Prophesied

Chapter 6

True Love's First Kiss

We walked into the classroom that had changed so much in the last seven years. We were Tonks' first class of the year and she was clearly nervous. I was reminded of my first meeting with the DA. She had my sympathy.

She looked interesting today as well. Her hair was dark purple up at the top and it faded to a pink at the bottom. It was long, I'd say about to the middle of her back. Her eyes today were a crystal blue, much like Dumbledore's.

"W-welcome," she said nervously. "Seventh year Gryffindors, right?" she asked hopeful before spotting Hermione, Ron and I. "Okay," she said with more confidence. "Just a quick question, err...do any of you know how to produce a Corporal Patronus?"

Yeah, they all did, thanks to me. And that would explain why they are all raising their hands. Not a single Gryffindor above sixth year missed the chance to go to those against-the-rules meetings.

Tonks looked around doubtfully with her hands on her hips. "And who, may I ask, taught you all this?" she asked with the air of someone who demanded proof, but wasn't going to outright ask for it.

"I did," I said.

She smiled at me. "Wotcher Harry, I should have known. The DA I suppose?" she asked. Dumbledore must have said something to the Order about that. Or Sirius maybe. "Alright then," she said briskly. "Your favorite class just got dangerous," she informed us. "This year you'll be facing some of the most dangerous creatures and curses known to wizarding kind. This year, some of you will be facing your worst fears; others of you will find nothing new in this class. What group you belong to depends on what you've faced in your lifetime. I warn you now, Unforgivables will be used on a regular basis and I am not meaning in any way like they were in the time of Mad-Eye Moody. This will be better than my own seventh year, and you won't want to miss it.

"Also, seventh year is N.E.W.T. year. How many of you want to be Aurors?" Nearly everyone raised his or her hand. Wow, I had no idea.

"Good," she said with a smile. "We'll need you quicker than you realize.

"Most Aurors nowadays are going freelance, not wanting to be tied down to the Ministry now that they've admitted that they've lied at every turn about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Most of you should consider this path.

"Those of you who do not wish to be an Auror, what do you want to be?"

Hermione raised her hand, "I want to be an Unspeakable," she said.

Lita, too, wanted to be an Unspeakable, as did all of the others who didn't raise their hands about the Auror job.

"A class of unimaginable talent, to be sure. You all want to fight in this war?"

Everyone nodded. It was personal for most of us. I don't think anyone's really been left out in any way, shape, or form. There have always been attacks on Muggle-borns, and all of the wizard kids have been affected in some way during the last war. I wonder what Lita's cause is.

"Okay," she said. She seemed to be talking herself into something. "Who's the best in this class?" she asked uncertainly.

Everyone pointed to me. "Harry," a few of them said. Where's my Invisibility Cloak when I need it?

She smiled. "Wotcher Harry," she said brightly. "Shoulda known."

I smiled sheepishly and sank lower in my chair. Everyone, you can all stop looking at me now...please? I promise, I'm not going anywhere...yet.

"This year, being that it is your last, you are going to be in more danger than ever before--in class. This year, I will introduce you all to the world of the Auror during a time of peace and war. This year will be the most important in your study of the Defense before you move on to either your training as an Auror or whatever other field you are planning on going into. How many of you want to become an Auror?" Tonks asked on what sounded like sudden inspiration.

My hand shot up with about ¾ of the class. Even Lita's hand went up.

Tonks nodded. "Good. Good, we'll need all of you. Now, as you all know, none of you have to finish this last year of Hogwarts, but the Academy does frown upon it. Less than half of the applicants that did not finishschool get accepted to take the aptitude tests and even less pass because of not sticking around to learn the important stuff. I would therefore encourage you all to stick around, take your N.E.W.T.s and graduate.

"The first thing every Auror is taught is the Patronus Charm. Does anyone here know it? Besides Harry, I mean."

Everyone in the class minus one other person raised their hand. I did a good job in my DA.

"Every one of you?" Tonks asked doubtfully. "Prove it."

As one, the class chanted the spell. "Expecto Patronus," they sounded and all sorts of animals in all shapes and sizes appeared in the classroom, lighting it with an iridescent glow as each silvery animal paraded around their caster. I was filled with pride for my DA students.
~*~*~*~

A corporeal Patronus. You have to know happiness for that. I've never been able to do it. No memories that were happy enough. Nothing with Jeff would work, those memories were now laced with hatred and resentment; and those were anti-Patronus emotions.

I could tell that Harry knew I couldn't do the spell. I knew he noticed when my lone hand stayed down and I hadn't even attempted the spell.

Dementors aren't supposed to affect elves; they're supposed to be below them. Humans however, are easily susceptible to their influence. And I'm half of both with a traumatic childhood...easy target.

Harry seemed to know something was wrong by the end of the lesson. He waited until Professor Tonks had given us our assignment and gave us time to work on it in class. He passed me a small square of parchment that was folded into fourths. I opened it up and stared.

What's wrong?

I could have laughed out loud with relief that someone had finally noticed something was wrong. I can't begin to explain how much it means to me that someone finally saw through the mask I've been wearing since I've arrived.

Why?

I wrote under his original message and passed it back.

I concentrated on my homework while he wrote back and didn't realize when he had passed back until he nudged my arm.

"Oh," I whispered and picked it up to read.

If you don't want to talk, fine. But don't be so depressed. And just to let you know, if you don't talk to someone soon, I'll keep asking you until you do.

I never said I didn't want to talk, Harry. I only asked you why you cared so much. You don't know me.

I almost threw it at him. He had time to read it before Professor Tonks made her way over to us. She crouched down in front of our desks and held out her hand. "No notes," she said softly. Harry reluctantly handed her the paper and she read it right there. Her face was unreadable as she folded up the paper and put it in her back pocket.

"Arinlita?" she asked. I nodded. "See me after class please."

The professor walked to her desk and transferred the note from her pocket to a drawer. The bell rang then and students shoved their books in their bags and headed out the door. Harry put a hand on my shoulder and again, I felt like I had a thousand new nerve endings that responded only to his touch.

"You want me to wait for you?" he asked.

I stood up and thought a moment. He really did seem to care. I nodded and walked up to Professor Tonks' desk.

"You didn't raise your hand," she observed looking through papers. "Why?" she asked looking up at me.

"I couldn't produce a wisp of a Patronus no matter what, especially if my life depended on it."

"I don't think anyone in the class besides Harry can do it when his life depended on it."

"The Dementors two years ago," I said remembering the article in the Wizarding Times. Rita Skeeter made sure everyone knew.

"Will you ask him for help?" she asked. "You will be so far behind if you can't do the Patronus charm. And can I give you my personal opinion about Harry?"

"Sure," I shrugged.

"When he says he cares, he really does. Harry is sometimes too honest."

I nodded. "Okay."

She excused me then and I walked briskly out of the classroom. I had forgotten Harry was waiting for me until I saw him leaning against the wall across from the door. He pushed himself off of it and walked over to me. "What did she want?" he asked.

"She wants me to ask you for help about the Patronus spell."

"Do you want help then?"

I shrugged. "I can't do it, Harry. I've never been able to. Maybe it's an elf thing, if a Dementor cant affect an elf, why should an elf need to do the spell?"

"Dementors can't affect an elf?"

I shook my head. "No. Elves don't feel despair, so a Dementor can't do anything to it. They're calm, thoughtful, wise and usually very happy. My father's the only one I know of that's even felt sadness, and that would be only because his wife and first born are dead."

"Do you have a class?" he asked as we started walking towards the common room.

"No, do you?"

He shook his head. "No, but everyone else does. Ron, Hermione and your best friend anyway."

My eyes narrowed. "Jeff is not my best friend."

Harry chuckled and gave the password before opening the door to the common room.

"So what is wrong, then?" he asked as I set my bag down in a chair.

I sighed and turned to him. Does he really care? Is Tonks right about this? How well does she even know him?

I walked out to the balcony and leaned against the edge. I looked out toward the lake. There was a giant squid near the edge and some students were throwing food at it. Others were playing Quidditch; some were sitting under the shade of a tree studying before their next class.

"Do you want to talk?" he asked shutting the balcony door behind him.

I turned around so I could look at him. "Yeah, I want to talk. But I can't. I've been through so much in my life that I'm afraid to talk about it." I looked over to the Forbidden Forest and saw a thestral flying around the trees. "You really want to know what's wrong?" I asked looking back at him, feeling the tears burning at my eyes. "It's the reason I can see that thestral over there--" he looked "--it's the reason I can't produce even a wisp of a Patronus. I'm alone. I have nothing and no one. I'm the only one of my kind now that my brother is dead. I've been thinking a lot like my brother did, and I don't think I can stop myself for making a different decision."

He leaned against the rail next to me and stayed silent as he looked out over the forest. "Your brother or your mother?" he asked quietly.

"Both."

He bowed his head and sighed. "I'm so sorry," he whispered.

"Why?" I demanded harshly pushing myself away from the rail and him. "Why do you care about whose died? Why do you want to know so much?"
~*~*~*~

I couldn't hold myself back. "You want to know why?" I demanded. "This is why." I grabbed her face in my hands and brought my lips to hers with bruising force. She was shocked at my sudden daring, hell, so was I, but she kissed me back with the same need.

"NO!" she shouted and pushed me away suddenly. I staggered back, but didn't fall, thank Merlin. She was crying. Fuck, what did I do?

"What?" I asked her. "What's wrong?"

"I can't do this, Harry," she said through her tears. "I can't be in another relationship if it's going to hurt me, can you understand that?"

"More than you know," I answered fiercely. "Do you think you're the only one who's had a fucked up life? Do you think you're the only one who's been hurt by someone in the past? You're not the only one who's seen a loved one die, Lita!" I shouted loosing it finally. "You are not the only one whose lost someone you loved."

"I never said I was!" she shouted. "I know I'm not, I can feel your emotions, remember? I know whom you've lost. You've lost your godfather, you've lost your parents, and you've lost Draco Malfoy! I know already!" she shrieked and started crying harder. She collapsed to her knees and I rushed to her. I wrapped my arms around her and she cried against my shoulder. "I can't do this anymore," she whispered.

I kissed her cheek. "Yes you can. You can do this and so much more, Lita. I believe in you."

She pulled back slightly so she could look me in the eye. "You do?"

I nodded. "And I wont hurt you if I have anything to say about it."

She let out a choked sob and wrapped her arms around me. "Thank you," she cried. "Thank you so much, Harry."

We kissed again.

A loud noise came from inside the common room and we broke apart to see Jeff and Hermione staring in shock. Lita hurried to get away from me, moving to the other side of the balcony. I looked from her to Jeff to Hermione and back again not really knowing what to do. Jeff turned and left the room; Lita left the balcony for her room, and Hermione started to laugh.

"Life after Malfoy equals girls?" she asked fighting the laughter long enough to say something.

"Ha ha, very funny, Hermione," I said sarcastically.

"I'm sorry, Harry, but I never thought I'd see the day where you kissed a girl again."

"Are you saying you thought I went gay?"

"Almost. I thought the same thing with Ron too. Then he and Padma started dating again. Has he told you yet why he and Ernie were fighting that day?"

"Why should he?" I asked. "I don't really care, and we don't talk about things like that. It's mostly Quidditch, mysteries, or the DA."

"Well there's a boring friendship for you. Not that life with you has been remotely close to uneventful. So what's the deal with you and Lita?"

"I'm not entirely sure on that one yet. You two sort of came back too soon. I don't even know why I kissed her. All she wanted to know was why I cared so much."

Hermione shrugged. "You're getting over Malfoy, Harry. That's a good thing."

I sighed and flopped down on one of the couches. "Why does love have to be so hard?" I asked to no one in particular. "It's so confusing. At some point, you're sure you can walk on water because of the person you're with. Other times, you just don't know what to do."

She sat down next to me. "I know, Harry, believe me."

"I'm sorry, Hermione."

"Why?" she asked confused.

"You did make me promise."

"And then I told you to forget it. I still love you, Harry, it's just different now."

"Why did you do that anyway?"

"Partly because I thought you and Malfoy would work. I thought you two may be well on your way to being married. Epically after Ron told me he found you two in bed together."

"Ron what?"

"All he said was that you two had been sleeping in the same bed after you told all of Gryffindor about your relationship. That day, I remember walking out to the common room to find the table you and Malfoy had been last seen at a disaster. I was wondering why a house elf hadn't cleaned it up."

"We were out there long after the Dobby came to clean."

"Anyway, how does Lita like your tongue ring?"

"I don't know; why don't you go find out?"

She stood and walked over to her door. "I'll let you know what I find out then," and she opened it before I could get out a word of protest.
~*~*~*~

"You left," Hermione said closing the door behind her. I caught a glimpse of Harry sitting on the couch and wondered what they'd been talking about.

"Uh...yeah," I said uncomfortably. "That I did."

"Why?"

"You and my ex-boyfriend walked in on us kissing. How would you react?"

"I'm not sure I'd be a skittish as you were, but I'd probably do the same thing. How did you like his tongue ring?"

"Damn."

She laughed and I joined her. What could I say; it was...damn.

"Have you kissed him?" I asked.

"Yes," she confessed. "Only once. Mind you, I was in love with him then as well. I almost dated him, but Malfoy got in the way with his cry for help."

Tell me something I don't know, I asked silently. I heard all about the cry for help on the train....

"It was hard for Ron and I at first," she continued. "We've hated Malfoy for five years before all this. Apparently, Harry didn't. Malfoy and I were constantly at war in the beginning, both of us wanting Harry as our own. Eventually, I came to realize things weren't going to change and I wasn't getting my best friend of six years. That's when Malfoy and I started to get along. Mind you, we still fought...constantly.

"I knew about it before Ron did, and the day they started dating, Harry disappeared on us. Ron and I looked everywhere. Then Malfoy came to us at dinner and demanded to know where Harry was. I told him I hadn't seen him since Draco left. By this point we were all about to crawl out of our skins, Ron and I especially. Only we really knew what Harry was going through and it wasn't good. He had just lost his godfather and that night was just terrible. It was around Halloween when I realized all of this. I made him take back a promise I made him make. It was horrible, tears and everything. I hated it.

"I'm not sure about the entire ending, though. Harry told me the first chance he got; he was in tears. That was the first time I had ever really seen him cry. I was, needless to say, heartbroken and outraged. How could someone you love betray you like that? All that I really know is that they went to Hogsmeade as a couple and they came back not talking and Harry said Draco had betrayed him. He said that Lucius, Draco's dad, killed Pansy Parkinson, a girl who was in Slytherin and a life-long friend of Draco's, and that Draco killed Lucius. Like father like son, I guess."

That statement, whether she realized it or not, made it a reasonable assumption that Draco's grandfather was killed by his father. But I think she's talking about the fact that they both murdered. However, they were entirely different. One, Lucius killed this Pansy girl in cold blood, and two, Draco's act of murder was to seek revenge for the death of the life-long friend. Two very different causes that lead to the same act. From the little I know of the Malfoy family, they seem to be an interesting bunch. A very interesting bunch.

There was a knock on the door and Harry opened it. "Are you two coming to lunch?" he asked.

"Are you going to eat something?" I asked bluntly.

Hermione glared at him. "You're not eating again, Harry?" she demanded.

Harry blushed. "Erm... well, no, I'm not. I'm not hungry, Hermione!" he said seeing Hermione's second glare.

"Harry, gods help you because if you don't eat I swear I will kill you myself."

"Hermione, you know me!"

"Exactly," she said standing. She brushed past him on her way out of the room and he glared at me.

"Thanks," he said angrily. The emotion was coming off of him in waves and I was getting all the more pissed because of it. "They don't notice, and you do, so you get me into trouble with her."

"You need to eat," I said just as angrily. "I don't care if they don't notice and I do. You noticed something was wrong with me and you confronted me about it. I'm just returning the favor."

I looked away from him and my gaze fell to my desk, my prophecy to be more specific. The silvery orb that knew the secret to my existence and would one day be broken. I just needed to find the courage to break the damned thing and find out.

I stood up then and walked out, my arm brushing against Harry's as I passed. He caught my hand and I stopped suddenly, my breath stopping entirely.

"Thank you," he said softly before kissing my cheek. This man would be the death of me.