Harry Potter and the Dawn of a New Age

Harry Potter and the Dawn of a New Age (10)

Chapter Ten: You Can Close Your Eyes

Maybe it was because it was Friday, but Harry felt uncharacteristically optimistic. For the last several days Ron and Hermione hadn't had any flare ups, and he hadn't had any horrible visions sent to him from Voldemort. He would also soon have a chance to spend some time with Luna at the DA meeting. All in all, things were going pretty decent at the present.

In Charms class that day the class worked on concealment charms. In seventh year they would be learning how to do the fidelius charm, but for now they needed to start on something smaller first. They were all given rings and told to cast the charm on it so that they were undetectable while still being worn. Professor Flitwick explained that the concealment charm was also often referred to as "the cheating wizard's friend." The reason for this was the fact that wizards often used the charm to conceal their wedding ring when they were out of town or fancied an illicit adventure, usually carried out at the Hog's Head Inn. Ron thought the idea was quite clever until Hermione mentioned to him that she could cast a permanent concealment charm on some other "small object" of his that he wouldn't think was nearly as clever.

Herbology worked out well that day since the class was divided into pairs. Hermione quickly paired up with Harry, while Ron paired with Neville. Although this made the other three happy, Neville couldn't help but be a little frightened when Ron frequently leaned towards him and sniffed, as well as paying an abnormal amount of attention to his collar. Harry felt bad for Neville, but was glad to get Hermione and Ron separated from one another for a while. The thought of Hermione turning Ron into a genderless being was enough to send shivers down his own spine. Professor Sprout had handed out the protective eyewear that would be needed before letting the class begin their project. The plant was called Angel's Bloom and was developed as a way to deal with the evil of Devil's Snare. The plant was extremely fast growing ivy, much like Devil's Snare itself, but also gave off a dazzling burst of light when touched. The idea was that the plant could be used around high security buildings that could come under attack from its deadly counterpart. Once the Devil's Snare's tendrils came into contact with the Angel's Bloom the intense light flash would cause it to recoil at once. Ron was glad he had partnered with Neville since it meant that he wouldn't have to do much of anything. Neville was by far the best at Herbology, and Ron was quite content to let him take care of things while he pretended to be scuba diving wearing the protective goggles.

Potions, on the other hand, was not nearly as enjoyable for them. Harry went into it worried about the three of them working together again but was relieved that Hermione and Ron behaved fine, although the same could not be said for Professor Snape. He assigned the class to make a potion of liquid ice, the same potion Harry and Hermione had drank back in first year when they had faced Snape's potion puzzle. Snape seemed to remember this as well and continually made references to the fact that the potion should be quite simple to the two of them, seeing as they had previous experience with it. He also made mention of the fact that Ron would have had experience with it also, if not for that fact that he "wasn't tough enough" to make it that far. Hermione quickly pointed out that Ron had actually been forced to sacrifice himself so that she and Harry could go on but Snape cut her off, saying that he could still remember the events that had taken place to cost Slytherin the house cup that year. Hermione was ready to give the Professor another retort when Harry and Ron managed to hold her back. Snape then returned to moving about the classroom as Draco laughed at the two boys struggling to keep an enraged Hermione at bay.

"You three are absolutely pathetic," Draco sneered.

Hermione stopped struggling and glared nastily at Draco.

"Shut up, Malfoy. Or maybe you'd like me to blacken another eye for you?"

Draco's face flushed a bit, causing his usual ghostly pale face to look almost normal.

"Temper, temper, Granger. I don't know what you're so upset about, actually. I would have thought that you'd be used to having Potty and Weasel's hands all over you. How does it feel to get Loony's sloppy seconds now? I have to hand it to you, Potty; at least Lovegood is a pureblood. After defiling yourself with Granger I'm surprised she'd have you."

It was a very fortunate thing that the bell rang the precise moment Draco finished speaking. This meant that Professor Snape didn't hear what Ron, Harry, and Hermione were saying in response. It also meant that the three of them were unable to get their hands on him. Hermione would later be grateful that no violence had occurred, but at the time would have liked nothing more than to pull out every follicle of blonde hair on Draco's head.

Ron and Harry were able to vent most of their frustrations during Quidditch practice that afternoon. Ron had kept goal like a man possessed while Harry had done things on his firebolt that could have earned him a spot in Cirque du Soleil. Lavender and Parvarti were a little put out due to the fact that the two boys were so focused on their jobs that they couldn't distract them at all. They had one game under their belt and had managed to win, much to the amazement of most of the school. Their next game was against the winner if the Ravenclaw-Hufflepuff match and if they won that one they would face Slytherin for the cup. Harry had them practicing hard and they were all quite tired when practice finally came to a close. Even the normally manic Creevy brothers seemed worn out. Elizabeth, who came to every practice to cheer her brothers on, had to nearly carry Colin back to the castle. Ron seemed to drag a bit himself until Ginny joked that her thighs hadn't hurt so much since her last study session with Neville. After that, Ron seemed much more awake and alert. On that note, Harry and Ron got cleaned up and met up with Hermione in the great hall for dinner.

"Well, you boys look hale and healthy. Especially you, Ron. Your face is all red, are you feeling ok?"

Harry and Ron sat down across from her and immediately grabbed any and all food they could reach. Ron had a mouthful of peas so Harry smiled at Hermione and served himself up a handful of chips.

"You should have seen Ron out there, Hermione. One of the Cannons couldn't have gotten one by him. As for being all flush, well, Ginny had a go at him after practice and got him a bit wound up."

Harry smiled at the scowl Ron's face took on and noticed that Hermione was grinning also. He was glad to see her smiling again. Ron, however, didn't see much humor with his sister's little joke.

"Shut up, Harry. Ginny knows how I feel about her and Neville's...situation. I'm telling you, if he puts a single finger wrong, he'll get the thrashing of his life."

Hermione looked down the table to see Ginny rubbing the back of a slightly nervous looking Neville. The sight made her laugh and give Ron a sympathetic smile.

"Ron, I think Neville isn't the one you should be worried about making any moves. Besides, Neville isn't stupid, do you really think he'd do anything wrong with the baby girl of the Weasley family? By the time you factor in Fred, George, Bill, Charlie, Percy, and not to mention your mother, well, you'd be the least of his worries."

Ron seemed to consider this for a minute or two before nodding his head and swallowing a mouthful of chicken.

"You're right, Hermione. I guess I never thought of it like that before. I probably shouldn't have threatened his life like I did the other day. It's just that Ginny is my little sister, you know? Being the two youngest of the family we spent the most time together. I know she's only a year younger than I am, but I can't help looking at her like the little girl in pigtails that used to worry about getting boy cooties."

Hermione nearly shot pumpkin juice out of her nose.

"I almost forgot about boy cooties! I remember telling my parents when I was eight about a boy that said he wanted to kiss me! I think I wanted my dad to beat him up for me. I was sure that I'd get cooties off him. I was absolutely traumatized."

Harry grinned. He had never heard of boy cooties, owing to his near total lack of social interaction as a child, but thought that the image of his brave Hermione worried about something so childish was very funny.

"What did you do, Hermione? Did he get his kiss?"

Hermione blushed slightly and lowered her eyes.

"No, he didn't get his kiss. Actually, it was because of that occurrence that I had my first experience with my magical ability. Little Freddy leaned in to kiss me, and the next thing I knew he was running around with a hamster hanging from his bottom lip. He never bothered me again after that. I told my parents about it that night and daddy said he'd have to build a moat to keep the boys away."

Ron shook his head and laughed as well.

"Hey, at least you were an only child. I had to be given 'the talk' along with Ginny! All I could think was; why would someone want to do that? It seemed like wanting to put your finger up someone else's nose. And then I realized that someone would someday want to do that with Ginny! That's when I knew that I had to protect her. I guess that's still what's in my head even now."

Harry gave Ron a clap on the back and a sympathetic smile similar to Hermione's.

"You're just looking after your family, Ron. There's nothing wrong with that. You just have to keep in mind that Ginny is her own person and makes her own choices. She knows you care about her, and that you'll be there when she needs you. Even if she isn't worried about boy cooties anymore."

"She should be, they can jump a really long way."

Harry and Ron both turned around to see Luna walking up to their table. Harry smiled and got up to make space for her.

"Hey, Luna! Come on and sit down. We were just talking about boy cooties. Did you ever have a boy try to kiss you when you were younger? Were you worried about getting cooties from him?"

Luna sat down between Harry and Ron and smiled. Even though there was plenty of room for her slender body she very nearly sat herself on Harry's lap.

"No, I never did. I was home schooled and didn't have any friends my own age, so the opportunity never really came up. My mother did sit me down when I was pretty young and explained about love and sex, though. She told me that the human body was a unique and beautiful thing, as was love and the physical expression of it. She said that when I fell in love my heart would know what to do, and she was right. When the time comes for the physical expression of it, well, it will just be another beautiful aspect of life. Don't you agree, Harry?"

Harry's face was now so red that it could have rivaled any of the Weasley's hair. This made Ron laugh at his best friend's obvious embarrassment, while Hermione merely rolled her eyes and cleared her throat in an attempt to take the focus off of Harry and his potential love life.

"Harry, what were you saying you wanted to discuss at the DA meeting?"

Harry forced his mind away from focusing on Luna's extreme nearness to himself and latched onto the much safer topic of the DA.

"Well, uh, I was thinking we could do more practice with conjuring a patronus. Now that we aren't doing all of this in secret now I thought that we might be able to ask Professor Filch to use a boggart like Remus used to teach me originally. It's all well and good to be able to conjure one in a room full of friends, but on the battlefield it's an entirely different matter. We could also work on blocking hexes. Knowing how to duel is one thing, but if you're up against a group of Death Eaters the same rules likely won't apply. I think that's about all we'll be able to get to in one session. By the end of the year I'd really like for all the DA to be up to the level of the group of us that went to the Ministry last year. We don't know when we'll be forced to fight like that again. Next time, I want everyone to come out of the battle alive."

Harry lowered his head and felt the all too familiar lump in his throat form. He knew that they would all now be giving him the same sympathetic looks and he couldn't bear to see them anymore. It was the feeling of Luna putting her head on his shoulder that finally broke through his wall of depression and grief.

"Harry, as long as we stay together we'll be fine. Individually we may have our weaknesses, but together we are strong. When the time comes, we will be ready to follow you into battle. For now, we have to live our lives. Unfortunately, that also includes homework. I need to get with Ginny and work on our Transfiguration essay. I'll see you later, Harry."

Luna then gave Harry a hug that would have rivaled both Hermione and Mrs. Weasley and placed a kiss upon both cheeks. Waving to Ron and Hermione she then walked down the Gryffindor table and stopped to talk to Ginny. Harry kept his eyes upon her until another throat clearing from Hermione brought him back to reality.

"Come on you two, let's go down and see what Hagrid wants so we can get back before the DA meeting. I swear if he's come across another dragon's egg I'm not helping this time!"

The three of them left the castle to take the comfortably familiar path down to Hagrid's cabin. The days were getting longer now so they were no longer forced to make their way in the dark. All three of them were a little anxious about what Hagrid had come up with this time and when they reached his door they took a collective steadying breath before Harry knocked on the heavy oaken door and immediately heard the booming bark of Fang, along with the even more booming voice of his master.

"Get away, Fang! I said get away, you infernal creature!"

When the door had been opened enough to allow the trio entrance, they immediately saw that Hagrid had once again donned his best (only) suit and even had a flower in his breast pocket. Initially it appeared to be a daisy, but upon closer inspection, and owing to Hagrid's immense size, it turned out to be a sunflower. Before any of them could ask Hagrid about his reason for dressing up, the half-giant looked around over their heads to make sure they hadn't been followed and quickly shut the door behind them. With both boys in a state of shock, Hermione was able to find her voice, although it was slightly higher than her normal one.

"Hagrid, what's going on? Why are you wearing your suit?"

Hagrid didn't seem to be paying much attention to what Hermione was saying and instead grabbed two large metal bands from under his bed. They appeared to be the types used in barrel making, except that they looked to be made of solid gold. He then handed one each to Harry and Ron. With his giant strength the metal bands were nearly weightless, but Harry and Ron could barely keep them upright be leaning their entire body weight into them. Seeing the problem they were having, Hagrid muttered something under his breath and pointed his umbrella at them. The bands glowed briefly and then floated above the ground slightly. Before Hermione could voice her questions again, Hagrid shoved a large basket of long stem roses at her that nearly caused her to fall over. Checking his appearance once more in his badly cracked mirror, Hagrid herded the three teens out the back door and toward the forbidden forest. Seeing the direction they were headed and confused about why they needed barrel hoops and roses, Harry attempted to get some answers.

"Hagrid, what are you doing? Where are you taking us? It's not safe to be in the forbidden forest at night!"

Hagrid continued to herd the three of them further into the woods and occasionally looked over his shoulder to make sure they weren't being watched. As soon as they were well into the forest, he finally slowed down his frantic pace and wiped his sweaty brow with a bed sheet sized handkerchief.

"Sorry about all the secrecy, but I had to make sure nobody else knows about this. I've been working on this for nearly a year now and I wanted the three of you to see it. The clearing is just over past this clump of trees here. Ah, there are the girls now."

Harry, Hermione, and Ron all stopped in their tracks when they emerged from the dense clump of tall trees. Before them was a scene that made them all doubt their own eyes, and also make them more than a little frightened.

Madame Maxime's presence would have been strange enough, but that was the least of their concerns at the moment. Grawp being there caused a level of panic to rise up in their minds similar to the one they had when they first saw him. But, the sight that made the hearts in their chests beat like a trip hammer was the third member of the party- the twenty-foot plus tall member of the party, to be exact.

It would have been hard to estimate how many sheet sets could have been made out of the gigantic silk dress that covered the body of the giantess standing next to the French Headmistress. Apart from wearing a dress, it would have been difficult to tell the difference between her and Grawp. Once the initial shock wore off, Hermione dropped the basket of flowers to the ground and rounded on Hagrid.

"Have you lost your mind? It was bad enough that you brought one giant here, why did you have to bring his another one? What do you think Dumbledore is going to say about this?"

"I was thinking of starting off with dearly beloved, actually."

All eyes turned to look at the newly arrived Headmaster. The twinkle in his sky blue eyes and the smile on his face told Hermione that he did indeed know that there were now twice as many giants in the forest. She could still hardly believe that this was all really happening.

"Professor Dumbledore, what is the meaning of all of this? What about the centaurs? They aren't going to stand for this! They were ready to revolt when it was just Grawp! This will only make things that much worse!"

Dumbledore continued to smile as he gave a wave of his wand to conjure a podium and notes. He then said a few words in what Hermione assumed to be giant language and the two giants stepped forward and joined hands. Motioning for Harry and Ron to stand at either side of the couple, he then summoned the basket of roses into his hand and gave it back to Hermione for her to distribute in a line leading up to his podium. Once she had completed her duty the Headmaster finally turned to her and smiled.

"I feel that an explanation is in order for our young friends here. At the end of last year, you will remember that I had to retrieve our former Defense teacher from the centaurs. Part of the negotiations for her return was that I would do what I could to remedy the problem with Grawp. After doing some research on the matter, I discovered that part of the problem stemmed from the fact that Grawp was going through puberty and needed some...female companionship, as it were. That's where Madame Maxime comes in."

The trio then turned to look at the half-giantess with the opal rings the size of their heads.

"When Hagrid originally told me that he knew about my half-giant status I denied it. One reason was because of the fear people have towards giants, but another reason was because of my own dark secret. My life story is similar to the one of Hagrid's, except that it was my father who was the giant. When he left my mother he went on to sire other children to other giants, just as Hagrid's own mother did. I discovered I had a half sister when I was still a student at Beauxbaton's and ever since have kept her hidden in the mountains that surround the school. Recently she became more agitated than normal and I was fearful that she might escape. When I wrote to Hagrid to tell him of my plight, he said that Grawp was going through much the same thing. After discussing the matter with Professor Dumbledore, we decided to have the two of them meet and see if that helped. The moment the two of them saw one another they ceased their destructive behavior. I suggested that the two of them should be allowed to stay together and Hagrid agreed, as long as they were married first. Professor Dumbledore agreed to perform the ceremony, as well as agreeing to teach them some rudimentary spells that they can do without wands. The idea of this is so that if you-know-who should attack they may be of some assistance in defending the school. I have already taught my sister to apparate since it was needed in order to keep her hidden, but she cannot do it while she is here, owing to the non-apparating wards. It is just as well, since the sonic boom caused by the apparition would be very hard to explain."

Ron had now gone from shocked and alarmed to alarmed and confused.

"What sonic boom?"

Hermione gave an exasperated sigh and went into her familiar studious mode.

"Haven't you been studying up on apparation? The larger the person is that apparatus, the louder the sonic disturbance. That's why you hardly hear it when Dobby pops up, whereas Kingsley makes a sound like a gun firing. I can only imagine what a giant would sound like. It must have caused avalanches in the mountains."

Dumbledore smiled at his number one student and placed his reading glasses on.

"Very good, Miss Granger! Ten points to Gryffindor! In terms of apparation, size truly does matter. Now, if we could get the ceremony under way, I'd like to get back to the castle in time to watch Last of the Summer Butterbeer on Wizard Digital. Mr. Potter, if you'd give your ring to Grawp, and Mr. Weasley, if you would give yours to Greep, we'll be under way."

Ron handed the giantess her ring and turned to look in confusion at the Headmaster.

"Her name is Greep?"

Dumbledore smiled and pushed his glasses further up the long slope of his nose.

"Yes, well, giant is one of the languages I speak fluently. Both Grawp and Greep here have other proper names, but I assure you that Greep and Grawp are far easier to say. Now, let us begin the ceremony before our couple decides to skip over the wedding and head straight into what normally comes afterwards."

Ron didn't know what Dumbledore meant until he looked back to see the two giants getting to know one another a little better. Needless to say, the trio was very glad when the ceremony was over and they were safe and sound back in their own beds. The DA meeting would have to wait until the next night.

The next morning dawned bright and sunny. Being a Saturday, the five Gryffindor friends were to be found sitting around the large table in their common room studying. It wasn't long before the subject of the previous night's events came up in their conversation. Ginny and Neville had wondered what had become of them and laughed at the idea of them being a part of a giant wedding ceremony. Ginny was able to wind Ron up by asking him if he had managed to catch the garter.

"Shut up, Gin! The whole thing was a nightmare. The next time Hagrid needs our help I'm heading the other way. Blimey, two married giants in the forbidden forest. Of all the daft things I've ever been a part of, this one takes the cake."

Hermione snorted and shot a disapproving look at Ron.

"Ron, it wasn't that bad. Well, not after the initial shock wore off. Even if they were giants, it was still a wedding of two people...well...two persons that cared about each other. I thought it was actually rather...romantic."

Ron looked at Hermione as if she had sprouted a second head.

"Romantic? ROMANTIC? Are you off your trolley? What was so romantic about it? The way Grawp picked rodents from between his toes? The way Greep ate most of the roses during the ceremony? Or maybe it was the two of them dry humping one another most of the time? The whole thing was revolting if you ask me."

Hermione put her hands on her hips and glared at Ron.

"You just don't understand, Ron! Just because you..."

"Stop it, both of you!"

Ron and Hermione both turned and looked at an equally peeved looking Ginny.

"Would you two give it a rest already? Get over yourselves! You went into the woods with Hagrid and two giants got married, big deal. The main thing is that it meant that we had to postpone the DA meeting until tonight. Now, we've got five hours until the meeting. I need to study for Potions, and I'm sure you all have stuff to do as well, so shut your mouths and get to work!"

None of the rest of them knew what to say, so instead they all quieted down and got to work. Even thought they hadn't been the direct targets of Ginny's tirade, Neville and Harry followed suit as well. By the time they headed down to the meeting they had all gotten some quality work done and Ron and Hermione were operating under another truce, mainly because they were afraid Ginny would yell at them again.

The usual crowd showed up at that evening's DA meeting. The only change from last year was that Marietta, Fred, and George were no longer there. When everyone had shown up that was coming, Harry cleared his throat in order to get their attention.

"Right, well, thank you all for coming. Tonight, I was thinking that we'd work on the patronus charm again. I know that about half of you can do them now, but we could all use more practice. If the dementors have really joined up with Voldemort, we all need to know how to protect ourselves. A patronus is the only effective defense against a dementor. You can't run, and you can't hide from them. Now, let's all pair up and work on casting them and I'll walk around and see how you're all doing."

The group then all paired up and Harry started to walk amongst them. Ron had tried to team with Neville but had been beaten to the punch by Ginny. Hermione had then tired to snag Luna but she had been beaten out by...Cho? This left the two of them to team up together, reluctantly. Harry decided to check on them last. He started off with Ginny and Neville, both of whom had become adept at their patronus casting abilities.

"Good job on your toad, Neville! You've come a long way too, Ginny. I knew that your patronus was some kind of bird, but now you can really see that it's a phoenix. Since you're both doing so well, could I ask you both to keep an eye on Ron and Hermione? If they start to argue at all, you have my permission to stun the both of them."

Ginny gave Harry and evil grin and nodded her approval.

"I will, don't worry. You'd better look sharp yourself, it looks like someone needs your help."

Harry looked over to see the next pair working on their patronus. He signed deeply when he saw who they were. He also made a mental note not to turn their back on them.

"Hey, Parvarti, Lavender, how's it going?"

Both girls immediately stopped their attempts at conjuring and converged on Harry. He noticed that they both stood up quite straight and had their shoulders thrown back. He thought they would have looked right at home on the front of a ship.

"Hi, Harry! Lavender and I just can't seem to get the motion right. Could you show us again?"

Parvarti then turned away from Harry and took a step backwards while grabbing his arms under her own. Harry was a bit too caught up in the sudden mane of soft jet-black hair and smell of papaya to put up much of a fight.

"Is it like this, or like this, Harry?"

Harry was still trying to get a grip on his senses when he noted that Parvarti seemed to already know the motion well enough. However, she was doing a few things that weren't at all necessary to the process.

"That's, uh...just...fine...Parvarti. You, uh, don't need to move your hips, though. Your mongoose patronus is coming along nicely. I'll just let the two of you work while I..."

Before Harry could get away, Lavender had latched herself onto his back and had wound her arms around his shoulders.

"Let me have a try. It's like this, right?"

Lavender was now controlling Harry's arms and moving his wand. If he thought it had been distracting to have Parvarti's perfect posterior grinding into him from the front, it was not nearly as bad as it was now that Lavender's ample breasts were also pressing onto him from the back. For a moment or two Harry decided that there were worse fates then being crushed between the two girls, but it then dawned on him that Luna was also there, and he didn't want to upset her.

"Lavender...I have to...go...check on the others. You're both doing great. Excuse me."

Harry then quickly got away from the pair of girls who frowned at his escape from them. Harry gave a sigh of relief when he saw that Luna didn't appear to have noticed his previous predicament. He became less relieved when he saw who she was partnered with.

"Hello Luna, Cho, how is it going with the two of you?"

Luna looked at Harry with her usual dreamy smile, while the smile on Cho's face seemed far from sincere.

"Cho and I are doing very well. Her swan is quite good, and my Crumple Horned Snorkack is much better than it was last year. Of course, you're a very good teacher, Harry. Isn't he, Cho?"

Cho's smile continued to look as fake as the highlights in her hair and a cold glint appeared in her obsidian black eyes.

"Oh yes, Harry is a wonderful teacher. Of course, I only know about his Defense skills. You and your fellow slut Granger would know about his other skills, I'm sure."

Harry had feared that something like this would happen. He could feel his anger rising, while it looked like Luna didn't seem to let it affect her at all.

"Hermione isn't at all slutty, and neither am I. Cho, I think the real problem is that you're jealous."

"Jealous? Me? Why would I be jealous of you and whore-mione? I can get any man I want by myself, I don't need to share one!"

By now everyone in the room was watching the exchange between the three of them Cho and Harry looked angry enough to kill, while Luna merely looked as if they were discussing the weather. Harry didn't want Cho to upset Luna and tried to get the two of them separated.

"Ok, that's enough. Cho, you work with someone else and I'll take Luna with me."

Harry was in the process of leading Luna away when Cho grabbed him by the arm to stop him.

"What's the matter, Harry? Am I striking too close to home? Are you upset because I've uncovered your sick little game? You think you can just pick out some girl from another house to play around with while you keep your precious Hermione around to shag whenever you feel like it? I know that you didn't give a damn about me, and you can't tell me that you care about Loony the virgin queen here, so what is it about Hermione? What keeps you coming back? Does she let you do whatever you want, Harry? Does she let you give it to her in the..."

Before Cho could continue with her diatribe of hatred, Harry suddenly grabbed at his forehead and screamed. The attention in the room instantly shifted from Cho to him and Luna and Hermione were by his side the moment he had hit the floor. Seeing that the scar on his forehead had actually started bleeding and that Harry was starting to convulse dangerously, they yelled for Ron and Neville to help him up. Once the two boys had picked Harry up, Hermione told them to take him immediately to the hospital wing. She then turned to Luna and Ginny and told them to go tell Professor Dumbledore what had happened. After seeing that all of them had sped off, Hermione then turned around to look at Cho and grabbed her roughly by the neck of her robes.

"Listen to me, bitch. I know you don't like me, and that's fine because I don't like you, either. I didn't say anything last year because of Harry, but enough is enough. If you think what I did to your friend Marietta was bad, well, just you wait. That's not a threat; it's a promise. You better sleep light."

Hermione then let go of the now scared witless Cho and left to make her own way to the hospital wing. Now that she had exhausted some of her anger with Cho the heavy weight of fear gripped her heart. What had happened to Harry? He hadn't had an attack like this one since he had gone back to working on his Occlumency skills. Did this mean that Voldemort had broken down his defenses again? The thoughts of what all this could mean made Hermione feel sick to her stomach as she burst into the hospital wing to find out what was happening. Her sudden loud entrance caused Madam Pomfrey to give a little jump as she had been focused on studying Harry's situation.

"Miss Granger, would you please not run in here like that? Mister Potter here is..."

Hermione was across the room before the nurse could continue her admonishment and grabbed hold of Harry's hand. She saw that he looked quite pale but she could still feel a pulse. She found herself feeling lightheaded in relief.

"I'm sorry, Madam Pomfrey, but I had to see how Harry was. What's wrong with him?"

"I think we'd all like to know the answer to that, Miss Granger."

Hermione looked to the doorway to see a very concerned looking Professor Dumbledore, flanked by the equally concerned looking pair of Ginny and Luna. Both girls were panting for breath making it evident that the three of them had ran the entire way there. Neville and Ron stepped back from their positions by Harry's side to allow the Headmaster to have a better look at him. Dumbledore conjured a cushy chair to sit in and then conjured enough for the rest of them to sit in as well. Madam Pomfrey made to say something about it but quailed when the Headmaster gave her a look that told her that now was not the time.

"Miss Granger, what exactly happened to Harry?"

Hermione continued to hold tightly to Harry's hand as she sat in one of the chairs Dumbledore had provided.

"We were having a DA meeting, and Harry had us all working on casting a patronus. When he came upon Cho working with Luna, Cho said some really horrible things to him about Luna and I and he got really upset over it. He started to say something back to her when he grabbed his forehead and fell to the ground. I don't understand it, he hasn't had any attacks since he started back on practicing his Occlumency. What do you think happened, Professor?"

Dumbledore felt Harry's scar and noticed that it was slightly warm to the touch. Harry's face was also contorted slightly so that it looked as if he was in a fair amount of discomfort. The look softened slightly when Luna moved around his bed to take hold of his other hand and held onto it tightly. Once Dumbledore was satisfied that the boy's life wasn't in any immediate danger, he placed the tip of his wand upon Harry's chest and cast the enervate charm.

Harry awoke abruptly and took a deep gasping breath. Realizing that he was no longer in the room of requirement but once again back in the all too familiar hospital wing he tensed up, only to be comforted by the firm grasp of both Hermione and Luna. Before he could ask what had happened, Dumbledore popped a piece of chocolate into his mouth and sat down on the edge of his bed.

"Hello, Harry. The chocolate should help a bit. I'm afraid that it isn't Honeyduke's, but Cadbury whole hazelnut should do just as well. Miss Granger here tells me that you were helping the DA with their patronus casting abilities. That's a very good idea, Harry. I am concerned with what caused your scar to act up again. I've been informed that you and Miss Chang had an argument, is that true?"

Harry's head was still hurting him but the chocolate had managed to help his nausea. The mention of Cho caused his anger to flare up again, but a squeeze of his hand from Luna kept him from getting overly upset again.

"Yes, Professor. Cho was saying horrible things about Luna and Hermione and I got really angry with her. I was about to yell at her when it felt like my head was going to explode. The next thing I knew, I could hear someone laughing. It was Voldemort; I'd know that laugh anywhere. After that everything went black again and then I woke up here. Voldemort is really happy about something, Professor. I could see it in his mind. How did he get into my head again?"

Dumbledore considered what the boy had said and noticed that all eyes were now upon him. He was glad to see that Harry had such close friends to look after him. He would certainly come to need them.

"I believe that Voldemort was able to enter your mind due to the intense anger you were feeling. Your Occlumency training is focused on freeing your mind from emotion that Voldemort can feed upon. As you became angrier and angrier with Miss Chang your defenses weakened. As your anger reached its apex he was able to breath through them entirely. The answer of course would be to refrain from any emotion at all, but being a teenage boy, especially one who draws such strength from his emotions, I don't think that idea would work out. I would suggest that you stay clear of Miss Chang in the future so that the situation will not arise again. For my own part, I am simply relieved that you are all right. You'll need to stay in the hospital wing tonight to get some rest, but you can go back to your dorm tomorrow. The rest of you may stay here tonight if you wish, but please do not bombard Harry with too many questions tonight. I will check on you tomorrow, Harry. I wish you all a good evening."

Professor Dumbledore then got up and made his way over to leave the hospital wing. Harry turned his attention back to his friends around him and saw that they were all looking at him, scared. He managed a weak smile at them all that resulted in Hermione dissolving into tears.

"Oh Harry, I was so scared! I thought we'd lost you this time!"

Hermione's grip on Harry's hand turned vice like, as if death might try to snatch him away from her at any moment. Ron stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. She then used her free arm to drag him into a tight hug that squeezed the breath out of him.

"Ron, I'm so sorry for the way I've been acting lately. I know you didn't mean to hurt me. I was just being stupid. I never want to lose either one of you, ok?"

Ron worked on regaining his breath and marveled at how strong an arm Hermione had on her. He determined that it must have had something to do with lugging all those heavy books around all the time.

"No, I was the one being stupid, Hermione. I was being stupid and I never meant to hurt you, I swear. I don't want to lose you guys, either. I promise to never fight with either one of you ever again."

Harry couldn't help but smile at his two teary eyed best friends.

"If I'd have known that passing out would be what it took to get you two to make up I would have done it sooner. I'm glad to have you both back now. Oh, and Ron, I'm going to hold you to your promise to never fight with either of us ever again. You do realize that includes fighting with Hermione over doing your homework, right?"

Hermione grinned as Ron's face pinked up slightly. Harry laughed again and felt a burden lift off his shoulders. Seeing Ron and Hermione talking again made him feel much better about things, and now that he was more relaxed he realized how tired he really was. Listening to his closest friends around him talking quietly, it wasn't long before he dropped off into a peaceful sleep. Hermione noticed his grip lessen on her hand and looked to make sure he was ok.

"Harry's fallen asleep. Ron, do you think you and Neville could keep an eye on him while the girls and I go and take care of something?"

Ron nodded and took the seat closest to Harry that Hermione had previously been in. Luna seemed reluctant to let go of Harry's hand but decided top go along with whatever Hermione had in mind. Ginny also went to Hermione's side, which caused Neville to miss her already.

"What are you three going to do?"

Neville couldn't read the look on Hermione's face, but he did find that it frightened him a little.

"Don't worry, Neville. We'll be back in a little while. Oh, can we borrow your gardening shears?"

Neville nodded.

"Sure, they're in their holder on the side table next to my bed. What do you need them for at this time of night?"

Hermione had a smile on her face that Neville recognized as being similar to the one Ginny sometimes got. This realization did nothing to lessen his worry.

"I just need to take care of something and I think the other girls will be happy to help me with it. If Harry wakes up tell him we'll be right back. Girls, follow me."

It was several hours later when Harry did finally wake up. He knew that it must have been early morning from the level of darkness outside and the heavy silence that hung in the room. Well, it had been silent. A loud snore from Ron caused Harry to look around. Ron was splayed out in a neighboring bed while Ginny was curled up in Neville's lap in a chair next to it. Hermione still had a grasp on Harry's right hand and her chestnut hair obscured her eyes, but Harry could tell she was asleep with her head resting on his arm. Looking at his left hand he saw the beautiful eyes of Luna focused on him.

"Good morning, Harry. How are you feeling?"

"I'm ok, I guess. I don't feel like my head is being kicked around be Pele anymore at least. How are you doing? Have you gotten any sleep?"

Luna smiled and gave Harry's hand a gentle squeeze.

"I'm fine, Harry. I was more concerned about you. It hurt me to see how angry Cho made you. It was my fault that she went after you like that. I thought she was past that point."

"Luna, don't say that. I had problems with Cho long before you came into my life. I was just angry about her talking to you like that."

Luna took her free hand and rubbed it against Harry's cheek, causing him to instantly feel more relaxed than he had in a long time.

"I know you were, Harry. That's not all though, is it? You're feeling more than that. Teel me what you're feeling, Harry."

Harry knew that Luna could easily see through any façade he might put up and sighed deeply.

"I'm scared, Luna. Things had been going better lately and I started to forget about all the evil things in my life. I know it's stupid, But I guess I'd actually forgotten to be scared."

Luna smiled at him and ran her hand through his unruly hair.

"You're allowed to forget something every once in a while, Harry. You weren't being stupid, you were just living your life like everyone else does for a change."

Harry gave a mirthless laugh at Luna's answer,

"Yeah, well, I'm not like everyone else, am I? I'm the sodding Boy-Who-Lived. I'm the one who has to fight Voldemort in order to save the world. What's going to happen if I can't do it? What happens when I can't save the world like everyone expects me to?"

Luna leaned forward and kissed Harry's forehead. The feel of her cool soft lips on his skin caused a slight shiver to run through his body.

"You have to have faith in yourself, Harry. Everyone in this room has faith in you, but you also need to have it in yourself. Do you consider Hermione and I smart people?"

"Of course I do, Luna. The two of you are the smartest students in the school."

"Well then, if we both have the utmost faith in you then you can trust us, right? So, let's consider the matter closed for now. You will prevail against Voldemort and we'll all live happily ever after. The only thing you need to focus on now is getting well so you can get out of here. Maybe when you're feeling better we could go and sit by the lake again. You could use some sun, you know."

Harry smiled at the thought of sitting with Luna by the lake again. It would certainly be something worth getting better for.

"Thanks, Luna, for everything. Thanks for not leaving me. I really appreciate it."

Luna smiled brightly at him.

"I'll never leave you, Harry. I'll stay with you al long as you want me. Now, you should really get back to sleep so you can get your rest."

"I know, but I'm scared to try. I'm afraid that I'll have another nightmare."

"I remember when I was a little girl and I woke up from a nightmare. My mother used to come in and hold me in her arms and sing me back to sleep. Would you like me to sing to you, Harry?"

Harry beamed at her. He loved the sound of her voice and was touched that she would share something to personal with him.

"I'd love to hear you sing, Luna. I mean, if you don't mind, of course."

Luna got up from her chair and positioned herself so that she was sitting on Harry's bed next to him. She placed an arm behind his back and pulled Harry's head towards her so that it as resting on her chest. The sound of her heart beating began to lull him to sleep before she had even sung the first note.

Well the sun is surely sinking down

But the moon is slowly rising

So this old world must still be spinning around

And I still love you

So close your eyes

You can close your eyes it's all right

I don't know no love songs

And I can't sing the blues anymore

But I can sing this song

And you can sing this song

When I'm gone

It won't be long before another day

We gonna have a good time

And no one's gonna take that time away

You can stay as long as you like

So close your eyes

You can close your eyes it's all right

I don't know no love songs

And I can't sing the blues anymore

But I can sing this song

And you can sing this song

When I'm gone

When Luna had finished her song she looked down to see Harry's eyes closed in sleep. Mouthing a silent 'thank you' to her mother, along with a barely audible 'I love you, Harry' to the boy she held in her arms, she then closed her own eyes and allowed herself to drift off to sleep as well.