The Awakening Power

Sib

Story Summary:
Complete! Challenges fill Harry's busy sixth year: growing powers, Snape becomes defense teacher (and Harry's not in the mood for abuse), a new Potions teacher, a girl with a new crush on him, Quidditch, Voldemort, and a certain redheaded girl named Ginny who may help him through all of it. What are the goblins up to? Will Ron win Hermione back? And what exactly is Voldemort's diabolical plan to kill Harry and plunge magical society into anarchy? Lots of romance, drama, action and humor! Voted Phoenix Song's Best Novel-Length Story (along with Best Harry and Best Kiss).

Chapter 24

Chapter Summary:
Harry’s powers are growing very strong, and Dumbledore is worried about his control. Meanwhile, Snape has become the new Defense teacher, and Harry resolves not to take his abuse this year… Will Harry notice Ginny? Will Ron win Hermione back? Who has a new crush on Harry? Who is the new Potions teacher? And what exactly is Voldemort’s diabolical plan to kill Harry and plunge magical society into anarchy? Lots of humor, drama, action and romance as all these questions are answered and much more in Harry’s busy sixth year.
Posted:
07/30/2004
Hits:
4,703
Author's Note:
Harry’s sixth year, after OotP. H/G, R/Hr, PG-13 rating.

Chapter 24: The Spring Ball

A/N: Harry's sixth year, after OotP. H/G, R/Hr, PG-13 rating.

* * *

"How do I look, Harry?" asked Ron nervously, peering into his mirror. "God, I'm glad Fred and George bought me these robes. If I'd had to wear those old ones..." He shuddered.

Harry chuckled. "You look fine, no worries." Harry had to admit his robes that Parvati had picked out were very nice. He'd selected primarily on color, but the cut made him appear much less skinny than usual.

"Ready? It's just about time," Ron said, glancing at the clock.

"Yeah, about as ready as I'll ever be," Harry replied.

They headed down the stairs into the common room. Many boys were milling about, waiting for their partners for the Ball. Harry and Ron scanned the room, but didn't see Parvati or Hermione.

Harry and Ron shuffled around silently, every so often glancing up the stairs. Finally Hermione and Parvati came down together. Both looked very pretty; Hermione wore a very elegant dark red robe, while Parvati had a matching robe to Harry's.

Ron's jaw dropped almost to the floor as he stared unabashedly at Hermione. "You... you... look beautiful!" he said.

Hermione blushed and appeared extremely happy, giving Ron a wide smile. "You look quite handsome yourself, Ron. And Harry, you look great!"

Parvati looked at Harry expectantly. Harry felt like he better say something at least close to Ron's reaction, which wasn't all that difficult, since Parvati did look extremely pretty. "Hi, Parvati. Wow... you look pretty."

Parvati beamed at him. "Thank you, Harry. You look utterly fantastic!" she said, causing Harry to feel a bit of heat.

"You look great, too, Hermione," Harry said.

"Thanks, Harry," she said, smiling. "Well, shall we go down?"

Harry had been hoping to catch a glimpse of Ginny, but so far she hadn't shown up anywhere. He was very curious about who was taking her to the Ball. They headed out the portrait hole, joining many excited couples in the corridors.

They entered the Great Hall, which was decorated with an undersea theme. Harry could see a variety of sea life apparently swimming above them, while the walls were decorated with seaweed and coral. The seaweed seemed to sway in water; it was so realistic that Harry actually took a breath to make sure he wasn't underwater. He looked up, marveling at the life-like colorful, tropical fishes, sea horses, dolphins and even a few sharks swimming around. Every so often one of the fishes would dive down, move between a few students and swim back up.

As he took in the decorations, Harry furtively scanned around the room, trying to find Ginny, but didn't see her anywhere.

"Let's find a table," Parvati said to Harry, looking very excited. Instead of the normal long tables, there were many smaller tables decorated with sea-green tablecloths. Each table was lit with a glowing dolphin lamp.

"All right," Harry said. He glanced over at Ron and Hermione, who were whispering to each other with small smiles, seemingly oblivious to anyone else. "Ron? Hermione? You coming?"

"What?" Hermione said. "Oh, yes, let's find a table."

They headed over to one of the nearest unoccupied tables, in about the middle of the room. Harry sat down in a seat facing the door so that he could possibly spot Ginny when she came in.

"There's Padma," Parvati said, whispering to Harry, as she waved at her twin.

Padma had come in with a Ravenclaw boy. Harry noticed her shooting a huffy glare at Ron. I wonder what that's all about? he thought. She sat at another table.

He raised his eyebrows a bit as he noticed Neville come in with Luna. He didn't know that Neville had asked her, but now that he thought about it, he had seen them studying together a fair amount lately. Luna looked quite pretty, in an odd Luna sort of way. Her robe was a dark purple color, but had been charmed to show orbiting planets going around her. She had a extremely large corsage pinned to her chest of some sort of tropical flower with many colors, with a matching, much smaller, flower in her hair.

They'd been sitting for several more minutes, Harry half-listening to Parvati talk about what everyone was wearing, when he saw Ginny enter the Great Hall. His heart began thudding in his chest; she was wearing a beautiful blue robe made of silk, which seemed to float around her elegantly. Her hair was pulled behind her head and cascaded with curls loosely down her back, and she was wearing some sort of matching blue stone on a necklace around her neck. Harry stared at her for several seconds before he looked away, afraid Parvati might notice and get upset with him.

He surreptitiously glanced back over and saw the boy she was with. Harry felt annoyed as he noticed that it was Matt Prescott, a very popular seventh year. Ginny was holding his arm, looking very happy.

Harry glared down at the table sulkily. He wondered again why she'd been angry with him. All right, he'd asked too late... he wished he had done it sooner... but why wouldn't she just say she was already going with someone? Why was she angry with him?

Harry forced his attention back to Parvati. Lavender and a sixth year Ravenclaw boy had joined them, as well as a few other couples. They all chatted while waiting for dinner to be served, although Ron and Hermione's attention seemed to be mostly focused on each other.

As in Harry's fourth year, Dumbledore led the proceedings by announcing in a loud voice an item from the menu. "Rack of lamb!" His meal appeared in front of him as he gazed down with satisfaction. The rest of the hall followed suit.

As Harry ate his dinner, he tried to avoid looking but finally searched the room for Ginny. He spotted her sitting at a table across the hall, smiling and laughing. He sighed, looking back at his table, when he noticed Hermione looking at him, her eyes moving to where he'd been looking. She gave him a sympathetic look, which only served to irritate Harry further. He wondered what Hermione suspected, and then wondered if she might have any idea why Ginny was angry with him... but he really didn't feel like talking about it with anyone.

After the feast, Dumbledore rose from his chair and requested the students do the same. He waved his wand, and the tables cleared from the center of the room, creating a dancing space. He waved his wand again and a band platform appeared, complete with instruments. An excited buzzing ran through the room; one of the questions on everyone's mind had been who the band was going to be, and peering closely, Harry could make out 'Manticore Mike and the Stingers' on the drum. He was impressed; they were an extremely popular band this year in the wizarding world. Dumbledore must have called in some favors to get them to come on such short notice.

The lights dimmed in the room, making the ceiling sparkle as if stars were shimmering through waving water. The band came on stage, along with Dumbledore, who stood at the front.

"May I have your attention?" Dumbledore said in a projected voice, his eyes twinkling. The room grew quiet as the students peered toward the front of the room.

"For our first dance, I thought we might have a little fun. Everyone who would care to participate please come out onto the dance floor," Dumbledore said, waiting for everyone to come out curiously.

"Come on, Harry!" Parvati said, grabbing his arm firmly. Apparently she wasn't going to take any chances this time around and give Harry the option to refuse, like the last ball. Harry, feeling resigned to the fact that he would need to do some dancing, followed her dutifully.

"First, each of you separate from your partners by milling about the floor until you can't see each other," Dumbledore said. The students glanced at each other, then began wandering about the room.

"See you in a minute," Parvati said, smiling at him as she moved to the opposite side of the floor. Harry lost her in dim light and the crowd.

Dumbledore waved his wand and cast a spell over the room. There was a bright flash, and then surprised laughter rang through the room. Everyone seemed to abruptly shift positions, then Harry examined himself and was shocked to find that he looked like... someone else. He glanced at a mirror on the wall and saw a strange face staring back that he vaguely recognized as a Ravenclaw boy.

"Now then, you will have undoubtedly noticed that everyone looks like someone else," Dumbledore said, looking amused. "Your goal is to find your partner. You do this by picking someone to dance with. After you waltz for five seconds, you and your partner will see your true selves, although everyone else will still see your false selves. If you see your partner, then move off the floor.

"There will be prizes for the first several couples. Please note that boys may look like girls, and girls may look like boys, so don't be shy about picking your partners."

Laughter and an excited murmuring came up from the crowd.

"Please move about, mixing yourselves up a bit more before we begin," Dumbledore said. Harry began to walk around, looking curiously at the students around him, who were not who they seemed to be.

"Now, even if you're surprised, don't announce the name of who you were dancing with. It may tip off your opponents," Dumbledore said, chuckling. "Ready? Begin!" He gestured to the band, who started playing a slow song.

Harry picked a girl across the floor, on the theory that Parvati was probably somewhere away from him, and he might get lucky. He walked over and spoke to the girl. She apparently looked like a seventh year.

Harry held out his hand, "Um... care to dance?" he said awkwardly. His voice sounded utterly unlike his own.

The girl smiled at him and took his hand. Harry could tell she was probably a girl since she allowed him to lead her, and five seconds later, his suspicions were confirmed. They suddenly turned back into their normal bodies.

Harry was surprised as he saw Susan Bones, who blinked wide-eyed at him and grinned. "Hi... you're not my partner."

"Nope, guess we should keep trying," Harry said, grinning back.

"Maybe we can dance again later?" she said.

"All right," Harry said, smiling. He'd always liked Susan.

They released each other and turned back into their false images. The room was full of laughter and shrieking as everyone was caught by surprise in who they were dancing with. Harry danced with several other students, but was finding it difficult to find Parvati. He tried to be smart about it by looking at the dancing couples and seeing which ones allowed themselves to be led so that he would know whether they were female or not.

Harry saw a girl that resembled Cho looking around. He hesitated, but then figured it wasn't really her, so it would be all right. At that point in the contest, the students were waltzing with whoever came into eye contact, so Harry held out his arms, and the student came to him. Harry knew as soon as they touched that it probably wasn't Parvati; they were both trying to lead each other. But then he thought that Parvati might actually try to lead, so he decided he better make certain. A few second later, he was stunned to see Malfoy, who stared back at him in shock as well.

Malfoy smirked at him. "Try not to scuff my shoes, Potter."

Harry released him as if his hands were on fire. It took him a few seconds to recover, before he started looking again.

He danced with a few more students, until he began dancing with a boy whom he was fairly certain was a girl. After five seconds, he was shocked to see Ginny, who appeared just as shocked to see him.

"Gin - I mean, hi," Harry said, feeling very shy.

"Hi," she said frostily, still looking very upset with him.

"You look... really, really pretty tonight," he said tentatively.

"Thanks," she replied, only slightly less coldly.

Harry felt very bad; he really didn't want her to be angry with him. "I'm... really sorry... about... whatever I did," Harry said, still very confused on everything.

Ginny's eyes narrowed at him as they continued to dance. "Sorry for exactly what?"

Harry thought frantically. She was angry with him for a reason; there had to be something he could say to make things better. He wracked his brain, trying to get it to cough up the answer, but try as he might, he just didn't know.

"Um... um..." he said quickly, knowing that they had to separate and continue soon. "I'm sorry for everything!" he said, hoping the non-specific answer would suffice.

"You have no idea what you're sorry about, do you?" she asked.

Harry just fell silent, not wanting to confirm it. Ginny rolled her eyes, sighing heavily and then released him. She walked away.

Why can't she just tell me what I'm supposed to do? he thought, extremely irritated. He began dancing with anyone he saw, not really caring about the contest any longer. He heard some loud laughter, and when he peered over, two seventh years had been the first couple to find each other. A few minutes later, the second couple found each other, and then the third.

As more and more couples paired up, the crowd began to thin, and finally Harry found Parvati, who looked like a Slytherin girl. She hugged him delightedly when they saw each other, and then they moved to the side of the floor, Harry feeling relieved.

Finally all the students were back to normal. The contest had served one purpose for Harry; he had danced with so many people that he felt a lot less shy about dancing in general. Harry danced a few more dances with Parvati, and even danced with a few girls who came up and asked him. He even had to admit that he was having some fun.

He couldn't help but keep one eye on Ginny as she danced with Matt and other boys that seemed to be paying her a lot of attention, causing Harry to feel stabs of jealousy.

As the band began playing a very slow song, Harry's eyes popped out a bit as he saw Professor Melanadray coming up to him. She was extremely pretty in some bright blue robes with a rather dramatic neckline. Her hair was done up in a complicated-looking plait behind her head.

"Mr. Potter, would you care to dance?" she said, smiling warmly at him.

Harry's breath was growing a bit shallow, but he looked over at Parvati, who was busy chatting to Lavender. "I'm going to dance with the Professor, all right?"

"All right, Harry," said Parvati, glancing at him distractedly. She and Lavender were discussing who was wearing what, and the topic seemed to be holding their interest to a great degree.

Harry felt very self-conscious as he walked onto the floor with Melanadray. He recalled her being about the same height as himself at the start of school, but apparently he had grown some during the year, because he was clearly taller than her now. Somehow he felt relieved about that fact.

"I'm not very good," Harry said, feeling shy.

"I've watched you dance with some of the other girls; you're doing fine," she said. "Just steer me about the room. I'll watch out for my feet." She laughed, causing Harry to think again that he really liked the sound of her laugh.

As they began dancing, Harry felt very distracted touching her and standing so close. He noticed that many of the boys in the room were giving her wide-eyed looks.

"I must say, Mr. Potter, you look very handsome tonight. Those green robes suit you," she said appreciatively.

"Um, thanks," Harry said, blushing. "You, er, look nice, too."

She actually looked a bit bashful at that. "Oh, well... thank you," she said, as if he had just paid her a great compliment and didn't quite deserve it. Harry felt astounded; doesn't she know how good looking she is?

"We never had a Ball while I was at Hogwarts," she said wistfully. "You're lucky... you've had two during your time here. I must admit I was very jealous when I heard about the Triwizard Tournament and the Yule Ball. I almost wanted to reapply to Hogwarts."

"Yeah... I guess I'm having more fun this time around. Last time there was a lot of... pressure."

Melanadray nodded, smiling at him. "I would say so. You know, Professor Snape invited me to visit the school and watch the tournament in person. You were... impressive."

Harry felt embarrassed. "Well, I... don't know about that. There was some luck involved."

She didn't reply; just continued smiling at him, her extremely blue eyes looking very pretty in the low light of the room. They fell silent, finishing out the music as they danced around the room. Finally the music ended and Harry released her.

She leaned toward him and whispered in his ear, causing a chill to go down Harry's spine. "Thank you for the dance, Harry. Even if I didn't have a Ball of my own to go to, this makes up for it a lot."

Harry swallowed as she strolled away. He wandered back to Parvati, feeling a bit light-headed from the whole thing.

"Harry, would you like to take a walk outside?" Parvati asked.

"Yeah, that sounds good," Harry said, distracted. "I'm getting a bit hot."

"I am, too," she said, looking him in the eye. It suddenly hit Harry what he had just agreed to as she pulled him along, holding his hand. He glanced back, noticing that Ron and Hermione were dancing, and, just as they were exiting through the door, he saw Ginny shooting him a very peeved look. He groaned internally, wishing that she hadn't seen him walking out with Parvati, particularly with her holding his hand, but also feeling a bit peeved himself that she wouldn't just tell him why she was mad at him.

They entered the rose garden, strolling along the path. The cool air felt good after all the dancing. He could feel Parvati squeezing and moving her hand against his, making him feel very nervous. Part of him rather liked what she was doing...

He glanced over. She had a small smile on her face as she walked with him... he couldn't help but notice again that she looked very, very pretty... Parvati led him behind some bushes where they couldn't be seen. "I'm really glad we're here together, Harry," she said, looking up at him with her dark eyes and taking a step closer.

"Um," said Harry, noticing that she was wearing the perfume that he really liked.

She slowly wrapped her arms around him and turned her face up to his. Harry swallowed, looking down into her eyes. He wasn't feeling particularly wanted by anyone else at that moment, and it felt good that a girl was giving him some attention. She tilted her head and slowly touched her lips to his. Harry, not really feeling like resisting, gave in and returned the kiss.

* * *

Harry awoke the next morning, just lying in bed, reflecting on the previous evening. On a certain level, he'd had a lot of fun at the Ball, but the ramifications of what had happened filled his head.

What expectations did Parvati have now? After they had kissed out in the garden, she had seemed to look at him much differently, as if they were a much closer couple. Guilt rose up in Harry; there was no doubt that she fancied him, and he had just made the whole situation much more complicated.

Harry rubbed his hands over his eyes. Why did I do it? I knew this would happen, he thought gloomily. Memories of kissing her came back to him... he couldn't help but be tempted for more... He angrily turned onto his side, looking at his closed curtains.

They had been gone from the Ball for some time, and when they got back... the look he'd received from Ginny had been venomous. How did this go so wrong? he thought miserably. He'd wanted to take Ginny... he wanted to do something, to show her... what? Maybe he could even have been kissing her out in the garden...

But now she was angry with him, and he still wasn't exactly sure why. It certainly hadn't helped when she saw him come back with Parvati. Should he try apologizing again? That hadn't seemed to do much good last night and there was a chance he might even make it worse.

Not feeling like seeing anyone yet, he waited until everyone had exited the dormitory before finally opening up his curtains. He sighed as he got dressed, dreading seeing Ginny and Parvati for different reasons. He slowly made his way down the stairs and out the portrait hole, trying to delay the inevitable meeting. As Harry was about to enter the Great Hall, he heard a voice calling to him.

"Mr. Potter!" said Professor Melanadray.

"Hello," he said politely, images of her from the previous night suddenly coming back, making him feel shy.

"Wasn't last night wonderful?" she said brightly. "I had so much fun."

"Yeah... fun," Harry said, the ability to form sentences seeming to fail him.

"I'm glad I ran into you, actually," she said. "I have a favor to ask."

"Sure," Harry said, without hesitation.

Melanadray smiled at him warmly. "I knew you would help. I have a bit of work that I could use your assistance with, in the Potion's classroom."

"All right," Harry said. "When?"

"Do you mind helping after dinner tonight? They have me going to some staff meeting today, then I have to do some lesson plans," she said, rolling her eyes. "No rest for us after the Ball. Say about... eight?"

"No problem," said Harry.

Harry continued walking into the Great Hall, momentarily distracted from his other problems, but he was snapped back to reality as he looked around the Gryffindor table. Ron and Hermione had saved him a place, and directly next to the empty spot was Parvati, giving him a big smile.

He searched around the table for Ginny, finally spotting her, sitting far away down the table. He felt a stab of irritation as he noticed Matt sitting next to her.

He blew out a breath, trying to gather his nerve to greet Parvati, wondering what she was expecting. He pasted a neutral smile on his face as he sat down.

"Good morning, Harry," Parvati said warmly.

He gave her a noncommittal smile. "Hi," he said, as Ron and Hermione gave him greetings as well. He began loading up his breakfast, noticing that Parvati had scooted very close to him.

"Harry, it looks like a beautiful day outside today," Parvati said.

"Oh?" Harry replied.

"I was just wondering if you'd care to... maybe go for a picnic?" she said hopefully.

It's already starting, he thought with an inner groan. It didn't help that memories of kissing her were running through his head.

He smiled at her weakly. "I really have a lot of homework to do today. You know, with the Ball yesterday, I didn't get much done."

Her face fell in disappointment, but then she smiled at him. "I understand. I have a lot too, truth be told. Maybe we can study together today?"

Harry didn't have the heart to turn her down twice in a row. "All right," he said. Parvati beamed at him.

Harry picked at his breakfast, his whole life feeling immensely complicated. Over the past week, things had gone from confusing, but stable, to mystifying and out of control. He glanced down the table, just in time to catch Ginny laughing at something Matt had said, giving him a flirtatious look. Terrible thoughts filled his head about exactly which curse he should use on him. He sullenly stabbed at his eggs, wishing again she would just tell him what he did and how he could fix it.

He glanced at Ron and Hermione, both of whom still appeared to be floating after the Ball last night. He had barely spoken to them all night; they had been too wrapped up in each other, and that was continuing this morning. Seeing them so happy seemed to only serve to make him more miserable.

Finally feeling there were far too many irritants surrounding him, he decided to cut short his breakfast.

"Well, I'm going to head back to the dormitory," he said, getting up from his seat. Ron and Hermione looked away from each other long enough to give him a distracted good bye.

"See you in a little while, Harry," Parvati said happily. "I'll meet you in the common room."

"All right," Harry said, forcing a smile to his face. He wondered if he could just come down with a mysterious illness and stay in bed the rest of the day.

* * *

Harry knocked on the door of the classroom as he peeked in.

"Hello, Harry," said Melanadray brightly. "Thank you so much for helping me."

"No problem," Harry said, entering the classroom. He noticed that, as usual, she looked very pretty in a Muggle-style dress that accentuated her figure, with her shiny blonde hair worn loosely about her shoulders.

"It's my own fault, really," she said, smiling at him. "I ordered a batch of Potion supplies from a discount supply guild, and all the labels fell off during shipment." Her face took on an annoyed expression. "I'll certainly never use them again. It was a big batch of supplies, too. Some of them we'll be able to identify by color, but many of them we'll have to use an analysis charm."

"Analysis charm?" Harry asked.

"Yes, it's a very advanced charm used for identifying the makeup of potions," she said. "It's very useful, but it's not infallible for complex potions. It's fine for doing ingredients, though. Not everyone can do the charm, but I'm certain you'll have no trouble."

Harry, feeling flattered, walked over next to her. "All right. Where are they?"

"In the stockroom," she said, moving toward the door. She opened it up and Harry followed her in. He saw several hundred bottles on a work table, with a large pile of labels nearby.

"Here we are," she said. "Let me teach you the spell, and we can get started. You need to imagine the thing to analyze separating into its component parts, with an English label. If you imagine elements, it will even tell you the elements that form the compound. This is one of my favorite spells; it's extremely interesting. Let me see your hand... watch!" she said, looking rather excited to be showing him the spell.

She took Harry's hand in hers. Harry noticed that she had very soft hands as he felt a bit nervous. She waved her wand over his hand, looking as if she was concentrating.

"Analein Qualitas!" she said.

Little tags floated above Harry's hand. He read a few of them; the biggest one said 'hydrogen', then 'oxygen', and then 'carbon.' The rest were very small.

"Of course, most of the hydrogen and oxygen are from the water in your body. The carbon is what most of the rest of you is made of. Neat, huh?" she said enthusiastically.

"Yeah," Harry said, impressed. However, he had to chuckle to himself at the Professor's attitude. Her enthusiasm made her seem very young at that moment, causing him to remember that she was about twenty-three, certainly a lot younger than the other Professors. She released his hand, causing Harry to feel some disappointment.

"You try," she said, picking up a potions bottle. "Since we just want to know what this is, just concentrate on a single label. That's a lot easier than splitting it down into components. Imagine the essence of what it is, if you follow me."

"All right," he said, pulling out his wand. He gazed at the contents of the bottle, concentrating on the material and imagining a label above it... he cast the spell, and a label floated above the material that said, "Powdered spider spinners."

"Excellent, Harry!" Melanadray said excitedly. "You did it your first time. That's very impressive."

Harry smiled, feeling pleased by her praise. "So we just need to do that on the bottles and paste the labels back on?" he said, looking at a pile of labels nearby.

"Yes, that's the idea. I'm certain you can do a better adhesion charm than the gits who sent me this stuff," she said, looking irritated. Somehow it seemed odd to Harry to hear a Professor use the word 'git.'

Pulling up some stools, they sat next to each other and began analyzing the bottles, then searching for the right label and pasting it back on the bottle.

As Harry got into a rhythm analyzing the bottles and labeling them, he found his mind wandering. He felt a lot more comfortable with the Professor; he wondered if he could ask her the question he'd been wondering since the first day.

"Erm, Professor..." he started.

"You may call me Melissa, if you like," she said affably.

"Erm, Melissa," he started again. It felt odd to use her name. "May I ask you a question?"

"Of course, Harry. Anything you like," she said, picking up another bottle.

"I was just wondering... well, the first day, at the welcoming feast, you seemed to know me from somewhere," he started awkwardly, then continued quickly. "I could be wrong, of course..."

Melanadray smiled slightly as she hunted through the labels, searching for the right one. She didn't say anything for a long time, making Harry wonder if she was going to answer at all.

"I suppose it depends on what you mean by 'know.' I obviously hadn't met you before," she said, not looking at Harry, but still smiling slightly. "But it would be fair to say that I knew who you were. Well, that's not news, I know. Everyone knows who you are. But I..."

She stopped and looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "Well, I must confess that I was looking forward to meeting you, Harry."

A bottle nearly slipped out of Harry's hand, but he caught it in time. "What? Why?" he said, looking over at her.

She appeared a bit shy as she glanced back. "There's a bit of a story behind that, I'm afraid. Would you care to hear it?"

Harry nodded, very curious.

"Well, when I was eight years old, my parents worked in the Department of Mysteries. I still don't know what they did there, but it was something very significant. It was one of the worst times of the last war, when You-Know-Who was killing a lot of people," she said, biting her lip at the memory.

She paused, then continued. "So... my parents found out that You-Know-Who had targeted them for death. I don't know how they found out, but we were put into hiding." She paused again. "They tried to put on a brave face, but... I could tell they were very frightened. I was so terrified. I would wake up with horrible nightmares."

Harry noticed that she had some tears in her eyes. She glanced at him and quickly swiped them away. "I'm sorry," she said, smiling at him wanly. "Unpleasant memories."

"Anyway," she said, her voice stronger as she pulled herself together, "We were in hiding for some months. Then one day... it all ended. Thirty-first of October, 1981. The night that you defeated Voldemort.

"It's hard to explain just how bad it was back then... how terrified everyone was. People wondered whether the entire world was going to fall."

Harry nodded slowly. He had never heard anyone talk about their personal experience of that time, particularly as a child, and he found it extremely interesting. Having lost his parents, not to mention what happened with Neville's parents, he could appreciate how much fear she and her parents must have felt.

"Anyway, you can't imagine what it was like when You-Know-Who was gone. The celebrations went on for days. And at the center of it all was... you. It was all such a mystery; how did you survive? And where exactly were you? The mystery just added to the whole thing," she said.

"And..." she paused, looking very embarrassed.

"What?" Harry asked, curious about what was so difficult to say.

"You're going to think this is stupid," she said, actually blushing a little.

"It's all right," Harry said.

"Well, I was eight years old, remember. I used to pretend that you and I would meet someday... and I would be able to thank you for saving my mum and dad... I made up little stories... about... you and I..." she said, looking even more embarrassed. "I told you it was stupid."

Harry felt a bit uncomfortable by the whole idea, but couldn't help but feel some pride at having helped her family, even though he couldn't really take any direct credit for it. It was certainly interesting hearing a story from the point of view of someone having lived through it. He was suddenly reminded of the little girl Mary, who had sent him a letter.

"So... when I was offered the job at Hogwarts, part of why I came was the chance to meet you... and thank you," she said.

"You know, I didn't really do anything worth thanking me for," he said modestly.

"I know; you were just a baby. But even so... I've been following you through Hogwarts... you're a very powerful wizard, Harry," she said. She looked him straight in the eye. "I suspect there's a lot that isn't public about what happened that night. It's not luck that you survived, was it? And even now, you're at the center of what's going on, aren't you?"

Harry swallowed, his eyes darting away.

"It's all right, you don't have to answer," she paused and smiled at him. "You know, when I took this job, I must admit I was also a little apprehensive about meeting you." "Apprehensive? To meet me?" Harry asked incredulously.

Melanadray laughed. "You know what's so cute about you, Harry, is that you have no idea who you really are. And that was the biggest shock to me. That, after everything, you could still be so... normal. And yet... not so normal, if that makes any sense."

Harry said nothing; not certain what to say to that.

"You know, it's rather... disconcerting to meet someone whom you only know by reputation. You wonder if they'll disappoint you... but you..." she trailed off and turned back to the bottles. She suddenly changed the subject. "I suppose we should keep labeling, if we're going to get this done tonight."

Harry wondered what she was going to say. He'd certainly always been a disappointment to the Dursleys.

"But me... what?" he said tentatively, wondering if he should really ask.

Melanadray fell silent as she picked up a Potions bottle and waved her wand over, giving the analysis incantation. As she began hunting for the proper label, she finally replied. "But you... were much... more... than I ever expected." she said, looking rather bashful as she avoided his eyes.

Harry felt quite a bit of heat in his face as he picked up a bottle of his own and identified it. There was a long silence as they both labeled bottles for some minutes.

"Do you want a Butterbeer, Harry?" she said. "I think I want a Butterbeer. Quite the confessional tonight, isn't it?" She chuckled.

"All right," Harry said, thinking that a Butterbeer sounded really good. She walked over to a cabinet and extracted out two bottles, handing one to Harry.

"To the defeat of You-Know-Who," she said, holding up her bottle.

"Yeah," Harry said, clinking his bottle to hers. They both took a long drink. The warmth of the drink felt good to Harry after all their serious conversation. There was another long silence as they worked their way through more labeling.

"Harry?" Melanadray said, glancing over.

"Yeah?" he asked, attaching a label.

"You're going to be seventeen this summer, aren't you?" she asked.

"Erm... yeah..." he replied, wondering why she was asking.

She smiled as she picked up another bottle and held it up to her eye. "I think this is ground rat tail," she said. "Seventeen... you'll be of age. Have you thought about what you want to... do?"

"Do?" he said, confused at what she was talking about.

"Well, you'll be a legal adult. You can do... anything you like," she said.

"Well, I'll come back here for my seventh year," he said.

"Of course. But I meant during the summer. Haven't you ever wanted to, say, travel?" she asked.

"I guess I hadn't really thought about it," Harry said. Could he do that? Just... travel? Do whatever he wanted? It was odd, but the whole idea of adult freedom seemed like such an 'after Hogwarts' concept. Yet... she was right. Technically, in only a matter of months, he could do... whatever he wanted.

"Every summer, I usually live for a few months in Greece, on the Mediterranean. My parents have a villa there on the beach that they live in during the winter months. It's beautiful... the village is a bit like Hogsmeade; it's a completely wizard village, one of the few in that part of the world," she said. "I'm often there... alone... unless friends come and visit me."

Harry nodded. "It sounds really nice," he said.

"I really enjoy having friends visit me, you know," she said, carefully inspecting another bottle.

"Yeah, I bet that's fun," Harry said, pasting on another label.

Melanadray let out a small sigh, then looked at him directly, giving him a very warm smile. "You know... if you ever decided to travel... and found yourself in that area... perhaps you could stop in and say hello. I could... show you around."

A chill ran down Harry's spine as he finally caught up to what she was saying. He looked back at her, noticing once again how pretty she was... thoughts of visiting Greece filled his head as he imagined her on the beach... swimming in the ocean... wearing... he gulped.

"Maybe... we'll see," he said, nervousness filling him.

"Think about it," she said, turning back to the bottles. "We would have a lot of fun."

They finished the rest of the bottles as her offer seemed to rattle around in his head. After they completed the labeling, he helped her put them on the shelf.

"Thank you so much for helping, Harry," she said, smiling. "It was also nice to have some company while doing it."

"No problem," he said.

There was a long pause as they looked at each other. "Well, you should probably go," she said. "I suppose I'll stay and finish up a few things for class tomorrow."

Harry was tempted to ask her if she needed any more help, but thought better of it. "All right. Well, good night," he said.

"Good night, Harry. Sleep well," she said, giving him a wink.

As Harry walked back to Gryffindor Tower, her words floated in his mind... You'll be a legal adult... you can do anything you like. It was true... He could do anything he liked. He could travel... or even... not go back to Hogwarts, if he didn't want to. Visions of traveling the world filled his head... he couldn't help but imagine visiting Melissa... no more stress, no more pressure, no more Dursleys, no more Dumbledore, no more expectations. He could certainly afford it; he had more than enough gold in his bank vault. Temptation filled him... the freedom would be so wonderful...

He slowed in the hallway as reality hit him like a physical blow. He almost grew dizzy, staggering onto a stone bench next to a statue of some unknown wizard... his thoughts seemed to echo down the empty corridor... travel... freedom... all of it was just a fantasy. Powerful despair gripped him as he realized that none of it mattered... there was no escape for him, no options, nothing, in the face of simple facts: I'm the only one that can defeat him, and one of us has to die.

Harry dropped his face into his hands, and just sat, alone.


Author notes: Major thanks to my beta readers Allie Kiwi and DM. Please review!

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