A Change of Heart

Chapter Forty One

Harry, Ron and Hermione were all nervous by the time the last of their OWLs started. The last few weeks had been hectic with last-minute revisions and Harry felt as if he knew nothing and Ron was walking around, gaunt and hollow-eyed. Hermione drove them crazy by asking them about lessons neither of them could ever recall having learnt. The only relief was that almost all the students of their year were in the same state. Even Malfoy was looking slightly peaky.

"One more day, and we're free!" Exulted Ron.

"Are you still practicing your Occlumency, Harry?" asked Hermione suddenly.

Harry grimaced. "No, Hermione. Why did you have to bring it up now?"

"Because it's important."

"How can I empty my mind when exams are going on?" asked Harry. "If I empty it any further, I will get a T in all the exams."

Hermione pressed her lips to avoid smiling, and tried to look stern.

"Can we just think of History of Magic now?" asked Ron. "You can harangue Harry about his Occlumency after the OWL exam."

"That just ruined all my pleasure in the exams getting over," groaned Harry.

"Don't worry," muttered Hermione. "I know a lost cause when I see one."

Though from the way she still went on about the House-Elves, Harry doubted it.

History of Magic went along expected lines, that is Harry could not remember even half of Binns' lessons and ended up mixing up names and dates, but still he got enough answers right that he hoped he could avoid a T. A D was going to look good.

After the exam, they sat near the lake, laughing and joking. Harry wondered if he dared go near Snape's dungeons to meet Sirius.

"Malfoy seems to be spying on us," muttered Ron, darkly. "Of late, wherever we go, he's also there. The git!"

"Ignore him," said Hermione coolly. "He's just hovering around. It's not as if he's trying to get us in trouble with Umbridge."

"He's still in the Inquisitorial squad, isn't he?" Asked Ron, curiously.

"Might be," said Hermione. "Why?"

"He hasn't tried to dock points from us either, come to think of it," remarked Ron. "Something's really fishy."

"Let's not talk about Malfoy or Umbridge or OWLS," said Harry, laying back in the grass and closing his eyes, feeling the warm sunshine on his face. "I just want to relax and not think of anything unpleasant."

Ron followed suit, muttering "Hear! Hear!"

Hermione shook her head as she fished out a thick book from her bag and started reading.

Harry wondered idly what Tom might be doing. Ever since the day he collapsed in Snape's office, he'd not had a single dream of Tom. It was as if whatever connection between them was gone. Not that he minded. It was good, he told himself. It was good that Tom was not in his head any longer.

But he missed Tom. Not the weird dreams or the strange connection, but Tom, the person. Tom did mean something to him, he knew. But he did not want to figure out what exactly he meant. He yawned. He was feeling sleepy. The afternoon was warm and the gentle breeze had soon put Harry into a doze and then into a sleep.

He lay there till Ron shook him awake just as the sun was setting. Harry went straight to the dormitory, crawled into bed and fell asleep immediately.

Harry woke suddenly, sitting up and looking around. He was on his bed in the Gryffindor dormitory. Night had fallen outside, he could see. He looked around and saw Ron was on his bed, snoring away.

Harry was confused. What woke him? He could not remember.

He lay back down with a yawn and closed his eyes, trying to remember. He had a dream, it was not one of his usual dreams, but it had been no less crazy. It was the dream that had woken him. In his dream he, Ron and Hermione were asleep by the lake. Then, Tom was there and he was levitating him and his friends into the Gryffindor dormitories before jumping into the lake as a merman.

Harry closed his eyes, and soon drifted back to sleep.