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Author: pottervader Story: Harry Potter and the Prophesied Six Rating: Teens Setting: AU Status: WIP Reviews: 15 Words: 374,905
Disclaimer: This story was made without any intention of profiting from it. Only the original characters and the plot are mine. The rest of it belongs to JKR. A/N: My apologies for the long wait. In addition to limited time to write daily, I tried to squeeze the rest of the tournament into this chapter. I found it just too long so I cut it up, I hope you guys don’t mind the cliffie at the end. LOL! I hope to post the next one much sooner, hopefully in a week. I still have some things to add to it. In the meantime, please read and review. Love you guys for continuing to have interest in this story. Neville kept to the back of the group as they visited Rose in the hospital wing, feeling relieved that she would be all right. He recalled the dread in his heart and the empty feeling in his stomach when he had seen her hit the floor of the platform. He was highly attracted to her and was glad to have spent a lot of time with her over the previous weeks. However, he didn’t want to risk their friendship in the hopes they could be more than friends. He still couldn’t believe he had almost kissed her three days ago. He had avoided being alone with her since then. He felt very guilty because he knew she would feel confused and hurt by his actions. However he had decided to get the tournament over with before doing anything. He left the hospital wing with the Weasley twins and his sister an hour later, not electing to linger longer with Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione. His sleep was troubled by dreams of running after Rose but never catching up to her. The next day, Rose joined the others at the Gryffindor table for breakfast, having been declared by Madam Pomfrey to be fully recovered from the effects of the blasting hex. An hour and a half later, the raised platform was again in the center of the Hall and the house tables were again pushed to the sides. On Neville’s right was Harry. Ginny was on Harry’s other side while Rose was on Ginny’s other side. Maggie was Neville’s left while Ron and Hermione were beside Neville’s sister. The Weasley twins were somewhere else in the crowd with Lee Jordan and the other seventh years. Ti was a few feet away with Jake and Paul on one side of him and Romilda Vane on his other side, almost sitting in his lap and whispering into his ear. Neville didn’t like the younger girl, remembering with disgust that she had given Ti a kiss on the cheek after Ti’s victory the day before. He also noticed that Maggie was glancing in Ti’s direction every few seconds with a grimace on her face. He shook his head and hoped that didn’t mean what he thought it meant. He didn’t want his sister to get hurt. His attention was diverted by Professor Potter who was getting to his feet. “All right,” Professor Potter said, “it’s time for the next phase of the tournament, the first round for the fifth years.” He turned to Dumbledore who had the bowls again in front of him. The headmaster waved his wand over one of the bowls and two pieces of parchment floated into James’ hand. “The first pair of duelists from fifth year is,” James said as he opened both pieces, “Neville Longbottom and Justin Finch-Fletchley.” Neville took a deep breath and stood up. Harry and the others wished him luck. Rose just looked at him. Sighing, Neville walked up to one side of the platform while his Hufflepuff opponent walked up to the other side. They bowed to each other on Flitwick’s command and took a ready stance. When the diminutive professor said “Begin!” they started casting spells at each other. Neville immediately cast a shield spell to deflect the stunner Justin had thrown at him before throwing a Jelly-Legs Jinx at him. Justin managed to dodge that one and send another stunner at Neville who managed to roll underneath it. They exchanged several minor hexes, causing each other small cuts all over their bodies. Then Neville cast a stunner, a disarming charm and a body-bind hex one after another. Justin dodged the stunner and disarming charm but the body-bind got him before he could put up a shield, ending their duel. Neville breathed a sigh of relief as the crowd broke into applause. Professor Flitwick proclaimed him the winner then proceeded to free the bound Justin. Looking over to his friends, Neville was gladdened to see them enthusiastically applauding him, even Rose. Neville and Justin shook hands and descended the platform together. After a few minutes with Madam Pomfrey to fix up their minor injuries, they returned to their previous places. Harry was the first to shake Neville’s hand as he sat back at his original seat. “Well done, Neville,” Harry said. “Yeah, you did great,” Ginny added. “Thanks, guys,” Neville said, grinning. He looked at Rose who smiled shyly at him and mouthed a ‘Congratulations.’ He smiled back though he felt disappointed that she didn’t come closer to him. Neville wondered again what to do to bring them back to the way they had been before he had tried to kiss her. Shaking his head, he decided to let it be for now and turned his attention back to the duels. In the next few duels, Terry Boot managed to beat Anthony Goldstein, Susan Bones eliminated Parvati Patil, Theodore Nott knocked off Seamus Finnigan and Padma Patil got the better of Hannah Abbott. All this took about ten minutes of furious spell work and dodging. Then Neville heard the names ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Ernie Macmillan’ being called. He looked at Ron and they both smirked, remembering how Ernie had been skeptical about Harry being in charge of the Dueling Club. Ginny gave Harry a kiss on the cheek as he got up. Harry walked up onto the platform. Ernie came up on the other side and looked nervously at his opponent. He was right to be nervous. As soon as Professor Flitwick called on them to start, Harry shot two stunners at him in quick succession. Ernie’s eyes widened as he barely got a shield up to deflect the first. The second stunner broke through his shield but was weakened enough to merely push him backward. Ernie cast a disarming charm at Harry who just dodged it and fired a Jelly-Legs Jinx at him, followed by a tickling charm. Ernie broke into uncontrollable laughter as he wobbled. Harry then hit him with a stunner that knocked the Hufflepuff out. The Gryffindors broke into wild cheers. Harry revived Ernie himself and helped his former detractor up. They exchanged handshakes and Harry threw an arm around Ernie’s shoulder as they descended from the platform. They shook hands again as they parted. Harry sat down beside Ginny who threw her arms around his neck and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. Ron pointedly looked away for a second before moving forward to shake his best mate’s hand. Neville, Dean, Seamus, Fred, George and Ti then followed with hand shakes of their own. Rose, Hermione and Maggie all gave Harry a kiss on the cheek. Neville noted with amusement the brief blush on his sister’s face after that. Next up was Hermione against Slytherin Millicent Bulstrode. The large girl from the House of the Serpent had surprisingly strong spells that battered Hermione’s shields but Hermione managed to distract her by enlarging her teeth with a Densaugeo Curse then hit her with a disarming charm. Ron rewarded her for this with a kiss on the lips that lasted a bit too long considering they were in public. Ron then faced off with Vincent Crabbe. The larger Slytherin attempted to dodge the Gryffindor’s spells but Ron sent a Body-Bind Curse to his left and to his right, trapping him and then ended the duel with a strong Stupefy. The New Marauders congratulated Ron for his victory. Hermione gave him a quick kiss of her own though Ron looked disappointed that she didn’t reciprocate his earlier enthusiastic congratulations. The next fifth year duels saw Daphne Greengrass beat Gregory Goyle and Blaise Zabini defeat Michael Corner. Then, Draco Malfoy dueled with Dean Thomas and managed to break through the Gryffindor’s shield with a stunner after several minutes of dueling. Harry and the others were surprised by Draco’s success, considering that Dean was among the top DC members, just slightly less skilled than the New Marauders. “Where the hell did he learn to duel like that?” Ron whispered to Harry. “He didn’t join the DC. Dean’s one of the best among the DC.” “I’m not sure, Ron,” Harry said. “Maybe his father has been teaching him to duel.” “I think that’s possible, Harry,” Neville whispered. “It’s supposed to be an old tradition in pureblood families but few really do it ever since dueling in public was outlawed by the Ministry at the turn of the century.” “Don’t you think you should ask Ti about that?” Ron asked Harry, nodding towards the young Gryffindor who was congratulating his older brother for his victory. “Why would he know?” Harry asked back. “Remember, Ti didn’t know how to duel when he first started training with us.” “Harry’s right, Ron,” Ginny said, leaning past Harry so Ron could hear her easily, “I really doubt Ti would know if Draco has been receiving training outside of Hogwarts. He’s never mentioned it.” Ron nodded. “All right, all right, I get your point. Still, we’d better keep an eye on Malfoy. One of us will probably have to duel with him.” “You’re probably right,” Harry said. “We’ll just have to see when the time comes. Just don’t underestimate him if you have to face him, Ron.” Ron shrugged, “Okay.” James got up at this point and announced the end of the first round for the fifth years. It seemed Lavender Brown and Pansy Parkinson hadn’t joined the tournament. James also announced a break for lunch. The students left to allow the staff to prepare the Great Hall for the meal. They milled around the Entrance Hall, discussing the morning’s duels. Ron looked several times in Ti’s direction but didn’t approach the younger boy. Neville thought it was for the best. After lunch, the sixth and seventh year first round duels were held. None of the sixth year Slytherins managed to beat their opponents. Harry felt a feeling of glee and satisfaction coming from Ginny as they watched Katie Bell put Cho Chang in a full body bind. Harry shook his head but wisely refrained from saying anything, verbally or mentally, to his fiery soul mate. Fred and George faced and beat separate opponents, both Slytherins. As with their sixth year house mates, none of the Slytherins in seventh year made it past the first round, causing a scowl on Snape’s face. Harry and the others were glad that classes were over since the Potions Master would have been intolerable and probably taken points from other Houses in spite. The school then had dinner. At the end of the meal, Dumbledore announced that the second round would be held the next day. He expected to take the whole day to go through all seven years. With that, he dismissed the students, biding them get a good night’s rest. ******************* The next day after breakfast, the Great Hall was again set up for the dueling competition. For the first years, there were five going into the second round; one Gryffindor (Euan Abercrombie), one Slytherin, two Ravenclaws and one Hufflepuff. Euan managed to beat one of the Ravenclaws while the other defeated the lone Slytherin. Based on the rules of the tournament, either Euan or the second Ravenclaw would have to face the Hufflepuff who had no opponent. James drew Euan’s name. Five minutes later, the Gryffindors collectively groaned as the Hufflepuff managed to disarm Euan. Now, that boy and the remaining Ravenclaw would duel the next day for the first year championship. For the second years, the three Gryffindor semifinalists faced different opponents. Maggie faced a Ravenclaw girl who she caught with a stunning hex a minute into their duel. Dennis Creevey also managed to beat his Hufflepuff opponent. Unfortunately, the remaining Gryffindor lost to his Ravenclaw opponent. So, after twenty minutes, the three second year finalists were two Gryffindors and a Ravenclaw. The third years were next. Ti was the only Gryffindor while there were three Slytherins and one Ravenclaw. The first match was between two Slytherins who battled it out for ten minutes before one of them managed to catch the other with a disarming hex. The second match was between Ti and the Ravenclaw. Ti started the duel with a stunning hex which the Ravenclaw barely dodged. The Ravenclaw’s return spell bounced off Ti’s shield. Ti fired back with a tickling charm and a Leg-Locker curse which both missed his opponent by a fraction of an inch. Ti managed to dodge a Body-Bind Curse before casting a Jelly-Legs Jinx back at his foe. The Ravenclaw boy lost his balance and fell on his rear, losing hold of his wand. Professor Potter then declared Ti the winner of the duel. He sat back down beside Paul and Jake. He visibly blushed when Romilda gave him a kiss on the cheek. Just as what had happened with the first years, the last Slytherin needed to duel with either Ti or the Slytherin winner of the previous duel. James drew Ti’s name. They gave a few more minutes for Ti to rest before starting the duel. It didn’t take long. The second James gave the signal to start, Ti fired three successive disarm spells at the Slytherin which all hit the surprised boy. Ti grinned as he was declared the winner again. He got another kiss on the cheek from Romilda. Because it was only half past ten, Dumbledore decided to go on with the second round for the fourth years which would be a quarterfinal round. There were twelve duelists in this round, including Ginny, Rose and Luna; three from each House. After two duels in which a Ravenclaw beat a Slytherin and a Slytherin beat a Hufflepuff, Rose’s name was called. Her opponent was the third Slytherin, a pureblood boy named Artemus Grouch, who Rose knew believed in pureblood supremacy. The boy sneered at her, obviously disdainful of Rose due to her halfblood status. Rose glared in turn at him and decided to play off Grouch’s apparent arrogance. When Professor Flitwick gave the signal to begin, Rose pretended to hesitate for a second then threw up a shield which barely deflected the stunner the Slytherin had cast at her. She cast a stunner of her own back at him which bounced off the boy’s shield. Rose continued to cast spells erratically and deliberately missed her opponent. Grouch, on his part, started to move less and less until he was almost standing still. After five minutes, Rose decided that it was time to end her little charade. She cast a disarming spell at Grouch that flew past the boy’s shoulder. As Grouch turned to her with a sneer on his face, his eyes went wide as a stunner hit him in the face. Rose jumped up and down in celebration as her opponent’s wand rolled from his limp fingers. Luna was the next one called. She faced a Hufflepuff boy. It took her just three minutes of dodging her unusual way (almost casually and more like skipping and hopping about) to have her opponent confused. Suddenly she had him in a full body bind, which led Professor Flitwick to proudly declare her the winner. She then walked serenely back to her seat just behind Rose, Ginny and Harry who congratulated her. Harry also noticed that Colin was staring at her again in awe. Then Ginny’s name was called for the next match. Her opponent was a Ravenclaw girl they didn’t know. Harry again gave Ginny a quick kiss on the cheek as well as a ‘Good luck’ through their bond. Ginny and the Ravenclaw traded spells at each other for four minutes then the Ravenclaw managed to catch Ginny with a tripping hex as she dodged a stunner. Ginny rolled as she hit the ground, firing a stunner and a body-bind at her surprised opponent. This time, Harry gave his soul mate a quick peck on the lips and a tight hug to congratulate her for her victory. The last second round duel for the fourth years was between Melissa Pipper and the last Hufflepuff who was a girl. Melissa held her own for a while. Unfortunately, in the third minute of the duel, she dodged the wrong way and ran into a disarming hex, loosing hold of her wand. Ginny and Rose got up from their seats to console their roommate over her loss. Dumbledore announced a break for lunch after that. Harry had to force himself to eat something. He felt nervous again, knowing the chances of drawing one of his friends increased the further forward in the tournament they went. Ginny gave his hand a squeeze to reassure him. Harry smiled at her and she grinned back at him. Harry felt his body relax and his stomach calm down, allowing him to eat. An hour later, the Great Hall was again ready for the duels, this time between the fifth years. There were eleven quarterfinalists which meant someone would have to duel twice. The first pair called by James was Hermione and Susan Bones. The two girls exchanged spells for four minutes. Hermione relied more on her shields than dodging while Susan preferred to dodge spells. Hermione soon realized this and aimed her next set of spells well. She first cast a stunner straight at Susan who jumped to her left. Hermione then cast a body-bind curse to Susan’s right, then a stunner to her left and another stunner in the middle, all in rapid succession. The first two spells pinned Susan in place, allowing the second stunner to blast her, winning the match for Hermione. Ron gave Hermione a chaste kiss on the lips to reward her. Next up was Blaise Zabini and Neville. Both Wizards exchanged spells for several minutes, usually dodging their opponent’s hexes and jinxes. Then Blaise attempted to repeat what Hermione had done to Susan. Instead of dodging, Neville stayed put and threw up a shield that deflected the second stunner. He immediately fired off two Disarming Charms through his collapsing shield that both caught Blaise before he could even blink. The third fifth year quarterfinal duel was between Terry Boot and Padma Patil. It went for five minutes before Padma caught Terry with a stunner. The fourth duel was between Harry and Daphne Greengrass. For a second, Ginny was worried that Harry would hold back because Daphne was a girl but she need not have feared that. Harry threw his spells at Daphne with the same strength he had shown before while dodging Daphne’s return spells. Two minutes into the match, Daphne threw two stunners at both sides of Harry then a disarming charm directly at him. In response, Harry simply dropped to the floor and cast a Body-bind right at her, catching her unawares and ending the match. True to his nature, Harry released Daphne from his spell and helped her up, earning a smile from the Slytherin girl. Harry received his own reward from Ginny for that spectacular victory. After a couple of minutes, James announced the fifth pair: Ron and Draco. Harry placed a hand on Ron’s shoulder and reminded him again not to underestimate the Slytherin. Ron brushed aside his fears and strode up to the platform. Ron glared at his opponent but Draco just smirked. When James signaled them to begin, they started casting hexes at each other. Ron threw two stunners which Draco dodged, while Ron put a shield just in time to block Draco’s disarming spell. They started casting spells at each other in earnest. Three minutes into the duel, Ron and Draco had bruises and cuts all over their bodies from the stinging, punching and cutting hexes they failed to avoid. Then, Ron managed to catch Draco with a Leg-Locker Curse. As he fell forward to the floor, Draco pointed his wand at Ron who had a look of triumph on his face and yelled, “Langlock!” Harry and his friends groaned as they watched Ron frantically waving his wand against his mouth, trying to release his tongue from the roof of his mouth. Then as Draco lay on the floor, he hit Ron with a stunner knocking the redhead unconscious. James came up to Draco and released his legs before going up to Ron to awaken him. Draco also came up to Ron as the redhead shook his head to clear it. Draco offered Ron his hand to help him up but Ron brushed it aside and got up on his own. He then walked away from Draco, down the platform back to where Harry and the others were sitting. “Bad luck, mate,” Harry said to Ron as his friend plopped down next to him. Ron scowled and muttered, “Bloody cheating Slytherin.” “Come on, Ron,” Hermione said, placing a hand gently on her boyfriend’s shoulder. “He won fair and square. You shouldn’t have just stood there after throwing that Leg-Locker at him.” Ron glared at her, “Oh yeah, defend him. I’d have thought you’d be more sympathetic to your boyfriend than to someone who’s done nothing but insult you since we started here.” He got up and stormed out the Great Hall. Hermione looked distressed as she watched Ron leave in a huff. She stood up to follow him but Harry placed a hand gently on her arm. “Let me be the one to follow him, Hermione,” Harry said. “You’ll just get into a row.” Hermione stood for a few seconds, clearly debating whether to follow Harry’s advice. Finally, she sat down. “All right, Harry. Go on after him. Just let him know that I’m really sorry he lost to Draco.” Harry nodded and kissed Ginny on the cheek before standing up. As he walked out the Great Hall, he heard his father announce that Theodore Nott was the eleventh and last dueler among the fifth year quarterfinalists and that the Slytherin would face Neville. Harry mentally wished Neville luck as his thoughts turned to where to find Ron. After a few seconds, Harry knew where his best mate would go. He walked out the main doors of the castle and headed for the Pitch. Sure enough, when he got there, he saw someone with red hair flying around. He sighed and walked over to the Gryffindor changing rooms. He retrieved his broom from his locker and walked back out to the Pitch. Kicking off, he sped toward Ron. “Hey mate,” Harry shouted at him to make sure he was heard, “Care for some company?” Ron stopped in midair and looked at Harry for a few seconds before finally shrugging his shoulders and speeding off toward the other end of the Pitch. Harry followed and soon caught up to Ron since his Firebolt was much faster than the Nimbus 2001 Ron was using. They flew around in silence for several minutes, racing from one end to the other. Finally, Ron stopped in midair again. Harry moved his broom to come up beside him. Ron’s face had assumed its normal complexion now so Harry thought it was safe to talk to him. “You feel better now, mate,” Harry asked. Ron shrugged his shoulders before opening his mouth, “Yeah, a bit. I was just really mad that I was beaten by Draco Malfoy in a duel in front of the whole school. Then Hermione had to tell me that Malfoy didn’t really cheat with that spell. Was she really trying to defend him?” “It wasn’t like that, Ron,” Harry said. “She just didn’t want you to get riled up over it. She was trying to make you feel better in her own way. You know how she is.”
“Is that what pissed you off?” Harry asked. “That Hermione pointed out your mistake?” Ron nodded his head, his face turning as red as his hair, this time from embarrassment. “I let my guard down, Harry. I really thought I’d beaten him when he started falling down after I hit him with the Leg-Locker. I just didn’t expect him to cast something back while he was meeting the floor.” “I know,” Harry said. “I was surprised myself that he had the wits to do that. Well, at least it happened during a competition rather than a real battle. Now you’ve learned never to let your guard down until your opponent is truly out.” Then Harry felt the presence of Ginny nearby. He looked down to the ground and saw her, Hermione, Maggie and Neville entering the Pitch. “Are you ready to go down and talk it over with Hermione?” Harry asked. “I think both of you have some apologizing to do.” Ron grimaced for a second before replying, “Yeah, I guess so.” The two boys landed a few feet from the others. Hermione ran over to them and threw herself at Ron as soon as they were close to each other. Ron enfolded her in his arms. “Ron, I’m so sorry for saying that,” Hermione said, looking up at him. “I should have realized you didn’t need to have your mistake pointed out like that.” “’Mione, I’m sorry for blowing up at you,” Ron said. “I should have told you what I was feeling.” He bent down and captured her lips in a fierce kiss. Hermione seemed to be happy to return the kiss. “Do we have to stay and watch this?” Ginny’s voice came up in Harry’s mind. Harry laughed inside his head. “Nah, I guess not.” He walked over to where Ginny, Maggie and Neville were waiting. “Hey, Nev,” Harry said to his friend, “I heard you got picked to fight Nott. Sorry I didn’t stick around to watch it.” “That’s all right, Harry,” Neville said, a wide grin on his face. “So, what happened?” Harry asked. When the Longbottoms looked surprised he didn’t know, he shrugged his shoulders, “Sorry, I didn’t try watching the match from Ginny’s point of view. I was trying to make sure that git was all right.” He pointed with his thumb at his best mate who still had lips locked with his other best friend. “Neville won!” Maggie said, beaming at her brother with a bright smile, causing Neville to blush. “He was really so brilliant out there. He got Nott with a Full Body Bind.” “Yeah,” Ginny agreed, “Nott had to dodge two stunners and walked right into the body bind. It was over in three minutes. What was even better was that he and Nott shook hands after the match.” “That’s good,” Harry said. “Nott, Greengrass and Zabini seem to be decent people for Slytherins. We can use their help to unite this school.” The others nodded their heads in agreement. Then Harry noticed someone was missing from their group. “Gin, where’s Rose?” Harry asked. “Oh um, she decided to stay and watch the sixth and seventh year duels,” Ginny answered. Harry frowned. It didn’t seem like Rose to prefer that to going with her friends and brother. He also caught Ginny glance toward Neville for an instant. Something was going on there. He doubted he’d get anything out of Ginny so he decided to wait it out. “Let’s get back in there,” Harry said. “I want to see Gred and Forge’s duels.” He could feel the relief coming from Ginny but kept silent as he and his friends headed back to the castle. They arrived just in time to watch Katie Bell beat a Ravenclaw. Eight sixth years made it to the semifinals, including three Gryffindors. In the seventh year duels, Fred managed to catch Adrian Pucey in a Full Body Bind while George stunned Montague. Unfortunately, Alicia lost to a Ravenclaw. Half an hour later, the last of the seventh year quarterfinal round saw Angelina disarm Warrington. The Slytherin Chaser looked murderously at Angelina but was prevented from doing anything by a stern look from Dumbledore who had refereed the match. There were also eight seventh years going into the semifinals. Dinner proved to be a boisterous affair as the students discussed the day’s duels while eating another fine Hogwarts meal. A glare from Ginny kept her twin brothers from making fun of Ron over his loss. They retired soon after, eager to get some rest. ****************** The next day brought the finals for the first, second and third years and the semifinalists for the other year levels. In the first year final match, the Ravenclaw who beat Euan came out on top of his Hufflepuff opponent. For the second years, there were three finalists: Maggie Longbottom, Dennis Creevey and a Ravenclaw boy. The first match pitted Dennis against the Ravenclaw. After three minutes of casting minor hexes at each other, Dennis hit his opponent with a tripping hex, causing the boy to hit his head, stunning him. Dennis then finished the fight with a disarming spell. The judges decided to let the third year final duel between Ti and the last Slytherin take place first to allow Dennis time to rest before his match with Maggie. Ti and the Slytherin took their places on the platform. When Professor Flitwick gave the signal, the two boys started hexing each other. They were soon covered with bruises and cuts, though Ti had less since he was able to dodge better than his opponent. Finally, the two boys hit each other with stunners which knocked them unconscious at the same time. As both boys fell to the floor, everyone got to their feet. The question on everyone’s mind was who was the winner? James and Professor Flitwick revived the two boys and escorted them to Madam Pomfrey who promptly starting healing them. The two professors then walked over to Professor Dumbledore. The three Wizards stood close together, obviously discussing the match. After several minutes, they separated and Dumbledore walked up onto the platform. The Headmaster smiled as he gazed around at the students. “Now that was an interesting way for a duel to end,” he said, drawing laughter from the majority of the students. “However, there can only be one winner who was the last to drop his wand. And that is….Mr. Tiberius Black!” The Gryffindors broke out cheers and applause. Paul and Jake rushed over to Ti and hoisted him on their shoulders. Harry and the rest of the New Marauders cheered along with the rest of their House. They joined with the other Gryffindors in shaking Ti’s hand and congratulating him. Ti accepted their handshakes and congratulations. Once the crowd of students had settled down, they got on with the final duel for the second years, between Maggie Longbottom and Dennis Creevey. The two twelve year olds threw spells at each other with a speed that belied their age. Then, Dennis hit Maggie with a Jelly-Legs Jinx, causing her to fall to the floor. Dennis tried to follow it up with stunners but Maggie rolled out of the way of the spells. As she rolled one way, she surprised him with a disarming spell, allowing her to win the match. Neville hugged his sister tightly as he congratulated her for winning her year level’s championship. After ten minutes, Dumbledore announced the start of the fourth year semifinal round. There were now six fourth years; Ginny, Rose, Luna, another Ravenclaw, a Hufflepuff and a Slytherin. The referee/judge would be James. The first match was between Luna and the other Ravenclaw, a boy. Again, Luna’s eccentric way of dodging had her opponent baffled, then angry. Luna’s housemate started firing spells in rapid succession, hoping to catch her with one of them. Unfortunately, most of these missed and were absorbed by the protective barrier around the platform. After five minutes, the boy’s face was red and sweaty and his arms hung limply at his side as he panted. Then, his eyes rolled upward and he toppled to the floor, dropping his wand. The Hall fell silent in shock over this development, except for Luna who simply stood there smiling. Then, the silence was broken by the loud applause and cheering from three of the Houses and the staff. The Slytherins were still stunned to silence. Luna curtsied and skipped merrily back down to her seat where she gazed about dreamily as she accepted the congratulations from several people, including Harry and the other New Marauders. Ginny immediately hugged her. Rose followed Ginny’s lead which surprised Harry and Ginny, considering her longtime wariness toward the flighty Ravenclaw. Rose saw their faces while she was hugging Luna. “What?” she asked after separating from Luna. “So she grew on me,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. Harry and Ginny exchanged an amused glance and a mental laugh. Ginny stiffened when her name was called, along with the Hufflepuff who was a good-looking boy she only knew from the DC. They smiled at each other and bowed after reaching the platform. Immediately after Professor Flitwick gave the signal to begin, the boy cast three stunners in rapid succession at Ginny, forcing her to stop casting her own stunner and raise a shield that absorbed all the three spells. She dropped to the floor and cast a Jelly-Legs Jinx that caused her opponent to topple over. However, the boy managed to cast a disarming charm back at her which she dodged. Ginny retaliated with a strong tickling charm that stole the breath from her opponent. Ginny then cast a disarming charm that hit her opponent and drew his wand to her, ending the match. Ginny handed back her opponent’s wand with a smile. The boy sheepishly smiled back at her as he accepted his wand. Ginny then headed back to her seat amidst loud applause and cheers. Harry gave her a quick kiss on the lips before she sat down. “You weren’t flirting with that guy back there, were you?” Harry asked her. “Why do you ask?” Ginny asked. “You’re jealous! Harry, don’t you trust me?” Harry sighed before answering, “Maybe I felt a little jealous. I do trust you, Gin. It’s just…that smile should be just for me. I don’t want anyone getting the wrong idea.” Ginny reached over and ran her fingers gently down Harry’s arm, causing goose bumps to form there and shivers to run down his spine. “Harry, you don’t have to be afraid that someone might try to steal me away. Even if we weren’t bonded, I’d always choose you over any other bloke.” Harry sighed and nodded his head as he took her hand. “I know. I just don’t like any other bloke to look at you the way I look at you. I’ll always be yours and yours alone, Gin.” Ginny smiled and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. Then, they heard Rose’s name being called, along with the last Slytherin. They all wished Rose luck. ******* Rose ascended the platform and stood facing the Slytherin who glared back at her. Rose knew the boy who was a member of the group Margaret Tunnelbee called her friends. He was a bit of a bully though quite good in class, even DADA. Professor Flitwick had just begun to say ‘Go!’ when the Slytherin immediately sent two stunners at Rose. “That cheater!” Rose thought as she weaved to her left, causing the first stunner o pass her. She then swerved to the right but not enough as the stunner hit her left arm, spinning her around. She felt a sharp bite of pain from that but shrugged it off. She saw another spell headed her way and barely ducked in time. The boy cast a Reducto curse at her feet but Rose jumped into the air to avoid it. She hit the ground closer to the boy. Her eyes narrowed and she shouted, “Battus mucous!” Immediately, large bat-shaped bogies appeared and started attacking him. With her opponent distracted, Rose smirked as she cast a stunner at him, knocking him out. Highly pleased by her victory, she ran down the platform back to her friends. Harry, Ginny, Maggie and Hermione all hugged her while Ron, Fred and George shook her hands and pounded her on the back. Then she found herself embraced by strong arms accompanied by a smell of cologne, fresh soil and grass that gave her a feeling of contentment. The arms released her, giving her a feeling of loss. Then she looked up to look at the person who had just hugged her. She was a bit shocked to be staring at Neville whose face was turning red. He’d never done that before. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at him. Neville looked sheepishly at the ground but remained silent. This further confused her. Neville was never shy and unsure of himself. Rose waited for several seconds to see if he’d say anything but he remained that way. Exasperated, she turned away from him. Melissa then came up to hug and congratulate her, followed by Colin and Luna. “Great work, Rose,” Luna said in her dreamy voice, “You know, that means the finals will be between you, me and Ginny. Maybe you and I should just drop out and spare ourselves the pain of losing. Ginny is sure to win anyway.” Rose looked at her with narrowed eyes. “Do you know something we don’t, Luna?” “Oh no,” Luna replied, “Nothing more than you do already.” “Right,” Rose replied. She was still wary of Luna’s strangeness in spite of what Ginny and Harry’s talk with her the previous summer. It was then that the Headmaster announced a break for lunch. After lunch, the students eagerly awaited the rest of the semifinal matches. The first semifinal match among the fifth years was between Hermione and Padma Patil. The duel was won after three minutes by Hermione with a stunner that caught Padma as she moved too slowly to dodge it. The two Gryffindors hugged each other after Hermione had revived Padma. Ron grinned and gave Hermione a kiss on the cheek as she sat down beside him. The Hall fell silent two minutes later when Dumbledore called out the next pair – Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy. Harry accepted a kiss on the cheek from Ginny, took a deep breath and stood up. He walked slowly toward the platform as the whispering began. He had a sense of déjà vu from second year and Lockhart’s ill-conceived attempt at a dueling club. Harry climbed up on the platform and stood facing his old nemesis. For the first time this year, he saw the familiar smirk on Draco’s face. “My, my,” Draco said just loud enough for only Harry and Professor Flitwick to hear, “reminds you of something similar three years ago, eh Potter?” Harry frowned but shrugged his shoulders. They took their dueling stances and waited. When Professor Flitwick gave them the signal, spells started flying. They both cast disarming spells at each other and both dodged the spells. Draco managed to cast his next spell faster than Harry who just managed to raise a shield to deflect it then cast a stunner back. Draco raised his own shield then cast a disarming hex at Harry. Harry ducked under the spell then fired a Jelly-Legs Jinx at Draco, hitting him. Draco stopped moving and yelled “Langlock” twice in rapid succession. Harry dodged the first but got hit by the second. Harry’s eyes widened as he felt his tongue stick to the roof of his mouth, garbling his speech. He remembered what had happened to Ron the day before. Draco smirked as he reversed Harry’s jinx on his legs. Then he pointed his wand at Harry.
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