Did you manage to get any of your essay done after I went to bed?' Neville asked through the hangings as they dressed.
'No,' Harry answered, he'd been too tired after apparating back to work for long. It had been a few days since the ritual, and his eyesight remained perfect, to his great satisfaction, but he still hadn't fully recovered. A few of the books in Salazar's library mentioned magical exhaustion, but most were warnings to avoid it, and only a handful ever explained what made it worse. Harry had committed a fair few of those mistakes. It was best to rest and not perform any magic until completely recovered, but he'd repeatedly tired himself out, first enchanting the map, then conjuring the Dark Mark. Today will be a quiet day, he decided.
'It's due after lunch,' Neville reminded him helpfully. His voice had moved and now came from by the door where he was waiting to go to breakfast.
'I'll finish it in Transfiguration,' Harry told him, pressing his hands down on the top of his head in a futile attempt to gain some semblance of dignity.
He pulled back his curtains and swung himself out onto the floor. Ron was still snoring and Harry could hear Seamus and Dean dressing across from him.
'Let's get Ron's producing his wand.
chess
set,'
he
suggested,
'Not again, Harry, it took Hermione ages to undo your work,' Neville pleaded. 'Spoilsport,' Harry commented, but he replaced his wand and started to head down for breakfast.
Katie was waiting in the common room by the fire, warming her feet dangerously close to the flames. She knew what time Harry always came down to breakfast for and often waited for him when Alicia and Angelina wanted to sleep in.
'Morning Harry, morning Neville,' she remarked cheerfully. 'Nice hair.'
'Thanks,' Harry grumbled, trying half-heartedly to smooth it down again. His attempts only succeeding in dislodging his back from his shoulder and spilling his Astronomy books onto the floor.
Katie got out of her chair to return him his book, and Harry decided just to hold onto it. He could probably manage an inch or two during breakfast as long as Katie managed to avoid knocking anything over.
'Planning to get some done during breakfast?' Neville asked, correctly surmising Harry's plan
'Yeah,' Harry nodded, 'I reckon I can get a few inches in on Callisto's craters before we have to go to transfiguration and then I'll finish on Ganymede. I was almost done when we got distracted by pranking Ron last night.'
'That should get you all the way,' his friend agreed, as they ducked out past the portrait.
'I remember my Owl year astronomy,' Katie sighed. 'George and Fred developed the punching telescope that year, I'm sure it ruined the classes grades.'
'Is that why the three of you were always wearing eyeshadow?' Harry asked 'No,' Katie denied, looking a little embarrassed. 'I might have been trying to catch someone's attention and Alicia and Angelina sort of emulated me.'
'I did notice,' Harry defended.
'Who said it was you?' Katie countered, but she was looking even more abashed. Harry raised an eyebrow. 'Fine,' she admitted, 'it was.'
'I knew it,' Harry grinned. 'It did make you look cute,' he added as an afterthought.
'Cute?' Katie seemed quite disgusted by that. 'I didn't want to look cute,' she complained, 'it was supposed to make me sexy.'
'It didn't work,' Harry told her, sniggering until she punched on the arm. 'Oh look,' Neville remarked, not wanting to be stuck on the outside of the conversation any loner, 'first year Hufflepuffs.'
'No, Neville,' Harry began, 'don't encourage her.' It was rather too late, as Katie had taken off cackling and casting corridor jinxes after them. 'She'd been so good until you reminded her,' Harry told Neville reproachfully. 'Barely an attack in the last few days.'
The first years escaped into the safety of the Great Hall and Katie stopped to wait innocently by the entrance for them to catch up.
'Bad Katie,' Harry remonstrated playfully as they entered and took up seats in the gap in the middle of the table. 'You're supposed to have been reformed.'
'No real Dark Lady ever reforms,' she replied, helping herself to orange juice. Harry moved her goblet to the opposite side of her plate, away from his essay. There were a couple of copies of the Daily Prophet, but no obvious mention of Godric's Hollow. He'd have a more thorough look at lunch.
There was a brief silence as Katie carefully prepared the toast she intended to make her habitual bacon sandwich from. Harry eyed it contemplatively until she waved the knife at him.
'If you touch my sandwich again I will make Fleur a very disappointed girl.'
'If she isn't already,' Neville piped up.
'You too, Neville,' Harry pulled a wounded expression.
'You have stolen her sandwich a lot of times,' his friend pointed out. 'That's barely relevant,' Harry dismissed, helping himself to the rest of the toast rack and rummaging around in his back for a quill that wasn't bent.
Now what rubbish shall I write about Callisto?
It was the most cratered object in the solar system, but that was pretty much the extent of his knowledge.
'Either of you know anything about Callisto?' He glanced hopefully between Neville and Katie.
'What's it triumphantly.
worth?'
Katie
asked,
Harry
beaming
'Some Gryffindor you snidely.
are,'
remarked
'You have to come to the next DA meeting and teach the Patronus Charm,' Neville decided. He was quickly backed by Katie, who nodded.
'Fine,' Harry conceded.
'You haven't been to one since the first meeting and it's almost the beginning of the Christmas Holidays,' Katie told him.
'Have they all got the hang of Shield Charms?' Harry asked.
'Everyone's capable of casting most of the OWL level spells, I've been getting them to practice duelling with each other.'
'That's a good idea,' Harry agreed.
'Neville's been putting people in their place,' Katie giggled.
'Oh?' Harry fixed Neville with a curious stare. He reddened slightly and looked down at his plate.
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