The Next Dance

THE NEXT DANCE

BY AERIE22

CHAPTER TWELVE

"IS IT ALWAYS GOING TO BE LIKE THIS?"

"So you're The Harry Potter," the young, blond Auror said with a devilish grin. "Kinda scrawny to be a sex symbol."

Harry stared at her with wide eyes, but Janet McDonald, Harry's prefect patrol partner, began giggling in the low light of the first floor corridor. Harry turned and glared at Janet. "What?" he demanded.

Tonks joined in the giggling. "I see you didn't renew your subscription to Teen Witch Weekly, did you," she said smugly.

Harry frowned and sunk into the chair behind the prefect desk next to the head boys' and head girls' suite. He had met and talked to Nymphadora Tonks at the emergency prefects meeting a couple nights ago and then had stopped and talked to her again rather than take an extra lap during his run this morning. He thought she was funny and nice. But he was on prefect patrol. It was now 2:00 in the morning and, with all that had gone on in the past week, he was not in the mood for joking around.

Tonks turned to Janet. "Tell me, does he read? Or does he just walk around posing and stretching in his skimpy shorts all night."

At this point, Janet burst into laughter.

Harry snorted in disgust. "So, are you going to tell me what you're talking about, or should I just read my History of Magic text?" he asked in a sullen voice.

Tonks gave Janet a mischievous grin. "Should we show him? Or should we just let him sit there, being his sweet, heroic, sexy self?"

Janet was now laughing so hard that it was a struggle to keep from falling out of her chair.

Tonks reached into her robe and produced a copy of the latest Teen Witch Weekly. On the cover was a broad banner headline: 'The 10 Sexiest Wizards Under 25!' Underneath he could see a picture of Aidan Lynch, the seeker for the Irish National Quidditch team in his Quidditch robes, some entertainer named Darren Dare with long tangled curls and in sequined robes unfastened to show he was not wearing a shirt underneath, and a picture of a smiling Harry, leaning casually against a tree on the Great Lawn with his arms crossed, obviously talking with someone just out of the frame.

He reluctantly opened the magazine and stared wide-eyed. The entire page five of the issue was devoted to him as "The Sexiest Wizard Under 25."

* * *

OUR NUMBER ONE HEARTTHROB: HARRY POTTER

Harry Potter, 15, is known throughout the wizarding world as both a fighter and a lover. As an mere infant, he defeated He Who Must Not Be Named. And just two months ago, he again faced off against the Dark Lord and His Minions and sent them packing, leading to the greatest defeat of Dark Forces in 50 years.

But it is not just his heroism and power that led us to choose the precocious Boy Who Lived to be our Young Man to Love. Harry has been known throughout his career at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as one of the sexiest young wizards to come along in years. His name has been romantically linked to some of the loveliest ladies in the Wizarding World. Among those whose hearts he has captured are:

* Fleur Delacour, the stunning young French half-Veela who represented The Beauxbatons School of Wizardry as their champion in last year's TriWizard Tournament at Hogwarts;

* Miss Pansy Parkinson, Hogwarts student and fair young heiress to the Parkinson Estate in Staffordshire;

* Miss Hermione Granger, one of the most brilliant students at Hogwarts and reputed to be the current girlfriend of Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian Seeker extraordinaire and No. 7 on our list (see below);

* Miss Cho Chang, Harry's rival--at least on the Quidditch pitch--as seeker for Hogwarts' Ravenclaw House team and thought by many to be the prettiest girl currently at the school;

* Miss Virginia Weasley, a red-haired beauty and daughter of a ranking Ministry official, with whose family Potter has spent many a hot summer night visiting;

* And his current flame, the sultry beauty, Miss Parvati Patil, of the Patil Imports empire.

But his fans are legion. "He kissed me once and I felt like I had been transported," said Miss Gina Zabini, a fellow student at Hogwarts. "He may be from a rival house, but he is ever so sweet to everyone," says the young Slytherin of the Zabini restauranting family. "What I like most is his sense of humor," says Miss Millicent Bulstrode, a classmate of Harry from the Bulstrode clan, Yorkshire. "There's no pretense there. Very un-Gryffindor."

Miss Delacour gushes over Harry's rescue of her young sister, Gabrielle, in last year's ill-fated TriWizard Tourney. "He is so courageous. A real hero." Many witnesses report seeing Potter and Delacour locked in a passionate embrace after the second task of that tournament.

Harry is a physical fitness fanatic, and the picture on the right can attest that his dedication has not just paid great dividends for him, but will warm the hearts of all of his faithful admirers through a long, cold winter. He also serves and a fifth year prefect at Hogwarts and is said to love dancing, a good joke, and quiet evenings with the girl of his choice.

Harry Potter, as one of the youngest wizards ever to appear on our annual list, can look forward to a long run as one of our Top 10 Sexiest Wizards Under 25.

Harry stared. There, taking up a quarter of the page, was a picture of him in a T-shirt and in his gym shorts, obviously taken while he was warming up for one of his early morning runs at the beginning of the term. "I'm going to kill Colin Creevey," he muttered and tossed the magazine on the desk in disgust.

"Is he as great a snogger as he seems?" Tonks asked Janet in a stage whisper.

"Ooooo, he's hot stuff," Janet said in a trilling falsetto.

"Oh, shut up," Harry said, rising. "I'm going on patrol."

* * *

"I don't think it's funny," Harry muttered as he and Janet climbed the stairs to the second floor. "It's embarrassing."

Janet giggled. "Oh, come on. I'll bet Darren Dare is furious. Don't you know that people like him pay press agents a fortune to campaign to be on the top of that list?"

Harry sulked. "I don't even know who Darren Dare is."

Janet stopped short. "You don't? He's the lead singer of Dark Secrets. They're the hottest group around."

Harry shrugged with a frown. "Oh, them."

Janet gave Harry a softer smile. "Look, Harry, I think you're adorable. And most of the young witches here do, too. But Tonks explained about how these things work," she said quietly. "You're big news. You have been since You-Know-Who and the whole 'Lover's Showdown' thing."

Harry scowled. "We weren't doing anything," he grumped.

Janet smiled indulgently at him. "Like I say, you're big news. And having you on that list sells magazines. Not that you don't deserve it," she said with a chuckle. "By the way, I had no idea you were so...trim," now giggling furiously

Harry growled, but Janet merely laughed. "Face it, Harry. Everyone is fascinated by you. Or at least they are for the moment. It's just something you're going to have to get used to."

Harry sulked. "I don't need this," he grumbled.

Janet continued to climb the stairs with him. "What did Parvati say?"

Harry turned to look at her. "I don't know. I just went to the dorms after my last class and went to bed. I heard some squealing by some of the girls in the common room beforehand, but I didn't know what it was about. I just put up an imperturbment charm around my bed and went to sleep. It's been a tough week."

Janet chuckled. "Well, I've got a piece of advice for you. Stick close to Parvati until the uproar dies down. Unless, of course, you want to go snogging with Pansy Parkinson and Gina Zabini."

Harry snorted in disgust. "Gina is okay, I guess. But I was trying to let her down easy when she asked me for a date."

Janet chuckled again. "Maybe you are sweet after all."

Harry harrumphed. "But Pansy Parkinson?" He gave a shiver of disgust. "Not in a million years."

Janet sighed. "Just take care of Parvati, okay?"

Harry looked at Janet with a puzzled expression.

Janet rolled her eyes. "Look. She's just had her boyfriend made a target for every young witch on the make in the wizarding world. So let her know she's still your girl, okay?"

Harry nodded thoughtfully.

* * *

Draco crumpled up the copy of Teen Witch Weekly in a fury. 'Sexiest Wizard, my arse,' the thought in a fury. 'Potter and Pansy!' As if all the other humiliations weren't enough, now this.

He heard a chuckle from the door to his dorm. He looked up to see Theo Nott.

Nott had a satisfied smile on his face. Then he slowly shook his head. "Do what you want with him, Draco. But don't kill him. That pleasure is reserved for someone else. And someone else would be very displeased to have his pleasure interfered with by some jealous little boy."

Draco was breathing heavily. "Go to hell, Nott. I don't take orders from you or anyone else."

Nott snorted. "Maybe you should consider starting, and soon. The old guard is out. Our friend is going to need new blood." Nott paused and stared intently at Draco. "And new leadership," he said quietly.

"Ask your uncle about the joys of serving Him. That is, if they let you into Azkaban, or wherever the hell else they're keeping him," Draco snarled, as he snapped the curtains shut and flopped back in his bed.

* * *

Ginny flopped back in her bed and sighed mournfully. "'Hot summer nights,' indeed."

"At least you aren't the 'reputed' girlfriend of someone you haven't seen in six months and haven't heard from in four months," Hermione said with a wry chuckle.

Ginny turned to Hermione. "How are things over in your dorm?"

Hermione sighed. "Well, Lavender has been jumping up and down and bouncing off the walls constantly since she saw the article."

"I guess that's why you're here," Ginny said with a sigh.

Hermione merely shrugged. "It was getting a little noisy with Lavender going on. And no way will I try going to the library. At least not tonight." Hermione suddenly frowned thoughtfully. "I actually had a third year girl ask me how Harry was in bed," she said in a quiet, wistful tone.

"Better not let Parvati hear that," she said with a chuckle. "So how is she taking it?"

Hermione pursed her lips. "I'm worried about Parvati. She takes turns between dancing around the room and bursting into tears."

"Typical Parvati melodramatics," Ginny said in a sulk.

Hermione took a deep breath. "What do you expect? She's going to have to play guard dog over him for months. Sure, it's nice to think you're going out with a hot guy..." then she paused, and took a deep breath. "But, well, it was easier before this. Now...well, she's going to have a time of it."

Ginny merely grunted.

Hermione gave her a mischievous smile. "At least you got to be the 'red-haired beauty.' All I am is smart and 'reputed.' The rest of the girls on that list were 'pretty' or 'beautiful' or whatever. I'm the token swot."

Ginny gave out a giggle. "What about Pansy?"

Suddenly, the two girls started giggling together. "Typical pure-blood," Hermione said with a laugh. "'Heiress' is the only word that counts."

Ginny chuckled. "A frog with galleons is still a frog, but at least it's a rich frog," she said with a mirthful snort.

The two continued to chuckle as they lay back on Ginny's bed. Finally, Hermione turned to face her younger friend. "So, what are the romantic plans for the 'red-haired beauty'?" she asked with a smile.

Ginny snorted. "I'm still waiting for those 'hot summer nights'," she said in a sad voice.

Hermione shook her head in forlorn sympathy. "What about Colin?"

Ginny made a noncommittal shrug. "He's been seeing Luna Lovegood from Ravenclaw."

Hermione chuckled. "She thinks he's weird."

Ginny suddenly sat up with a surprised smile on her face. "Luna Lovegood thinks someone else is weird?" flopping back in her bed.

Hermione laughed. "Isn't that the pot calling the cauldron black."

Ginny burst into laughter. "Our pot calls our cauldron 'Tubby'."

The girls enjoyed a good laugh. When they finally managed to calm down, Hermione looked to her friend and spoke again. "Anyone else?"

Ginny frowned. "Well, I kind of like Neville. He's really sweet. But he and Moira are kind of an item. She says he can be a little boring, but very nice."

"Who else?"

Ginny pursed her lips and glanced sidelong at Hermione. "You know, Seve Velazquez is nice," she said in a tentative voice.

Hermione's eyebrows rose. "The Quidditch guy from your year?"

Ginny nodded. "He's funny and not bad looking. And he likes to tease me," she said with a far-away smile. "But I think he likes Regina Bowen," she said, suddenly pouting.

Hermione blinked. "Who's she?"

Ginny blinked and gave Hermione an exasperated look. "She's the girl with the short dark hair in my year. She's a reserve chaser on our team. Come on, Hermione. She's only been in Gryffindor as long as I have."

Hermione's cheeks turned pink. "I thought her name was Ginny, too."

Ginny shook her head. "No. Seamus sometimes calls her Gina just to annoy her," she said with a frown. "Hermione, you've just got to get out more."

Hermione lowered her head and gave a small shrug. Then she looked up cautiously. "No one else?"

Ginny sighed and got an evil grin. "Well, there's always Dan Turley."

The two girls began to laugh.

After a few moments, Ginny quieted and looked up at the ceiling, making a face. "Maybe Gilbert Shore. Moira thinks he likes me. But he's a little shy."

Hermione frowned. Gilbert Shore was a quiet fourth year Gryffindor with no discernable personality. She gave an internal shrug. Whatever.

She turned to Ginny again with a smirk. "Well, I hear Roger Davies is available. Lavender was going on about a blowup between him and that Dunham girl in Ravenclaw. She said it was something over Hannah and Ernie breaking up."

Ginny groaned. "Yeah. Now that Hannah's available, half the boys at Hogwarts have got their hormones in an uproar. Jerks."

Hermione turned over on her stomach. "What about Dean?"

Ginny frowned and pondered. "I don't think so. He wants to go out with a black girl," she said with annoyance. "He's got a real Muggle attitude sometimes. And he's been acting weird for a couple weeks now. I don't know what his problem is."

Hermione sighed. "Maybe it's because Seamus and Lavender are dating now. Maybe he's lonely. He and Ron are now the only bachelors in my year."

Ginny suddenly shot up to a sitting position and stared at Hermione. "What do you mean, Ron? What about you and Ron?" she demanded.

Hermione blushed. "Ron and I are best friends. We're friends," she said defensively.

Ginny stared at Hermione. "You know he likes you, don't you?"

Hermione lowered her eyes. "I guess, but only as friends."

Ginny's stare became a glare. "He really likes you, Hermione. And I don't want to see you leading him on or hurting him. Okay?"

Hermione looked at her friend with worried eyes. "He's my friend. I like being with him, especially since he seems to have calmed down recently."

Ginny gave Hermione an annoyed look. "Listen to me, Hermione. Harry's with Parvati, okay? He's not available. I understand that. Now it's time for you to understand that. If you like Ron, treat him like a boyfriend. If not, don't lead him on. You got that?"

Hermione merely looked down, avoiding her friend's eyes.

* * *

Harry got into the Gryffindor common room by 6:15 in the morning. He and Janet had made three sets of rounds that night, rather than the usual two, mostly because he preferred just Janet teasing him rather than her and Tonks ganging up. He didn't know what to do next. Did he really want to face everyone in the Great Hall? He wasn't sure. But maybe he shouldn't put it off. Just get it over with. There were more important things to think about than some stupid article in a girls' magazine.

As he slipped into the dorm, he was startled to see Ron sitting on his bed, waiting for him.

"What's this about 'hot summer nights' with my sister," he said in a soft but annoyed tone.

Harry stared at Ron. "What are you talking about?"

Ron frowned. "Look, I know about these articles. I generally don't believe a word of them. I just want to know where they got this stuff about Ginny."

Harry sighed. "It's all crap. Don't worry about it, okay? I'm the one who should worry about what people are going to say."

Ron snorted. "Look, Ginny likes you a lot. I just want you to tell me you haven't been taking advantage of her."

Harry sat down next to his best friend. "No, I haven't been taking advantage of her. I haven't been snogging her on the side. I haven't been sneaking around with her. Heck, if I were, you'd be the least of my worries. Parvati would Crucio me."

Ron gave a quick nod but didn't raise his head. He took a deep breath. "What about Hermione and Krum?" he whispered.

Harry turned to stare at Ron. "I don't know. She said she had written him but that he wasn't her boyfriend or anything. She probably hasn't even given him a thought in months."

Ron frowned. "So why did they bring the whole thing up?"

Harry shrugged. "Just rumors left over from last year's Yule Ball. Just to sell magazines."

Ron grunted. "I don't know. Where there's smoke, there's fire."

Harry chuckled. "Except in your case. With you, where there's smoke, there's effing ire."

Ron elbowed Harry playfully. "It's not funny."

Harry grabbed Ron's shoulder. "I don't know. Just talk to Hermione about this. I think that, once you do, you'll both get a laugh out of it."

Ron frowned and then cast a side-long glance at his friend. A small smile crept around the corners of his mouth.

"What?" Harry asked with an anxious look.

"Well, Mr. Sexiest Young Wizard, I think they used the wrong picture of you," Ron said, stifling a grin.

Harry leaned back with a skeptical look. "Yeah?"

Ron nodded. "Yeah. Instead of wearing that T-short with the Muggle football slogan on it, you should have worn your 'I'm With Stupid' shirt. You know, the one with the arrow pointing up straight at your face."

Harry laughed and threw his pillow at his best friend.

* * *

Parvati had gotten little sleep that night. Lavender hadn't been much help. She had laughed and teased and complained with a chuckle about how Teen Witch Weekly had overlooked a certain funny, if somewhat bone-headed, Irishman named Finnegan.

Hermione had, surprisingly, been more of a reassurance, noting how silly the whole thing was and pointing out how she had gone through the same thing last year thanks to Rita Skeeter and that had blown over in a couple weeks.

But that didn't take away the fear. Harry, the sexiest wizard under 25? Well, she thought he was. But she had to admit he wasn't even the best looking guy in fifth year. That would probably be Justin, or that jerk Ernie. But Harry was definitely the sweetest, nicest, most wonderful boy she knew. And now she would have to worry every minute that some witch would take him away.

In her anxiety, she felt a little unsteady as she descended the stairs from the dorms to the common room. Then she heard it.

"Parvati?"

She looked up and saw Harry there waiting for her in the common room, smiling.

"Parvati."

Suddenly, she burst into tears and ran down the last few steps and jumped into his arms. He wrapped his arms around her to the startled stares of the early-rising Gryffindors. As he swung her around, he whispered into her ear. "Parvati."

It was all she needed to hear.

* * *

Harry felt nervous. He had no idea how Parvati had talked him into this. It was one thing to work with first and second years, but now he would be trying to help people in his own year with defensive spells, hexes and curses. Even McGonagall raised a skeptical eye, although Moody simply slapped him on the back and told him to go for it. So he sat there in an empty, unused classroom on the fourth floor and waited with his first two volunteer students, Lavender and Parvati.

He glanced up at the clock, which continued to read 'Still too early.' Finally, he stood up. "Look, why don't we get started. It's better than sitting here doing nothing."

"How many are coming?" he asked as he tried to adjust Lavender's stance for her shield spell. "Hannah and Blaise? Anyone else?"

Parvati smiled. "I hope there's more. I'd hate to see what Teen Witch Weekly would do, knowing you were locked in with the four pretty girls," she said with a smirk.

Harry merely frowned.

Then the door opened and the three Gryffindors turned and stared in surprise. Blaise Zabini entered, followed by Leah and Glenn Greinglass, Tracey Davis and Aubrey Blythe. Blaise nodded to Parvati and smiled at Harry. "Hello, Harry." The other Slytherins simply looked around the room then turned their attention to Harry with curiosity.

The door opened again and Hannah entered, followed by her four roommates, Susan Bones, Megan Jones, Pamela Hutchinson and Karen Holmes, followed by Wayne Hopkins, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Charlie Peoples, and Ravenclaw Michael Corner, who was dating Pamela. Shortly thereafter, the door opened again, and the rest of the Ravenclaw contingent came in, including Mandy Brocklehurst, Terry Boot, Su Li, Kevin Entwhistle, Padma Patil, Tony Goldstein, Peter George and Paul Manwaring. They were followed close behind by Hermione, Ron, Seamus Finnegan, Dean Thomas, Neville Longbottom, Ginny Weasley, Rachel Weiss and Moira Duffy. Finally, Luna Lovegood wandered in a looked around. "Morag and Amy wanted to come, but they thought it would be too crowded," she said to no one in particular.

Harry stood there stunned. Kevin Entwhistle piped up. "Some of us working with the younger ones figured you might need some help and thought we could also sharpen our skills."

Harry noticed that Ron, Hermione and Luna were nodding, as well. Harry sighed. "You know this is just to help with what we've been learning in DADA with a little hands-on training and practice. Nothing more."

There were nods all around. "Some of us don't have much of a chance to practice," Blaise said quietly.

Fortunately, the classroom had no desks or tables to move, so Harry was able to form the students into two lines to practice shield spells on each other. He was surprised at the difficulties some of the Slytherins and Ravenclaws experienced getting the basic shield charm to work. He was grateful that he had them casting the basic tickling spell, Rictusempra, rather than something like stingers, at each other or most would have come out of the lesson fairly well bruised.

Harry also tried to help his classmates on an individual basis as much as possible where he thought they needed it. But was somewhat disconcerted when, in reaching around to guide their hands in demonstrating the wand movements for the basic shield spell, Tracey Davis, Karen Holmes and even the tiny, quiet Su Li, each leaned back against him with a wiggle, breaking his concentration. During the hour and a half session, he managed to get the entire group to try four basic shield and blocking spells at least six times each.

While most of the students were practicing their shields, he also asked Hermione, Ron, Luna and Entwhistle to test out individuals on the basic hexes against the leather-coated board he had used with the Gryffindor first years. The four managed to gauge the strength of each student in six different hexes.

By the time the group left, most agreed that it had not only been instructive, but fun.

Harry shook his head. Not only had the group enjoyed themselves, but most had gotten along quite well. In fact, Glenn and Aubrey from Slytherin had gotten more than a little attention, particularly from some of the girls in the other houses. Parvati whispered that this should have been expected. Those two were currently unattached and the Yule Ball was coming up in a month. And Blaise had gotten more than her share of looks from some of the boys, although she maintained an all-business attitude except when talking to Parvati or Hannah.

Once everyone had pretty much left, Harry simply flopped down on the floor and leaned against the wall. He was followed by Parvati on one side and Hermione and Ron on the other. Harry reached over and grabbed Parvati's hand when Hermione grabbed his arm in excitement. "Do you realize that we had 30 of the 38 students in fifth year here?" she exclaimed.

Harry opened his eyes and blinked. "Really? It seemed like hundreds."

"Who was missing?" Parvati asked.

Hermione frowned. "Well, Draco, Pansy and Millicent," she said thoughtfully. "I'm sure they weren't told.

Parvati nodded. "They weren't. And Blaise warned the others to keep their mouths shut."

Hermione nodded. "Morag we know about. And Ernie Macmillan, for obvious reasons."

Parvati and Hermione looked at each other, shaking their heads with expressions of disdain. Ron leaned over with a puzzled expression, but Harry merely shook his head to Ron to keep quiet.

"Lisa Turpin and Steven Cornfoot..."

"Snogging," Parvati said in a tired voice. "They just started dating."

Hermione leaned forward to check to see if Parvati was joking, but saw she was leaning her head on Harry's shoulder with her eyes closed. Hermione frowned and returned to her checklist. "That leaves...Zach Smith. Hmmm."

"Probably thinks he's too good for the likes of us. He doesn't need remedial DADA," Ron frumped. "Him and Cornfoot."

Hermione snorted. "Well, Padma and Su Li were here, and they were ranked higher than Corner. And Zach was ranked only No. 8 in the class last year."

There was a sudden fit of laughter from the far corner of the room, startling the group. Luna Lovegood stepped forward, caught her breath and stared at the four Gryffindors. "Silly," she exclaimed. "Zach wasn't here because he's dating Janice Houghton. She's a fourth year Hufflepuff."

Hermione blinked in surprise and annoyance. "Well, I'm sure that explains just about everything," she said, rolling her eyes.

Luna shook her head dramatically, her long hair swaying behind her. "No, silly. Don't you know why so many people showed up?"

Harry frowned and shook his head.

Hermione, on the other hand, rolled her eyes again. "No. Tell us why," she said with an edge in her voice.

Luna tilted her head and smiled. "All the girls wanted to come to see sexy Harry. And all the boys came along to make sure Harry didn't do anything sexy for their girlfriends," she said with a giggle. "They didn't realize that it would be fun."

Harry groaned and banged the back of his head against the wall, but Parvati burst out laughing. "He better not do anything sexy while I'm chaperoning," she said with a grin, snuggling under Harry's arm.

Harry merely closed his eyes and sighed. He'd been up since 1:30 in the morning for his prefect patrol, and had spent the entire day stuck like glue to Parvati to discourage fans of 'The Sexiest Wizard Under 25,' for his sake as well as hers.

Parvati, who hadn't gotten much sleep the night before either, contented herself with leaning up against Harry. "Going to supper?" she whispered.

"Mmmm hmmm," Harry murmured.

Parvati then seemed to lose herself in thought. She leaned over to whisper in Harry's ear. "Madam Trelawney should be on her way to Diagon Alley on the 5:00 pm Hogwarts Express."

Harry's eyes opened wide and turned to return Parvati's mischievous smile.

In the meantime, Ron turned to Hermione. "Want to do something tonight?"

Hermione turned to look at Ron with a disconcerted expression. "Uhhh, okay. We could go to the library. We have a big Potions paper due on Monday morning," she said in a rush.

Ron frowned. "We could do that anytime. Maybe something else?" he asked hopefully.

Hermione turned away. "No. We have work to do," she said with an anxious frown. "I'll meet you in the library."

* * *

"Well, I see our resident celebrity is back in front of the Bluebell Lights again," Snape said with a smirk.

Harry sank down on his bench in embarrassment. Snape had eased up on his mocking of Harry in class in recent weeks. But Harry grimaced, fearing it would now start all over again.

Snape then gave a puzzled glance to the students in the room. Pansy guffawed at the comment and he had received a couple titters from Millicent and Tracey, but the other Slytherins did not seem to provide their normal receptive audience for the Potion Master's barbs at Harry.

Snape frowned and turned toward the chalk board. He quickly chalked up the heading: 'Respiratory Potions and Elixirs.'

He turned back to the class. "In the upcoming weeks, we will be covering potions used as remedies and preventatives for various illnesses of the lungs, including common colds, the grippe, pneumonia, choking problems, and various other breathing difficulties. Unfortunately, one of the prime ingredients for many of these potions is in short supply due to an unfortunate misappropriation that occurred last year immediately preceding a certain event in the TriWizard Tournament," Snape intoned in a menacing manner, staring at Harry.

"This supply," Snape continued, "must be replenished before the end of the week. Potter!" he yelled.

Harry jumped.

"I am sure you are quite familiar with gillyweed. I believe you and your young lady, who I hear is somewhat knowledgeable in potion ingredients, would be ideal candidates to help your classmates by procuring a new supply from the lake."

Harry blinked. Fishing around in the lake for gillyweed was a time-consuming and tedious task, and Harry frowned in annoyance at being assigned the job. However, he bit his tongue, knowing indeed that Dobby had stolen the gillyweed from Snape's supplies for Harry for the second task in the TriWizard Tournament.

Parvati raised her hand.

"Yes, Miss Patil?"

Parvati frowned. "Professor, the water of the lake at this time of year is extremely cold, making gillyweed harvesting very uncomfortable, even painful. Plus, most of the lake is in the off-limits area around the grounds."

Snape nodded. "Of course, you must keep to the protected area. Please, do not go past the outer wall. As to your other point, surely you would not want for all your classmates to be deprived of learning important potions that will be required to be brewed for your O.W.L. practicals simply because it might cause you a small measure of discomfort? Where is your Gryffindor sense of bravery and service, Miss Patil?"

Harry rolled his eyes and sighed, reaching over and grabbing Parvati's hand in consolation.

* * *

It was a warmer than usual afternoon that day, so after their last class, Harry and Parvati trooped over toward the entrance to the castle. They followed the outer wall perimeter all the way to the lake's edge. Parvati produced two pairs of thigh-high insulated rubber boots and tossed a pair to Harry.

"Here," she said. "These belong to Seamus. They should fit you. If they don't, they probably can be charmed a size or two up or down."

Harry nodded and tried them on. They were the right length, but were a little wide. Harry tried a quick charm and felt the boots conform to his feet.

Parvati then dug around in her backpack until she produced a pair of dragon hide gloves for herself and a pair of long rubber gloves for Harry. She tossed them over. "These are Lavender's. They should conform to your size."

Harry nodded. "You must have clothes for every occasion," he said with a chuckle.

Parvati rolled her eyes. "You boys are so helpless. No wonder you all avoid Potions Day like the plague."

Harry laughed and started moving toward the water.

The lake bordered the Great Lawn almost to the entrance to the castle. From the low outer perimeter wall, it was about 60 feet to the gentle slope up to the castle's entryway. To support this slope, a stone retaining wall had been built centuries ago against erosion from the lake itself.

However, over the centuries, the level of the lake had fallen several feet. No longer did the gentle waves of the lake lap up against the stone. Instead, there now was a spit of dry land between the lake and the retaining wall ranging from about fifteen feet wide near the start of the wall in the great lawn, to merely a foot or two of muddy wash almost directly below the long, circular drive where the carriages picked up or let out passengers at the entranceway. This spit of land was about 70 feet long. This gave Harry and Parvati about 130 feet of shoreline to troll for gillyweed.

"Well, let's get going," Harry said with resignation. "There's only about an hour or so of light left and I don't want to come do this again tomorrow. For all we know, it'll snow."

Harry and Parvati waded out about ten feet into the lake and used branches they had picked up earlier to move the other weeds around in search of gillyweed.

Gillyweed was not hard to identify, as it grew in thin, finger-like tendrils. However, it was the same color as the other weeds in the lake, and usually was found in clumps in with other weeds, making it hard to distinguish unless you looked carefully.

As the time passed, Harry and Parvati worked their way down the shallow shoreline, managing to find several handfuls of the gillyweed, which Parvati brought to shore to put in a basket Harry had brought for that purpose.

They were well past the border of the retaining wall, below the roadway level when Harry looked up at Parvati. "You think that's enough?" he asked.

Parvati looked up at him, then looked past him. "Who's that? Is Crabbe or Goyle back again?"

Harry saw the broad figure jump over the outer wall and begin a loping run toward them. Then he noticed with horror the dull red hair.

"Parvati! Run! It's the Golem!"

Parvati began frantically to make her way toward the narrow strip of shore, but her boots kept sticking in the mud. "HARRY!!!" she screamed.

Harry managed to wade slowly forward to position himself between her and the Golem, who had passed the beginning of the retaining wall and had cut off their retreat. They couldn't climb the retaining wall. It was too high and too steep. He thought briefly of some levitating charm to lift Parvati to safety, but couldn't think of one that worked on humans.

Suddenly, he remembered Hermione's words. 'If direct magic doesn't work, use indirect magic.'

The Golem was now about fifteen feet away and seemed to pause at the lake's shoreline, looking at them, then the water, then back at them. As it took its first tentative step into the water, Harry yelled: "Incendio!"

A beam of light passed from his wand and hit the Golem's robe. There was a quick flash of fire about eight inches in diameter, but the Golem simply brushed it and it went out. The Golem continued wading gingerly toward them.

Harry was now breathing hard in his panic. "Inflamare," he shouted and a fireball erupted from his wand, engulfing the Golem's robes in flame. But no sooner had the flames started than they had burned through the robe, leaving the now naked, hairless, sexless Golem to continue wading toward the couple.

Harry and Parvati continued to wade backwards, with Parvati continuing to scream for help, while Harry continued to think furiously as the Golem came nearer.

"Petrus Liquefacare!" he yelled, and a beam of light hit the Golem squarely in the chest. The beam of light seemed to shoot out the back of the Golem without effect. Harry them tried to move the beam to cut through the Golem, only to see the original hole seal itself over instantly as the beam moved on.

"Can you swim?" Harry yelled.

He heard Parvati gasp. "Not in these robes. And we'd freeze in seconds."

"I can't stop him," he shouted back.

The Golem was only wading in as fast as Harry and Parvati were going backward. But there was little room left for them to go before the edge of the lake ran up against the retaining wall and the bottom started to deepen.

Harry watched the Golem as the Golem watched him. "Parvati, while I fight him, you wade around and escape."

Suddenly, he heard her start shooting stunning spells past him at the Golem, but they had no effect.

"I'll help you fight him, Harry," he heard her scream through tears.

"No! Save yourself!" he screamed.

"I've got nowhere to go! We're trapped!" she yelled from about ten feet behind him.

Harry looked at the Golem, trying to read any weakness in the creatures eyes....The eyes!

Harry raised his wand again. "Fluvius," He screamed.

A jet of water leaped out of his wand and hit the Golem in the eyes. It suddenly stopped and raised its hands in front of it face.

"Fluvius Aspergere," he yelled, and the jet of water increased in force. The Golem was now waving its hands in front of its face.

"Coarctare," Harry yelled, and the jet of water narrowed to a tight beam. Harry narrowed his own focus to force the jet of water out of his wand at an even higher level of pressure.

Then he saw it. The skin around the base of one of the Golem's fingers began to peel off, revealing reddish clay underneath. Suddenly, the finger was washed away from the high pressure jet of water from Harry's spell. Then another. And another.

More and more of the jet of water was passing through and tearing away the Golem's shielding hands.

Then another jet of water started hitting the Golem from the side. Parvati was now about five feet to Harry's right and hitting the monster with her own, if much weaker, jet of water.

Faced with water sprays from two different directions and unable to counter either, the creature began to back away toward the shore. But Harry and Parvati kept up hydroblasting the Golem.

Harry vaguely noticed that he was now soaked with cold water as his wand drew more and more water up from the surrounding lake and channeled it through his wand.

By the time the Golem had reached the shore, both its hands and most of its shielding forearms had been worn away by the high-powered jets of water.

Harry noticed that he now had a clear shot at the Golem's face. He concentrated on its eyes and saw what looked to be red tears dripping off the creatures jaw as the spray continued to eat away at the monster's skin.

He noticed the Golem try to turn, but it stumbled. A quick glance down showed Harry that the skin around the monster's ankles had puckered and there were small red cracks seeming to bleed red clay.

Harry and Parvati now had the Golem backed completely onto dry land but they refused to relent. Harry was feeling the strain, but continued to focus on the tightness of the stream of water. The Golem's eyes now looked liked a mask of red as the water now was eating into the clay of the head of the Golem itself.

Harry didn't notice Auror Werner Shaw suddenly leap over the outer wall followed moments later by Lila Carpenter some 100 yards away. He and Parvati continued to concentrate on the creature's face when suddenly, as its skin was nearly completely peeled away, something that looked like a piece of paper flew out of its mouth, forced out by the water pressure.

The Golem, which still was mostly covered by skin, suddenly turned red and fell backward. By the time Shaw and Carpenter reached the creature, it was nothing but a lump of clay in the form of a man. However, where its face would have been, the clay seemed to have flattened into a muddy reddish stream that slowly made its way back to the lake.

By this time, several students were running around the blind corner where the retaining wall started to see if they could help.

Harry simply turned to reach Parvati and, holding each other, the two made their way, wet, shivering and exhausted, to the shore.

* * *

MONSTER AT HOGWARTS!!!

Potter and Patil Destroy 'Golem'

A monster has been stalking the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. But that monster is no more. The creature, identified as a Golem, a type of avatar, had seriously injured two students over the past month. But it came to a watery end after attempting to attack students Harry Potter and Parvati Patil. The two students, who defeated You-Know-Who and caused the arrest of four prominent Death Eaters less than two months ago, used a high-powered form of a Fluvius spell to destroy the clay-based creature.

The Golem apparently made its first appearance in Mid-October, attacking fifth-year student Draco Malfoy. "There was no evidence at that time of the source of the attack as the student involved did not recall the details," says Chief Auror William Masterson.

A second incident occurred last week, when another fifth-year student, identified as Wayne Hopkins, was attacked in the school's Quidditch facilities. It was only at that time that the nature of the threat was identified.

"We took several steps to protect the students, including instituting patrols of the castle and of the grounds," says Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall.

However, many question the adequacy of the protective measures. "The whole school was terrified," says fifth year student Pansy Parkinson. "It nearly killed my dear friend Draco Malfoy, but nothing was done," said the tearful girl.

"We are looking into the circumstances of the terror and will punish the guilty parties if there is evidence of neglect of the safety of the students," says Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic. However, The Daily Prophet has uncovered a full report of the previous incidents, which were passed on to MLE [Former Justice] Minister Amelia Bones who forwarded it to the MoM himself last Thursday without any action being taken.

It has also been learned that Minister Fudge had raised objections to the posting of additional Aurors at Hogwarts during the crisis. "It was simply a question of expense. We already have to provide Aurors to Hogwarts during Hogsmeade weekends." However, the Daily Prophet has learned that the Aurors guarding Hogsmeade are being paid for in full by the Hogsmeade Merchants Association.

Golems are rare because they are highly dangerous and unpredictable to everyone, including their creator and, until now, there was no verified means to destroy them. "Wizarding science owes Mr. Potter and Miss Patil a debt of gratitude in showing us the means to meet the dangers posed by such creatures," says Albus Dumbledore, Hogwarts' Headmaster.

The creature is believed to be the creation of rogue Death Eaters trying to avenge the destruction of their master at Hogwarts...

* * *

Draco Malfoy crumpled the newspaper in fury. No, he didn't want to be responsible for the murders of Potter and Patil. But he didn't want them lionized, either.

Was there no end? Draco lowered his head down to his desk and softly banged it against the wood. Somehow, Potter had to be punished. He had to be shown as the fraud, the bastard that he was.

* * *

Werner Shaw sighed as he continued to wade in the shallows around where Harry and Parvati defeated the Golem. He frowned. There were a couple Unspeakables up in a side lab next to the main potions lab in the castle, trying to analyze the clay that once was a monster that terrorized the school. And it was Tonks who got to be the Auror assisting them in a warm, dry dungeon. Shaw frowned. He was embarrassed that he had failed to be there when the attack occurred. But he was equally peeved at being assigned such a cold, damp task. 'Just because Carpenter and I were a little late getting out there yesterday,' he thought bitterly.

Shaw grunted as he continued to look into the water that couldn't help but get roiled as he or Lila Carpenter or Kingsley Shacklebolt passed through it. He didn't know what he was looking for, and he doubted that Lila or Shack knew. But Shack insisted they look for anything that might be a clue to the origins of the creature.

It all smacked of make-work Muggle ways, a punishment detail, he thought as he felt the mud suck at his heavy boots when he tried to move. But Shack had insisted in no uncertain terms.

Shaw moved another few feet and thought he saw something white. He reached down and tried to pick up the small, folded piece of parchment, but it came apart in his hand. He wadded it into a ball and simply flicked it out to the deeper part of the lake so it wouldn't distract him from his search again.

* * *

Parvati huddled against Harry under a blanket on the big squashy couch in front of the fire. She still felt the cold and the fear she experienced yesterday in the lake as they faced the Golem.

She turned to look anxiously at Harry. He simply stared into the flames.

She gave a small frown. "Is it always going to be like this?" she asked quietly.

Harry didn't respond, but continued to stare into the fire.