The Legend of the Phoenix Well

AmethystPhoenix

Story Summary:
Normal people have unexciting school lives. Harry's not a normal person. His seventh year may be the most chaotic of all. First, Voldemort is immortal. Second, he's got a necklace everyone wants, but he doesn't want at all. Third, he just might be becoming more Slytherin... over a girl! What's Harry to do?

Chapter 14

Chapter Summary:
Normal people have unexciting school lives. Harry's not a normal person. His seventh year may be the most chaotic of all. First, Voldemort is immortal. Second, he's got a necklace everyone wants, but he doesn't want at all. Third, he just might be becoming more Slytherin... over a girl! What's Harry to do? In this chapter: the Easter holidays!
Posted:
01/22/2004
Hits:
1,668
Author's Note:
Okay, originally, there was a scene where the characters take a little roadtrip, but I found out my direction was wrong, so I had to cut it out. However, you can still view this scene in my Live Journal, which is

Chapter Fourteen: Giant Tales

"What if it wasn't Malfoy who put the curse on her?" Hermione whispered. They were back in the Common Room.

"Hermione, you were the one who suggested Malfoy in the first place," Ron said.

"Yes, but remember our history!" Hermione said. "In our first year, we thought it was Snape. It was Quirrell. In our second year, we thought it was Malfoy..." she faltered, looking at Ginny, who nodded. "It was Tom Riddle controlling Ginny. In our third year, we thought Sirius was a murderer, but it was Wormtail. In our fourth, we thought it was Karkaroff, but it was the impostor Moody."

"It still can be Malfoy, though," Ron said.

"But McGonagall trusts him," Hermione argued.

"McGonagall could be wrong!" Ron said. "Why are you sticking up for that ferret anyway?"

"I'm not sticking up for him, Ron, I'm just saying-" Hermione said. The two began bickering again, something they hadn't done for a while.

"What are you doing, then?" Ron seethed. "You are sticking up for him. What else do you call it?"

Ginny watched helplessly as the two argued. Harry slipped away unnoticed, and went up to his room. He sat in the window seat, and looked out at the lake and the forest behind it. What lies behind the forest? He thought.

Harry sat there, remembering. From his spot, he could see three first years running to the cabin on the grounds, about to see a dragon hatch. Two of them came out, as second years, looking scared, headed for the forest. They came back as third years, along with the girl, running in horror from the beheading of a hippogriff. Out on the lake, Harry could see four champions dive in, and the crowd cheer. He could see a short, squat witch poking two teens in the back, forcing them into the forest. Three sixth years sat underneath the giant oak tree near the lake, relaxing.

He was brought back to the present by a voice calling his name. "Harry?" said a voice that was more echo than a voice. "Harry?" Sirius' ghost repeated.

Harry didn't answer. His eyes stayed fixated on Hagrid's cabin, where Hagrid was sweeping the front steps. "Harry?" Sirius said again.

Harry stayed silent. For a minute, both he and Sirius looked out the window, thinking. "Strange how time passes quickly," Harry said in an empty voice. "It feels like yesterday when I was travelling over that lake in a boat with Ron. And a few hours ago when Hermione cornered Malfoy over there and slapped him."

Sirius hovered over to Harry. Harry continued, his voice bitter. "And it seems like an hour ago when you died, Sirius, and I found out that Dumbledore had hidden something for years from me."

"Harry?" Sirius said, "Harry, I don't blame you for what happened, it was my choice to go and help. They told me to stay at Grimmauld Place, Harry, but I didn't."

Harry turned slowly, a tear going down his cheek. "Do you know what I did that summer, Sirius?" he said softly. "For a while, I looked into the Dark Arts. When I went back to the Burrow, though, the others convinced me to stop."

"Harry..." Sirius said.

"No," Harry said. "Do you wonder why none of the students are afraid of you, Sirius? You're pardoned. Do you know why? Pettigrew was found dead, by the Ministry. Where? At a Death Eater attack. Killed by whom?"

"I don't know, Harry," Sirius said, looking saddened.

"Me, Sirius. I bet you're wondering, what happened to the kind, forgiving third year who couldn't even let others kill Pettigrew?" Harry said, his voice rising little by little. "He's gone, Sirius, gone. I proved that I could kill this year, and I mean to complete my duty by defeating the bastard that killed my parents."

He fell silent. Sirius stood in front, looking shocked. Harry suddenly realised what he just said. "I-I'm sorry," Harry said, breathing heavily, back to normal. "I- please, Sirius, please go away. I don't think I can do this anymore. I know it's my fault you died, and I can't do this anymore." He turned to look back out the window.

"Harry, you can't chase me out of your life. I'm not angry with you, I don't blame you the least..." Sirius said.

"Sirius, please go. Please avoid me, Sirius. Hate me," Harry said.

He heard a melancholy sigh as Sirius turned to leave. "I can't dissuade you, can I?" he said. "Very well. Harry, if you ever need me, I'll be in the cave."

"Don't expect me," Harry said.

"Then this is forever?" Sirius said, gulping.

"Forever, Sirius. You'll never see me again." Harry blinked back tears. It was for the best, really. Sirius could hate him for killing him without having to hide it, and he could deal with it by himself, like always.

There was a long silence. Harry was sure Sirius had left. However, a moment later, he felt a touch on his shoulder that made him flinch for two reasons: it was cold, and because it was Sirius. "Harry, you're a lot like your father in looks, but you're your mother at heart. That's the greatest compliment anyone can give, Harry," Sirius said softly.

"Goodbye, Sirius," Harry said, still looking out the window.

"Goodbye, Harry," Sirius said. There was another silence. This time, Harry turned around, and Sirius was gone.

"I'm sorry for everything," Harry whispered to the empty room before turning back.

***

"Letter from Dad," Ron said, taking an envelope from Rowena's beak. "Hermione, your owl."

"Thanks," Hermione said, taking the owl from Ron. "You can use her too, if you'd like. If you don't want to use Pig."

"I haven't heard of that owl since that card you sent me for my birthday," Harry said.

Hermione laughed. "That's because Mum and Dad have been fascinated by her, and insisted on keeping her at home. I suppose they sent it out yesterday, and she got lost and ended up at the Burrow. Rowena seems to feel quite at home there."

"By the way, where's Sirius?" Ginny said. "I haven't seen him since last weekend." Harry squirmed in his seat.

Hermione looked at him. "You didn't drive him away, did you?" she asked.

"No," Harry said.

Hermione sighed. "Harry, he doesn't blame you. We'll go see him, wherever he is, this weekend."

"We can't," Harry said.

"Why not?" Hermione demanded.

"Hermione, don't push it," Ron said. Hermione looked at Harry, and sighed. She turned back to her breakfast.

"We have Chang again," Ron groaned.

"Better get going, then," Harry said. "She takes even more points off than Snape for lateness. Especially if you're anyone but Malfoy."

"Right," Ron said. "See you, Ginny." He, Harry, and Hermione walked out of the Great Hall and up to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.

"Oh, we're late..." Hermione moaned, looking at her watch.

"Thirty seconds," Ron grumbled as he opened the door.

"She still takes thirty points," Harry pointed out.

To their surprise, Cho wasn't sitting at the desk. Professor Lupin was. "Professor?" Hermione said.

"Hello, Hermione," Lupin said. "I'm just in for today. Professor Chang is out."

On the other side of the door, they heard Malfoy swear and open the door. His eyes widened when he saw Lupin. "You!" he said. "What are you doing here?"

"Have a seat, Mr. Malfoy," Lupin said. Malfoy sat down next to Icicle, and stared sullenly ahead. Harry smirked.

Lupin went on, gathering a large pile of trinkets and objects. "Welcome," he said. "Today, you are to analyse these objects and decide what curse or jinx is on them." He passed the objects out. Harry rolled his eyes. Another stupid lesson from Cho. He looked at his, a little medal that resembled an Olympic silver medal. Hermione was already looking at her teapot, and was able to finish analysing it within thirty seconds.

Ron looked at his ballpoint pen. "What is this, Harry?" he asked.

"Pen," Harry said. "Muggles use them like quills, except they don't need to be dipped in ink."

"Wicked," Ron said. He took the cap off of the pen, and blue ink squirted itself all over the front of his robes.

"Looks like you discovered the effects of the jinx," Harry said. He turned back to the medal. He didn't dare touch the actual metal, so he poked one of Ron's quills on it. The quill immediately caught on fire.

"My quill!" Ron said, rescuing his quill and shooting a jet of water at it. "Use your own quill next time!"

Harry smirked. "What do we do now?" Malfoy drawled at Lupin, holding up his beaded necklace. "This one has a Turnquius Curse on it."

"Yes," Lupin said. "Has everyone finished?" When everyone murmured their assent, he said, "Good. Keep them on your desk. It seems as if you already know this. That was the lesson plan for today. However, I am willing to let you choose the subject of today's lesson. What do you want to learn about?"

"Flobberworms," Malfoy said sarcastically.

"Shut up," Harry said.

Lupin smiled. "Flobberworms it is, Mr. Malfoy."

Malfoy's eyes widened in horror. Harry smirked. The lesson would be dreadfully boring, but it would definitely be worth it.

***

February turned to March, and March blossomed into April, and Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny still had not found anything about the necklace. It was near the Easter holidays when Hermione slammed another thick book onto the table the other three were sitting at for the tenth time in an hour.

"Ouch!" Ron said as one finger got hit by a corner of the book.

"Sorry," Hermione said rather unapologetically, beginning to flip through the pages.

"What's the title of that book?" Ginny asked.

"Ritual Symbols of the Middle Ages," Hermione replied. "It might have something on the necklace."

"You looked at that one," Harry said, not looking up.

"How do you know?" Ron asked.

"I did," Hermione said, looking at the book's contents. "I'll just go and put it away, then."

"You won't!" Ron said vehemently. "Don't you dare!"

The other three stared at him. "Why not?" Hermione asked, puzzled. "We already looked through it."

"You smashed my finger with that book, and you are not going to put it back until you've looked through it again! Otherwise, my finger was hurt for no reason at all!" Ron said heatedly.

Ginny rolled her eyes. Harry sighed. This library work was really getting to them. "Ron, don't be such an idiot," Hermione said. "We'd be wasting our time!"

"So?" Ron said. "At least we wouldn't be wasting my finger!"

Hermione opened her mouth to retort, but Harry beat her to it. "Shut up, you two, and stop bickering. You're driving me mad."

Hermione stalked away with the book, and came back a minute later with another book that seemed to be heavier and larger than the first. "Madam Pince let me use it, even though it was in the Restricted Section," she explained. "I'm Head Girl, that's why."

"Watch the hand..." Ron warned as Hermione slammed the book down. "OW!" he yelped as the book fell on the same finger the other had just landed on.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Hermione said absentmindedly, beginning to leaf through the book's pages.

"Am I less important than your bloody books?" Ron said.

Hermione looked at him levelly. "I don't see you looking through as many books as the other two and I are," she said coolly.

"For your information, Hermione," Ron snarled. "I am looking for information. I just don't choose to look through huge paper boulders like you choose to look through," he added, holding up a tiny, light book marked Brooches and Necklaces: Powerful Tools of the Ancient Romans.

Hermione drew back. "I suppose you are," she said grudgingly. Harry wished that the two were still stupidly grinning all day like they did in February, but they seemed to have stopped whatever they had been doing that made them that happy.

Ginny began to snicker as she read her book. Harry moved over, and read the page she was on, and began to laugh. It was about a necklace that made women flock to whoever wore it. The name was just too funny. "The Thruster?" Harry said. Ginny giggled. "You would think the French could come up with a better name than that."

"Immature," he thought he heard Ron say. He rolled his eyes. Ron was the very epitome of immature at times.

Ernie MacMillan strutted past with Hannah Abbott. Both glanced at the illustration on the page and walked away sniggering.

"It does look rather... symbolic..." Ginny said, peering at the picture of the Thruster on the page. Harry snickered.

"Shaped accordingly," he said. That was too much for him and Ginny, and the two doubled over, laughing, causing Madam Pince to glare in their direction.

"Stop it!" Hermione whispered urgently. "She could kick us out!"

Harry shrugged. "I don't particularly mind. There's a library in my grandmother's house. I could look there, instead. And besides, there's no restricted section. Nothing's restricted."

Hermione looked envious. "Library, Harry?" she said. Ron snickered, but she ignored him. "Harry, are you going home for the holidays?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, Grandmother wrote to me a few days ago to tell me I was going there for Easter."

Hermione nodded. "Do you think we could come? To do some research? I, for one, would like to see other books that may be restricted, as they might have what we need. Could you write to her?"

Harry grinned. "Already did. She said yes in that letter. Mind you, she wasn't too pleased that Ron and I were going to be in the same manor for the holidays, let alone the same continent."

Ron flushed. "Tell her I'm sorry about that," he said.

Hermione nearly jumped for joy. "Oh, I can't wait! An entire week at an ancestral manor, with a library and all that history!"

Harry, Ron, and Ginny looked at each other, the horror clearly present on their faces. "Er..." Ron said.

***

Platform 9 ¾ was just as crowded as it had been at the beginning of the Christmas holidays, since everyone was going home to be with their families because of Voldemort's open threat. Every day, there was news of an injury to a Ministry official or his family, or even a death.

Grandmother was waiting on the platform, in her Muggle dress. Harry knew he would never get used to Grandmother in Muggle clothes, so he didn't look at her. Instead, he put his glasses back on his face and tried to smooth out his hair.

"Hello, Hermione," Grandmother said, greeting Hermione. "Hello, Virginia," she added. Ginny scowled at the use of the full name no one ever used (Harry wasn't even sure if it was her name at all), but said nothing except a greeting. Grandmother turned somewhat coldly to the boys, and said, "Hello, Ronald. Henry."

"Er... hello," Ron said nervously.

"Hello, Grandmother," Harry said, not even bothering to correct his grandmother. He had learned to not waste his breath within the first week of meeting her.

"A Ministry driver is here to take us to Berkshire," Grandmother said. She turned, and led them out to the car park.

***

A few days of the holidays were over already, and nearly half the library had been searched. "Have you found anything?" Ginny asked Hermione as she sat down between her and Harry.

"Not yet," Hermione said.

"Young Master Potter sir," Toomy said, rushing up to Harry. Hermione frowned at the service, but said nothing. "Mistress Potter insists that you go downstairs to meet the new arrival."

"New arrival?" Harry said, puzzled. "Who is it, Toomy?"

"Toomy doesn't know, sir," Toomy said. "Come, young Master."

Harry nodded at the others, and they followed him and Toomy. "Why do you get house elves?" Ron said.

Harry looked at him. "I don't need them," he said. "Do you want to take Lufus with you to the Burrow? He seems to like you."

Ron's ears turned red. "No thanks," he said gruffly.

Grandmother was standing in the Entrance Hall with a blond boy, who was looking around in awe. "You!" Harry said.

"You're here?" Dudley said in surprise. "Isn't this a normal house?" he asked.

Grandmother looked scandalised. Harry raised an eyebrow. "No," he said. "That happens to be my grandmother you're next to. This is my family's house."

Dudley looked at him. "Why didn't you stay here, then?" he asked.

Grandmother interrupted. "Henry, dear, why don't you show your cousin his room? He has come to stay with us here. His school is nearby, so he will be a day student there. He has nowhere else to stay, poor dear... his parents are unavailable."

Harry looked at Dudley. Hermione came over to him, and whispered, "Ron and I are going back to the library."

Harry nodded. He and Ginny were left alone with Dudley. "Well," Dudley said nastily. He looked at Ginny and put on a look he obviously thought was suave. "Hello, darling," he said.

Ginny looked disgusted. "Shut up," Harry snapped at Dudley. Toomy began to levitate Dudley's bag behind him.

"Who is he, young Master?" Toomy said to Harry.

Dudley laughed. "These things call you Master?" he said.

"Call him..." Harry got an evil smile on his face. "Diddydinkums."

Dudley's many chins wobbled as his jaw dropped. Toomy walked over seriously, and said, "Very well, Master Diddydinkums, come along."

Harry snickered all the way down the corridor, until Dudley suddenly stopped. "Call me Master Dudley," he commanded. Toomy shook his head.

"Can't sir, young Master of this house has commanded Toomy to call you Master Diddydinkums, sir."

Harry snickered even more at this. However, Toomy was interrupted by Aurelia Malfoy-Pietro, who said, "Toomy, dear, call him Master Dudley. Harry's just being silly."

"Yes, Mistress Malfoy-Pietro," Toomy said, bowing low. Harry scowled at Aurelia, who just smirked and tossed her blonde hair.

"Who was that?" Ginny whispered as they stopped in front of a door.

"Aurelia. My great-great-great-great grandmother," Harry said. "She was a Malfoy until she married."

"You're related to Malfoy?" Ginny said.

"Closer than I would have liked," Harry said as Toomy opened the door.

"Good day, Master Dudley. Mistress Weasley. Young Master," Toomy said, bowing to all three. He disappeared.

"Go on," Harry said. "That's your room," he added.

Dudley smirked at him, and looked at Ginny. "Want to stay, sexy?" he said.

"Lay off her," Harry said dangerously.

"Harry, no need to be my seventh brother," Ginny said. "Come on." She walked off in the direction of the library.

"You fancy her, don't you?" Dudley asked. "I don't blame you, Potter."

"I told you to lay off her. And keep your fat arse out of my business," Harry said, slamming the door in Dudley's face.

***

Nearly three-quarters of the library had been searched, and yet they still hadn't found anything. Dudley always came along, more as a hindrance than a help. He reminded Harry of a fat, piggy Malfoy in this setting, bullying the house elves and making snide remarks about the manor.

A Black family goblet was found in the dining room, and Draco Malfoy was sent over by his mother to pick it up.

"Potter?" he asked. Grandmother had made herself scarce for some reason, and Harry had been the one to greet him.

"Me?" Harry said sarcastically. "Here's your goblet thing. It's really ugly, Malfoy."

"So?" Malfoy said, grabbing the goblet from him. "My mother sent me here to get it. Does it matter whether you think it's ugly or- what the hell?" he said, looking at Dudley, who had waddled into the Entrance Hall. Harry scowled.

"That would be a random Muggle who found his way in here," he lied. "I don't know him."

"Potter!" Dudley called, making Harry wince. "Where's the bloody telephone in this place?"

"Telephone?" he saw Malfoy mouth in confusion.

"We don't have one, you idiot," Harry hissed.

"I have to call Piers!" Dudley said.

"Do I look like I care?" Harry retorted.

"You do know him, Potter," Malfoy said.

Harry sighed. "Yeah, I know him, Malfoy. Now leave. You have the goblet, what else do you want? A little bonus prize?"

Malfoy narrowed his eyes. "Why not?" he said sarcastically. "I'm leaving, Potter, unless if this fat lump over here decides he wants me to stay," he said, motioning towards Dudley, who was staring at Malfoy, as if ready to ask him if he was a vampire. Harry nearly was sick right on the rug his great-great-grandfather, Nicholas Potter, had brought back from his years in India. He did not want Malfoy to stay.

"Go," Harry said, gulping hard. "Just go, Malfoy." Malfoy left hurriedly, and Dudley looked back at Harry.

"Who was that?" he said.

"No one. Forget he exists," Harry said. "Just remember, he's a freak like me, Dudley, all right? And he's human, unfortunately," he said slowly, moving up the staircase and out of sight before Dudley could ask him more about Malfoy.

The library was full of sounds of Hermione pulling the books in one shelf down, one after the other, and piling them into one tall, neat stack. "Hermione, stop, I can't concentrate!" Ron shouted over the din.

"Ronald, I do believe you could be a little more quieter," Grandmother said. Harry was annoyed. Grandmother had been in the library all along. She was in an armchair, near one of the large, floor to ceiling windows, reading a small book.

Hermione came back to the table with an armload of books. Ron stood and helped her unload them. "Thanks," Hermione said. Harry sat down next to Ron, completely annoyed that he had to see Malfoy.

He grabbed one of the books on the table, and flipped through it. "Treasures of the Druids," he read.

"I don't think that one has anything we need in it," Hermione said. "I doubt the necklace has to do with druids."

"I had a dream once, about Merlin," Harry said. "It was after Dumbledore first gave the necklace to me."

"Merlin?" Hermione said. "Yes, we checked him. He was a druid. The last. He was a dead end. That's why I don't think that book will tell us anything."

Harry shrugged, and opened the book. An ink drawing of Stonehenge stood out at him from the first page. "Druids used many amulets to do ritual magic, such as necromancy and mass destruction," he read. "They sound nice."

Hermione sighed. "Harry, Druids were witches and wizards of the ancient times in England. They weren't any different from us. The Muggle stuff was mostly made up, those Druids weren't real. They were just copies of the Druids the Muggles had seen. Back when magic and non-magic weren't so segregated," she explained. "Mostly, the Druids did magic like us, but they hadn't invented wands yet. So they did human sacrifice to do magic. That's why today's wandless wizards and witches can do wandless magic. Because someone sacrificed themselves for them."

"My mum," Harry said.

Hermione nodded. "Anyway, after a while, Druid magic started becoming darker, as the original Druids died out. Merlin was one of a few Druid followers who were good. Their Druid magic had to do with nature and the sun and moon. That's where Muggle stereotypes come from. Back to the topic, Stonehenge was once a place where Druid carnivals were held, a celebration of magic every summer solstice. It became the raising place for necromancy, because it had strange powers."

"Strange powers?" Ron asked.

Hermione went on. "Places built by the first Druids have a strange magic in them to do things like necromancy and mass destruction and creation without strange ingredients and sacrifices. No Dark Magic. I bet the Department of Mysteries is studying them, but I don't know. Stonehenge was one of the places, and the ones who know why it is so powerful are long gone. In order to do big magic, all you needed was the amulet or object associated with the place, and you could somehow call up the guardian of that place. The guardian was supposedly the spirit of the Druid who created the place."

"You sound like an encyclopaedia," Ginny said.

Harry, however, was flipping through the pages. He suddenly stopped. "I found it," he whispered.

"What? But..." Hermione said.

Harry slumped in defeat. "It says that the information about the Phoenix necklace has been recorded into the Hogwarts Head Girl book," he mumbled.

"Great," Ron said. "Just great."

"Well," Hermione said. "At least now, we know it has to do with the Druids."

"Necromancy or mass destruction," Harry said. "No wonder Voldemort wants it."

Grandmother walked over. "What are you all researching?" she said in awe, looking at all the books on the table.

"Oh, we're looking for information on something. We found out that the only information available about it is in the Head Girl book, and none of us are original Head Girls," Harry said.

"Really?" Grandmother said. "Accio, Head Girl Book!" A moment passed, and the book appeared in her hands.

"But... you can't read it, Grandmother," Harry said.

"Don't be silly, dear," Grandmother said. "What are you looking for?"

Harry was confused. "Er... the Phoenix Necklace," he said. Grandmother nodded, and began flipping through the pages, stopping on one marked 'The Battle of 1234'.

"The Phoenix Necklace," Grandmother announced. "Quite pretty, Henry dear, would you like me to read the page? Quite interesting, really. Written by a Head Girl who was half-giant."

"Er... yeah, thanks," Harry said, totally puzzled. He exchanged a look with Hermione, and turned back to Grandmother.

Grandmother cleared her throat. "You know, Henry, I was reading this two days ago... if I had known you had wanted me to read out of it... The Phoenix Necklace is one of the amulets used by the druids for mass destruction. Unlike others, the instructions to the Druid Spot and its amulet were supposedly given to the giants of the Alps. Not much of the giant's legend has ever escaped those of giant blood."

"Is that it?" Ron asked.

"That's all the girl wrote," Grandmother said. "It says she was fortunate in her childhood to meet a friendly giant, who told her many giant myths and legends, and this information was one of them."

Harry turned to face his Grandmother. "Why is it that you could read from the Head Girl's book?" he asked.

Grandmother looked puzzled. "Why, I was Head Girl, dear. From 1944-1945."

"What?" Hermione said. "But... the Ministry records..." She rushed away. A moment later, she returned with a giant book of records, recently updated that week. She flipped to the page marked 'Hogwarts Head Girls', and ran her fingers down the list of Head Girls. "Forty-four to forty-five," she said. "Anne Delacour."

"My family was French," Grandmother explained. "My father moved here when I was a baby. You can see my descendants' veela blood when they get older." Harry looked at his grandmother's hair, which had a total of probably three specks of grey in it. "Yes," Grandmother said. "We do not age as quickly. Women are more veela-like than men. We get the charm and beauty. You only get the good-looks."

Ron smirked at Harry, who blushed. He didn't have much charm. "Delacour? As in Fleur?" Harry asked.

Grandmother nodded. "The very same. Your French fourth cousin, I believe."

"Excuse me," Hermione said. "It says you're dead, Mrs. Potter."

Grandmother sighed. "Sit down," she said. "I'm going to tell you a little story."


Author notes: All right. This chapter was drastically changed. Two pages were deleted, to read them, click on the link in the Header. Also, originally, Dudley was made out to be a bi, but that was also changed. (Hey, it's life. But it didn't fit in with the story.)

Thank you to ephemera (who got it to me the day after I sent it or something like that) and Favrielle (who's taking mid-years at this time, but still managed to beta). Favrielle liked the scene, which is why I included the link to it. :)

Also, thank you to Nonya, JenPotter, dernhelmsdeep, DarkWitch13, Kandie, alcy, Seven, neha_dkulkarni, Emily Granger, AgiVega, Dean Ahlberg, D2Diamond, kliewer, ephemera, blackeaerials, argos, DarkWinterPrincess, Mad Eye Becky, atlantis, Peachy, and malfoy696 for reviewing. Wow, many of you are regulars now. :p

Oh, and check out AgiVega's picture of Icicle, if you already haven't. Link here.

Please review!