Harry Potter and the Year that Changed Everything

Harry Potter and the Year that Changed Everything (11)

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Chapter Eleven: Guess Who's Coming to Tea Time

At the large round table that the group favored in the Gryffindor common room, the five close friends all seemed to be in a state of shock. One of the Order was dead, and Voldemort's right hand man was back in the country somewhere. All of them would have gladly pitched in to help the search in any way they could, but what Dumbledore wanted for all of them was the most difficult thing of all. They were to do nothing. He had told them, in no uncertain terms, that they were to act as normally as possible. With the children of so many known Death Eaters still at school, anything seen as an open confrontation could bring about a full-scale battle inside the school itself, undoubtedly costing many lives and all the more injuries. Instead, they were to keep the information to themselves and report any further information they might pick up to a member of staff. Above all else, he stressed, was the need to look after one another. As a group they were as safe as they could expect to be, but alone they could easily be targeted just as Luna had been. Having been told all of this, they were now sitting there in the Gryffindor common room pretending to study. It wasn't long before Ginny slammed her book shut in obvious frustration and anger.

"How does Dumbledore expect us to act like nothing has happened? Does he honestly think that Draco isn't planning something? This sitting around and waiting for them to make the first move is ridiculous. They've already killed Dung, what more needs to happen? I say we go get Draco and the rest of the Junior Death Eaters and make them tell us where Lucius is hiding. And if a few of them get hurt, well, that happens in a war."

Ron and Neville nodded their agreement to this. Both of them would have liked nothing more than to see Draco being tortured for information, even if he didn't have any. Hermione put her quill down and sighed.

"Ginny, that isn't going to solve anything. This isn't some Quidditch rivalry this is life and death. If we go after Malfoy and his gang of thugs and make the first move, it won't end until one side or the other is eliminated. No, we need to follow our leaders at times like this. Dumbledore has told us to be on the defensive, not the offensive. If one of them strikes first, then we have no choice, but we will not sink to their level."

Ron, Ginny, and Neville all murmured their dissent. Harry put his own quill down and voiced his agreement.

"Hermione is right. For now, we do nothing. None of you saw the look on Draco's face when McGonagall called us all back to the Headmaster's office. It wasn't his normal sneer or anything like someone happy about something. He looked frightened. My guess is that he doesn't know anything more than we do. And keep in mind that his father disappointed Voldemort two years ago when he didn't get the prophecy for him. That makes him desperate. He's already killed Dung, so there's no telling what he might do next. I wouldn't put it past him to try and get into Hogwarts. If he can manage that, none of us are safe. Not even the Slytherins or Draco. The best thing for us to do is look out for each other and keep our eyes and ears open for anything that might help the Order find Lucius. So you all would do well to listen to Hermione. She's saved all our lives more than once."

Hermione blushed slightly at Harry's praise. Ron snorted.

"Gee, a brother thinking his sister is right. What a shock."

Ginny stared at her own brother in disbelief.

"Hey! What about me? You never think I'm right!"

Ron fought hard not to grin at his agitated sister. He loved getting her all worked up like this. He'd been doing it all his life, of course.

"Well, when you're right for the first time, I'll start then."

The rest of the table laughed as Ginny chased after Ron around the common room. Ginny tried to hit him with her infamous bat bogey hex, but ended up accidentally hitting Lavender Brown instead, thus ruining said girl's chances of getting a date with Seamus for the coming Hogsmeade weekend. It wasn't long after that the group decided to study in the library where there wasn't nearly as much loud profanity.

**********

Classes that next day seemed to take forever. Draco acted like his usual self in Potions, however he did seem to be less at ease than normal. His cold cocky arrogance seemed to be replaced with a very real amount of uncertainty. He focused much more on his work, but still managed to make a few menacing comments to the Gryffindors, but nothing out of the ordinary that might imply that he knew anything. He didn't even put the same effort into sucking up to his head of house. At the end of the day, the boys of the group went down to the Quidditch pitch to get some extra flying time in, while the girls stayed behind after dinner in the great hall to get some work done.

Ginny would have much rather been flying with the boys, but with an essay in Transfiguration due at the end of the week, she knew that McGonagall, not to mention Hermione, would frown on such an action. So, instead, she sat next to Luna and across from Hermione at their usual table along the Gryffindor side of the hall. While she was working on her won roll of parchment, she noted that Luna was reading the latest edition of the Quibbler. She appeared to be doing the crossword. The fact that the words she was putting down often ran longer than the boxes provided didn't seem to bother her. Looking to Hermione, she noted that she too was working on a lengthy project. Curious as to what would await her the next year, she finished up the paragraph she was writing and asked Hermione what she was working on.

Hermione pinked up immediately.

"Oh, uh, nothing. Boring stuff, really. Nothing important. Just wasting parchment."

The infamous and mostly dreaded "Weasley grin" made its appearance.

"Not important, eh? Wasting parchment? Since when does Hermione Granger-Potter waste anything? And what's up with the blush? Could it be that Miss Prude is writing a lovey-dovey letter to my goofy-doofy brother? Ooh, is it juicy? Should I have mom have 'the talk' with him? I don't think the puppets ever got through to him the first time she tried."

Hermione folded up the parchment and shook her head.

"No, it's not a letter to Ron. I have up trying to get him to read anything but Quidditch magazines years ago. It's just... something I've been working on."

Ginny considered this.

"Is it a novel? Like something about finding out you're Harry's sister? Or maybe a trashy romance like mum reads and thinks we don't know? Something about a smart girl with an unexplainable attraction to tall redheads with freckles?"

Hermione smiled despite her embarrassment.

"No, it's not a novel. Don't worry about it, ok?"

Ginny grudgingly nodded and lowered her eyes again to her essay. Just as she was about to dip her quill back into her inkwell, Luna suddenly spoke.

"A letter to an old acquaintance from Bulgaria."

Ginny ended up jabbing her quill into the table while Hermione gasped.

"How could you possibly know that, Luna?"

Luna raised her saucer-like eyes from her paper and look at Hermione's shocked expression.

"Pardon? I'm sorry; I was reading a clue from my crossword. Do either of you know what they call letters in Bulgaria?"

Ginny's eyes narrowed dangerously at Hermione.

"I know what I'd call them, not to mention the person sending them while supposedly dating my brother!"

A few people at the surrounding tables looked over at them after Ginny's outburst. Hermione lowered her head and voice.

"Ginny, settle down. It isn't what you think it is."

Luna looked between the two girls and put her paper down.

"Well, personally, I think it's a Krummy thing to do."

Ginny nodded emphatically and Hermione rubbed her temples to try and relieve the stress there.

"Luna, please, I don't need the both of you wanting to sew a scarlet 'A' onto my chest."

Luna looked confused.

"Oh, I wasn't trying to be mean. I just meant that it sounded like something Viktor would do. His last name is Krum, thus 'Krummy' would be something he would be apt to do. I do like the idea of putting letters on ourselves, though. Could I use a 'Q'? That letter doesn't get enough usage."

Ginny and Hermione both stared at Luna for a moment or two before they remembered that they were in the middle of an argument.

"Ok, Hermione. I'll keep the Weasley temper in check for one minute. If you can convince me that this is all innocent, fine. If not, either you or I talk to Ron. And believe me, you'll want it to be you."

Hermione looked from Ginny's intensive stare to Luna's semi-interested glance and knew that trying to keep her secret now was pointless. And besides, she knew that Ginny and Luna wouldn't care. Ron was the one she most wanted to keep it from. After taking a quick look around to make sure they weren't being watched any longer, she leaned in and motioned for the other girls to do the same.

"Fine, I'll tell you what's going on. But, in return, you both have to promise not to tell anyone else. This is something I've sworn to keep a secret and I would never betray that. Do you both promise?"

Ginny nodded without hesitation. Luna looked troubled. Ginny noticed her apprehension.

"What's wrong, Luna? Hermione isn't asking you to lie, just for you not to say anything."

Luna continued to look torn.

"I know. It's just that I don't like keeping things from Harry. I don't want there to be any secrets from us."

Ginny rolled her eyes.

"God, you and Harry make me want to puke sometimes. Ok, how about this, unless he asks you point blank about what Hermione tells us, you don't bring it up. Can you at least do that?"

Luna pondered this for a moment and then smiled and nodded.

"Yes, that I can do. I know I might act silly at times, but it's just that I'm still in that first stage of a relationship with Harry where I can't get enough of him and would do anything for him. I'm sure you're both in the same place."

Ginny and Hermione looked at one another.

"Actually, Neville is pissing me off with spending all his time with his stupid plants."

"Ron would apparently rather be catching quaffles than taking a walk with my by the lake. We used to do that all the time with Harry. Hell, he spends more time with him than he does with me. I've become a Quidditch widow and we aren't even married yet."

Ginny and Hermione both looked morosely down at the oaken table for a long moment before they remembered what they had originally been talking about. Both girls had forgotten how easily Luna could get them off topic. Clearing her throat and gathering her thoughts, Hermione leaned towards them once again.

"Right, about Viktor. It all started the night of the Yule Ball..."

**********

"We're being watched, Harry."

Harry had just pulled up from his Wonski Feint and had been about to join in with Neville and Ron in the three man weave drill. Ron had stopped him just as he had drawn level with the two of them. Looking to where his friend was pointing, Harry did notice a solitary figure in the middle of the stadium seats. Fearing the worst, the three boys took up flying V formation with Harry at the point and approached with their wands at the ready. Seeing who it was, Harry and Neville both let out a sigh of relief. Ron did not.

"My old friends! You all flew very well up there. Harry, you perform the Wonski Feint even better than I did when I was your age and was on my national team. And Ron, Hermione said you were an excellent Keeper, and she was right, as always. And you must be Neville. Well, I bet you are all surprised to see me again, yes?"

Ron glared at the smiling Bulgarian.

"Surprise is one word for it. I can think of others."

Sensing Ron's quickly escalating anger, Harry directed Viktor's attention towards himself.

"Hello, Viktor. What bring you back to Hogwarts? I thought you were the starting Seeker for the Waterford Wailers."

Viktor pointed to his left hand. It had a translucent film surrounding it that resembled paraffin.

"One of the Beaters for the Mayo Mayhem decided to hit my hand instead of the bludgers last weekend. It was magically healed, of course, but all injuries requiring healing in professional Quidditch calls for the player to sit out a match. Something to do with insurance, I guess. So, instead of watching from the bench I was assigned to a scouting job. Knowing that I had been here already and knew most of you, I was assigned to come here and talk to three of you. Where is the little red haired one? Jenny, I think her name was?"

Ron's face began to break out in red blotches, a sure sign of trouble being on the horizon.

"Her name is 'Ginny', actually. Why do you want to see her?"

Viktor smiled and showed them his scouting report. Unlike Muggle versions, these actually showed the player in question performing various maneuvers that set them apart from others. Harry noted that a lot of the ones of him were when he had faced his dragon back in his fourth year. With Viktor in the medical tent at the time, he wondered how he had gotten hold of such photos. Suddenly, an idea struck him. Before he could ask, Viktor confirmed his suspicion.

"Hermione sent me pictures of the tournament when I got back to Bulgaria. I kept them, knowing that I would likely play professionally when I left Durmstrang. I knew even then that there was a very real possibility that I would play against you one day. According to the talk around the league, Harry, you are projected to go as high as second in the coming draft. There was some talk of you going first, but there is a Keeper named Francisco Estevez who plays for the Cuban Nationals that has decided to go pro this year. Ginny is being considered for a probable third pick in the next year's draft, especially if the Dover Sole have another disappointing season. Her experience as both a Seeker and a Chaser have helped her in the power rankings."

Ron's anger now mingled with confusion.

"Ginny? She's only a sixth year! She's got another year left before she even graduates!"

Viktor gave Ron a superior looking smile that succeeded only in making him angrier.

"Ron, you have no idea about the business. Scouts have been watching Harry ever since word got out that he had been made Seeker in his first year. I remember the rumor going through Durmstrang when I was there. We all thought it was only a story. The last first year Seeker in the world was nearly sixty years ago in Germany, and that was only because the war had claimed the lives of so many of the older students. I've come to see you, too. You are being considered for a late second round pick. Every team needs its role players.

Ron was now on the verge of a stroke.

"A chuffing role player! I've been on the House Cup winning team for two years now, and plan on being on being on one this year. I'll give you a role player, you..."

Harry stepped forward quickly so that Ron was now behind him. With a silent glance over at Neville for help, he led Viktor back up towards the castle.

"You'll have to excuse Ron, he's stressed out about his N.E.W.T.'s. Why don't we go up to the castle and get some dinner? Monday night is curry night. Myrtle's least favorite day of the week."

A loud "ow!" was heard from behind them. Viktor made to turn around but was stopped by Harry who kept him walking.

"Wasn't that Ron's voice?"

Harry nervously laughed it off.

"Eh, you know Ron. He probably just tripped over those big feet of his. So, Viktor, how are things back in Sofia?"

**********

"Well, really!"

The Fat Lady's portrait slammed backwards, causing Hermione to jump at the sudden noise. Ron was quickly standing over her and looking half-wild.

"Did you know he was coming here?"

Hermione looked up at him, half in fear, and half in confusion.

"Who?"

Ron's breathing was becoming very rapid and shallow.

"You know who!"

Hermione now looked shocked.

"Voldemort? Is he here? Where's Harry? We have to get the DA rounded up!"

Ron stopped her before she could run off to alert the dorms.

"No, not Vol... him. I mean your dear old pen friend, Viktor bloody Krum!"

Hermione continued to look shocked, despite the relief that Voldemort wasn't actually involved.

"Viktor is here? How? Why?"

"Well, apparently, old Vikki is here to scout for the Wailers. It seems that Harry and Ginny are draft prospects. As usual, I'm being thought of as second string. He mentioned you writing him and sending him pictures. Some of those pictures were from this year. That means you're still writing him. You know how I feel about him, and you're still writing him. Tell me something, do you really love me?"

Hermione would have been upset at Ron for his relapse into jealousy, but she was too concerned with what he might to at the moment to think about it.

"Of course I love you! I love you more than anyone or anything else in the world. You have to believe that, Ron."

The hard look on Ron's face softened slightly.

"I do believe you, Hermione. I love you, too. I love you more than life itself. I know you would never do anything to purposely hurt me, just as I would never do anything to purposely hurt you. My problem isn't with you, and I know that now. My problem now, as it always has been, is with him. I was too stupid to see it before, but I do now. I spent years being jealous of him, but now I see him for what he really is. He may be in love with you, but he can't have you. We love each other, and it's time to get that through his big pumpkin head."

Ron then turned on his heel and threw open the Fat Lady back into the wall, earning him another reproachful remark from her. Once Hermione had recovered from her shock at the events of the last few minutes, she leapt up from the table and hurried after him. Fortunately, the Fat Lady had already fled in disgust into a neighboring frame to escape further disruption.

When Neville found Harry to tell him that he had lost track of Ron, both boys knew where he would eventually end up. Meeting up with Luna and Ginny on their own way to dinner, the four of them converged with a determined Ron and a quickly gaining Hermione heading in the same direction. Unfortunately, the object of his ire was right inside the hall talking to the object of nearly everyone else's. Ron got their first.

"Viktor! I want to talk to you, outside."

Ron grabbed hold of Viktor's sleeve to tug him out of the hall. Two other hands quickly stopped him. One was small and feminine; the other aged and stained from the countless potions made by them.

"Ron, stop it! Viktor is talking to Professor Snape right now. You can talk to him later. Much, much later."

Hermione attempted to pull Viktor towards herself but was met with resistance from their Potions Master.

"Let go of him, Miss Granger. Mr. Weasley, you are out of order. You would do well to listen to your little girlfriend's advice. Lord knows she is generous with giving it. Perhaps you should channel your idol worship into something more constructive. Mr. Krum and I are discussing matters of greater importance than whatever nonsensical chatter you might wish to share with him. Your time would be best served by studying for your next Potions exam. You certainly need all the help you can get there, Weasley."

Ron continued to struggle against the combined efforts of the rest of the group. He may have been tall and lanky, but his determination made him as steadfast as Hagrid.

"To hell with Potions! Viktor and I have some things to straighten out. And you're right; Hermione is my girlfriend. I love her, and she loves me. Me! Not y-!"

Before Ron could continue his tangent any longer, Harry cast a quick wandless/non-verbal Silencio charm. Snape's glade turned deadly.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor for your profanity, Weasley, and another twenty for yelling at a teacher. And if you continue to drone on about your pathetic love life, I will make it an even fifty. Now, get out of my sight!"

The other members of the group all forced Ron backwards and out of the great hall. He was still struggling but stopped once Krum was out of his sight. Before Harry could follow, Snape stopped him abruptly.

"Potter! I assume you were the one to cast the Silencio without wand or speaking?"

Harry nodded in defiance. He couldn't imagine it would be an offense, but knew Snape wasn't above making it one anyway. Fighting to control his anger at what he was certain was coming; he was instead greeted with a nod of approval from his nemesis.

"Very well done, Potter. I was barely able to perceive any magical discharge at all. With more training, you could be nearly undetectable to spell tracking. Now, I suggest you go see to Mr. Weasley. You seem to be one of the few people that can control him. If he were a dog, I would suggest a rolled up newspaper."

Harry made no reply to Snape and instead hurried to catch up with the others. He soon found that they hadn't gone very far, merely a few feet from the entrance to the hall. Although Ron looked to have calmed down slightly, Neville still had him in a firm grip. He needn't have bothered, however. Hermione had him pressed up against the hard stonewall all by herself.

"Ronald Billius Weasley! I thought we had gotten past this! How dare you go charging after Viktor like some kind of troll defending his cave?"

Ron scoffed and pointed back towards the hall.

"Me? What about him? Giving out that lark about scouting for Quidditch? Rubbish! I know why he's really here. He's trying to get you back. Well, he's got another thing coming. I don't know how they do things in Romania, but we Weasley's defend our own. I'm not mad at you, Hermione. I'm mad at him. Talking it out isn't going to work this time; it's going to have to be a duel. Dad did the same thing his seventh year."

The rest of them looked shocked. The more that came out about the youth of Molly and Arthur made them all the more fascinating to say the least. Ginny nodded.

"It's true. Mum still tells the story each year on their anniversary. Didn't you ever wonder why dad and Lucius Malfoy hate each other so much? Old Lucy tried to chat up mum back when they all went here. Her and dad had been together for nearly a year, but that didn't bother Lucius. Eventually dad had enough and challenged him to a duel. Long story short, I'm just surprised Draco was born. We Weasley's tend to get overly emotional sometimes and end up getting carried away. Sadly, it's a family trait we get from both sides."

A light bulb went on in Neville's mind.

"Aha! So you did have something to do with Haley going from a D to an A cup!"

Ginny looked abashed at first, but then looked suspicious.

"How the hell do you know what size she had been?"

Neville was saved from possible castration by Ron's deep sigh.

"Ok, ok, I'm sorry. I promised that jealousy would never come between us again and it did. I guess I was just surprised to see him here. It's a lot easier not to think of someone when you don't see them for a couple years. I'll go and apologize to him and Snape. But, before that, I want to apologize to you, Hermione. I'm really, really sorry. I love you, and I know you love me. Please accept my apology, please?"

Ron lowered his head slightly and gave Hermione his "puppy dog" look. After seven years with them, she could still not resist that look from either him or Harry. Giving her own deep and resigned sigh, she grabbed Ron's hand in hers and led him to the stairs to go back to Gryffindor tower with him.

"Fine, I accept your apology. You can apologize to Viktor and Professor Snape later. I think they've seen enough of you for today. The Professor was right about one thing; you do need all the studying you can get before the exam."

Ron winced.

"Hermione, the test isn't for another two weeks! We've got loads of time!"

Hermione's look turned stern. Mrs. Weasley herself could not have looked more menacingly at him if she tried.

"Well, perhaps you'd prefer it if I took my acceptance of your apology back? I'm sure Eloise Midgen would love to help you study. That rash of hers has almost all crusted over now."

Ron winced again. He was going to be paying for this one for a long time.

"On second thought, I'd love to study with you, love. Maybe after Potions, you could help me with Charms. I think we're going to be making multi-use Portkeys after Christmas break. No need to wait four months for that!"

Hermione's face brightened immediately.

"Ooh, that would be fun! And then we can work on transfiguring multiple objects at once! I just know that will be on our N.E.W.T.'s! And after that we can go over..."

Hermione's voice trailed off as she led Ron on up the stairs. Back on the bottom floor, the remaining group laughed at Ron's plight. Harry wondered if his best friend would ever stop getting himself into these situations. He didn't think so. Ron just wouldn't be Ron if he didn't. As they all made to return to the great hall for dinner, a duo came out that caused them to stop and take cover behind a large statue of Merlin.

Neither boy appeared to have seen them, even though they had looked around to make sure there was nobody around. Once satisfied that they were not being watched, or so they thought, the two quickly crossed the entrance hall and ducked into the passage that led to the staircase down to the Slytherin dormitory. Once out of sight, the group came out from behind their hiding place. Harry absently ran his hand through his hair, a sure sign that he was thinking hard about something.

"What in the world are Viktor and Draco doing together, and why are they in such a hurry? And what's with them trying to be sly about it? Do you think it could have something to do with Draco's father being back in England?"

Neville looked shocked.

"Do you really think so, Harry? I always thought Viktor was a nice enough bloke, but he did go to Durmstrang. Maybe we should follow them."

The two boys made to head down to the Slytherin dorms but were stopped by their respective girlfriends grabbing onto them. Neville looked at Ginny with a puzzled expression.

"What's wrong with you? Don't you want to know what's going on? It could be important."

Ginny grinned and rubbed the small of Neville's back. She knew from past experience that this would cause him to forget about everything else but her and her hands. When he had closed his eyes and moaned softly, she knew it had worked for her yet again.

"Don't worry about it, Nevy. It's not what you think it is, trust me. There's nothing evil going on. Well, some people might disagree with that, but it's nothing we need to concern ourselves with."

In his addled state brought on by his girlfriend's talented fingers, Neville asked no further questions. This left Harry to take up the cause.

"How do you know what's going on? Do you two know something about this that we don't?"

Ginny turned her sweetly grinning face to Harry.

"Of course not! I just don't think we should sneak around Draco too much. If he caught on he might go on the offensive. I'm just thinking of the safety of the school, Harry."

Ginny was using her sweetest smile on him. A year or two ago he would have caved just like Neville had, but now he was able to resist. Barely.

"Yeah, I bet you are. Ok, fine, don't tell me. Luna, do you..."

Harry turned to look at his own girlfriend and saw that she looked to be on the verge of a breakdown. He knew that she could never lie to him, or to anyone for that matter, but whatever she knew must have been a matter of some importance and secrecy. Someone had obviously entrusted the two of them with this information that trusted them both to keep it a secret. He knew that he could easily compel her to tell him, but he also knew that he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he did.

"Do you... want to head to the kitchens for hot fudge sundaes?"

Ginny stopped rubbing in mid-stride and stared at Harry in amazement, did she hear what she thought she had? Neville would have begged her to continue, but he too was staring at Harry. Both of them thought they must have been Confunded. Harry couldn't have said that, could he? From Luna's reaction, they realized me must have.

"Ooh, yes! I'd love some ice cream! Could I get butterscotch on mine? It's such a pretty color."

Harry laughed at Luna's child-like glee at the prospect of ice cream. All worried about what Draco and Krum might be doing fled from his mind like leaves being carried away by the wind.

"Of course you can. I bet Dobby will even give you extra cherries if you ask him. He can't resist you either, you know."

Luna clapped her hands in joy while Ginny laughed at her as well.

"Count Nevy and me in, too. I'll take mine with Crème De Menthe, and he'll have strawberry. You've got a thing for the color red don't you, baby?"

Neville blushed a deep crimson while Ginny laughed and took his hand to lead him down the passage towards the kitchens. Harry offered his arm to Luna and followed behind them. Luna put her arm around his waist and drew him close to her.

"Thank you, Harry. I do know something, but I was told about it in confidence. I don't like to break those, especially to people I care about."

Harry knew that Hermione must have been the person who told Luna whatever it was she told her. He was reminded again how much the six of them had become a sort of family, and that a family looked after one another. Hugging Luna back, he lowered his head slightly and gave her a soft kiss on the lips. Neither of them thought that the ice cream could possibly be any sweeter than that.

"It's ok, angel. I would never ask you to do anything you didn't want to do. I know you can keep a secret, and I know that the best little secrets are kept. Now, let's go get a sugar buzz!"