Harry Potter and the Loss of Innocence

Chapter Fifteen: Not All Anniversaries
Should be Celebrated

I don't remember how I felt.
I never thought I'd live
To read about myself
In my hometown paper.
How my brave young life
Was forever changed.
~Bruce Springsteen: Nothing Man

Harry wandered the castle trying to calm his mind, though this was easier said then done. Harry couldn't believe that Voldemort could kill children so easily. He just ordered their death and Bellatrix followed through. At least their parents had made the choice to fight; those kids were neither a threat nor an enemy.

Why was it that every good night Harry had, some vision had to ruin it? For the rest of his life he would remember this night, not because of the wonderful time he had had with Ginny, but as the day the Jones family were killed.

He found himself entering the Room of Requirement through the ornately carved wooden door again. He stood looking out to sea, just inches from the edge. The ocean held so much power and yet was contained by the boundaries of the land. What boundaries did Voldemort have that Harry could use to his advantage?

He couldn't think of any. It was Harry's luck to be destined to fight the most powerful Dark Wizard alive. How was he going to do this? He'd need to come up with some plan, some way to win. Harry wanted to win, now more than ever. He still wasn't sure about what he felt for Ginny, love was too new of an emotion for him, but he couldn't imagine a life without her somewhere in it. And he wanted a long life spent with his friends. He would have to find a way to destroy Voldemort and survive.

Harry had required the room to be as dark as the night outside and six hours from dawn, just as it was in the real world. That meant that the sky was filled with stars. Hundreds of thousands of them, too many to even try to count. He stood in awe of the hugeness of the universe. The moon was almost full; Remus would be turning into a werewolf next week.

Harry wondered how Remus got up every morning and lived with all the hostility towards him. How did he survive with the pain of turning into a werewolf? It was one of the many reasons Harry respected him so much. That and he was the best teacher he had ever had; though Thia was a close second.

How had she and Sirius fallen for each other? How had she gotten Sirius to tie the knot? Harry had a hard time thinking of Sirius being married to anyone, not even to Thia. What had brought the two of them together? What had made her pretend to be dead? And what in the world had she been doing all these years?

As usual, his time thinking only brought up questions, some new but most old. He hardly found any answers. It was more than a little annoying. What he would give for an answer to just one of his questions.

Harry sat on the edge and looked out over the ocean. After several hours the horizon was tinged with pink. Slowly but surely the sun made its appearance directly in front of Harry. Because of the properties of the room, Harry found that he could stare directly into the sun and not be blinded. The sun was up and rising into the sky when Harry finally shook himself out of his thoughts and went to the common room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everyone was excited that week, because Halloween was on Friday. The castle was decorated and everyone was talking excitedly about the feast. No one noticed that Harry was a little quieter than normal, no one but Ginny, that is.

It worried her, but Ron had told her that Harry was best left alone until he was ready to talk. And with her experiences with him, she found the advice to be sound. So she waited for him to talk and was next to him with support and comfort whenever she could.

That Friday's paper told everyone why Harry wasn't as excited about the day as they were. The front page held a picture of a redheaded woman, a black haired man, and both were holding a toddler boy.

Fifteenth Anniversary

of the Downfall of the Dark Lord

by Vachel Mente

Just fifteen short years ago today, the Dark Lord met his
match in the young baby, Harry Potter. It is a name that
we are all familiar with, a name that commands the respect
of those on the side of light. We celebrated for days after
the rumors were first confirmed. We raised our glasses to
the Boy Who Lived.

But we must not forget that fifteen years ago today,
the Dark Lord killed James and Lily Potter, Harry's young
parents. Both heavily involved with the fight against the
Dark Lord, they had the honor to be one of the few to
escape the Dark Lord three times. And yet, tragically,
they did not survive the fourth meeting.

How Harry Potter survived this curse is a mystery to this
reporter and to all in the field of Defense. He survived the
un-survivable curse and has escaped from the Dark Lord's
clutches several times in his short life. He lived to warn
the wizarding world about the return of the Dark Lord, but
to our great misfortune his warnings fell on deaf ears. The
Minister Cornelius Fudge started a shameless smear
campaign against Harry Potter and Professor Dumbledore,
Headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and
Wizardry.

But last spring, the Dark Lord appeared inside of the
Ministry of Magic and not even the Minister could ignore
the fact any longer. He will forever go down in history
as the Minister who stepped aside and allowed the Dark
Lord to rise again. And the Minister is still now diverting
our attention from the more important concerns.

This reporter was strongly recommended to write for
you, the readers, the story of Harry Potter. And I've
done that. I was also recommended to write about the
tragedy of James and Lily's death; I've done that. I was
recommended not to mention Minister Fudge's slip up,
but I decided to ignore that. And I was told in no uncertain
terms not to write about the Vote of No Confidence.

This reporter wants to tell the people, his readers, about
the devious nature and political maneuvering Minister
Fudge is capable of. When I was given these recom-
mendations about what to write in this story, not once
was Minister Fudge's name mentioned, except in relation-
ship to the Vote of No Confidence. And yet, I went away
from that meeting knowing that it was a message from
Minister Fudge. He is once again leaning on the Prophet to
print what he wants printed and this time the Prophet isn't
leaning with him.

Minister Fudge has spent the last month keeping the
Heads of the Departments busy preparing for a secret
event. Ironically, this kept the investigation at a stand still,
because the minimum number of Heads needed to conduct
it was missing. This secret event is a celebration of the fall
of a Dark Lord who has risen again and grown powerful
again because of Minister Fudge's inability to act.

I have taken offence at this show of tactlessness. On the
day Harry Potter mourns the death of his parents, the
Minister expects us to celebrate the fall of a re-arisen Dark
Lord? I encourage you to write to any member of the Ministry
that you know and have them encourage their Head to Vote
for No Confidence and have a new, stronger, smarter
Minister established.

Harry stared at the picture of his parents and the article that followed. He couldn't believe that they had printed that. Since when did the Daily Prophet go against the Ministry?

So, that was Fudge's secret event. Well, it's just the thing to do if you want to piss off a Dark Lord. Maybe that's what Fudge wants, so that he can act the hero. He could have the title, for all Harry cared.

He saw several people give him odd looks. Others were openly staring. Harry couldn't deal with that, not today. He said a hurried goodbye to his friends, squeezed Ginny's hand one more time (he still wasn't comfortable kissing her with more than five people around) and walked out of the Great Hall. He walked with his head held high and no tears in his eyes. He hadn't cried just for his parents in years, those tears were spent. He felt the stares follow him all the way down the Gryffindor table.

When he reached the doors, several Slytherins blocked his way. They didn't bother Harry though. It was Blaise, Sephra, Edlyn and a crowd of others. Blaise stuck his hand out and Harry shook it, slightly confused.

"That's a load of rubbish," he said, pointing at the Prophet that Sephra was holding. "It's true about Fudge and his crap, but the rest, well, it a load of rubbish."

"We know you hate the attention, Harry, and yet you seem to get it no matter what you do to avoid it," Sephra continued. "They make it sound so easy, so wonderful. Just write a letter and Fudge is gone. It's not that easy. If it was, the Heads would have removed him weeks ago."

"This celebration," Edlyn said disgusted, "is stupid. It's only going to make Voldemort angry and that's not what we need at the moment. You can bet the Death Eater spies found out about it and he's been plotting his revenge."

"All it does," Blaise said, taking over, "is make you a target. Puts you on a pedestal. If you're the wizarding world's saving light, then Voldemort will target you. How is that repaying your hero?"

"We like you," Edlyn said quietly. "You're a good teacher, very patient. You accept those who most people would turn their nose up at. You forgive and forget. And they've made you a target." Harry realized that the entire Hall was listening and that Ron, Hermione, and Ginny had come up behind him. The only reason he had noticed any of that, was because Ginny had slipped her hand into his.

"Harry," Blaise continued, "I can't speak for every member of Slytherin, but for those behind me, well, we'll support you in your battles. You just ask us and we'll be there for you." He held out his hand and Harry shook it. "I'm sorry for your loss," he said motioning to the picture on the front. "It's a lot to fight for though."

"Nah," Harry spoke for the first time in this exchange. "It's for those around me that I fight. Nothing can bring them back, but I can fight to keep those alive to stay that way. That's what I fight for, but thanks for your support. I really appreciate it. You have no idea how much it means to me."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That day ended slightly early so that everyone could get ready for the feast that night. The feast would start early this year, because Dumbledore had booked a surprise for the students. No one knew what it was, though.

Harry went to his dorm room to change, but couldn't get the feeling of dread to lift from his mind. He didn't have a good feeling about tonight. The celebration for the downfall of Voldemort would take place in Diagon Alley at the same time as the feast. Throughout the day, people had given Harry their condolences, but it had only annoyed Harry. How many of those people would have talked to him if the article hadn't come out?

He ignored Dean, Seamus, Neville, and Ron as they speculated about whom Dumbledore had booked for entertainment. He went to his trunk and, instead of grabbing a clean set of robes, he dug around looking for his photo album. He found it near the bottom and pulled it out.

He sat on his bed and pulled the curtains shut; he didn't want to head down quite yet. He had always looked at this every Halloween before the feast and he didn't want to change that.

"Hey, Harry, you coming?" Ron asked from the door.

"No, go down without me. Tell Gin that I'll be down in about half an hour." Ron left and Harry was once again thankful that Ron understood him so well. Five minutes passed and Harry paged through the pictures. He heard the door open and close and then the curtains pulled aside. Ginny crawled in next to him. She wrapped an arm around his neck and nestled her head in the crook of his arm. Harry didn't mind her looking this year. It felt... right.

About five minutes later, Harry heard Ron yelling at Hermione. It sounded like they were on the stairs. Soon the door opened and closed again and Hermione pulled back the curtains and took a seat next to Harry. Harry could see Ron in the doorway and motioned that it was all right. Ron came over, glanced once at his sister snuggling into Harry's chest and sat with Hermione in his arms.

Harry showed them all of the pictures, pointing out Sirius, Remus, and Thia in all of the pictures. He told them the little bits that Thia or Remus had told him about the pictures. An hour and a half later, they headed down to the Great Hall, hoping that not all of the food was eaten. They had missed the actual feast and the tables were gone, replaced by a dance floor and a stage. On the stage were the Weird Sisters, the most popular band in the wizarding world.

Harry and Ron glanced at each other and rolled their eyes. Neither was particularly fond of dancing, having had bad experiences their fourth year. But, Harry thought looking at Ginny, this time might not be so bad.

Ginny taught Harry how to dance that night. She laughed mercilessly when he messed up and praised him when he did well. Harry was having a great time and by the looks of it, so were Ron and Hermione. When the song ended, Harry begged Ginny to let him rest. He was sore from his training session the day before. Thia had gotten fed up with his attitude that week and had worked him hard.

They sat at one of the small tables around the edge of the dance floor and Ron and Hermione made their way over. They talked for a bit, but then Ginny's favorite song started and Harry took her out to dance. It was a slow dance and Ginny leaned her head on Harry's chest listening to his heartbeat right next to her ear. Harry wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his head against hers, breathing in the sweet fragrance of her hair.

Harry felt his mind drift and soon he was looking at Diagon Alley. How had he ended up here? There was Fudge giving a little speech about the bravery of James and Lily Potter. Harry cracked his knuckles in anger, the pompous fool. He made a signal and thirty Death Eaters started firing curses into the crowd.

Harry felt his scar rip open or at least it hurt enough to have. He screamed as Voldemort started killing and torturing. He watched as innocent people died just because of Fudge's folly. The minutes passed and Voldemort slowly made his way up to the stage were Fudge was hiding behind several Aurors. Harry was shocked to see that one of them was Tonks.

Just as many Death Eaters were ringed around Voldemort. He gave the command and each Death Eater sent a spell at one of the Aurors. They all hit and Harry screamed as a green light passed through Tonks. Voldemort glanced at the Death Eater who had cast it and whispered, "Nice job, Severus."

Harry screamed again as Voldemort looked at the sniveling fool of a Minister with absolute pleasure. "So, what do you think about your celebration now, Minister? I think this should teach you that taunting living Dark Lords is a bad idea. Any last words, Minister?"

"J-just d-don't think m-my death is th-the end of the f-fight," he managed to stumble out.

Voldemort laughed and Harry felt his scar explode with pain. "Oh, I never thought it would. I'm sure I'm just making Dumbledore a little angrier and Potter a little pissed off. There's nothing to worry about from them, so I'm not afraid. Your death is just to amuse myself and to teach others the lesson you learnt. Anything else, Minister?"

"You w-watch out, Vol-Vol-." He swore loudly because he wasn't able to say the name. "Y-you w-watch out, 'cause P-Potter will c-catch up-p to y-you. H-he'll d-destroy you."

Voldemort laughed once again, "Can you not even say a simple name? Say it and I might just spare you, Minister."

"V-Vol-Volde-V-Voldem-ma-ort."

"Not good enough. Avada Kedavra!" The same green light that had enveloped Tonks hit Fudge and he was dead before he hit the ground feet below his kneeling body.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Harry, Harry, wake up." Harry sat up straight and turned away from the voice and puked. He felt something run down his face and touched it with his fingers; it was blood from his scar.

"Are you alright, Harry?" the calm voice of Dumbledore asked from next to where the first voice had come. He looked over and saw Ginny holding his hand. It was she who he had first heard.

He nodded and tried to stand, but Dumbledore put a hand on his shoulder to hold him down. "First eat some chocolate. I suppose Tom visited you." Harry nodded and ate the chocolate thankfully. He looked around him and saw that he was still on the dance floor. He felt his cheeks burn red with embarrassment. "What did you see?"

"Voldemort took offence at the celebration in Diagon Alley." Harry rolled his eyes; anyone could have seen that coming. "Thirty Death Eaters were set loose on the crowd. Death Eaters killed the Aurors around Fudge; Tonks was one of them. Voldemort killed Fudge himself. He said it was just something to amuse himself with."

"Fudge is dead?" Dumbledore asked quietly. Harry nodded. He stood and looked at the students. "I think tonight's excitement is over for the night. You should all return to your common rooms and head to bed. You have forty minutes. After that time you will be punished as if you broke curfew. Goodnight." He turned back to Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Harry, who was now leaning on the two Weasleys. "Come with me to my office."

In Dumbledore's office Harry told them what happened in greater detail. He left out the little part about who had killed Tonks though. He didn't know why, but he wanted to hear Snape's side of the story first.

"I can't believe she's dead," Ginny said shocked. Harry nodded and hugged Ginny closer.

"Remus was excited about next week's Saturday session. She was going to come and Thia and her were going to duel," Harry said sadly. Tonight was the full moon and Remus wouldn't know about her death for a day or two.

"That would have been fun to watch," Hermione added softly. Her face was streaked with tears. "You would have learned a lot from it."

"Always about learning, isn't 'Mione?" Ron teased quietly, trying to get everyone to smile, but failing miserably.

Harry was thinking about Fudge's last words. Did he know about the Prophecy? How could he?

"What's the matter, Harry," Ginny asked concerned. "And don't say nothing. I felt your body tense up."

He sighed, but answered truthfully, "I was thinking about Fudge's last words. He said that I would catch up to Voldemort and destroy him." Dumbledore looked up quickly in surprise. "Professor, did he know about the Prophecy?" Harry cursed himself as soon as he said it. He had let the cat out of the bag now.

"No he didn't." Dumbledore answered slightly confused. "I need to figure out how this affects everything, why don't you four head to bed. Minerva, please escort them to the common room."

The common room was filled with students, it seemed that no one had gone to bed. McGonagall sent them off and stayed to make sure no one snuck back down. Thankfully, her presence kept Hermione's questions at bay and Harry made it safely to the dorm room.

There Dean, Seamus, and Neville were waiting for Harry. He crossed to his trunk, ignoring their questions, and took out his fake galleon. He set the date and time for the next morning at 10 AM. That was when he was supposed to be training with Thia, so she would be able to supervise.

"Wait until tomorrow. I want to sleep." But true sleep never came for Harry. He spent the whole night dreaming as the Death Eaters cut down the innocent bystanders, as Snape's spell hit and killed Tonks, and as Voldemort played with his prey. Nightmares from the past surfaced too; Cedric falling dead, Voldemort rising from the cauldron alive, the duel in the graveyard, Sirius falling through the Veil, Trelawney giving the Prophecy, Sephra's parents' deaths, the Revelries he'd seen, the Burrow, and the Joneses. It was a wonder that Harry didn't wake the others up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Harry, what are you doing up already?" Ginny scolded Harry when she entered the common room from the girl's dorm.

"Couldn't sleep. What are you doing up so early?" It wasn't that early, at least not in Harry's mind; it was 7:30.

"Thought you'd be up and wanted to keep you company." She motioned for him to scoot over in the chair he was sitting in and she sat in the small space provided. She leaned her head and listened to his heartbeat, which had quickened.

"Thanks, Gin, I 'preciate it." He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and laid his head on hers. "So what happened after I passed out?"

"Well, I set you down, yelling for Professor Dumbledore. Your scar started to bleed and Dumbledore was worried. We couldn't wake you up from it." She pulled one of his hands into her lap and stroked it. "Everyone was screaming, or at least it seemed that way to me. The Professors had to keep the students back so that they wouldn't trample you." She kissed the back of his hand. "The students and staff were worried about you, Harry. They thought you were dead or hurt in some way."

"I was." He looked up, past her and into the fire.

"Oh, Harry. Are you alright? And don't lie to me!" she admonished him. Harry looked down at his girlfriend (He liked the sound of that!) and smiled ruefully.

"Not really, but I will be. I have one idea of how to help," he said giving her a sly smile.

"And what's that?" she asked playfully back. Harry leaned his mouth down and kissed her gently, but passionately. They broke apart for a breath and Harry smiled at her. She was a bright spot in his life, one of the few.

"What are you thinking about right now?" Ginny asked curiously. Harry knew she wouldn't give up asking, so he tried to come up with a way to distract her.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because you looked so happy and peaceful. It was like nothing had happened, ever." Harry looked at her stunned. Could she see right through him?

"I was thinking," Harry said, telling her the truth, "about how much you and Ron and Hermione mean to me. That you're one of the few bright spots in a very dark world."

"Harry, what aren't you telling us?" He kissed her to keep her quiet. It worked and they enjoyed another passionate kiss. Several catcalls and loud whistles came from the stairs to the boy's dorm and Ginny jumped off of Harry's lap.

"Nice, Harry," Seamus said congratulating him. Dean was smiling, but Harry could tell he was a little jealous. Neville was smiling also, but whole-heartedly. And Ron... Well, he was torn between the joy that his sister and best friend were happy and the anger that his best friend was making out with his little sister.

"Thanks," Harry said embarrassed. He gave Ginny's hand a quick squeeze and she went back up to her dorm to finish getting ready for the day. Harry was surprised to see that it was already 8:30. He tapped his fake galleon again, resetting the time to 9:30. He didn't think he could put up with the questions for very long.

"So, what are you going to tell us, Harry?" Dean asked as the five boys headed to breakfast.

"Nothing, until the meeting. Telling you guys once will be enough for me." Seamus and Dean tried to get Harry to talk, but he wouldn't. Harry was thankful for Neville's and Ron's silence. It gave him a deeper appreciation for his friends.

At breakfast, it seemed that people were either giving Harry looks of distrust, worry, fear, or curiosity. The D.A. members asked him why he had arranged a new meeting and then changed the time. Others asked him if he was all right. Still others asked him about what had happened the night before. And when Hermione arrived, Harry felt the unasked question about the Prophecy. He decided to get a quick breather and went to ask Thia if she minded supervising the meeting instead of training. She was more than willing to help and understood why Harry wanted to have the meeting. Harry also noticed that Snape was tired and drawn looking; both emotions that Harry wasn't used to seeing from the man.

Ron, Hermione, and Ginny left with Harry to go to the Room of Requirement and sat waiting for 9:30 to come. There were still fifteen minutes and Harry knew what would come out of Hermione's mouth first.

"What is that Prophecy, Harry?" she asked as soon as the door was closed. Harry looked away from her and ignored her. Now that he had the perfect opportunity to tell them, he didn't want to. Why am I so fickle? Harry asked himself angrily. He had been more than ready to tell them the week before.

"Harry, please tell us what you're keeping from us," Ginny begged him. That surprised Harry; she didn't beg often. He shook his head no. He couldn't tell them right before the meeting. They would need time for it to sink in and there were only ten minutes left before the meeting started. People would be showing up any moment now.

"Is it the Prophecy from the Department of Mysteries?" Ron asked. Hermione looked at him startled. Obviously she had connected the two. Harry just stared into the fire and the door mercifully opened. Most of the club entered in that first wave. Everyone else was there within three minutes.

"I thought it would be easier if I just explained last night to all of you at once." Harry looked at them tiredly. He hadn't gotten nearly enough sleep. And when his eyes were actually closed last night, his nightmares kept it from being restful sleep. "I would like you to keep this among yourselves; I don't want the wrong ears to hear it."

"So kick the Slytherins out." Harry glared at the fifth year Gryffindor that spoke.

"I'm not worried just about Slytherins, I'm worried about the spies in the other houses. At least with the Slytherin house, we all know whom not to trust. But with the others we have to be careful. Just don't talk about this where you could be over heard." Harry ran his fingers through his hair, thinking. "I would prefer that you only talk about it with other members of the club. If you have friends not in it, please don't tell them. But I won't force you." He stopped and looked at them carefully.

"As my dorm mates can tell you, I have a problem with nightmares." He stopped and suppressed a shudder as he thought about last night's show. "Most of them are normal nightmares caused by everything I've seen in my life. But others..."

He paused trying to figure out how to say the next part. He had to be careful with it; he couldn't give away too much. His right hand went up to his scar unconsciously as he continued. "My scar isn't normal, because it wasn't caused by a spell that I should have survived. It created a bond between Voldemort and me. You all know that I can speak Parseltongue?" Everyone nodded. "That's why. Voldemort passed on that talent to me the night his curse failed." Harry paused once again thinking hard about the next part.

"Another connection between us is that in my sleep when both of our guards are down, I can see into his mind."

"You can read Voldemort's mind?" Cho asked alarmed. Ginny glared at her and Cho looked embarrassed for interrupting him.

"No, I can't read it and thankfully he can't read mine." He shook his head and tried to explain it. "It's like I can see through his eyes. I experience visions from his point of view. I can, oh I don't know how to say it." He ran his fingers through his hair and grimaced. "I can 'hear' some of his more basic thoughts and can feel his emotions. Though most of the time what he feels about something and what I feel about it are complete opposites."

"So what happened last night?" Seamus asked worried. "For that matter what happened the first Friday here, after the D.A. meeting?"

"Last night, was that stupid celebration." Everyone rolled their eyes or shook their heads in amazement at the stupidity of the act. "Well, it pissed Voldemort off." Harry went on to tell them some of the details from that night. Some glanced at Harry with pity, others fear.

"As for that Friday. Well, I saw the Burrow attacked."

"What's the Burrow?" Sephra asked confused.

"The Weasley's home. Voldemort also had the Death Eaters attack the muggle village nearby." There were some mumbles of surprise. No one had heard about it. The paper had only briefly brought up the attack. Harry couldn't understand why. The Weasleys had out-smarted Voldemort, wouldn't the Prophet want everyone to know that?

They talked about several things after that concerning the war and what they planned to do once they left Hogwarts. Harry was surprised at the number who wanted to become Aurors. Many of the others wanted to become Healers or support the war effort in other ways.

The clock struck 11:30 and Thia asked Harry if he still wanted to train today. He nodded yes. Everyone started to leave and Harry asked his friends what they planned to do today. They decided to go work by the lake, for the weather had completely cleared up over yesterday afternoon and last night. Harry said goodbye and followed Thia to the classroom.

He looked at the Wall and realized he'd have to put up a picture of Tonks now. Some times life wasn't fair. She died for a Minister she didn't even like. How cruel the twists of fate could be.

"So, why'd you tell them?" Thia asked as the door closed shut.

"Because they needed to know so that they could make up their own minds about me. I'm not going to pretend I'm not who I am. It's information Voldemort knows about already, to an extent and I'm willing to risk him finding out more."

She trained him hard that day. Harry enjoyed the work out and learnt a lot from her. The empty desk where Remus normally sat during the weekend practice was empty. He wouldn't have recovered completely from the werewolf change and would be sleeping at the moment. His empty spot though reminded Harry of Tonks. How would Remus take another loss? Remus had lost his best friends, was betrayed by another, and he spent years believing his younger sister was dead. Now his girlfriend was dead. It was so easy for Voldemort to rip apart lives and families.

"Do you think I have a chance?" Harry asked her when their most recent duel had subsided.

"Yes, I do." She looked at him. "You have a huge potential, Harry. Not only that, but you have Voldemort worried. You have silent followers; this school is filled with them. They all are willing to die fighting for what they believe in: you and your goals. You are only 16 and you hold something Voldemort never will, followers who follow not in fear or revenge but in loyalty and love. Sure you have a few of the former, but the majority is the latter."

"I never asked for them to follow me," Harry mumbled.

"Of course not, Harry. And it makes them love you more." She smiled at the embarrassed boy. "They trust that you won't turn out bad. Your morals are too strongly against that. And they know that you will fight, for them, now that you told them. Harry, you won their respect." She stopped and considered something. Harry had never thought about this before. He had a following. It was an odd thought.

"At our staff meeting before the feast, we talked about Blaise Zabini's pledge to you. It was the first time that any of the staff, including Professor Binns, had seen Slytherins pledge their loyalties to a Gryffindor while they were still at school. It just doesn't happen. Harry, your influence is greater than you think." There was a knock on the door and Professor McGonagall entered.

"I need to speak with you, Thia." She looked at Harry, "All right there, Potter?" Harry nodded. "Well, then, if you could give us some privacy. And don't listen at the door; I'm putting silencing charms on it."

Harry first headed to the kitchens for lunch, which the house elves were more than willing to supply him.

"Mr. Harry Potter, sir, did you enjoy the meal Dobby made for you? For your date with Miss Wheezy?" Dobby asked standing right next to him and pulling on Harry's pant leg to get his attention.

"Yes, Dobby, Ginny and I enjoyed the picnic meal. Thanks for making it and delivering it." Harry looked at the house elf with respect. Here was a fearless creature.

"Don't mention it, Mr. Harry Potter, sir. Dobby is more than willing to serve you. Thank you, Mr. Harry, sir." Dobby looked as if he wanted to say something else.

"Yes, Dobby?" Harry asked curiously.

"Well, sir, the house elves and Dobby have noticed Harry Potter sitting at the fire late into the night or early in the morning. Dobby was wondering if Mr. Harry Potter was all right?" Harry looked at the little elf surprised.

"Yes, Dobby. They're just bad dreams that need thinking through. I'm not getting in your way am I?"

"Oh, no, sir. Not in our way, Mr. Harry Potter." Dobby looked frantic.

"You guys can work around me, I won't mind. And if you're in the Tower and I'm up, just say a quick hello. It'd be nice to talk to someone." Dobby was overcome with emotion and started to cry into Harry's robes. Harry was slightly alarmed, but let the elf cry trying to calm him.

"Thank you, Mr. Harry Potter, sir. Dobby is honored by your kindness."

"Yeah, well" Harry said embarrassed. "I need to go find my friends. Thanks for the lunch."

"Goodbye, Mr. Harry Potter, sir," Dobby called after him, his voice filled with reverence.

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"Why won't you tell us?" Hermione asked hurt. He'd only been with his friends for fifteen minutes, but in that short time they had asked him to talk to them about the Prophecy about a million times. Harry was surprised at some of the ways they brought it up.

"'Cause I don't want to, Hermione. Let's just finish this essay for Thia."

"Harry, please tell us. I can see it eating you up inside," Ginny whispered quietly. For the second time that day Harry wondered at Ginny's ability to read him.

"No, I don't feel like talking right now," Harry replied stubbornly.

"You never feel like talking, Harry," Ron said angrily. "We wait and we wait, and you never tell us. I'm sick of waiting, Harry. Spill the beans." Harry looked at Ron surprised. It was usually Ron who told the girls to leave him be. It was a shock to have Ron snap at him about this.

"Fine, follow me."