Chapter 16: Showtime

I broke down today. The stress and the fear were too much. McGonagall found me in an unused classroom. She didn't say a word just... came over and hugged me. It was shocking at first but...then it became warm and comforting. That just made me cry all the harder.

"Are you sure you're ready for this, Black?"

It was two days after the incident with Quirrell, and Madam Pomfrey had reluctantly allowed him to leave the Hospital Wing and participate in the final Quidditch match of the season. Wood was so delighted that they wouldn't be Seeker-less for their final match that he was willing to overlook almost any lingering problems Leo may have had as a result of the many Cruciatus Curses inflicted upon him. Not that Leo would ever admit to having any sort of problem.

"I'm riding a broom, not running a marathon, Wood," Leo rolled his eyes as they strolled out onto the pitch with the rest of the team.

"That's the ticket," Wood grinned, clapping him on the shoulder and ignoring Leo's wince.

They stood opposite the Ravenclaw team as they mounted their brooms. Madam Hooch blew the whistle and they took off, the balls releasing as well. Leo caught the eye of the Ravenclaw Seeker, a pretty Asian girl who gave him a small smile. Leo gave a short nod in return before soaring up higher, hoping to have a higher vantage point.

For the most part, he ignored the commentary and the players, focusing on locating the Snitch and dodging the occasional Bludger. After fifteen minutes, he spotted a glint of gold near the teachers' stand. Leo did a loop before falling into his patent-pending corkscrew dive, barely acknowledging the Ravenclaw Seeker in hot pursuit. He chased after the Snitch for a good bit before his hand firmly wrapped around it and he pulled up, holding the ball in the air as the stadium cheered wildly.

He slowly floated down to the ground, where he was engulfed in hugs from all sides by the rest of his team. They carried Leo into the stands where Dumbledore presented them with the Quidditch Cup. Amidst the cheering, Dumbledore leaned forward and whispered in his ear, "I need a word with you later, Mr. Black."

Leo slowly followed Ron and Hermione as they dashed into the hospital wing, yelling Harry's name. He kept his hands in the pocket of his dark grey hoodie, tightly gripping his wand as he walked over to Harry's bed and sat on its edge.

"Oh, Harry, we were sure you were going to — Dumbledore was so worried —"

"The whole school's talking about it," said Ron. "What really happened?"

Leo had refused to talk about what had happened and had even taken to walking out of the room any time they brought it up. That left Harry as their only option for information.

Harry told them everything: Quirrell; the mirror; the Stone – or lack thereof, considering Leo had essentially destroyed it whilst it had been trapped in the mirror; and Voldemort. Ron and Hermione were a very good audience; they gasped in all the right places, and when Harry told them what was under Quirrell's turban, Hermione screamed out loud.

"So the Stone's gone?" said Ron finally. "Flamel's just going to die?"

"That's what I said, but Dumbledore thinks that — what was it? — 'to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.'"

"I always said he was off his rocker," said Ron, looking quite impressed at how crazy his hero was.

"So what happened to you two?" said Harry.

"Well, I got back all right," said Hermione. "I brought Ron round — that took a while — and we were dashing up to the owlery to contact Dumbledore when we met him in the entrance hall — he already knew — he just said, 'Harry's gone after him, hasn't he?' and hurtled off to the third floor."

"D'you think he meant you to do it?" said Ron. "Sending you your father's cloak and everything?"

"Well, " Hermione exploded, "if he did — I mean to say that's terrible — you could have been killed."

He's always scheming.

"No, it isn't," said Harry thoughtfully. "He's a funny man, Dumbledore. I think he sort of wanted to give me a chance. I think he knows more or less everything that goes on here, you know. I reckon he had a pretty good idea we were going to try, and instead of stopping us, he just taught us enough to help. I don't think it was an accident he let me find out how the mirror worked. It's almost like he thought I had the right to face Voldemort if I could..."

"Yeah, Dumbledore's off his rocker, all right," said Ron proudly. "Listen, you've got to be up for the end-of-year feast tomorrow. The points are all in and Slytherin won, of course — even though Leo won us the last match, we couldn't pull out enough points to win the House Cup — but the food'll be good."

Hermione turned to Leo. He frowned, already knowing what she was about to ask.

"That reminds me – what happened to you, Leo? Obviously, we realize now that Quirrell kidnapped you, but why?"

"Revenge for that Curse of the Bogies, I imagine," Leo shrugged in response. "It was rather humiliating."

"What happened while he was holding you captive?" Ron questioned.

Leo shifted uncomfortably.

"I'd rather not talk about it, thanks."

"What happened after I passed out?" Harry inquired. "Dumbledore never said. Something about 'not his story to tell.'

A dark expression passed over Leo's face before he replied, "Trust me, Harry, you're better off not knowing."

The other three were unnerved at his response but didn't press him further. Madam Pomfrey came over and began shooing them out. She tried to bustle Leo out as well, but he refused to budge, informing her that she could take it up with Dumbledore. She wasn't very pleased about this but returned to her office nonetheless.

"I'm assuming Dumbledore filled you in on the whole Dursley situation?" Leo mumbled, swinging his leg back and forth over the bed.

"Yeah... he said I have to go back for a few weeks. Something about a charm that needs to be renewed?" Harry confirmed.

"Yeah... I tried to fight him on it – relatively certain Hogsmeade heard our one-sided shouting match," Leo grinned humorlessly. "I wouldn't worry about it, though. Once those few weeks are up, you can come home. I was thinking maybe we'd even go visit the Weasleys and stay for a bit – how does that sound?"

"Wicked," Harry smiled widely.

The next night, the Great Hall was decked out in the Slytherin colors of green and silver to celebrate Slytherin's winning the house cup for the seventh year in a row. A huge banner showing the Slytherin serpent covered the wall behind the High Table.

When Harry walked in there was a sudden hush, and then everybody started talking loudly at once. He slipped into a seat between Ron and Leo at the Gryffindor table and tried to ignore the fact that people were standing up to look at him.

Fortunately, Dumbledore arrived moments later. The babble died away.

"Another year, come and gone!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully, your heads are all a little fuller than they were... you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts...

"Now, as I understand it, the house cup here needs awarding, and the points stand thus: In fourth place, Gryffindor, with two hundred and forty-two points; in third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; Ravenclaw has four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, four hundred and ninety-two."

A storm of cheering and stamping broke out from the Slytherin table. "Yes, Yes, well done, Slytherin," said Dumbledore. "However, recent events must be taken into account."

The room went very still. The Slytherins' smiles faded a little.

"Ahem," said Dumbledore. "I have a few last-minute points to dish out. Let me see. Yes...

"First — to Mr. Ronald Weasley..."

Ron went purple in the face; he looked like a radish with a bad sunburn.

"... for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."

Gryffindor cheers nearly raised the bewitched ceiling; the stars overhead seemed to quiver. Percy could be heard telling the other prefects, "My brother, you know! My youngest brother! Got past McGonagall's giant chess set!"

At last, there was silence again.

"Second — to Miss Hermione Granger... for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."

Hermione buried her face in her arms; Leo strongly suspected she had burst into tears. Gryffindors up and down the table were beside themselves — they were a hundred points up.

"Third — to Mr. Harry Potter..." said Dumbledore. The room went deadly quiet. "... for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house sixty points."

The din was deafening.

Dumbledore raised his hand. The room gradually fell silent.

"Fourth," Dumbledore said. "To Mr. Leo Black, for resilience and fortitude beyond his years, I award Gryffindor House... fifty points."

Cheers erupted all over. Those who could add up while yelling themselves hoarse knew that Gryffindor now had four hundred and ninety-two points — exactly the same as Slytherin. They had tied for the house cup — if only Dumbledore had given them just one more point.

"There are all kinds of courage," said Dumbledore, smiling. "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I, therefore, award ten points to Mr. Neville Longbottom."

Someone standing outside the Great Hall might well have thought some sort of explosion had taken place, so loud was the noise that erupted from the Gryffindor table. Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood up to yell and cheer as Neville, white with shock, disappeared under a pile of people hugging him. Leo just continued to clap politely.

"Which means," Dumbledore called over the storm of applause, for even Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were celebrating the downfall of Slytherin, "we need a little change of decoration."

He clapped his hands. In an instant, the green hangings became scarlet and the silver became gold; the huge Slytherin serpent vanished and a towering Gryffindor lion took its place. Snape was shaking McGonagall's hand, with a horrible, forced smile.

Leo had mostly forgotten that the exam results were still to come, but come they did. To Harry's great surprise, both he and Ron passed with good marks; Hermione, of course, had the best grades of the first years. What was even more shocking was that Leo had done almost as well as she had. She almost fainted at this, given that the only times she had seen Leo even look at a book was to do homework.

"Do the work and pay attention," Leo shrugged. "Not exactly like the classes are super difficult."

Hermione almost strangled him in that moment.

And suddenly, their wardrobes were empty, their trunks were packed, Neville's toad was found lurking in a corner of the toilets; notes were handed out to all students, warning them not to use magic over the holidays ("I always hope they'll forget to give us these," said Fred Weasley sadly); Hagrid was there to take them down to the fleet of boats that sailed across the lake; they were boarding the Hogwarts Express; talking and laughing as the countryside became greener and tidier, though Leo remained quiet and pensive the entire ride; eating Bettie Bott's Every Flavor Beans as they sped past Muggle towns; pulling off their wizard robes and putting on jackets and coats; pulling into platform nine and three-quarters at King's Cross Station.

It took quite a while for them all to get off the platform. A wizened old guard was up by the ticket barrier, letting them go through the gate in twos and threes so they didn't attract attention by all bursting out of a solid wall at once and alarming the Muggles.

"You must come and stay this summer," said Ron, "all of you — I'll send you an owl."

"Thanks," said Harry, "I'll need something to look forward to." People jostled them as they moved forward toward the gateway back to the Muggle world. Some of them called:

"Bye, Harry!"

"See you, Potter!"

"Have a good summer, Black!"

"Still famous," said Ron, grinning at them.

"Not where I'm going, I promise you," said Harry.

"I'd rather not be," Leo mumbled.

Harry, Ron, Leo, and Hermione passed through the gateway together. "There he is, Mom, there he is, look!"

It was Ginny Weasley, Ron's younger sister, but she wasn't pointing at Ron.

"Harry Potter!" she squealed. "Look, Mom! I can see —"

"Be quiet, Ginny, and it's rude to point."

Mrs. Weasley smiled down at them.

"Busy year?" she said.

"Very," said Harry. "Thanks for the fudge and the sweater, Mrs. Weasley."

"Yeah, it was delicious and warm - in that order," Leo agreed.

"Oh, it was nothing, dear."

"Ready, are you?" It was Uncle Vernon, still purple-faced, still mustached, looking furious at the nerve of Harry, carrying an owl in a cage in a station full of ordinary people. Behind him stood Aunt Petunia and Dudley, looking terrified at the very sight of Harry.

"You must be Harry's family!" said Mrs. Weasley.

"In a manner of speaking," said Uncle Vernon. "Hurry up, boy, we haven't got all day." He walked away.

Leo followed after him, stopping when he had rejoined the rest of the Dursleys. Vernon turned around, his face turning an impossibly darker shade.

"See here, boy -"

"Shut it," Leo snapped, cutting across him. "Let me make one thing perfectly clear to you: if I find out that you've hurt Harry, starved him, locked him in a cupboard, or harmed him in any other way... you will regret it. Remember, I know where you live."

Leo wheeled his cart around to an empty storage closet before calling for Kreacher to take him back home. He had a busy summer ahead of him.

A/N:

And so ends the first book. Join me next Friday for the sequel to Lionheart: Snakeskin.