Harry Potter and the Power of Emotion

September gave way to October and the crisp fall air permeated the halls of the castle. The vibrant colours of the leaves were fading and the evening chill was growing more and more pronounced. Students and staff alike seemed to take every opportunity to be outdoors knowing that the days before winter was upon them were numbered.

Quidditch practices grew more frequent as the match against Ravenclaw grew nearer. Harry threw himself with vigour into training for the match. He enjoyed the exhaustion a good workout brought and slept better on the nights they had practices. Harry was thrilled to be back in the air again and could hardly wait to compete in his first match in nearly a year.

Ron was obsessive in his bid for the cup and tolerated nothing less than perfection at each practice. He often kept them out until well after dark in order to perfect a certain move. On these nights Madam Hooch would shoo them off the pitch, threatening Ron with a detention on the day of the match if he didn't pay attention to the curfew. His persistence had paid off however; the team was looking good. Ron's tantrums were an added bonus as a source of amusement for them all.

Katie Bell and Ginny, who had played together the previous year, worked well as a team and quickly got young Holly Proctor up to speed. The three girls worked well in tandem and even Ron had trouble blocking them. Ginny seemed to be in her element as Chaser, having the same fierce competitive spirit that her brothers were famous for. Jack Sloper and Andrew Kirke had improved vastly since the previous year. They still weren't up to the standards of the Weasley twins, but Harry doubted there would ever be two Beaters as well paired as those two. Harry remembered the twins saying they would come for the first game and hoped that they would be able to follow through.

Harry had continued his Apparition lessons with Remus and eagerly anticipated their first visit into Hogsmeade to attempt a long distance trip. He had mastered moving around the Room of Requirement and found he preferred Apparating to travelling by either Floo or Portkey. As Dumbledore had requested, he was still keeping his Defence lessons secret from Ron and Hermione. A childish part of him couldn't wait to tease Hermione that he had Apparated inside Hogwarts.

Remus hadn't mentioned their conversation about the Prophecy again and Harry left it at that. Heeding Ginny's advice, he thought about how he might handle it and decided he liked it best when people let him take things at his own pace;, he would wait for Remus to make the next move.

Harry found he enjoyed his lessons with Tonks most of all. She had decided that the best way for Harry to train would be to put him through a pseudo boot camp of Auror training. Since this was the career path Harry wanted to follow anyway, he was eager for the challenge. Tonks told him in addition to needing to work on his magical abilities, he had to improve his physical fitness as well. She said they were going to begin training using some Martial Arts techniques. Martial Arts took a great deal of both physical and mental control and one didn't need to be a muscle man in order to be deadly.

"Are you implying my physique is less than spectacular?" Harry joked.

Tonks rolled her eyes and sent her hair colour through a rapid succession of shades of the rainbow. "Oh yeah, Harry. I can't wait for your pin up calendar to be released!"

Harry smirked back at her. "I might even autograph it for you!"

Tonks was good for Harry, she boosted his confidence level in himself and he found he learned very quickly from her. She was an expert at Karate and Harry noticed that she was far less clumsy while they practised than at other times. He began to suspect that her clumsiness was an act, designed to throw suspicion off of her and make her appear unassuming. It was a good ruse because he found a lot of people seemed to let their guard down around Tonks, which was probably a good way for an Auror to gain information.

On several occasions Harry had tried to tease her about her budding relationship with Remus, but she was so straightforward and to the point it was usually Harry who ended up blushing and quickly changing the subject. Tonks found it amusing to embarrass him and quickly learned how easy it was to do. She took great glee in seeing how red she could actually get her charge to turn. He took it well and they fell into an almost sibling like camaraderie. Between the Quidditch practise and workouts with Tonks, Harry's body had strengthened and he was actually beginning to develop some muscle. His shoulders had broadened over the summer and with the physical activity combined with a normal diet, he was looking much healthier. His metabolism would always keep him on the thin side, but he no longer appeared sickly. Harry liked the physical changes; not only did they boost his self esteem but made him feel he was doing something to prepare for the battle ahead.

His Shield Charm had come along nicely and even Tonks was no longer able to break it. He could tell she was really trying and was impressed by his efforts. The one area he still was having no luck with was wandless magic. Despite nearly six weeks of effort, he was no further along than he had been when they started the training.

Harry had also continued his Occlumency lessons. He met twice a week with Professor Dumbledore and practised clearing his head nightly before falling asleep. He hadn't had a single vision since his first night back, although his scar still twinged regularly, however nothing as bad as it had been over the summer. On occasion he'd get a brief flash of a feeling that wasn't his own, but it would be gone as quickly as it came after he threw a Mental Block up. The feeling he got most often was that of frustration and it pleased him to think he was irritating Voldemort.

He wasn't sure what to make of something strange that happened during his Occlumency lessons: during the times he was concentrating the hardest to keep Dumbledore out of his mind, he felt a kind of heat rise up within him. It almost felt like a surge of magical energy, but Dumbledore hadn't noticed anything and Harry had kept his mouth shut, not sure what to think.

It had happened twice and each time he'd found he accomplished his lessons quite easily the following day. He had amazed Professor McGonagall by transforming a rock into a gerbil before she had even finished giving the instructions. It was the first time he'd ever done a task in Transfiguration before Hermione and she was quite put out by it. Although she never understood Ron and Harry's love for Quidditch, Hermione definitely had a competitive spirit when academics were involved. Harry suspected these "surges" had something to do with the ease with which he was completing his tasks, but he wasn't positive and thought he'd wait and test it if it happened again before he alerted Professor Dumbledore.

Harry said goodbye to Ron and Hermione as they left to attend yet another Prefect meeting. He'd already figured out that most of their 'Prefect meetings' were, in actuality, snogging sessions in the broom closet on the third floor. He let them continue with their ruse however, and pretended to be unaware of their activities.

Tonight was the night that he and Ginny were going to pull their first prank. With Ginny's O.W.L. studies and all of Harry's extracurricular activities, there just hadn't been time to do it before this. Now, with the game against Ravenclaw set for Saturday and a potential visit from the twins, both Ginny and Harry knew they had to get to work if they were to fulfil Fred and George's expectations.

The two of them had poured through the Weasleys Wizarding Wheezes catalogue and finally settled on Flaming Fairies. They were designed to look like confetti but were charmed to flutter about the first person that touched them for several hours. The colour could be charmed according to the user's choice. They reminded him of Gilderoy Lockhart and his Cornish pixies. Harry and Ginny charmed the fairies to red and gold and planned on leaving them all over the tables and benches in the Great Hall.

Originally, they were going to plant them the morning of the match so their victims would appear to be supporting Gryffindor but feared if they got caught they might get detention and miss the game. The rivalry was already running high so they figured any day during the week would work. Ginny thought of getting Luna's help to put the fairies in the Ravenclaw Common Room but Harry worried that her house mates would figure out who had done it and would make life more difficult for her than they already did. Ginny then decided it would be more fun to see the Slytherins flashing Gryffindor colours, and they settled on the Great Hall and decided to add the Hufflepuffs with the other Houses to be pranked for good measure.

So here he sat in the Gryffindor Common Room with his Invisibility Cloak tucked under his robes, waiting for Ginny to come back downstairs. He'd never done anything alone with Ginny before; they'd always had other company. He found himself looking forward to it. He hadn't broken the rules in a while and didn't want to let Fred and George down; otherwise he'd never hear the end of it!

Ginny bounded down the stairs with her ponytail flying behind her. She looked harried and rushed as her eyes scanned the room before spying Harry and smiling at him brilliantly. Harry found himself lost in that smile for a moment before he forcibly shook his head to clear it. "All set?"

"Yeah, I just finished the last of my homework so I'm free for the night!" Ginny smiled and Harry felt his stomach do that flip-flop. He recognized it now; it used to happen when he looked at Cho Chang. He knew he was developing a bit of a crush on Ginny but was determined to ignore it. They were friends; he couldn't let anyone in his life right now anyway. With everything that was hanging over him, it wouldn't be fair to her, and besides that, she didn't like him that way. They were just friends.

Harry pushed open the portrait hole and followed Ginny outside. When they rounded the corner, they found that the coast was clear, Harry pulled out the cloak and, with a swoosh, flung it over both their heads. He was very aware of their close proximity and had trouble focusing his mind on the task at hand.

"Harry, are you there? Come on!"

They stealthily made their way into the deserted Great Hall. When the door shut behind them, Harry removed the cloak and they went to work. Not wanting to arouse suspicion too early, they placed the Fairies on the Gryffindor table, too. No Gryffindor would mind the annoying little butterfly like creations if it meant that they were showing support for the House Quidditch team!

By the time they were finished, it was well after midnight. They would just have to sneak back up Gryffindor Tower and wait for the festivities to begin at breakfast tomorrow. Harry put the cloak back over them and they began their way back. As they were leaving the Great Hall, Ginny shut the door behind her and it latched a little too loudly in the quiet entry hall. To Harry it sounded like a gong booming. He wasn't surprised when Snape appeared in an instant, his eyes darting around furiously for the source of the disturbance. Harry grabbed on to Ginny's waist and pulled her into the corner beside the doors. Ginny, who hadn't yet noticed Snape, turned to him in surprise. Harry put his finger to his lips and nodded in the Potion Master's direction. Ginny's eyes widened in alarm and she grimaced as Snape made his way towards them.

At first, all Harry's attention was focused on remaining absolutely still and quiet and not getting caught out of bounds after hours. It didn't take long to become aware of the fact that Ginny and he were pressed chest to chest, stuffed in a corner. Suddenly it had become extremely warm under the cloak. He still had one hand on her waist and he struggled with himself over what to do with his other hand. Inexplicably, Harry found himself very nervous and his heart thundered in his chest.

For her part, Ginny was looking every where BUT at him, as if she didn't know where to put her eyes. Harry's breathing was getting heavier and he thought for sure that Snape would be able to hear it. He felt a thin sheen of sweat break out on his forehead and didn't know if it was from nerves at getting caught or nerves from being so close to Ginny. He couldn't help but stare and notice the thin band of freckles she had spattered across her nose and cheeks. He fought against an overwhelming desire to reach out and touch her face. We are just friends!...Sure Potter, you always use the way your friends make you feel to summon a Patronus!...Shut it.

Snape had opened the doors to the Great Hall, but seeing no one about and nothing amiss, he slowly shut them and took a last look around. He scowled deeply, as if aware there was something not quite right, but strode from the Entry Hall, his cape billowing behind him.

Both Harry and Ginny let out sighs of relief and relaxed their shoulders against the wall. Harry could feel his heart still pounding aggressively within his chest.

"That was close!" Ginny whispered. "We'd better get back before anyone else wanders by!"

The feel of her breath against the skin on his neck caused another reaction in Harry that he didn't want her aware of. Pulling back quickly he said, "Yeah, let's go!"

They had made it up to the third floor landing, still hidden beneath the cloak, before being nearly taken out by the swinging of a broom closet door. Harry pulled Ginny back as a furious Hermione emerged, looking rather dishevelled. A frustrated looking Ron followed her into the hallway.