Harry Potter and the Battle of Hogwarts

Chapter 18 -

The Scent of Secrets

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Harry said nothing to Hermione and Ron over the next week, instead staying to himself. He had spoken with Dumbledore, the headmaster in turn had talked with Snape, and they had come to a conclusion. Draco Malfoy would be put under careful surveillance, to check whether he was speaking the truth and seriously did not want to join Voldemort. A few Order Members had been asked to check into Malfoy's background, such as what his summer had been like and any activities he had been involved in. All the professors had been informed of the situation, and were on orders to watch over the Slytherin boy during classes. Dumbledore had even ordered the Bloody Baron to monitor Malfoy while he was in the Slytherin Common Room and during free hours.

As of Harry, Dumbledore, the professors and the Slytherin Prince himself, no one else knew of Draco Malfoy's change of heart.

It was one day in Defence Against the Dark Arts when Hermione grew curious about what was wrong with Malfoy. “It's strange, isn't it?” she whispered, glancing at the boy sitting at the back of the class. Tonks was currently teaching everyone the Bat-Bogey Curse, saying it was a brilliant way to get 'pesky people away from you'. Harry, Hermione and Ron, already having learnt the curse from Ginny, had been watching the others try to master it for the past half hour.

“What is?” Harry asked, though he already knew what she was talking about.

“Malfoy,” she said back, “he hasn't said or even done anything to us all year! He usually provokes you - or any one of use - into attacking him! All he's done is moping around in the shadows. I thought that since we had a deal in getting his father thrown in Azkaban, he would try something as a way of revenge!”

“Isn't it good that he hasn't done anything?” Harry asked curiously, snorting when Seamus managed to send a flock of Bat-Bogeys into Dean's ears.

“No, it's not!” she said. “It means he could be planning something - something big! We should tell Dumbledore.”

Harry shook his head. “Don't worry about it. Malfoy's probably just annoyed that we managed to escape Voldemort and his father again, so he's moping around. Besides, Dumbledore already knows.”

Hermione gave him a curious look. “How do you know that?” she asked, as Harry bit down on his tongue.

Smart one, dumb one, the wolf said with a throaty chuckle.

“Umm... because he told me,” he answered quickly.

“When?” she asked.

“The other day, when I asked him about the DA,” Harry said, hoping she would drop it.

“What did you have to ask him about the DA?” No such luck.

“Just stuff,” he countered stupidly.

“Like what?” Hermione continued.

“Hermione, give the bloke a break,” Ron broke in with a smirk. “You're worse than my mother!”

“I like your mother,” Hermione said, turning to him with a hard stare. Ron held up his hands.

“So do I! But you don't see me going around pestering people until they break down into flaming tears!” he said in defence. Hermione didn't bother Harry for the rest of the day - she also didn't speak one more word to Ron.

As Christmas approached, the air was thick with anticipation for the Yule Ball. Harry had yet to ask anyone, although he had received several invitations from various students throughout the school, no matter what age or house. When he was sitting at Lunch on one particular Tuesday, with Hermione by his side, a short Hufflepuff, who looked to be no older than a Second Year, stumbled over to his table.

“Hello!” she squeaked her face bright red. A cluster of her friends were standing up at the Hufflepuff Table, and they all giggled when Harry glanced over at them. Having a fair idea what was about to happen, he sighed inwardly.

“Hi,” he said, keeping from looking at Hermione who was struggling not to laugh aloud. “Can I help you with something?”

The girl giggled nervously, tucking a strand of curly auburn hair behind an ear. “Y-yes. I was wo-wondering if you w-wanted to go to the Ball with me?”

Harry swallowed a groan. No matter how many people asked him, it still didn't stop a hot flush from rising to his face. “Ah… I'm sorry, and as much as I'd love to go with you --” the girls at the Hufflepuff Table all shrieked “-- I'm, ah … I've already said to someone else that I'd go with them.”

Real smooth … the wolf chuckled. So smooth it's a wonder you didn't slip over on your --

“Oh, really?” the girl said, and for a moment Harry felt guilty. Her eyes were shining with the tell-tale signs of tears, and his throat tightened.

Clearing it, he hastily replied, “yeah, sorry.”

The girl stood there a moment longer, staring at him with large blue, teary eyes, as if waiting for him to change his mind. When he didn't, instead turning back to his food, she huffed angrily and stormed off. Harry could hear her stomping back to her table, and then a magnitude of voices asking what happened. He tuned out, instead stabbing a hot chip into a steaming dish of gravy, and shoving it into his mouth.

“So, Harry…” Hermione said with a serious voice, “will I approve of this `date' of yours?”

Harry threw her a filthy look, which made her laugh. “Shut up.”

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The rest of the week passed in much of the same manner. Girls asking Harry to the ball, Harry politely declining with a simple 'I'm already going with someone else, sorry.' By Friday afternoon, the whole school was buzzing with rumours of who he was going with. And it was really starting to annoy him.

"--I've heard he's going with that Ravenclaw girl! The weird one, who wears vegetables as earrings!"

"No, he's asked that Hufflepuff girl!"

"Actually, I heard a Slytherin's hexed him into going with her!"

The stories grew even more ridiculous as the Ball approached, and with Harry still without a partner, he was growing nervous.

"Maybe I can just skive the whole thing off?" he groaned, spread out over the mat before the fire. The Common Room was mostly empty this late, and the only ones left up where Harry and his friends, plus a Seventh Year couple in a shady corner; the others tried not to look at them too much.

"C'mon, Harry," Ginny said lightly, "you just have to say yes to someone when they ask you, and brush off everyone else."

"Easy for you to say," Harry said darkly, "at least you're going with someone you like." Neville had asked her the day before, in front of nearly the whole common room when Seamus had placed a Sonorus Charm on him without Neville noticing. Suffice to say, both Neville and Ginny had been extremely embarrassed, but it could have been worse - Ginny could have said no.

Neville blushed in his seat while Ginny ducked her head awkwardly. There was barely a week left until the Ball and Christmas Eve, and even though the last of his shopping had completed a few days before - Ron's subscription to the Quality Quidditch Supplies magazine had arrived - he was still feeling as though he had forgotten something. Something important.

"Well, find someone you like, and ask her out," Ron said as though it was the most simple answer in the world. They all looked at him. "What?"

"That coming from someone who hasn't got a date himself?" Ginny said, eyebrows raised.

Hermione snorted. "He, surprisingly, has a date."

Harry looked up. "What? Who?"

The same time Ginny demanded, "Who'd be crazy enough to date him?"

Ron had gone bright scarlet and Harry thought if he could, he would have escaped into his Animagus form. But he was forced to sink into the gap between the cushions on the lounge, staring determinedly at the fire.

Hermione grinned. "Luna."

"Luna?" If Harry had been expecting anyone, it wasn't her. He really liked Luna, don't get him wrong, but the thought of her and Ron together just didn't make sense.

"Yep, Luna," Hermione said, "she asked him the other day while we were talking about dissecting those Pus Pods in Herbology."

There was a silence, only broken by Ginny's loud, unladylike snort, that drew the attention of the couple in their private corner. "Ron and Luna..." The she snorted again. "Luna and Ron..." Then, they were all laughing, except for Ron, who was glaring at them all angrily.

"Yeah, laugh it up, at least I have someone to go to the Ball with!"

That stopped Harry laughing. Damn.

It's your own fault, Human, the wolf said, I told you to say yes to that female from the Eagles. She was your perfect match for a mate.

Harry chose not to answer.

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The castle was asleep and silent with the thick swirling of dreams. A black wolf slid down a hallway, padded feet making no sound against the age-old carpet. Emerald eyes glowed in the night, and the light from the full moon outside flicked across it's shiny hair as it slipped passed the windows.

He had walking back from the Seventh Floor, staying back alone after a DA Meeting, when he had smelt it. To stay unnoticed on his way back to the Common Room, Harry had changed into his Animagus form, and with his heightened senses, a scent he had not smelt before tickled his nose.

It sort of smelt like the Forbidden Forest, when he ran through it with the others. But it also smelt a bit like the Owlery and Hagrid's cabin. It was strange, and it was his nose and a strong curiosity that was drawing him down to the Third Floor.

Silence. He made no sound as he slinked down the stairs, and the portraits did not even shift when he passed below them. To everyone else, even the darkness, he was just another shadow. He had not come across anybody save a Patrolling Prefect heading upstairs. Harry had stood unmoving against the wall until they were behind him, in which case he kept going.

The smell was getting stronger, now mixed with a scent of familiarity the closer he approached the Defence Corridor. I know that smell, the wolf said softly in his mind. Brother.

To who? You or me? Harry thought quickly.

To both of us.

What do you mean? But he did not get an answer as he approached the Defence Room. He paused outside the door, but realised the smell was not coming from in there. He continued on, nose to the air and eyes wide for signs of movement. He had been amazed the first time he had transformed in the dark; a wolf's vision was so much more advanced than a humans. They could see every little shape and shadow even in the darkest of places. And their bodies were capable of performing the most graceful movements; Harry had jumped from a bannister before, onto a table, then to the floor without making a sound or even pulling a single hair from hid body. It was amazing.

The scent became very strong as he stopped before a portrait of an old wizard asleep in an armchair. Here, the wolf said without need. Harry knew that whatever he could smell, was residing inside.

How do I get in? he thought to the wolf, who hushed him.

Your chance ... it comes. Before Harry could ask what he meant, he suddenly heard footsteps on the other side of portrait, and jumping back to hide behind a suit of armour, he watched as Tonks emerged. Quick, before she closes it!

Not even thinking about what he was doing, Harry slid out from behind the armour and slipped into the partly open portrait before Tonks had even turned around after exiting. It closed with a gentle click behind him, and now that he was inside, the scent was so intense he shook his head to avoid sneezing.

What is that?

You will see. The wolf didn't elaborate any further, so Harry decided to find out himself. Keeping low and close to the wall, he stalked forward, one step at a time. The room, apart from the almost overpowering scent of Forbidden Forest, the Owlery and Hagrid's cabin, there was another scent unmistakably belonging to Tonks. It was the smell of toffee and tea; both of which were sitting on a low table in the middle of the room.

Harry had learnt to link certain smells with certain people. Tonks always smelt of toffee and tea. Hermione, of old parchment and the strong scent of the library. Ron always smelt of chocolate. Ginny, strangely, of leather. Neville of dirt. And Luna was an odd mix of too many different things to name, and that was her own unique scent that distinguished her.

Harry crept more into the room, still staying close to the wall, scanning the room with his wolf-eyes. Everything was cast in black and white, with small bits of colour creeping into the more lighter spaces of the room. He didn't have complete canine eye-sight, he could see colour to some extent, but the advancements to everything made up for this small setback.

There was nothing in the room that shouldn't be there, but there were other rooms that lay down the hall, and Harry sensed something living in one of them. It was strange, having this knowledge inside him, this sixth sense, that made him just realise things.

You get used to it, the wolf said with a soft chuckle. It will become one with your nature - both of your natures.

Whatever ... It's still weird. The hallway stretched out before him, all sharp grey angles and black hues with white corners. He padded down it, the scent strengthening as he approached the door at the end. Also, though, as he approached, he felt the hair stand up along his back and neck.

This place is strong in magic, the eerie voice spoke in his mind. Enchantments to keep him contained, in case of relapse.

Harry paused a few feet from the open door way, blood running cold. Keep him contained? Relapse? What the bloody hell is in there?

A Brother to us both. And the wolf said no more. Gathering his courage and taking a deep breath that tasted of the Forest, and waiting long enough that his curiosity was overwhelming, he stepped forward.

The room looked empty, with a single bed against the far wall and an enchanted window showing an image of a dark forest beneath a crescent moon. The floor was littered with bits blanket, which looked to have been ripped into tiny pieces and scattered randomly over the carpet.

There was something on the bed. A big something, with it's large hairy back facing the doorway and the sounds of chewing and licking coming from where it's head should have been. Feeling as though he knew the shape on the bed, and smelling the faint scent of toffee and tea, he knew Tonks had just been in here.

Harry stepped into the room, passing through a thin film of air that moved the hair all over his body. It made a slight ffwwww noise, sort of like the noise the wind made when it fluttered Hermione's hair. But, as familiar as the noise was, it must have been loud enough for the creature on the bed to hear, because it sat up, turning it's head to look directly at him.

The sight of the canine creature brought both shock and happiness to him, for now everything made sense yet didn't, and the smell seemed proper and fitting and brought back memories. And now he knew the scent, for he had smelt it many times but never took much notice. His human senses were nothing compared to what they were now, and the smell comforted him beyond belief.

The creature slid from the bed with as much grace as any wolf, but the eyes that looked out over a long snout, were familiar and held a shadow of humanity in their golden depths. The wolf sniffed and then Harry spotted it start forward, not anger on its face but joy.

Friend.

The thought came from no where but entered his mind in a voice Harry knew all too well. He smiled inwardly, knowing his old friend didn't recognise him as anything other than one of his kind.

Harry looked at Moony, and thought, Friend.

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Hey people.

Long time no read. LOL. Sorry, sorry, after HBP i sort of lost interest in everything, and I'll claim the term of another writer like myself, "I was suffering from writer's apathy". I knew I had to write, but really couldn't care less.

But here I am, having squeezed this out in a few hours. I've forced myself to write, and I know there's probably a lot of mistakes, but I really can't bring myself to go back and read it.

Yeah, Harry walking through the castle was pretty boring, and I hadn't realised how long and dragged out i made it until I finished. Pfft. Oh well.

So, I'll understand if there's no one out there anymore, but if I get even one review, I'll be happy. I'm easily pleased :P

Until later days, dear readers, hopefully not seven months again ... Damn, I hadn't realised how long it had been!! Bugger, ay?

At least I updated!

Laters...

QW