Family Ties

The Room as always made him feel better almost instantly. Not at all sure what he was doing there, he decided just to sit down and relax, locking the door behind him. He lifted the broken guitar from the shelf beside him and rested it on his knees. He looked around for the guitar strings they had brought months ago and saw them sitting on the desk beside him, starting to gather dust. He tried for five minutes to attach a string to the guitar before setting it down again, frustrated.

He leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes, trying to figure out why he had wanted to come here tonight. He knew deep down he had come for the Memory Glass, but didn't know what he wanted to see. The memory of the last time still made him feel quite shaky. Knowing that everything he saw carried with it the feelings associated with it, very intense feelings that were hard to distinguish from his own, made him apprehensive about looking at any more.

He glanced to his left and spotted the stack of yearbooks he'd seen the first time he'd come here. He grabbed the one from 1963 and flipped to the student section. When he'd been looking through the photo album for the wedding photograph, he'd been much too worked up to take in much detail, he hadn't noticed how much he looked like Gary. This photo could have been my first year entry...

His first year entry wasn't terribly interesting, he obviously had friends, there were a lot of messages scrawled on the inside cover. The most prominent ones were from girls called Sara and Becky, looking forward to seeing him the next year. And in the fourth year one he saw an entry about a beautiful red-haired girl called Katie Close that Gary had put sparkling hearts around it. Dean smiled to himself, she was in the same year but in Gryffindor.

He wondered what had happened to that crush as none of the subsequent yearbook entries had been branded in this way. As Dean went through each book Gary's entry got longer and longer; he was often top of the year and he had played Quidditch, which Dean had known from the Beaters bats strewn around the room.

There were half a dozen clubs he was involved in too, Astronomy, Charms, Herbology, Transfiguration and he had set up a History group, which even put on performances of Historical events. I bet History of Magic grades were up that year! The classes taken by Binns were so boring no one absorbed anything. But... he failed that OWL... He decided to find out why.

He stood up and went to the mirror, feeling a little trepidation. He closed his eyes and thought History of Magic OWL exam. He felt a flood of confidence flow through him before he even opened his eyes. When he did open them, he saw the Great Hall, single tables positioned all around in place of the usual house tables - and a piece of parchment in front of him. He heard a voice say, "You may begin." The paper in front of him was turned over - and he saw the first question, worth a third of the marks of the test. In your opinion, did wand legislation contribute to, or lead to better control of, goblin riots of the eighteenth century?

Dean felt his heart sink... the thought ran through his head, not his own, Oh shit... Dean stepped back from the glass and felt the tension leave him, like it was running out through the soles of his feet. He didn't study that section... Dean smiled. He wasn't perfect, then again, who is?

* ~ *

"Damn it, Seamus, just ASK him!"

"No way, he'll tell me to go to hell!"

"Fine, I've had enough, I'LL ask him!!"

Dean spun on his heel and left Seamus in the Great Hall. There was another DA meeting scheduled that night, the fifth since Seamus had apologised to Harry, and he still didn't have enough nerve to ask Harry to join. Dean had had enough, there were only four weeks til their OWLs, and Seamus hadn't been learning Defence all year. Dean caught up with Harry in the entrance hall. "Harry! Can I bring Seamus to the meeting tonight?"

Harry looked around Dean pointedly. "Yeah, if he wants to come, bring him."

"Great - see you at seven!"

Harry was halfway up the stairs when Seamus came up behind Dean. "Well?"

"You're coming. No arguments!"

* ~ *

At the DA meeting that night, they continued working on their Patronuses. Dean hadn't yet managed a corporeal one. Harry spent the first ten minutes of the meeting with Seamus, catching him up on last weeks work on Patronuses. Dean closed his eyes and concentrated on the memory of his first trip to a West Ham game, then spoke the incantation. This time, a silvery, ghostly owl flew out of the end of his wand, swooped past Neville's ear, flew once around the room and dissolved into silver mist.

Ginny was working beside him; she had Michael beside her, but they had hardly spoken a work to each other since they'd arrived separately. Ginny watched the silver owl swoop around the room, turned to Dean and smiled. "That was a great Patronus! Owls are very intelligent, and brave too."

Dean smiled back at her, feeling heat rising in his cheeks. "Thanks. Have you done it yet?"

Ginny's eyes glazed over, thinking of something happy... "Expecto Patronum!"

Something supple and sleek erupted from Ginny's wand and bounded into the crowd, the cat came back and bounced around her ankles, slowed down and rubbed against her leg before it vanished. "I think I'm gonna call her Misty."

"How do you know it's a girl?"

Ginny grinned at him playfully. "I just know."

Michael looked surly, took her elbow and steered her away whispering furiously. Dean saw Ginny wrench out of his grasp just as the door to the Room slammed shut. Dean's eyes shot to the door, but there was no one out of place there. People closer to the door appeared to be following the progress of something small moving towards Harry.

Dean took a few steps towards Harry, stepping around Seamus and Lavender as he went. He saw a small creature, wearing what looked like a pile of badly made woollen socks on its head, it was talking to Harry in a small, scared voice. As Dean stopped, the creature ran at the wall to hit his head on it, but bounced off thanks to the cushioning effect of what Dean supposed must have been hats. Harry grabbed it and held it steady, as if to prevent it from running away. "What's happened Dobby?"

"Harry Potter... she... she..."

Dean felt his heart turn over in fear... there's only one 'she' in the school who'd evoke that sort of fear. The creature punched itself on the nose, and Harry grabbed that arm to stop it from doing it again. "Who's 'she' Dobby?"

But Dean could tell from the look in Harry's eyes he knew as well as Dean did who this Dobby was talking about. Harry looked at the creature. "Umbridge?"

Harry's voice was full of alarm. The creature was thrashing about in Harry's grip, as if determined to break free. It flung its head at Harry's knees, but Harry had it in a firm grip. "What about her? Dobby - she hasn't found out about this - about us - about the DA?"

Dean already knew the answer, if she didn't know, Dobby wouldn't be here.

Harry's next question came out in a whisper. "Is she coming?"

The creature howled. "Yes, Harry Potter, yes!" Harry got to his feet quickly. He looked around at the group, who were as frozen with fear as Dean himself was. We'll all be expelled!

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? RUN!"

Harry's yell broke the spell and everyone pelted for the door. Dean scanned the crowd quickly, and saw Michael was with Ginny. Dean had to trust him to look after her. He found Seamus in the crush at the door.

When they burst through Dean turned to him. "Which way? Which WAY?"

Seamus thrust an envelope under his nose, "The Owlery, we'll say we're sending this, run! We'll take the shortcut through the tapestry of Urg the Ugly at the end of the corridor!"

They sprinted, but they were barely through the tapestry when they heard running footsteps going past, towards the room. He heard that awful girlish voice. "Quickly Draco, Pansy. I'll have them out tonight! All of them! The Minister will be so pleased to expel Potter."

Dean felt his hands curl into fists... That evil old wench! She'll get none of us, thanks to Dobby. Dean and Seamus crept along the passageway, which took them to the stairs on the floor below the Owlery. They went up the stairs and entered the nearly empty Owlery - it was getting late and most of them had gone out hunting.

Dean could see a flash of white at the top that told him Harry's owl Hedwig was still there, and a hoot and weight on his shoulder told Dean that Helios hadn't left yet either. "Hi, Helios."

The owl nibbled his ear and hooted softly. Dean turned to Seamus, "Do you really need to send a letter?"

"Yeah, it's to my mum. Can I borrow him?" Dean extended his arm so the owl could stand on it instead of his shoulder.

"Feel up to a trip to Ireland?"

The owl hooted indignantly and extended his leg. Just as Seamus finished tying the letter to his leg, the door slammed open and startled all the owls still in the Owlery into flight. Helios hooted in alarm and took off out a window. They turned around to see who had come in. Filch was there, looking like he'd run a marathon. His flabby face was nearly purple. "What are you two doing here?"

"Sending a letter before bed. We're entitled to be out at this time. What's it to you?"

Sometimes, Dean admired Seamus' courage. He wasn't sure he'd have been able to tell an angry Filch to basically mind his own business.

"Oh yeah? Where were you ten minutes ago?"

"Probably in the Common Room, or on our way here." Dean spoke in a confident voice, despite feeling cold dread in the pit of his stomach. Mrs Norris snaked her way through Filch's legs, mewling and looking up at the airborne owls longingly. You'd have no chance... they'd rip you to shreds you stupid thing! Filch looked like he was struggling with something, then apparently having not come up with anything else to say, turned and swept out... almost looking like he was trying to be Snape.

Dean and Seamus both let out relieved breaths. "I wonder if the others got away?" Seamus asked him.

They stepped out of the Owlery and back into the stairway. Dean glanced out the window to his right, which overlooked the seventh floor below them, he nudged Seamus. "Look!"

They huddled up to the glass, they could see Umbridge walking towards the gargoyle Dean knew led to Dumbledore's office, and she had a student with her. They couldn't quite make out who it was - all they could see were the black robes. When they reached the gargoyle they could see, thanks to a larger window, that she had Harry. Seamus gasped as Dean's heart sank once again to the pit of his stomach. "He's done for..." Dean breathed.