Chapter 10:

Harry was awoken by the usual jolt that came from his wand. He quickly cast a 'Tempus' to see that he woke up just in time to catch Neville. He bolted up to his room as fast and quietly as possible and changed to his workout clothes, where he then took off out of the common room and towards the nearby courtyard.

When he arrived Neville was on the ground doing push-ups as a part of a warm-up exercise. When he took notice of his best friend his face darkened, "I would say good morning, but it doesn't look like yours has been too pleasant. What happened to you, you look like hell mate?"

Giving the boy a frustrated look he sighed, "My dad had some choice words about not choosing to be in Gryffindor. Needless to say, he didn't draw me a congratulations poster or anything like that."

Neville shook his head, "That bad huh?"

Harry nodded his head gravely, but then shook it off, "But come on, it's a beautiful morning, and the sun will be rising over the lake. We can duel down there, which can help me blow off some steam."

Neville nodded and followed in behind Harry as he began jogging down the courtyard and onto the Hogwarts grounds. They basically followed the same route as yesterday, where Harry led him through the edge of the forbidden forest, which made him extra uneasy that morning and then around the greenhouse and quidditch pitch.

After an hour of jogging, they laid down a final sprint to the black lake matching each other in a bit of a race, before they made it to the beach and collapsed in temporary exhaustion. The two were even laughing as the race was so close it was hard to declare a winner.

After a few moments, the two stood in meditative positions across from each other and took turns taking deep breaths. They felt their magic tune in with each other and even helped flare it around.

At the end of their little practice Harry stood up wand in hand, "Today we duel, tomorrow we do shield practice? Sound good?"

Neville grinned, "As long as I kick your ass it will be great!"

Harry groaned as he held his wand in the ready position and his best friend quickly matched. The two then bowed and raised their wands at each other. Harry spoke out, "To incapacitation, go!"

Neville quickly fired off a stunner in the hope to catch him off guard, but Harry's shield was up so fast if you blinked you missed it. Harry then returned his five chain spell, however with the first two having missed him completely his last three were almost completely ineffective. Neville was even using the sand to knock away his blasting curse and used the 'deprimo' charm to cause the wind to obscure his vision. Neville laughed, "Hanging out with all them badgers has made you soft Harry!"

Growling Harry started charging forward, throwing stunning, and freezing charms at the boy. Neville was quick to be on the defensive and only managed to throw back a few counters. Harry however was now throwing blasting curses into the sand throwing huge piles at him, which forced him to shield constantly.

Neville then laughed as he flung his wand around causing all the sand to dissipate, and then fired a loud blast of 'incendio' straight at Harry. In an initial panic, Harry cast the water charm, but this only served to turn the fire into something more solid causing the Potter heir to dive out of the way! Harry then through a shield breaker, followed by his first silent curse, Perficus Totalus!

Neville was suddenly stiff as a board, and as fast as the duel had begun it was over. Harry smirked as he twirled his wand around triumphantly, "And that is one for the badger! Zero for the lion."

Harry removed the curse from his friend while Neville coughed up a little bit of sand, "Merlin! Did you just throw the last spell non-verbally?"

Harry grinned, "That I did! By complete accident mind you, but I did!"

A voice came from behind them, "That was some impressive spellwork. Your granddad is smiling at you from the other side."

Harry whirled around and prepared to fire, but realized it was just James Potter. Harry lowered his wand with a sad look, "We were just leaving. Sorry for disturbing you, we will keep it down."

James called out, "Harry wait!"

However Harry didn't stop, but James threw a freezing spell at him, and Harry spun around and deflected it, "Bad move Prongs!"

Harry then launched a full assault on his father who had just attacked him. It came with a volley of silent stunners, and an array of fast-paced spells. James however simply through up one shield he had never seen before, and simply could not break it. He finally however fired his shield breaking hex, and James was forced to return fire or end up hurt.

The two seemed to lock in a full magical duel while Neville was even preparing to attack James Potter, but suddenly a huge burst of magic swept the beach and James Potter went flying backward. Harry was standing there taking deep breaths. Neville whistled as he carefully approached his friend, "Wandless banishing charm. Impressive."

Harry nodded with his wand still pointed at his dad, "Are you going to fire any more spells at me, James Potter?"

James merely didn't move though as Harry approached him. At first, he thought he had actually hurt the man, but as he got closer he heard a light sniffle. He could see tears in his father's eyes when he approached him, and Neville said, "Either his pride is broken, or his ribs are broken one or the other!"

Harry almost laughed at his friend when James cried out, "I'm sorry Harry. I'm so sorry!"

Neville and Harry exchanged looks clearly acknowledging that it was indeed the man's pride that was broken. Harry offered the man his hand who took it gratefully, and once he found his feet he embraced his son for all he was worth. This almost resulted in Neville cursing the man, but when he realized the auror was just hugging his son, he lowered his wand, "I'm sorry Harry! I was just so stunned and surprised, traditions be damned, I am sorry!"

Harry acknowledged his father by patting him on the back, "It's okay dad really."

James shook his head, "No it wasn't. The headmaster called me in and said he had spoken with you, but it wasn't until after I talked to him that I realized it wasn't what I said, it was the way I treated you over it. I could never be disappointed in you! You are one of the hardest workers I have ever met, with a wonderful ambition that is going to change the world!"

"I have no right to decide what house you belong in, I can just only hope that you and Neville continue my marauder legacy because it's not just the house that made us infamous but the very school that was our playground. I hope you go on to become Head boy, and Seeker, and all those other things, but I want you to do so on your own ambitions, not off of mine! I lived through my glory days, and I know I am going to see them again through your eyes as you grow older!"

Harry hugged his dad tighter at these words, when Harry broke the tension, "How much trouble are you in with mum?"

James laughed separating the two, and wiping away a tear, "Oh she is livid with me right now! I fully expect I deserve it though. A few nights on the couch may help me learn my lesson. Jack and Rosalie are furious with me after your mum told them that we had an argument. Your little sister thinks the world of you because she was causing not so accidental magic to bite me all night!"

Harry laughed, "That's my girl!"

James pouted a bit at that, then asked, "Are we okay Harry? I had resolved myself that I wasn't going to leave until we made things right."

The young man still felt the hurt from the previous night, but his words of Dumbledore came flowing into his mind about reconciliation. Finally, he smiled at his dad, "We're good!"

Harry almost mentioned that if he had to serve detention because of him he was going to be most put out, but he shrugged it off realizing he probably deserved it for not bringing in a tighter reign on his emotions. Neville sighed, "Lord you two can try and kill each other one moment, then hug it out the next! Can we get back to the school and shower, I would really not like to be late for my second day of classes!"

James Potter nodded and joked that he would race the boys back to the school. Little did he know both boys would take it as a challenge and dart off in the direction of the castle. By the time they had made it, the clock was almost at 7:45 which gave them little time to shower, get ready, and go to class, so they decided that James would go get them breakfast in the Kitchens, and would feed them before they headed off to Herbology!

When Harry made it back to his common room, the entire house was up, and he once again entered drenched in sweat. When Darrel Abbot saw Harry he took a deep breath, "Thank Merlin Potter, I was stressing out about you! I checked your bed this morning, and thought that Patronus was fake."

Giving the boy an apologetic look he said, "Sorry Darrel, I didn't want to wake you when I returned from the headmaster's office."

Ignoring his apology he asked, "What exactly happened last night? You were running as if the devil himself was after you! Is everything okay?"

Harry flinched at the memory, "Yeah everything is good now. I am guessing I have you to thank for calling for Dumbledore. Probably saved my life. But if we talk about that let's do it in private."

Darrel nodded his head, "Alright Potter, I am just glad you're okay. You were dodging Percy and my curses like a champion. We were on patrol together when you rounded that corner."

Harry chuckled, "I honestly didn't even see Percy. I noticed someone else, but when you guys started trying to fling curses at me I didn't slow down for anything."

Darrel's face darkened a bit, "We chased you out of the school, but when you hit the grounds you were like smoke in the night. We couldn't even see you. We even used point me, but it kept taking us to the forbidden forest...you didn't happen to go in there did you?"

Harry flushed deeply, thinking 'well that cat is out of the bag', "Let's not talk about this now. I really need to shower, and freshen up."

Darrel Abbot nodded as he too noticed they had gathered most of the house, "I want to talk to you more about this later Potter!"

Harry saluted the boy and made his way up to his dormitory. When he made it in Ernie was the first to ask, "Merlin Harry where have you been?"

Harry in exasperation responded, "Can we talk about this later I really need to shower! You guys go on ahead to breakfast I will explain everything at lunch!"

The boys all nodded as Harry plunged himself into the shower. The hot water seemed to soak the stress away. By the time Harry had finished his shower and dressed, it was nearing 8:15, and he knew his best bet would be just to head down to the Greenhouses and start his day without missing a meal. It's not like he hadn't operated without meals before, and today would not be a first.

As Harry made his way down through the grand central staircase he ran into Neville and his dad who was carrying muggle protein bars that his mum was so fond of. He told us that it would hold us over until lunch, but that they shouldn't try Defense class without at least some kind of food in their systems.

The herbology lesson was the most painful of Harry's life so far. He had little knowledge or care for the subject as he hardly saw it as magical. Anything Neville touched however was quickly turned to gold if you asked Professor Sprout!

In the first lesson they were to simply plant a little bit of Devil's Snare, and not only had Harry and Neville done it the fastest, but Neville basically did the whole thing by himself. Professor Sprout may have given Harry his Outstanding for the assignment, but he had a feeling that she was going to make sure that he didn't leech off Neville's work. She also awarded Neville nearly thirty points by the end of one class period!

The next lesson was a bit more up Harry's alley, with Defense Against the Dark Arts. Sitting with Ernie and Justin from his own house, the group took a seat near the front in order to hear Quirrell's first lesson, however when the man started talking Harry instantly regretted it.

The stuttering was out in force, but what's worse was every time the man came too close to him his scar began to burn. He wasn't quite sure what the cause was, but it was slightly annoying, and he would certainly be visiting Madame Pomfrey after the abysmal lesson. It didn't help that he had almost dozed off nearly a dozen times.

Finally, towards the end of class, the man was asking for a demonstration of the knockback jinx, and Harry's hand immediately shot up, anxious to do something with his magic, before he started flinging blasting curses! Quirrel clapped politely, "Splendid, now can I get a second volunteer?"

Malfoy was the next to have his hand up, and Harry smirked at the boy as Quirrel called his name out. The two faced each other, with wands drawn, while Quirrel called out, "P-P-Potter you attack first."

Harry nodded and with a flick of his wrist he snapped, "Flipendo!"

Spell zoomed so fast at Malfoy that he didn't even manage to dodge it, and it knocked him straight on his but. The class laughed a bit and Malfoy shot to his feet, "Flipendo!"

Harry lazily through up a shield, and most of the class gasped, while even Quirrel exclaimed, "Incredible! It's nearly head to toe."

For once Harry noticed the defense professor didn't stutter, but Harry acknowledged it, "Thank you, professor. I have worked on it for many years."

Quirrel had a grave look on his face for a moment before saying, "T-T-T-Ten points to Hufflepuff. However, I ask that you only dodge and not deflect Mr. Malfoy's curses."

Harry nodded his head and motioned for Draco to fire again, but this time when he did Harry twisted out of the way and fired right back. Draco who was a bit more ready this time also ducked his head and fired the knockback jinx with rapid speed.

The two went back and forth four times before Malfoy through two in a row, and Harry jumped over one throwing the next at nearly point-blank range knocking the boy to the ground once again hard, "Now that wasn't very fair Draco. We were having a good volley of spells before you went and cheated!"

Draco growled while professor Quirrel clapped, "M-M-Marvelous! Five more points to both Hufflepuff and Slytherin."

The class clapped politely as Harry offered his hand to the Slytherin. Draco however turned his head up at the boy and took his seat. Quirrel then asked everyone to take up partners, and Harry offered to his housemates to critique them, which was taken enthusiastically, as Neville did the same with his housemates.

Harry vaguely noticed that Daphne Greengrass was practicing away from Malfoy's lessons with Tracey Davis, and Blaize Zabini. This only gave the young man hope that they could escape the pureblood supremacy in the house of snakes, but somehow he doubted they would resist forever.

By the end of class, they were heading to a much-needed lunch, where the talk of the table was Harry's absence the previous night. Harry was grateful however that Darrel did not share information about his emotional state when he had been seen.

Hannah and Susan had also extensively attempted to question him, but having grown up around people who kept secrets from him, he was exceptionally good at evading questions with only half the answer.

Eventually, he just told people that it was a very private matter, that he would appreciate it if people would just drop it this once. That seemed to do it for most of the housemates and they respected his wishes.

In the history of magic, the following period the green-eyed young man thought he'd stretch his horizons a bit and sat with Hermione Granger, and Mandy Brocklehurst who had seemed to take a liking to each other.

The two girls, however, welcomed him to their table with open arms, however, it was more like a shoulder to cry on, by the time the class was over. Binns had droned on about how they would cover the atrocities of goblins, and Harry felt that if he had more strength he might have defended his friends in the Nation, but couldn't with his little energy.

Mandy however whose mum was a potion's mistress at St. Mungos actually gave Harry a spare pepper-up potion, which helped him get through the class and the remainder of his day.

By the end of the first week of classes, Harry was pretty mentally excited for the weekend. His mum was going to be taking Neville and himself out Saturday afternoon to meet with the family, and they would catch up on Harry's habits, while Neville would also get to see his mum at the three broomsticks, where she was working with an old classmate, Madame Rosmerta.

Nothing notable happened for the rest of the week. Astronomy was a little more fun than Harry expected, however, something about being under the night sky, and the adrenaline of being out late was a lot of fun to Harry. The class itself was even interesting with Professor Sinistra as the teacher. She kept things lively and was clearly what his mum referred to as a night owl.

When Saturday afternoon had come, the Potters and the Longbottoms met at the three broomsticks for lunch where Rosalie Potter dive-bombed her brother into a hug, at first sight. The two laughed a bit, and Harry embraced his little sister who would not stop yapping about how exciting it must be to have landed in a different house.

He assured her that his housemates were exceptionally nice and that things were actually kind of cool and easy being in the middle of the castle. Jack and Harry shook hands rather professionally before the two laughed and embraced much quicker than he and his little sister did. Jack had even told him with Harry having been gone, it was not so interesting watching Moony get flustered by all his questions.

His dad greeted him with a sad smile, and a glance towards Lily who seemed to approve of their reconciliation. Lily however hugged up to her son simply because she left out, while Neville and his mum had been holding each other throughout the entire time of greetings. It was clear the Longbottom family had not quite been ready to separate after all these years of relying on each other.

The group spent some good family time together, but Lily had promised Dumbledore that she would have them back by mid-afternoon, so the boys could still be at dinner which was held earlier on Saturdays.

By the end of the day, both boys had huge smiles on their faces, and couldn't wait until the next weekend when the family would gather again.