The Knights Of Walpurgis

Chapter Eleven: Into The Lion's Den

It was Sunday evening before Ron and Ginny were able to coax Harry from his self imposed exile in his dormitory. He had written a long letter to Remus, produced an in-depth history of the use of armadillo bile in Sense-straining Potions that even Snape would be hard-pressed to find fault with and polished his Firebolt until it gleamed more brightly than it had done when new.

But the result would not change. He had lost a Quidditch match.

He had no excuses. There had been no Dementors, no hexes on his broom, no rogue Bludgers. He had been healthy, undistracted and able. And yet Malfoy had caught the Snitch. He'd allowed himself to be so distracted by the Slytherin Seeker that he'd been completely outflown by him.

"Harry," Ginny had said, after she ripped open the curtains of his four-poster bed. "No-one blames you. Malfoy was lucky. Any other day and you would have caught the Snitch easily. Now, get up. I've already spent all day banging Ron's head against a wall. I don't want to have to do it again."

"We should have been a mile in the lead, mate," Ron said, dropping onto the bed next to Harry, who was staring straight up at the canopy and hadn't acknowledged them. "If I'd changed tactics sooner-"

"Don't start that rubbish again," Ginny sighed, tapping her foot impatiently. "Look, we lost a match. There's still two more, and if Malfoy keeps on flying like he did yesterday, Slytherin probably won't win again this year. Now get up before I dig that Wheezes bag out of your trunk and use everything in it to get you up."

Harry and Ron exchanged glances and slowly got off the bed.

"It's come to something when a bloke can't mope around after his team loses," Ron said, as he walked past his sister and out of the door. Ginny didn't reply verbally, but instead waved her wand at her brother's backside. Harry couldn't help but smile as Ron let out a yelp and leapt into the air, hands clasped protectively over the area Ginny's jinx had hit.

"Right, let's get you some dinner," she said brightly.

*

The team sat together at the far end of the Gryffindor house table. No-one much said anything, but everyone seemed eager enough to resume practising, and Ron's head was bent low over a new schedule that he was devising with the help of a number of professional team's playbooks.

When Hermione entered the Great Hall, she made straight for the team and nudged Andrew Kirke insistently until he moved along to allow her to sit down opposite Ron.

"Are you okay?" she asked immediately she sat down.

"Fine," he replied, smiling tightly as he looked up at her.

"Ron," she said anxiously. "I haven't seen you since the match ended. Where have you been?"

"Up in the Astronomy Tower, working out whether or not to resign," Ginny said. "I found him there last night. He hadn't changed and he hadn't washed. It wasn't a pretty sight."

"Neither was Dean's face. Did I spoil the mood?" Ron remarked flatly. Ginny shut up quickly, and turned back to her casserole. Hermione reached across the table and took one of Ron's hands in hers.

"Ron, you can't blame yourself," she said earnestly, holding his gaze. "You played very well, and Malfoy was just ridiculously lucky. If I didn't know that it was impossible, I'd say that he'd charmed that Snitch to fly right to him."

"Hermione, I- Wait a minute, how do you know about Snitch charms?" Ron asked.

"Oh, I, er, I read about them over the summer," she said, looking flustered. She leaned back, and tried to take her hand from Ron's, but he held on to her.

"What's the matter, did you run out of textbooks?" Ron grinned.

"No," she said. "I don't just read textbooks, Ron, I'll have you know."

"Oh yeah, I forgot," he said. "You like your medieval novels, and those period romances too."

"I- How did you know that?" Hermione asked.

It was Ron's turn to look flustered. "I, well, I saw in your room over the summer and I know some of them 'cos Mum reads them."

"Oh," Hermione said. She looked down at the table. "You were in my room?" Her voice had a note to it that Harry had never heard before. He was aware of something happening between his friends that had him holding his breath.

"Yeah. I was waiting for you," Ron said. "I wanted to ask you something. Er, Hermione..."

"Yes, Ron?" Hermione was looking up at Ron through her eyelashes, biting nervously on her lower lip.

Ron's gaze fell to their joined hands. He swallowed with what appeared to be some difficulty. "I, I..."

"Yes?"

"I..."

Whatever Ron was going to say was drowned out by the roar from the Slytherin table as Draco Malfoy entered the Great Hall. Malfoy looked windswept as he sauntered along the table, accepting plaudits from his housemates. His demeanour was as arrogant as it had ever been, and Harry kicked himself mentally as he realised that Malfoy's apparent change of attitude since returning to school had been an act to throw Harry off before the match. He had to admit that Malfoy had played his part perfectly. He'd been completely fooled.

"Makes you sick," Katie said. "They've been like that since the match yesterday."

"They're not used to winning," Kirke muttered. "Better not get used to it, either."

Malfoy took his seat directly opposite Harry and coolly raised a goblet in a toast as their gazes met. A familiar sneer settled on Malfoy's lips, but Harry's eyes were drawn to the heavy-looking ring on his right hand.

"What's that thing?" he asked, nudging Ron in the ribs as Malfoy turned to shake hands with an admiring third year.

"What?" Ron asked, looking away from Hermione. "What, that ring? I dunno. He was wearing it yesterday. I noticed it when we shook hands. Mind you, I was so surprised he didn't call me a blood traitor or anything that I didn't pay it much attention."

"Right," Harry said, wondering why the bulky ring had caught his attention.

"Ron?" Hermione prompted. "You were going to say something?"

Harry turned back to the group, and he realised that almost everyone at their end of the table seemed to be looking at the group now. Lavender and Parvati in particular were watching with unabashed interest, while Neville seemed to be struggling to keep Seamus and Dean in their seats.

"Yes, I was," Ron said, his voice calm and controlled. Only the bright red tint of his ears gave away his nervousness. "Hermione, do you-"

"Hello, Ronald."

Harry watched as Ron's eyes flickered shut, and a very rude word hissed almost silently between his lips. Not releasing his hold on Hermione's hand, he turned slightly to look up at Luna, who had appeared as silently as ever behind him.

"Luna, hi," he said. "This isn't a great time, to be honest."

"Yes, I can see that," Luna said, her voice as calm as ever. "I was looking for you. I thought that you might be upset after the match yesterday."

"Luna, to be honest, I've been avoiding you," Ron said. He finally let go of Hermione's hand and stood up to face her. "Er, do you want to go somewhere else?"

"No. I think I know what you're going to say."

Ron nodded, and took a deep breath.

"Luna, you're really nice," he said. "But I don't like you the way I should like you for us to be going out and doing stuff together."

"I thought as much," she said. "I had hoped that you might change your mind, but I can see that your heart could never truly belong to me."

"Er, I dunno about that," Ron said, rubbing the back of his neck. "But you're, you're not, er..."

"I understand," Luna smiled. "I had fun with you, even so. I think that I can be pleased with that."

"Great," Ron said, smiling. "Er, friends?"

Luna smiled, and shook his outstretched hand. "Of course we are. Thank you for being honest with me, Ronald. Goodbye for now."

She walked away, leaving Ron standing alone. Harry watched his friend take several deep breaths before turning around and sitting down again. His hand slipped across the table and closed gently on Hermione's, which was holding a fork laden with mashed potato.

"Hermione, will you come to Hogsmeade with me? I think there's another trip on Saturday week, right? I want us to go together, on a date."

It was Hermione's turn to look flustered again. She set her knife down on her plate and instead seized a napkin which she began to screw up as she stared at the table and blushed very pinkly.

"I... I can't," she said, and there was an audible groan from everyone else. Ginny placed a hand across her eyes and Harry found himself wanting to kick something extremely hard. Everything suddenly made sense, going back nearly two years to the Yule Ball in their fourth year. He wondered how he hadn't realised before that Ron liked Hermione, but he had been so busy with the Tri-Wizard Tournament, and then everything that had happened during his fifth year... He shook his head, and turned his attention back to his friends.

"Hermione, I know you don't want to risk our friendship, but-"

"No, Ron, it's not that," Hermione said, her voice sounding shaky. "I can't go with you on the next trip. I've already agreed to go with someone else."

"Oh," Ron said flatly. "Right. Er, who?"

"Justin Finch-Fletchley," she said, almost whispering. "Ron, I can go and talk to him, I'm sure he won't mind-"

"No," Ron said, his own voice as quiet as hers, but absolutely firm. "Don't be silly. You've agreed to go with him, so you have to go. You can't break your word for me."

Harry and Ginny, who was just lowering her hand, exchanged a glance at this.

"Has he asked you on the next trip?" Ron said, smiling slightly as he reached across the table and plucked the fork from her hand. Setting it down on her plate, he took her free hand in his, and stared intently at her.

Hermione shook her head.

"Good. Hermione, if you haven't started dating Justin by then, will you go to Hogsmeade with me next month?"

Her eyes gleaming brightly, her hands clenched so tightly around Ron's that Harry was sure that no blood was reaching Ron's fingers, Hermione nodded.

*

"So, how long have you known?" Harry asked, as he walked with Ginny back up to Gryffindor Tower. "That was what all that stuff was about, right? Where you kept on looking at me like I was an idiot?"

"Well, you were being an idiot," Ginny said, grinning. "And I've known almost forever. Almost since the three of you became friends in your first year. But I knew for certain when we all met up before my second year. Ron had been really good to me that summer, and I found out that he'd been writing to Hermione. He and the twins really helped me deal with everything. But he wouldn't stop going on about Hermione, about how worried he was when she was Petrified, about how much he was looking forward to seeing her, everything, really."

Harry grinned.

"What about you?"

"If I'd thought about it," Harry said, with a rueful shake of his head. "I suppose I would have noticed in fourth year, at the Yule Ball."

"Oh, yes," Ginny laughed. "He was very obvious that night."

"I don't know how I didn't notice," he said. "Looking back on it, like you say, it was so obvious."

"Ron didn't say anything?"

"No. We've never really talked about that stuff."

"Do you talk about that stuff with anyone?" Ginny asked.

"Hermione," Harry said. "Sort of. But she's not much help, well, she is, but I don't always understand what she's saying."

Ginny grinned again. "You need to work some of it out for yourself, Harry. Hermione won't always be there."

"I know, but it's not like I know that many girls, is it?"

"Thanks!" Ginny swatted him on the arm.

"Sorry," he said quickly, stepping out of her range. "But you see what I mean? I hang out with Ron, and I share a room with three other blokes as well, but where do I meet girls? There's only Hermione and you, and you're not in my classes and you've got a boyfriend. Besides, even if I did want to learn more about girls, there isn't a girl to learn more about."

"Really?" Ginny asked, as they approached the Fat Lady. "Rolling Stone," she added, making the Fat Lady smile and swing open.

"Yeah," Harry shrugged. "What with Quidditch, lessons, the HA and everything else, I don't have much time to meet anyone. Still, Sirius and Bill both reckon I should be snogging as many girls as I can, and if Bill says it, it's practically homework."

Ginny smiled, and then became thoughtful for a moment. Eventually, she asked "What about Katie Bell?"

"What, to go out with? She has a boyfriend, doesn't she?"

"Oh, yeah. What about Natalie McDonald?"

Harry grimaced. "I don't think dating someone with that quick a temper would be a good thing."

"Luna?"

Harry simply stared meaningfully at her as she sat down by the fire. She laughed. "Okay, so going out with Ron's ex-girlfriend might not be the right move."

"We could get her and Neville together," Harry suggested, taking the armchair opposite her.

"Luna and Neville? Do you really think so?" Ginny asked, apparently surprised by the idea.

"Well, I think he likes her," Harry said.

"Really? He's never said anything," Ginny frowned. "Did he say something to you?"

"Well, no. But he seemed flustered when we met the on the train. And he seemed a bit put out when he found out that Ron and Luna were going out."

"When did he find out?" Ginny asked.

"Er, when we walked down with them to Hogsmeade."

"Ah. No, Neville doesn't fancy Luna, he fancies Hannah Abbott."

"Really?" Harry asked, and then remembered that Hannah had been in the carriage with Luna and Neville when Harry and Ginny had arrived. She had been in the entrance hall when Ron, Harry and Neville had met Luna as well. He remembered Neville's reaction to Hannah taking his hand, too, as well as how hesitant Hannah had been about it, and how she had said that she didn't like Harry or Justin during the first HA meeting.

"Right," Harry added. "Yeah, he does, doesn't he? I reckon she likes him too."

"I know," Ginny nodded. "But short of telling them that they both fancy each other, I've no idea how to help them out."

"We could just leave them to sort it out themselves," Harry suggested. "Neville can't be as bad as Ron, right?"

"Probably not," Ginny said. "Did you really think that he fancied Luna?"

"Well, yeah," Harry said. "But it's not like I though that much about it," he protested.

"Harry, seriously, if you ever want to learn a few things, I may be able to help," Ginny said, her eyes twinkling. "You may only just have noticed that I'm a girl, but I noticed a few years ago. I can probably fill you in on some stuff."

"Yeah, I reckon so," Harry said. He thought about it for a moment. "Er, when'd be a good time?"

"Next Hogsmeade weekend?" Ginny suggested, grinning slightly.

"What about Dean?" Harry asked.

"Detention," she said sourly, her expression changing quickly from good humour to ill. "Didn't you hear? He got caught setting off a Wildfire Whizbang in the Divination corridor. Filch has him on Saturday detentions for the next month."

Harry grimaced in sympathy.

"So, if it's okay with you, we can head into Hogsmeade. I'm nearly out of parchment as it is, so I should get some more."

"Okay," Harry said. "Wait, what about Ron?"

"Ron will be busy in Gladrags all day, trust me," Ginny said, rolling her eyes. "And while he could probably do with a few lessons, he seems to have learnt something, judging by the way he finally asked her. I didn't think I'd ever see him being so romantic."

Harry stared at her blankly.

"You don't know why what Ron did was romantic, do you Harry?"

Harry smiled. "No, I do, but I guess that I'm not surprised that Ron could be romantic. He has his moments, you know?"

Ginny sighed. "I suppose that all those years of watching him chew with his mouth open have forever tainted my view of my brother."

*

As it turned out, Harry was soon far too busy to think of finding a girl for himself, let alone studying one in pursuit of a greater understanding of the female mind. For a start, Professor Snape, who had actually almost been fair and reasonable following the prank played on him by the Gryffindor trio, had found a whole new level of punishment to inflict upon his sixth year students or, at least, the ones who he felt had not achieved their place in his class by merit.

The three students he had singled out for this particular attention were Ron, Neville and Harry.

Snape's plan had backfired somewhat, however. Ron had taken Harry's regular place next to Hermione at the first lesson after he had asked her to Hogsmeade, and though the two occasionally squabbled, Harry has noticed a marked decrease in their arguments. When it came to Potions in particular, Ron was silent and attentive, and when Snape handed back an essay that was topped by an 'O' that Snape must have found particularly difficult to write, Ron and Hermione exchanged identically malicious smiles.

Harry felt once again that something was going on between Ron and Hermione without his being at all aware of it.

Harry and Neville had paired off to work in Potions, and while they weren't getting the consistent good marks that Ron and Hermione were, Snape was likewise finding it difficult to detect serious faults in their work. Neville was one of the best students in the year at Herbology, and Harry found that the meditation techniques that he was learning from Professor Dumbledore allowed him to wipe his awareness of Professor Snape from his mind. With the scowling Potions master seemingly absent from the lesson, preparing the set potions became rather easier. Between themselves, Harry and Neville had decided that making the irritable Potions master give them good grades was almost more satisfying then seeing him furious about the havoc that they'd wrought in his store cupboard.

It was not only Snape who was making life difficult for Harry, however. Hagrid was introducing an increasingly bizarre selection of creatures during his class, and had brought back a pack of Thestrals for another lesson. Harry, Neville, a Slytherin boy Harry remembered was called Theodore Nott and another Slytherin named Blaise Zabini were all able to see the winged horses, and Harry and Neville gingerly mounted the invisible beasts to gasps from other members of the class. Harry's knees were weak as he dismounted. It had been his idea to 'prove' that Thestrals existed, but as he sat on top the Thestral's back, he couldn't help but relive the memory of the last time he had done so, soaring through the sky towards London with the intent of rescuing Sirius from Voldemort.

Harry made his way shakily to the back of the class and spent the rest of the lesson staring at nothing much as Hagrid talked about the Thestrals and their abilities. For the first time, it struck Harry exactly what he had been intending on doing when he led his friends to the Ministry.

I was going to fight Voldemort. I was going to charge up to him and challenge him to a duel, to try and save Sirius' life. He'd have killed me before I could move, and he'd have killed the others as well. I'm not ready to fight him. What the hell have I learned since the end of fourth year?

Harry was lost in thought as he trailed behind Ron and Hermione on their way back to the school. Only a loud squawking noise from the sky above the Forbidden Forest made him look up, and his spirits fell even further as he watched a flock of birds rocketing up into the air.

Grawp. I'd forgotten about him, Harry sighed. I wonder if Voldemort has managed to get the giants on his side yet? Am I supposed to fight my way through them before I get to him, as well as all the Death Eaters?

How in God's name am I supposed to beat someone who's immortal and has probably forgotten more spells than I'll ever learn?

*

Harry's work in the Dark Arts lesson that afternoon was seriously below par, and the Potions class that followed was a nightmare for Neville with Snape on full sneering form, but Harry barely noticed. For once, he wasn't using any form of mental shielding to ignore the Potions master, instead he was just so preoccupied that he barely noticed when his cauldron overheated and erupted in flame.

Harry wandered back to the common room after class missing most of his tie up to the knot, and gave the password without realising that he'd spoken. He sank into a chair in front of the fireplace and stared unseeingly at the flames.

"Harry? Did you forget about the HA meeting tonight?"

Harry continued staring vacantly forwards for several seconds before slowly realising that Hermione was there.

"Sorry? What was that?"

"The HA. We had a meeting today, remember?"

Harry looked up at her. "That's not yet, is it? We haven't even had dinner yet."

"You haven't, Harry," she said, taking the seat opposite him. "It's nearly ten o'clock. Have you been up here all evening?"

Harry stared in surprise at his watch.

"I... guess I have," he said. "Sorry, Hermione. I've just been thinking."

"Can I ask what about?"

"Voldemort. How the hell am I going to beat him, Hermione? He can do things that I've never even heard of, much less know how to do myself."

"Then we'll have to train you," she said. Harry looked at her in shock.

"What?"

"I said, we'll have to train you," she repeated.

"Yeah, that's what I thought you'd said. What do you mean?"

"Harry..." Hermione stared at the flickering flames for a moment. "Ever since the summer, I've been reading every book I can on curses and dueling and everything. I didn't do very well in the Ministry-" she held up a hand to forestall Harry's comment "-because I've never really thought about the practical side of dueling and fighting. It was the only time I've been in a situation like that, Harry, and I didn't know what to do. I was the first person to be knocked out of the fight, and when I woke up, I felt useless. Even after all the work in the HA, if it had been Voldemort we'd faced, I've no doubt that I wouldn't have made it out of there alive."

Harry couldn't think of a reply to this. He knew that Hermione was right. She was good at Defence, but not as good as him, and she tended to think too logically during dueling classes, which could be both a great strength and a weakness. While she was adept at disabling or disarming opponents like the Creevey brothers or Ernie McMillan, who didn't think far beyond their next spell, facing a tactical thinker like Ron or Bill could leave her open to attack.

"So you think that you can help me get better?" Harry asked.

"I think that I can," she said. "And I'm sure if we ask other people for help, then they'll be glad to tutor you."

"Like who?"

"Professor Lupin, for one," Hermione said. "And Professor Weasley as well. Perhaps Tonks or Kingsley Shacklebolt could help out. Maybe even Professor Dumbledore. Harry, I know that having you teach the HA is giving you a chance to learn a few spells, and really perfect ones that you know already, but you can't be learning very much from dueling Justin or Neville each week."

Harry shrugged.

"We need to talk to Professor McGonagall," Hermione said. "She might be able to arrange the extra lessons for you. She said that she'd do anything that it took to get you onto Auror training, didn't she? And surely this is even more important than that."

Harry sunk lower in his chair. "Hermione, you're a great friend and I know you're right, and I will talk to McGonagall tomorrow, but couldn't you have come up with a solution where I don't end up with extra work? I'm snowed under as it is."

"Sorry, Harry," she said. "No one ever said that defeating Voldemort was going to be easy," she added, in a tone of voice that suggested that she thought the whole situation was a bit hopeless as well.

To be continued...