Love In A Time of War

A/N: I'm saying this from now, before I get people screaming at me in reviews. This is a H/Hr fic, it's just that being the typical male, Harry is going to take a while to realize just what he has in front of him.

And in case you didn't realize, this is a repost. I've made some edits and stuff because like someone pointed out, there isn't enough of Hermione and you can't have a story without her. And before II get complaints, yes, the story is going to move at a slow pace so if you don't like it then you can find something else to read.

Same Script, [Slightly] Different Cast

Every year on September first, the Kings Cross Station is the center of wizarding activity, particularly platform 9 3/4. There, a population of students would say goodbye to their parents before boarding the train that would take them to the Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft & Wizardry. This year however, the air was not so cheerful. With the announcement that Lord Voldemort, the darkest wizard that any generation had seen, had risen from his ashes, the tiny world of magic was watching its every move and clinging closest to the ones that they loved. Among the crowd was a family of three, all of whom bore red hair.

"Mum!" one of them cried. The boy, who was currently jumping away from his mother's attempted kiss, was the tallest of the lot, standing at a lanky 6"1.

"Ron!" his mother mocked. Despite the smile on her face, Molly Weasley was without a doubt worried. Ron and Ginny were her youngest and as such, were the source of the few grey hairs amongst her startlingly bright red hair.

"Harry!" Ginny cried. The three Weasleys turned and looked at the spot where the famous young wizard stood. He smiled almost nervously as he adjusted the birdcage which he held in one hand, all the while pulling on his trunk which lay behind him.

"Hello everyone." he forced a smile upon his face before starting towards them. Before he could get any further however, Mrs. Weasley pulled the dark haired wizard towards her and wrapped him in possibly the tightest embrace that he had ever experienced and kissed him on his cheek. Unlike his best friend, Harry did not shy away from her embrace, but rather returned the hug as he was grateful for her motherly embrace. After having spent the summer with the Dursleys where he was anything but welcome, even the glare from Draco Malfoy, which he was currently receiving, was enough to make him feel at home.

"We really missed you this summer mate." Ron announced once his mother had let him go. Mrs. Weasley immediately began fussing over his rather thin figure, but he could still hear Ginny as she agreed with Ron. "It felt almost unnatural to go downstairs for breakfast in the morning and not see you there."

Unable to bear returning to the home of his slain godfather, Harry had declined Dumbledore's invitation to spend the summer at the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix (after his mandatory week with the Dursley's was over) and had opted to spend the summer with his relatives. Despite the fact that they had treated him worse than a common criminal, Harry had welcomed the solitude because it was during those moments that he was able to sort out his feelings towards the death of his godfather and not to mention the prophecy that involved both him and Lord Voldemort.

"W—" Before Ron could complete his statement, the sudden appearance of a girl made him, as well as the rest of the males that were standing on platform 9 3/4, catch their breath. Harry turned, and he too felt at a sudden loss for words (despite the fact that he had barely uttered one all summer).

Whoever she was, she was obviously unaware of her effect on men and boys alike. She was dressed in a pair of tight black jeans, which conformed to every curve on her tanned body with a sleeveless black top (equally tight) that led way to some healthy cleavage, black snakeskin boots, and with the current pose that she was striking, she looked like a model. As she turned to pick up the black kitten that was at her feet, Harry and Ron could see that her back bore a tattoo, though it was in another language and so they could not easily understand it. Clearly oblivious to the stares, she walked towards the train, her black hair swaying over her shoulders and her stylish dark glasses making the curious minds unable to gain an idea as to her identity. In a second she was gone, and the males got back their sense of reality.

"Who was that?" Ron whistled.

Harry shrugged as he watched the spot where she'd disappeared. "I don't know. But whoever she is, she's certainly drawn Malfoy's attention away from me."

Ron looked over towards where Draco Malfoy stood, whose sneer had gone completely slack as he gaped after the girl. Ron gave a satisfied and amused smirk. "Hopefully she'll be in all of our classes and then he won't have a reason to comment on either of us."

Harry snorted. "I don't think that any of us blokes will be able to get any work done with her in our classes."

But the girl wasn't in any of their classes; she was Ginny's year and unknown to both boys, the youngest Weasley was the sole person who knew of the girl's identity.

Before either boy could comment further on the unknown female, the sound of the train whistle caused them to jump.

"You three had better get on the train before it leaves you. There are no magical cars to fly you there this year." Mrs. Weasley announced with a stern look at the two boys, who shuffled uncomfortably, remembering their escapade with the flying Ford Anglia.

Harry thought briefly about what had happened to it after it had gone feral in the Forbidden Forest, but his thoughts were cut off as they were all being hugged once again by Mrs. Weasley and were heading towards the entrance to the train. Suddenly, Harry realized that their usual party of four was now a party of three.

"Where's Hermione?" he asked confused.

Ron, who was about to enter the train, turned. "I figured that you didn't want to talk about Sirius when you didn't answer any of our letters, but I honestly thought that you'd at least read them, Harry."

It was true; Harry hadn't wanted to talk about Sirius, which was exactly why he hadn't opened the letters that came. He didn't want to have to read their sympathetic sentences and promises of brighter tomorrows; he'd wanted to be completely alone with his thoughts.

"So where is she?" he repeated.

Ron got a funny look on his face and Harry soon understood why. "Hogwarts."

"What?" he asked, startled, as they boarded the train. He jumped out of the way to avoid a pair of giggling First Years before turning his attention back to Ron. "Why on earth is she there?" His mind automatically jumped to the worst possible thing. "You don't mean that she --- is it something to do with --- did something happen with Voldemort? Is she all right? What ---"

Ron rolled his eyes. "Aren't you a happy tea cup." he said sarcastically. "It's nothing to do with Him; she's just gone completely mental, which is exactly what I'm been trying to tell you all for five years. But does anyone listen to me? 'Course not." Harry gave Ron a puzzled look. Hadn't Hermione planned on spending the summer with her parents? She'd felt guilty because she hadn't really spent much time with them since her first year at Hogwarts and was beginning to regret neglecting their feelings when making her vacation plans.

"Miss Granger decided to spend the last month of her perfectly good summer vacation being McGonagall's apprentice. Apparently she's getting a head start on her N.E.W.T studies. Mental I tell you." Ron shivered slightly at the thought of spending his summer at school and walked ahead of Harry. As a prefect it was his duty to see to it that a sense of order was retained during the ride to Hogwarts, and with two Second Years looking as if they were about to attack each other and him being the only prefect around, he knew what he had to do. Harry watched as he spoke to the two, but his thoughts were really elsewhere.

He wouldn't have minded spending the summer at Hogwarts; it was like a second home to him. After eleven years of being unwanted, Hogwarts had greeted him with open arms. He still remembered the loud applause and standing ovation that he had received by the Gryffindors after the Sorting Hat had announced that he'd belonged in that house. And despite the fact that he'd had to watch his back when it came to the Slytherins, there was never a place where he felt any safer. He didn't know what he would do come Seventh Year when he'd have to say goodbye to the first place that he was truly able to call home.

"Are you all right, Harry?" Ginny appeared out of a nearby carriage and pulled the compartment's door shut behind her.

Harry turned to look at her. "Nothing. Just watching you brother behave in a very Hermione-like fashion."

Ginny turned to watch as Ron waved his finger at the frightened second years, giving an image that was eerily reminiscent of Hermione. As he turned back towards Harry and Ginny he gave them a baffled look that clearly said, "What?" and the two of them broke out into laughter.

"Careful Ron," Harry said patting his friend's shoulders. "Or you just might end up the next Head Boy in your family."

"Fred and George will really love that." Ginny chimed.

Ron's ears went bright as he began to inform them that he wasn't going to be the next Head Boy, but Harry knew that he was secretly pleased. If Ron were actually named Head Boy, he knew that his friend would take the responsibility possibly even more seriously than his brother Percy had.

The train suddenly lurched forward, sending the three friends' hands in the air to grab on to the above handle bars. Once they'd gotten themselves steadied, Ron was the first to speak.

"See you in a while mates. Duty calls."

Harry watched as Ron turned and headed towards the Gryffindor's prefect carriage with an aura of power and authority surrounding his every step. After he disappeared into the carriage, Harry turned to Ginny. "Shall we?"

Suddenly, Ginny got an amused look on her face as she pointed to her Prefect's badge, which was neatly pinned unto her robes. "Didn't read my letters either, did you, Harry?"

Harry's response was to smile while Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Go on, Neville and a friend are already in there waiting for you." With that, Ginny walked off towards the Prefect's carriage, leaving Harry standing behind confused.

A friend? It wasn't until Harry pulled open the door to the carriage a few seconds later that he realized whom Ginny had meant. Neville Longbottom sat towards the window of the carriage, and directly across from his and chatting away animatedly, was the girl from the platform. Only her glasses were off and Harry immediately realized that she was in fact not just any girl.

"Luna?"

Oblivious to the sound of astonishment in Harry's voice, Luna Lovegood turned and gave him a rather dazed, but warm smile. "Hello Harry. How was your summer?"

Before he could stop himself, Harry spoke up. "You look nothing like you did at the end of last term."

Luna, who was busily taking Hedwig out of her cage, paused slightly to nod at Harry before retrieving the owl and stroking her snowy feathers. Hedwig cooed approvingly, glad to be getting attention from someone after a summer of being ignored, and flew unto her shoulder.

"Luna was just telling me of her summer spent in the Muggle part of New York." Neville smiled at Harry before admiring the miniature Lady Liberty, which Luna had purchased for him while there.

"But what happened to Sweden?" Harry asked. Luna had announced that she and her father were going on an expedition to see if they could catch a Crumpled-Horn Snorkack. He couldn't really remember much of that last week of school except for a sharp pain and a dreamy sense of loss.

"We went to New York two weeks ago after we left Sweden." Luna answered vaguely. She was too preoccupied with stroking Hedwig to pay him much attention.

"So is that where you got your tattoo then?" Harry probed. "What does it say anyway?"

"I got my tattoo in Sweden. My cousin Bella took me to do it with her muggle friends right before I left. It means 'love'." Luna's voice came from behind Hedwig as she fed the owl treats.

"Luna says that it didn't hurt." Neville spoke up.

"It didn't. Neither did it hurt to get my hair coloured." Luna smiled at Hedwig before gently placing her back into her cage. Harry was about to tell her that he suspected that it wouldn't hurt to place dye in one's hair but remembering that it was Luna Lovegood that he was speaking with, decided against the comment.

"You look really nice, Luna." he said instead.

Luna looked up at him and with a rather serious expression on her face, replied, "Thank you Harry. That was really nice."

Harry was about to ask her what was so nice about a genuine compliment but stopped when he remembered his previous conversation with her on the night of the final feast. It was then that he realized just how much it took for a girl like Luna Lovegood to be different. He knew that had he not had Ron and Hermione by his side all those years, that he would have surely coward a bit. But Luna had had no one, and yet she was true to herself. It took a very brave person to not conform and Luna had most certainly proved that.

The door to the carriage opened and the food trolley appeared. Harry loaded the three of them up with delicious goodies and saved some for Ron and Ginny, who were due to arrive later. Luna took out the latest edition of The Quibbler and began reading it upside down all the while nibbling on a Chocolate Frog, as her kitten slept beside her. Neville and Harry took out Ron's chess set and began to play. It was in that position that Ron and Ginny came and found them over an hour later and it wasn't the door to the carriage that alerted them of his arrival either, it was his outcry.

"Bloody hell, you're Luna Lovegood!"

Hedwig and Pigwidgeon hooted happily in their cages, while the others stopped what they were doing and looked up suddenly. Luna however, held the same look of obliviousness as she looked up at Ron.

"I am. You're Ronald Weasley." she said mildly.

Ron's ears went slightly red as he sat down beside Harry. Luna gave him a small smile before disappearing behind her Quibbler and Ginny just smiled knowingly. Harry looked from one to the other and suddenly he realized something that had escaped him all year, but apparently it hadn't escaped Ginny. Ron and Luna liked each other. As the realization dawned upon him, he began to wonder just what else he had missed out on, and --- better yet --- what was to come.

*~*

A few minutes before they were due to arrive at Hogwarts, Harry and the others changed into their uniforms. Despite the fact that she had put on her uniform, Ron was still eyeing Luna. It was almost as if he couldn't believe that she was the same girl who had just a year ago, irked his last nerves with her idiosyncrasies. Watching as Ron offered to help her with her trunk, Harry felt a pang in his stomach. He wasn't jealous of Ron, he was actually glad for him; it was just that seeing the two of them together made him realize that he would once again start off the school year without a girl friend. This time last year, he'd been hoping that the girl would have been Cho, but after a series of horrible dates, he realized that Cho was definitely not the girl for him.

"Harry, come on before the carriages fill up!" Ginny called impatiently. Harry snapped out of his thoughts and walked briskly towards the carriage that Ron and Luna had gotten for them. Neville was already in it, so as soon as he closed the door, the carriage went off. Being inside brought back memories of the night of Sirius' death and suddenly, Harry felt a bit queasy.

"You okay mate?" Ron asked. He was currently conversing with his sister, but the sight of Harry made him stop.

Harry nodded as he didn't quite feel comfortable discussing his feelings with anyone as yet. Ron nodded as well and turned back to his conversation, but Harry knew that he didn't believe him. It didn't really matter to him, as long as no one asked Harry any questions. Questions led to emotions, and with the way that his emotions had been flying, he couldn't risk a complete breakdown. He closed his eyes to calm himself down, but that only made the image of the door to the Department of Mysteries appear in his head. It seemed as if no matter what he did or where he went, the memories of that night would haunt him. The only way that he would forget was if he was to get a Pensieve, and even then he wouldn't do that. He wanted the memory because it was one of his few of Sirius and it wasn't something to be carelessly thrown away. Time healed all wounds, and Harry planned on waiting for as long as he had to for this one to.

They got up to the castle a few minutes later and as expected, Hermione was waiting for them inside the Great Hall. As soon as she saw them, she rose from her table and immediately threw her arms around Harry.

"Harry!" she cried, her voice muffled against his chest. "You have no idea as to how much I missed you this summer!"

Harry had an idea, especially since her hug, like Mrs. Weasley's was currently cutting off his air supply. When she finally let him go, she kissed him on his cheek and beamed. "Are you okay? You didn't respond to my letters. You had me worried, you stupid sod!"

"I'm fine, Hermione." Harry assured her. "I just needed a little time to myself."

"And so you're better now?" Hermione's eyes searched his for some sign of reassurance and Harry could tell that she really had been worried and more than likely was still worried about him. He also noticed that she hadn't asked him if he'd gotten over it, as they both knew that that couldn't occur.

"A little." Harry responded. Hermione nodded, accepting his answer and turned to hug Ron and Ginny, then she came upon Luna who was standing with a dreamy look on her face as she held played with the ends of her hair.

"Luna! Your hair, it's great!" She gushed as she felt a strand of Luna's hair. "The black really brings out the blue in your eyes."

Luna smiled slightly at Hermione. "Thank you."

From behind her, a snide comment arouse. "First Harry, now Loony Lovegood. Can't pick between the two, can you, mudblood?"

"Jealous, Malfoy? Parkinson not giving you enough attention?" Ron spoke up. The nearby Gryffindors and a few Slytherins, broke out into snickers. None of them had expected Ron of all people to comment. Draco was about to take out his wand when Dumbledore's voice sounded through the Great Hall as he asked them to be seated. With one final glare, Draco removed his hands from his pockets and walked over towards the Slytherin table with Crabbe and Goyle looming over him.

"I know that you are used to Professor McGonagall handling the Sorting procedures, but this year we have three transfer students, and so before the Sorting Hat delights us with song and sends our first years to the house which best suits them, we will have it Sort the Megghross triplets who have transfer here from Beauxbatons, in time for their sixth year." Dumbledore turned towards Professor McGonagall and nodded. From behind her, three teenagers emerged and the students, who were all gazing curiously, got to see them for the first time.

"Megghross, Alexandria!" Professor McGonagall's voice could be heard throughout the Hall. Silence fell upon them as Alexandria stepped forward. Her heart-shaped face was framed with black curls that fell lightly unto her shoulders and a pair of sparkling blue eyes stared at them. Harry could tell by the confidence in her walk that the fact that all eyes were on her didn't scare her and he was immediately attracted to that. She sat down as Hermione would, with her back up straight on the stool and stared ahead as McGonagall placed the hat upon her head. To Harry, she looked like a portrait that was worthy of being hung in a famous museum for all to behold. The Hat stayed upon her head for a total of ten minutes before it was heard making a huge sigh, obviously giving up some sort of fight. Harry wondered what had taken place inside her head.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Applause was heard from their table as a rather confident Alexandria walked over and sat in one of the two vacant seats that were in front of him.

"Neville Longbottom." Neville stretched out his hand as soon as she sat down beside him and Harry wondered if Neville had a bit of a crush on her. He could tell by the looks that some of the boys at the table were giving her, that they too were smitten by the Parisian beauty. He didn't blame them, though she and her sister looked alike, there was something about Alexandria that he liked. He wasn't sure if his feelings went further than curiosity, but he knew that he would soon find out.

"Alexandria Megghross." the girl smiled at him as she returned the handshake.

"Megghross, Beau!"

"Ooh, Beau!" Parvati gasped. "His name does describe him. Handsome he is!" The remark sent the group of girls around her giggling and Harry watched as Hermione rolled her eyes. Beau was indeed handsome, it was very obvious through his robes that he was well built and the fact that he had curly black hair and blue eyes was only icing on the cake. He looked as if he could actually give Draco Malfoy some competition if it so suited him. The Sorting Hat spent another ten minutes on him before making its decision.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Alexandria smiled as her brother came and took the seat next to her and after quick introductions were made (Parvati being the first to speak up), all eyes turned on "Megghross, Jaida!" as the straight haired beauty with the chocolate brown eyes sat down on the stool. To Harry, she reminded him a bit of Hermione and strangely enough, Pansy Parkinson at the same time. The Hat didn't take long in its decision, in fact it took less than a minute.

"SLYTHERIN!"

Roars erupted from the Slytherin table as Jaida made her way towards them, the same air of confidence which Alexandria had previously displayed, surrounding her as she walked. Harry didn't know why, but something told him to watch the Slytherin table, and sure enough he found out. Pansy Parkinson's shrill cry could be hear as Draco told her, with no emotions whatsoever in his voice, that she needed to move over. Pansy gave Jaida a rather dirty look before doing as she was told and Jaida sat down beside Draco. If Harry weren't mistaken, Draco and Pansy were supposed to be together, but from the way that he was introducing himself to Jaida (he kissed her hand and smiled his award-winning smile that melted many hearts), it looked as if Jaida were now the object of his desires.

He didn't pay much attention to the Sorting Hat's song as he was too preoccupied with watching the Slytherin table. Pansy was currently throwing dangerous glares at the girl who sat beside her, and Harry knew that it wouldn't be long before she did something. He knew that she wouldn't try anything at the feast, but that didn't mean that she would just sit and take her dethronement lightly. She was the belle of Slytherin after all; or at least she had been until Draco had thrown her aside. You couldn't be a belle of anything without a beau. Pansy had just lost her beau.

"Hermione Granger." Hermione stretched her hand across to Alexandria, bringing Harry's attention back to her. "I'll be showing you around school for the first few days. We'll be in the same room, so I won't be too far should you have questions." Alexandria nodded and then Hermione turned towards Beau in time for the Sorting Hat to send the first student over to the Ravenclaw table. "This is Ronald Weasley." she made a gesture at Ron. "He'll be showing you around for the first few days and he'll be in your room as well. Dumbledore assigned us should you be selected to this house."

"So then who's suppose to be showing Jaida around?" Harry suddenly asked. It occurred to him that Dumbledore had assigned the prefects of each house that were in their sixth year.

Without hesitation, Hermione responded. "Pansy, though by the looks of things, Draco will be the only guide that she ever knows."

"Malfoy?" Beau spoke up while looking over at the Slytherin table.

"You know him?" Neville asked.

Beau shrugged as if it were nothing. "I've heard of him, but we haven't formally met."

"Jaida has." Alexandria laughed at her sister, who was currently listening intensely to Draco, before turning back to their table and thus, facing Harry. Their eyes met and Harry wondered how long it would be before her eyes landed on his scar, which was currently visible as he'd had his hair cut, and remarked "You're Harry Potter," as the others had. Surprisingly, she just smiled at him before turning and answering the question that Ginny had asked.

By the end of the Sorting, Gryffindor had welcomed nine new students, five girls and four boys, and it had seemed that a majority of the students had been sent to Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Harry seriously doubted whether or not he heard Slytherin much at all.

"How many have been sent to Slytherin?" he asked Hermione. If anyone at the table would know how many students had been sent to each table, it would be her.

"Five. Three boys and two girls." she automatically responded.

"And how many have been sent to Hufflepuff?" Ron piped up.

"Ten. Equally divided."

"And Ravenclaw?" he stressed.

"Eleven---" Hermione turned and gave him a dangerous glare, causing those in their vicinity to laugh, including Alexandria and Beau.

Harry watched how the corners of her mouth seemed to spring to life with her smile, almost as if that had been their sole purpose, his eyes never leaving as she brushed a few strands of hair out of her face, revealing a small dimple in her left cheek. You'd have to look closely to see it, but Harry had, he had been noticing a lot about Alexandria Megghross. Dumbledore rose and repeated his familiar lines.

"Welcome first years and to our returning students, welcome back! I am sure that you are all famished, so dig in!"

Suddenly the golden plates along the table were filled with delicious treats and hands were simultaneously reaching towards dishes. Harry sighed happily as this was the part of the evening that he looked forward to. As he piled food unto his plate, he kept an eye on Alexandria and saw that there was no meat on her plate, neither on Beau's.

"Are you two vegetarians?" It wasn't Harry who'd asked the question, but Dean Thomas, who was sitting two seats to Beau's left.

Both Beau and Alexandria nodded.

"Figured. My mother recently converted. It was hell this summer without meat!" The way he'd stressed "hell" caused everyone who could hear to laugh before returning to their food. Harry decided against getting a second meat and instead settled for what was in his plate. Ron on the other hand, placed as much as he could unto his plate before digging in. As Harry ate, he listened to the questions that were directed at Alexandria and at the way her accent mixed with her English as she answered. She wasn't like Fleur Delacour who made him want to laugh whenever she spoke. Her French accent was light, almost as if she'd been around English all of her life.

"So what bring you to Hogwarts?" Hermione asked as the main dishes were replaced with tasty desserts. Alexandria, who was helping herself to a slice of warm apple pie, looked up at her.

"My mother. She married an English wizard last summer, but we didn't want to move with the O.W.L.S approaching."

Hermione nodded before reaching for the treacle tart. She offered Harry a slice but instead of going for his favourite dessert, Harry declined it and reached for the last slice of apple pie. Hermione looked at him curiously before sharing Ginny the slice and taking a bite out of her own. Harry hadn't spoken much throughout the meal, and it was a good thing that no one had noticed. He didn't want them making a big deal out of it, especially when he didn't know whether or not he liked her as yet. When the last of the dishes had been cleared, Dumbledore stood once again and addressed the student body.

"Before we sing our beloved school song, I beg you to listen to a few announcements. Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to remind you that no magic is allowed in the corridors. He has once again taped up a list of all offenses to his door, which may be viewed at your pleasure..."

"Fired Filch is more like Dumbledore should have done after the way he behaved last year." Ron hissed.

Those around him nodded, but continued to listen to Dumbledore once more instead of commenting.

"To first years, as well as to new and old students, the Forbidden Forest, which is located at the border of our property for those of you who do not know or have conveniently forgotten, is forbidden to all students unless of course, accompanied by a teacher for a class." Dumbledore paused to let this message soak in before continuing. "Tryouts for the house Quidditch teams will take place on Wednesday after next at five p.m. I am asked to remind you that if you cannot fly, have an immense fear of heights, or are afraid of having objects thrown at you, that you are to refrain from coming to try outs."

A murmur of soft laughter went through the crowd. It wasn't until Dumbledore made the announcement of Quidditch tryouts that Harry remembered that he'd been named Gryffindor captain. With most of the team's players gone as the year before was their seventh year, Harry was hoping to replace five of them on Wednesday, as the only original players that remained were himself and Ron. He hoped that he'd be able to put together a good team because he wasn't about to lose the cup to Slytherin. He turned his attention back to the Head Table as Dumbledore continued.

"As you can see, we are once again without a Defense Against The Dark Arts professor, but never fear. As of tomorrow morning, we shall be joined by Alastor Moody who will be with us until we can find a suitable replacement. For those of you who are worried, don't worry, it is the real Moody."

"That's what I'm afraid of." Ron whispered. Harry smiled but didn't break away from Dumbledore. Something told him that there was more to come.

"Now as you are all very much aware, Lord Voldemort and his league of Death Eaters are once again active." he paused to let them have their share of exchanged glances and gulps. Harry noticed that the Slytherin community looked unmoved by the comment. "Now I am saying this once, and no more. Hogwarts is the safest place that you can be at this time, which is exactly why your parents, though fearing for your lives, have opted to send you here for yet another school year." Once again he paused and a wave of nods swept through the crowd.

"Now as you may imagine, the question of Hogsmeade weekends have been brought up many a times by not only concerned parents and teachers, but by my own mind as well. I have decided that since I myself do not want to be a prisoner to Voldemort, and as I imagine, neither do you, that those whose parents have signed the new slips, which allows you to go into Hogsmeade, may do so. Teachers and prefects will be dispatched to chaperone you and if necessary, Portkeys have been provided, which will allow you to immediately be brought back to the castle. Prefects will not have Portkeys, only teachers. Since we do not know how long it will be before Voldemort makes his first move, we are allowing you to get in as much of Hogsmeade as possible. With this in mind, the first Hogsmeade weekend will be the third Saturday of this month." A small cheer went through the crowd. "I reserve the right to cancel Hogsmeade weekends without explanation, and if I feel that your lives will be endangered by leaving this school, I shall indeed cancel them."

The students stayed silent as they digested the information and Dumbledore gave them time to do so.

"Now as I've said. Hogwarts is the safest place that you can possibly be at this time. Have no fear where your lives are concerned. Focus on your education as that is the key to your success in life. Classes shall resume tomorrow morning as scheduled, so I suggest that you all get up to your bedchambers as soon as possible, but not before our school song."

Immediately, the entire school stood and with Dumbledore's nod, they all began to sing the song to whichever tune they chose. Once this was done, Dumbledore nodded and the prefects began yelling for the first years to follow them.

"Harry," Hermione turned towards him. "the password is Blast-Ended Skrewts. Please see to it that Beau and Alexandria get up to the Gryffindor tower safely. I have to speak with McGonagall before I come up and Ron has to help with the first years."

Harry nodded and turned towards Beau and his sister, who were currently standing around waiting to be told where to go.

"Harry Potter." Harry reached out and shook each of their hands. Beau and Alexandria greeted him as they would any other person and for this, Harry was grateful; he especially liked the way that Alexandria's palm felt against his.

"This way." Harry led them towards the Entrance Hall all the while explaining about the moving staircases and at what times they usually shifted, so that the two could avoid being carted away. As they walked, Harry felt the need for conversation, especially since he was nervous around Alexandria.

"So which subjects will you be doing this year?" he asked.

"Potions, Defence Against The Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Arithmancy." Beau answered, glancing around at the shuffling suits of armour in amusement.

"Potions, Defence Against The Dark Arts, Herbology, Transfiguration." Alexandria replied.

Harry nodded as they made the final ascent towards the portrait of the Fat Lady. His mind was desperately searching for something else to say.

"And what about you, Harry?" Alexandria asked. "Which subjects will you be doing?"

Harry was surprised that she had addressed him, but he answered all the same. "Defence Against The Dark Arts, Potions, Charms and Transfiguration."

"You'd like to become an Auror then?" she guessed.

Harry nodded. "How'd you know?"

She shrugged as they approached the Fat Lady. "I'd thought about that last year as well, but then decided against it. I hate Charms."

"Ironic as that was her best subject." Beau spoke up. He and his sister shared a private smile and Harry watched the two, wondering what it would be like to have a twin or be apart of a triplet as they were.

"Ahem!" The Fat Lady gave them a rather annoyed look, causing them all to jump.

"Oh." Harry turned towards her. "Blast-Ended Skrewts."

She smiled, but it was anything but pleasant. "Correct."

"Ever seen one of them?" Beau asked.

"Blast-Ended Skrewts?" Harry asked.

Beau nodded.

"In Care Of Magical Creatures, I have. Our teacher had a liking for extremely dangerous creatures." Harry replied. They entered the common room, which was fairly empty as most had taken Dumbledore's advice and gone off to bed. They paused once they reached the stairs, which led to the girls' dormitories.

"The stairs are bewitched to prevent boys from entering." Harry said to Alexandria. "You can come over to our dorms, but we can't go over to yours," he gave a tired smile. "Bloody unfair, if you ask me. Just look for the door that's marked 'Sixth Year' and enter. One of them will show you your bed and your trunk will have already been waiting by your bedside."

Alexandria nodded and Harry was amazed at how professional he'd sounded. He began to muse as to what it would be like to actually be a prefect. But then again, had he been named a prefect, he would have been shuffling First Years around insteading of escortiung Alexandira and Beau. Once Alexandria had ascended the stairs, Harry and Beau walked up theirs. Ron and the others were all in there preparing for bed and after quick introductions were made, Harry pointed to Beau's bed, which was currently the one that faced the window and was beside Dean's.

"Harry." Ron came over to his bed as soon as the other boys had disappeared behind their curtains. "It's amazing how much Luna has changed, isn't it?"

Harry smiled to his friend. "She's only changed on the outside, Ron, she's the same Luna that we knew last year."

"Oh I already know that." Ron said. "I just never noticed how blue her eyes were before today, that's all."

Harry shook his head as Ron climbed into his own bed. "Good night, Ron."

"Night Harry." Ron's curtains engulfed his bed and he disappeared.

As Harry fell asleep that night, there were two things on his mind. Dumbledore's speech regarding their future and Alexandria as she laughed softly and revealed the dimple in her left cheek. Even if the year ahead did bring hardship, at least he'd have the memory of her smile to compensate.

-->

Occlumency Part Two

The next morning brought not only the sixth year timetables, but also the arrival of Mad Eye Moody. His magical eye was whizzing away as Harry and Ron entered the Great Hall for breakfast. Harry could feel the eye stare at him as he sat down at the Gryffindor table, but decided against looking up at him.

"If you thought that last year's time table was bad, then check out this year's." Dean Thomas announced as the two sat down. Beside him, Beau Megghross sat buttering his toast. Harry nodded slightly in recognition before taking up his own timetable and examining it.

Since the would each be doing four subjects in their NEWTs, it meant that they'd have even more double sessions of their selected classes and of course, four free periods per week.

"Snape first thing every Monday, Wednesday and Friday," Ron peered over his shoulder. "Sorry mate."

Harry folded his timetable and placed it unto the table before reaching over and scooping up some eggs. He was just grateful that he'd actually been able to do Potions, especially after barely hitting the mark for "Outstanding" because of all the stress that he'd been under during his exams.

"That's funny," Hermione frowned after having examined both timetables. "It says here that I have Arithmancy when you've got Potions."

"What?" Harry asked suddenly panicked. With Ron getting an "Acceptable" in Potions and opting to drop it for Herbology, he'd counted on having Hermione there with him. "That can't be right."

"Well it is." Hermione thrust the two sheets of parchment at him. "According to them, the only class that we three have together is Defense Against The Dark Arts."

"Well what did you expect, Hermione?" Ron asked between gulps of his porridge. "All the classes will be smaller because of our O.W.L results; they had to integrate us."

Both friends said nothing as they both knew that it made sense. Harry knew for a fact that the History Of Magic class would most definitely be smaller as after five years of complete boredom, most, if not all of the sixth year had dropped it.

"Morning everyone!" Harry almost dropped his fork as the cheery voice of Alexandria Megghross greeted them as she and Ginny took seats at the table. The two were not the only ones who had sat at their table, Luna Lovegood had accompanied them and was sitting directly across from Ron.

"Morning." She said dreamily. Harry knew that the sight of Luna would not disturb anyone, especially after they'd all realized exactly who the black-haired beauty from the platform was. What he did find amusing was how bright Ron's ears had became as he choked on his porridge. As usual, Luna appeared oblivious to everything around her as she asked Neville to pass her the butter.

"Harry." Alexandria said. Harry looked away from Ron and Luna to her.

"Yes?" he could not believe that she had actually addressed him. More so, the warm sensation that was currently flowing threw his veins as her chocolate brown eyes met his green. He wondered what she wanted.

"The strawberry jam, could you please pass it?" she pointed towards the jam, which lay a few inches away from his plate.

The jam... Harry nodded, feeling a bit disappointed, and passed the jam over to her.

"Thank you."

He nodded before gazing down at his plate and eating his food. Soon the others were in animated conversation, but Harry didn't really care to join, he was too busy going over the scene of their brief conversation in his head, analysing it from every angle. Was it that she only saw him as someone worthy of passing jam? Why wasn't she smiling at him the way that she was currently smiling with Neville? Was it his scar that had scared her away, or was it just him? All these thoughts were floating around in his head as one by one, his friends began to leave the table, and he found himself alone with Alexandria.

"Harry." she called.

Harry looked up from his empty dish at her, rather surprised to find that the Great Hall was almost empty. "Where are the others?"

"They're on their way to classes. Hermione said that you have Potions now as well." Alexandria answered.

Potions? We have a class together! Harry thought jovially.

"I was wondering if you'd show me where the lab is. Hermione told me that it was in the dungeons, but I have no idea as to where that is." Alexandria shifted her bag from one shoulder to the next, never breaking her eye contact.

"S-Sure." Harry immediately got to his feet and swung his knapsack around his shoulders. "I'll show you."

"Thank you." Alexandria smiled. Harry realized that he no longer liked her smile; he loved it.

As they left the Great Hall, something told Harry to turn and look towards the High Table. Dumbledore sat, clearly finished with his meal, staring amusingly at the two. As Harry's gaze fell upon him, the Head Master winked and nodded approvingly before standing to leave. Harry smiled and hurriedly walked up to catch with Alexandria. Dumbledore's approving nod only reassured Harry that his feelings, though mixed, were right.

*

Draco Malfoy sat at his usual seat in the Potions lab but this time he wasn't trying to block out the drone of Crabbe or Goyle as they'd both received a "Dreadful" on most of their subjects and had been lucky that Dumbledore had even allowed them back. Sitting beside him was the current object of his fantasies, Jaida Megghross. They were currently waiting on Snape to arrive, but while the others took their few minutes of freedom as an opportunity to socialize, Jaida's head was currently buried in a novel. Draco looked over at Pansy Parkinson, who was shooting daggers at Jaida from her seat behind them; he seriously doubted that Pansy owned a novel. Pansy, who'd seen him staring at her, smiled at him and quickly wrote a note on a piece of parchment and handed it to him.

Didn't think that you went for the book reading nerds, Malfoy.

Draco smirked before dipping his quill into the ink and wrote a response.

Didn't think that you knew how to write, Parkinson.

Pansy read the note and scowled at him before tearing the paper to shreds. Draco smiled an icy smile of death towards her before turning back towards Jaida. Ever since the evening before, Draco had been watching her actions. Jaida wasn't the other airheads that graced the Slytherin common room (which he seldom inhibited), she actually had brains. He liked the fact that she hadn't chosen to spend their free time gossiping or practicing how to style her hair as Pansy and her pack of giggling idiots were currently doing, and he especially liked the fact that Jaida didn't hang out with them. Despite the fact that Pansy had set them all against her, he knew that she wasn't in the least saddened by this.

"Is there a reason why you're staring at me, Draco?" Jaida asked as she turned the page. Draco was slightly shocked to hear her voice. She'd been spending the past ten minutes reading and hadn't once glanced his way.

For the second time since he'd arrived Hogwarts the evening before, Draco Malfoy was at a loss for words. He watched as the corners of her mouth curled up into a smile, not quite sure whether it was because of her novel, or the fact that he was dumbfounded.

"The Professor." she closed her novel and sat up straighter. Draco looked behind her and sure enough, Professor Snape stood by the doorway surveying the room. Draco turned and frowned at Jaida.

"How on earth did you know?" he whispered. She shrugged smiling in time for Snape to make his presence felt throughout the rather chilly laboratory.

"I'd thought that only the cream of the crop had been allowed into my NEWT Potions class." Snape signalled for the door to close and began to walk up the isle. "Why is it it that with only two years in which to get you prepared for your exam, that only Mr. Malfoy and his counterpart have their Potions textbook opened?"

Draco smirked as Snape mentioned his name, but Jaida looked unmoved.

"Potter!" Snape yelled.

Draco, along with the rest of the class, turned to look towards Harry Potter, who had a rather dazed and confused look on his face. Draco looked beside him and saw that Jaida's equally beautifully sister, Alexandria, was seated beside him and understood why. Clearly he wasn't the only one that was smitten by the Megghross women. Harry looked around the class wildly before he realized that Snape had in fact arrived.

"Professor?" he asked.

"You do realize that the only reason that you made it into my class by measly one mark, don't you? You of all people should be reading their textbook if you are to pass."

Draco, along with a few other snickered, but Harry looked placid as he stared coldly towards the professor.

"I made it, didn't I?" Harry asked.

Behind him, Draco heard Pansy gasp. No one dared talk that way towards Snape.

"You did." Snape said with an equally cold stare. "But as I have already informed our dear headmaster. Should you fail to pass this term, you will be in need of another class." Snape turned away from them and walked towards his desk. Draco gave Potter the same icy smile that he had given Pansy before turning and looking towards the professor.

"Now as I have previously said before Potter's dreamlike state interrupted me," Snape sat behind his desk. "We have exactly two years before you have to sit your NEWTs. Now if you thought that the OWLs were stressful, then I suggest right now that you book a bed at the infirmary as the NEWTs are the exams to take. Over the next two years you will learn potions that will aid you in your different career paths and depending on how you use them, will lead to your success or your defeat. These next two years are to not be taken lightly, so if you, like Mr. Potter are dazed and confused, I suggest that you seek a more remedial class such as Care Of Magical Creatures for example."

Draco looked over at Harry and smirked. He knew that the half-giant known as Hagrid was a soft spot of Harry's and that Professor Snape was trying to goad the black-haired wizard. Harry however, stared straight ahead at Professor Snape almost as if he hadn't heard his comment. He turned in time to see Professor Snape wave his wand at the board and a set of ingredients appeared.

"The truth, my dear class, can be your worst enemy. Can anyone tell me why?" Professor Snape asked. Beside him, Draco watched as Jaida's hand went up.

"Yes, Miss Megghross?" Snape asked. Draco noticed that Snape hadn't used the same mocking tone as he did with Harry and was thankful that he wouldn't have to spend the next two years witnessing Snape criticize her.

"Depending on certain situations, if you needed to lie in order to protect yourself, the truth, if discovered, would lead to your ultimate downfall."

Snape nodded. "Exactly, Miss Megghross. Five points to Slytherin." Draco watched as he stood and walked around his desk.

"On the board is a potion, which if brewed correctly shall lead the person who takes to answer any question asked truthfully. Can anyone tell me what such a potion is called?"

Draco saw as both Harry's and Alexandria's hands went up. He knew the answer of course, but was too lazy to raise his as well.

"Miss Megghross?" Snape asked.

"Veritaserum, Professor."

Snape nodded. "Veristaserum is the name of the potion. It is so powerful that it takes a full moon to mature, which means, my dear students, that at the end of this month, when this potion is ready it will be graded and this mark will represent a third of your grade. I shall be testing each and every potion on you all and if you should fail," his dark eyes rested on Harry, "you have failed this semester. Begin by writing down these ingredients, which shall be followed by a list of instructions when the last person has finished writing."

Draco took out his quill, as did Jaida, and began to write down the ingredients.

"You know Draco," Jaida whispered while writing. "I thought you to be above Pansy's silly ways. There are far more important things in this world than keeping malice with Harry Potter."

Draco looked at her stunned as for the third time, he was at a loss for words. If this was any indicator as to how the school year would go on, Draco knew that the year ahead would be anything but fun.

*

Ginny Weasley sat in the library after a day of nothing but stressful classes as she tried to get a head start on her History Of Magic assignment, which despite the fact that she was being asked to write an essay on three feet of parchment, was due the following Monday. She about to look up giant wars, the topic of her essay, in the rather large textbook, when someone walked up to her table.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" Ginny looked up from the text and found Beau Megghross standing beside her. She was rather surprised to find the older Gryffindor, but after to learning to perfect the art of pretending to be unemotional from her years spent chasing after Harry, Ginny didn't show this. Instead she simply nodded and used her feet to extend a chair towards him. He smiled at her and Ginny looked down at her textbook so that he wouldn't see the red that was tempting to creep upon her cheeks.

"You're Ron's sister, right?" Beau asked as he began to take his quill out of his bag. Ginny looked up and nodded. She was always just Ron's sister; no one even attempted to give her an identity.

"What's your name?" Beau asked.

Ginny looked up surprised that he had inquired. "Ginny."

"Short for Virginia??"

Ginny shook her head. "Ginevra."

"Well may I call you that?" Beau asked.

Ginny looked up confused. "Ginevra?"

Beau nodded. "It's a rather beautiful name."

Hearing this caused Ginny to smile and strands of her auburn hair fell into her face as she nodded. Before she could blink, Beau reached over and tucked the strands of hair behind her ear. His touch was warm and it made Ginny's head a bit light. Beau, either unaware of what he was doing to her, or too used to it to even care, looked over at her textbook.

"History Of Giants. Is that for History Of Magic?" He asked.

Ginny nodded. "I've got an essay on giant wars due next Monday."

"I got an "Outstanding" in History Of Magic." Beau said as if it were nothing. "I could help you if you'd like."

Ginny was at the top of all of her classes, but it didn't matter to her, Beau Megghross was offering to help her with something. "Don't you have homework of your own?"

Beau shrugged. "It's not that important. I've got two weeks to complete it."

"Okay." Ginny accepted his offer. She watched as Beau got up from the seat opposite her and came and sat beside her. As he reached across to get her textbook, his arm brushed against hers and Ginny was glad that her hair had once again fallen into her face, so that he wouldn't see her blush. The nearness of him was doing something to her. At a table across from them, a group of Slytherin girls sat watching Beau.

"You have a fan club." Ginny whispered. Beau looked over at the table, sending the third year Slytherins into a fit of giggles and the braver ones waved. Beau just smiled charmingly at them (causing them to swoon) before turning to face Ginny. "You're far more important than they are."

Ginny swallowed. "Beg pardon?"

"Your assignment." Beau raised her textbook slightly. "It's far more important than a group of silly girls."

"Oh." Ginny said a bit disappointed. "I suppose that it is." Beau went on searching the pages for information on her assignment and Ginny sighed softly as she watched. She knew that she was slightly foolish for believing that he of all people would actually like her. He had officially became the most wanted boy in Gryffindor, placing him second below Malfoy, as soon as he'd left the Sorting Hat the night before. People that famous never wanted girls like her, Harry had taught her that much.

"Here we go." Beau pointed to the chapter before turning slightly to face her. "The Great Giant War."

"Thank you." Ginny smiled while taking the book from him.

"You have rather pretty smile, Ginevra." Beau whispered. Ginny looked up at him smiling and found that he was being very serious.

"Thank you." She replied.

"But then again," Beau continued almost as if he hadn't heard her. "You are a rather pretty girl." Hearing this really caused Ginny to blush and smile even wider. Not quite knowing how to reply to the statement, Ginny bent her head and went back to reading.

"Excuse me," Colin Creevey appeared at their table, camera in hand as always. "but may I please take your picture?"

Ginny looked up at him quizzically. She was used to Colin snapping at everything in sight, but quite frankly, she wasn't in the mood for him right now. "What for?"

Colin shrugged. "Dennis transferred to the American wizarding school so that he could be closer to my dad and I just wanted to send him a few pictures in my next letter."

Ginny had heard that the Creeveys had recently had a divorce and she knew how close Colin and his younger brother were. She could only imagine how awful he felt without his counterpart around. She was about to open her mouth to tell him 'Okay', when Beau spoke up.

"It depends."

"On what?" both she and Colin asked.

"On whether or not I may get a copy." Beau said rather seriously.

Colin shrugged once more. "Sure."

Beau nodded and to Ginny's surprised, leaned over and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. Colin raised the camera, about to take the picture and began to count. Ginny's first instinct was to lean her face a little closer to Beau and to smile, which she did.

"Hey Colin," she said as he turned to go.

"Yes?"

"May I get a copy as well?"

Colin nodded, then turned to go over to the group of giggling girls.

"That should be a really nice picture." Beau said while picking up his quill.

Ginny looked up from her novel, noticing that he had yet to move over. "Why?"

"Because it has you in it."

Ginny's response was to blush and return to the text. She had no idea as to what she was reading, she was just doing it so that she didn't have to look up at Beau. If he kept on throwing compliments at her, she didn't know if she'd be able to keep herself from liking him. A small part of her reminded her that Harry didn't compliment her much, so maybe there was a chance that Beau actually like her as well.

'Maybe...'

*

The owls arrived with the evening post as soon as Harry sat down to dinner later that evening. Hermione was busily reading the Evening Prophet to pay him the slighest attention, and with Ron gone to take a first year off to the infirmary, he had no one to talk to. Reaching for the plate of chicken, Harry saw as Luna Lovegood once again sat down at their table.

"Hello Harry." She said dreamily.

"Hello Luna." Harry said as he poured himself some pumpkin juice. "Here to see Ron again?"

Luna smiled dreamily at the mention of Ron and declined to answer, Harry just smiled and reached for his fork. He was about to take a bite of his chicken when a barn owl swooped down to the Gryffindor table and dropped a roll of parchment in his lap. Harry, who wasn't used to getting letters, looked down at it curiously.

"I believe that it's yours." Luna said before spooning herself some wild rice.

"You've gotten a letter?" Hermione raised an eyebrow before folding up her paper and placing it by her side. Harry nodded while staring at the parchment curiously almost as if trying to figure out who could have sent it.

"Well do hurry up and read it." Hermione said impatiently.

Harry looked up at her. "Who's letter is it?"

Hermione's response was to roll her eyes as she poured herself some pumpkin juice.

"Someone wrote you?" Ginny appeared at the table and sat in her usual spot. Surprisingly, Beau Megghross was at her side.

"He's been staring at it for the past three minutes or so." Hermione said before taking a bite out of her pasta.

"Well aren't you going to read it?" Beau asked while sharing himself some of the vegetable pasta. Harry was about to ask him where he was coming from with Ron's sister, decided against it as Ron was about to sit at the table. He didn't want Ron to go crazy and embarrass Ginny by causing a scene. Instead, he simply unrolled the parchment and began to read.

September 2nd, 1996

Mr. Potter,

You are hereby ordered to meet with me in my office this evening after dinner. Professor Dumbledore has asked that we continue with our Occlumency lessons, despite the fact that I have argued against this. If you are not going to take these lessons seriously, Mr. Potter, then I suggest that you do not bother to come. I would no sooner teach an unwilling student, than suffer the Imperius Course.

-Severus Snape

Harry re-read the letter twice before handing it to Hermione. Ron, who was seated beside Luna once again, looked at him curiously before turning back to the conversation that the two were having. Apparently he didn't realize that his younger sister was currently conversing with Beau Megghross.

"Hello everyone." Alexandria smiled at them all before sitting at the table. Harry looked up from his plate to say 'Hello' as well when he realized that she wasn't alone; she had brought her sister Jaida with her as well. "This is Jaida."

It wasn't the norm to have a Slytherin at their table, and so she received more than a few curious stares from the Gryffindors, but as she was Beau and Alexandria's sister, they didn't think anything of it.

"We meet again, Harry." Jaida smiled at him before reaching for the bowl of pasta salad. Harry figured that like her brother and sister, she too was a vegeterian.

"You two have the same classes?" Hermione asked after handing Ron the letter. Harry nodded before glancing at Ron. It didn't take him long to read the letter and soon he was handing it back to Harry.

"You should go." Ron announced.

Hermione nodded. "Most definitely."

"Don't you see who the letter was from?" Harry asked.

"All the better why you should go." Hermione said. "He won't be light on you and right now you need this."

Harry sighed realizing that he was being defeated and nodded. "But if I don't like it, I won't be going back."

"Fine." Hermione and Ron said. Harry hadn't heard them though, he was busy looking up at the High Table, but to his dismay, Snape was not there, nor Dumbledore. He did however, see Hagrid, who waved cheerily at Harry before turning to address Professor Sprout.

"Harry," Alexandria's voice lured him away from the table.

"Yes?" Harry asked. He then realized that the nearest pumpkin juice jug was beside him and handed it to her without her asking. She looked as if she were going to say something, but smiled as thanks instead. Harry didn't bother to read into her actions, because he figured that there was none. They'd sat together in Potions and though Snape hadn't arrived until twenty minutes after the class was due to begin, she had chosen to read Hogwarts: A History instead of conversing with him as he'd hoped that she would and during Transfiguration, she'd chosen to sit with her sister instead, leaving him to sit with Dean Thomas. If she'd wanted to speak with him at all, she'd had ample opportunity.

"Are you alright, Harry?"

Harry looked up at Jaida and nodded before returning to his plate and finishing his meal. Later when he was finished, he said a hasty goodbye before heading towards Snape's office. He arrived with a most pensive look on his face as he was still in deep thought about the Alexandria issue.

"Mr. Potter, from the look on your face, I can tell that this is going to be a most fruitful evening." Snape said amusingly. Harry glared at his back as the professor used his wand to transfer something from his mind to the Pensieve, which once again sat on his desk. As soon as Snape was finished, he turned and faced Harry.

"You already know which circumstances have brought you here, Mr. Potter, so there really is no need for conversation. None the less, is there anything that you wish to be cleared up?" Snape asked.

"Yes." Harry said. "Why isn't Professor Dumbledore teaching me?"

"Professor Dumbledore feels that I ought to continue with our lessons as I, unlike him, will make these procedures anything but endurable." Snape responded. Harry remembered Hermione telling him the same thing, but he still wished that he could be taught by anyone except for Snape, especially after the way their last class had ended.

"Are you ready Mr. Potter?" Snape asked.

Harry nodded, but before he could even reach for his wand, Snape was already pointing his at him.

"Legilimens!" He shouted.

The office swam before him and vanished. As promised, Snape was trying to find out what had had him peeved as an image of Alexandria popped into his head as she read her book. Suddenly, Harry snapped and a voice in his head arouse. No, you can't see this!

In a second, the office was brought back into focus and Harry was staring at the professor, loathe in his eyes as he held his wand out towards him. Harry had no idea how or when he'd pulled out his wand, all his knew was that Snape was currently lying on the floor with a Binding Hex upon him.

"Release me, Potter." Snape hissed. Harry stared at him for a moment, almost as if contemplating whether or not to release the professor, but after Snape shot another dagger in his direction, he said the incantation which would release him. As Snape stood, he adjusted his robes before raising his wand once more.

"As I told you in our very first lesson, Potter, you are to try to repel me with your mind, not your wand." Snape glared. "Now clear your mind of all emotions and let us begin."

Despite the fact that Harry was upset, he knew that he was there to learn and repel Voldemort or anyone else for that matter, from his mind, most importantly Snape. He closed his eyes and tried to do as he was told. As soon as a sense of serenity came upon him, he heard Snape's whisper.

Once more, an image of Alexandria popped into his head, this time it was of her smiling as she tucked her hair behind her ear. Harry immediately felt enraged that Snape was still trying to find out more about her. No! The voice shouted. I told you once and I will not say it again, NO! The image of Alexandria faded, but a few seconds later as Harry relaxed, another one popped into his head. This time is was of her at dinner as she'd accepted the jug of pumpkin juice from him. Are you deaf? The voice shouted. I told you NO! Snape appeared to be trying harder to find out more about Alexandria, but Harry wasn't about to let him. NO! NO! NO!!! With the final 'No!', the office came back into focus and Snape was holding his head. Harry watched him with intease loathe, his breaths getting more and more shallow by the second. Finally, when Snape had composed himself, he stood.

"Very good, Mr. Potter. You've finally been able to repel me with your mind." He leaned against his desk almost as if trying to steady himself. Harry wondered if he really were the one who'd had such an effect on the man. "Please clear your mind before going to bed tonight, Mr. Potter."

"So we're done then?" Harry asked suspiciously. He didn't need to look at his watch to realize that he'd been there for less than an hour.

Snape nodded. "For tonight. We'll meet here once again on Friday and if anyone asks..."

"I'm taking Potions lessons in anticipation of my NEWTs." Harry finished.

Snape once again nodded. "Clear you mind before bed, Mr. Potter."

Harry watched as Snape walked over to the Pensieve before turning and leaving the office. On his way to the Gryffindor tower, he had to pass the library and decided to stop in for a book. At the end of their lesson, Snape had assigned them a foot-long essay on the dangers and complications of the misbrewing of Veritaserum.

*

"How may I help you?" Madam Pince asked as soon as Harry approached her desk.

"Um, I have a potions assignment..." Harry began.

Madam Pince nodded before he could even continue. "Just a moment. You're the second one since dinner."

Harry stood waiting wondering whom the first person was, but his question was soon answered when Jaida Megghross appeared at the station with a rather large text on potions.

"Hello Harry." She smiled. "Here to get help with our assignment?"

Harry nodded, but didn't respond as Madam Pince returned with another copy of the book. "You'll have to return this book in the morning, Mr. Potter as I suspect that there will be more of you as the week progresses. I suggest that you take your notes tonight."

Harry nodded as she handed him the book and struggled against its unexpected weight. He turned to leave and was surprised to find that Jaida was standing there waiting for him.

"I have to give this to my sister." She explained. Harry nodded and the two of them left the library walking in step. He was trying his hardest not to think about what had happened in Snape's office as he figured that the faster that he achieved occlumency, was the faster that he could rid himself of nightly trips to the dungeons.

"So how do you like Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

"I don't know," Jaida began. "It's definitely not Beauxbatons, but then again, I didn't really like that school."

"You didn't?" Harry asked.

Jaida shook her head. "There were far too many cliques at that school... Too many labels for me to keep up."

Harry nodded seeing what she meant. He supposed that he wouldn't have liked Beauxbatons much then. Hogwarts had the occasional rivals, but no one went out of their way to disassociate themselves with people for anserine reasons.

"Say," Harry said suddenly remembering something. "Did you know of a girl called Fleur Delacour?"

Jaida screwed up her face immediately. "She was one of the most conceited people at Beauxbatons. If you weren't her idea of beautiful, then you weren't worthy of her attention."

Harry remembered the way that she had acted before he'd rescued her sister from the lake and nodded.

"But anyway, you Gryffindors are nice, so Hogwarts is a little better." Jaida smiled at him.

"They don't like you in Slytherin?" Harry asked.

"The boys like me, but Pansy has all the girls against me." Jaida shrugged as if it were nothing.

"Beause of Malfoy?" Harry asked as they made the final ascent towards the portrait of the Fat Lady.

Jaida nodded. "But it doesn't matter. Those Slytherin girls get excited over frivolous things that I can never relate to."

"So you don't really care then?" Harry asked as they arrived at the Fat Lady.

"No." Jaida smiled.

"I'll bet that Pansy loves that." Harry laughed.

"Ahem!" The Fat Lady said. "I'd like to continue fraternizing as you two are."

Harry and Jaida turned and saw that the Fat Lady had indeed had company.

"Blast-Ended Skrewts." Jaida said.

"Correct." The Fat Lady rolled her eyes and the entrance to Gryffindor common room appeared. The two entered the room together and found that the common room was filled with mostly the older students as they had all been sacked with homework. Hermione was the first to notice them and she gave the two a funny look before returning to her parchment. Harry ignored her and turned to Jaida.

"I've got to go get my books." he announced.

Jaida nodded. "You're in Beau's room, right?"

"Yes."

"I need something from him."

Harry nodded and the two walked past Hermione and her curious stares and over to the stairs which led to the boys' dormitories. As soon as they got to his room, Jaida smiled at him before going towards her brother, who was lying on his bed with a textbook opened.

"Harry!" Ron called him over. Harry knew that he wanted to know about the Occlumency classes and was about to suggest to that they wait for Hermione but to his surprise, found that she was right behind him.

"How was it?" she asked. Harry turned almost frightened.

"Where did you come from?"

"I came to find out how things went." Hermione said. Harry noticed that she was looking over at Jaida, who was currently laughing at something that her brother had said, but refrained against mentioning it.

"It went fine. I was able to block him with my mind instead of my wand, so he ended the class early and told me to clear my mind before bed." Harry shrugged while going into his trunk for a sheet of parchment.

"So things went well then?" Hermione asked still eyeing Jaida.

Harry nodded while standing up. "Well enough considering that it was Snape." He turned to leave the room when she asked him another question.

"Where are you going?"

"I've got homework." he responded while walking out of the room. He was really beginning to worry about Hermione. She was being a bit over concerned with all of her questions and curious stares. He knew that Ron was worried about him as well, but at least Ron wasn't acting so parental towards him.

"Harry." Alexandria appeared at the bottom of the staircase which led to the girls' dormitories when he entered the common room.

"Alexandria?" he asked.

"Are you upset with me?" she frowned slightly.

"No." Harry shook his head. "I've just got some things on my mind right now."

She nodded accepting his answer. "Well I was wondering if you'd started your Potions assignment."

"I'm about to do it now." Harry made a gesture towards the textbook and sheet of parchment.

"Well could I do it with you then? My sister was supposed to lend me a book but she hasn't arrived as yet."

"She's speaking with your brother." Harry informed her.

Alexandria nodded and something about the way that she looked made Harry begin to think twice about his actions.

"But you could still start with me until she comes down if you'd like." he added quickly. Alexandria's face looked brighter as she smiled. "I'd like that."

Harry, who was feeling a bit down at the moment, suddenly felt a little better from the sight of her smile, especially when he knew that she was smiling because of something that he'd said. As they walked towards one of the few empty tables which remained in the common room, Harry strangely felt as he did when he'd walked with Cho to Hogsmeade in his fifth year; nervous as if they were going on a date when they were really going to do homework. Harry pulled out a chair for Alexandria and she smiled in response, then when he was about to take the seat next to her, he felt a pair of eyes on him. Looking around the room, he found that they belonged to Hermione. By the time that he sat down however, she was gone once again and Harry didn't even bother to wonder where she had gone. Alexandria was trying to get his attention and he'd much rather find out what she wanted than find out what Hermione was really all about.

*~*

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All right, a bit of randomosity before the fic.

• I really don't understand why people are still asking me in the reviews if Harry and Hermione are going to get together when I already said at the beginning of Chapter One that they were. So again, I repeat; THIS IS A H/HR FIC! This is not, however, a fanfic where they will get together from the get go. Where would the plot be? Where would the drama be? Where would the climax be? Where would the story be? I'm not saying this again: They'll get together eventually and if you cannot wait, read something else.

Freedom From Fear

"Most of you would have remembered your Fourth Year when a deranged Death Eater by the name of Bartemus Crouch Jr. used Polyjuice Potion to impersonate me and as such, taught my classes for all of that year while I lay almost lifeless in my trunk." Professor Moody limped across the classroom, his wooden leg clunking as he did so.

"So of course you could understand my hesitation to come back here when Dumbledore asked. There was only one reason that I decided to take on this job, and his name you are afraid to call."

Harry sat up in his seat at the mention of Lord Voldemort and listened as Moody continued with his speech the following morning after breakfast.

"Fear, ladies and gentlemen, can be your worst enemy as well as your best friend." Moody stopped halfway across the room and turned to them, his magical eye whizzing in its socket. "Your best friend because on rare occasions, it will be your fear that will lead to an impulse action which will save your life. An impulse action that under normal circumstances, you wouldn't have even considered. Such as putting a Binding Hex on your attacker so that you may Apparate to another location. But in most situations, it is your worse enemy, as with the case of Lord Voldemort." Gasps came from every angle of the classroom as the Dark Lord's name was said. Harry was one of the few that looked unmoved.

"Why is it that you cannot say his name?!" Moody barked. "He can say yours!"

Beside Harry, Neville Longbottom gulped and Harry knew that he was thinking of his parents who were currently lying at St. Mungo's.

"My aim for this year, ladies and gentlemen? It is to allow you to overcome your fears. If you were to ever meet upon a Death Eater or worse, the Dark Lord himself, I can tell you from now that fear will most definitely not be your best friend!" With that, Moody waved his wand. The classroom immediately darken, and screams to erupted. Almost as soon as they were heard, the room was once again filled with light. Moody stood before them looking rather disgusted.

"If a simple Darkening Spell has caused you to become so afraid, how are you to ever stand the real world of darkness, which let me tell you, isn't so far away?!"

The frightened students could say nothing as they knew that he was right.

"Your first assignment!" Moody growled as he limped over to the board. "Write an essay on fear. I'm not going to tell you what to write about and what not to, nor am I giving you a specific length for this essay either. I am leaving this up to your discretion, but I am going to tell you this: All of your work done in this class shall be graded twice; once by myself and the second time shall be the moment that you step off the Hogwarts Express and are faced with the real world."

Harry, along with the others, immediately took out his quill and wrote down the assignment. Moody watched as they did so and it was only when the last person had looked up that he continued.

"Now I was informed by various sources, the teacher that was assigned to you last year was anything but a professor of Defense Against The Dark Arts." Moody's face held an expression of disgust, which for the first time since he'd arrived in the room caused a few students to chuckle. "It is therefore my first aim to mend all damage done. We shall therefore spend the rest of this class assessing what it is that you can and cannot do. Stand!"

At once, the students jumped to their feet and with a flick of Moody's wand, the desks disappeared and were instead replaced by comfortable looking cushions. Harry was immediately overwhelmed by nostalgia as he remembered that this was exactly how the Room of Requirement had been set up during his meetings with the DA in his fifth year. The few DA students that were in the classroom had the same looks on their faces.

"If ever you find yourself in a situation where you know that your best bet at defeating your opponent was to get him away from his/her wand, which spell would you use?"

Hermione and Neville's hand immediately went up.

"You boy, what's your name?" Moody growled.

"N-Neville Longbottom." Neville stuttered.

"Longbottom, eh?" Moody eyed him curiously and Harry knew that he was thinking of his parents. "Which spell would you use?"

Harry knew what he was going to say, as it was the first spell that he had taught the DA.

"Expelliarmus, Professor." Neville spoke up.

"Expelliarmus!" Moody growled as he did a little step. "The spell that is always looked over because of how basic it is, but is the one that can save your life in situations where you least expect it!"

Harry thought of the scene in the graveyard where he used it to once escape Lord Voldemort and nodded. Standing beside her sister, Alexandria Megghross eyed him curiously but immediately turned to look at Moody when he started speaking again.

"I want you to form a line and one by one, you will each attempt to disarm me. From now until the end of this year, we shall spend the first twenty minutes of every class practicing basic spells, as they are the ones that count when it comes down to the very last second." Moody waved his wand at his desk and immediately, it disappeared.

Harry walked over to the line and stood behind Hermione, who hadn't said a word to him since the night before when he'd caught her staring at him and Alexandria. One by one, he watched as the students attempted to disarm Moody. The first five failed miserably and so Moody sent them to the back of the line and ordered them to perfect it by the time that they returned to the front. Neville was the first person in the line that was able to successfully disarm Moody and he did it with such a force that Moody's hand went up in the air as his wand was torn away. This shocked the entire class as well as their Professor and Harry felt a sense of pride, as he knew that he had taken part in Neville's maturity where this subject matter was concerned.

"Come here boy!" Moody growled. Harry watched as a rather frightened Neville walked up to the professor. "Do you see this boy?!" Moody shouted. "This boy is one who has experienced fear and has dealt with it! You could feel it as he shouted the spell. There was passion! Passion for life will make you want to save it! Passion for life will make you pass this class! Ten point to Gryffindor for Neville Longbottom overcoming his fear!"

Neville, who'd clearly thought that he was about to be punished by Professor Moody, smiled a bit nervously as he made his way over to the corner of the room where he could watch what would happen next. The line moved at a slow pace and a few more students were sent to the back of the line. Soon Harry found that Moody's magical eye was upon him as he was next. From the corner of his eye, Harry could see that both Jaida and Alexandria were watching him from where they stood beside Neville. Hermione was watching as well, but she was standing far away from the two, almost as if they'd gotten the plague. Knowing what he had to do, Harry raised his wand, and with as much effort that he had said it that night in the graveyard, yelled the word that as Moody said, would save his life when he'd least thought that it would.

"Expelliarmus!"

The force of the spell sent Moody tumbling back unto the cushion, which he had strategically laid out behind, and caused a few of the girls to gasp. Moody however, shocked them all by laughing as Harry attempted to help him up.

"Ten more points to Gryffindor!" Moody shouted. "I want you all to take a page out both Mr. Longbottom's and Mr. Potter's books and I want you to study them hard. This is the kind of emotion that I want you to have!"

Harry found it very hard to not smile as he walked over to the spot where Neville and the girls stood. He looked over at Hermione and to his surprise, found that she was staring ahead. He seriously wondered what was wrong but didn't have much time to ponder it, as Moody was currently using Crabbe as an example of what not to do when faced with fear. Like Cho had done when she was nervous, Crabbe had yelled the wrong word, which had ignited Moody's cloak. It had been Beau Megghross, who was next in line that had put out the fire thus earning Gryffindor another ten points.

"Do you see what happens when you're filled with fear? You say the wrong words. Yes, that would have helped Mr. Crabbe here, but suppose he'd yelled something else? Suppose he'd yelled a Drying Charm? How on earth would that have helped him?" Moody's yells caused them all to laugh as Harry could only imagine how little help a drying charm would have been in defending himself against Voldemort. "Ten points from Slytherin for Mr. Crabbe here trying to up Mr. Potter and thus succumbing to his fear of embarrassment!"

Harry had no doubts in his mind that as Crabbe walked to the back of the line, that he was indeed embarrassed. By the time that the class had ended, they had practiced three basic charms with everyone in the class being able to do them successfully. Harry was so excited about the year ahead in Defense Against The Dark Arts that he didn't mind that he would have to spend his free period in the library doing his Transfiguration assignment.

*

"Have I done something to offend you?" Draco Malfoy stood calmly waiting on Jaida Megghross as she left her Defense Against The Dark Arts Class. He'd intended to speak with her before class, but she'd once again chosen to eat with her sister and with the work that they'd had to do in class, found that he hadn't been able to speak with her at all. Now that they had two free periods ahead, he wasn't going to let the opportunity pass.

"Why would you think that?" Jaida asked while waving goodbye to her sister. Draco watched as Alexandria walked off in the other direction with Potter and Longbottom, before turning back to Jaida.

"Because you've been avoiding me ever since yesterday morning after Potions." he replied.

Jaida tucked her quill into her bag before answering him. "I haven't been avoiding you, Draco. I've simply chosen to spend my time with someone who doesn't delight himself with frivolous matters."

"Are you trying to indirectly tell me that I like to engage in frivolous matters?" Draco asked. He was beginning to find Jaida's attitude towards him very offensive, and he wasn't sure if he wanted this sort of behaviour to continue.

"No. I am directly telling you that, Draco." Jaida looked at him quite seriously as they ascended towards the Slytherin dungeons.

"And what made you come to such a conclusion?" Draco demanded.

Jaida looked unmoved by his raised tone as she answered his question. "Yesterday in Potions, I made a comment about you and Harry. Do you remember it?"

"Potter?" Draco asked. "You mean the one about there being better things in this world than keeping malice with him?"

"That's the one." Jaida slowed as they approached the entrance to their house's common room. Draco said the password and they entered before he responded.

"You're not talking to me because I don't fancy Potter? I'll have you know that he's the reason why my poor father is sitting in a cell at Azkaban!" Draco held Jaida's hand and led her up a set of stairs, then towards the portrait of Salazar Slytherin. He said the password and they entered his private room shortly after. Jaida looked around the lavishly decorated room that his father had arranged for him as a present for being named prefect in his fifth year, then faced him.

"Harry isn't the reason why your father was arrested at the Ministry Of Magic last June, Draco and we both know it. Don't blame him because he happened to be the person that your father was sent to harm and couldn't." Jaida made no attempts to hide the fact that she was becoming slightly annoyed with Draco's whining.

Draco on the other hand, decided to ignore her last comment (besides the fact that he knew that it was the truth), and continued to address her about the issue at hand.

"So in order for you to speak to me, I have to make nice with Potter, is that what you're saying?"

Jaida shook her head. "No. In order to speak to me, you have to stop acting childish. Immediately after we left Potions, what did you do?"

Draco looked at her confused. "I sat with Blaise during Transfiguration because you were ignoring me."

"Before that." Jaida snapped.

"I don't know," Draco said clearly confused. "I walked to class."

"And on your way to class, what did you do?" Jaida asked. Clearly she wasn't going to come out and say what it was that Draco had done. Had it been any other person, Draco would have ordered him/her out of his room and refrained from speaking to them again. But this wasn't any other person that he was speaking to, this was Jaida Megghross.

"Do you mean what I said to that Ravenclaw boy about his birthmark?" Draco asked suddenly realizing what she was trying to get at. Jaida nodded.

"But the horrid thing covered his entire face!" Draco said.

"Which is exactly why you shouldn't have teased him!" Jaida responded. "Do you know how he probably felt to have you embarrass him like that?"

Draco said nothing as his mind was going over the scene in the Great Hall when Weasley had made the comment about Pansy in front of his friends and a group of Gryffindor students.

"Exactly." Jaida whispered, almost as if she could read his mind. Draco looked up at her curiously, but figured that she could read his facial expression and so didn't bother to ask.

"So is it that you want me to apologize to them?" He asked.

Jaida shook her head. "I wouldn't ask you to do that; I just want you to think before you open that mouth of yours. I know that there is more to you than your looks, and you can still hold your reputation without picking on first years to entertain your so-called friends."

Draco found himself sitting in his favourite snakeskin chair as Jaida watched him. He honestly didn't know why he was even considering what she was saying, as the only female that could get him to take her seriously was his mother. But as he'd found out while analyzing her, Jaida Megghross was definitely not like any other female that he'd met.

She didn't allow herself to conform and she stood up for herself, and not to mention the fact that Jaida and her sister were officially the most beautiful girls in school. It most definitely wouldn't hurt to have a girl like her on his arm, which had been why he'd made sure to introduce himself to her before anyone else could. But after getting to know her that evening and the parts of the following day that she would allow, Draco found himself strangely wanting more from Jaida Megghross than just someone equally as beautiful as he on his arm.

"Fine, but if Potter says anything to me..."

"Then you'll be more than welcome to retaliate." Jaida smiled.

Draco nodded feeling somewhat pleased with the turn of events and with the flick of his wand, the nearby portrait moved aside to reveal a hidden cupboard, which was stacked with enough goodies for Draco to throw the entire house of Slytherin a party, should he ever decide to.

"Would you like anything?"

Jaida shook her head as he helped himself to a box of Honeyduke sweets. "No thank you, I've got to go to the library. I promised Neville that I'd help him with our Herbology assignment."

Draco looked up from his treats. "Neville? You hang out with Longbottom?"

"Would that be a problem?" Jaida asked sweetly.

Draco shook his head as he reached into the box. "Well not for me since I'm not going to be seen with him, but have your fun."

Jaida smiled. "Goodbye Draco, I'll see you at lunch."

"Oh so you'll grace me with you presence then?" He asked referring to the fact that she hadn't sat with him for the last two meals.

"Be careful, Draco, or I'll ask Dumbledore me to transfer to Gryffindor so that I can be in Harry Potter's house." Jaida winked at him before disappearing through the door. Draco's response was to fetch himself a chocolate frog. He'd let the Potter joke slide, but only because she was once again speaking to him.

*

Hagrid had invited Harry, Ron and Hermione to lunch, since they had all chosen to drop Care Of Magical Creatures, despite the fact that they'd all received good grades for their OWLs. Though the three had had free periods before lunch, they arrived at Hagrid's hut at different times. Harry arrived second and was rather surprised when Hermione smiled at him as she answered the door. She'd spent most of the morning avoiding him and it was only now that they were at Hagrid's that she decided to be civil. Harry wondered if it were because she didn't want Hagrid knowing that something was the matter but since he knew her better than that, he quickly set that notion aside. Something was definitely up, but he'd have to find out what later.

"Harry!" Hagrid smiled widely as he placed the jug of pumpkin juice on the table. "Been worried about ye all summer. How are ya?"

Harry smiled as he was wrapped in the half-giant's embrace and his response came out in muffles again Hagrid's clothing.

"Good, good." Hagrid said as he went over to the table and began laying down plates. "Figured that ye were alright; just was making sure is all."

"Dobby just brought the food, so it's safe to eat." Hermione whispered as Hagrid began to place four wooden cups on the table as well. Harry nodded a bit grateful that Hagrid hadn't attempted to prepare the meal, as he was hungry after a morning of hard work.

"So 'ow was yer summer?" Hagrid asked as he went over to the door to let Ron in.

"As good as it would ever be with the Dursley's." Harry responded honestly.

"They didn't hurt ya, did they?" Hagrid turned suddenly, causing Ron to jump in order to avoid being hit.

"No." Harry shook his head. "I just meant that summers with them are always boring."

"Oh." Hagrid said. "Ye had me worried there fer a moment."

Harry believed him, knowing very well that Hagrid was very protective when it came to either of them, especially himself.

"Hagrid the kettle." Hermione eyed the fire where the kettle was currently shaking in protest of being left over the heat for too long.

"Ah yes!" Hagrid rushed over to it and used a cloth to take it up. Meanwhile, Harry and the others took a seat at the table and once Hagrid had poured himself some tea (they declined politely), they ate.

Harry noticed within the first ten minutes of the meal that Hermione was speaking up more often than usual and once again wondered if something had been the matter over the past few days why she'd acted in such a way. She seemed to feel his gaze upon her, because she looked up and smiled at him before returning to her conversation with Hagrid.

They were talking about one of the dragons that she'd seen while she and her parents vacationed in Romania, and Ron, who's older brother Charlie worked with dragons, joined in occasionally. Harry sat back not at all resenting the fact that he wasn't able to relate to them. After his experience with a dragon during the Triwizard tournament in his fourth year, Harry had had more than his fair share of them.

"So Harry, how are ye finding the NEWT classes?" Hagrid turned the conversation towards him. Harry supposed that he didn't want any of his guests left out.

"Potions is a disaster," he shrugged to show that it didn't bother him. "But besides that, I'm getting along quite fine. Our Defense Against The Dark Arts class was great this morning."

"Harry knocked Moody over with his Disarming Spell and got ten points for Gryffindor." Hermione smiled at him proudly, which caused Harry to be even more confused. She hadn't even looked his way throughout the entire class, and now she was bragging about him in front of Hagrid.

"Did ye now Harry?" Hagrid looked at him. Harry nodded to show that he in fact had and Hermione continued.

"He did. Moody even told us that we were to take a page out of his book and study hard."

Harry was going to mention that he'd said the same thing about Neville, but his mouth was filled with stew and by the time that he had swallowed, the conversation had moved on.

By the time that the three began to make their way back to the castle, the bell that signaled the end of lunch was ringing and Harry and Hermione said goodbye to Ron as they made their way to the Gryffindor tower to collect their bags, which they had dropped off along the way.

"Seeing Hagrid really reminded you of the old times, didn't it?" Hermione smiled at Harry as they approached the Fat Lady's portrait. Apparently she hadn't really been expecting an answer, as she continued to chat animatedly about how change was inevitable, but that she wished that it wouldn't come, and Harry was once again confused.

Hermione was speaking as if they were four estranged friends who'd somehow managed to meet for lunch despite their busy lives, when in reality, they saw each other every day. And Harry had absolutely no idea as to which planet she was living on as she referred to the inevitable change that was to come. He felt that the only thing that changed was her emotions and they were so rapid that Harry decided it best to not even try and keep up. It wasn't until the Fat Lady made herself known that either of them realized that they'd arrived outside of the Gryffindor common room.

"You again." She wrinkled her nose at Harry. "Is it that you lose track of time when you're with a girl and stand before me, or do you take pleasure in annoying me?"

"Sorry." Harry smiled nervously.

"Blast-Ended Skrewts." Hermione's once pleasant face suddenly looked cross at the Fat Lady's statement and no sooner than the entrance appeared, did she go through and leave him standing confused.

He went in not wanting the Fat Lady to start quarrelling again and went up to his dormitory to get his bag. He'd intended to go back down and wait for Hermione to see what was wrong, but after two minutes of standing by her staircase, he figured that she'd already gone.

"Hello Harry." Alexandria Megghross appeared at the top of the staircase and began to descend. "Are you waiting on someone?"

"Yes." Harry answered. "Hermione."

"She left." Alexandria stood on the last step. "She stormed into the room and grabbed her bag. Do you know what's wrong with her?"

Harry shook his head. "I was waiting to ask her myself."

"Well she has Arithmancy with my brother now, so I suppose that you'll have to wait until dinner." Alexandria shifted her bag from one shoulder to the next.

"I suppose so." Harry realized that the two had been standing there for nearly a minute and that the Gryffindor common room was in fact empty. "We have Potions soon, don't we?"

"We do." Alexandria smiled.

"I suppose that we should go then." Harry glanced back up at the staircase almost as if willing Hermione to appear as Alexandria came down the final step.

"Harry." Alexandria said as they began to walk across the room.

"Yes?"

"I hope you don't think me nosy," She said as they left common room. "But are you and Hermione a couple?"

Harry looked at her suddenly as if it were the most ridiculous thing that she'd said. Him and Hermione ... that would be like incest.

"No. Why would you ever think that?"

Alexandria shrugged. "Nothing really, it's just that there has been talk..."

"Well we're not together, and never will be. She and Ron are my best friends; I don't see her in any other way." Harry confirmed.

Alexandria's dimpled smiled appeared on her face once more as they neared the Transfiguration classroom. He held the door out for her and went over to his usual seat expecting her to go and sit with her sister, but when she came and sat on the other side of him, Harry took it as a good sign. Maybe girls weren't so confusing after all, at least one wasn't.

From the looks of things, Alexandria most definitely liked him.

*

Later that evening, Ron and Harry sat in the common room playing Wizard Chess near the fire. Ginny sat nearby playing with Crookshanks. Beside her was Luna Lovegood, who watched rather intently as they played while stroking Midnight (her Siamese kitten). Hermione, who had ignored Harry ever since they'd returned to the common room after lunch, sat over in an armchair reading a rather thick novel.

The portrait hole opened and Jaida and Alexandria Megghross appeared with a package each. They said hello to everyone before heading off to the sixth year boys' dormitory, more than likely Harry guessed, to hand Beau whatever was in package number three. Had he bother to glance at Hermione, he'd have seen the dangerous glare that she'd given the girls while turning the page of her novel.

"Careful Harry." Luna said softly.

He looked up at her rather surprised to find that she was still there, as she hadn't said a word since she and Ginny had returned from the library. He looked down at the board, but didn't see anything that he'd thought that he should be worried about.

"Luna!" Ginny scolded while smiling. Apparently she had seen it as well. Now Harry was really worried, he'd bet Ron his last box of Honeyduke sweets and with the Hogsmeade weekend still weeks away, hadn't wanted to give it up.

"Come on Harry." Ron said impatiently. It was either he wanted Harry to break his concentration, or he really was getting impatient. Harry chose the first one and deliberately brought a pensive look on his face as he peered at the board, searching in vain for a possible trap to avoid walking into. Seeing none, he moved his queen forward and was met by an immediate giggle from Ginny as Ron smiled.

"Checkmate."

Harry looked down at the board with his mouth opened, not at all believing that he had overlooked such a simple move and had given himself away.

"It's like Moody says, mate," Ron said, smiling as he began to line up the pieces. "The basic ones are always overlooked."

Harry stood. "I'll go get your candy."

Ginny giggled even more as he walked away, and Harry noticed that the giggles stopped when he reached the staircase. Beau and his sisters were currently descending the stairs. Harry smiled knowing that she more than likely had a bit of a crush on him. He wasn't in the least bit surprised as most girls were and as one had pointed out, Draco Malfoy was certainly getting his fair share of competition.

It wasn't as if Malfoy seemed to care, Harry thought as he retrieved the box of sweets from his trunk, he seemed too hypnotized by Jaida to even care that her brother was taking all of the girls away. By the time that he got down the stairs, Hermione was gone, as were Beau, Ginny and Jaida.

"Did they all go off somewhere together?" Harry asked as he handed Ron the box of treats. Ron, who was currently playing Wizard Chess with Luna, didn't answer, as it was his turn. Alexandria, who had stayed behind, replied.

"Hermione went to the library and the others went down to the Quidditch pitch to practice. Beau's going to try out this Thursday for the team. He was our house's Beater." she replied.

"He was?" Harry asked.

Alexandria nodded. "I'm going down to play as well, but I waited behind to see if you wanted to join."

"To play or to watch?"

Alexandria shrugged. "To play I hope. Ginny says that you're a great Seeker."

"He is." Ron said, eyes on the board. "Youngest one Hogwarts has seen in a century; started in our first year and always wins matches for us... Oh, and he's the new captain." Harry watched as he offered Luna the box of treats.

"So what will it be, captain?" Alexandria asked, an amused smile on her face.

Harry didn't need to think about that. After months of not playing due to Umbridge's attempted banishing of him from the game the year before, he was more than excited to get back in the air where he belonged. "I'll just get my broom."

*

Ron watched as Harry and Alexandria disappeared through the portrait hole before turning back to the game. Luna was currently sitting with her back up straight, one hand massaging her kitten's head, while her eyes surveyed the board.

He liked the way that she played the game and had to admit that she was probably even more serious at him than he was. She watched him intensely as he thought about and made his moves and then she analyzed the board from possibly every angle before making the wisest move. Ron knew that it would be a really long game, as he wasn't about to lose it to Luna by making the wrong move.

"It's your turn, Ronald." Luna used her free hand to tuck some strands of her hair behind her ear.

"Why do you call me Ronald?" He asked reading the board.

"It is your name, isn't it?" Luna replied simply.

"Yes," Ron tapped his fingers as he mentally went over the game's previous moves. "But everyone calls me Ron."

"I prefer Ronald." Luna stroked her kitten. "Do you mind?"

"No." Ron shook his head as he executed his move. "Not at all. You call me whatever you want."

If he were to be honest, Ron would have admitted that he secretly liked the fact that Luna called him Ronald instead of Ron. When he was younger, he'd hated his name because of how funny it had sounded (especially because Fred and George would call him so just to get on his last nerve), but when Luna said it, it sounded like a name that he was actually proud of having.

"As can you." Luna took a treat from the box that he offered once more.

Ron was about to ask her if she had any other names, but decided to ask her something else that had been on his mind since he'd realized whom she was on the train. "What made you decide to get a tattoo and colour your hair black?"

Luna eyed the board while answering him. "My mother always said that I'd be beautiful with black hair, especially because of my eyes."

Ron nodded understanding what she'd meant. He could tell that though her mother was deceased, that she still held a very special place in Luna's heart. She didn't look dazed whenever she spoke of her, but rather serious, which was so unlike Luna.

"And the tattoo?"

"It means 'love'." Luna moved her knight forward and looked up at Ron. "I think that I'm in love."

Ron, who was about to move his own knight, dropped it on the board, causing Crookshanks to look up and eye the pieces almost hungrily. "You're w-what?"

Luna smiled her usual dream-like smile, but Ron could see in her eyes that she was very serious. "I said that I think that I'm in love."

"You, you think?" Ron swallowed. He didn't know why, maybe it was the nearby fire that was causing it, but he was suddenly hot and felt as if he needed a drink of water to cool himself.

Luna nodded. "I haven't quite figured out whether I am or not, but I believe that I soon will."

Ron nodded and stood about to go and get himself some water from the pitcher that sat on a small end table. "I thought that that was what you'd said."

He drank the water in one large gulp and was about to pour himself a second glass when Luna appeared by his side, having abandoned both the game and her kitten (who, along with Crookshanks, were currently eating away at the box of Honeyduke sweets).

Ron almost dropped the cup, but his quick reflexes rescued it before it hit the floor. "Did you want some, Luna?"

Luna shook her head. "Yes. I wanted to know if you'd like to have breakfast with me tomorrow."

"Breakfast?" He repeated.

"At the Ravenclaw table."

"You mean, like a—like a date?" Ron held unto his cup almost as if his life were depending on it.

Luna nodded. "Yes. A breakfast date."

Ron shakily placed the cup down on the table and stood straighter as he registered what Luna had just said. "So the person that you might be in love with, is—is me?"

"Yes."

He nodded not really knowing what else to do or say.

"So does that mean that you'll have breakfast with me?" Luna asked.

Ron found himself nodding again. "Yes."

Luna smiled. "Then I'll see you at breakfast."

She walked over to the spot that they had abandoned and picked up her kitten. Ron found his legs and walked over as well. He figured that he should at least walk her to the entrance. She had after all, just told him that she might be in love with him; things like that didn't happen everyday to Ron Weasley.

They got outside of the portrait hole and Ron found that he was walking with her to wherever it was that Ravenclaw was located. By the time that they got there, Ron couldn't figure out how he'd possibly get back, all he could think of was look on Luna's face as she turned towards him.

"Goodnight, Ronald."

Ron's lips formed into a goodbye, but they never made it, as Luna's lips brushed gently against his.

Now he knew that he really needed water.

"Goodnight, Luna." He watched, with a rather dazed look on his own face, as Luna waved before disappearing inside the Ravenclaw common room.

The woman in the portrait smiled sweetly at Ron and he smiled back almost embarrassed before turning and walking away. Somehow, he made it back down to the Entrance Hall, in time for the doors to open and his friends to arrive with their brooms in hand.

"Are you okay, Ron?" Alexandria, who was the first to spot him, asked.

Ginny giggled almost knowingly before tugging on Beau's robes and the two walked away. Jaida, figuring that Ron wanted to speak with Harry privately, told Alexandria that she needed to retrieve what she'd left on Beau's bed and asked her to follow. Soon it was just Harry and Ron standing in the Entrance Hall.

"Ron what's wrong?" Harry asked concerned.

Ron, realizing where he was and what was happening, snapped back to reality. "Nothing really."

"Then why that look on your face?" Harry frowned.

"Oh," Ron said as if it were nothing. "Luna just kissed me."

"She did?" Harry smiled sneakily. Ron began to wonder if he were the only one that was oblivious to the fact that Luna had in fact liked him.

"Yes, and she also told me that she might love me."

That one caught Harry off guard and he stopped in his tracks. "What?"

"We were playing Wizard Chess when I asked about her tattoo. She told me that she got it because she might be in love and then after she asked me out, she told me that the person was me."

"She asked you out?" Harry asked.

Ron nodded. "To breakfast tomorrow at the Ravenclaw table."

"Wow," Harry said after a while. "I think that you've got your first date tomorrow with Luna Lovegood."

"I think so too." Ron replied.

This time however, he was smiling.

*

It wasn't supposed to be this way...

That was the thought that was running through Hermione's mind as she lay in her bed, curtains drawn to block out the others. It was a little after eleven, and she'd just returned to the Gryffindor tower after being thrown out of the library by Madame Pince.

She'd been hoping to return to the common room after midnight when she was sure that Harry and Ron had retired to bed, but she'd had no such luck. Both had been up talking in hushed tones as they played a late game of chess. Normally, Hermione would have scolded them for opting to play a game instead of doing the homework that she knew that they were allowing to pile up. But things between them were anything but normal, and so instead of scolding them, she simply walked past them and climbed the stairs that led to her dorm room.

Tears escaped her brown eyes and Hermione made absolutely no effort to wipe them away as she recalled the scene that had taken place not even fifteen minutes ago. The boys hadn't even acknowledged the fact that she'd entered the common room. So engrossed in their conversation were they, that they didn't even give her the slightest glance as she crossed the room and made her way up the stairs.

This situation was exactly what she'd feared ever since the end of third year when she'd noticed that Harry had taken to admiring Cho Chang whenever he'd thought that no one would see. The boys had become interested in girls, and now that they had entered this phase in their lives, the need for her friendship no longer mattered.

As the realization dawned upon her, more tears ran down her pale face and a soft hiccup could be heard coming from behind her curtains. Rolling unto her side, she now faced one of the girls that were responsible for the sudden change in her friendship with the two and a scowl immediately formed upon her pink lips.

Alexandria Megghross. Just hearing the first syllable of the Parisian's name made her cringe. Ever since she had stepped up from behind Professor McGonagall at the Welcoming Feast, her entire world had been turned upside down. With her angelic smile and wide blue eyes, she had won the attention of every boy in the Great Hall. But it was a particular boy that would eventually win her over, and he just happened to be one of her best friends, or was he still?

Hermione had seen the way Harry had watched the girl throughout dinner, but she had played it off hoping that things would smooth over the way that they had with Cho. But no, fate was to be once again cruel to her, and it was quite obvious that Harry had no intentions of letting this one get away. No one else knew this, not even Ginny, the only female that she was close to, but Hermione liked Harry, and it wasn't the casual crush either, she was in love, and had been for almost two years.

At first she had been confused, and had thought that Ron was the one that she really liked, but after sitting down and analyzing the situation, she realized shortly after the Yule Ball that she couldn't really like him, if anything, they were completely incompatible. The two of them were too stubborn to ever let the other have their way in the relationship, and so if they had survived, they would be one of those couples that were constantly breaking up with each other, only to return to each other's arms shortly after. She knew that she didn't want a relationship like that. So she allowed her tiny crush on Ron to fade away, and once again focused on her work.

But then something happened that she'd neither planned, nor expected, she found herself developing feelings for Harry. And this time, she tried her hardest to squash those feelings without even analyzing the situation. Guys like Harry never looked at girls like her. Sure they were best friends, but she knew that he would never see her as anything but. And she was right, his little obsession with Cho had proved that, and so she played the role of a supportive friend and pretended not to care when she saw him giving her glances, even though she was currently dating Cedric Diggory.

And then the third task came and things changed. After Harry and Cedric had failed to come out of the maze, horrible images began to flash through her mind and Hermione found herself on the brink of tears. Thankfully for her, the others were too preoccupied with their own thoughts to even notice the tears that fell from her eyes and were easily concealed by her bushy hair. That was the day when she realized that she'd moved on from the level of a simple crush to care deeply about Harry. A year later when she was once again faced with the Harry/Cho situation, she once again feigned apathy and offered him advice, thinking to herself that even if he couldn't have her, then at least he'd be happy.

Despite all this, she couldn't help but fall in love with him, and she realized this when she almost lost Harry once again in the Department Of Mysteries. She'd made up her mind to tell him then, but Sirius' death had changed all of that. She knew that she couldn't possibly add to his torment then, and so had decided to lay it off until the new school year when hopefully Harry would be better able to cope with his confession. But a girl that was even more beautiful than Cho once again beat her to him, and this time. It simply wasn't fair!

As for Ron and Luna, she couldn't care less. She was quite happy that Ron had found someone that could add balance to his unstable character.

And so here she was, completely alone and feeling worthless as she cried herself to sleep that night.

Being in love, especially when it was unrequited, was no joy ride. She'd imagined that when she finally fell in love that the person would be sweet and caring and that he would love her back. But this kind of love was anything but. It felt as if a knife had stabbed at her heart and was being turned painfully slow. And no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't get it out.

In her dreams, she'd imagined Harry as that sweet and understanding person. And in reality, he really was. He just wasn't capable of being that kind of person when it came to her.

**~*~*~**~*~*~**

-->

Breakfast With Luna

By six o'clock the next morning, Ron was fully dressed. He knew that it had been too early to go and get Luna, but after tossing in his bed for an hour, he allowed his nerves to get the best of him and went to shower. When he got back to the common room, with nothing to do for an hour, he resigned himself to starting a Charms assignment, which wasn't due for another week. He was halfway through his second paragraph when Hermione entered the room, clearly about to go and have a shower herself.

"Hello Ron." She paused almost a bit shocked to find him there at that hour of the morning, and doing homework no less. Had he examined her closely, she would have noticed that her eyes were puffy, and that there was a strange glint in them. But he was too preoccupied with his thoughts on his upcoming date with Luna to notice anything as she added, "Getting a head start on your assignments?"

Ron looked up from his work and nodded.

Hermione smiled, but the warmth did not reach her eyes. It was a sad smile, similar to the one that was usually found on the face of a mother when she realized that her children really could live their lives on their own, and so would no longer need to depend on her.

"Really? Well good for you."

Ron watched as she walked away knowing that only she could manage to get excited over getting a head start on an assignment. A part of him had wanted to tell her the real reason that he'd been up, but there was another part that told him not to. He decided to go with that side as he felt that this sort of thing would only be truly appreciated by Harry, who had gone through these same emotions the year before with Cho.

"If mum could see you now." Ginny stood before him shaking her head in blatant disbelief. She'd seemingly appeared out of the thin air as Hermione disappeared through the portrait hole.

"You're acting as if you've never seen me doing an assignment!" Ron said, rather offensively.

Ginny laughed. "I have; it's just that Hermione is always there to do it over for you."

With that, Ginny waved teasingly and began to walk away. Ron chose to ignore her comment and since it was obvious that he could no longer work in peace as the house was waking up, packed up his things and went to put them away. When he went over to his bed, he found that Harry had just woken up.

"Off to get Luna?" Harry asked, suddenly seeming to really awaken.

Ron placed his things in his trunks. "Depends. What time is it?" He'd lost his watch at the beginning of the summer, but hadn't wanted to pressure his parents by asking them to replace it.

"It's a quarter to seven." Harry glanced down at his watch. He stretched a little before reaching for his glasses and getting up out of the bed.

"You don't think that it's too early?" Ron asked while closing his trunk.

Harry shook his head. "The Great Hall will start filling up in another ten minutes or so; you'll be on schedule."

"Alright then." Ron said while retrieving his bag. "I think that I'll go now."

Harry gave his shoulder a slight pat. "Good luck, mate."

"Do you think that I'll need it?" Ron asked, beginning to get nervous.

Harry grimaced. "No date could possibly be more worse than the one that I had with Cho, and Luna's nothing like her."

Seamus, who'd been getting a few items out of his trunk, looked up. "Luna? You're going out with Looney Lovegood, Ron?"

Hearing Seamus call Luna that name got him upset, and he quickly came to her defense.

"Her name, Seamus, is Luna. How'd you like it if I were to start calling you Semen instead of Seamus?"

Seamus, nor Harry for that matter, had expected Ron to react that way, and so they both looked a bit shocked.

"Sorry mate; I didn't know that you really cared." Seamus apologized.

Ron said nothing in response as Seamus walked away because he realized that he hadn't known either. He said goodbye to Harry a few minutes later and set off to get Luna.

The walk to the Ravenclaw tower seemed like the longest of his life and the further that he went was the more nervous he became. He couldn't get the conversation with Luna from out of his head. She'd told him that she might love him and he didn't even know how to define love! Yes he liked her; there was no denying that (especially after the way that he'd stood up for her), but love?

"Hello Ronald."

Ron looked up shocked to see that he'd already arrived at the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room. He was even more surprised by Luna's appearance. Her hair, which she'd been wearing in a bun ever since her arrival at Hogwarts, was now falling gracefully unto her shoulders in loose curls, and if Ron wasn't mistaken, she was wearing a bit of make up.

"You're beautiful."

Ron's ears immediately went red at the realization that he'd voice his thoughts, Luna titled her head slightly and blushed, and a group of third year girls giggled as they walked by. He'd really have to keep his tongue in check.

"S-So are you ready to go?" He nervously tugged on his robes.

"Oh yes." Luna smiled and took his hand. Ron looked down at their entwined fingers and smiled nervously knowing that he'd never have even thought of doing that. He did, however, like the way that their fingers felt entwined—quite right, as if that were what they'd been meant to do.

"Ronald, I need to clear something up about last night." Luna announced as they began to walk off.

"Last night? What about last night?" Ron hoped that she wouldn't mention the 'L' word. He didn't know if his nerves could take anymore before they collapsed.

"About my tattoo."

Ron swallowed as he felt the heat begin to once again rise up his neck. "W-What about your tattoo?"

"I hope that I didn't frighten you by my confession..." She looked up at him.

"No," Ron fidgeted with his collar, "you didn't frighten me." She'd just made him extremely nervous, which was exactly what she was doing once again.

"Good. Because to be quite honest, I don't think that I love you."

Ron was caught off guard by her statement and suddenly stopped walking. "You don't?"

"No Ronald." Luna shook her head. "At least not yet I don't. I just really like you; a lot."

"Oh." Ron replied. "Me too."

Luna smiled as they joined the crowd of students that were making their way into the Entrance Hall. He didn't know whether to be elated because the pressure was now gone, or a bit put down because he wasn't the one whom she loved. But then again, she had said that she hadn't loved him as yet; there was still the great possibility that love would eventually arise... Girls were so confusing!

As they entered the Great Hall, it felt to Ron as if all eyes were suddenly on them, like someone had made a public announcement of their date and everyone had been awaiting their arrival. He glanced over to the Gryffindor table almost out of habit, and sure enough, quite a few of his friends were watching to see just where he was going, especially his sister Ginny, who was currently smiling mischievously.

Ron had a sneaky feeling that she'd known about the date all along. He gave them all a nervous wave before following Luna over to the Ravenclaw table. He didn't dare look up at the High Table, as he knew that he couldn't take it if Hagrid gave him one of his wide-eyed smiles because he was holding Luna's hand.

"Everyone, this is Ronald, he's going to be sitting with us for breakfast." Luna announced as they sat at the table. Ron recognized a few of them from his classes and while the others gave curious stares before eventually going back to their conversations, they waved.

"So," Luna surveyed the table after they'd taken their seats, "What would you like to eat, Ronald?"

Ron shrugged. "I suppose that I'll have what I usually eat for breakfast."

Luna nodded and reached for the platter of eggs, and Ron watched somewhat incredulously as she shared him and herself some eggs as well as two slices of toast. He had no idea that she knew what he usually ate, but then again, who knew what Luna picked up as she stared off into space.

"Strawberry or raspberry?" Luna asked referring to the jam selections. "You usually have a different one each morning, so I don't quite know which one you'd like."

"Which one do you prefer?" Ron had no idea that those were the two jams that he always spread on his toast, usually he'd just have whatever Harry or Hermione had chosen.

"Strawberry."

"Well then I guess that I'll have that one." Ron decided.

Luna nodded, about to spread some on his toast when Ron spoke up. "No thanks, I'll do it myself."

Sharing out eggs was one thing; he didn't need another version of his mother making sure that his jam and toast were just right. He took a bite out of his toast after spreading a generous layer of strawberry jam, and it was only after he swallowed, did he find Luna watching as he ate with her usual dreamy expression.

"Luna," He said while placing his toast back unto his plate. "I don't know how this is going to sound..."

"Yes, Ronald?" She tilted her head slightly as she bit into her own toast.

"Could you please not... stare at me that way while I eat? It makes me, um ... nervous." Ron reached for his goblet and took a long gulp of the orange juice.

"I wasn't watching you eat, I was just watching you. But if you'd like me to stop, I will." Luna replied.

Ron nodded while taking some eggs into his mouth. A few seconds later however, he realized that Luna was staring everywhere except at him.

"Um, Luna?"

"Yes, Ronald?" She asked, still staring ahead.

"When I said that I was uncomfortable with you looking at me, I meant watching me chew. You can look my way occasionally, you know."

"Oh!" Luna turned to face him then, smiling as she did so. "I'd thought that you didn't want me to look at you at all."

Ron shook his head slightly, smiling as he did. Across the Hall at the Gryffindor table, Harry grinned at him.

The further that they got into the meal, was the more that Ron realized that he'd been wrong to judge her the year before. Once you got to know her, Luna Lovegood really wasn't as weird as she seemed to be, she was actually quite charming and Ron found that they had a lot in common.

Like him, she loved the Chuddley Cannons, and they'd all learned from the night before that she too loved Wizard Chess. All in all, Ron couldn't have asked for a better companion for the morning meal. After breakfast was finished however, instead of waiting on Luna to, Ron reached out for her hand and they made their way out of the Great Hall.

"Which class do you have first?" He asked her.

"Herbology." She made a face as she said so, which caused Ron to laugh.

"Well I've got Transfiguration, so I suppose that I can't walk you like I'd hoped." He replied. They'd reached the Entrance Hall, and it was now time to part ways.

Luna nodded clearly comfortable with just standing there holding Ron's hand, but as the students began to emerge from the Great Hall, he began to get antsy again, feeling the need to do something.

He didn't know if he should let go of her hand then and say goodbye, or if he should kiss her and then go off to class. And even if the right thing to do were to kiss her, he wasn't quite comfortable kissing her in front of the entire school. It wasn't as if he were ashamed to be seen with her, he was just nervous. Finally, Luna spoke up, which relieved him immensely.

"Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me, Ronald?" She asked.

"You mean for a second date?"

Luna nodded. "But only if you want to..."

"Don't worry," Ron reassured her, "I want to."

"Good." Luna smiled and stood on her tiptoe to kiss him on his cheek. "Have fun at class, Ronald."

Ron watched as she watched over to Ginny and the two disappeared into the crowd.

That wasn't so bad...

"Ron!" Harry emerged out of the crowd with Hermione by his side.

"Did Luna Lovegood just kiss you on your cheek?" Hermione asked, somewhat accusingly, Ron noted.

Harry ignored what Hermione had said and asked another question. "How was it?"

"How was what?" Hermione asked, once again in her accusing tone of voice.

"It was great, actually... Except for the time when she literally tried to feed me." Ron admitted.

Harry grinned. "So you like her then?"

Ron nodded. "I think that I do."

"Will someone please fill me in?" Hermione demanded in a rather icy tone of voice. "I seem to be out of the loop lately on the affairs of my best friends."

"Ron had breakfast with Luna." Harry responded, clearly trying to ignore her rude mannerisms.

"I know that." Hermione snapped. "What I didn't know is that he liked her. When did this happen?"

Ron, who was suddenly tired of Hermione's bossy ways, spoke up. "It happened somewhere between your time spent being rude and your time spent in the library."

Hermione gasped and Ron could see that she was getting upset, he didn't care though. "See you at lunch, Harry."

With that, he turned and walked out of the Entrance Hall towards the Transfiguration classroom. He didn't care if Hermione stayed upset with him for the rest of the day as she tended to, nothing she did could dampen his happy mood.

*

Did you notice the way that she was staring at you this morning at breakfast?

-Who?

Hermione Granger.

-Oh. I get the feeling that she doesn't quite like me.

From the look that she's giving you, I get the feeling as well.

-Well if it's anything like the one that Pansy is currently giving you, then I really know that she hates me.

Parkinson? She's been upset with me from the moment that I walked over to the Slytherin table on our first day here. She's always making snide comments in the dorm room and has the other girls against me.

-Hermione hasn't gone that far...

Maybe it's because she knows that you like Harry. She probably thinks that you're after him because he's The Boy Who Lived.

-But I could care less if he was The Boy Who Lived!

I know this and you know this, but she doesn't.

-Well if she feels that way, then it's her problem and not mine. Besides, Harry doesn't like her that way; I asked.

I don't know what to tell you. I just ignore Pansy and the others; they're not worth my time.

-Being alone has never really bothered me, so it's not like I need her friendship or I'll simply die.

Same here with Pansy.

-Snape's on his way.

I know.

-Toodles.

Au Revoir.

*

Beau Megghross sat in his usual seat in the Arithmancy classroom and waited for his partner, Hermione, to arrive. As he did so, he stared at the picture that Colin Creevey had delivered to him that morning during breakfast. It was the one that he'd taken in the library of himself and Ginevra.

He hadn't really noticed it before in the library, but now that he stared at the picture, Ginevra looked as if she might have a bit of a crush on him. It wasn't something that he wasn't used to, all his life had been spent as the center of attention when it came to the opposite sex, and apparently Ginny wasn't to be excluded.

By barely glancing at the picture, most wouldn't see anything other than two people posing, but Beau saw more. It was the look in her eyes and the way that her head tilted slightly, almost touching his face, but not quite, almost as if she were afraid of getting too close for fear of what might happen.

He smiled; Ginevra really was a pretty girl, but she was Ron's younger sister. He didn't have to ask to know that despite the fact that Ron was being friendly with him that he would kill for his sister. Still, he couldn't help but notice how perfectly comfortable the two seemed together in the picture and even more so, how natural the pose looked. A loud thud as Hermione dropped unto her seat caused Beau to look up.

"Is something the matter?" He asked concerned.

Hermione crossed her arms and pursed her lips. "Apparently, something is the matter with me."

Beau looked at her quizzically; he wasn't sure that he understood.

"It's nothing really." Hermione sat up straighter and began to unload her books from her bag.

"It's just that I feel as if my friends are excluding me from their activities. I suppose I'm just overreacting."

Before Beau could comment however, Hermione's eyes drifted towards the picture of himself and Ginny in the library.

"Is that Ginny Weasley?" She reached over to pick up the picture and stared down at it with a slight frown on her face.

Beau nodded. "Colin took it when I was helping her with an assignment."

Hermione looked at him as if she were going to ask a question, then she shook her head and sighed. "It's a really lovely picture."

"Colin could have a copy done for if you like." Beau offered.

Hermione shook her head and opened her textbook. "No, that's quite alright."

Beau watched as she found the chapter that she was looking for and began to read. He knew that something was bothering her and that she was keeping it to herself. Not that he blamed her really, they'd only known each other for three days, hardly enough time for her to start trusting him with her most intimate thoughts.

"Did you have a best friend at Beauxbatons?" Hermione asked closing her book.

Beau shook his. "No."

"Well then I guess you wouldn't know what I was talking about." Hermione shook her head once more and re-opened the thick text. Beau watched as she frowned and knew that she wasn't frowning because of what she was reading, she was thinking about whatever was wrong with her and her best friends. It wasn't as if he and Hermione were close, but he did hope that whatever it was that was bugging her would soon be cleared up.

She was a rather nice person when she was happy and he didn't like to see her upset, nor anyone for that matter. Knowing that there was nothing that he could do to help her, he turned back to his picture of Ginevra.

The Ginevra in the picture beamed up at the camera and whenever she turned slightly to glance at him, he could see the hint of red on her cheeks and knew that she was blushing. He smiled at the sight knowing that Ginny really did like him.

"Good morning class, sorry to be late!" From the door to the classroom, Professor Vector made her way to the front.

Beau immediately put away the picture of Ginevra and focused his attention to the board. Beside him, Hermione placed her Muggle bookmark on the page that she was currently reading, and did the same. Both had things that were on their mind, but they weren't the kind to let that get in the way of their work. For now, they'd remain focused, afterwards, they could reflect.

*

Later that afternoon, Harry and Ron found themselves on the Quidditch pitch as they surveyed the group of hopefuls. However, that morning at breakfast, Katie Bell had approached Harry with a suggestion that would have surely knocked Oliver Wood off of his broom, had he been the captain at the moment. Harry still remembered how nervous she'd been as she'd waited silently at the entrance to the Great Hall for him to gather his books and leave for class.

"Ah, Harry." Harry looked up to find Katie shifting rather uncomfortably as she stood in the doorway of the Great Hall. "I, uh, need to speak with you about something."

Though he had Potions next with Professor Snape and knew that he really shouldn't be late, he had a feeling that Katie wouldn't be standing in the doorway looking so nervous if it wasn't something really important that she'd had to discuss with him. Obviously sensing this as well, Alexandria, who was supposed to be walking with him to class, said that she'd save him a seat and walked on ahead. Harry then turned back to face Katie wondering just what was on her mind.

"What is it?"

Nervously, Katie ran her tongue over her lips and swallowed. "You know how much I really love being a Chaser, right?"

Harry nodded while looking at her quite confused. "Yes. And you're a really good one at that. But what does that have to do with anything?"

This time however, Katie nervously ran her fingers through her hair; something that Harry had taken to doing whenever he was upset or as Katie currently was, nervous. Taking a deep breath, she continued.

"Well it's just that I've got my NEWTs coming up this year... and I really want to become a Medi-Witch..."

She was stopped abruptly by Harry's sudden gasp.

"Wait a minute," he said, not quite willing to believe what he thought that he was hearing. "You're not planning on quitting Quidditch, are you?"

Thankfully, as Harry could feel a heart attack coming on (Katie Bell leaving the Quidditch team? Never! It just simply wasn't right!), Katie shook her head with widened eyes.

"No," she quickly assured him. "I just wanted to know if it would be okay for you to get a reserve Chaser for me at this evenings try outs."

Harry, who was just getting over his shock, was now left quite confused. "But why? If you're not leaving the team, then why do you need one?"

"Like I said," Katie explained, somewhat more calmly than she'd been before, "I really want to become a Medi-Witch, which means that I'll have to get excellent NEWT results, or else no decent Medical School will take me. And so I'd like for you to get a reserve Chaser for me, and don't worry, I'll train him or her myself, because when we have the final Quidditch match, I'll have to be seriously concentrating on my NEWT studies..."

"And so you won't be able to play." Harry finished for her.

Katie nodded. "I thought about this a lot, Harry, and believe me, I would never ask you to do this unless I felt it absolutely necessary, which I do."

Harry waved her off as he digested the information. Getting a reserve Chaser so that Katie could concentrate on her NEWT studies was far better than getting a replacement for her because she was leaving the team. At least Katie was willing to train the player, so that when it came time for the final match, and Gryffindor would most definitely be in that match, the player would be more than ready to replace her. Besides, whoever he picked would have to be replacing Katie the following year anyway, so a year of advanced training would only do wonders for the team once she was gone.

"Don't worry about it." He finally said.

"Are you sure?" Katie asked. Clearly, she hadn't been expecting things to go over so smoothly with Harry.

Harry nodded. "I'm very sure."

Katie broke out into a smile, which was a relief to Harry, as he'd never seen her so nervous before in all his years at Hogwarts, and hoped to not have to see her that way again.

Harry nodded at her about to leave before the bell rang and he was really late for class, but Katie called his name and he stopped.

"Yes, Katie?" He turned expectantly.

"Well this is just a suggestion," Katie started, "But I was thinking that since we really don't want to just throw the player into the final game like that without experience, that perhaps we could let him/her have a chance at an actual game. Perhaps the one with Slytherin since we'll more than likely be meeting up with them in the final match."

Harry hadn't expected such a proposal, but now that he thought about it, Katie was right. Throwing in an amateur Chase—no matter how much training he or she had gotten from Katie—into the final match with the more than brutal Slytherins would be like handing over the trophy to Malfoy. There was no way that he was going to be doing that.

"That sounds like a good idea." Harry agreed with her. "But since this person will be replacing you, I think that it's only fitting that you be the person that does the selection at tonight's try out."

And so tonight, as promised, Katie was also down on the pitch, surveying the group of hopefuls, one who would become her reserve and eventually, her replacement.

Ginny and Dean were there, as were Beau and Alexandria Megghross and rather surprisingly, Colin Creevey.

"Do you reckon that he can fly his broom straight?" Ron leaned over and whispered, after spotting Colin in the crowd.

Harry grinned while shaking his head. "You heard what Dumbledore said during the announcements, I don't think that he would turn up if he couldn't."

Hermione arrived from the midst of the crowd with a list in her hand and handed it to Harry. He'd asked her to list the players in accordance to which position they'd hoped to fill and he was rather surprised to see that Alexandria had hoped to be one of the three Chasers. Despite the fact that he liked her, if she didn't live up to the reputation of Angelina, then he couldn't accept her on the team. He was the captain now, and as such, had to act in that manner.

"Okay," he began. "I need you all to line up in accordance to which position you wish to fill and then after you've done that, we'll play a game with each of you filling that position on either side so that I may see how good you are."

Hermione took the list from him and began to arrange the players into two groups. When she was finished, she retreated to her seat in the stands so that she could watch the upcoming game. Harry had noticed that she'd been acting a bit strangely since the beginning of the term, but at least she'd agree to help him, even if she were hesitant at first. At the sound of Harry's whistles, the teams mounted their brooms and took off towards the slightly overcast skies.

Ginny was the first of the five hopeful Chasers to get a Quaffle past Ron (who had improved immensely since his older brothers were no longer there to intimidate him) and Harry had to do a quick dive in order to avoid the Bludger that Dean had sent across the pitch to someone on the other side.

After he'd steadied himself on his broom, Harry soared above where Katie was currently circling the Chasers, deciding that it was safer to watch the game from a little above. It was a good move on his part, as one of the third years that had decided to try out, had accidentally sent the Bludger in his direction. Harry grimaced as the rather embarrassed girl lost grip of her broom and almost fell off. He didn't even want to imagine how she would deal with the anxiety that occurred before the beginning of matches.

A few seconds later, the Quaffle made it past Ron and this time, it was from none other than Colin Creevey. Harry grinned at the shocked expression on Ron's face, which Ginny took advantage of and scored another goal.

"Ron!" Harry shouted as he zoomed closer. "If you continue to allow your sister to score, I'll be replacing you next."

Despite the fact that Harry was joking, Ron's ears went red with embarrassment.

From out of nowhere, Beau appeared before a fourth year and sent the Bludger, which had been aimed at him, back across the pitch. It was, Harry had to admit, a rather excellent move.

The game went on for another forty minutes before Harry had made up his mind as to who would fill the various positions. At the sound of his whistle, the players landed and waited anxiously for the results.

Katie, who had already made her decision mid-air, as to who her reserve and eventual replacement should be, was one of the first to land. Harry had been surprised when she'd whispered the answer in his ear, but as he'd already had that person in mind, he'd spent an extra ten minutes trying to decide which of the other four would be best as a new Chaser.

"You all played well," Harry decided to ignore the fact that a majority of them had been nervous and so had played horribly. "But as I said, only five can actually make it unto the team, so..."

~

An hour later, the Gryffindor common room was filled with dancing students and laughter as they celebrated the addition of the five new players to their team. In the spirit of Fred and George, Harry and Ron had raided the kitchens (despite Hermione's protests) and had filled the common room with pastries and pumpkin juice. Lavender and Parvati had provided the music and after Katie had performed a Silencing Charm on the common room so that they wouldn't be disturbing anyone, a full-blown party began.

Dean Thomas and Beau Megghross had been named the new Beaters, which only served to heighten Beau's popularity as he was currently in a corner dancing with two girls. Katie's reserve, who had turned out to be Alexandria Megghross was currently shaking her head along with the other selected Chaser, Ginny Weasley, as they watched Colin Creevey, who was rather surprised to hear his name being called as well, write a letter that was even longer than Hermione's novels to Viktor, so that he could send it to his brother that night.

Ron, who'd made it past Harry and was allowed to stay on the team, was currently dancing with Luna Lovegood. It didn't take a genius to realize that the two had in fact liked each other, watching them, Harry guessed that Ron had gotten over his crush on Hermione and was moving on. Thinking of his other best friend, Harry surveyed the crowded common room in hopes of spotting her. A few seconds later, he found that despite the party atmosphere, she too had taken to a table over in the corner of the room and was writing up a storm.

"How can you possibly do homework in all of this noise?" Harry pulled out a chair and sat directly across from her.

Hermione, who clearly wasn't expecting anyone to come over, looked up with an expression of surprise on her face.

"I've already finished my assignments," rather snottily, she added, "I do after all, spend all of my time not spent being rude, in the library."

Harry grimaced as he remembered the scene in the Entrance Hall that morning. During lunch and dinner, he'd had to sit between the two, as they still weren't speaking to each other and during Defense Against the Dark Arts, she'd chosen to sit with Beau Megghross.

For a few moments into the class, Harry had found himself wondering if Hermione too had fallen for his charming smile, but shrugged it off after seeing the way that they had interacted. Clearly, the two were just friends.

"C'mon, Hermione," he pleaded. "Are you really going to spend another year being upset with Ron half of the time?"

"Me?" Hermione hissed, looking up from her parchment. "It takes two to have an argument, Harry. Why aren't you asking Ronald this question as well?!"

"Perhaps because he, unlike you, has decided to enjoy himself at the party, while you wallow over here." Harry pointed out.

Hermione's eyes went over to where Ron and Luna stood, dancing crazily, before returning her icy gaze to Harry. "I'm not wallowing, Harry, I'm writing a letter to Viktor."

"Krum?" Harry frowned. "You're still talking to him?"

"So what? You and Ron get to go off and find yourselves girl friends while I sit up in the library getting smarter?" Hermione snapped, her tone of voice getting more dangerous by the second. Harry could see that his current method of approach was in fact not getting him anywhere, and decided to use another to get Hermione to join in the celebration..

"I didn't mean it that way," he explained. "It's just that I haven't heard you talk about him since last year."

"That's because you ignored us all summer and didn't respond to our letters." Hermione went back to writing. "Had you read them, you would have known that Viktor and I had ran into each other over the summer while I was away with my parents."

"So does this mean that you two are together now?" Harry asked. If that were the case, then he definitely was out of the loop where Hermione was concerned.

"No," Hermione dipped her quill into the ink and signed her name at the end of the letter. "I suppose that I should just go and get myself a boy friend now that you two are going to be preoccupied otherwise, though."

"Ron and I are not preoccupied. If you need us, you know that we'll be there." Harry stood as Hermione did, watching as she rolled up the parchment.

"Listen, could I borrow Hedwig to send this letter?"

Harry noticed that she'd declined to respond to his statement, but knowing that there was really nothing that he could do, decided to go along with her diversion. "Sure."

"Thanks," Hermione placed the parchment in an envelope and he watched as she sealed it. "I'll just go off to the owlery now then."

Harry nodded and watched as she disappeared into the crowd of dancing teens. From where Ron and Luna stood near the fire, he could see Ron raise his eyebrow and look slightly in Hermione's direction.

Somewhat defeated, Harry shrugged his shoulders and watched as Ron's attention went back to Luna. Watching the two for a while, Harry wondered if what Hermione had said was correct. Would they really get themselves so preoccupied with other things that they'd no longer have time for each other?

Remembering all the things that the three had gone through since they'd become friends in their first year at Hogwarts, Harry sincerely hoped that they wouldn't. You didn't just go through five years of difficulty, only to come out triumphant by each others' side, to just turn your back on a friendship as sturdy as theirs.

"Dance with me." From out of the crowd, Ginny appeared, looking quite flushed, as if she'd just come from dancing with someone else.

"What happened to Beau?" Harry teased. He'd seen the two of them dancing with each other a few minutes before he'd gone over to Hermione.

Trying her hardest not to blush, Ginny replied. "Beau's dancing with Lavender right now Harry."

"Oh," Harry pretended to be hurt. "So what am I? Second best?"

Instead of commenting, Ginny just rolled her eyes and pulled him towards the crowd. They made their way into the center and as the song changed from a sultry to an up-tempo beat, began to dance. Getting lost into the music, Harry decided to just enjoy himself and to let things fall into place as they saw fit, because try as he might, there was nothing that he could really do but allow nature to take its course.

**-*-*-**-*-*-**

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The Letter

It was the third Saturday in September, which meant one thing: their first Hogsmeade weekend. All the Gryffindor students that were above their second year and had been given parental consent had gone, except for one. In the sixth year boys' dorm room, Harry Potter lay in bed, eyes closed as he nursed a headache.

The persistent pain had began occurring at the beginning of the summer, and since it wasn't his scar that was hurting, Harry had ignored it; but not today. Today it felt as if a hammer was furiously pounding on the front of his head, and after a failed attempt to eat breakfast in the Great Hall, he told the others that he was going back to bed. He knew that the headaches were related to stress, and didn't think to seek out Madam Pomfrey.

The more that he thought about what Dumbledore had told him the previous summer and the more recurrent his dream of Sirius' death, was the worse that the headache would get. After a particularly ghastly dream the night before, he'd woken up feeling as if his head were ripping at the seams. He knew that he should talk or at least write about his problems to alleviate the stress, but for the first time since he'd arrived at Hogwarts, Harry suddenly felt alone. Suddenly, a soft voice filled the air and Harry realized that he was no longer alone.

"Beau?" The voice whispered.

Harry immediately knew whom the voice belonged to as besides Hermione, she was the only other girl that had ever come into their room. Ignoring the pain, Harry sat up in his bed and pulled open his curtains. "He's not here."

Alexandria turned around and frowned. "He told me that he wouldn't go to Hogsmeade."

It was a most peculiar thing when a boy became smitten, and despite the fact that his headache had sent him to bed, the sight of her made some of the pain go away.

"Sorry," Harry said. "But he left with the others about an hour ago."

She didn't reply immediately, instead she closed her eyes. For another minute or so, her face remained placid, before it broke out into a smile.

"He wants to know if you'd like anything." Alexandria's eyes opened, causing Harry to jump.

"Beg pardon?" He asked. How could she have known what Beau had asked?

"We're telepathic." Alexandria explained.

"You're what?" Harry sat up in the bed, still somewhat confused.

"Telepathic." Alexandria repeated.

"Oh," said Harry, "I didn't know that such a thing really existed."

Alexandria shrugged as if it were nothing. "It's really rare, but the three of us have the ability."

Harry nodded while digesting the information. "So there are others like you?"

Alexandria nodded. "There are, but not many. Right now there are less than twenty in all of Europe."

"Oh."

Alexandria shrugged once again. "So would you like anything?"

Harry shook his head. "No thanks."

He'd already given Hermione money to buy him all the things that he'd needed. Though things weren't perfect between her and Ron, she'd begun to warm up to the two of them the morning after he'd lent her Hedwig.

Alexandria was silent for a moment, and though her eyes weren't closed as they were before, he could still tell that she was speaking with her brother. She continued to stare dejectedly for another five minutes, and Harry leaned his pounding head against the bed post. He closed his eyes trying to ease some of the pain, but found that it only worsened as an image of Sirius appeared in his mind.

"What's wrong?" Alexandria's soft voice caused Harry's eyes to open.

"What?"

"You look pained." She whispered.

"Oh." Harry said suddenly understanding. "Headache."

"Is that why you didn't go to Hogsmeade?" She asked.

Harry nodded. He watched as she walked over to his canopy bed and sat down beside him. Slowly, her hand came closer to his face until her fingers were pressed softly upon it and Harry closed his eyes. Her touch made him warm all over and he knew that it was in no way related to his headache.

Harry hadn't told anyone but secretly, he liked Alexandria, possibly even more than he had liked Cho Chang in his fourth and fifth years. Her whispers brought him out of his trance and he realized that she was saying an incantation. As soon as she had said her final word, the pain ceased, and Harry gave a grateful sigh.

"Better?" She smiled.

Harry nodded until what had just occurred registered. "That was..."

"Dark Magic." She finished.

Harry nodded. As far as he knew, the only wizarding school in Europe to actually teach the Dark Arts was Durmstrang, and she'd attended Beauxbatons. "Where'd you learn that?"

He expected something along the lines of 'From a book', but instead he got a completely different answer; one that he wasn't quite prepared for.

"My father is a Death Eater; he taught us." The way that she said it made Harry know that she was very serious.

"I'm sorry, but did you just say that your father is a Death Eater, as in present tense?" Harry sputtered.

Alexandria nodded. "He's in Azkaban serving a life sentence."

"But you should be in Slytherin! All of their children are in that house!"

Once again, Alexandria shrugged. "That was where the Hat was going to place me, but I argued with him until he changed his mind."

Harry remembered that the Hat had spent ten minutes on both Alexandria and her brother; it had never occurred to him that had been going on. It was no wonder that Jaida had been placed in Slytherin; clearly she hadn't even bothered to put up a fight. The fact still remained however, that he liked the daughter of a Death Eater; he could only imagine what would happen if they were to start dating and she took him to Azkaban to meet him.

"But your brother ad I are friends." Harry said confused. "The other Slytherins would no sooner hex me than be my friend."

"We're not like the others." Alexandria said firmly. "Our father has nothing to do with the way that we think."

"And Jaida?"

Alexandria shrugged. "Jaida has her moments, which is why the Hat didn't listen to her. But she speaks to you whenever she comes over, so she's the same as well."

Harry was silent for a moment, and then he thought of another question. "So do the others know?" By 'others' he meant the other offsprings of the various Death Eaters.

Alexandria shook her head. "My mother didn't allow us to interact with the other Death Eaters, or their children, which is why we lived in Paris."

“And yet you've told me." Harry whispered.

Alexandria nodded but said nothing in response. Harry knew then that she had to have really trusted him in order to have told him this, given his past with Death Eaters and their leader.

"I won't tell anyone." Harry said after a while.

Alexandria nodded. "I know."

They were silent for a while, but theirs was compatible, and so neither of them minded it very much. It was Alex who broke it a few minutes later.

"Would you like to play Wizard Chess with me?" She reached beside her and produced a chess set.

"You play?" Harry asked surprised.

"Surprised?" She guessed.

Harry nodded.

She smiled knowingly. "So are you up for a game?"

"Sure."

And so they played. Harry had taken for granted the fact that she was a girl, but as with everything else about Alexandria, he learned to not take her for granted. She sat with her back straight and stared intensively at the board. Even when they spoke, she still bore a pensive look on her face. The more that he watched her, was the more that he found he liked about her, and the more that he could see herself with her. He was thinking about this when she smiled triumphantly and looked up from the board.

"Checkmate."

Harry broke out of his trance and looked down at the board. "What? How did this happen?"

Alexandria smiled. "Never underestimate me."

Harry nodded smiling as well as he packed up the set. "I won't."

He placed the board towards the end of the bed and leaned comfortably against the head board with his left hand slung lazily across it. A few seconds later, he felt something fury rest against his arm, and quickly opened his eyes. When he looked down, he found a rather comfortable looking Alexandria as she rested her head against his shoulder. To Harry, it seemed almost natural to have her there in his arms and smiled as he looked down at her. He'd thought that he'd like Cho, but he'd never felt this relaxed around her, nor this content.

"Harry..." Alexandria whispered as she looked up at him. This only brought their faces closer and Harry, realizing that they could kiss if they wanted to, swallowed before answering.

"Alexandria?"

Before Alexandria could reply however, the door to the room swung open and Hermione stood in the doorway with Harry's things in hand.

"Harry, are you awake?" She stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of the two of them.

Harry made no effort to pull himself away from Alexandria as he was much to comfortable, but she sat up.

"Oh I'm sorry," Hermione said backing away. "I thought that you'd be sleeping."

The two watched as Hermione bolted out of the room, closing the door as she went. As much as Harry knew that he should go after her, as he watched Alexandria pack up her chess set, he wished that she hadn't come and disturbed them.

*

Around the same time that Hermione closed the door to Harry's dorm room, Ginny Weasley and a small group of girls entered the Three Broomsticks, laughing as they did so. They found seats towards the back and Ginny went to the front to order and pay for their drinks, along with another. They were waiting in line when Susan giggled.

"Ginny, look who's here."

Ginny turned slightly to look at whom Susan was speaking of. Sitting at a table by himself in a corner of the pub, was Beau Megghross. He didn't look the least bit upset that he was sitting by himself, but rather quite content as he read a magazine, occasionally sipping on his Butterbeer. Despite the fact that she was quite pleased to see him, Ginny pretended to be unmoved as she replied.

"So? You're acting as if you've never seen a boy sitting by himself before."

Susan looked at her as if she were crazy. "Are you feeling alright, Ginny? Do you not see who's sitting there?"

Ginny shrugged as they arrived at the counter. "Six Butterbeers, please." While they waited, she turned to Susan. "He's only Beau Megghross."

"Only?" Susan gasped as she took up three from the counter, leaving Ginny to carry the others. "You're acting as if he's just an average boy."

"He is!" Ginny whispered.

"He's a Sex God!" Susan protested, handing out the Butterbeers as she did so.

"Who is?" One of their friends spoke up.

"Beau Megghross." Susan said sitting down. Hearing his name sent the girls into a fit of giggles, and Ginny rolled her eyes before taking a sip of her Butterbeer.

"Come on girls, he's just a boy." She said.

"Just a boy?" One of them asked dreamily.

"He's a man, that's what he is."

"A very sexy man!"

Ginny sighed as it was obvious that they weren't going to agree with her and allowed her eyes to rest on him. He did look rather sexy as he reached for his Butterbeer.

"Since he's just a boy," Susan spoke up. "I dare you to go over and talk to him."

Ginny looked up suddenly at her friend. "What?"

"Come on, Ginny," Susan chimed. "He is just a boy. How hard could it be?"

Ginny thought back to their conversation in the library and the time that he'd asked her to dance; it wasn't hard to speak to Beau at all.

"Fine."

"What?" Susan asked shocked. She hadn't really expected Ginny to do anything,

Ginny stood and stared down at the shocked girls. "I'm going over to him."

"Why not?" She asked.

"Suppose he embarrasses you by pretending that he doesn't see you?" The girl pleaded. "I mean, he is the sexiest boy in school after all."

"Next to Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter." Susan giggled along with the rest of the girls.

Ginny rolled her eyes for what seemed to be the umpteenth time and took up her Butterbeer. "He'll do no such thing. Goodbye girls."

"Bonne chance!" Susan called, causing even more giggles to erupt from them.

Ginny seriously wondered why she was hanging out with them, even though she knew the reason. Luna, whom she'd much rather prefer to speak with, was out on her second date with Ron. She didn't have much time to think about that though, as she was standing before Beau's table. She knew that the girls were watching her, and she most certainly wasn't going to turn back now.

"Hello, Beau." She smiled down at the gorgeous sixth year.

Beau looked up surprised to hear his name, but smiled when he saw Ginny. "Hello Ginevra."

He'd said her name again. Ginny felt the butterflies in her stomach flutter; she really did like it when he called her by her proper name.

"Do you mind if I sit down?" She asked.

Beau shook his head and as she'd done in the library, used his leg to extend the chair before him to her. "Not a problem."

As she sat down, she suddenly felt the need to explain her appearance at his table. "I saw you sitting alone, so I decided to come over."

"I'm glad." Beau said, rather earnestly.

"You are?" Ginny looked up from her Butterbeer quite surprised.

Beau nodded. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Ginny was about to say 'Because it's me, that's why.' but decided not to. She didn't want to sound like an immature prat. Instead, she simply shrugged and took a sip of her Butterbeer. When she noticed that Beau had closed his magazine, she chose to strike up a conversation.

"Are you over here trying to evade your fans?" She smiled amusingly, her chocolate eyes dancing as she did so.

Beau smiled back, the same look on his face, though his looked a bit more mature to her (as if anyone's amusing smile could be seen as mature). "That and the fact that everyone that I know is off on a date."

"And why aren't you on one?" Before she could help herself, Ginny spoke what had immediately come to mind. Feeling the need to explain sudden outburst, she added, "I mean, you do have the attention of every girl in this school."

"Does that mean that I've gotten your attention as well?" Beau teased, reaching for his Butterbeer as he did so.

Ginny blushed in response, but as she'd chosen to wear her hair in a bun that day, she couldn't hide her burning cheeks. Beau smiled knowingly as he placed the bottle back down on the table.

He knew that he shouldn't be sitting in the middle of the very public Three Broomsticks flirting with Ron Weasley's little sister, but at that moment, he chose to ignore the fact that should Ron walk in and catch them, he'd be a dead man. Some things were just worth the risk, especially if they including seeing Ginevra smile.

"You need to stop." Ginny said after the colour had left her cheek.

"Stop what?" Beau asked innocently, absentmindedly twirling the cap of his Butterbeer as he did so.

"Making me blush." Ginny said firmly.

Beau looked up. "And where would be the fun in that?"

Ginny shrugged. "Find another way to amuse yourself."

"What? Like admiring your beauty?" Beau knew what he was doing, but he wasn't one to do what others said. He liked to do things as he saw fit.

Hearing this caused Ginny to blush again and he could see that she was trying her hardest this time not to. "I'm warning you, Beau. Quit or I'll leave."

Beau suddenly got an idea, and after finishing the rest of his Butterbeer, he stood. "Come on."

Ginny looked up at him. "What? Where are we going?"

"You said that if I didn't quit that you would leave." Beau explained while helping her out of her chair. "Well I don't plan on quitting, so if you leave, we might as well leave together."

Ginny stood and he could tell from her mannerisms that she wasn't amused by his antics. He didn't care though; the look on her face was just too cute for words.

As they left, Ginny waved at the girls who'd been watching the two intently to see Beau's reaction to her sitting at his table, and smiled at their looks of awe.

"Where are we going, Beau?" She asked as they exited the pub. She noticed that Beau was still holding her hand, but chose to not comment on this.

"I'm new to Hogsmeade, remember? You're my guide for the rest of the afternoon."

They were now on the main street and it was obvious by the way that he was standing, that Beau was in fact serious by his statement and that he was waiting on her to tell him where to go. Sighing, Ginny looked up and down the street hoping to find somewhere to take him.

Now that she thought about it, there wasn't much in Hogsmeade that she hadn't already done twice. The novelty of going to the village had worn off somewhere at the end of her fourth year and now that she was here with Beau, nothing seemed quite appealing. Her eyes roamed down the street and somewhere in the distance, she managed to spot the haunting building that was known as the Shrieking Shack. Smiling, she turned to face Beau.

"Are you in the mood to chat with spirits?"

Beau looked down at her frowning, confusion written all over his face. "You're not going to take me to a Seer, are you?"

Giggling, Ginny shook her head. "No, silly. I meant are you in the mood to visit the Shrieking Shack."

"What's the Shrieking Shack?"

Despite the fact that her brother and his friends liked to keep her in the dark where certain things were concerned, she knew the truth about the Shrieking Shack's supposed ghost and why it was built. Of course, she pretended as if she didn't know, finding that it was much easier to gain information if everyone forgot that she wasn't there. Knowing that Beau didn't know the truth, and wanting to find out if anything could really scare him, Ginny replied.

"Only the most haunted building in all of Great Britain."

Beau raised an eyebrow and looked off in the distance towards the antiquated-looking building. "You mean ghosts like the ones at Hogwarts live there?"

"No," Ginny shook her head. "I mean its home to unknown terrors."

Beau looked at her incredulously, clearly not about to believe such a thing. "Let's go."

Ginny smiled and together, they set off towards the building.

On their way, they spotted Ron and Luna coming out of Madam Puttifoot's. Thankfully, Beau had enough sense to let go of her hand before her older brother could see, and so when he finally spotted them, he simply waved in their direction before walking off with his date. Ginny sighed in relief, and Beau, reading her thoughts, laughed softly.

"Hate being the youngest, huh?"

Ginny looked up at him. "Are you kidding me? As bad enough as it is to be the youngest of seven, I had to come along and be the only girl."

"Wow," Beau said exhaling deeply. "And I thought that being the only boy around my sisters was bad."

Ginny giggled slightly due mostly to way that he'd expressed himself. "You got off lucky. I have seven fathers instead of one."

Beau nodded as they drew even nearer to the building. "I'm guessing that they make it hell for you to have a boy friend, huh?"

Ginny rolled her eyes and didn't bother to respond. She didn't even want to begin to think about all the times when she'd really liked someone, only to have Ron or one of the others break them apart with their need to protect her. What she really wanted to know was what they were trying to protect her from. One didn't grow up with six older brothers and not know how to take care of themselves. Add that to the fact that she was smarter than the average witch her age and she knew that should the need ever arise, she'd know how to take care of herself.

"So this is the Shrieking Shack?" Beau remarked. Ginny looked up and found that they had in fact arrived at the haunted house.

"This is it." She watched him out of the corner of her eye to see what his reaction to the place was.

Beau surveyed the place reminding her greatly of Professor Snape whenever he was forced to answer a rather stupid question. "I'd give it a seven out of ten for being almost dilapidated enough to pass for a haunted house."

Ginny raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Only a seven?" What was Beau playing at?

"Well I was going to give it a six, so I think that a seven is generous enough." Beau's gaze lazily went over the exterior of the house and he nodded once more as if to confirm his point.

"Despite the fact that the paint has all but peeled off and the windows are broken from some obviously mischievous children, the house itself is still in good condition. If a good decorator and painter were hired and a few extermination spells were done to rid the place of its rodents, this place could be easily fixed up."

Ginny stared incredulously at Beau. There he was, standing before what was seemingly the most haunted house in all of Great Britain, and he was talking about it as if they were hosts of some Muggle television programme that she had learned about in Muggle Studies (the ones where they take over your house for a week, and with their team of decorators, electronics, painters, plumbers and carpenters, get your house back in tip top condition)!

Even though she hadn't really expected him to be scared out of his wits, she had at least expected him to agree that the house could very well pass for haunted and to ponder for even a few minutes as to what creature could possibly be lurking in the shadows. Not wanting to let him win, Ginny smiled deviously as a plan circulated in her mind.

"Really now? Well let's see what you make of the interior of the house, my darling home evaluator."

Beau turned to her, brows coming together, as he tried his hardest to figure out whether or not she was joking. "Are you being serious?"

"Quite." Ginny smiled and instead of extending her hand to him, walked around him and opened the gate, daring him to follow. She knew from her summer spent at Grimmauld Place that Remus Lupin was staying at Head Quarters, where once a month he'd take his Wolfsbane potion, crawl up into a ball as a harmless wolf, and stay there for the duration of the full moon. There was no way that he'd come out of nowhere and attack them, unless Dumbledore had given another werewolf permission to take up residence, and they hadn't been informed. This Ginny seriously doubted, as he knew that they all knew about the Womping Willow and where it led to, and though he had never openly given them permission to break school rules, they were done all the same, and should any involve sneaking into Hogsmeade via the famous Hogwarts tree, the Trio should have been notified so that they would seek other methods of saving the world.

Not surprisingly, Beau followed, and Ginny led the way up the littered path, unto the porch, and with a loud moan of the stubborn front door, the two teenagers entered the house.

A cloud of dust met them and after a brief coughing fit, the two whispered "Lumos", and the tip of their wands lit the way into the front parlour. For a few minutes, the two stared around in awe at their surroundings and Ginny chuckled softly knowing that Draco Malfoy would never be caught in a place such as this. She had over heard the Trio discussing the night when Harry had finally met his godfather, but never had she actually been inside the house, and even though she knew that it wasn't haunted, the house still gave her the creeps.

Years of abandonment and abuse by the villagers, as well as students, left the house an interior decorators worst nightmare. Spiders freely raised their young in what looked to be a ceiling filled with various webs, rats made burrows in the corners of the room, termites ate freely away at the wood, stray animals left behind their waste and caused a foul odour to attack their nostrils, the paint had all but peeled off of the walls, and the dirt that took residence made it very hard for them to breathe. It was obvious without them even trying, that the lights and plumbing had long since stopped working. Ginny didn't even want to climb the stairs that were covered by a moth-eaten carpet, for fear that she would fall through the rotting wood and meet her untimely death.

Losing all nerve to fall through with her plan (hide when Beau wasn't looking and scare him by jumping out of the shadows), Ginny was glad that Beau had reached for her hand, as with the noises that the shutters made, as they banged against the walls due to the wind, she was more than afraid. She wanted desperately to go back outside into the security of the village, but she was trying to show Beau up, and so she remained bravely by his side. Trying to be funny, she found her voice and attempted a joke.

"I'm guessing that you'd give the inside a rather generous eight, right?"

Beau glanced at his surroundings, then down at Ginny. "In here deserves the ten."

Ginny's pupils widened in surprise. She hadn't expected that kind of answer from Beau.

He continued. "What kind of creature would ever want to live here?"

"A werewolf," was on the tip of her tongue, but she caught herself just in time. Instead, she shrugged and clung to Beau's arms as she gazed at her surroundings. She honestly didn't know how Remus and the others had managed to stay in such a place. She imagined that in their day the place was much nicer, as it was built specifically for her ex-professor, but she knew that three years ago when he'd returned to Hogwarts that the place wasn't too far off from the condition that it was currently in.

Beau opened up his mouth to say something, but at the same time, a loud bang sounded up the stairs, which was followed by a wail and the sound of something heavy pounding down the stairs. Without waiting to see what it was, the two turned on their heels, and ran out of the house, Beau in the lead as he dragged Ginny along. They said nothing to each other as the villagers shook their heads at the foolish teens, and never let go of each other's hands as they struggled to catch their breaths. Once they were able to breathe again, the two looked up at the house. There, on the porch, looking as if it owned the place was a rather fat black cat with yellow eyes. Seeing it glare at them, the two knew that this was the creature that had run them out of its home.

Not knowing what else to do, Ginny burst into laughter and allowed herself to fall against Beau's chest. He held her tightly as he too laughed. Being in his arms was strangely comforting to Ginny, but as she'd promised herself that she wasn't going to fall for him like the rest of the girls at her school had, she slowly pulled away and avoided looking in his eyes.

From behind them, the cat hissed its disapproval and still chuckling, they held hands and slowly walked away. Finally, once they were far enough away from the building to further annoy the cat, Ginny allowed herself to look up at Beau.

"Scary enough for you?"

Rather surprisingly, Beau answered truthfully. "Yes."

*

Harry was half asleep when the door to the room opened slightly. Thinking that it was either Seamus or Dean returning from the common room, he rolled over and pulled his sheets up over his head. A few seconds later however, the curtains that surrounded his bed were pulled aside and Harry felt the far end of his bed sink slightly as something or someone came in.

"Dobby," he whispered groggily. "Now isn't the appropriate time for a visit."

Harry expected to hear the house elf mutter apologies before leaving, but surprisingly, he got none. Instead, whatever it was that sat on the edge of his bed began to tickle his feet. Alarmed, he sat up suddenly and rubbed his eyes as he did so. Though he wasn't wearing his glasses, he knew that there was no one there.

"H-Hello?" He whispered, suddenly becoming fearful. Despite the fact that he couldn't see anything, something was definitely holding unto his feet, he didn't need spectacles to tell him that.

Suddenly, a female's voice arose from the end of the bed and whatever it was giggled. Slowly, an image began to emerge and soon Alexandria appeared. Harry did a double take when he saw her and she had to cover her face to stop giggling.

"I'm sorry," She whispered. "I didn't mean to frighten you."

"But nothing was there!" Harry said quite shocked.

Alexandria nodded. "I know. I wore my invisibility cloak."

"Oh." Harry said suddenly understanding. It hadn't occurred to him that he might not have been the only one at Hogwarts with an invisibility cloak. What he didn't understand however, was why Alexandria was sneaking into his room at ten o'clock at night.

“What are you...?" Before he could finish asking his question, Ron's voice on the other side of his curtains startled the two.

"Harry!" He whispered. "Are you okay, mate?"

Harry looked towards where Ron's bed lay, but before he could answer, Alexandria turned his face towards him.

"Shh!" She giggled.

Harry swallowed knowing very well what was going to happen. She was going to kiss him.

"Harry?" Ron called. Had he chosen that moment to open the curtains, he would have caught Harry and Alexandria mid-kiss.

As soon as Alexandria's lips pressed against his, Harry closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her waist. He'd wanted to do this before Hermione had interrupted them, and now that she was there, he wasn't going to let the opportunity pass. Apparently, Alexandria was thinking the same thing, because her hands were soon around his neck as they went further with the kiss. He was quite breathless when she pulled away, and with a wink, she threw on her invisibility cloak and disappeared once again.

At the same time, Ron appeared as he pulled open the other side and found a rather dazed Harry.

"Are you okay, Harry?" Ron asked, a concerned look on his face. He was too distracted to even notice that the door to their room had opened and closed itself. When Harry didn't respond however, he reached over and shook his friend.

"Harry!"

Harry turned to face him, suddenly realizing that he was there. "What?"

"Were you having another nightmare?" Ron asked. "I heard you mumbling in your sleep."

Harry shook his head. "It wasn't a nightmare."

Ron looked at him confused. "It wasn't?"

"No," Harry shook his head as he fell back against his pillows. "It was a beautiful dream."

Ron reached over and felt Harry's forehead, concern written all over his face. "I think that we should get you to Madam Pomfrey."

Harry shook his head as he yawned. "No thanks, Ron.'Night."

Ron watched as Harry closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, before closing the curtains and returning to his own bed. Clearly, something was very wrong.

*

Around the same time that Harry's head hit his pillows, a large eagle owl tapped on the window of Draco Malfoy's private room. Draco, who'd been about to go to sleep himself, lazily dragged himself out of bed and over to the window. As soon as he opened it, the eagle dropped the letter that it had been carrying in its beak and turned to leave. Draco watched until it disappeared, before closing the windows once again and picking up the envelope.

Not surprisingly, the envelope bore the Malfoy seal and Draco guessed that it was from his mother. No longer able to sleep, he took the letter over to his desk and sat down before it. As he opened it, he found that it was written not in his mother's curls. Swallowing, Draco turned on the nearby lamp to properly read the letter.

September 21st, 1996

Draco,

There comes a time in everyone's life when they must make a choice. Often times, it is this choice that will define the rest of their life. Now is the time for you to make your choice. There is a War brewing, son, and you will now have to choose which side you shall stand on. Do you want to stand behind the truth and all that is sacred and pure? Or would you rather wallow in someone's pathetic shadow and fall as he and his midget army shall? I trust that you will make the right choice and follow along the path that has been laid down by our ancestors for many generations. I did not raise a fool, Draco, do not prove me wrong.

Father

Draco re-read the letter and sighed before reaching for his wand and whispering the words that would cause the paper to burn before him. He watched as they paper became ashes, before turning out the light and walking over to his bed. Silently, he went into his bed, crossed his arms, and stared up at the ceiling.

He knew that his father would contact him; he just hadn't expected it to be so soon. He had thought that he would be too young for the Dark Lord to want his services, but apparently he wasn't; his father's letter had made that much clear.

He honestly didn't know what to do as Lucius had never before given him a choice in any matter; he'd always been told what to do. It was his father who had spooned the idea that only purebloods deserved to live from the moment of his birth and as with everything else that he did at Hogwarts, it had been on his father's instructions. Now that he was allowed to actually think for himself, he didn't quite know what to do.

He'd never been keen on Death Eater activities and had often stayed away from them whenever they came to visit the Manor, only showing up to escort their children off to his quarters where he was told by Lucius to entertain them.

Did he actually want to take on the Dark Mark and be forced to see the likes of them for the rest of his life? It was bad enough having to be seen with the likes of Crabbe and Goyle at school, and they were just their offspring! But then again, it would be nice to see Harry Potter, the most famous wizard in their school, be proven wrong. He absolutely hated the air of arrogance that surrounded Harry and the way that people bent over backwards for him, just because he was The Boy Who Lived. As far as he knew, Harry hadn't done anything to defend himself against Voldemort and yet he was a celebrity for it! And Dumbledore! Dumbledore favoured Harry and his rat-pack friends over most everyone in the school, and that included him. Why should he join his league, when it seemed as if he wasn't even wanted? Why not go against him in the hopes that he would fall?

But suppose he doesn't fall? Then what?

Draco sighed as the thought ran through his mind. And then there was also the possibility that Voldemort's ideas of the truth and the way weren't the truth and most certainly weren't the way. His father had once told him that Voldemort was a Mudblood as well, which meant that he was being a hypocrite for even forming his league of Death Eaters. The whole reason for the War was because he wanted to rid the magical world of those who weren't worthy, when the first person that he should look to rid the world of was himself. He was after all, the most famous Mudblood of them all, even if his other Death Eaters didn't know it. It didn't seem to be the wisest choice to take on the side of a man who was so two-faced in his thoughts and deeds.

Do you dare go against your father? Voldemort's wrath will be nothing compared to his when he finds out and escapes Azkaban, which you know that he shall.

The more that he thought about what his choice should be, was the more confused he became and the more that his head hurt him. He wished that he had someone to talk to. There was no way that he could talk to Crabbe or Goyle about this; they were too stupid to even comprehend the comic section in The Daily Prophet. Besides, they'd be shocked to know that he was even considering his options. Knowing them, they'd have already picked out the perfect spot on their ashy skin on which to place the Mark. They always did what they were told, having no common sense to do otherwise.

It suddenly occurred to Draco that he had no one to call a friend or even a confidant. Feeling his worse, he sighed deeply and willed himself to sleep seeking no other resolution to his problem.

The inevitable would come; until then, all Draco could really do was wait.

**-*-*-**-*-*-**

-->

Moody's Request

She didn't even realize that she was still carrying around the charmed galleon from her days of the DA until she felt something warm against her legs. She was in the library, once more trying her hardest to not go back to the Gryffindor common room for fear that she'd bare witness to even more heart-wrenching scenes as her best friends found love, when it happened. Not knowing what it was, she reached into her pocket only to find that the date on the galleon had changed and surprisingly, to that date, September 25th. Wondering why on earth Harry would ever call a meeting of the DA, Hermione gathered her things and went off to the Room Of Requirements. A few minutes later when she arrived, she opened the door to the room and got the surprise of her life.

"Happy Belated Sweet Sixteen, Hermione!"

Hermione stared in utter astonishment as the members of the DA, as well as a few of her other friends greeted her. From the banner, which was placed on the wall opposite where she stood, the "Happy Birthday," song could be heard singing away above everyone else's voices. Out of the crowd, Ron and Harry stepped forward with a tiara in their hands.

"Happy Belated Birthday, Hermione." Ron placed the tiara carefully a top her head.

Instead of repeating what Ron had said, Harry leaned forward and kissed Hermione on her cheek.

She stood there in shock and though others may have thought that it was due to the fact that she was surprised, the truth was completely opposite. She really wished that he hadn't kissed her. How was she supposed to continue hating him and pretending that he didn't exist, when he went around carelessly kissing her and having her feel the warmth of his lips against her skin, even when it had ended, afterwards?

And secondly, she couldn't believe that the boys— the same ones that had ignored her for a majority of the past month—had turned around and arranged for her to have a surprise party. It was a late one, she had to admit, but it was a party all the same. She wondered what had happened that had caused the sudden change. She didn't get the chance to voice this though, as from out of nowhere, Colin Creevey appeared ready to take a picture of the three. She had to wipe the tears from her eyes as the trio posed.

"Awe come on, Hermione," Ron hugged her once the photo had been taken. "You're supposed to be happy, not teary-eyed!"

Hermione laughed as she wiped her eyes for the second time. "The reason why I'm crying is because I'm happy, silly."

"Well enough with the tears then." Harry announced. "We have exactly two hours before we have to shut this thing down and we're going to have fun."

Hermione nodded, forgiving both Harry and Ron for the way that they'd been treating her in the past month, and smiled as her friends began to hug her. She even allowed herself to smile at Alexandria when she came forward. Yes, Harry liked her, but she hadn't exactly heard about him kissing her.

"Presents." Dean announced as he arrived with a pile of gifts. Neville led her over to a chair, which was set up to look like a throne and she laughed as he bowed before reaching for the pile and taking one off.

"This one's from me." He said almost shyly.

Hermione smiled at him wondering what he'd gotten her and to her surprise, found that it was a small ring with her birthstone on it.

"Thank you, Neville." She kissed him on his cheek and the others laughed as Neville blushed slightly and staggered back into the crowd.

One by one, the presents came, until it was time for Ron and Harry to present her with the one that they'd gotten her. She took the small box from them wondering what they'd gotten her, especially since it had seemed as if they hadn't been speaking to her for most of that month. Inside the box lay a gold chain with a locket. She opened it and found that there was a picture of Harry and Ron on either side of it.

"So that any boy friend you get will know who's first." Ron proclaimed after she'd thanked them. Laughing, she placed it around her neck and fingered the locket lovingly hoping that he really was right.

After the last of the wrapping paper was cleared away, they led Hermione over to the centre table where a large cake had suddenly appeared. Hermione had a sneaky suspicion that the house elves had been involved in the making of the cake, but decided not to scold Harry and Ron because had they actually tried to make the cake, she wouldn't even have dared eaten it.

"All right!" Ginny shouted over the noise. "At the count of three, we'll sing to the lady of the hour. One... Two... Three!" Even the banner joined in as they sang, though this time, it sang along in French and to a jazz beat.

When it was time to cut the cake, Hermione had no doubts in her mind that she was going to cut the cake with Harry and Ron and they stepped up immediately. After the cake had been cut and Katie and Ginny began to share out slices for everyone, Hermione took her slice and went back to her throne to eat with Harry and Ron by her side.

"So were you surprised?" Harry asked smiling.

"Very much so." She replied before taking a piece of the chocolate cake.

"Well good," Ron said while swallowing his cake. "Because I was getting a little worried there when you started to cry."

Hermione laughed. "You don't have to worry now. This was really nice of you two."

Harry and Ron shrugged as if it were nothing and soon everyone had settled down to eating cake and were talking animatedly. As Hermione looked around the room, she couldn't quite believe that everyone had actually turned up to celebrate with her. Even Cho Chang and Michael Corners had shown up, despite the fact that their exes were there. Seeing them all turn out made her want to cry again, but she willed herself not to, knowing that Ron would begin to worry about her once again.

Soon after, Luna appeared and asked Ron to dance as the sound of the Weird Sisters filled the room. Ron looked over at her to make sure that she was okay, before going off with Luna. Hermione was about to ask Harry something when she saw where he was gazing. Towards a corner of the room, Alexandria and Jaida stood talking and from the look on Harry's face, she could tell that he'd much rather be over there.

A hint of jealousy flowed through her veins, but she knew that it would be unfair to have Harry sitting beside her out of obligation rather than free will. Knowing that things weren't quite going to be the same, she tapped him on his shoulder.

"Why don't you go and ask Alexandria to dance?" She smiled. It was one of the harder things that she had to do in her life, but she did it anyway. When you loved someone, you did whatever it took to make them happy, even if their happiness meant that they were with someone else, no matter how much it hurt to watch.

"You wouldn't mind?" Harry asked sounding surprised.

Hermione shook her head as her eyes landed on Neville. "I think I'll go give Neville a heart attack by asking him to dance."

Harry grinned and leaned across to kiss her on her cheek before getting up and walking over to Neville. That was the second time that he'd done it and just like the time before, his touch had caused warmth to that particular area. Hermione tried her hardest to not think about it, and got up to go and ask Neville to dance.

"Neville," she tapped him on his shoulder.

He turned to face her. "Yes, Hermione?"

"Would you like to dance?"

She could tell that he was surprised, but then again, Neville had always been shy around girls, despite the fact that he had toughened up after his visit to the Department of Mysteries with them earlier that year in June.

"Sure."

Hermione smiled as she took his hand and led him over to the dance floor, just in time for a slow song to start playing. As if magicked, the lights suddenly dimmed, causing a rather romantic atmosphere. Hermione wrapped her arms around Neville's neck and they began to dance.

As they moved, her eyes roamed the dance floor and she saw various couples getting rather cosy, especially Harry and Alexandria. It was quite obvious from their body language that they liked each other very much and the little pang of jealously suddenly grew larger as she saw them kiss. Wanting to throw up, she closed her eyes and leaned her head against Neville's chest, trying her hardest to ignore the fact that the image of the two drawing their faces closer to one another was looming in the back of her mind.

After the dance ended, she stepped back prepared to thank Neville and retreat to a corner of the room where no one would notice her, despite the tiara that rested upon her head.

"Would you like to dance to another?" Neville asked hopefully.

Not having the heart to turn him down, Hermione smiled and nodded, thankful that the beat had picked up and that she wouldn't have to bare witness to another kiss between Harry and Alexandria again. Once the dance was over however, she politely excused herself and went over to get some punch.

"Are you alright, Hermione?" Ginny asked concerned. She had been talking to Beau over towards a corner of the room, but had excused herself after she'd seen the look on Hermione's face.

Hermione smiled faintly as she took a sip of her punch. "I'm fine, Ginny. Just a little overwhelmed."

Ginny looked at her wondering if she was telling the truth. She didn't get to ask another question though, because Beau had come over and ask her to dance.

Hermione watched as Beau whisked Ginny away wondering how things could have ever gotten so complicated. Just three months before, they'd all been great friends. When they weren't trying to get in as much studies for their OWLs as possible, they were laughing and enjoying life with one another, and now it seemed as if they were content with living life on their own and leaving her behind in the dusk. Even Ginny had been in two relationships, and she hadn't even been in one. Everyone had assumed that she'd been dating Viktor Krum but it was quite the opposite, they were just really good friends. Better than what she and Ron and Harry were at the moment, she would say.

Not wanting to cry, Hermione took another sip of her punch and forced herself to smile at her friends as she tapped lightly to the beat of the song.

"Dance with me." Harry appeared without Alexandria at his side and stretched out his hand towards her.

Without a second thought, Hermione placed her half-empty cup on the table and took his hand. As soon as they got on the dance floor, the song changed to a slower one and once again, the lights dimmed themselves.

"I'm really sorry that we haven't been spending much time with each other." Harry announced as they began to dance.

Hermione nodded, noticing that they weren't dancing as close as he'd been with Alexandria.

"I promise that things will change." Harry went on.

Hermione looked up into his eyes wanting to believe, but not quite sure if she should. Instead of saying anything, she simply nodded with a half-smile. It was then, as she laid her head against Harry's shoulder, that she decided something. If it was the last thing that she did, things between the three friends would go back to normal.

*

The owls arrived on schedule the next morning with the mail and Harry, who was currently sharing himself some bacon, was rather surprised to see that a letter had in fact come for him. The parchment looked nothing like the one that Snape had last written on, and so he knew that it wasn't he who had written it. Curiously, he opened the sealed envelope and a white sheet of parchment fell out.

Harry,

Please meet with me in my office at the end of today's lessons, when the final bell has rung.

- Alastor Moody

Without glancing up at the Head Table, Harry folded the letter and placed it into his pocket. Ginny arrived with Beau Megghross by her side and they took their usual seats.

"Morning Harry." Beau said while reaching for the toast.

"Morning." Harry replied going back to his toast.

He'd been noticing that the two had been showing up for meals together and was beginning to wonder just what was going on. The last time that he'd checked, Ginny had been dating Dean Thomas, but since he was preoccupied with Lavender at the other end of the table, he supposed that they weren't together. As long as everyone but Ron knew about Ginny's friendship with Beau, Harry didn't really care.

"Where is everyone?" Ginny asked breaking his train of thought. Harry knew that she wasn't referring to Ron, as he had taken to sitting with Luna at the Ravenclaw table for breakfast and they'd sit at the Gryffindor table for lunch and dinner.

Harry glanced around their area of the table and realized that Hermione wasn't there. She was usually the first one down at the table because she liked to start off her day with The Daily Prophet but surprisingly, she wasn't there.

"I have no idea." Harry shrugged and went back to his eggs and bacon.

"Good Lord..." A few seconds later, Neville Longbottom looked up from the table and let out a loud gasp. Beau Megghross barely glanced up before returning to his conversation with Ginny, and Seamus, who was sitting at their end of the table, gasped as well.

"Is that Hermione?" He asked.

Hearing Hermione's name made Harry turned to look and what he saw made him drop his fork. There, walking over to the table as if nothing were the matter, was Hermione Granger in all her glory. Her hair was styled and straightened like the night of the Yule Ball, bouncing as she stepped, and she was actually wearing make-up.

He knew that this was a rather stupid observation, but she looked very much like a girl. There was an innocence about her, and a air of confidence that surrounded her as she came closer to the table. And now that he was staring at her closer, he could see that her uniform no longer lay flat against her chest. He watched almost hypnotized as the swellings bounced a bit with her step.

His throat suddenly went dry, and he reached for his orange juice. As she sat beside him, Harry could smell the perfume that she'd used and suddenly found himself ignited with the feelings for her that he'd long since buried when Cho Chang had walked into his life.

"Morning all." she purred before reaching for the eggs.

"M-Morning." Neville replied.

Harry had all but lost his speech and didn't even attempt to reply. It was a wonder that Hermione hadn't seemed to notice or acknowledged his blatant stares. And when he looked down and saw the peachy colour of her exposed flesh—a direct result from her robe pushing aside as she sat down—Merlin! He was suddenly thankful for his robes and their ability to hide the swelling in his crotch. Under the table, he felt as Ginny kicked his shin and looked away from Harry at her.

"Alexandria!" She mouthed.

Harry gave her a confused look and she rolled her eyes before discreetly pointing to the doors of the Great Hall. Harry looked over and saw that Alexandria and her sister were in fact making their way towards the Gryffindor table.

"Morning." They chimed sitting down. Alexandria sat on his other side and smiled at him before reaching for the toast. Suddenly, Harry began to feel guilty for his thoughts about Hermione, especially when she squeezed his leg under the table. But as he turned to answer the question that Hermione had asked, he found that once again, he couldn't stop thinking about the way that her hips suddenly seemed to sway in her robes, as loose as they were.

Sitting there between the two girls, Harry suddenly became confused. He had absolutely no idea as to what was happening to him and he vaguely wondered how boys like Beau Megghross and Draco Malfoy dealt with these sorts of situations on a daily basis. But by the looks of how the two boys were moving, it seemed as if they'd finally settled on one girl. As he chewed his eggs, Harry began to wonder if he could ever do the same.

*

"Pureblood." Jaida said the password before the picture of Salazar Slytherin and made her way into Draco's room. It was their free period before Arithmancy, and she was determined to get some answers from Draco about his sudden change in mood. He'd been acting strange lately, and she honestly wanted to know what was wrong.

"Draco." She called as she closed the door behind her. He hadn't been to breakfast and so she knew that he was in fact holed up in his room.

"I'm over here."

She looked towards where Draco's voice came from and found that he was lying on his bed, despite the fact that he was fully dressed. Draco made room for her as she walked over, and after stepping out of her shoes, lied down beside him and turned on her side so that she could face him. His cool grey eyes stared into her deep chocolate ones and Jaida watched as his hand came closer and began to stroke her hair.

"Draco, what's wrong?" She whispered. "Why didn't you come to breakfast?"

Draco stopped playing in her hair and shrugged. "I wasn't hungry."

"And last night?" She asked referring to the fact that he hadn't gone to dinner either.

Draco sat up in the bed and looked straight ahead. "I had homework."

Jaida sighed and sat up as well. "You're going to solve your problem by starving yourself to death?"

Draco turned to face her then. "I do not have a problem, Jaida."

"Really now?" She looked slightly amused. "Explain your sudden change of mood to me then."

She wanted answers and it was obvious that Draco was hell-bent on keeping his thoughts to himself. If she wanted to, she could find out what was wrong, but she wasn't one to resort to those methods unless she really had to. If Draco kept skipping meals and sulking around in his room as he'd done in the past three days, she knew that she might have to.

"If you don't want to talk about it, then just say so, Draco. But don't sit here and lie to me."

Draco looked over at her, his eyes searching hers as if trying to decipher whether or not she was worthy of hearing his thoughts, and then he gave a small sigh and Jaida knew that he was going to tell her.

"Have you ever thought about what's going to happen in the future?"

Jaida looked at him curiously. "The future? What about it?"

His asking about the future could mean many things, and she wasn't about to sit there and guess until she drew the right answer from the hat.

"The War."

She knew immediately what he was talking about, but she still didn't know why he was thinking about the War.

"How do you know which side is right?" He went on.

"Side?"

"Yes, side. I mean, how do we know that while one party is saying one thing, that the other party isn't saying the correct thing? Why do we even have to choose a side? And suppose the side that we choose turns out to be the wrong one, what do we do then? We can't very well run over to the other and tell them that we've seen the error of our ways, because we'd have already been branded then and they wouldn't want us. We'd either have to go into hiding for the rest of our lives or suffer.

Jaida sat back against the headboard and took in everything that he was saying.

"Are you thinking about becoming a Death Eater?" She asked after a while.

"I'm too young, aren't I?" He asked.

"But there are other ways to serve Voldemort without actually getting the Dark Mark. You know that and so do I. Are you thinking of becoming a Death Eater, Draco?" Jaida looked him in his eyes.

"Would you care?" He asked.

She couldn't believe that he'd asked her that question. If she hadn't cared then she wouldn't have come looking for him in the first place.

"Of course I care, Draco! How could you ever ask that?"

"Let me rephrase that," he looked her in the eyes. "Would you cast me aside if I became one?"

Jaida leaned her head against the headboard and seriously thought about what Draco had just said. Her mother had known before she and her father had gotten married that he was a Death Eater, and a very loyal one at that, and even though she didn't approve of Voldemort, she'd gone ahead and said "I do". But the fact that she insisted that they move to Paris and that her father never mix business with their home life, and that she and her brother and sister never been exposed to the likes of the others and their children, showed that she didn't approve of what he was doing either. She knew that it pained her mother to have her father go off on anonymous assignments and how it tore her apart when they came for him when she was six years old and carted him off to Azkaban after finding out that he was a Death Eater. She didn't know if she could do the same, even if she did end up loving Draco as much as her mother had loved her father. She turned to him.

"I don't want you to become a Death Eater, but if you became one, then that would be your choice."

"But would you still want to associate yourself with me?" Draco repeated.

Jaida sighed. She didn't want to tell him the wrong answer and end whatever it was that they had before it had gotten a proper chance to start, but she didn't want to lie to him either and give him any sort of false hope.

"I don't know, Draco, but I do know that I wouldn't approve." She finally answered.

Draco nodded and leaned his head against the headboard and crossed his arms.

Jaida watched as he stared off into space knowing that he was thinking about what she'd said as well as whatever it was that was eating away at his insides. She knew that the question that he'd asked her was only one part of it, she just wished that he'd tell her the rest. She'd grown to trust Draco, and she didn't quite know if he trusted her as well. After what seemed to be five minutes to Jaida, Draco turned to face her.

"So you've chosen Potter's side then?"

Jaida sighed. "I haven't chosen anyone's side, Draco, I've just decided that I'm not going to go with something that I'm against. And I'm against Voldemort and everything that he and his Death Eaters stand for."

"Father's a Death Eater..."

Jaida knew this of course. Even if Draco hadn't told her before and she hadn't read the article of his capture in The Daily Prophet the summer before.

"As is mine."

Draco's eyes widened and she could tell that he was shocked. "What?"

"My father," Jaida repeated, "is a Death Eater."

"I heard what you said before, Jaida." He whispered. Jaida said nothing in response but chose instead to stare ahead of as he had done before.

Now he knew. She hadn't told anyone before, and yet she'd chosen to tell him. She supposed that it didn't matter anyway as he would have eventually found out.

"But you lived in Paris..."

Jaida nodded. "We lived in Paris and he had a flat in London, which he frequented."

"And yet you've chosen to go against everything that he believes in?"

Jaida nodded. "I have."

Draco nodded as well and resumed the position that he was in before. Jaida watched him for a while not knowing whether she should leave or go. She didn't want to leave him in his current state, and yet she knew that in the end, the decision would have to be his. After another few minutes had passed, she sat up in the bed. Draco's eyes turned towards her.

"Are you leaving?"

"Do you want me to?" She asked.

"No."

She nodded. "Then I'll stay."

Draco reached over and pulled her closer to him and she leaned her head against his chest. They lay in that position until it was almost time for Arithmancy, Draco deep in his thoughts, and Jaida worried about him.

*

As soon as the final bell had wrung and Professor Moody had dismissed the class, Harry took his time with packing up his bag as he waited for the last of the students to leave.

"Are you coming, Harry?" Alexandria asked.

Harry shook his head. "I've got to speak to the Professor about something."

She nodded before joining Neville and Ron as they exited the room. Finally, when it was just the two of them in the room, Professor Moody signalled him forward and the two made their way to his office. Once in, he closed the door and motioned for Harry to take a seat before his desk.

The room looked the same as it had in his fourth year with Dark Magic detectors scattered all over and as usual, his trusty goblet from which he only drank, lay on his desk amidst his pile of work. Harry wasn't sure why he'd been called to Moody's office, but he was almost sure that it had something to do with his failure to appear at Head Quarters that summer.

"Tea, Harry?" Moody growled.

Harry shook his head, wanting to get to the point of their meeting, and Professor Moody nodded understanding him all too well. Harry watched as he clambered over to his desk and sat down, his magical eye turning slowly as he did so. As he'd done on the night that they'd rescued him, Moody took out his eye and placed it in a glass of water. Harry watched with interest as it whizzed around staring at him every few seconds. After a while though, Moody replaced it, and Harry noticed that it started to behave like its old self.

"So Harry," Moody said leaning across the table to face him. "What, might I ask, is your worst fear?"

It seemed to Harry that fear was to be his theme for the year as he never failed to mention it in any of their classes, and he'd heard Ginny talking about it as well. Without hesitation, however, Harry sat up in his seat and admitted to his Professor what he knew that he'd already known.

"Dying at the hands of Voldemort."

Moody nodded and sat back. "Thought so."

Harry watched as he fumbled with a few objects on his desk before revealing a rather thick text.

"It is the Order's intent, young Harry, that your worst fear is never realized." Moody flipped through the pages of the text before handing it to Harry. "That is why you have been called to my office this afternoon."

Harry nodded and examined the cover of the book, wondering how something as simple as this could save him from dying at Voldemort's hands.

So You Want To Work With Muggles, Eh? Well Here's 101 Things About Them That You Should Know

Harry looked up at the Professor after having read the cover of the text. "I'm sorry, Professor, but there must be some mistake."

"If you want to be an Auror, Harry, you're going to have to learn the most important lesson of your life." Moody leaned over once again. "Never judge a book by it's cover."

Suddenly understanding, Harry opened the cover and found that it wasn't a book on Muggles, but rather a book on Dark Magic. The more pages he turned, were the more Dark Objects and Spells that he found. A few he already knew from his classes, but a majority he'd never seen before in his life and knew that under normal circumstances, he would never have been allowed to.

"I don't need to tell you that you should never be caught with this book in public places, nor anywhere near anyone from the Ministry, now do I?" Moody asked.

Harry looked up from the page that he was reading and shook his head.

Moody nodded and continued. "Your assignment, Harry, is to read the first chapter of this text and familiarize yourself with the Spells as well as Objects found within it. When we meet again in my office on Tuesday, you are to be ready to try a few of those Spells and to see how a few of those Objects work. Is that understood?"

Harry nodded, not quite understanding what Moody was trying to say. Seeing his confusion, Moody went on.

"I've been assigned by Professor Dumbledore to guide you through your journey of this text and to make sure that you can, if the situation ever arises, be able to use what is found in there to your advantage."

Harry nodded suddenly understanding everything. Never mind that it meant that he'd be using all of his free periods doing homework in the library because between Moody, Snape and the pending Quidditch practices, most of his evenings would be booked.

"I'm sure that you already know why there is the need for all of these classes."

Harry nodded. "I do."

"And I'm sure that you are going to take them seriously, otherwise this whole thing would have been fruitless." Moody went on.

"I understand."

"Good!" Moody growled jumping to his feet. "Because I'm going to say this and only once. When He wants you Harry—and that could be very soon—you're going to have to be ready."

Harry nodded.

Moody gave a grunt and continued. "Learn to overcome your fear, Harry. Because if you don't, it shall be you who'll make it a reality."

Harry stared at the professor, taking in all of his words as he did so. This was no longer a joke anymore, the Prophecy had been made and whether or not Harry wanted it to happen, it had to be fulfilled.

It was either he who would die and seal the world's fate as doomed, or he be as prepared as he could so that Voldemort and his Death Eaters could be stopped once and for all. It was now, or never.

*

She wasn't changing herself for him, despite what Ginny had first thought when she'd been approached by her that afternoon in the library. She was changing for herself really. She made the decision after her party that she was going to start living for herself for a change and not for others.

From the time that she was old enough to remember, she'd been doing it. Running around behind her parents and making sure that they ate on those stressful days when they ate on those stressful days when they tended to forget. Doing Harry and Ron's homework for them so that they wouldn't get kicked out of school. Rescuing Harry from whatever mess he happened to get himself into. Helping Ginny realize the difference between love and idolization. Giving Harry advice on girls during his fifth year when he tried to court Cho.

She could think of a million situations where she did things for others and it had become so routine that she automatically thought of how her actions would affect others, and not herself. Being selfless is a good thing, but there comes a point when you have to start doing things for yourself, make your priorities become something of importance.

**-*-*-**-*-*-**

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Merci pour les revues! I'm especially glad that there are people put there who love this story enough to be searching for it. Sorry that I haven't updated in forever. I've been really busy with other things, but hopefully I will be able to finish this by the end of the summer. I hope that you all like this chapter. And for those of you who are sick of Harry/Alexandria, it'll come to an end within the next few chapters.

The Memory That Was Forgotten

Two weeks later, on the fourth of October at around seven-thirty, Jaida said the password that would allow her entrance to Draco's room. Before dinner, he'd sent her a note with Goyle asking that she meet him in his room afterwards and had also told her that he wouldn't be joining her for the evening meal. Knowing that Pansy Parkinson would use Draco's absence as a golden opportunity to make the meal a nightmare, Jaida had opted to sit with her brother and sister at the Gryffindor table.

As she stepped through the door, she saw Draco with his back slightly turned to her as he sat before his oak wood desk reading what seemed to be a letter. Not wanting to disturb him, Jaida watched as his facial features changed with every word that he read, wondering all the while what it was. She could find out in an instance, but not wanting to intrude on his privacy, she didn't. It wasn't until Draco had finished reading the letter that he turned completely and saw her standing before the closed door.

"How long have you been standing there?" he asked. He sounded antsy as if he didn't want her to know what was really going on.

Jaida shrugged. "No longer than a minute."

"Evanesco." With one word, the letter disappeared and Draco motioned her towards him. "I have something for you."

Jaida walked across the room to him, and it came as no surprise when he pulled her down into his lap. For what seemed like three minutes, Draco just stared at her as he ran his hands through her hair and laid his hand protectively on her arm.

Jaida watched him as he did so and knew that something was amiss. This wasn't the first time that he'd done something like this, and she was just about ready to seek other methods of finding out what really was wrong. It bothered her when he acted this way and it did little to ensure that he trusted her when he gave her brief responses that did nothing to satisfy her concern.

"Draco, what's wrong?" She whispered. She watched as Draco ran his hand up her arm and placed a finger over her lips.

"Shh."

As his face came closer to hers, Jaida closed her eyes knowing that he was going to kiss her. She never opened her eyes during their kisses to see if his were as well. She didn't trust herself if she found out that she was allowing herself to fall for him, while he treated her like some prize. It wasn't as if she thought this—she knew better than that from their time spent together—it was just that there were always whispers amongst the other Slytherin girls, and the more that she heard was the more that she became bothered.

His lips brushed against hers quite softly at first and gradually, the pressure increased as he slowly used his tongue to pry her lips apart. She gave in almost instantly, always hungry for his kisses, and tilted her head slightly as it deepened. As always, Jaida immediately began to feel the effects of having Draco toy with her, and soon her breaths became short and her head began to spin as the heat quickly spread through her body and threatened to make her delirious. She moaned softly, which only served to turn Draco on even more, and soon his hands were traveling up her knees, towards her inner thighs, and finally, into her knickers. Jaida struggled not to let out a loud moan as Draco's hands ran through her curls and divided her legs, slipping a finger inside. Unknown to most (as they preferred to believe otherwise), Draco was the first person that Jaida had allowed to get this far with her and though she didn't know why, she was glad that she'd waited and not succumbed to the pressure so many months before. She honestly cared for Draco, that much was clear.

Before she could stop herself, Jaida broke away from the kiss and bent her head so that she could kiss Draco's neck. Draco wasn't one to show immediate emotions, but it wasn't long before the magic of her tongue caused his breaths to become shallow as well. She knew that she'd have to work extremely hard to get him to moan, and that was exactly what she was trying to do. She felt as he turned the chair slightly and used his free hand and unbutton her blouse. In seconds, Draco's hands were cupping her breasts and as she pulled away to allow him to have access to them, the door to the room opened, causing both of them to freeze. At first, Jaida had no idea as to whom the intruder was, but as soon as the expensive perfume hit her nostrils, she knew that Pansy Parkinson was in the room.

"Shit!" Draco cursed. In the blink of an eye, he'd removed his hands from her completely and had her blouse buttoned.

"Draco, darling..." Pansy sang. Jaida closed her eyes and groaned inwardly as she tried her hardest to not hex Pansy for what she'd done.

Without warning, Draco used his feet to turn the chair to face her, catching her completely off guard.

"As you can see, Pansy, my darling is in my arms."

The look on Pansy's face was priceless and Jaida tried her hardest to not laugh. Instead, she buried her head in his chest and allowed her dark curls to hide her smile. Even if he was only doing it to annoy Pansy, she liked being called his. Before Pansy could recover however, Draco spoke up.

"I'm busy Pansy, what is it that you want?"

Pansy's face regained its colour as her pupils grew slant. "I'm going to tell Professor Snape!"

Jaida looked up suddenly as she knew that she could get into serious trouble for being caught in such a position, and by a prefect no less. Draco however, seemed positively unmoved.

"Very well, Pansy. And while you're doing that, I'll be in here changing the password to my room so that you can never trespass again!"

Pansy stomped her feet on the ground looking very much like a spoilt child and made a sound which resembled that of banshee. "Go to hell, Draco Malfoy! You and your little half-twit!"

Draco's lips formed into an icy smile. "Trust me Pansy, we'll be seeing you there. Now get out of my room before I hurt you."

If looks could kill, Pansy would have killed them both. With the swish of her flowing robes, Pansy Parkinson was gone and Jaida heard Draco sigh. He shifted slightly and eased her out of his lap then took up his wand and went outside. When he returned, she had more than suppressed her urges for him and he could tell this. She knew that he was upset because they were disturbed, but as usual, Draco didn't show it. Instead, he went over to his bureau and opened one of the smaller drawers.

With her back turned to him, Draco snuck up behind her and she felt something cold against her skin. Looking down, she saw a thin platinum necklace with a small dragon pendant. She held the back of her hair so that Draco could hook the necklace and raised her hand to eye the pendant. It had emerald eyes and greatly resembled the one that was on her ex-house's banner. Draco turned the chair slightly so that she was facing him and pulled her up slightly.

"D—"

"Shh."

Once again, Draco placed his fingers to her lips. She was about to tell him that he didn't have to go out and buy her anything, but she knew that he didn't want to hear it. Draco Malfoy never did anything without seriously thinking it over, especially when it came to buying gifts. Unknown to her, she was the first woman besides his mother that he'd ever thought of purchasing anything for, and to actually go out of his way to have it specially made... that really said something about him. In his usual silent manner, Draco was officially branding her as his. The next day as Jaida walked through the halls, the others would see the chain and whisper knowing the same thing as well.

When Draco kissed her, it wasn't to attempt to turn her on once more (which he could), it was to make it official, almost as if the two were signing a mutual agreement. He didn't know why, but there was something about Jaida that kept him wanting more. He said all of that and more with the single kiss.

Jaida left shortly after, and it was only then that Draco remembered the situation that was at hand. Seeing Jaida had made him forget all of his problems, and for that brief period of time that there were together, he was able to do away with his worries. Now as he said the word that would make the letter from his father reappear, Draco sighed as he sank into his chair and read it for the fifth time. Unlike the first letter, this one was short and precise, exactly the way that Lucius Malfoy always conducted his business. As always, the letter was written in code.

October 4th, 1996

Draco,

This is the first time in your entire existence that I have ever allowed you to have a choice in any matter. You have one month in which to make your decision as to the situation at hand. Do not let me down.

Father

With the flick of his wand, the letter turned to ashes before his eyes. He called for a current, which carried the ashes out of his room and towards the Forbidden Forest. Once that was done, he retreated to his bed knowing that he'd get little to no sleep as he pondered what was to be done.

*

As Draco's head fell softly against his imported pillows, Harry Potter made his way through the dungeons towards Professor Snape's office. He was going because of his Occlumency lessons, and he was counting down to the days when Snape would say that he no longer needed them.

Over the past month, determined to "overcome his fear" as Moody had put it, Harry had become stronger with each lesson and there wasn't a night that went by that he fell asleep without first clearing his mind. He'd gotten so skilled at it that he found himself doing it in the day as well, selecting only thoughts that were relevant at the moment, and leaving the others at the back of his mind and out of harm's way.

Snape no longer used his wand to try and retrieve his thoughts, but rather did it as Voldemort, by channeling him and always at moments when Harry least expected it, such as now. He had barely made it through the door before Snape attacked. Though he was prepared, Snape's effort allowed him access to a part of his memory that he never knew existed.

The office swam around him before he was engulfed in new scenery. Before him, a woman with beautiful red hair lay sobbing on the floor. In an instance, Harry knew that it was his mother. From somewhere in the room, a voice hissed and his mother looked up. Seeing her with the pained expression on her face caused a tiny pang in Harry's heart as he reached out to her, but in vain. She looked straight passed him at whatever it was that lay behind him.

Turning, he saw that it was an overturned crib and that a younger version of himself lay screaming on the floor as he reached out to his mother. A figure in a black hooded cloak raised a pale arm and Harry saw his wand's brother. His mother ran towards the crying infant, pleading with the hooded stranger to take her instead as she did so, and he saw the flash of green light. A surge of anger went through Harry and Lily Potter vanished as he hit the cold dungeon floor. In no time, Snape was before him with an outstretched arm. Almost helplessly, Harry took the hand and allowed Snape to lead him over to a nearby chair.

Countless emotions ran through him as the image repeatedly attacked his mind. He didn't remember such a vision, but knew that he'd had to have witnessed it or else it wouldn't have popped into his head. Snape hadn't been there on the night of his parents' murder, and he knew that even if he had been, the Professor didn't hate him that much so as to send such haunting images to his head.

"Potter!" Snape called.

Harry looked up only as a reflex, as he hadn't really registered what was going on. He kept seeing the image of his pained mother as she lay sobbing on the floor and wondered where his father had been. Deep within, he knew the answer; James was already dead.

"You don't remember that, do you?" Snape asked.

Numbly, Harry shook his head before once more lowering it. He wondered why he hadn't remembered such a thing, and better yet, why he was remembering it fifteen years later.

"Potter."

Harry wordlessly looked up at Snape.

"I'm going to go and speak to Professor Dumbledore about what I saw." It was more of an announcement than anything else, and Harry knew that even if he had wanted to keep the image to himself, he'd have to kill Snape before that happened.

"Do you need to go to the infirmary?"

Harry shook his head and looked down at his hands. He swore that they looked just like his mother's.

"Then I suggest that you go up to your room and try to get some sleep. We'll resume later after I've discussed this with the Head Master." Snape went over to his desk and before he could say another word, Harry dragged himself up out of the seat and left.

As he walked towards the Gryffindor tower, it seemed as if all the life had been sucked right out of him. Before his very eyes, the colour was draining and he was left in a gray haze. The only thing that he could see was his mother's red hair as she covered his infant-like face. In the corners of the hallway, he saw the hooded figure with the raised wand and when he blinked, he saw the green light that marked Lily's death. He now understood how Mrs. Weasley's had felt that day during the summer before his fifth year as she attempted to get rid of the boggart.

He shivered slightly and tried his hardest not to breakdown. He would deal with this once he was safely in his bed with the curtain shut. There, he would put a silencing charm around his bed, so that he could block out the noises around him as well as prevent his roommates from hearing him should he cry. As he reached the portrait, the blood in his head began to attack the corners of his brain, and Harry grimaced knowing that he really did need to get to his room.

"Password..." the Fat Lady trailed off as she saw Harry's expression. "What's wrong love?"

"Blast-Ended Skrewts." Harry replied dully.

The Fat Lady nodded understanding that he wasn't in the mood to speak with anyone and slowly revealed the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. Surprisingly, as Harry stepped through, he found that the common room was fairly empty, except for a few first years that didn't look up as he entered, and Alexandria Megghross, who did. From the expression on her face, Harry knew that she could tell that something was wrong. She looked as if she wanted to wanted to rise and ask if something were amiss, but at the same time, didn't want to disturb him, should he want to be alone.

"Where's Hermione?" He asked as he reached her armchair. Alexandria looked a bit put down at the mention of Hermione and though he knew why, he was in no mood to start taking everyone else's feelings into consideration. He just wanted to know where his best friends were. He didn't want to speak to them, but seeing his mother like that made him want to at least make sure that they were safe.

"She's asleep; she went up to the room over half-hour ago."

Harry nodded knowing that she'd gone to bed immediately after he left for Snape's office.

"And Ron?"

"Ron's out with Luna, Harry, you two left together."

Harry had completely forgotten everything that had occurred since the moment that he'd entered Snape's office.

"Harry what's wrong? Why do you look as if your entire family has just died?" Alexandria got up from the armchair and gave him a concerned look.

Harry looked up at her with the same expression that he'd given Snape after he'd pulled him back to reality. "They have."

Alexandria looked at him confused. "Harry, what are you talking about?"

My mother..." He looked directly into her blue eyes for the first time since he'd entered the common room. "I just saw her die."

"But Harry, I thought that your parents died when you were a baby... I don't understand."

"They did... It was just a memory... A memory that I'd forgotten that I'd had."

For the first time since he got into the room, Alexandria looked at him as if she really understood what he was going through. She no longer looked wildly confused, but bore a look of clarity on her face. Harry did not want to hear her say that she was sorry.

"Listen, I'm going to go to bed, okay?"

Alexandria nodded slowly. "Sure, I have an assignment to do anyway."

Harry gave her one last glance before walking away. He knew that she was a bit hurt that he didn't want to talk to her, after all, they had been acting like a couple ever since the Hogsmeade weekend, it was just that it wasn't official. But as much as he liked Alexandria, he didn't want to talk about his feelings with her, or anyone else for that matter. He wanted to sort them out on his own and since the next day was Saturday, he knew that he didn't even have to get out of his bed.

When he got to his room, he found that the lights were out, which meant that Neville and the others had gone to bed, something that he was glad for. Without even changing his clothes, Harry kicked off his sneakers and crawled into his bed. After whispering an Anti-Sound charm, Neville's snores immediately ceased and before he could stop himself, Harry began to cry.

Just as Draco had done a little over an hour ago, Harry closed his eyes knowing that he would get little to no sleep that night. Finally, the two had something in common.

*

-Where's Draco? Why isn't he at breakfast?

The same reason why Harry isn't at breakfast. Family problems.

-He's thinking about them right now. Hasn't slept all night.

I know, Draco's doing the same thing.

-I just wish that I could do something to help him, but Harry wouldn't even talk to me last night. He asked about Hermione and Ron then he went off to bed.

The same with Draco. I was trying to talk to him last night, because I knew that he'd gotten another letter, but he refused to say anything to me.

-Well at least he went as far as to claim you as his. Despite the fact that we act as if we're a couple, technically, we aren't.

Maybe he doesn't want to have another person stressed out about him.

-I don't understand you.

Look at it. Ron and Hermione are his best friends, so he already has people who are constantly worried about him, maybe he doesn't want to add someone else to the mix.

-Shouldn't that decision be left up to me? I would be the one who'd be worrying, not him. And it's not fair for him to just lead me along like this and then just conveniently drop me. Don't my feelings count?

Love is pain.

-Well if this is even an ounce of what that sort of pain will be, you and I are better off out of love.

Keep telling yourself that until you find that you've already fallen in love and it's too late to escape.

-Whoever told you that?

Maman.

-When did this happen?

When I wrote to her.

-You wrote to her about Draco? Why?

Well who else was I supposed to consult? She did after all marry a Death Eater even though she disapproved of what he did.

-Yes, but wouldn't she be a last resort? Like when you're already in too deep and really need advice.

You already know me enough to even ask that. Anything I do, I do whole-heartedly. Consider my actions as a minor indication as to how it feels to be stuck in quick sand.

-Hhmmm... I just hope that the two of them pull out of their respective funk and not become emotionally scarred from this.

That's all we can do.

-What?

Hope.

*

Early the next morning, Harry could be seen dragging his feet as he made his way towards the Head Master's office. He'd intended on spending the entire day in bed as he'd done previously, but Professor McGonagall's visit to his bedside proved otherwise. Shortly after pulling him from his bed, McGonagall saw to it that Harry did in fact make it to the showers and was currently walking alongside him as they approached the stone gargoyle.

"Chocolate Frogs." She said.

The stone gargoyle jumped aside resulting in the wall splitting open and the moving stone staircase appeared.

"Go on, Mr. Potter. I won't be coming with you."

Harry blinked at the Professor instead of responding and stepped unto the ascending staircase. Dumbledore stood talking quietly to a baby Fawkes who seemed to have just been re-born from his ashes. Harry looked up at the portraits on the wall and found them all to be very much awake and staring intently at Harry. Perhaps they'd overheard Snape's discussion with him, either way, Harry knew that they'd found some way to be well informed as they always were.

"The plate, Mr. Potter." Dumbledore barely looked up from Fawkes as he pointed to a gold plate and goblet that sat on his desk.

Without being given further instructions, Harry nodded and obediently ate the food. He didn't taste anything that entered his mouth; he was just carrying out the mechanisms that he'd been introduced to since birth. When he was finished, the plate and goblet vanished and he looked up to see Dumbledore seated before his desk looking quite cheerful.

"Now, Mr. Potter, let's get down to business."

Harry nodded and sat up in his seat. He felt exactly as he had on the night that Sirius had died, as if a parasite were slowly eating away at his insides, determined to cause as much pain as it could before doing so.

"Professor Snape has informed me that during your Occlumency lesson, you bore witness to a memory that you seem to have forgotten."

Harry nodded at the carpet, noticing that the red was just a few shades darker than his mother's hair.

"Now as much as I know that you'd like to wallow away in that bed of yours, forgetting the world and focusing only on what you saw, I simply cannot allow it. You have to get rid of that memory."

Harry looked up suddenly. "What?"

It was the first time that he'd spoken in almost two days and he dared not imagine the pain that he would have felt had he not drank pumpkin juice before doing so.

"I know that you don't want to, but you've got to get rid of that memory, Harry, at least for now."

"No." Harry stood. "That's not fair."

"I understand that you would rather keep it as it's one of the few that you have of your parents, but at this time in your life Harry, you simply cannot handle it. I'd think that the fact that your one-year-old brain realizing this so many years ago, would be enough for you to understand as well." Dumbledore said rather calmly.

Harry sat down in his seat in defeat as Dumbledore went on.

"Imagine if you were to have been hit with such a memory when you next meet up with Voldemort, Harry. What do you really think would have happened?"

Harry shrugged as he stared down at the carpet.

"You would die, Harry. He would have you at your weakest moment, and He'd use it to eliminate you." Dumbledore answered for him. "We cannot let that happen."

Harry unconsciously ran his hand through his hair and sighed. "Then what do you suggest that I do? Have my brain store it to another location until I may take it out again and properly examine it?"

He didn't mean to sound like a spoilt child, but he wasn't sorry for his remark either. He was tired of being told how to live his life and how to handle his emotions. When would he get to be a normal teenager?

When Voldemort is dead...

"No, Mr. Potter, I do not expect you to do that." Dumbledore slowly rose from his desk. A few seconds later, he returned with a box and handed it to Harry.

Harry opened it and found that inside was a brand new Pensieve. "You want me to store my memory away in this until after I've defeated Voldemort?"

"I'd like you to do that as well as continue your Occlumency classes with Professor Snape. We cannot risk another one of these images appearing when they may work against you." Dumbledore returned to his seat and watched Harry.

"I know that you don't want to, Harry, but it is for your own good. Emotions are very dangerous things if they are not kept in check, and as you can see, you do not handle stress very well. You have to be ready for anything, Harry, and that includes making a few sacrifices."

Harry stared at the Pensieve for a while, his mother's face in his mind all the while.

"Whenever you're ready, Harry." Dumbledore said softly.

Harry nodded and closed his eyes. He knew that he really had no choice. What Dumbledore had said was right. He couldn't afford to have things like these occur when next he met up with Voldemort, nor could he afford to let his emotions get the best of him as he'd done over the weekend.

If he were to be successful as Moody had said, he had to overcome his fear. He knew that after everything was over, if he wanted to, he could gain back the memories and deal with them then, but right now, he simply couldn't afford to have them decimate all the hard work that he'd done over the past few weeks. Finally, he looked up at Dumbledore.

"I need to store something else in there."

Dumbledore gazed at him, quite curious as to what else could be causing Harry problems.

"The night of—of Sirius' death, I need to store it in there. It's been causing problems for me since the beginning of the summer." He whispered.

"Problems?"

"Problems." Harry nodded. "Headaches, insomnia... Problems."

Dumbledore nodded. "I'm glad to see that you can now recognize problems when you have them. But why would you wait for four months before telling anyone of these problems?"

"Because I didn't want to worry anyone." Harry admitted. Now that he thought about, he realized how stupid it sounded. Whether or not it would cause people to worry wasn't the issue at hand, it was his well being.

"Harry, I want you to promise me something." Dumbledore said softly, but quite seriously. "I want you to promise me that no matter what is wrong with you, that you will not hesitate to speak to someone. It doesn't have to be myself or Professor McGonagall, but it has to be someone—preferably one who can help you with the problem, of course."

Harry nodded running his fingers along the edge of the Pensieve as he did so.

"You have to let people in, Harry. A man is not an island, he doesn't stand alone."

Harry looked up at Dumbledore then and looked him in the eyes as he nodded. "I promise."

"Good." Dumbledore stood. "Now on with the proceedings."

Harry stood and placed the Pensieve on the desk.

"Now in order to do this, you have to first think of the memory that you'd like to extract..."

Harry carefully followed Dumbledore's instructions and within minutes, the memories resembled nothing more than a silver substance as they swirled around in the Pensieve, not quite a liquid, but not quite a gas either. Once he was finished, he stepped back and sat down. To Harry, it felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders and he began to wonder why he ever questioned Dumbledore's intentions in the first place. Never before had Dumbledore failed him or led him into harm's way; he most certainly knew that now.

Half-hour later, he found himself stepping through the portrait hole into the Gryffindor common room.

He knew from both Hermione and Ron's visits to his bedside that morning that they were in the library doing some last minutes assignments and knowing that he had some of his own to do, decided to go and join them. On his way back down the steps however, he ran into Alexandria who as it seemed, was returning from there with a pile of books in her hand. She looked rather surprised to find that he was up and out of his bed and it suddenly occurred to Harry that besides the three professors, she was the only person that actually knew why he'd taken to bed.

Ron and Hermione had simply assumed that it had been Sirius and had spent the twenty minutes of their visit to his bedside trying to tell him that it was okay to have these feelings and that it would be okay. He'd wanted to tell them that none of them had had to watch the ones that they loved most die, but had chosen not to knowing that he would only hurt their feelings. Now that he was standing before Alexandria, he wondered why he hadn't used that opportunity to clear up his friends' misconceptions.

"Are you okay now?" Alexandria asked. Harry could tell from the look on her face that she wasn't quite sure whether or not it was actually okay to talk to him. He didn't really blame her, after the way that he'd treated her the other night.

"Much better." He admitted.

"Okay." She started towards the girls' staircase and in turn, Harry started towards the portrait hole. Suddenly, Dumbledore's voice appeared from the back of his mind.

"You have to let people in, Harry. A man is not an island, he doesn't stand alone."

He turned just in time to catch Alexandria before she reached the top of the stairs.

"Alexandria."

She turned slowly, her curls sweeping the wind as she did so. "Yes, Harry?"

He lifted his foot about to climb the stairs when he remembered what had happened the last time that he'd tried to do that. Alexandria smiled knowingly and after laying her books down, began to descend. Once she stood before him, Harry decided that it was now or never.

"I wanted to tell you..." Harry trailed off not quite knowing how to put it.

"Yes, Harry?" Alexandria said softly. Somehow, she seemed to put him at ease and Harry knew that what to do.

"I just wanted to apologize for being a prat the other night."

Despite the fact that a group of first year girls were currently watching the two with amused looks on their faces, Harry did what he wanted to do.

Alexandria nodded, and before she could turn to once again ascend the stairs, he pulled her closer and kissed her. He could tell that she was a bit surprised that he'd done so, but almost immediately, she began to loosen up and was responding to his touch. The kiss was short, because they were after all, standing in the midst of all who were in the common room, but it was long enough to have the effect that Harry had been hoping for.

"See you at lunch," he whispered.

Alexandria smiled before turning to go upstairs. Harry watched as she ascended and waved before continuing to the library, ignoring the giggling girls as he did so.

Dumbledore was right, at some point or the other, he'd have to learn to let someone in. He just hoped that by doing so, he wouldn't be putting her at risk.

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