Harry Potter Breaking The Chains

"All the more to set me apart from everyone else," Harry continued for her. "As if I wasn't already abnormal enough; this is just another thing to set me apart from everyone else."

"Oh, don't be melodramatic, Harry," Ginny chided him. "It's not like you're no longer going to be taking classes with the rest of us or anything like that. You'll just be teaching one. It won't be any different than last year with the DA. Besides, with all those extra privileges Hermione was talking about, it will be that much easier for you to get away with a little bit of rule breaking."

Harry grinned at her unique brand of logic as Hermione's head shot up and shrieked "Ginny! How could you say something like that? It's bad enough with Ron trying to break every rule in the book. We don't need you doing the same, and we definitely don't need you encouraging Harry as well."

"Oh lighten up, Hermione," Ginny retorted. "Rules are more of just a guideline than anything else. Besides, it's not like you haven't broken your fair share of rules over the years."

"Well I always had a good reason…"

"And who is it that gets to decide which reason is good enough and which isn't?" Ginny interrupted.

"Well…"

"Exactly," Ginny said. "Now lighten up on the rest of us on the rule front for just a little while, alright? We just got here."

Hermione huffed, "Well, we should all get to bed. We've got classes tomorrow." She looked at them all expectantly.

The rest of the group grumbled at her proclamation but nevertheless followed her direction. They murmured goodnights to each other. Ginny and Hermione walked up the stairs to the girls dormitories while Harry, Neville, and Ron walked up the boys' staircase to the sixth year boys' dormitory. They got ready for bed and said their goodnights to each other as each slipped into his own bed.

The next morning, Harry woke up two full hours before breakfast even began being served and quickly dressed in his workout outfit. Every time he got dressed in the morning he briefly thought of Jessica since she had been the one to help him pick out his entire new wardrobe. It always brought a bit of a sad smile to his face. Harry made his way through the deserted corridors of the castle without running into a single person. He walked out of the Entrance Hall onto the grounds into a sunny, warm summer day.

He decided to take a jog around the lake for today. He wasn't quite sure how it would measure up to the distances he had been running back in Little Whinging, but he figured it would do for today. As he set off on his jog, he found that he liked this setting much better than the suburban one he had been subjected to over the summer. A mist was rolling across the lake creating a beautiful effect. Birds were chirping in the trees. There were numerous trees and hedges and flowers and other growth along the path to give it an aesthetic appeal. He swung back around the other side of the lake and kept jogging and headed towards Hagrid's hut to see if the half-giant was awake yet.

As he approached he noticed that a light was on inside the hut. He smiled to himself and jogged right up to the door. He raised a hand and knocked loudly three times. A loud barking started up inside, and Hagrid called out, "Down Fang. Now 'oo'd be knockin' at this 'our?" The door banged open in front of him and the large form of Hagrid appeared with his hand around the color of his boarhound, Fang. "Harry. Good mornin'. Didn' 'spect tah see yeh this early."

"I got used to waking up early over the summer. I went for a jog every morning, and I decided to continue that practice here. I just finished a turn around the lake when I noticed a light on in your hut, so I thought I'd come pay you a visit," Harry explained.

"Migh'y nice of yeh, Harry. Good tah see yeh, as always. C'mon in and 'ave a cuppa."

"Thanks Hagrid." Harry walked into the room and took a seat at the table. Fang bounded over as soon as he was let loose and stuck his face in Harry's lap. Harry scratched the hound behind the ears as it slobbered all over his shorts. Hagrid set a large mug in front of him filled with tea and pushed some rock cakes onto the table. Harry gratefully took the cup of tea but avoided the rock cakes like the plague. He rather liked his teeth unchipped.

"So how was your summer, Hagrid?" Harry asked his friend as he sipped his tea.

"Oh i' was alrigh', s'pose. Did a li'l work fer the Order, bu' I shouldn' be talkin' abou' tha'"

"Of course," Harry replied. "Got any fun lessons planned for us?" Harry asked curiously, mostly because he wanted to know what he was getting into before he found himself knee deep in it. Hagrid's idea of a fun lesson usually involved creatures that could easily tear a human in two.

"I do, bu' I can' tell yeh abou' that. It'd ruin the surprise," Hagrid said with a hearty chuckle.

"Oh all right. And here I thought being friends with the teacher would get me an inside track on what was coming up next," Harry mock pouted.

Hagrid just chuckled all the more at Harry's lame attempt to get some sympathy. Harry sipped his tea some more then set the mug down. "Well, I ought to be going, Hagrid. I've got to finish up my workout routine, then get ready before breakfast. Thanks for the tea."

"Yer welcome, Harry. C'mon stop by anytime, now, hear?"

"Thanks Hagrid," Harry smiled over his shoulder as he walked out the door. He jogged up to the castle and through the hallways and up the staircases to the seventh floor. He stopped outside the portrait of Barnabus the Barmy and paced back and forth in front of it three times thinking of his need to workout as he walked.

A door appeared across from the portrait, so Harry quickly strode over and threw it open. A muggle workout room opened before his eyes. There were weights, medicine balls, benches, mats, and bars galore. It was much more than he would ever need and more than he was expecting. Over the summer he had done most of his workouts with his own body: pushups, sit-ups, chin-ups, jumping rope. Now he had all these weights and a few machines to help him out.

Not wasting any time, Harry set off to work. After a while he started to wonder what the time was, so a clock appeared on one of the walls. He saw that it was about the time he would normally be waking up to start the day, so he finished up his current routine and left for Gryffindor Tower. He strode through the common room and up the stairs to the sixth year boys' dormitory. His dorm mates were just starting to stir. Harry headed into their bathroom and showered. He got ready for the day as his friends all groggily got out of bed and began getting ready.

Harry was all set before any of his friends, so he went down to the common room to wait. There were a few people sitting around when he got there, most notably was the red haired girl sitting on one of the couches in front of the fireplace. She looked like she was still half asleep, though she was completely dressed and ready to go down to breakfast. Harry snuck up behind the couch and vaulted himself over the top to plunk down on the cushion next to the redhead.

Ginny jumped with a start at the unexpected movement next to her. She glanced over and saw Harry grinning widely at her. "Don't do that to me," she said exasperatedly. "It's too early in the morning for people to be sneaking up on me. I'm liable to just hex first and ask questions later."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind," Harry replied cheerfully.

"Why are you so chipper this morning?" she asked grumpily.

"I've been up for a couple hours already," he told her. "I ran around the lake, had tea with Hagrid, and worked out in the room of requirement."

Ginny glared at him for a minute. "I'm not a morning person," she finally told him.

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