The Greatest Power

Chapter 21: Old Fires, New Flames

"You had no authorization to do what you did, Severus," Remus said, struggling to remain calm as he faced the Potions master. Tonks had told him what had happened on the first day of classes, and his first visit after he had gone to talk to Dumbledore had been to the dungeons.

"I had every right, as a member of the Order, to check on Potter's progress," Snape said smoothly. "I must admit, the boy has improved, although his insolence still knows no boundaries."

"What did you expect after you attacked him like that?" Remus asked coldly. "It was the first day of classes, Severus! Harry wasn't expecting -"

"And you think the Dark Lord will wait until Potter is expecting an attack from him?" Snape interrupted.

"That does not give you the right to attack him!" Remus was beginning to show signs of his temper. "Nobody told you to do that, and had you asked, which you didn't, Dumbledore would have forbidden it!"

"And how do you know I didn't talk to the Headmaster about this, Lupin?"

Remus stopped. It seemed impossible to think that Dumbledore would have given permission for Snape to attack Harry, especially on the first day of term, when Harry needed to be concentrating on his new classes and spending time with his friends. He thought for a moment, and then said in a low voice, "Let me just say this, Severus, and listen carefully, for I will not repeat myself. Harry needs to be able to trust the adults around him right now. Yes, Severus, even you," he added, because it looked as though Snape was about to interrupt. "You are to treat Harry as you treat the rest of your students. You are not to attack him. If Dumbledore feels it is necessary to test his skills in that way, I will be the one to do it. Not you."

"I will not have you coming into my office and ordering me about, Lupin. My decisions regarding my students are mine to make," Snape bit back.

"You will find that you are wrong there," Lupin said, and he leaned forward so that his face was inches from Snape's nose. "I am Harry's guardian, and as such, I will not be allowing any more mistreatment of him, especially by you." He stopped for a moment, took a deep breath, and decided to try to reason with the man in front of him, a man that so obviously still harbored a deep grudge for events that had happened years ago.

"Let go of your hate, Severus. James and Sirius are both dead," he said bluntly, choking a bit on his words. "Harry is not responsible for the actions of his father and his godfather. Do you not see what the boy is being put through? The last thing he needs is to be suspicious of those of us that he should trust the most."

"Black is dead and many others could have died because Potter didn't bother to master Occlumency last year! And you'll forgive me, but I, for one, do not want to be the next fatality caused by his inability to take instruction, his conviction that he knows more than the rest of us!"

Remus' eyes froze and his face went white with fury as he pulled his wand out of his pocket and pointed it straight at the throat of the Potions Master. "Never, ever say anything like that again, Snape," he snarled viciously. "If you hurt Harry again, not one of your precious potions will be enough to repair the damage I will do to you." Remus turned quickly and exited the dungeons before he lost his temper entirely.

* * *

Madam Pomfrey released Harry from the hospital wing before breakfast on Thursday morning, admonishing him to take it easy and advising him to miss Quidditch tryouts the following evening.

"Miss Quidditch tryouts?" Harry said incredulously.

"Potter, while you have recovered remarkably quickly this time, you must not push yourself," Madam Pomfrey warned in her no-nonsense voice. "Professor McGonagall informs me that you have already secured a place on the team, so why take the risk?"

"I'm not missing Quidditch." Harry said stubbornly. Quidditch was about the only thing he had been looking forward to all week, especially since Ron had been made Captain.

Madam Pomfrey looked to Lupin, who was just pulling on his traveling cloak, for help, but he only shrugged. "As long as Harry promises to stop if he gets tired," he said reasonably, "I don't see why we should keep him from playing." He knew that Harry needed the release that he got from flying much more than he needed additional rest.

Harry shot Moony a grateful look, and Madam Pomfrey huffed her disapproval. Seeing that Harry was dressed and everything seemed to be in order, she bustled back to her office, mumbling under her breath.

Moony grinned. "She's always been like that," he said. "I remember one time when James was in here after taking a Bludger to his shoulder, she told him that he should rethink whether or not he should play Quidditch at all - he was always getting injured at the games."

"Why'd he get hurt so much?" Harry asked interestedly. He had known, of course, that his father had been a Chaser on Gryffindor's house team when he had been at school, but aside from that, he didn't know much.

The two walked out of the hospital wing and towards the Great Hall. Remus smiled reminiscently. "Well, you see, Harry, James had the unfortunate habit of drawing attention to himself during the games. He could never resist stunting on his broom, especially when he knew your mother was in the stands, but even so, he scored more points than any other Chaser at school. I'm afraid the Beaters from all of the other house teams found him rather irritating."

"Did Mum like that?" Harry asked.

"Well, no," Remus admitted. "At least not for the first few years. Once they started dating in their seventh year, I think she thought it was rather entertaining, although she would never have admitted it."

"What made her decide to go out with him?" Harry asked. This had been on his mind a lot ever since the rather sudden kiss between him and Ginny the previous day. She had not been back to see him since, and he wondered if he had done something wrong.

"James toned down his arrogance quite a bit as he got older," Remus answered. "When Lily first found out that he was going to be Head Boy while she was Head Girl, she was furious, but they actually got on very well. Their first date was the first Hogsmeade weekend of the term, and they were inseparable after that."

They reached doors to the Great Hall, and Remus pulled Harry into a short, one-armed hug. "Your training starts on Monday, Harry. Work hard, and write me if you need anything at all, alright?"

"Alright, Moony," Harry answered, waving as Remus crossed the Entrance Hall and left the castle. Harry turned and entered the Great Hall, pointedly ignoring Malfoy, who called out loudly, "Have a good stay in the hospital wing, Potter?"

"Oi! Harry, over here, mate!" Ron called from the end of the Gryffindor table, where he had been eating breakfast with Hermione, Ginny, Seamus, Dean, and Neville. Harry grinned at his friends and walked quickly to them. Ginny blushed as she smiled at him, and quickly moved over so that he would have room to sit next to her.

"How are you, Harry?" Hermione asked as Harry began piling scrambled eggs and toast on his plate.

"I'm fine," he answered. "Looking forward to Quidditch tomorrow. Any of you lot trying out for the team?"

Ginny nodded. "I'm still trying out for Chaser," she said as if everyone at the table didn't already know that.

"I think I might try out for the other Chaser position," Seamus mused. "I got a new broom for my birthday, a Cleansweep 11."

"That's what I have," Ron answered. "It's a good broom, mate. Are you any good?"

Seamus shrugged. "I'm OK," he said modestly.

"We'll see tomorrow then, won't we?" Ron told him, unconsciously puffing his chest out a bit. Harry could tell Ron loved that he got to make decisions for this year's team, and was taking himself very seriously.

"Harry, did you finish Professor Snape's essay?" Hermione asked. "We've got another one for Monday."

Harry nodded. He had finished it the night before in the hospital wing, after Hermione had brought him a pile of books from the library. Moony had helped him a little bit, but as Moony, by his own admission, was not a master potions maker, he had not been much use. Harry didn't know how good his essay was, but at least it was done. "I've got to take it down to Snape sometime before lunch today," he said.

"Tonks told me to tell you that she expects to see you tonight for the evening run," Ron said, his mouth full of bacon.

"But Harry's just got out of hospital!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Tonks is right," Harry said shortly. "It's important. I'll be there, but after this, I'll probably run in the mornings."

"I'm going with you guys," Ginny said, and they all looked at her in surprise. She hadn't gone on any of the runs so far this week, and as a fifth year, she wasn't required to.

"Why would you want to do that if you don't have to, Ginny?" Ron asked.

"Just because I'm not in N.E.W.T. classes yet doesn't mean I won't have to fight," she said simply, and Harry nodded. She smiled at him and continued, "Besides, it won't hurt me to be in better shape for Quidditch, would it?"

"You know, that's a good point," Ron mused. "Maybe I'll have everyone on the team do that. It couldn't hurt." Everyone at the table groaned.

As the discussion turned once more to the upcoming Quidditch tryouts, Ginny waited until everyone was distracted and tentatively took Harry's hand under the table. "Are you really feeling OK, Harry?" she asked softly.

"I really am, Ginny. I'm just ready to start training," Harry answered.

"More Occlumency?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah," Harry answered, but he was starting to realize that he could not keep his secret for much longer. His friends were going to wonder what he was getting up to, and why he was required to complete extra training.

"What are you two talking about?" asked Hermione, who was sitting next to Ginny and had noticed that their attention was no longer on the conversation. She happened to glance down, and a huge grin spread across her face when she saw their entwined hands. She said nothing, however. Ron would find out when Harry and Ginny were ready to tell him.

* * *

During dinner on the night of Quidditch tryouts, Harry couldn't help but notice that there were many more brooms propped up against the table than he would have expected. He counted at least fifteen besides those of the regular team members, and he wondered if people realized that there were only two positions to be filled, and that one of those was almost certain to go to Ginny.

"Alright, everyone," Ron called. "Tryouts begin in half an hour. You lot that are already on the team, let's get to the pitch and get warmed up. I want us in top form, so we can see how any new players will fit in." Harry noticed how much more confident Ron's voice sounded than it usually did, and he reflected yet again on the good choice McGonagall had made for Captain.

Harry grabbed his Firebolt and followed Ron down to the pitch eagerly. He couldn't wait to get into the air again. As he pulled on his scarlet robes for the first time this term, he grinned to himself. The weather was perfect - clear and chilly with just the slightest breeze - and it seemed to him that his Firebolt was humming with the same anticipation that he felt.

The team proceeded onto the pitch, and at Ron's whistle, kicked hard off the ground and soared upwards, flying in close formation as they passed the Quaffle back and forth in warm-up. After about 15 minutes, Ron noticed that the house-team hopefuls were looking up at them from the ground, brooms in hand, and he blew the whistle, calling his team to surround him in the air.

Harry's cheeks were flushed with excitement...his troubles seemed so far away when he was flying, and the exhilaration of zooming up and down the pitch made him feel more alive than he had in a long time. He slowed down as he joined his four teammates, who were hovering in a bunch about 20 feet off the ground.

"Right," Ron said. "We've got quite a lot of people trying out this year, so I think we're going to play them two at a time - I'll alternate them in and out to see how they work with each other as well as with the rest of you. I'll be Keeping, of course, and I want you, Sloper, to release one of the Bludgers on my whistle. Harry, since we're not trying out any Seekers, I'm not going to release the Snitch." Harry nodded - it was growing darker outside, and while there would be quite enough light to put the Chasers through their paces, the Snitch could easily get lost. Ron continued, "I want you to fly defensively, Harry and Kirke - try and take the Quaffle from our Chasers, and don't go easy on them." Harry grinned at Andrew Kirke, one of the beaters that had replaced Fred and George last year, and they both nodded their understanding to Ron.

"Alright then," Ron said, "Let's get started." The team floated slowly down to the field to a spot in front of the queue of hopefuls. Harry noticed that Ginny was at the front of the line, followed by Seamus, Colin Creevey, and an assortment of third through fifth years he didn't know as well.

"OK," Ron called after he had taken the names of the hopefuls down. "Team, get in the air. Weasley and Creevey, you're up first. Join Katie Bell at center pitch. On my whistle...three, two, one..." Ron blew his whistle hard and soared through the air to the three hoops at the end of the pitch.

Ginny and Katie Bell passed the Quaffle expertly between one another, but Colin seemed to be too nervous to get a good grip on it, dropping it twice so that Harry and Andrew had to go into steep dives to catch it. After one of these dives, Harry passed the Quaffle back to Katie, who passed it to Ginny as she swerved to avoid a bludger. Harry grinned and flattened himself to his broom, speeding straight towards Ginny. Ginny saw him coming and seemed to panic for a moment, deciding to pass the ball to Katie, which was the wrong move. Harry intercepted it easily.

"You'll pay for that, Potter!" Ginny screamed, and he noticed that there seemed to be some real anger in her voice. Harry didn't answer, but passed the Quaffle back to Katie. Ginny did not allow for another interception throughout the whole tryout, even after she had switched back and forth with several of the other hopefuls. Harry was impressed - he had known that she was a good Seeker, but to see her play Chaser was to see her in her true element.

It took an hour and a half to try everyone out to Ron's satisfaction. He sent the hopefuls into the stands while he conferred with his team on the ground in the middle of the pitch. "What do you guys reckon?" he asked them all.

Katie spoke up immediately. "Ginny Weasley was by far the best," she said definitely.

"Yeah, she was good," Ron conceded, and Harry could tell that he was glad Katie had spoken first, as Ron did not want to be accused of favoritism. "OK, so Ginny's on. Who else?"

"Seamus had some good moves," Harry pondered. "But he let go of the Quaffle pretty easily. Andrew and I both got him at least once."

"What about Meg Jackson?" Jack suggested. "She seemed to be pretty good, and she dodged that bludger and still managed to hold onto the Quaffle." Meg Jackson was a petite fourth year who Harry didn't know very well. She was rather plain and seemed a bit shy, but she had flown well that day.

"Yeah, she was alright," Harry agreed.

"Creevey was a disaster," Ron said. "He's got a lot of spirit, but we need more skill than that, so he's out."

"How about Ginny and Meg, then?" Katie suggested.

"Agreed, team?" Ron asked. They all nodded, and Ron strode quickly over to the stands where the hopefuls were waiting and flew up to their level. "Right," he called. "The new Gryffindor chasers are Ginny Weasley and Meg Jackson. Thank you to everyone that came out. Ginny and Meg, come on out to the pitch and join the team."

Harry couldn't help but notice that Seamus shot Ron a look that was pure poison as he exited the stands with the others who had not made the team. He pushed it out of his mind, however, when Ginny came running up to him, throwing her arms around his neck.

"Congratulations, Ginny!" Harry said, picking her up and whirling her around. "You had to know that you'd get it, though. You flew brilliantly tonight."

Ginny blushed as they stopped whirling, and for a moment Harry thought it was because of the compliment he had given her, but then he turned and saw Ron staring at the pair of them, a strange expression on his face. Harry released Ginny quickly and felt heat come into his own cheeks as well.

Ron didn't look at either one of them directly as he quickly went through the training schedule for the month before their first match against Slytherin in October. When the team had disbanded and the original members had gone to the locker room to change out of their team robes, Ron was strangely silent, and Harry waited until everyone else had gone before he approached him.

"Ron?" he asked. He wondered if his best friend was upset at the apparent affection between him and Ginny.

Ron finally looked at Harry, his expression serious, but not angry. "Harry," he asked. "Is there something I should know about with you and Ginny? I saw you talking yesterday at breakfast, and then you both stayed up late in the common room last night..." his voice trailed off.

"Well," Harry said, trying to figure out how to put it. "I don't really know, exactly."

"Come off it, Harry, I can tell you fancy her," Ron said bluntly. "And we all know she's liked you since her first year."

"I really like her, Ron," Harry admitted. "I'm not sure what's happening, though. When you and Hermione got together this summer, Ginny and I spent a lot of time together."

"This has been going on since the holidays?" Ron asked incredulously, as if term had not just started.

"No," Harry quickly corrected him. "No, it started on Wednesday when I was in the hospital wing, and I'm not sure what's going on just yet."

Ron finally smiled at him. "Well, it's not like we didn't all know this was going to happen," he said, and then his expression became serious again. "Look, though, there's just one thing I have to say."

Harry was a bit worried. It was not like Ron to be quite this serious. "What, mate?" he asked.

"Best friend or no, if you hurt her, it's the last thing you'll ever do," Ron said grimly, but then he grinned at Harry. "So you'd best watch yourself."

"I will," Harry said, relieved that Ron seemed to be taking everything alright.

Both boys shouldered their brooms and began the trek back up to the school. When they were about halfway there, Ron stopped. "Er, Harry?" he asked. "What happened while you were in the hospital wing?"

Harry only smiled. He wasn't quite ready to share that experience with anyone. Upon seeing the look on Harry's face, Ron groaned. "Never mind, I don't want to know," he said, and Harry jabbed him in the ribs.

"So," Ron said, eager to get the subject off of Harry and Ginny now that he had said what he needed to say, "Sloper and Kirke are better this year, eh?"

"Yeah," Harry agreed. "They must have practiced over the summer or something. Sloper didn't miss the Bludger once, and Kirke was actually pretty good at intercepting the Quaffle from the Chasers. His reflexes have gotten better."

"Got a pretty good team this year, haven't we?" Ron said with some pride, and they discussed Gryffindor's hopes for the Quidditch Cup for the third year running as they headed back up to the common room.

As they climbed through the portrait hole they were greeted by the noise of the Gryffindors as they excitedly discussed the new team. The consensus seemed to be that Ginny had been an obvious pick, but everyone seemed to be surprised that Meg had made the team. Very few people had ever actually noticed her before, as she seemed to prefer to do her homework in the library and go to bed early.

One person, in particular, was less than thrilled. Seamus Finnegan said very little, but kept shooting angry glances towards Ron as he got ready for bed in the dorm much later that night.

"Seamus?" Ron asked tentatively. "Look, mate, it was nothing personal..."

"Nothing personal!" Seamus scoffed. "You chose that fourth year over me!"

"Look, as Captain, I can't play favorites!" Ron said, hoping to make Seamus understand. "She flew better than you did tonight."

"Didn't have any problems playing favorites when you chose your sister, did you?" Seamus retorted.

"Ginny's a good flier," Dean commented quietly.

"Damn right she's a good flier," Ron said, the tips of his ears beginning to glow red. "And I'll have you know that Katie Bell was the first person who suggested her!"

"Oh, I'm sure you were only too happy to agree with her," Seamus growled. "I bet you did. Didn't he, Harry?"

"We all did, Seamus. Ginny was the best out there tonight," Harry replied calmly.

"Yeah, take his part, Potter," Seamus retorted bitterly. "I've seen you and his sister together lately. How could she not make it, with her brother as Captain and her boyfriend as Seeker?"

"That had nothing to do with it, Finnegan," Ron yelled, finally losing his temper completely. "Look, I'm sorry you didn't make the team, but I had to choose the best we had, and tonight, that was Ginny and Meg!"

Seamus didn't reply, but jerked the hangings around his bed closed so that he was hidden from the rest of them, but they could all hear his angry mutters as he got under the covers.

Despite the fact that he was worried about Seamus' anger with Ron, Harry couldn't help but smile a little as he pulled his own hangings and settled down into his familiar four-poster. Seamus had said he was Ginny's boyfriend, and even though Harry knew that they hadn't really gotten to that stage yet, he liked the sound of the word.

* * *

He was soaring through a stormy sky, his hair ripping backwards in the fierce wind, his glasses spattered with rain. He couldn't see the Snitch anywhere, and he was far above the game.

"Come on, kiddo, you can do better than this!" A voice punctuated by a familiar, bark-like laugh echoed clearly through the roaring wind, and Harry turned his head to find Sirius Black, his godfather, flying next to him, his long hair blowing wildly around his face.

Harry laughed, accepting the implied challenge, and leaned forward onto his broomstick, speeding up. Sirius easily kept pace with him, taunting him playfully as he searched for the Snitch.

Suddenly, a bolt of green lightning ripped from the clouds and struck Sirius squarely on the chest. With a look of surprise on his face, Sirius tumbled off his broom and was swallowed by the murky grayness of the clouds.

"Sirius!" Harry yelled with all his might, but it was no good. Sirius' broom fell after him, and before Harry even had a chance to absorb what had happened, Ginny had caught up to him, grinning, her red hair tied back into a long ponytail.

"Catch me if you can, Harry! A kiss to the winner!" she laughed as she sped ahead of him. Without even meaning to, Harry caught up to her, but before he could say anything else, another bolt of green lightning hit Ginny full in the face, and she, too, fell into the swirling grayness, her mouth open in a silent scream.

"No!" Harry yelled, and he dropped into a steep dive. He could catch her. He had to catch her.

His dive was blocked by Ron, who looked angry. "Slytherin's ahead 70-40, Harry. Why haven't you caught - "

Ron was unable to continue as a third bolt of lightning hit him in the stomach, and he gasped as he and his broom dropped out of sight.

"Ron!" Harry yelled as his broom stopped. He watched with horror as the sky went from gray to black, and suddenly, from all around him, he heard the dreaded incantation, "Morsmordre!" and the Dark Mark, glittering a sinister green, erupted right in front of his eyes.

"Harry! Wake up, mate!" Ron's sleepy but panicked voice edged its way into Harry's mind, and he sat bolt upright in his bed, looking at the blurry face of his best friend, who was standing right above him.

"What is it, Harry?" Ron asked quickly. "What's happened?"

Seeing Ron right in front of him had the effect of reassuring him that his friends were all fine, that it had just been a nightmare, not a vision. He wasn't ready to talk about it yet, however. "Nothing," he muttered. "Just a bad dream. Sorry for waking you up."

"You sure?" Ron asked doubtfully.

"Yes," Harry answered. "Go back to bed, Ron."

Ron looked suspiciously at Harry for a moment, but went slowly back to his bed and climbed in. Ten minutes later, his deep snores told Harry that Ron had gone back to sleep.

Harry knew that he would not sleep any more that night, so he went down to the common room to sit in front of the fire and think. He knew his dream had been nothing more than a dream, born of his fear of losing his friends. As Harry stared into the embers that remained from the evening's fire, he felt, instead of the usual despair, a firm resolve blossoming in his chest. His eyes hardened as he looked into the grate.

"It will not happen," he said out loud. "I will stop this."