Twilight

Twilight

L.S. Song

Chapter Eleven - One Amongst Us

It was mid-December, and Christmas shopping was proving to be a problem for the student population of Hogwarts. Since the Battle of Hogwarts, as the students called it, the teachers had imposed very strict rules; absolutely NO roving around was to be accepted after curfew. Any student caught would first be given a week of detention as a punishment, and if they were caught again they were suspended for a week, and if (although no students had been foolish enough to sneak out three times), they were caught again, they would be expelled from Hogwarts. The only students allowed out at night were Harry and Hermione, and the seventh year prefects, who monitored the halls.

Harry and Hermione's job was a little more complex. Hermione was supposed to monitor the Marauder's map for any strange happenings around the schools from eleven o'clock to one, and report to Harry if she saw something out of place, from couples snogging in the Astronomy Tower to Death Eaters coming out of secret passages.

It was Harry's job to catch these students, and report any possibly dangerous scenarios to Dumbledore in person. Portkeys to Dumbledore's office had been made for each seventh year prefect, Harry and Hermione, activated with a tap of the wand for emergencies.

So far, however, nothing very interesting had happened, although Harry had caught Dennis Creevey getting a little too friendly with a Hufflepuff third year. He had reported them, and Dennis had turned a strange shade of green as he apologized profusely to the Headmaster.

Remus Lupin's funeral had come and gone, a few days after the battle of Hogwarts. It was simple, and not many people had attended. A few ministry workers who knew him at school, aurors and Order members, Hogwarts teachers, Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione had attended his small funeral, which was held in the graveyard that held Harry's parents' graves. It had been a hard day to endure, and Harry had shut himself away for a week afterwards, wallowing in misery. It had been Ginny, yet again, that had snapped him out of his reverie with a few well-chosen words.

Dumbledore had returned to normal after a few weeks, although he had been in critical condition after his duel with Voldemort. There were articles in the Daily Prophet heralding his valor in his duel against Voldemort, and Harry had found himself in the front page also, with stories from aurors about how Harry had distracted Voldemort just long enough for Dumbledore to heal himself and resume the fight. Dumbledore had received praise in almost all of the newspapers, but a few hinted that perhaps he was getting a bit too old for the fight. Harry had noticed that he did indeed seem very weary nowadays, conjuring up a walking stick that he hobbled around on, and during lessons he had always just given them instructions for dueling - Harry dueled against Hermione now, with Dumbledore performing any necessary counter-charms if a curse hit its target, but all the same never leaving his chair. It was depressing to see the old wizard so tired.

Thankfully, Voldemort's forces had died down after the attack - after the loss, Voldemort's forces must've had extremely low morale, and they had ceased any major attacks. Captured dark wizards were shipped off to a new wizard prison set up within the Ministry of Magic, with their memories wiped, their wands snapped.

Harry had been to see Dumbledore once, and found that the Order was doing as much as it could to keep Voldemort's forces at a low, and he should go about enjoying himself for the holidays that were soon to come. In fact, he had received permission to go to the Burrow with Ron and Ginny over the holidays.

However, Harry wasn't in a position to think about that just now. It was one week to Christmas, and the second Quidditch game for Gryffindor had begun. He was speeding around the field, dodging bludgers, and watching Blaise Zabini, the new Slytherin seeker, in case she went into a dive and saw the snitch.

He sped across the field, having pleasure in making Zabini jump up in fright and streak after him, until he returned to his position above the play, looking for a glint of gold that was the snitch.

Down below, he saw three scarlet blurs streak across the field, tossing the Quaffle to each other. Neville and Seamus flanked Ginny, and as they approached the goalposts they flew in front of her, with Andrew and Jack keeping the bludger away. During practices, it had been determined that Ginny had the best arm for scoring out of all of the chasers, and they had developed a new strategy to test on Slytherin - the frog hop. Sure enough, it came. Ginny, on her Nimbus X-Shock, all of a sudden tossed the ball to Neville and Seamus, roared upwards, and took the Quaffle back from Neville as he tossed it high up into the air. The keeper, who was sure that Neville was going to shoot, did not react in time when Ginny sizzled a shot pass her into the center hoop.

"Lovely goal there by Weasley... Gryffindor catching up! 60-40!" cried Dean.

Harry did a fancy twirl in delight, and swooped past Ginny and yelled, "THAT'S HOW IT'S DONE GIN!" and gave her a wink.

Slytherin had started streaking down the field, and Crabbe and Goyle whacked bludgers at Ron. Ron had twisted in a complicated zigzag, and dodged the bludgers, but he couldn't pull off the save. The Slytherin crowd roared in delight, whilst the Gryffindors moaned. The Hufflepuffs clapped, apparently they were still upset with Gryffindor for putting their captain in the hospital wing for two weeks and put him off the Quidditch team for the rest of the year - Madam Pomfrey had said that it was too dangerous for him to play anymore.

"OH BREAKAWAY BY GINNY WEASLEY! SHE STREAKS UP THE PITCH, OH... THIS COULD TURN NASTY! TWO BLUDGERS, TWO BEATERS, AND SLYTHERIN KEEPER BULSTRODE STREAKS DOWN TO BLOCK HER! OH THAT'S GOT TO HURT... but wait! GINNY WEASLEY SCORES!"

The Gryffindors were torn between yelling out in delight or moaning in sympathy. Ginny held his arms in the air, signaling his need for a time out. Harry swooped down and called one.

"You okay, Gin?" Harry called.

Ginny shook her head. Apparently she had rammed right into Bulstrode and twisted around off the impact. When she had twisted, a bludger smashed into her back. However, biting through pain, Ginny had put the Quaffle through the right hoop to bring the score to 70-50.

Ron observed Ginny's injury. "Shit, Gin... it's swelling up... okay your off, Gin, good job. Go see Madam Pomfrey now..."

"NO! I'm not letting Slytherin win," said Ginny, grinding her teeth. Harry was truly impressed with Ginny's tough resolve.

"Ginny, are you sure you're fine? It's your call, but if I see you struggling, you're going straight to the hospital wing. Wait a second."

Harry pulled out his wand, and waved it over Ginny's bruise. A faint blue light went over it, and it faded slightly.

"That should make it a little bit better... nothing like Madam Pomfrey of course, but that is the best I can do..."

"Thanks, Harry, it'll do."

Ron made the signal to Madam Hooch, and the Gryffindor Quidditch Team flew up into the air again.

Twenty minutes later, Harry realized that Ginny was DEFINITELY not okay. She lagged behind, and her face was wrenched in an expression of pain.

"TIME!" called Harry.

"Gin, you're not okay. C'mon I'm taking you to the hospital wing."

"Don't be ridiculous, Harry, the team needs you. I'll go myself..."

"No wait..."

Harry sped off into the stands where Hermione sat with Luna.

"Mione! Would you mind taking Gin to the hospital wing?" he shouted.

"No problem, where is she?"

Harry pointed, and sped back to his teammates.

"Hermione's coming Gin. We'll wait with you until she gets here. You did good Ginny, we're proud of you," Harry said.

The whole team agreed wholeheartedly. Even when Ginny was injured, she had scored two more goals, and thanks to Ron's brilliant goalkeeping, Slytherin had scored none, which brought the game to a tie.

Hermione had arrived, and led Ginny out. Before she got out of hearing distance, she turned around.

"Oh and go kick some Slytherin arse, guys, don't let me down!"

With a wink, the two girls disappeared off to the castle.

"Alright guys, we're down a chaser here. I'll get the snitch as soon as possible, but for now, we concentrate on defence. Make sure they don't get up by more than 140 points, alright?"

"Alright."

Again, the Gryffindors took flight again, however this time one player short.

Very soon, it had turned nasty. Without Ginny, Gryffindor had basically no offence, and they were one player short on defence.

Suddenly, in the nick of time, Harry saw the snitch. The problem was Blaise Zabini had seen it too.

They dived. Blaise was closer to the snitch than Harry, but he had a better broom... bit by bit, Harry had caught up to her.

The snitch flew to Blaise's side, and Harry decided that now wasn't a time to be a gentleman, as Wood had put it in times long gone. Harry flipped to the other direction, causing the tail of his broomstick to crash into Blaise's broom, veering her off course. Harry, with the better broom, immediately dived after the snitch.

"Gryffindor captain has gone crazy! He dives like a bullet towards the ground... but wait! WAIT! OH MY GOD! HE SNATCHES THE SNITCH OUT OF THE GROUND RIGHT BEFORE IT HITS, AND HE SOMEHOW MANAGED TO AVOID BEING CRUSHED! HE'S GOT IT! HE'S GOT THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WIN 220-150!"

The crowd roared its delight, even the Ravenclaws who had just been applauding politely before then. The Slytherins hissed, and the Hufflepuffs merely walked away, although some of them were applauding quite loudly themselves at Harry's spectacular dive. Harry was in the midst of celebrating with his teammates, pumping his fist up and down, still clutching the snitch in one hand, his Firebolt in another. He saw two girls waving just inside the castle, apparently hearing the noise that had been made signaling the end of the game. Harry tapped Ron.

"C'mon, Gin and Mione are waiting."

The two boys grabbed their brooms and sped off towards the castle, leaving the still uproarious crowd behind.

***

"Hermione, I take it you'll still come with me to the ball this Christmas Eve?" asked Ron, yawning as he said so one cold December night, two days before Christmas Eve.

Hermione sighed, and said, "I guess..."

"What's wrong? Why are you..."

"Ron, that WASN'T the most romantic way of asking a girl to the ball you could think of was it?" asked Ginny suggestively.

"Oh... right. Well, too bad it's already past," said Ron, and went back to his book about learning to be an animagus, evidently unaware of Hermione who had just gasped in disbelief at how Ron couldn't take a hint.

She walked quickly out of the room, up the staircases, and a loud bang could be heard.

"What's up with her tonight?" asked Ron.

"Oh you are so TACTLESS!" cried Ginny, and she in turn walked out of the room and followed Hermione.

"Must be that time of the month..." muttered Ron under his breath.

"Ron, what they're getting at is for you to ask Hermione nicely to the ball. It'd make her feel more appreciated, and not just taken for granted," said Harry wisely from behind his Auror's book that he had gotten from Moody for his birthday.

"But why? I mean she's already my girlfriend, shouldn't I just assume that we'll be going together?"

"Take a lesson in girl psychology, don't ask me, I'll never know," said Harry.

"Oh blimey, forget it. I'll make it up to her tomorrow. You want a game of chess?"

"I'll take you up on that," said Ginny who had come back down. "If you don't mind of course, Harry."

"Oh, not at all, and may I say, you look absolutely spanking gorgeous tonight Miss Weasley. Would you care to accompany me to the ball on Christmas Eve?" asked Harry with a mock bow.

"I'd be delighted to, Mr. Potter."

Ron burst out into a fit of laughter. "Oh you two are so pathetic!"

"But that, in a nutshell, is how you ask a girl to the ball nicely, Ron," said Harry, and watched the siblings get into a fiercely competitive game of chess.

***

"Ah, Mr. Potter! Delightful to see you again! Would you care to purchase another gift for your lady? Oh and JUST in time for Christmas too!" said the short shopkeeper in the luxury jewelry store in Hogsmeade. He was nearly bouncing in delight in the anticipation of a big sale.

"Yes, indeed, Mr. Autan. This time I'm looking for something along the lines of a bracelet, do you have any in stock?"

"Why of course! We have bracelets, watches... all sorts of things. In fact, a new product just came in today, from the finest craftwizards of Switzerland!"

The shopkeeper waved his wand and two watches came flying out. Harry was immediately attracted to them. It was made of a silvery colored substance, was as strong as steel but was as light as a feather with a cool, metallic feel around it.

"You see, Mr. Potter, during this war, our customers have wanted a little bit more products that can, err... help defend oneself. Here, let me demonstrate."

He led Harry to a side room with a model of a woman wearing jewelry and strapped the watch on the model.

"Now, get well out of the way Mr. Potter... wouldn't want to get hurt would we?"

Harry bristled a bit at the way of addressing him, but obliged.

"Now... STUPEFY!" the shopkeeper yelled, aiming at the model.

A strange net of white light flew out of the watch and bounced the stunning curse straight back towards the shopkeeper, and he had to dive out of the way to avoid it.

"Automatic protection, you'll never get ambushed again! Plus, should you be in a situation where you could not fight, the watch can be automatically tuned into a portkey to take you to a specific place, such as your home, by the mere pressing of that button over there... now this portkey is programmed to come straight to the front desk of my store... watch."

He pressed the button, and disappeared.

"Come here, Mr. Potter," the shopkeeper called out. "The nice thing about this watch is that its magically branded to you, and you alone, so the witch or wizard that says the activation charm is the only person that can use the special effects that the watch has..."

Harry was amazed. He had seen many useful gadgets in the seven years he had been in the wizarding world, but none quite as useful as that.

"There are also more functions, in the instruction manual that comes with the watch..."

"That's brilliant! How much is it each?"

"Two thousand galleons, a bargain for you, Mr. Potter!"

"Two thousand, huh? Tell you what. I'd like to buy two of these, one designed for males, one designed for females, but unfortunately I've spent a lot more than I should on Christmas presents so far, and two more watches just really tips the scales..."

***

Half an hour later, after a large amount of haggling, Harry left the shop with one check less, but two very priceless watches in its stead. Harry had already gotten Ron a new pair of keeper's gloves, Hermione an encyclopedia of spells developed by ancient Africans, Parvati (because he had overheard the fact that she got him something) a crystal ball, Luna a box of sugar quills, and Neville a jar of every flavor beans. With Ginny's gift done and out of the way, Harry walked back to Hogwarts.

Harry had just crept out of the witch's hump when Ron had bumped right into him.

"What were you... oh GOD HARRY! You bought PRESENTS!" said Ron. Ron turned and thought for a second, and exclaimed, "You didn't bring me?"

"I was shopping FOR you too... I couldn't very well bring you along too could I?"

"Oh really? What did you buy?"

"You're not finding out that easy... now there's still three hours before dinner... if you hurry..."

Ron pushed Harry out of the way, and yelled, "Dissendium!"

Before Harry knew it, Ron had jumped down.

Chuckling to himself, Harry went upstairs and placed down his purchases, when he heard a fiery argument from inside the common room.

"FOR THE LAST TIME COLIN, NO I DON'T WANT TO GO OUT WITH YOU! I'M WITH HARRY!"

"Oh, yeah, like the rest of the school population... Parvati, and the likes of her..."

"Shut up, what do you know?"

"Ginny, I've heard Harry telling Parvati..."

"Listen, I don't have time to listen to you make up lies."

"Yet you stay in school every day listening to Harry's? You realize that he's just a bigheaded lunatic who steals the limelight from Dumbledore because of some freak accident when he was a baby... plus he's just using you to make himself look even better, I bet he doesn't care for YOU at all... You know what I learnt when Malfoy put the Imperius on me? I could access some of his memories when he let me... did you know that Harry is..." Colin uttered a long string of insults.

A loud slap was heard.

"DON'T INSULT HARRY YOU LITTLE DEATH EATER! HE'S WORTH A HUNDRED OF YOU!"

"He doesn't even love you, Ginny, I do. You know I do, we were great together... people voted us the sweetest couple in the school..."

"Ha! Realized that you missed your chance? Need a decent girl to cheer you're stinking Death Eater self up? And how do you love me? Hermione told me how Harry had thrown off the Imperius Curse in his fourth year. He did it because of a strong will, everyone said. If you had a strong will and you actually had ANY feelings for me you would've..."

"I've realized that watching for months famous perfect Potter grope you in the hallways just how much you actually meant to me... plus you know it... deep down you love me as much as I love you."

"How dare you!"

"You know you want me too Ginny..."

Harry heard Ginny laugh.

"Never in a million years would I ever 'want' you Colin. Not anymore."

"Ginny, if you like Potter because of his so called powerful self, and you're sure he'd protect you, you're all wrong... Remus Lupin was killed because of Potter... they killed him because he was friends with Potter's dad... but, I could easily get someone to put another Imperius on me... I could be just as strong as Potter, any day!"

"Is THIS what it's all about, Colin? You had a taste of power under Malfoy's imperius curse and you want MORE? That is just PATHETIC! ABSOLUTELY PATHETIC! Giving up your free will for a bit more POWER... even Death Eaters don't sink THAT low..."

"No, of course not... I want you Ginny... we were meant to be together... we fit each other perfectly... and if power is what I need to get you..."

"Don't give me that loud of dung. Get out of here Colin. When you had come to talk before I thought it was because you were dealing with your conscience so I tried to be nice and understanding, despite the fact that just being around you gives me an uneasy feeling... but to think that you actually ENJOYED the time under the Imperius... you are without a doubt the most low-down pathetic excuse for a Gryffindor I ever seen..."

"FINE! I've had it with you, I should've known that all you were was a little poor girl who just grabs her chance with the great famous Potter to get herself some money and gifts... say, how much DOES he pay you?"

Harry walked in, his green eyes alight with fury.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor for insulting a fellow prefect and the Head Boy and being off bounds... and if I ever hear you utter foul words out of your stinking mouth about Ginny, Ron, or ANY Weasleys again you'll get what the rest of the scum that served Voldemort get. I don't care if you were under the imperius or not, it doesn't give you an excuse to start trying to recruit others to the cause. Oh, and if I ever see you in the Head Boy dorm again, I will personally ensure that you are expelled. Now, I'll be seeing Dumbledore about your suspension... that is assuming you've only been here twice, but if you've been here a THIRD time... well you know what happens... Now, get out before I lose my temper," Harry said calmly, although his expression betrayed his already imminent anger.

"You... I can't believe you! When will the wizarding world wake up and..."

"That's it Creevey. We're going to the headmaster."

Jumping on Colin, Harry activated his portkey that took him to Dumbledore's office. He felt the familiar tug and the next second he was in Dumbledore's office, straightening himself.

"Professor Dumbledore, Colin Creevey was out of bounds, and from what I've heard this isn't his first time..." started Harry, who broke off after the sight of the Headmaster slumped in a chair, seemingly motionless.

"What? Oh hello Harry, Colin..." said Dumbledore who had immediately snapped to attention.

Harry gave Dumbledore an inquiring look, but Dumbledore immediately shook his head.

"Well... Colin here was out of bounds, in the Head Boy common room... and I've heard through his and Ginny's conversation this isn't the first time. I do believe being out of bounds calls for a punishment?"

"Yes... yes..." Dumbledore stood, and threw a handful of floo powder into the fire, saying, "Minerva McGonagall."

McGonagall's face appeared in the fire a few minutes, saying, "Oh Albus, do you need anything? Another potion?"

"No, no, Minerva... we have a problem with a student being out of bounds..."

"I'll be there in a second."

McGonagall appeared out of the fire, and straightened. "Potter, Creevey, or both?"

"Creevey, Minerva. Now, if you don't mind I'll be going, much to do, feel free to use my office."

"Thank you, Headmaster."

"Now... what is the problem?"

***

"EXPELLED? Awesome! Way to use your Head Boy powers! Who did you expel?" exclaimed Ron at dinner.

"I didn't rat on him for no reason..."

"Who?"

"Colin Creevey."

"But he was on the imperius..."

"Not for that..."

And so Harry explained to Ron and Hermione how Colin had been talking to Ginny, and how he had insulted her.

"...and I'll be damned if I let someone insult me and my girlfriend for no reason at all and get away with it. Plus, I've had enough... look things just 'happen' to me all the time, and I'm not going to let anything bad that is short of inevitable to happen to me."

"Totally agree with you mate. I would've done more than you, Harry. I would've..."

"I'm glad to see you're taking your responsibility seriously Harry, I should've known you'd be a great Head Boy..."

"At least you two both approve, even if it's in different ways..." Harry smiled, and slung his arms around his two best friends, walking out of the Great Hall. Harry noticed that Ginny was nowhere to be seen, and he decided maybe she needed some alone time, for whatever reason.

An hour later, after visiting Hagrid with Ron and Hermione, Harry said, "C'mon, I haven't seen Ginny for a while, lets go and check the Marauder's Map..."

Walking back into Harry's dorm, he took out the old piece of parchment.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

The Marauder's Map activated, and Harry immediately spotted Ginny in the Marauder's room, alone.

"I know where she is. I'm going to go see her... you two can stay if you want."

Ron and Hermione nodded.

Harry, grabbing his invisibility cloak, disappeared and walked out of the dorm. Harry's little mysticat jumped on his shoulder - it must've been able to see through invisibility cloaks. Re-adjusting the invisibility cloak so it covered the mysticat, he climbed out the portrait hole, and headed to the Marauder's room. He didn't want anyone to find out the location of the room.

He found her sitting alone, calmly looking into the fireplace, with Prongs' song on.

Harry stood silently for a while, watching Ginny as the light flickering from the fire illuminated her fiery red hair, her freckles, and her eyes. The mysticat purred softly and jumped off Harry's shoulder, starting to look around the room.

Whispering "Prongs" to close the hole, Harry walked over, and pulled Ginny into a hug.

She jerked at first, but then relaxed into the hug.

"You're beautiful, Ginny... you know that don't you?"

Ginny smirked up at him. "Do you want to kiss me or something?"

"Trick question huh... but I was serious... you're... you're... Ginny, you know Colin was totally lying don't you? I mean I... you know, I got him expelled... you don't mind do you?" said Harry very fast, not at all like his usual self.

"I'll take that as a yes."

Ginny pulled Harry's face down to hers, and kissed him lightly.

When they broke apart, Harry looked deep into Ginny's eyes. He now felt what he had felt that summer's night magnified a few times. Harry hesitated for just one second, and voiced what he had been thinking of saying for a few months now.

"Ginny...what I want to say is I... well I love you."

Ginny smiled, a genuine, lit from within smile. "I love you too. You do know that I always have, but I couldn't just wait for you forever... If I had done that you'd still be oblivious to me..."

"But that's not very fair... you can't just..."

"Harry, shut up."

They kissed again.

***

"So, what did you get Hermione, Ron?"

"No way, I'm not about to tell you this time..."

"Fine fine... why is it that we're always down here half an hour before they are?"

"They're girls, they take a long time to dress up... mind you it's worth it... even Ginny looked okay."

"That's not very nice..."

"Bollocks. I just gave her a compliment!"

"Ron, you're more thick-skulled than I am when it comes to dishing out compliments..."

"Whatever, bighead..."

"Thick skull..."

"Bighead!"

"Thick skull!"

"BIGHEAD!"

Harry stopped and smiled.

"What?"

"Ginny."

Ginny had her hair twisted up into an elegant knot at the top of her head, and she was wearing the same silver-white robes she had wore for the Halloween Ball, Harry's necklace, and she had taken it to put glitter on her face.

"Oh hi, Ginny, where's Hermione... why are there dots all over your face... and why is your hair ridiculously like that!"

"I think you look gorgeous..." said Harry, walking over to Ginny, handing her a bouquet of ever-lasting roses, and sliding his arm around her waist.

"Shut up, Potter, and stop eying my little sister!"

"She's MY girlfriend...!"

"She's MY sister!"

"I'm both, so please stop fighting over me," said Ginny, although she was smiling. "Oh, and here comes your princess Ronniekins."

"Shut up... Hi Hermione... you look lovely tonight..."

"Shut up, Weasley, and stop eying my best friend!"

"She's MY girlfriend!"

"She's practically my sister!"

"Shut up Harry!" yelled Ron and Ginny.

"Okay, okay..."

The four students made their way down to the Great Hall, and were surprised that there was hardly any space, and that music was already blasting.

"Oh yeah... everyone's allowed at this ball..." said Hermione.

"Right... well lets go find a table... unless you'd like to dance first?"

"You bet."

Ron and Hermione went off by themselves leaving Harry and Ginny alone.

Harry led Ginny into the center of the dance floor, when something very strange happened.

"ALL STUDENTS GET TO YOUR COMMON ROOMS!" roared Dumbledore, without giving an explanation.

First years shrieked, Second years turned their heads around frantically, third and fourth years ran out of the hall, fifth and sixth years were trying to calm down the youngest students and force them to leave.

Harry saw Dumbledore talking very fast to Snape and McGonagall. He started to walk over, but Dumbledore shook his head. Muttering something, Dumbledore sent a jet of silver light towards Harry.

Harry didn't dodge it... he knew he could trust Dumbledore.

There's something in the castle. Stay in the Head Boy dorm, do NOT leave unless there is imminent danger. We don't know what it is but something set off the wards... GO!

Harry nodded, and pulled Ginny quickly towards Ron and Hermione.

"Something is in the castle. We're not to help under any circumstances. Come on," whispered Harry hurriedly.

They ran quickly to the Head Boy room, panting slightly when they reached the portrait hole, and scrambled in.

Harry's mysticat purred as they walked in, immediately jumping onto Harry's shoulder.

An hour long the four friends sat in a circle, waiting, waiting for any news, whether good or bad, until they couldn't stand it any more.

"Did they forget about us or something?" yawned Ron.

Harry was still clutching his wand, his eyes still staring a hole into the portrait hole, when McGonagall's head finally appeared in the fireplace.

"We found... nothing."

"Great! Nothing got in then?" exclaimed Ron.

"No it isn't, is it, Professor?" said Hermione thoughtfully.

"No indeed Miss Granger... the Hogwarts wards don't malfunction... they were placed upon the grounds by the founders themselves..."

"So what does this mean?" asked Ginny.

"It means something is in Hogwarts. They aren't showing themselves yet, but we know they're there."

"What are we going to do?" questioned Harry.

"We're not going to do anything. All four of you will return to Grimmauld Place for Christmas tonight, in thirty minutes. The school is being evacuated for the holidays for further inspection. Bring all your belongings, and come down to the Great Hall in half an hour."

"Yes, Professor."

They scrambled for their trunks and forty-five minutes later, courtesy of a portkey, they were in Grimmauld Place, face to face with the Weasleys, and the Grangers.

Harry watched with a twinge of jealously at the two families which were embracing their children.

Hermione saw Harry standing alone and quickly pulled him to her and her family.

"I know what you're thinking Harry..."

"But you can't understand..." Harry stopped. He didn't want to be one to moan all the time.

"But I can help, if you let me. I love you Harry, you're my brother, and it doesn't matter if you weren't born as my brother, or even if you consider yourself to be, you'll still be my brother, my family. You might not have your blood family with you but you have family all the same."

Harry was touched. He had never appreciated Hermione as much as he did then, as he watched the Weasleys happily talking to each other with grins on their faces.

Harry nodded. "Thanks, Hermione. Sis."

Hermione smiled and hugged him.

"That's what I'm here for."

***

In an invisible mansion in La Havre, France, Voldemort gathered his elite Death Eaters, thirteen of them.

"Tell Peter and Bella to set up a portkey detection and redirection charm over Hogwarts. I believe its time we set a trap for young Potter again."

Pacing around, and glaring each of his faithful Death Eaters in the eye, Voldemort asked, "What of your Father, Draco?"

"No success, my Lord. Two-year olds are more charismatic than he is. He cannot take care of himself at all - he's basically a forty-eight year old infant. Mother is taking care of him the best she can and trying to reverse the memory charm - not even the strongest Dark Magic has been able to reverse Potter's spell..."

"Very well, Draco. You take your father's place with Avery in organizing our forces for a trap."

"Yes, my Lord."

"This time, Potter's luck is up..."

***

January 1980 - Alternate Timeline

"Ginny, Ron, I'd like you to meet my parents," said Harry with a grin, and a wink at Hermione.

***

December 4^th, 11:57 - Primary Timeline - Riddle Mansion, La Havre

"It's done, my Lord. The next five Portkeys directed at Hogwarts will be transported to the mansion."

"Well done, Bella. I trust that the old fool is still unaware of our plans?"

"No, master. He is sick and elderly - it seems as if someone sapped his powers - or maybe he's just getting too old."

"I see... do not let down your guard. You and Peter must stay in Hogwarts - you've gotten in safely, we need to keep this valuable position... feel free to kill either Dumbledore or Potter if an opportunity arises... return to the Dark Forest, and await further orders..."

"Yes master."

Voldemort stood, and hissed to the giant snake next to him. "It's all coming together Nagini... by the second week of the new year you shall feed on Potter's corpse."