Harry Potter Fan Fiction : Resonance by greengecko

Chapter 1 -- Year Six, Easter

"Professors McGonagall and Moody kept them working until the very last second of their classes too, and Snape, of course, would no sooner let them play games in class than adopt Harry." --Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

"Here you go, Harry," Hermione said as she handed back his Potions essay. "Just two things that could be fixed. I don't think boar's teeth is correct in the second part, nor honeydew correct in the last part."

Harry scowled at the parchment. "Thanks," he said and pulled out his textbooks. He really wanted to be done with it. The temptation to decide it didn't matter enough warred with the notion of giving Snape the pleasure of marking him wrong more times than he would get to if Harry fixed his essay. He sighed and flipped to the relevant chapter. Sixth year Potions was more interesting than previous years, but much harder.

"More tea?" Ron asked him.

Without looking up Harry held out his cup. "Thanks."

"You shoulda done like I did and not taken anything hard this year," he pointed out, not for the first time.

"Second term exams will be over soon enough and it will get a little easier then, for a little while." Hermione said this as she packed her books away. She stretched, sat back in her chair and stared at the fire while Ron and Harry finished up assignments.

* * *

"Hand your essays forward," Snape said as he strode into the dungeon classroom the next morning. He glared at the students as they obeyed in silence. "Today and the rest of the term we are going to cover lichen-based potions. These are unique because the lichen will assist us in synthesizing key ingredients of the potion. It is also time-consuming as lichen are sensitive to eutrophication. So the process is very difficult to speed up."

He paced once in front of the classroom. "Who can tell me the three main species used in potion making?" Hermione raised her hand along with one of the Ravenclaws. "Mr. Potter?"

Harry cleared his throat to stall and said, "Usnea, Lungwort, and Parmeliacia . . aceae."

"Hm, close Mr. Potter, but not correct," the teacher sneered.

Harry rubbed his neck as Dean leaned over and whispered, "It would have been good enough for a Slytherin answer."

"Five points from Gryffindor, Mr. Thomas, for speaking out of turn," Snape commented and waved his wand at the blackboard, making the day's potion instructions appear. He stared at Harry and Dean a long moment, daring them to complain. Harry put his head down and copied the potion into his notes with a frown.

"Hmf," Snape murmured, as though he believed their giving in was pathetic.

"Four more terms," Harry chanted under his breath. "Or maybe Voldemort will discover he's a spy before then."

"Harry!" Hermione whispered sharply, chastising him.

* * *

"You are coming to our place for Easter break, right Harry?" Ron asked him as they walked to the Gryffindor tower at the end of the day. "I'm really looking forward to getting away from here."

"I don't think Dumbledore is going to let me," Harry said disgustedly. "I think my choices are here or the Dursleys. That isn't a difficult choice, believe me."

"Do you want me to stay?" Ron suggested as they reached the staircases.

"You should go visit your mum and dad. I'm sure they want to see you," Harry said, plodding up a bit tiredly.

"They want to see you too," Ron pointed out.

"Tell them to convince Dumbledore it's safe then," Harry said with little hope.

"What if I stayed for two extra days and then went home? There is another train from Hogsmeade on Sunday."

"I'd like that, Ron. We spend all day together everyday, but it is just working, it seems." Harry said.

"I'll owl my folks and tell 'em," Ron said excitedly.

"I'd love to stay with you guys," Hermione interjected, "but my parents are expecting me for dinner on Sunday with my grandparents; I wouldn't make it home in time."

"I appreciate the thought, Hermione," Harry said. "But we'll be all right. We are just going to sit around and do nothing . . . and enjoy every minute of it."

"Every minute, wizard chess," Ron said deviously. "We haven't played all term."

"One game, maybe, Ron. My ego can't take more than that."

"Oh, your ego, Mr. Hero, would be just fine after losing ten in a row," Ron grouched.

* * *

Easter break at the castle started essentially as expected. "Shall we go out on the pitch and toss a quaffle around?" Ron asked.