks.” “That’s all right, Sam,” Harry said, looking down at the baby. “I didn’t want Ti to feel uncomfortable in his own home. She’s really cute.” “That she is,” Ginny said, coming over to stand beside Harry. “She has your eyes, Sam.” “Yeah, she does,” Harry said. “Where’s Sirius?” “I don’t know,” Sam said, “He had another row with Ti last night about talking to you and the others. He was gone when I woke up this morning. I think he’s on duty somewhere else. I guess he didn’t want to have to get into another fight before Ti went back to Hogwarts.” “I’m really sorry about all this, Sam,” Harry said. “All that shouting probably keeps Elizabeth awake.” “Oh, don’t worry about it, Harry,” Sam. “Surprisingly, after the first time she heard them shouting, Lizzy doesn’t stir anymore when they have a loud row.” “Lizzy?” Ginny asked, “That’s a nice nickname for her.” “I know,” Sam said, “It was Ti’s idea. Look, Harry, Ginny, give it a while. He’s a good kid. He’ll get over it and get back with you guys. Just wait a while.” “I hope so, Sam,” Harry said. “I miss him. So does Rose. They used spend a lot of time together especially after Ginny and I got together.” “She even helped me hex Ron, Fred and George when we heard that Ti didn’t want to be a Marauder anymore,” Ginny said, “Still, she’s a bit down over his absence.” “I’m sorry we couldn’t invite you to the party we threw for Ti yesterday for his birthday tomorrow,” Sam said. “He wanted to invite Draco but you probably know what Sirius said about that which led to another row. So, it was just the four of us.” “We understand, Sam,” Harry said. “Don’t worry. We’re going to surprise him tomorrow, just to let him know we won’t let him off being our friend, even if he doesn’t want to be in our pranking group anymore. “If Ti doesn’t get back with you guys by the time summer comes, I’ll talk to him,” Sam said. After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, Sam said, “I heard about your friend, Lisa Turpin from Sirius. That was terrible. How is Neville doing?” Harry sighed. “Not too well, I think. He’s been channeling his grief into his magic during our dueling practices, almost exhausting himself. I don’t think it’s good. Ginny and the other girls have tried to console him, especially Rose, but...” Harry shrugged. Just then, Hermione, Ron, Rose, Neville and Maggie came over to see Lizzy. They spent a few more minutes admiring the tiny girl before they all said goodbye to Sam and boarded the train. They managed to find a compartment of their own as the train started to pull out of the station. Fred and George were with the other seventh years. Once the train was outside London, Harry cast silencing and privacy charms on their compartment door. “Look, Ron,” Harry said, eyeing his best mate severely, “No matter what you think about him, Ti is still our friend. I really want him back with us.” “Okay, okay,” Ron grumbled. “So how do we do that?” “You probably won’t like this but we should let him know we’re fine with him hanging out with Draco,” Harry said. “Are you daft?” Ron asked. “Let him go on hanging out with the ferret?” “I agree with Harry, Ron,” Ginny said. “Since his relationship with Draco is important to Ti, we should let him be when he wants to be with his brother. After all, so far this year, Draco hasn’t been his usual mean self to us.” “Yeah,” Hermione said. “As hard to believe, he’s actually been decent. I guess we really should give him a chance. It’ll help repair our friendship with Ti.” “Okay, fine,” Ron said. “I won’t give the ferret any trouble as long as he doesn’t give me any.” “We’ll go along with you, Harry,” Neville said. Maggie nodded her own agreement. “Great,” Harry said, smiling now, “Now, I hope you guys remembered that tomorrow is his birthday. I’ve talked with Rose and Ginny about it and decided to send him a few presents through Dad. Ti isn’t mad at him so I’m hoping he’d take them from Dad and not throw them away. They’ll be a combined birthday and peace offering. When he gets them, we can use his reaction to guide us on what to do next. I’d like to throw him a party in the common room but I doubt he’d stay if it was with us.” “You’re right, Harry,” Hermione said. “Ginny told me about that so I got him a good book on Wizarding chess strategies and put mine and Ron’s name on it.” Ron groaned. “Why’d you do that, Hermione? I could get him his own present.” “And risk you giving him some prank disguised as a present?” Hermione said, glaring at him. “We’re doing this to be a friend to him even if he doesn’t want us as friends anymore. Look at it this way, Ron. With that book, he’ll be a greater challenge from you in the game than any of us will, once he comes around to playing with you again.” Ron looked thoughtful for a moment. “Yeah, you’re right, Hermione,” Ron said. “I’ve always loved a challenge in the game. I go along with it then.” Everyone agreed to Harry’s suggestion and made plans for Ti’s birthday. Afterwards, Harry took down the charms from the door. An hour later, Angelina Johnson came into their compartment and informed them that they had Quidditch practice after dinner. Ron complained about this but Angelina reminded him that they were playing Hufflepuff the following Saturday. So Harry, Ron, Neville, Rose and Ginny agreed to show up in the pitch after dinner. After she left, they settled down for the rest of the ride back to Hogwarts. The return feast in the Great Hall was subdued. Black banners were again hung from the walls. Aside from Lisa Turpin, the recent attacks had claimed the lives of a Gryffindor first year, another Ravenclaw and three Hufflepuffs. Like Lisa, the last four had been members of the DC. Dean, Seamus, Lavender and the Patil twins all expressed their condolences to Neville who sat morosely at the Gryffindor table. Ti sat at the other end of the table with his fellow third years. Dumbledore stood up at the end of the feast. “Once again, we mourn the loss of friends and classmates. I find it so disheartening when children are taken so early from this life. But we must also remember the good times they shared with us and not despair. To honor them, we must continue to dedicate ourselves to fighting the evil that took them from us. Only then will their loss have true meaning.” After a few moments of silence, Dumbledore asked the prefects to lead their house mates back to their respective common rooms. Unfortunately for Harry and his friends, they had Quidditch practice which only stopped a half hour before curfew. Ti was there but stayed away from Harry and the others. The following morning, in spite of being sore from Quidditch practice, Harry and his friends forced themselves to get up early to decorate the common room with streamers, a few balloons and a large banner saying — “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TI!” James came into the common room while they were doing that to lend a hand. They handed him the presents they had gotten for Ti. Ten minutes after they were done, their fellow Gryffindors started to come down to go to breakfast. They looked curiously around the common room and the group standing around the banner but no one said anything before leaving. It was almost seven when Ti finally came down, accompanied by Jake and Paul. His eyes widened in surprise at the banner and other decorations then shifted to wariness as he saw his former friends and Professor Potter looking at him with smiles on their faces. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” they all shouted. Harry slowly approached him. “Happy Birthday, Ti. We know things aren’t good between us right now but we want you to know that we still consider you our friend, even if you don’t want to be in our little group.” “Yeah, mate,” Fred said. “We really are sorry ….” “….for what we did two weeks ago,” George said. “Yeah,” Ron said. “To set the record straight, only the three of us were in it. Harry, Ginny and the rest had no idea about that prank.” “Even then, we’re sorry that happened to you,” Harry said, “We also want you to know that we don’t mind if you want to spend time with Draco.” “You can even go eat with him at the Slytherin table,” Hermione said. “Or, you can bring him over to our table to eat with you, if you like,” Maggie said. “Yeah,” Neville said. “We won’t try to hex or prank him, okay?” “Fine,” Ti said, “Whatever, uh, thanks.” They stood around for a few seconds in silence then James came forward. “Here, Ti,” the man said, handing him several wrapped presents, “These are from us, happy birthday. Don’t worry. These are safe, ordinary presents. I made sure of that.” “Okay,” Ti said warily as he took possession of the packages, “Thanks, Professor. Uh, thanks guys. You go on ahead to breakfast. I’ll just bring these up to my dorm.” He quickly went back up the stairs. “Well, that went well,” Neville said. “Well, you heard him,” Ron said. “Let’s go get some breakfast. Ow!” He rubbed the back of his head where Hermione had just smacked him. “What did you do that for, Hermione?” “You’re always thinking of your stomach, Ronald,” Hermione said. “He said we could go on ahead,” Ron said, as he started walking out of the portrait hole. “Fine!” Hermione said as she looked heavenward then followed him. The others looked at each other and did the same. ******* As Ti climbed the stairs to his dorm, carrying the six gaily wrapped gifts, he felt relieved that Harry and the others wouldn’t interfere if he decided to eat with Draco at mealtimes. He recalled the train ride back to Hogwarts during which he had shared a compartment with Draco, Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy. The other three Slytherins had looked like they wouldn’t let him sit with them but a glare from Draco fixed that. Ti spent part of the ride telling Draco all about Lizzie Black. He also apologized for not sending any letters to Draco since Sirius wouldn’t let him ‘for security reasons.’ He also apologized for not being able to tell him where they lived due to the Fidelius Charm Draco had waved his apology away but had asked why they needed the charm. Ti didn’t tell him about the Order of the Phoenix but only told him that Sirius just wanted to protect his family due to being an Auror. Draco hadn’t seemed satisfied by Ti’s answer but hadn’t press him further. They had spent the rest of the ride playing Wizard’s Chess though Draco was just as bad as Harry in playing the game. Ti came out of his thoughts just as he got to his bed. He placed the six gaily wrapped packages on his bed and sat beside them, staring at them intently. Should I open them? I don’t know….they could still have a prank in it… Mr. Potter said they were safe…He might have just said that so I’d open them….He’s a Professor, he wouldn’t let them prank me…No, he’s probably still mad at me for breaking up with Rose…No, I’m sure he won’t let anything hurt me. He’s friends with Sirius…. He remembered the many arguments he had with Sirius over the past two weeks. Many of them had started with Sirius wanting him to remain friends with the others but he had still been feeling humiliated from the prank. Then they had argued about Draco. Ti had not insisted in inviting Draco over after the first row, realizing that letting Draco in would make it easier for his father to find Grimmauld Place. He looked back at the presents. Come on, Tiberius, are you a Gryffindor or not? Talking a deep breath, he reached for one of the larger packages. Looking at the writing on a note attached to it, he saw that it was from Harry and Ginny. Harry had been the first to reach out to him after his sorting into Gryffindor and Ti had looked up to him as an older brother. It had hurt him greatly when he thought that Harry had been part of the prank on him. Now, if the twins and Ron were to be believed, he had been wrong to think that. He felt a pain in his heart, regretting for the first time his decision to distance himself from the New Marauders. Sighing, he removed the wrapping and opened the box he found within. He gasped when he saw the beautiful dragonhide jacket. It even had his name embroidered above the left hand pocket. He wiped his eyes to dash the tears that were starting to form. Setting the jacket aside after a few moments of admiring it, he reached for a smaller rectangular package. Once he had it unwrapped, he found a book on strategy in Wizarding Chess from Ron and Hermione. A grin formed on his face as he thought about how the book would improve his chance of beating Ron soundly in the game they both loved. The grin died on his face as he remembered Ron’s confession to being partly responsible for the prank. He sighed again. Picking up another large wrapped box, he noted with apprehension that it was from Fred and George. He gingerly removed the wrapping then slowly opened it. He eyed the contents and read the labels placed on several of the items. Puking Pastilles…Nosebleed nougats…Ton-Tongue Toffees…Canary Creams… His jaw dropped as he realized that these were some of the products the Weasley twins had been testing and were planning to sell in the joke shop they planned to open once they were done with school. They never gave out free samples, yet here were a dozen of each. Maybe they were sincere in their apology. He closed the box and put it aside. The next gift was from Neville and Maggie Longbottom. It was a pair of chaser gloves with his name stitched on the palm of each glove. A note in the box written by Maggie said that they would adjust to his size if his hand grew larger. He grinned as he thought of not needing to buy a new pair every year. Next was a gift from Professor Potter and his wife. When he opened the box, Ti found a set of Wizard’s robes in red and gold. He wiped the tears that were again forming in his eyes. The last gift was from Rose. It was a picture frame. He gulped when he saw the Wizarding picture in it. It showed all ten New Marauders sitting on the porch of Potter Manor the previous summer, horsing around. In the center, he and Rose were seated side by side, laughing and shoving each other playfully. A note was attached to the back that read: Ti, I know you’re still mad at us but I want you to know that we’ll always be your friend. I really hope things between you and Draco work out. This picture is my way of saying that we’ll always be here for you, especially me. Your best friend, Rose A tear made its way slowly down Ti’s cheek as he looked again at the picture. He knew he should give them a chance again but couldn’t bring himself to reach out to them yet. Maybe a few more weeks would change that. At least now, he could talk to or eat with Draco without hiding it from Harry and his group. Composing himself, Ti gathered the gifts and carefully placed them into his trunk, all except for the picture. This, he placed on the table beside his bed. After a few seconds of looking at the picture, he got up and left the dorm. When Ti got to the Great Hall, he was met by Draco by the door. “Happy birthday, Ti,” the Slytherin said. He handed him a small wrapped box. “This is for you.” “Thanks, Draco,” Ti said. “Do you mind if I look at it after class.” “No, that’s okay,” Draco said. “How’d you like to have breakfast with me?” “Sure,” Ti said. As he approached the Slytherin table, he noticed that most of the Slytherins were glaring at him. Draco came up behind him and said, “No one had better mind my brother coming to eat with me.” With that, the other Slytherins turned their attention to their food. Ti sat down beside Draco and began to pile food on his plate. “Oh, Draco,” Ti said, “Harry and the others said that they wouldn’t mind if you came by the Gryffindor table to eat with me from time to time.” “W-what?” Draco asked. “They were okay with that?” “Yeah,” Ti said. “They were even okay with me being over here.” “Oh, okay,” Draco said. They settled down to eat, occasionally talking about the upcoming Quidditch match between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor the following Saturday. Afterwards, Ti joined Paul and Jake on their way to Transfiguration. Later that evening, Ti was alone in his dorm after dinner. He took the present Draco had given him out of his robe’s pocket. After removing the wrapping, he opened it and gasped. Inside was a highly detailed golden pendant shaped like a lion sitting on its haunches, suspended on a gold chain. The lion’s eyes were tiny red rubies. Ti admired the fine work then put it around his neck. He looked at it for a moment in the mirror before tucking it under his shirt. Doing that, he failed to notice the momentary greenish glint coming from the ruby eyes. ******************** The days passed quickly after that. Ti spent some meals with Draco at the Slytherin table and some at the Gryffindor table. He even managed to drag Draco to the Gryffindor table for dinner on Thursday night with not much reaction from the other Gryffindors. Ti even went back to Quidditch practice which Angelina had on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Saturday came and the school was again excited to watch a Quidditch match, especially the Gryffindors. If they won, they were sure to win the cup, especially if Ravenclaw beat Slytherin in the next match in the third week of May. If they lost however, Slytherin could still win the Cup by beating Ravenclaw. One good thing was that the Chasers on the regular team were all fit and ready to play. The Gryffindor team, both regular and reserve, had a light breakfast before trekking down to the changing rooms. There, they endured another longwinded lecture from Angelina. Finally, they heard the call to enter the Pitch. Madam Hooch had Angelina and the Hufflepuff captain shake hands then the game began. From the onset, it was clear that the Gryffindor Chasers, Angelina, Alicia and Katie were much better than their Hufflepuff counterparts. The Hufflepuff Beaters tried to interfere but Fred and George outclassed them too. Ron was having a great day as well, blocking just about every shot.. Two hours into the game, the Gryffindors were leading 160 to 10. Then, Harry spotted the snitch near the Hufflepuff goal. He glanced at his counterpart and was relieved to see that Coxley hadn’t seen it yet though he was much closer to it. Harry flew nonchalantly toward that area, looking around as if he hadn’t spotted it yet. After a few more minutes, Harry was much closer to the Snitch which hadn’t moved much. He darted toward it, barely noticing Lee Jordan’s excited voice announcing his move. Seconds later, Harry felt his hand close around the golden ball and raised it in triumph. “Gryffindor wins! 310 to 10!” Jordan’s voice boomed across the field. The Gryffindor section erupted in cheers and applause. The rest of the Gryffindor team raced toward Harry as he landed on the ground but Ron got to him first. “Great catch, Harry,” Ron said as he pounded Harry on the back. “The only way Slytherin will win the Cup is by beating Ravenclaw by more than 500 points.” Soon, the rest of the team was hugging him and each other in celebration. Harry grinned as he felt a small pair of hands grab his shoulders and turn him around. He grinned as the redhead who owned those hands reached up and drew his head down to hers for a kiss. Harry circled his arms around her waist and Ginny ran her hands through his hair as they deepened the kiss. “Oi! Can we keep the kissing down to a G rating, please?” Ron asked, annoyed. He scowled when Ginny threw him a rude gesture with one hand while still kissing Harry. Ti came over to them. “That was great, Harry,” he said. “One of the best catches I’ve seen yet.” “Thanks, Ti,” Harry said. “Are you joining us later in our dueling training? It’s a Saturday after all.” Ti looked away. “I don’t know, Harry. I’m not a Marauder anymore, remember?” “Well, you’re still our friend,” Harry said. “You should come.” “Yeah,” Ginny said, “Everyone will be looking for you.” After a couple of minutes of silence, Ti took a deep breath and said, “All right, I’ll be there.” “Good,” Harry said, clapping him on the shoulder. “Now, we have a little party to go to.” ******************* The next day, Rose was in a good mood as she headed to the Headmaster’s office for her lesson with Mrs. Thunderheart. The day before, for the first time in two months, she and Ti had paired up for dueling practice. In spite of some initial awkwardness, they had settled back into the competitive way they used to duel. They had even joked around a bit. Rose entered Dumbledore’s office to find the middle-aged Canadian witch waiting for her. They greeted each other warmly and resumed where they had left off before the Easter break, with the Forward View skill. This time, Rose was able to concentrate and see forward in time a full hour after they had finished their lesson. She saw Dumbledore meeting with some of the professors. Martha told her that she’d try to confirm it with the Headmaster later. Martha then suggested that Rose try another place. She decided on the Gryffindor common room. She tried to look forward an hour ahead, when she would be going back there. She tried to memorize who were there and what they were doing. She was not surprised to see Romilda Vane sitting beside Ti as they studied in a table to one side of the room. She’d seen them doing that after she and Ti had broken off their relationship. What surprised her was seeing Romilda occasionally brush a hand along Ti’s arm with barely a reaction from Ti. Rose again wondered if they were dating but decided it was none of her business. She turned her attention to the other occupants of the common room. After observing the passage of time in the Gryffindor common room for 15 minutes, she felt very tired. Martha had her come out of her trance and gave her a glass of water to drink. “Good work today, Rose,” Martha said. “You can go back early to your common room.” “Thanks, Martha,” Rose said, hugging the woman before leaving the Headmaster’s office She rode the moving staircase back down to the corridor. She then walked to Gryffindor Tower. When she entered the common room, she looked around. It was still a good 20 minutes before the time she had seen with her seer ability but she could see many of the people from her vision were already in the room and doing what she had seen. Strangely, she noted that neither Ti nor Romilda were in the room. Maybe they came in before she did her sight thing. She then noticed Neville sitting in an armchair near their favorite spot in front of the fireplace, reading a book. She felt a pang of sorrow for him. Lisa’s death had changed him greatly. Neville always had a smile on his face and joked around with his friends. Now, he was somber, more serious and never smiled. Rose went up to him and sat down in a backless cushioned chair beside him. “Hi, Nev. What are you reading? It doesn’t look like a book on Herbology.” Neville looked up from his book. “Oh, hi Rose,” he replied. “No, it isn’t. I’m just checking out some spells we may be able to use.” He showed her the title: Advanced Offensive spells for Aurors. Rose raised an eyebrow. “Where did you get that?” she asked. As far as she knew, she’d never seen the book with Harry or her father. Neville smirked, the closest thing to a smile that she had seen on his face since they had learned about Lisa’s death. “I tagged along with my dad to the Ministry the day before we came back here and ran into Tonks while I was observing some Aurors in dueling practice. She was holding this in her hand and I managed to get her to lend it to me. There are some spells here we can really use, especially Harry and I if we do have the same amount of power.” “Why do you need to learn more spells, Nev?” she asked. “We already know a lot, enough to handle anything we might run into.” “Is that so?” Neville asked his face hardening. “Tell that to Lisa. She knew as much as we did, yet she’s dead.” He closed the book, turned away from her to face the fireplace. Rose couldn’t think of anything to say to him. In spite of the group’s efforts, Neville seemed to still be in mourning over his girlfriend. The silence stretched between them. Just when Rose was on the verge of leaving him to his thoughts, Neville spoke. “You know the worst part of it is that I was contemplating breaking up with her once we came back from Easter Break.” This shocked Rose. “W-w-what? What did you say?” “It’s funny,” Neville continued, still staring at the unlit fireplace, “I really enjoyed her company but we didn’t have much in common besides Herbology. Since Valentine’s Day, I started to see her as a friend, a good friend but not in the romantic sense. At the same time, I was falling for someone else, an amazing and beautiful girl.” He looked up at Rose. “I felt bad for Lisa when I realized it. She seemed happy being with me and breaking up with her would have hurt her so much. I kept putting it off and before I knew it, we were going home for Easter. After a couple of days home, I decided I needed to do the right thing. Well, it doesn’t matter now. She’s dead and I’m free.” His tone was bitter and broken. Rose was astonished. Neville wasn’t just feeling depressed over Lisa’s death. He felt guilty for wanting to end his relationship with Lisa. No wonder he hadn’t wanted to sit with Lisa’s family at her funeral. In his eyes, he was no longer her boyfriend at that point. Rose gently placed a hand on his shoulder. “Neville, I’m sure she would have understood if you had explained it to her, especially if you’d remain friends with her after breaking up with her. She was a kind and wonderful person. She wouldn’t want you to feel guilty over it.” Neville turned to look at her. They stared at each other for several seconds. Rose saw something in his eyes she had never seen before, something that made her heart beat faster yet she couldn’t identify it. Then Neville turned away. “I hope you’re right.” He got up. “We have an hour before lunch. I think I’d better start revising. O.W.L.s are only a month away.” He paused for a moment before adding, “Thanks Rose.” He then headed for the stairs to the boys’ dormitories Rose watched him walk away until he disappeared from her view. She then got up and headed for her own dorm for some of her stuff since she needed to start working on a Charms essay that was due on Monday. She stopped for a moment as she remembered Neville saying that he had been falling for someone else. She sighed and wondered who had managed to catch Neville’s eye now. |
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