Harry shouldn't have been surprised by now that there were still things in the magical world he had no idea about. When he had been a first and second year, there was so much information to take in that it was almost too much, and by the time he'd been through third and fourth year, he thought the outpouring of new information would even out, and it had a little. Now he was just finishing up his fifth year, and here he sat in the Headmaster's office, surprised yet again, though he shouldn't have been.

"It's a very good school Harry. Very prestigious. You're friend Miss Granger has been working diligently since she arrived here to be admitted and already has the seven signatures she needs."

"And- and you want me to go there sir, to the Tree academy?"

"The Academy of the Gemini Trees Harry, and considering the circumstances with Voldemort's recent return to power, I believe it would be a good idea to give you a leg up, yes." He slid a piece of official looking parchment across the desk to Harry, who took it and scanned it.

"That is a list of the courses they're offering this year. At the top you will note the three defensive courses, and also Magery and Occlumency."

"You want me to take all of this over the summer?"

"What you take is up to you. They only recommend taking three courses, but I believe miss Granger is looking forward to six."

"She would," Harry mumbled. His head was spinning. If Hermione had been preparing for this for the last five years, you'd think he would have heard of it by now. This... prestigious summer school. He wasn't against going, not at all. Anything would be better than going back to another summer of torture at the Dursleys, but he was still trying to wrap his mind around all of this.

"It's hard to get into then?" he asked. "If Hermione's been preparing for so long?"

Dumbledore steepled his fingers. "Sixth and seventh year students are admitted who show a love of learning, a penchant for hard work, and a desire to learn more. Students who have had stellar academic performance. This is why each student must be recommended by six teachers and the headmaster of their school. You of course have my approval, and I think you will find you will have the approval of your other professors Harry."

"My school work hasn't exactly been... stellar," he pointed out, thinking about potions and divination.

"Not in all of your subjects, but you are passing all of your classes, and doing extremely well in many of them. You are I believe, top of your class in defense."

Defense is easy, Harry thought, I live for it. I have to.

"You will also have to pay your own way Harry. I realize this is asking a lot of you, but I cannot pay your way from the school coffers. It is forbidden."

"How much is it?"

"One hundred Galleons."

Harry stilled. That was his entire vault, he was sure of it, maybe even more. Every Knut his parents had saved. He'd have to owl Gringotts to find out, but he was positive a trip to this Gemini school was going to clean him out. How would he afford his school supplies for his sixth and seventh year?

"You do not have to go Harry, but I highly recommend it."

"Do you know who else is going sir?"

"I do not have the full list yet, but so far five of your peers are attending."

"Can I think about it?"

He nodded. "Of course dear boy."

Harry stood up with the course list in hand and turned for the door, but was stopped by, "Oh and Harry..." he turned.

"Sir?"

"One of the six signatures you must get is Professor Snape's. He will be one of the teachers at the school this year, and it's required."

"I don't have to take his classes do I?" Harry wiped a sweaty palm on his too small jeans, and suddenly felt anxious, like he was being forced into something.

"No. As I said, the courses you choose are entirely up to you."

"Ok. Thanks sir." He left and quietly closed the door behind him, almost positive he wasn't going to go.

Hermione had other ideas however when she spied the list sticking out of one of his books at dinner later that evening.

"You've been invited to attend haven't you? Even I wasn't invited Harry."

He raised his brows. "What do you mean?"

"Usually you have to apply, very few students are invited. It's an honor you know. They say you can have almost any Ministry posting you want after school if you've gone to the Academy of the Gemini Trees."

"What are Gemini Trees anyway?" Ron asked with a mouth half full of baked potato.

"They're a special tree that only grows in one place in the world... the Isle of Coll. That's where the school is. Oh Harry, are you going to go? It's not anything like Hogwarts you know."

"What do you mean?" Harry and Ron asked together.

"Well there are no houses... and it's not in a castle. It's set up on these really pretty cliffs above the ocean and each student stays in their own one room cabin. There are several small buildings around the grounds where they hold classes. There's no headmaster and as far as I know, there's no punishments. The only punishment they can give is releasing you from the school, and to do that they have to have the signature from all of the teachers.

"Professor Dumbledore said Snape is going to teach there," Harry said.

"Yes, it's different every year. Professors from all of the attending schools go."

"How many schools are there?" Harry had only ever heard of Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang, but he knew there had to be more.

"Five. There's Hogwarts, Durmstrang, Beaxbatons, Boden from Sweden, that's a really small school, and Khar from Mongolia, another small school. Khar is a monestary and they teach wandless magic there. I read that they admit students starting at the age of six, and they study all sorts of things we don't get to learn here. That's what's exciting about getting to go Harry, you get to learn things you wouldn't otherwise get the chance to."

"What's a monk going to teach you?" Ron asked.

"Well, I don't know who's teaching which subject yet, I only just received the subject list this morning, but I would guess healing spells and magery... wandless magic," she clarified mistaking Harry's thoughtful look for one of confusion.

"I wouldn't mind learning magery," Ron said then in an almost dreamy voice. "Just think of the ways I could get back at Fred and George, and they'd never hear me spell one thing out."

"Yeah but its a hundred galleons," Harry said, and Ron choked.

"Oh, well then, kiss my dreams of magery goodbye. Do you have that kind of money Harry?"

He shrugged. "Well if I had the funds, I'd go," Ron said, and Harry pulled the list out to look at it again. The only thing on the list he didn't think he'd care to learn was magical and Muggle law, though he was sure that Snape would be teaching Occlumency and he knew that if that was the case, he wouldn't be taking that either. He could see why Hermione was going to be taking six courses.

"Another thing that's different," she said, "is that if you want to take more courses than the three you have, but don't want to be graded, you're allowed to sit in on any other course. You can choose to participate in it or not. Its set up so that you can see what you might be interested in for study after you graduate, or if you go next year. Sometimes the students with well-off parents have tutors that come to tutor them on weekends during the school year in the other subjects they didn't take during the summer. It's really all meant to give an advantage."

An advantage. Hadn't that been what Dumbledore had said. Voldemort was out there and Harry needed an advantage.

"I'll have to get Snape's signature," Harry said with finality, although he wasn't sure if his mind was made up yet or not.

"That could be a problem," Ron said with a dark look up at the staff table.

"Have you gotten the other signatures yet Harry?"

"Professor Dumbledore said I had his."

"It's a start."

"How about you get all the others, then in the middle of dinner, when all the other staff is there, go up to Snape and ask him for his? That way if he's a jerk to you, they'll all see it," Ron suggested, and Hermione was about to object, but stopped before she did.

Harry raised his brows at her and she clamped her mouth shut. "I think Hermione wants to tell me not to do it, but she knows it's the only way," Harry said out loud, and Ron smirked.

"Do it mate."

Hermione pulled out her admittance form and copied it and handed the copy to Harry.

"Be nice about it," she said to him, and Harry stood to go find Professor McGonagall, who was not yet there for dinner.

* * *

Harry sat nervously at the breakfast table the next morning. McGonagall, Hagrid, Flitwick, Sprout, and Hooch had all signed his paperwork and congratulated him, and all he needed now was Snape's signature. According to the fine print, he wasn't even allowed to ask for Dumbledore's signature until he had the other six.

"Going to do it then?" Ron asked, nudging him in the ribs.

"Yup." He was trying to gather his courage before he went up there. Snape could always say no. He'd been up all night thinking about the chance to go to this school and learn all kinds of defense though, and the chance to escape the Dursleys for the entire summer and weighed those possibilities against emptying his vault and spending the summer near Snape. Going to school won out in the end. Really, anything that would take him far away from the Dursleys and the misery he would endure there would win out.

"So, going to get on with it then?"

Harry grumbled something that sounded like ‘now or never' and got up from the table with the paper. He made the mistake of making eye contact with Snape as he made his way to the front table, and the man tried to glare him down, knowing exactly why he was walking directly up to him.

"Potter," he said through gritted teeth.

"Professor, sir," Harry added just to be nice, remembering Hermione's warning. "I have the chance to go to the Academy of the Gemini Trees, and I need your recommendation to go sir. I was wondering if I could have it. I would really appreciate the chance sir." Maybe he'd overdone it with all the sir's, but Snape was looking positively fierce now as Harry had gathered the attention of the other staff seated there, even though he'd spoken in very low tones. He glanced at Dumbledore for a boost of courage and got it when the man gave him a wink and a smile. He turned back to Snape, who gave him another hard glare, before startling Harry as he snatched the paper out of his hand, conjured a quill and scribbled his name before thrusting the paper back out to Harry, all in the space of two seconds.

Harry looked down at it. There were his six signatures. "Thank you sir," he said, and Dumbledore held out his hand for the form before giving Harry a nod and smile to dismiss him back to his seat. Back finally turned to Snape, Harry couldn't help but let a grin creep over his face. He was going to be Dursley free for the summer. An entire, injury free summer.

Harry wished he could have had a truly Dursley free summer. Unfortunately, they weren't allowed to go straight from Hogwarts to the Isle of Coll where Gemini was, and Harry had found himself on the train back to London with his friends. They had three days to ‘visit' with family, before Harry was to make his way to Diagonalley where he'd meet with the other Hogwarts students going to the academy, and empty his entire vault into the Gemini vault. He had owled Gringotts and found that he had eighty two Galleons, a sickle, and a Knut. It didn't leave enough to buy school supplies for the summer, or even some used clothes, which Harry was in desperate need of seeing as how he'd outgrown everything else he owned, even Dudley's old baggy pants, which were now two inches too short or else full of holes and worn thin. It left him with another problem too. He was short twenty Galleons and the only thing he owned worth that much was his Firebolt. The Firebolt Sirius had given him before he... well, before he died a few weeks ago. Harry didn't want to think about it because it still stung too much to know he had caused his Godfather's death, and it brought tears to his eyes if he thought about it. He figured though, that maybe he could get to Diagonalley early with his broom and sell it to someone. The new Firebolts were going for twenty five Galleons, so he might get lucky and get twenty out of it.

His first night at the Dursleys had been spent scrubbing every inch of every surface Aunt Petunia could think of, followed by a thumping from Uncle Vernon and a good knock about the head from Dudley's Smelting's stick. Harry retreated to his room with a needle and thread he'd nicked from Aunt Petunia's miscellaneous kitchen drawer while he'd been cleaning, and the pair of kitchen scissors. His plan was to cut his two pairs of jeans and school khaki's into shorts and sew them as best he could so he didn't look like a total beggar. They would still be tight on him, but if he was lucky, Hermione would know an enlargement spell of some sort for clothing when he met with her in Diagonalley. When he was finished, he almost admired his work. He'd taken his time and you couldn't tell they weren't store bought shorts unless you looked closely at the hand stitching, which had taken Harry hours. His shirts and coat were another story though, and there was no sewing them. They were faded, worn, coming apart at the seams, and too tight across the chest. He doubted they'd let him wear his Hogwart's robes, but even if they did, he didn't want to wear them in the heat of summer.

The next two days passed in a flurry of the Smelting's stick, chores, and worrying about his clothes and avoiding uncle Vernon, before the day finally arrived for him to sneak out of his cupboard and out of the house with his school trunk, and use the last three sickles in his school money pouch to hail the Knight Bus, which Dumbledore had told him was safe for the time being. As Harry got on the Knight Bus and it sped away, he considered himself lucky that all his bruises were hidden on his back and chest or shoulders, covered nicely by his shirt. His foot also had a pretty nasty bruise from where Dudley had stomped on it when Harry was barefoot last night, and it hurt to walk on, but Harry knew he'd manage.

He knew he was three hours early to Diagonalley, but Harry had wanted it that way. It would give him time to make the transfer of gold from his vault, try to hock his broom, and see if there were any used clothing shops that would sell him a few t-shirts for whatever overage he had from his broom sale. What he was going to do about school supplies, he still didn't know. He had a small stack of paper, half a bottle of ink, and several quills in bad shape from the previous school year, but if he was to take notes and do homework, he knew it wouldn't be enough.

After visiting his vault and emptying it, Harry roamed around the clothing stores until he found the one Mrs. Weasley always talked about. It had just opened when he made the door, and he was glad to see that most of the clothes were in good condition.

"Can I help you dear?" a kindly older woman asked, probably about fifteen years older than Mrs. Weasley.

"I'm looking for some shirts my size," Harry said, hoping she didn't look too closely at his hand sewn shorts. It was still early in the morning and Harry thought that if he picked out some clothes now, he could come back after selling his broom.

"How much do you have?"

"Er..." he paused. "Ten sickles?" She gave him a close looking over and he wondered if she knew he was lying.

"This way."

She led him to a rack near the front window of shirts his size and he was thankful to see that the price was one sickle each. "Pants are folded along the wall and coats are in the corner," she told him, and he thanked her before checking the prices of those too.

He was just taking a look at a dark blue shirt with a silver Falmouth Falcon symbol on the front when the bell above the door rang again and Harry stilled at the smooth drawl that followed.

"Well well, poor Potter browsing through someone else's used clothing? I've got an old pair of holey socks you can have for five Knuts," Draco said. The hidden laughter behind his words grated on Harry's nerves.

"No thanks," Harry said, turning to stare at him. Draco was dressed in fine black slacks and a light green polo shirt that Harry was sure cost far more than they were worth at some high end store. "But I'll sell you my Firebolt for 21 Galleons if you want it."

Draco paused and his eyes narrowed. "Yeah, Potter, I'm sure you'd sell me your broom. It's the only valuable thing you own."

Harry walked over to the window where he'd set his trunk underneath, and pulled his broom out from behind it. "21 Galleons," he said, holding it out. He hated to sell it, because he knew it would mean an end to Quidditch for him when he returned to Hogwarts and also because it was the only thing he had from Sirius, but he also hated to sell it to Draco. Maybe the other boy would relish the idea of taking his broom off of him though. He could only hope.

"You're serious?"

"21 Galleons."

"And why would I want your ratty old broom?"

"Because you've only got a Thunderstruck, and that's a model behind the Firebolt, and Firebolts new are 25 Galleons."

Harry saw Draco lick his bottom lip and was surprised to see his hand go down into his pant pocket where he heard the distinct jingle of money.

"20 Galleons," Draco said, testing the waters to see if Harry was putting him on or not.

"21."

Harry heard the jingle of coins again and Draco pulled out a money pouch from his pocket. "Hand it over."

Harry motioned with his fingers for Draco to show him the money first, and Draco opened the pouch and dumped it into Harry's hands. There were exactly 21 Galleons.

"That's my entire summer allowance," Draco said, taking the broom from Harry.

That's my tuition to school, Harry thought. Draco looked the broom up and down as if inspecting it for defects, and then smirked at Harry, turned his back, and stalked out of the store looking smug. Harry sighed. At least he had an extra Galleon for clothes and maybe a few supplies now, though he wasn't sure if he was thankful or not for the exchange.

By the time Harry left, he had three t-shirts that fit him, and a pair of long khaki white cargo pants. He desperately wanted some new shoes, socks, underwear, a coat, and a real pair of shorts, but he was about ten sickles short. Maybe he could write to Ron once he got to the school and see if Mrs. Weasley had anything extra that he could wear. New items in his trunk, Harry hurried to Gringotts to transfer the last of his money to the Gemini vault, and then made his way to Fortescue's, where they were scheduled to meet, no money left for supplies, and was glad to see that Hermione was already there.

"Harry! You made it! I'm so excited!"

He grinned at his friend's enthusiasm.

"Who else is coming, do you know?"

"Not yet, but I know there's a few seventh years."

"Um, Hermione... do you know of any spells to make clothing bigger?"

"No, but somebody does," and he allowed another smile to pass over his face as she sat down and began to rummage through her trunk full of books, looking for an answer. Over the course of the next half hour, more students showed up, including Ernie McMillan, Pricilla Lune-Grover, a seventh year Ravenclaw, and Mae Greenwood and Olivia Lockheart, two seventh years from Hufflepuff. The last to stroll over to their group, was Draco Malfoy, still holding Harry's Firebolt like his new prized possession.

"Harry, isn't that your-"

Harry waved Hermione's question away and gave a slight shake of his head, and she closed her mouth. Harry realized a moment later that it wasn't because of him, but because Professor Snape had just walked up and cast a long shadow over his charges in the bright sunlight. His eyes raked over them, probably counting to see that they were all there, paused long enough on Harry to give him a glare, and then he removed a small green book from his pocket with the Hogwart's crest and a strange looking tree embossed on the cover.

"We will be departing by Portkey. Before we leave I want to make myself abundantly clear." He shot Harry a nasty look again. "We are guests at this school. Once there you are more likely to be treated like equals by the staff than like students. This is not an excuse to run wild, or break rules. Most of you," he emphasized the word most as he narrowed his eyes at Harry yet again, "represent the best and brightest of Hogwarts, and will conduct yourselves as young men and women should. Should you need anything you may come to me or another staff member. While there are no detentions or loss of house points at Gemini, you may still be expelled with enough signatures from staff. Keep this in mind when deciding how to conduct yourselves for the next month and a half."

He locked eyes with each of them for a moment to be sure that they understood, and then held out the book. "Take firm hold," he told them. Harry grabbed on to the corner next to Hermione and Ernie, his trunk handle in hand behind him. He hated traveling by port key and braced himself for the dizzying journey.

As soon as Snape was sure everyone was holding tightly, he said, "Where many fruits grow and thrive," and they were sucked away, appearing moments later on a grassy dirt lane near the sea.

Harry shook himself and tried to regain his breath. At least he hadn't fallen flat on his face this time. He spied Draco holding onto his, Harry's Firebolt and giving it a close looking over to be sure it was all right. Well, at least he'll take care of it, Harry thought, trying not to let glumness overtake him when he was so near the sea and the prospect of having a good summer for the first time in his remembrance.

"We are to head to the Dining Hall." Snape said and lead off. Harry didn't see a trunk or other luggage for Professor Snape so he assumed that he'd already been here earlier. Harry wondered then if this was the man's first time teaching here, or if he'd been here to teach before.

Levitating his trunk in front of him as the others were doing, Harry followed Snape down the path and took in the beauty of the place. There were dirt and sand paths going here and there between cabins and other larger buildings. The bulk of the school was level but there were hills that some of the cabins climbed up. Harry could see the ocean stretching on forever to the East, and could tell they were atop some cliffs. He wondered if there was a way down to the beach and if they'd be allowed to go swimming or not. There was wispy grass everywhere and purple wildflowers. Atop one of the hills and behind some of the cabins Harry could see some of the strange trees like the one on Snape's portkey book. They must be the Gemini trees, Harry thought.

As they made their way into the center of the school area, Harry noted that the cabins and buildings all had numbers on them and there were also little wooden signs with arrows that said things like, ‘Cabins 32-37.' The cabins were all white beach huts and looked like they were built for one. The paint was peeling from the harsh ocean air and winds, and there were shutters with latches over the windows. The larger buildings were also white with peeling paint, and some were quite small, while others looked like they might have more than one room inside. The largest one was building number 7, the Dining Hall. It had a large wrap around porch, which Harry deposited his trunk on along with the others that were already there, and the shutters looked as if they'd just recently been opened to let light into the building.

It looked like they were the last to arrive as there were already a large number of students from other schools there. For the first time, Harry wondered if they all spoke English or if they'd have to use some sort of spell to understand each other.

There were 7 long wooden tables that were stacked on top of each other at the back of the room, and 14 long benches had been moved to the front in rows. Harry and his classmates took their seats at the back, the only open place to sit down, and Professor Snape walked up to the front of the room where 6 other teachers stood waiting and talking to each other. The other students seemed to take in the new arrivals with some interest, but nobody said anything to them.

Hermione had just leaned in and whispered to Harry how excited she was and how she wished Ron was there with them when one of the male teachers at the front of the room cleared his throat and the little bit of chatter amongst the students quieted.

"Good morning to you all," he said in a thick accent, and Harry wondered if he was from Durmstrang because he sounded a lot like Karkaroff and Viktor Krum. "My name is Andrei Blazhe and I am one of the two Professors from Durmstrang Academy this year. We have some announcements to make as well as cabin assignments before lunch, so if you will please bear with me, we can move along quickly." Harry was sure he heard a little squeal come from Hermione, but he ignored it, intent to hear what was going to be said.

"First let us all introduce ourselves. Again, I am Andrei Blazhe from Durmstrang. You may call me by either name. I will be teaching Muggle Defensive Tactics, drawing, and Violin."

He stepped back and a thin woman with long black hair stepped forward and said in the same heavy accent, "I am Iva Emiliya from Durmstrang. I prefer that you call me Professor Iva. I teach painting, and the fine arts with Professor Blazhe, as well as Classic Muggle and Magical Literature with Professor August. I also teach piano."

A small oriental man stepped forward with his hands behind his back, and Harry thought he looked about as close to a monk as any he'd seen in movies on the telly that Dudley had been watching.

"My name is Ganzorig. You may call me Gan, or teacher." Harry struggled for a few moments to understand him through his accent, but as Gan spoke more, he thought he could get used to his accent enough to learn from him.  "I am from the Khar monastery. I teach Root Defense, a discipline that is a mixture between traditional oriental fighting style and magical defense." This peaked Harry's interest immediately and he thought he wouldn't mind learning Root defense as well as Muggle defense, if for no other reason than to be able to protect himself against Dudley and uncle Vernon when he wasn't allowed to use his wand.  "I will also teach healing, and meditation." He gave a small bow and stepped back into his place.

A friendly looking man with sandy brown hair stepped forward with a smile and said, "Alvar August from Boden. I'm excited to see you all here today, looking so eager to learn. I teach Advanced Wandless Magic, also known as Magery. I also teach Classic Muggle and Magical Literature with Professor Iva. For those of you who have brought a Cello, I will be teaching you." He gave them another smile and then turned and allowed a female professor to step to the front.

"Hello, I am Professor Benjamine Camille from Beauxbatons Magical Academy and this year I will be teaching Magical and Muggle Law." She was short and to the point and she reminded Harry of Professor McGonagall: stern, but with the potential to be kind and understanding at the same time.

The last female Professor stepped forward and swept her audience of students with a warm smile. She had light brown hair that flowed down behind her shoulders and Harry took an instant liking to her. "I am also from Beauxbatons. My name is Adeline Albertine and I prefer to be called Adeline while we are here at Gemini. I teach Healing and Healing Potions with Teacher Gan, and whilst we are here if you are in need of any medical assistance, you can find me in the Infirmary which is building number 8." She pointed towards the corner of the room and finished with, "It's across the path there. Teacher Gan and Professor Snape are also capable healers, and if for some reason you cannot find me, you may go to one of them."

Huh, Harry thought. He never knew Snape could do healing. He supposed it made some sense though, since he did make most of the healing potions (or so Harry assumed) for Madam Pomfrey at Hogwarts.

Finally Snape stepped forward, after having stood quietly with his hands behind his back. Harry was interested to see if he'd try to intimidate the students here as he did at Hogwarts, and was somewhat disappointed to find that in front of everyone here, he almost seemed personable.

"My name is Severus Snape from Hogwarts. I will be teaching Occlumency as well as Advanced Defensive Tactics."

Harry sighed. It figures, he thought to himself bitterly. The two classes he really needed to gain that ‘edge' Dumbledore had talked about, would be taught by a man who wasn't going to be impartial and help him really learn. He'd really failed miserably at Occlumency last year under the man's tutelage, and he doubted he'd do any better with him here. No, better to skip those classes, he thought.

Professor August, the smiling professor from Boden stepped forward again and said, "We have some rules to go over, though there are not as many as you may be used to. Firstly, there is no curfew, but it would be very wise of you to plan to use your time well so that you can be well rested for classes during the day.

Secondly, we will all respect each other's private property here, and this includes the cabin you will be assigned. You may only enter a cabin with the permission of its occupant, though boys are not allowed in girls cabins at any time and visa versa. If you wish to study with anyone of the opposite sex, you may use the study building, building number 9, during daytime hours, and this building, the dining hall after dark. You are also free to study anywhere out on the grounds.

Thirdly, you may visit the beach during your off time, but while swimming you must use the flotation charm on yourself, even if you know how to swim. We do not wish for any accidents.

The fourth and final rule is that, as opposed to the schools you are used to attending, there will be no reprimands or loss of privileges as punishment here. You are to use your own good judgment in your conduct here. If you are acting in a way that is not honorable or against any of our rules, you may be dismissed from the school, but only with the vote of each professor here. If we feel that you are acting in an undesirable way, you may be called upon to explain yourself before any decision is made. Does anyone have any questions?" No one raised their hand and August smiled. "Good then. We can move on to the cabin assignments. There are clusters of male and female cabins. In order to assure that the schools are intermixing, we will draw for Cabin assignments. The Professor cabins are spread throughout the complex, and there will be a red sign on every Professor's door. If there is an issue, you may come to any of us at any time of day or night. When you get your cabin assignment, you can take your belongings and get settled in your cabin. You have forty minutes before lunch will be served."

Snape and Iva (was that her name? Harry thought so), each came forward with a bucket and moved down the benches, Snape holding out his bucket to the boys and Iva to the girls, and people reached inside and pulled out a piece of paper with a number on it. By the time Snape got to Harry and the other students from Hogwarts, the choices were dwindling. Harry reached his hand into the pail and Snape pulled it away impatiently with a glare. It looked like Harry would be in cabin 30. He stood up with Hermione and looked at her paper. Cabin 8.

"I'll see you at lunch Harry," she said, and hurried off to get her things, a big smile on her face.

As Harry levitated his trunk back out on the porch he heard Draco tell Ernie that he was in cabin 29 and Ernie said he was in 22, and they headed off towards the cabins leading up the hill, so Harry followed.

"Great," Draco muttered when he noticed Harry trailing a few feet behind.

Ernie glanced back but only gave Harry a smile. Harry didn't know Ernie McMilln well but knew he was fairly smart and was angling for Head Boy in a couple of years.

It was quite a little walk up the hill to the cluster of cabins where Harry's was located, but he was pleased to find that he could see more of the ocean and most of the entire school compound from here, and behind his cabin was the start of a wooded area full of the knarled Gemini trees. There was a bathroom in a separate building at the end of the row of cabins, painted light blue, and Harry was glad to see that it looked like it might be big enough to have several showers. Usually he wasn't allowed to shower in the summer at the Dursleys and had to take his baths in the backyard with the garden hose.

Harry's cabin was the second one in, Draco was next door, much to Harry's displeasure, and Ernie's was directly across the path from Harry's. The cabins were small, about the size of a shed, and the porch was just big enough for a single chair. Harry leapt up the three steps excitedly to his porch and as soon as he put his hand on the doorknob, his name appeared on the wooden plaque in the center of the door. Cool, he thought. He opened the door and surveyed the room. It was sparse, but he liked it. There was a single twin bed in the center, and a desk with a chair facing one of the two windows. There was no wardrobe, but the bed looked thick and comfortable and much better than what he'd had at the Dursleys in the cupboard under the stairs.

Harry put his trunk at the foot of his bed and opened it up to pull out his pillow and blanket. They'd been told to bring their own bedding. He didn't have any sheets, but he did have his flat pillow and thin blanket from his cupboard under the stairs. It was the only pillow and blanket he'd ever had aside from in the dorm at Hogwarts. After making the bed, he pulled out the small stack of parchment and few quills and set them on his desk and then opened the shutters on the outside so he could see through the window facing the front and the one facing the side of Draco's cabin. Luckily Draco didn't have a window facing his he thought, but he sighed a moment later as he heard Draco scoff from the frame of the door he'd left open.

"Really Potter, is this the best that you can do?"

Harry turned to find Draco with his arms crossed leaning on the doorframe.

"Oh, don't worry," Draco laughed. "I wouldn't come in without your permission. But really, ratty used clothes, a ratty used blanket, and a stack of paper? What'd you do, raid the Weasley house?"

"Shut it Malfoy," Harry said. "You got my broom, what else do you want?"

"Nothing you have," Draco said. His eyes scanned the room and he made a clucking noise with his tongue. "Did you even bring any supplies?"

"No," Harry said.

"What, too expensive?"

Harry balled and unballed his fists. "I spent your allowance money on the last of my tuition and three shirts and a pair of pants, so no, I didn't have any money to buy supplies. I have what I have and maybe you could leave me alone about it."

The smirk left Draco's face. Yeah, that's right, Harry thought.

"Whatever Potter," Draco said, and he pushed off the doorframe and went down the steps and across the path to Ernie's cabin. Maybe Ernie would have nicer things, Harry thought, and put Malfoy in his place. Harry wondered then what Draco's room looked like. He bet it had royal green curtains with silver trim, overpriced school supplies, and his broom, hanging on a wall. Great, Harry muttered. He closed the door and changed into one of his pairs of handmade shorts and left, shutting the door behind him. He still had twenty minutes, but thought about going to see Hermione in cabin 8, if he could find where that was before lunch.

As it turned out, there was a long row of girl's cabins at the bottom of the hill if Harry turned right towards the sea, and 3 of the 4 Hogwarts girls had ended up there. Hermione's cabin was at the far end, just at the start of a path that looked like it might lead down the cliffs and to a beach.

He stood on her porch and wondered if this was allowed, and peered inside her open door. "Your cabin looks nice Hermione," Harry said, and she smiled and turned around. She had decorated with a poster of Mathilda Mahide the great, a famous witch librarian, and had several extra pink fluffy pillows on her bed and two large ones on her floor that looked like they were meant to sit on. She also had a framed picture of her parents on her desk and Harry noted that her cabin smelled like flowers. She had twelve or so books lining the wall on the floor since there wasn't a shelf, and her bed was pushed against a wall.

"Smells nice too," he said, raising his eyes to the ceiling to see if she'd done something spectacular there too.

"I had some air spray from home," she said. "It smelled a little musty."

"Oh," Harry said.

"Where's your cabin Harry?"

"Up the hill," he said, pointing. "I'm next to Draco and across from Ernie. There are some younger boys up there too."

"From Karh?"

Harry nodded. "I think so." They looked like they were eleven, maybe even ten. They were small in comparison to the other boys.

"They start school at the monastery in Karh younger remember? Maybe eleven is like seventh year for them. I spoke to Professor Camille, her cabin is just there," she pointed towards her wall. "She said there's 35 students this year, just one more than last year. And I think she said Karh only has four that came, three boys and a girl."

"That's not very many."

"No. I think I saw the girl from Karh go to a cabin a few doors down. Oh Harry, don't you just love it here? We'll get to meet so many people from other schools and just imagine what we'll learn."

"Yeah, s'great," he said. He turned to look behind him at people who had started to make their way back to the Dining Hall via any number of dirt paths.

"Um, Hermione, do you think I could borrow something to write with while we're here? All of my quills are broken and I only have one bottle of ink." It was a lie, he thought, he only had half a bottle.

"Oh Harry, I'd be happy to share with you, but I don't think you'll be very happy with what I have." She opened a desk drawer and pulled out a package of pink Muggle pens and a pink spiralbound notebook.

"Oh," Harry said, raising his brows. "I, I'll use them." He didn't want to, but he couldn't be picky either.

She pulled out a pink pen and handed it to Harry with the notebook. He took them and put the pen in his front pocket and folded the notebook in half so the pink was facing in and put it in his back pocket.

"Thanks."

Hermione came out and closed her door and they joined the others walking to the Dining Hall.

"I can't wait for classes later today."

"I don't think we'll do anything today," Harry said. "We haven't turned in the list of what we want to take yet."

But as it turned out, Hermione was right. After lunch, which was some sort of pan seared fish, chips, and creamy fruit salad, Professor Snape stood up and announced that they would all be viewing a demonstration of the various classes being offered this year so they could get a better idea of what they wanted to take. Harry was a little confused as they moved off as a group to the first building and it was explained that they would make their own schedules. As it turned out, each professor would be teaching their subject, 2, sometimes 3 times a day, so that if you were wanting to take it you could do so and still make your other classes. It would also allow for smaller class sizes and allow the teachers to give more individualized instruction to each student.

Their first stop was building 6, a small cottage style building with one room and no porch. This was where any musical instruments were going to be taught, as well as Painting, drawing, and fine arts. Harry didn't pay much attention to the music part as one of the professors played Cello and another played piano since he didn't have an instrument. He was surprised however when Snape picked up a violin and played a short piece, and noted that Hermione seemed impressed as well. He might like to learn drawing he thought, even if it wasn't for credit, and took note that it was to be taught here as well.

Building 5 was one of the larger buildings and this was where Snape would teach Advanced Defensive Tactics and Occlumency. Snape dueled another professor and showed off some of the spells and skills they'd be learning. For Occlumency, he gave a short talk about how the skills learned in Occlumency could be useful, and also suggested that any taking his class also attend Gan's meditation class, which was not for credit, but would help enormously with Occlumency. Harry noticed some people taking notes, but since he wouldn't be in any of Snape's classes, he didn't pull out his new pink notebook and pen. The lessons moved on though from building to building and even out to a flat grassy field at the edge of the cliffs which could be used for all of the defense and dueling classes, and as Harry's interests were more peaked he did take out the pink notebook to take notes. It wasn't until they were nearly done at the field that Draco sidled up to him and scoffed yet again at his belongings.

"You're making me ashamed to go to Hogwarts Potter," Draco sneered, eyeing the pink supplies.

"Shut up," Harry breathed since they were in the middle of a lecture by Gan. "It's all I have. Hermione gave it to me." He quickly folded the notebook and stuffed it back into his back pocket. At the end of the lecture and demonstration he tried to distance himself from Draco and ended up at the back of the group as they went to another building, but one of the Professors came up to him.

"Was that subject not interesting enough for you?"

"Sir?" He looked up to find Professor August.

"You were talking and put away your note taking supplies half way through the lecture."

"It was interesting sir," Harry said. He had a page and a half of notes on meditation. He planned on practicing it when he got back to his room. He supposed if he was going to get that edge Dumbledore wanted him to have, he'd have to teach Occlumency to himself, and if Snape said meditation would help, then he would have to learn that too.

"I know all about you Mr. Potter," August said, "and I've got my eye on you. This school is for those who have earned it, and no one here will take kindly to someone that hasn't earned the right to learn alongside them."

Harry was going to ask what he meant, but the professor moved off and Harry was horrified to watch him walk right up to Snape and start talking at the front of the group. He'd been ‘told' all about him, oh gee, Harry thought bitterly, I wonder by who. He sighed and only paid attention halfheartedly through the last three lectures and didn't catch half of what Hermione was excitedly babbling on about at dinner. He was also dismayed to find out that Hermione had apparently already made friends with two girls from Durmstrang in their short time there. How had she done that? He'd barely had time to talk to Hermione.

After dinner some of the boys from Durmstrang invited Draco and Ernie to go to the beach and have a campfire with them, and blatantly ignored Harry. Harry watched with some curiosity as they moved off towards the cliffs. Hermione was also going that way with a group of girls. It seemed everybody had been invited but him, and those that weren't were off to do their own activity as another group. Harry really wanted to go see the beach though so he headed off after the bonfire group. He paused on the path though when he heard staff voices coming from one of the buildings through an open window, and stood in the middle of the path to listen. He probably wouldn't have stopped except that he'd heard his name.

"Yes August, I too noticed that the boy did not appear interested during the lectures. He did not even have the courtesy to take notes most of the time."

"It seems that perhaps you were right Severus."

"The only reason he's here is because the Headmaster paid his tuition with the school coffers. I, undoubtedly like many of my colleagues were coerced into giving him a free pass into Gemini."

"We viewed his school records, he has done seemingly well at Hogwarts."

"Not because he has tried," Snape said with a note of bitterness to his voice. "They either adore him or like myself are asked to give him a passing grade by the Headmaster. He flaunts his fame around the school with a group of followers who follow him into whatever trouble he is determined to get into."

"I know that he is very famous in Britain, but that was so long ago. Surely the students do not see him as famous for that?"

"It does not help that he's the star player of his house team or that he has foolishly run off after He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named so many times while at school. You heard about the incident at the Ministry of Magic just last month?"

"Yes yes, it was in our papers even in Bulgaria. Our Ministry decided to put extra security into place."

"He lead a group of his friends across Britain in the dead of night. Before the night was out, someone died."

"No. Surely not one of the students?"

"An adult, but it makes no difference. He is foolish and instead of learning from his mistakes, he flaunts it..."

Harry hurried down the path in the waning light, his heart beating furiously. This wasn't fair. He hadn't done what Snape had said. Dumbledore paid his way- the teachers were coerced- his hands balled into fists and he kicked at a stone in the path. That man, that horrible death eater, whatever he was, just had to come here and ruin this for him too, didn't he. Hogwarts wasn't good enough for him, but he was determined to get Harry kicked out of school here too. Maybe other students had heard Snape talking before now, Harry thought. That would explain why he hadn't been invited to the bon fire. Well, forget them then, forget them all. He hiked up the hill path and went to his cabin, where he promptly pulled out his course sheet and checked off every box except for the law and music classes. He'd work extra hard and show them all that he deserved to be here, he thought and to his surprise, the second he checked the last box and pushed the paper away from himself, a stack of books appeared on his desk. He lifted the top one and saw that it was Occlumency. Disgusted he pulled the cover open, pulled out his pink notebook and pen, and began taking notes. This was going to be some summer.

Harry wasn't quite sure what to think of the gift he'd found on his porch the next morning, if it was a gift at all. He was sure Draco had left the items there (really, who else would have green monogramed Slytherin notebooks and pens). Harry stared at the three lined spiral bound notebooks and the very nice silver ink pen that were now sitting on his desk. Draco's name wasn't anywhere on them, but they each had a Silver Slytherin crest on them. Maybe he'd taken Harry's use of the pink pen and notebook personally. Well, if he wanted to give Harry some of his supplies, then let him. It would save Harry the embarrassment of running out of ink or paper and also having to take the pink ones around during classes. He'd just use Hermione's supplies for his own personal note taking when he was alone in his room.

Harry took his ratty backpack and tried to spruce it up with his wand a bit. He hadn't thought to sew it up while at Privet Drive and hadn't brought a needle or thread with him. When he'd done all he thought he could do, he put one of the green notebooks into his bag along with Draco's pen and the list of class times and schedules that had appeared on his desk overnight while he'd been sleeping. He'd read as much as he could handle of the Occlumency book last night (about ten pages), the first page of the meditation book, 5 of the advanced Defensive Tactics book, and a few each of his other books. He would have read more, but it was well after 1 am when he finally fell asleep with the Root Defense book open on his chest.

Even though it was summer Harry had been dismayed to find out that it was very cold during the night, and surmised it must have had something to do with the wind coming off of the water. His thin blanket helped keep off the chill a little, but not much, and there wasn't any kind of heater. He'd have to see if he could find some kind of jar with a lid and ask Hermione for the spell she sometimes used to put fire in a jar.

At breakfast Harry spied Draco sitting with some of the Durmstrang boys at another table, and tried to catch his eye to see if he really had given him the supplies, but Draco ignored him throughout. Harry wanted to sit next to Hermione, but she was sitting with a group of girls from another school and chatting animatedly about the classes they'd be taking. Instead, he sat down at the end of one of the tables near the back, away from the staff who were up front. There were only three of them, and Harry wondered if staff had a separate room to eat in or if the missing teachers were already at their buildings preparing for the day.

"Hey Harry." Harry stared as Ernie sat down across from him.

"Hi Ernie," Harry acknowledged. "How was the bonfire?"

"Good. It's a bit cold on the beach at night though, and it's quite a trek down the cliff path to get there."

"Oh."

Harry filled his plate with food, but looked up again when Ernie cleared his throat.

"Do you know what they're saying about you?"

"The staff, or students?"

"Er, both. I haven't heard the staff say much but I guess some have."

"Let me think," Harry said, feeling sarcastic, "they're saying I'm a poor student who got a free pass at Hogwarts, who shouldn't be here, whose a trouble maker, who got Dumbledore to pay his school bill."

"Well- yeah actually."

"I didn't get invited to the bonfire," Harry said. "I was going to go anyway but I heard the professors talking. Snape has made up all sorts of things about me."

"I- didn't think Professors would do that."

"Make things up?"

Ernie nodded.

"Well Snape has. I paid my own way and nobody has ever given me a free pass to anything. I'm here because I want to learn."

"Why would he do that?"

Harry fixed Ernie with a serious look. "I know we haven't ever had Potions together, but he's always singled me out in class. He doesn't like me. I've been given more detentions by him than I can count, but hardly any given to me by other professors."

"He's never done anything like that to any of the Ravenclaws."

Harry shrugged. "You can believe what you want to, everybody always does. I've told you my side of things."

He scarfed down the rest of his breakfast and then hurried out into the chill morning air. He wanted to study some more before his first class and to get a better handle on his schedule. He'd tried to work it out last night but it was confusing. He supposed with this system, if he wasn't feeling up to going to a certain class in the morning, he could go later in the day. He sat down on one of the benches on the wrap around porch of the Dining Hall and looked at the list of classes he'd signed up for and times they were each available, and by the time the rest of the students were coming out from breakfast, he'd scribbled this schedule:

9:00 am Advanced Wandless Magic - August
10:00 am Advanced Defensive Tactics - Snape
11:00 am Healing and Healing Potions - Gan and Adeline
12:00 pm Lunch
1:00 pm Root Defense - Gan
2:00 pm Occlumency - Snape
3:00 pm Muggle Defensive Tactics - Blazhe
4:00 pm Drawing - Blazhe
5:00 pm Meditation - Gan
5:30 pm Free Time
6:00 pm Dinner
6:45 pm Classic Muggle and Magical Literature - Iva and August

His stomach did a somersault when he counted the number of courses he was going to try to take and do homework for. His plan was to go to all of them for a couple of days and then drop any he just couldn't handle. He was certain that he'd end up dropping Occlumency and Advanced Defensive Tactics if Snape was going to be on his case, though he supposed if he could handle the man at Hogwarts, he could handle him here too.

As some students headed back to their cabins to get supplies, and others made their way across the grassy compound to class buildings, Harry crossed the grass to building four, a medium sized building with one room, and went inside. There were individual desks and chairs, and he sat down and took out his Magery book to review what he'd read last night. After a few minutes, Ernie and Draco came in, followed by three girls and one of the young boys from Karh. Harry thought he had a cabin next to Ernie's and looked like the youngest of the boys from the Monastery, probably only nine.

Harry looked at his watch, and at one to nine, Professor August came in with a smile. He ignored Harry, which Harry thought was just fine so long as he wasn't telling him how horrible he was and spouting off lies that Snape had told him.

"I know at some of your schools a small bit of wandless magic is taught towards the end of your school career. At Boden we teach it from the first year, because while it is difficult to master, the more practice one gets, the more second nature magery becomes. Who can tell me what the first principle of Magery is?"

Harry held his hand up and was surprised no one else knew the answer. It was on the first page of the magery book. Maybe they'd all been out too late to read it though, or hadn't finished their course list until this morning.

August did three sweeps of the room with his eyes. Harry was sure he saw his hand, but was refusing to choose him.

"It's concentration," August said, answering his own question. "Like many of the courses here, you'll find that it will be to your benefit to learn some meditation as it will help a great deal with concentration. Can anyone tell me why concentration is so important in wandless magic?"

Harry held his hand up again, and August ignored him a second time. "It is because in normal magic, you have a wand to channel your energy through. With no wand, you must learn to channel your energy through a hand, a finger, and depending on the spell, sometimes even a foot or your entire body. This takes a great deal of effort, and this is why I say that the more practice you get, the easier it will become. For most of you it should already be second nature to raise your wand and encant a spell. This is what you must learn for wandless magic."

Several more questions were asked and Harry raised his hand several more times, but he was never called on, despite the fact that no one else ever did raise their hand. By the end of the hour, Harry was a little irritated, but hoped that the rest of the day would go better. August released them at five til' and Harry hurried down the path to building 5. Ernie broke off to go to another course, but Draco followed Harry. He'd hoped to see Hermione, but thought for the first time that maybe he'd made his schedule completely different than hers.

"How many classes are you taking?" Harry asked as he and Draco sat down at the front of the room, again at separate student desks.

Draco snorted and rolled his eyes. "None of your business Potter."

Harry took out his book and note book to read over the notes he'd taken the night before, but just as he'd started to read, Draco said, "Five. Mother is making me learn Violin."

"That sounds fun," Harry said honestly, aside from the fact that Snape probably taught that, he wouldn't have minded learning an instrument if he had time or an instrument to practice on.

"I won't have any free time."

Harry thought of his own schedule with nine classes. He thought maybe even Hermione might have a heart attack if she saw it, and wondered which classes she was taking.

Snape walked in then and Harry wondered if this was his first class of the day.

"Follow me. Bring your belongings."

The class rose and followed him outside. Aside from Harry and Draco there were five others. Harry and Draco were the only boys. Snape lead them to the outdoor practice field by the cliffs and just as he had been yesterday, Harry was swept up in the beauty of the sight of the ocean before them.

"Pay attention Potter!" Snape snapped, and Harry's eyes came around to where he was standing in the center of the large circle the class had formed. He didn't think the professor had said anything yet, so why should he be chastised for looking at the ocean for a moment?

"All of your reading will be done before you come to class each day. There will be no homework in this class aside from to practice what you are taught. The best way to learn in this class is to practice. Now, I want you to pair off and stand opposite your partner fifteen paces apart. Then you will watch my demonstration, and practice on each other."

Harry looked around and saw Draco doing the same. He didn't really want to be paired with Draco, but he didn't know anyone else and wasn't sure he wanted to be paired with a girl if they were going to be practicing defensive and offensive spells. Draco seemed to be thinking the same thing so he walked fifteen paces from Harry and stood facing him.

Snape looked around, and realizing they had an odd number, said, "Draco, pair up with Lyn."

Harry frowned. He was taking away his partner? Then who would he practice with? Draco gave a dissatisfied look but didn't say anything and walked over to face the only girl from Karh, and who looked like she was so small a big gust of wind might carry her away. She was probably about nine like the boy whose cabin was next to Ernie's.

"Now then, we are going to be practicing the whirlwind charm. If you are taking Wandless Magic then it is imperative that you learn this charm now, as you will be practicing it tomorrow with Professor August.

Harry didn't bother raising his hand to point out that he didn't have a partner, and instead looked around for anything else he might be able to practice on.

Snape demonstrated a charm that produced a powerful gust of wind that was visible and looked like a five foot high white tornado. He directed his charm towards a rock and it levitated off the ground without spinning, sitting on top of the tornado. Maybe Harry could use that, he thought.

"We are practicing on each other because it is easier to learn it while practicing on a living being," Snape said, and he went over the movements again with his wand and instructed them each to try.

Harry went over to the edge of the field and picked up a large rock. It wasn't living, but the moss on the rock was, and he wondered if he could use that to his advantage. It was fifteen minutes before any of his other classmates got the charm to work, but it was only in the last five minutes of class that Harry finally made a little three foot whirlwind and made his rock lift. He was frustrated but determined not to give Snape the pleasure of handicapping him in this or the Magery class.

Finally it was almost eleven though, and without giving Snape the satisfaction of complaining or looking downtrodden, Harry strode off the field with the others with a smile on his face, and headed to the Infirmary in building 8 for Healing. He wondered if both Gan and Adeline would be there teaching together, or if they would take turns.

Instead of being full of desks and chairs, the infirmary had two beds, a cauldron, and several cabinets full of what looked like healing potions.

Gan and Adeline were both there, and Harry found that he was one of only 3 students attending this class at this time. There was a girl from Durmstrang and a boy from Boden.

"Such a small class, Adeline said with a smile in her heavy French accent. "Our last class had twelve." She smiled and didn't stop when she looked at Harry, and relief washed over him. Maybe this class wouldn't be as bad as the others. "It will be easier to teach you with only three," Adeline said, and Harry knew he was going to like her because she seemed so positive. She almost reminded him of Lupin, who could usually spin things in a positive light.

"Shall we get started?" she turned and asked Gan, who was still standing by the counter with his hands behind his back.

He gave a single nod and stepped forward. He wasn't frowning, but compared to Adeline he seemed very serious.

"Today, we will be learning the seven classes of healing potions." His words were measured and slow as if each one had special meaning because he'd taken his time to think on the meaning of each one.

"Can anyone name them?"

Harry held his hand up along with his two classmates.

"Axle," Gan said to the boy from Boden.

"The first one is exterior."

"Yes. Basia?"

"Exterior and blood restorative."

Harry's hand was still in the air.

"Mr. Potter." He didn't flinch at the use of his last name instead of his first as Gan had done with the other two.

"Exterior, blood restorative, core replenishing, core diminishing, anti-magical, interior vital, and interior non-vital."

Gan stared at him and seemed to be considering his answer, perhaps to see what he could find wrong with it. Harry hoped he'd said the names right though. Snape had taught them this in first year and he'd tried to read through the first few pages of the text last night.

"Yes Mr. Potter," Gan said in his even measured voice. His face never changed, but Adeline looked happy that he'd known them all.

"Well done Harry," she said. "Do you know what each of them is for?"

"Yes maam."

Harry tried to the best of his ability to tell them what each class of potion did, and noted that his two classmates were taking notes as he spoke. So this was what Hermione felt like, he thought. He'd never really put too much effort into his schoolwork beyond the minimum except in Defense, but if this is what Hermione felt like all the time, he thought, that might change.

Gan and Adeline showed them upwards of forty potions in the cabinets and described the uses of each before the end of class, and as class ended and his classmates followed Gan out the door, Adeline put a hand on Harry's wrist to stop him.

"Do you have an interest in healing Harry?"

He shrugged. "It's nice to know how to heal yourself if you have to."

She gave him a smile and then let him go out the door and into the bright sunlight.

As Harry ate lunch, again by himself, he reviewed his day so far. August had ignored him in Magery, Snape had snapped at him and taken his partner in Defense, and Healing wasn't bad at all. He ate quickly and then took his bag outside and picked a spot on the grass to study. No one else was out here and he found he liked the peace and quiet of nature where no one was there to judge him.

Gan hadn't been so bad in Healing, Harry thought, so he was looking forward to Root Defense with him as soon as the lunch hour was over. He also thought the building Root Defense was held in was kind of cool. It was basically a deck with a high roof held up by four pillars, and two walls with holes in them in an intricate design. It was like a gazebo but had a very oriental feel to it. He wondered if maybe it had been built just for Gan or the other teachers from the Monastery to use each year.

The Root Defense text was the hardest he'd tried to read so far. It had technical descriptions and diagrams of the oriental fighting style moves he'd be learning, and technical descriptions of the magic as well, but the diagrams of how to combine the two were confusing, and Harry was still only on page three when it was time to go to class.

He headed to the gazebo building, number 11, and wondered whether to sit or stand. The oldest looking of the three Karh boys came and sat crosslegged at the edge so Harry did the same. The boy was also barefoot, but Harry wasn't sure why so he didn't take his shoes off. He also didn't want to showcase his black and blue right foot.

Gan came a few minutes later, followed by seven other students, though none aside from Harry were from Gryffindor.

"If you are opposed to hard work, difficulty, or following directions, this is not the class for you," Gan said. He didn't look at Harry or any of the other students, but after what Snape had told the staff, Harry was sure that message was meant for him. He was surprised though when one of the girls got up and apologized to Gan before leaving.

"Is there anyone else?"

No one else rose, so he continued, hands behind his back, as always. "Today I have with me one of my students from Karh, Kushi. He will help to demonstrate Root Defense before he goes to his next course."

Kushi stood up, bowed to Gan, who gave a small bow in return, put his open hand over his fist and then took a step back into some sort of fighting stance. Harry wished he had some room to scoot back as the mesmerizing demonstration ensued over the next three or four minutes. Gan (despite that he looked in his sixties or older) and Kushi leapt and twisted, struck, kicked and dodged, and at specific moments in specific moves there were little bursts of light or blasts of energy from both their fists and feet. In the end Kushi was bested and ended up on the floor, but he stood, put his hand and fist together again and bowed to Gan.

"Thank you Kushi. You may go."

"Yes teacher."

He bent down outside the gazebo on the grass and picked up his shoes and moved off.

"Who tried to read the text book last night?"

Harry raised his hand along with a few others.

"How many of you were confused?"

The hands including Harry's stayed up in the air.

"What I will attempt to teach you, and what you will attempt to learn over the next month and a half, is what Kushi has spent seven years learning, and what I have spent a life time learning. Some of you will persevere and being the process of learning Root, others will wither and turn away from it. You cannot follow only one principle, or two, you must follow all. For you this may be a class you will take and never think about again. For those who devote their life to it, it is a lifestyle. It takes dedication, perseverance, and hard work." He stared around at the group. "Are you still interested?"

Harry was still mesmerized by the display and wondered why they hadn't done this yesterday. He looked around and noted that two more of his classmates had stood up and were walking away. That left five including Harry.

"I see. The first principle of Root is respect. We respect ourselves, we respect our elders, we respect others, we respect life, we respect the space given to us to learn in. Root is not to take life, it is not to injure, it is to defend. Part of respecting your own life is to defend it when in danger. Part of respecting others and life itself, is not taking life unless you have to."

Gan sat down and crossed his legs as some of his students had done. "When it is time to listen, we respect our elders by sitting attentively, and listening. You may take notes if you wish, but one should not talk or let themselves be distracted. We respect the space given to us to learn in, by removing our shoes and socks. This is also done so that you may be rooted to the world around you with your feet and feel the magic therin, because, if you cannot feel the magic in the world around you, how will you defend yourself in this world?"

There was a shuffle of movement as people around Harry began taking their shoes and socks off. Harry had a problem. He wanted to learn this, but his black and blue foot was going to be a problem, not only if people saw it, but because without his shoes it was almost unbearable to walk on. His too tight shoes helped to bind it and keep it from moving around too much.

Harry untied his shoes and wrenched them off and hurriedly removed his socks and sat cross-legged, bag in front of his foot to hide it. Hopefully no one would see and he wouldn't be called on to practice until he could get his hands on some bruise balm or until the bruises had more time to heal.

"Now we may begin."

Harry was still thinking about Root Defense through Occlumency (nothing more than a lecture at this point about what he'd already been taught by Snape), and into the start of Muggle Defensive Tactics, which was also being held on the practice field that afternoon. His attention was brought back to the present when Professor Blazhe called him to the center of the group for a demonstration. They hadn't been taught anything yet, so Harry was a little nervous. His only experience in Muggle fighting was running from Dudley and his gang and covering his face when uncle Vernon was angry.

"Stand there, in the middle," Blazhe said in his thick accent. "Good, now show me a defensive stance."

Harry wasn't sure what to do and didn't want to look like a fool by putting his arms over his face, so he got into the stance he'd seen Kushi start out with in Root Defense.

"No no, none of that Root stuff Potter. This is Muggle Defense. Fist fighting, boxing, kick boxing."

Harry stood up and put his fists up, but only succeeded in making Blazhe laugh. Ernie was in this class too with a dozen other students and Harry was chagrined to hear them all laughing. Maybe his focus was too much on his classmates behind him then because out of nowhere a fist came flying at his face and Harry dodged it and threw his arm up sideways, catching the fist on his forearm.

"How did you know how to do that?" Blazhe asked seriously.

"I- I don't know," Harry said. Well, he did know. It always seemed to hurt less if he caught his uncle or Dudley's fists on his arm.

"The forearm is the best place to block," Blazhe said to the class. "It's strong, and there's a lot of space to block with." Harry was listening intently, but then suddenly he found himself flat on his back on the grass, staring up at the sky. The class was laughing again.

"What did Potter do wrong?" he asked, and someone must have raised his hand because Blazhe called out a name and a girl said, "he didn't pay attention."

"He wasn't paying attention," Blazhe said with a little laugh. Then he bent down over Harry and said in a low voice, "That seems to be a problem with you Potter, right?"

Harry got up off the grass and took a defensive stance again. Blazhe's smile disappeared. "Go stand with your classmates Potter, before you embarrass yourself again."

Angry, Harry did as he was told and was aware that his face was red for the remainder of class. At the end he didn't feel much like going to Drawing since that was going to be taught by Blazhe too, but he wanted to see what the class would be like and he'd always wanted to learn to draw, so he went to tiny building six and sat in one of the student desks. Draco was already there, scribbling on a piece of paper, and so were two others Harry didn't know.

"Drawing?" Harry asked Draco, feeling in a sullen mood.

"The only class my parents let me pick," Draco said. "And besides I had violin last class in here so I don't have to walk anywhere in between."

"Huh."

Blazhe came in and looking smug upon seeing Harry there, passed out several sheets of thick paper to each of the four students and gave them each a little wooden box. Harry opened his up to find several pieces of charcoal, an eraser, a fine fountain pen, two black pencils, and a strange long piece of paper that was wound up tight like a pencil.

"These are yours to keep," Blazhe said. "I'll give you each a drawing pad at the end of the lesson. Right now, I want you each to draw a self-portrait. I don't care what it looks like as long as you do your best. We'll compare your self-portrait from today, with the final portrait you'll draw at the end of the summer. You've got an hour. Please don't talk unless you have a question."

Harry took one of the pencils out and considered his blank sheet of paper. He didn't know how to draw himself. He'd done stick figures on the sides of his notes before, but that was it."

"You'll need these too," Blazhe said, and he handed out small mirrors. Harry looked at himself. He had green eyes and a scar. Those were the only two defining characteristics anyone ever mentioned about him, aside from his messy hair maybe. He started with the scar. He hated the stupid thing, it was jagged and nasty and he always tried to hide it under his bangs. Next he did the eyes and tried to make them eye shape and even with each other. At the end of the hour, Harry stared at his ugly picture. He wasn't pleased with it at all. He looked over at Draco's too though and didn't feel so bad. Draco's was about as stick figure-ish as his was.

"Ok, hand them in," Blazhe said. Harry handed his to Draco who handed his to the girl in front of him, and finally it made its way up to the front.

"Here are your drawing pads. Your homework is to read to page ten and do the exercises in the book in the drawing pad. This class isn't for credit, so if you want to fill up the pages with your own drawings, feel free. When you run out, come back and I'll give you another drawing pad. You're also going to be drawing a self-portrait at the end of each week, so get used to looking at yourself in the mirror as you draw."

Harry packed up his things and as he went outside he noted that most students seemed to be done for the day now that it was five o'clock, and were either lounging around out on the grass studying or talking, or going in and out of their cabins. Harry wasn't done though. He had a half hour of meditation to go to with Gan, and headed out to the practice field for the third time that day. So far on the field he'd been ignored and embarrassed and he wondered what his third time would be like. When he got there, all four students from Karh were already sitting there crosslegged and shoeless with their eyes closed facing the ocean along with Gan. Harry wasn't sure what he was supposed to do or if there would be any instruction, so he sat down quietly and took his shoes and socks off, again placing his bag in front of his black foot, and closed his eyes, trying to think of the notes he'd taking yesterday about meditation. He tried to clear his mind of all the horrible things that had happened so far that day and just relax, and was startled when a hand suddenly appeared on his shoulder. He jumped, not used to people touching him, and looked over to find Kushi standing behind him. "Class is over," he said quietly.

Harry frowned and then looked down at his watch. He'd only closed his eyes for a minute and then a half hour had passed.

"Oh, ok, thanks," he said quietly. He put his shoes and socks back on and stood up to go to dinner. He was so relaxed that he forgot he had a half hour of free time and went to the Dining Hall anyway, which was empty, so he sat down and pulled out his books to start his homework. He studied while he ate and tried to ignore the laughter and happy chatter around him. He wondered if Hermione had completely forgotten about him, and looked around to see who she was sitting with but found that she was absent. Then he remembered that dinner was served for two hours instead of one, and that some classes were held during this time and wondered what class she was taking.

Feeling exhausted from his first day, Harry packed up after dinner and headed to his final class for the day: Classic Muggle and Magical Literature. He wasn't looking forward to another class with Professor August, but he thought maybe Iva might be ok as he'd heard some people talking about her over lunch and at dinner. He went back to the building 1 at the far end of the compound, which had a big porch facing the sea, and found Iva and August sitting outside with three students. Iva handed him a book and he sat down on the porch steps, staring out at the ocean until class started. As it turned out, they weren't going to learn anything today. Instead Iva and August told them to read chapter one of the book and gather their thoughts on it and how it compared to history in the world of magic despite it being a Muggle novel, and to come to class prepared to talk about it tomorrow night. Harry thumbed through the fifteen pages of the first chapter and thought it looked doable, especially since he'd finished two assignments during dinner. Class was dismissed and he headed off in the direction of his cabin, feeling like he could use a nap. As he passed by the practice field, he took note that Gan was still there meditating, though there were no students.

Harry didn't feel much like being alone in his cabin after an entire day alone, so he passed his cabin by and decided to explore the wooded area behind it for a while. There was still an hour or so of daylight left.

He admired the gnarled trees and how each one looked different from the next, and was surprised to find that many of the trees bore fruit, but each tree had a different kind. One tree had apples, another pineapples, another pears, another tomatoes (yes it really did he was certain). He touched the mossy trunks as he walked by and was surprised to feel the tingle of magic as he did so, and was also surprised to find that each tree felt different in the magic it held. Deep in the woods, he picked a spot on the cliff where he could sit amongst the gnarled roots and look out over the ocean. He took his shoes and socks off and tried to relax. Out here he could be happy, he thought to himself. There was no one to listen to lies about him or look down their noses at him. It was too bad Hermione seemed to be so busy and into her new friends, he thought, because she probably would have liked it out here. He took out the novel and started reading chapter one. It was near dark when he finally made his way back to his cabin. He could hear laughter and down the hill he saw another group of students going down to the beach, probably for another bonfire and wondered if Hermione and Draco and Ernie were with them, and then he went inside to do the rest of his homework.

Harry's second and third days of class went about as well as his first. His professors ignored him, embarrassed him, or looked down their noses at him. Gan was all right he supposed, and Adeline was very nice, but the rest he could do without.

His assumption that he could handle Snape here was also proving too difficult to be true. In Occlumency the man took every chance he got to snap at Harry, even if Harry hadn't done anything wrong, and in Advanced Defensive Tactics he kept keeping Harry away from any partners he needed to practice. Harry found that the more Snape put him down or yelled at him, the more the other students treated him like a lepper. Draco, he supposed, had always treated him like a lepper, so he didn't much count, but that was beside the point.

By day four, when Snape announced that they would begin practicing Occlumency and that they would all be practicing alone with him for ten minutes at a time while the others waited outside and quizzed each other on the text, Harry was certain he would be dropping the class. The last time he'd been alone in a room with this man, he'd throw a giant jar of cockroaches at his head. Snape of course, called Harry into the room to practice first, and he nervously obliged. It was only a few minutes before the students sitting outside on the grass heard Snape yelling at Harry inside followed by Harry storming out of the building angrily. He had been trying to occlude, he really had, but Harry would bet anything that Snape wouldn't be yelling at any of the other students or putting them down, or putting their parents down. He angrily pulled his schedule out of his bag and scribbled out Occlumency, and wrote ‘free time' next to it. It wouldn't really be free time of course, because he still had to learn Occlumency or else Dumbledore would be disappointed with him, and because he was overloaded with other work that had to be done. Most of his classes didn't require him to write essays, but because they had such a short time together, the students were expected to get through every page in their text books by the end of the summer, and with nine books, plus practicing and other homework, that was a lot of reading. Just in Literature alone they'd already finished the first novel in under a week and had moved on to a second. While Harry enjoyed reading the novels he didn't think he'd ever done this much reading in his life with the novels and all of his text books.

The only classes Harry really considered going well for him were Literature (where he was often ignored and not asked questions), Root Defense, where he was quickly becoming obsessed even though he'd yet to be called on to practice, and Healing, where Adeline was kind to him and he got to exercise his new knowledge by answering questions. He also liked healing because they got to practice actual healing spells on injured plants and sometimes injured animals that Adeline had found in the fields or forest, like mice and rabbits, and one morning, a dead fish they brought back to life. Also, Gan and Adeline took them out into the Gemini wood and they gathered potions ingredients, which Harry found he quite liked and wondered why Snape never had them go and get their own ingredients on the grounds at Hogwarts. While most of the students continued to ignore him, Axle, the boy from Boden that he had Healing with, sometimes talked to him, and even hinted at maybe studying together at some point, though he didn't say when.

When the weekend came, Harry found that they had Saturday off, but were required to gather after dinner on Saturday for a lesson and question and answer session on cultural differences between the attending schools. The first Saturday, the Professors from Durmstrang spoke about their customs in everything from eating to holidays to how students behave in school, and then allowed students from other schools to ask questions, and students from Durmstrang to answer. Harry liked it and looked forward to next Saturday, even if no one ever called on him when he raised his hand to ask a question.

They had Sunday off too, and because Harry had spent the majority of the day Saturday studying and trying to catch up on his reading and other work, he was feeling burnt out and ready for a break on Sunday. Not knowing anybody else, he decided to see if Hermione was free to ask if she wanted to go see the forest. Every night after classes and dinner Harry had taken to the woods to sit at his special tree, one of the trees without fruit, and stare out at the ocean and study. Sometimes he meditated and sometimes he drew.

He went to Hermione's cabin and was happy to find the door open, though there were three other girls inside and they were all sitting on the floor or bed with Hermione and studying.

"Harry!" Hermione said happily, and the other three girls looked up, many of them throwing a look of dislike in Harry's direction.

"I er, I didn't mean to interrupt your studying," he said, standing on the threshold of the porch and inside.

"No, it's ok. I feel like I haven't really seen you at all this week."

"Will you be free later today?"

"Well, we're going swimming later, do you want to come?"

He smiled. "Sure. What time?" He hadn't been to the beach yet and he could hardly believe he hadn't been in the seven days they'd been there when it had been on the top of his to do list when they'd arrived.

"Meet back here in an hour."

"Ok." He waved goodbye and went back to his cabin to get his towel. It was the same towel he'd used for the last four years. Aunt Petunia didn't like him to use any of the other ‘family' towels as if he would spread magic germs to them if he did. It was thin and frayed on one end and looked like it was ready for the bin, but he took it anyway and threw it over his shoulder. He sat down to do a few minutes of studying himself and then went back to Hermione's cabin.

She was sitting on the steps of her porch with her own towel. "Ready?"

"Yes."

"Where are your friends?"

"Oh, er, they already went down there. We can meet them there."

"Ok."

She lead off down the path right beside her cabin and Harry felt happy for the first time that week.

"So how has your week been Harry?"

"You haven't heard?"

"Heard what?"

"Heard what Snape told the staff and apparently what the staff told all the other students."

"Oh, that. Well, I know it's not true."

"Good, because it's been a pretty horrible week, thanks to Professor Horrible himself."

"Oh Harry, I'm so sorry."

"Thanks. It hasn't all been bad, Gan and Adeline are nice and Iva is ok. I read and study though and then the rest of the teachers ignore me and won't call on me, and Snape won't let me have a partner in Defense Tactics and Blazhe keeps choosing me to make an example of in Muggle Defense."

"That sounds awful."

He shrugged as they began their descent down the sandy path. Halfway down the path split and went straight ahead or to the left. Harry could see a beautiful little alcove straight ahead full of students, and to the left he saw a long sandy beach and a very long path to the water.

"I quit Occlumency."

"So you're only taking three classes then?"

"Eight."

Hermione almost choked. "Eight! I'm only taking six!"

"Well, I have nothing else to do. You're off with your friends, nobody invites me to go to the bonfires, nobody sits with me at meals or wants to study with me. What else am I going to do? They all think I'm lazy because that's what Snape said, but I'm not, I study really hard. Hermione, you would have been proud. On the first day I was the only one to know the answers or even raise my hand for most of the classes, but they all ignored me. The only time I got to show what I learned was in Healing."

He looked at Hermione and was surprised to see her turning red.

"Are you- are you ok Hermione?"

She raised both hands which were in fists. "Oh I can't believe it," she said through gritted teeth, and Harry raised his brows. Usually the only one who could get Hermione this mad was Ron, and the last time he'd made her really mad she'd actually slapped him across the face in the hall between classes.

"Sorry, but I made you mad?"

"No Harry, I'm not mad at you, I'm mad that this is happening to you. You paid 100 Galleons to come here, we all did, and you deserve to be here. The reason it's so expensive is because you're supposed to be treated so well, but they're being so horrible to you!"

"It's Snape's fault," Harry said. "I heard him telling the staff all these lies on the first night, but I guess he'd already told them things before that. He even said-"

Hermione stopped walking. They were still a good four minutes away from the bottom of the cliff and the start of the beach. "He even said what?"

"He even said it was my fault that Sirius died."

"AHH!"

Harry startled as Hermione actually screamed.

"What?" He thought maybe something sharp had gotten into her sandals.

"Harry, I think you should write to Professor Dumbledore."

"Why? What good would that do?"

"There has to be something. They have to listen to him."

"But it's not like that here. There's no one in charge here, no headmaster. They're all from different places and have different governments. Why would they listen to Dumbledore? To them this war with Voldemort isn't even real. I heard them saying that I'm not famous where they're from and when I defeated him as a baby it was a long time ago so I shouldn't be famous here either."

Hermione was shaking her head.

"Harry, I'm sorry I've neglected to sit with you at meals this whole week. I feel horrible now."

"Why? You made lots of new friends and were busy, there's no reason to feel horrible."

"Yes there is. I knew you hadn't made any friends yet and what other people were saying about you, and I told them it wasn't true, but my new friends didn't want to go swimming with you or study with you. I've been a horrible friend."

Harry looked at the ground as the path became sandy suddenly. "S'ok," he said.

"No, no it's not, and I want to change classes to get into some of yours."

"I don't want to mess up your classes."

"You won't. I can rearrange my schedule. We'll do it when we get back from swimming."

"Really?"

"Yes. There has to be at least one class we can take together."

"Well if you could get into Snape's Defensive Tactics class, that would be good. I have to know what he's teaching and I need a partner to practice on and it's an odd number. If you come in it'll be even and even if I don't get you I'll be able to practice with someone."

"I've been taking that at eight am. If I switch it with my Piano lesson it should be fine."

"What classes are you taking anyway?"

"Advanced Defensive Tactics, Piano, Magery, Muggle and Magic Law, Healing, and Literature."

"When are you in Literature?"

"During the first dinner hour."

"I'm in it during the second."

"I can switch that too."

Harry laughed and Hermione looked over at him as the path finally leveled out and they made the beach.

"What?"

"I was just thinking, what a cool friend I have."

She gave him a little nudge. "Harry, don't kid."

"I'm not, I'm not." He laughed and took off running then towards the water, Hermione right behind him. They dropped their towels on the beach in an unoccupied spot and Hermione showed him how to do the flotation charm and they dove in. The charm let them dive down but never more than a foot or two. They swam for almost two hours, and Harry thought that in all his life, he'd never had a better time.

* * *

Harry wished that Sunday could have lasted forever. After swimming, Hermione rearranged her schedule and they went to study in the Gemini wood where Harry showed her his special studying spot.

"They're strange trees," Hermione said. "I've looked everywhere and not one of my books says why they grow different fruits."

"They have different magic too," Harry said, "feel the trunk."

She did and they talked about it in between studying. Unfortunately Sunday came to an end all too soon and on Monday, Harry was certain that even with Hermione's new schedule, he would have a repeat of the previous week.

Magery started out ok and Harry was able to correctly preform his first simple spell without a wand, and was actually looking forward to Advanced Defensive Tactics with Snape so he could tell Hermione about his accomplishment and have a partner to practice with. Snape however did not seem pleased with Hermione's change in schedule, as now it had left his other class, the one she had left, with an odd number of students. When Harry walked up to the training field, he found Hermione and Snape in a heated debate.

He waited patiently for them to finish, and watched as other students looked on in horror, amazed that she was speaking to a professor that way. Finally Snape seemed to realize there were other students around and broke off his conversation with Hermione, who went to stand next to Harry.

"Was all that about me?"

"No," she said, crossing her arms and looking close to tears herself. "But you're right, he is Professor Horrible."

"You're turning into Ron in his absence," Harry joked, nudging her a little, and she did smile a little, but he could tell she wasn't happy.

"He told me to transfer to the other class and I told him no."

"And?"

"And he said he knew what I was doing in this class and I was going to end up losing my friends and status with the teachers her by associating myself with you."

"So- it was about me," Harry said.

"It's none of his business, and I could care less what others think of me. I was friends with you a long time before I was friends with any of them. I told him that and I asked if he was going to say horrible things about me to the other professors too."

"Is that when he blew a gasket?"

"Yes."

"And is he?"

"He accused me of being a follower in your fan club and I said it wasn't like that, and he told me he was not going to lie about any student and that he certainly didn't tell any lies about you."

"Great, well, at least you're safe," Harry said. He crossed his arms, mimicking her and said, "Don't worry about it. If push comes to shove you can go back to the other class. I'll take the practice time I can get with you while I have it."

"I'm not going to back down," she said.

"See," Harry said. "You're getting more stubborn, like Ron."

"Well I never appreciated it until now."

"I'll be sure to tell him that," Harry said with a smile. She looked at him with wide eyes and was about to beg him not to, but Snape cleared his throat then at the front of the group since the rest of the students had arrived and they looked at him.

"Pair up. Today we're doing something different."

Harry and Hermione stood together as they were and let the others move off to find their partners.

"You will be dueling in pairs today now that we have an even number. There are six groups of two. Potter, Miss Granger, you will be dueling Lyn and Jacques."

The other pair came to stand next to them and Harry was surprised. Lyn and Jacques, from what he had seen, were formidable duelers, which was even more surprising given Lyn's size and age. He had learned for sure now that she was only nine. Snape paired the other groups up and then said, "You have one hour. I will put a spell on each one of you that will tell me your location and physical condition at all times. You will spread out away from the school buildings to any part of the school grounds and duel your opponents. The first team to incapacitate both of their opponents gets the high mark for today. The first team to have both members incapacitated will get a failing mark for the day. Everyone else will get a passing grade. Stay away from the buildings," he warned again. "You may go to the beach, the fields, the hills, or the forest. You have ten minutes before you must start dueling."

They stood there, uncertain if they were dismissed or not and Snape said, "Go now." Harry was surprised he didn't bark it, especially given the intent look of dislike he was sending Harry's way as Harry and Hermione took off towards the forest, Lyn and Jacques right behind them. Friday they had started to read in their books about avoiding detection and capture and about fighting in unfamiliar terrain, and Harry tried to remember every word that he'd read as they ran up the hill past his cabin and into the woods.

Harry stopped and turned to the other team. "We have five minutes left. Spread out and in five minutes we'll start."

Lyn nodded and ran off with her partner without a word.

"Ok, what are we going to do?" Hermione asked, and Harry was surprised she was automatically deferring to him. "Don't give me that look," she reprimanded him, "you're the top of our year in defense and we both know it."

He nodded. "Ok. Lyn is small, she can be hiding anywhere, and Jacques is fast with his wand and I'm pretty sure he's had Magery before he came here. He's a year older and most of his spells come out without words. I think we should take up a position high up where we can see a lot of area but still be hidden. Then we need to both fire on one at a time and take them out. Even if one of us misses, the other wont. Then work on the other."

"Let's go then."

They snuck off in the opposite direction from their opponents and chose two separate trees to climb high up into.

"Don't fall," Harry warned her before she climbed into hers. "Conjure a rope around one of your hands and the branch to keep from falling out if you're stunned or hexed." She nodded and moved off. The way the branches were gnarled and twisted together made it easy to climb.

Harry climbed the tree ten feet from Hermione's and they made eye contact high up in the branches and then kept a lookout. A moment later they saw Jacques climbing up a tree thirty feet away and Harry pointed. Hermione nodded. They knew where he was so they'd take him out first. They both aimed and fired some of the new spells they'd learned from Snape last week and from their books, and Jacques fell from the first branch he reached, stunned and lying motionless on the dirt. A moment later a red shot of light came out from behind a large root sticking out of the dirt next to Jacques' tree and it narrowly missed Harry's head. Another shot came and grazed past Hermione's shoulder.

"We've been made!" Harry shouted, and jumped from his tree, cursing when he landed on his black and blue foot. Hermione climbed down on the safe side of her tree and they began dodging and running for cover in opposite directions. From Lyn's vantage point there was no way they could hit her with a hex.

Harry motioned for Hermione to circle around while he drew fire and she did so, but just as she was almost behind Lyn, the small girl leapt up and ran off, shooting hexes behind her all the way at Harry and Hermione.

They ran for a long distance like this and Harry was aware that they'd passed some students gathering ingredients and possibly Adeline. Lyn tripped on a rock and Harry took the chance to run as hard as he could and catch up to her. She got to her feet just as Harry got there and shot a confusion charm at her, but suddenly she leapt up and did some sort of twisted side flip to get out of the way, a pulse of energy coming out of her wand free hand and aiming at Harry in the split second she was upside down. Harry dropped just in time and was on the ground just as she landed on her feet. He had no idea where Hermione was or if she'd been hit as they'd made their mad dash through the woods.

Lyn sent several spells off at once and Harry wasn't sure what was happening or how he was doing it, but his hands were on the cold damp earth and he was certain he could feel the pulse of the magic flowing towards him. It was as if time had slowed somehow and he was going in slow motion. He dodged left, dodged right, and twisted to get out of the way of the third spell. Then he hip chucked and used the momentum in one swift motion to leap back to his feet. Lyn aimed several more curses at his head but they never made their target, because Harry was twisting like in a dance and allowing the spells to move around him. In the heat of the moment, it all seemed so simple, just move aside and let the curses move around him. And then he remembered his own wand and as he dodged a green jet of light he shot off a stunning charm and it found its target right in the center of her chest. She fell over backwards, stiff as a board.

He stared for a moment, breathing heavily to be sure she was down, and then looked around. "Hermione?"

Her head popped up from behind a gnarled tree root.

"Here I am."

"What are you doing over there?"

"Waiting for you to get hit. I didn't want her to know where I was in case you went down. I thought I could surprise her then and take her out."

Harry shook his head, surprised. It was a good move. He waved his wand over Lyn then and she unfroze, and he held his hand down to her.

"You were great," he said with a grin.

"Not so great to win."

He waved her away. "You gave us a run for our money. When you started using Root I thought I was done for sure."

"You used Root more than I did."

He stared.

"I didn't do any Root."

"You did. You felt all of my magic coming."

Harry scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, but I didn't think that was Root. I haven't even had a chance to do it in class yet."

"No," she said, "no one ever does. Now that you've done it, you will though."

Harry wasn't sure what she was talking about, but then she pointed behind Harry and he looked and saw Gan there with his hands behind his back through the trees. He turned and walked away and Harry's heart started beating hard again. Oh no. What must that have looked like to him? Two sixteen year olds chasing his nine year old student through the forest in a fierce fire fight?

"Come on, let's go find Jacques," Hermione said. "He needs unfreezing too."

When they found Jacques, all of them suddenly glowed blue and they heard Snape's voice come out of nowhere and say, "Return to the practice field."

Harry was worried all the way back. He had Healing and Root Defense later that day with Gan and was afraid of Gan turning against him too. Not that Gan had been friendly towards him up to this point, but he hadn't been bad or unfair to him either like the others had been.

When they got back to the practice field, they were the only ones there aside from Snape.

"You are the first to return. Which team won?"

Harry raised his hand and Hermione said shortly, "We did sir."

"Fine, you may go for the day. You have the top mark."

Hermione bit her lip. "Sir, they fought well. We almost didn't win. It doesn't seem right that they get a failing grade."

"I will decide that miss Granger. Now be on your way, all of you."

Harry picked up his bag and waited for Hermione. At the edge of the field he turned to Lyn and said, "You really were good. I'll practice with you any time," and then he and Hermione left.

"Where are you off to next?" Harry said.

"I have a free hour before lunch. I've been using it to study. What about you?"

"Healing."

"Well we've still got twenty minutes and I was going to go that way anyway. Want to study before your class?"

"Sure."

They sat outside the Infirmary and studied for twenty minutes and then Harry said goodbye and went inside. Gan wasn't there and Harry's stomach knotted itself up again about what he'd seen in the forest. Axle and Basia came in and leaned against the wall next to Harry and they waited for Adeline or Gan to show up, and finally Adeline did.

"Well, that was quite the performance in the wood this morning Harry," she said to him, grinning. "We were all very impressed. Was that for Defensive Tactics for Professor Snape?"

"Yes maam," Harry said, turning red. Axle and Basia looked at him, wondering what had happened in the Gemini Wood.

"Teacher Gan won't be with us this morning. He's gone to meditate. We'll be going out to the Gemini trees to collect fruit for a potion we'll be brewing tomorrow. As we walk out there, let's talk about the potion."

They followed her out and Harry tried to keep his mind on the lesson instead of wandering to Gan.

At lunch Harry was happy to sit with Hermione and expressed his concern about Gan to her but she told him she was sure it would all be fine, and then after lunch they split up, Hermione going to Piano and Harry heading to the gazebo building for Root Defense, as nervous as ever. It seemed to Harry that his anxiety was well founded when he was asked to come up to the front to practice. Harry looked around nervously. His shoes and socks were off and so far he'd been able to hide it behind his bag. The others were looking at him too. None of them had been called to practice Root yet. So far they'd only practiced meditating and talked about the principles of the art and gone over the reading.

"Mr. Potter."

Harry looked up at Gan's prodding. "Yes teacher," he said, and stood up and made his way to the front, the cool ocean air sweeping through the large open gazebo and acting as though it wanted to calm Harry's nerves. He was certain Gan was going to make an example of him for treating Lyn as he had in the wood.

"Mr. Potter is the first to achieve a state of Root awareness," Gan said in his even, measured pace, and the class seemed interested.

"This morning as he pursued a student through the Gemini Wood for another class in a duel, I observed him dodge fifteen hexes and curses aimed at him from less than five feet away. Would you like to tell us what that felt like?"

"Yes teacher," Harry said. "Um... I wasn't sure what was happening. We were dueling, and I ducked to get out of the way of a spell and ended up on the ground. And then suddenly, I realized my hands were on the cold earth, and I could feel- I don't know, it was like a shock wave I guess. I felt different shockwaves coming at me and I knew it was magic. So when I felt one on the left, I moved to the right. And when one was on the right, I moved to the left. I didn't know how I was doing it, but it seemed like everything was moving slower... happening slower."

"And was your opponent using Root Defense?"

"Yes teacher."

"And did you win your duel?"

"Yes teacher, but barely. I was surprised I did." Having nowhere else to look he looked at some of the students and was aware that two or three of the four sitting on the floor were looking at his foot.

"Why were you surprised? Are you not top of your year in defense at Hogwarts?"

"Yes sir, I am," he said, "but she was moving so fast. She had three spells off at me before I could even react, and she was twisting and dodging everything I sent at her."

Gan nodded. "You and I will practice now. Put down your wand." Harry stepped back and set his wand on his bag, having trouble standing on his bare foot, especially after he'd dropped from the tree onto it this morning, and feeling more and more uncomfortable the longer it was exposed to everyone.

"Assume the first defensive stance," Gan said and Harry assumed the stance Kushi had taken on the first day of classes. It was the most stable stance according to the book.

"Good. Now, close your eyes, and feel your feet against the wood."

Harry did as he was told, aware that the wood was worn smooth by years of rain and wind battering against it through the openness and lack of walls. He let his toes slide along the wood.

"Feel the magic as it flows towards you, and react," Gan said, and Harry concentrated hard, trying to sense any feeling of a shockwave as he had earlier. Then, as suddenly as Gan had stopped speaking, Harry found himself lying on his back on the floor with a warm sensation in his chest where he'd been hit with a stunning spell. He opened his eyes and Gan waved his hand over Harry to release the spell. Harry got up and his face turned red. He knew it, this was just like Muggle Defense and Gan was mad at him and set to embarrass him.

"Why did he not feel the shockwave of the magic traveling towards him?" Gan asked not to Harry but to his four classmates.

"No one?" He turned to Harry. "Mr. Potter?"

He shook his head.

"The Gemini trees take in the magic from the students who visit and spell cast. It permeates their roots, falls from their leaves and decomposes into soil, that then feeds the roots. Every spell Lyn sent at him this morning radiated out to the trees, down through their roots, and into the soil. Mr. Potter, touching the soil with his hands, and then his feet, even through his shoes, felt the magic coming and was able to get out of the way. Now, why wasn't he able to do that here?"

"There's no trees here," a girl from Boden said.

"But there is wood, wood from Gemini trees," Gan said, motioning to the floor and pillars and roof.

"The tree isn't alive," a boy said.

"The soil and grass beneath the floor is alive, the worms and insects beneath the floor are alive."

No one else answered and Harry finally said, "I'm not good enough yet teacher." He looked at the floor.

"Sit down," Gan said, and Harry sat cross-legged again on the floor, pulling his bag in front of his foot.

"It is not that he is not good enough, it is that the trees channel energy easier. Where there is already an abundance of magic, it is easier to feel magic. Root Defense, is always best learned where there is a Root of magic already, a foot hold. I suspect once you learn, you will all do well with this when you return back to your own schools, where magic abounds already, soaked up into the floors, ceiling, walls... once you learn it in a place abundant with magic, you will be able to better practice it in a place without. That is why Mr. Potter did not preform here. He is not well practiced enough."

Harry looked up. So maybe Gan wasn't all that upset with him. He hadn't tried to make a fool of him exactly.

Harry went through the rest of the day, his mind again lingering on the lesson in Root, and he let it linger there. During meditation at five, Harry sat on the practice field and once again hid his bare foot behind his bag.

He was startled only a few moments after he'd sat and closed his eyes next to Gan and the four students from Karh when Gan spoke.

"We have already seen the foot Harry Potter. There is no need to continue to hide it." He opened his eyes and saw that Gan and the others still had their eyes closed. If he had not have heard it, Harry would have been sure the man hadn't spoken at all. He tentatively moved the bag away from his foot and then closed his eyes again. He was nervous about someone walking by and seeing it, even though he was on a cliff facing the ocean, but there was something freeing about it too, about not having to hide it. As he meditated, he wondered why he was the only one to join Gan and the four students from Karh in meditation. Maybe the rest of the students went at a different time he thought.

After dinner Harry joined Hermione for Literature, and while Hermione was asked her opinion on several matters in the new novel they were reading, Harry was again ignored, though he listened intently to the discussion as he sat on the front steps of building 1 and stared at the ocean. He and Hermione parted ways after the class because Hermione had already set up a study group for her Law class, and Harry headed back to his cabin, thinking he might change into a new pair of shorts because the pair he was in was dirty from a day of dueling and ending up on the ground from the different defense classes. After he had changed, he didn't feel like going into the forest and instead took his homework and notebooks out onto the porch to sit on the steps and study. He wished he had extra pillows like Hermione, because he would sit on one instead of sitting on the hard wood, but he was just happy to be outside.

Other boys came and went down the two rows of cabins but none paid him any mind. It was almost dark when Harry felt more than saw the presence of someone standing just a foot or so away. He looked up and found Snape.

"Sir?" he asked, not wanting any trouble. He knew he wasn't doing anything wrong by just sitting on his steps studying.

"Potter." The man's eyes raked over him and then flickered down to his notebook and pen.

"Tell me Potter, what you would be doing with that pen and notebook."

"They're mine sir," Harry said. He was feeling tired and suddenly wishing that he'd just gone inside to study to avoid the chance at encountering Snape.

"Funny, I've never seen you at school with a green notebook or fine silver pen embossed with the Slytherin crest."

Harry sighed. "They're mine. I've been using them all week."

"So you would have more of these things inside your room?"

Harry stood up and pushed his door open and went inside. Snape followed him in, and in the tiny cabin it felt cramped with a tall adult in there with him.

He opened his desk drawer to reveal two more brand new notebooks. Why he didn't just say that Draco had given them to him, he didn't know. Probably because the man would never believe him.

"And you happened upon these items how?"

"They're mine."

"So you've said." His eyes scanned over the rest of the room and came to rest on Harry's blanket on the bed he'd just pushed against the wall last night to give himself more room as Hermione had done.

"So I'm to believe that Prince Potter, who owns a Galleon Silver pen and fine Slytherin notebooks, owns a tattered gray blanket a dog wouldn't sleep under?"

Snape snatched up Harry's blanket and held it up. It really did look pitiful. "It's my blanket sir," he said tiredly. He felt cornered and really didn't want to fight.

"Surely any boy who can afford a racing broom and fine Slytherin pens can afford a better blanket." He took two steps and bent down and was suddenly in Harry's face.

"Do you want to know what I think Potter? I think you want people to feel sorry for you. So during the day time when you might have your door open, you put this nasty rag across your bed so that passersby will pity poor Harry Potter. And then at night you replace it with whatever posh comfortable blanket Prince Potter really sleeps with." He waved his wand and the blanket vanished before Harry's eyes. His eyes went wide and Snape smiled, revealing almost perfect teeth that Harry had never seen, because in the past any time Snape smiled students knew to run.

"Would you care to know what else I think Potter? You stole these items from Draco Malfoy, a real Slytherin. A boy who earned his way into this school, a boy whose parents paid good money for this Galleon silver pen." He grabbed Harry's collar and hauled him off the chair to his feet. With his other hand he took the pen and three notebooks and then lead Harry out of the cabin, slamming the door behind him with an unsaid spell.

Harry was dragged unceremoniously down the hill, past a gaggle of onlookers, including Draco, and to the porch of building nine. Harry wasn't sure what they were doing there. He thought that was the study building but he'd never been inside. It was dark out now and Muggle style lighting flickered into life to light up the porch, as well as the outsides of the other large buildings and bathrooms. Snape opened the door, still holding onto Harry's collar and dragged him inside.

He was surprised. It was posh inside, with large overstuffed chairs, three study tables, and walls lined with ceiling high bookshelves aside from where the windows were. There were several teachers inside, including Gan, Adeline, August, and Blazhe. No wonder the study room was off limits after dark, Harry thought. They turned it into a teacher's lounge.

"Severus?" Adeline asked.

He let go of Harry's collar. "I believe Mr. Potter has engaged in theft from another student.

All eyes went to Harry.

"It's a bit stuffy in here Severus, and crowded, let's go out on the porch."

Harry thought it was a good idea because he was feeling trapped in the small room, until they went back out onto the dark cool porch and found a dozen students standing in a group waiting to hear what was going on.

"What makes you think they're not his Severus?" August asked seriously. Theft was a serious break in the code of conduct.

"These are very expensive Slytherin items. He's from the house of Gryffindor. I happen to know for a fact that Gryffindors and Slytherins wouldn't be caught dead using something with the other house's crest on it." He roughly set down the notebooks and pen on the little table sitting between two porch chairs.

Harry looked up and found Gan's eyes on his. "What does Mr. Potter have to say?" he asked Severus, and Severus let out something between a snort of irritation and a laugh. He turned to Harry and all eyes were on him.

"They're mine," Harry said. "All my notes are in them. I've been using them since the first day."

"Is it true that these are Slytherin items?"

"Yes teacher."

"And are you a Gryffindor Harry?" Adeline asked more kindly than the others, but still in a serious tone.

"Yes maam."

"Did you take the items from somebody?"

Snape laughed. "It's not did he take them, it's who did he take them from. There is a Slytherin student here."

"I didn't take them," Harry said, looking at the floor. "They're mine."

"We shall see," Snape said, and he turned to the crowd and spotted Draco, and motioned him to come up to the porch.

"Mr. Malfoy is in Slytherin house, and I have seen him using the same notebooks and pens."

"Draco, are these your belongings?" Blazhe asked, and Draco's eyes flickered to the supplies and then to Harry, and he shrugged. "Don't know."

"You don't know if they are yours?" Adeline asked.

He shrugged again. "Don't know."

Harry was stunned. He never expected Draco to tell them he'd given them to him, but he also didn't expect the blond to miss out on this opportunity to get him into trouble. Draco could have said they were his and Harry was sure he'd be gone by the end of the night, back to the Dursleys.

"If they are yours Potter," Blazhe said, "then where did you buy them?"

Harry shrugged, still looking down at the ground.

"You don't know." Blazhe laughed and Harry was sure he was siding with Snape.

"They were given to me," Harry said.

"There is a tense house rivalry between Slytherin and Gryffindor Potter. Pray tell, which Slytherin have you befriended and added to your fan club?"

Harry's cheeks turned red and he just wished this was over. If Draco didn't want to say he'd given the items to Harry, then Harry wasn't going to tell on him. It was good enough of Draco as it was to give him the items, especially considering that he now knew how expensive the pen really was.

"Harry, we will need some time to discuss this. Please go and wait in the Dining Hall," Adeline said. Harry nodded and moved off, parting the crowd and staring at the ground the whole way. "You're dismissed too Draco," she told him, and Draco walked off the porch, hands in his pockets and into the darkness, not bothering to rejoin the crowd of students which was staring after Harry and beginning to disperse themselves.

"Severus, if you would call the others. We have some things to discuss."

Five minutes later, Snape was back with the missing staff, and they were sitting inside having a heated debate.

"I also saw pink school supplies in his desk," Severus insisted. Blazhe, August, Iva, and Camille had all voted to expel Harry for the theft and had agreed that Draco was just too good and wasn't saying they were his so that he wouldn't get Harry into trouble. Adeline had voted no however, believing there was more to the story, and Gan was undecided.

"I've seen him in class," Blazhe said. "He doesn't pay attention and he doesn't do very well. I doubt he studies at all."

Gan, hands clasped on the table before him said quietly, "He has done very well in my classes. He is present on time, he has done the homework, he is knowledgeable, and attentive during class."

"I agree," said Adeline. "He shines in Healing and Potions."

Snape snorted then. "He's never done well in Potions at Hogwarts. He hardly turns in anything I can grade as passing."

"I'm with Andrei," August said and nodding towards Blazhe. "I don't think he belongs here. If he's floated through school until now, we can't expect anything out of him here. It's not right that his Headmaster has paid his way either."

Gan cleared his throat. "The monastery paid for all four students to come from Karh."

"That's different," Camille said. "You paid for all attending students, not just one. It shows clear and biased favoritism by the boy's headmaster."

"I've been saying it for years," Severus said with relief in his voice that no one but Gan picked up on.

"I vote for him to leave," Blazhe said, raising his hand, and his hand was joined by three others. Gan and Adeline's hands stayed down.

"It takes all seven votes," Adeline said. "There is more to this story, and there is more to Harry than you're seeing. I won't vote yes until I see other indications that he needs to leave."

"The same, will go for me," Gan said, his even thought out words annoying the others there. Blazhe and Camille threw up their hands.

"I'm going to bed," August said. "And I'll be keeping an even closer eye on him." He stood up and went to the door. "Good catch Severus. This is strike one."

Feeling frustrated Severus nodded and followed him out, muttering. The staff dispersed, leaving Gan and Adeline alone in the stuffy room.

After long moments, Gan said, "The boy is hiding something."

"Like more thefts?"

"Like something he is not telling us. I am beginning to think he is hiding something about Severus Snape."

"About Severus?"

"I will not speak of it any more tonight, because I am not certain, and it is unwise to spread rumors."

Adeline sighed. "I feel like no one's seeing him, not even us."

"Snape?"

"Harry."

"Perhaps both."

Gan left an Adeline went get Harry in the Dining Hall. He was by himself and sitting with his head buried in his arms on the table.

"Harry?"

He looked up.

"They voted."

"Am I going home?"

"No. It takes seven and two voted against."

"I didn't take it," he said.

"I can understand why Professor Snape might think you took it, but can you give me some more insight into it?"

Harry bit his lip and then looked away. "No maam."

"You can't, or won't?"

"Both."

She sighed and then patted him on the arm. "Ok, you can return to your cabin."

"All of my notes were in the notebook. Can I have my things back?"

"Are they really yours?"

"Yes. Someone gave them to me."

"Someone, but you won't say who?"

He nodded.

"I'll send them up to your cabin. They should be on your desk by the time you get there."

"Thank you," he said, standing up.

As he made his way back to his cabin, feeling ready collapse into his bed and sleep for weeks, Harry was thankful that he had at least two professors on his side. He was sure Adeline was one of them, and thought the other might be Gan, but couldn't be certain about that.

When he got back to his room and his eyes fell on to his bare mattress, he remembered that Snape had taken his blanket. Well, it wouldn't do any good to tell anybody about it would it? It would just prove whatever point Snape had tried to make against him. It was the same reason he couldn't say that Draco had given him the supplies, and the same reason he couldn't divulge more information about why Snape was so against him. With so many teachers on Snape's side, no one would ever take Harry's word for it.

He let his body fall onto the mattress and lay awake for hours thinking about it all. He woke several times in the night, shivering and wishing for something warm to cover himself with.

Everyone was talking about Harry's supposed theft of expensive school supplies the next morning and Harry wasn't much feeling up to combating the stares and whispers as he walked across the lawns. He skipped breakfast altogether, knowing it would do him no good since he already wasn't feeling well, and opted instead to lay out on the cold damp lawns and try to get some sunshine to warm him up. That's where Hermione found him halfway through breakfast, laying on the grass on the far end of the compound behind building one.

"There you are," she said, and handed him a croissant with a sausage, eggs, and cheese tucked into a cut in the center. "You can't go all day without eating you know."

"I know," Harry said, not getting up as he stared at the cloudy sky. It looked like it might rain. He shuddered to think how damp and cold his cabin would be that night if it did.

"I heard what happened."

"I didn't take the things."

"I know you didn't, Draco gave them to you, just like I gave you some of my things."

Harry looked over to where she was sitting on her knees on a spot she'd dried with her wand.

"How do you know? Draco would never give anything to me."

"But he did, because you wouldn't steal and he is the only Slytherin here."

"I think he was embarrassed for me the day we got here when he saw me with the pink pen and notebook.

"Well," Hermione said, "I should have looked up a spell to change it colors for you. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. I filled it up with notes at night while I was studying in my room. Pretty pink notes with a pretty pink pen."

"Stop it," she said, slapping him lightly on the shoulder, and he feigned an injury.

"You really don't have anything do you?"

He shrugged.

"Why didn't you tell them that? Why didn't you tell them that Draco gave you the things?"

"Well I don't know that he did exactly," Harry said. "I found them on my porch the first day of classes. I figured it had to be him, but how was I supposed to know the pen was worth a whole Galleon and that it was made of real silver? I never thought he was that rich."

"But you could have said that."

"They wouldn't believe me," Harry said. "Five voted to expel me and only two voted against. I think it was Adeline and Gan," he said offhandedly.

"They seem level headed enough."

Harry wiped his nose, which had been running since he'd gotten up that morning, and finally took a bite of the breakfast Hermione had been thoughtful enough to bring him.

"Ron's pretty lucky to have you," Harry said. "Wonder how he survives the summers." He gave her a grin.

"Yes he is, and so are you, now eat that before my warming charm wears off."

"Does your warming charm work on people too?"

"No, only on non-living things. You can't even heat an apple with it because in some ways the apple is still alive after it falls from a tree."

"Hm."

People started to filter out of the Dining Hall and out across the lawns and Harry sat up. "Today is going to suck. They're all going to be staring at me. I didn't think it was too much to ask for this to be different than Hogwarts."

"It wasn't."

They got up and Hermione gave him a sad look. "I'll see you next class."

"Yeah, see ya."

Harry always tried to sit in the front row of every class because his prescription for his glasses wasn't current and he liked to see whatever writing was on the board, but today August seemed intent to make a specific example out of Harry to the other students. Not so much that they needed it, but because he wanted to pound it into Harry's brain that he did not belong. When Harry went into building four for Magery, the other students were already there, and there was an empty chair right at the front in front of the teacher's desk, with Harry's name on a note taped to it.

He sat down in the chair and as August stared hard at him for a full minute, allowing the class, including Draco, to see, Harry got the message loud and clear. ‘I'm watching you, and that is your seat right up front where I can see you to be sure you're not going to steal anything.'

Harry pulled out his green notebook and silver pen and heard several gasps behind him from girls he still couldn't remember the names of. Yes, he thought, so it's true in your mind now, I'm a thief, here is the evidence, it wasn't a rumor. Go ahead, he thought bitterly, I'll never see any of you again after this summer anyway, so what does it matter what you think or who you are. August spoke to the class, but stared at Harry throughout, and though Harry tried to play the staring game back with him, he was feeling weak and finally let his eyes down to his notes. No, he wasn't up to being defiant right now, maybe in Snape's class he would be.

Snape had other plans though. He paired them up again and sent them off to duel on the grounds. He must have thought that pairing Draco and his partner against Harry and Hermione would give Draco a chance to get even for the stolen items, but Harry noted that Draco didn't fight with any real vigor. Harry let Hermione take him out and Harry was shot down by Ivan, Draco's partner, who hit him with a blast of wind that knocked him flat to the earth and knocked the wind out of Harry's lungs. Then Hermione took Ivan out with an angry stinging hex that brought tears to the seventeen year old's eyes. As Hermione helped Harry to his feet, he could see the anger in her eyes, and he had to work hard to keep up with her as she stalked back to the field to report back to Snape that they'd won, top marks again for the day as the duel had been over in less than five minutes.

Harry was quiet through Healing and didn't ask or answer any questions and Axle and Basia took to shooting him uncertain glances. At the end, Axle actually had the nerve to ask if Harry had done it, and Harry told him plainly, "No," and then walked away.

The rest of the day seemed to go by in a blur of stares, whispers, and rude comments from staff and students alike, and he ended up skipping dinner and waiting for Hermione by building one, where she brought him a chicken leg, a roll, and an apple. He was more than grateful.

"I'll take notes for you if you want to skip Literature," she said. Harry shook his head. He knew it wasn't like her to offer to help someone skip a class.

"No, I won't give them the satisfaction of cowing me for something I didn't do. I'm just going to go and get it done with and then go to bed."

"You don't look like you feel very well."

He shrugged and wiped his nose again.

He didn't go to bed after class though, he stayed in his room at his desk with his shutter's closed to keep out the cold, studying and trying to catch up on as much work as he could and even read ahead. He had a feeling he was going to be in even worse shape tomorrow and didn't want to chance not being able to do his reading then. Harry's premonition was right.

Another day of stares, and taunts now even from some of the older students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons, and Harry felt like the day swept by him as he was back in bed again after Literature, this time trying to cover himself with all of the clothes from his trunk. He slept in his long pants too. Anything to keep the heat close to his body.

Finally the next morning, Hermione dragged him to the Infirmary, where Adeline was inside making a potion.

"Harry, you don't look well at all," she told him, ushering him and Hermione inside. It was raining this morning and Harry was soaked.

"Where's your coat?"

He shrugged.

"Here, sit down," she told Harry, and he went to the far end of the narrow building and sat on the bed.

"He's been looking bad for days," Hermione said.

"It's just a cold," Harry tried to reassure her again. The Dursleys had never taken him to the doctor for a cold... or, well, for anything that matter. Yes, it had ended up in pneumonia a couple times finally forcing them to get Harry some medical attention, but otherwise he always managed fine on his own.

"He's like this at school too," Hermione told Adeline. "He's impossible to convince to go to the Hospital Wing."

"Oh, a difficult patient then Mr. Potter?" Adeline looked down at him with a kind smile but Harry didn't feel much like returning it.

"Thank you Hermione, but you should get to breakfast. I'll need him to remove his shirt and I'm sure he'd like some privacy."

"Oh," Hermione said as if she were startled, "yes, let me just um- go then." She waved to Harry and then hurried back out into the rain, making sure the door shut tight behind her.

"I'm sure you probably just have a cold Harry, but I want to listen to your heart too. Take off your shirt."

Harry, too tired from his three restless and cold nights, took off his shirt, forgetting about the bruises covering his shoulders, chest, and back, and sat there waiting for Adeline to do her work. When she hadn't done anything after nearly a minute, he looked up to find her staring at him. His first thought, as a hormonal teenage boy was, what, I can't be that good looking, I don't have any abs even, but then he snapped out of it and looked down at his chest. Oh, that.

"So many bruises," Adeline said in a soft voice. Harry watched her eyes. He could usually tell someone's next move, or at least Uncle Vernon's if he watched their eyes. No one had seen his bruises before, not even Madam Pomfrey. He knew Aunt Petunia knew they were there, but she never looked or offered to take care of them. She didn't care.

"How did this happen Harry?"

He shrugged. He didn't want to lie, and not answering was easier.

"Did you fall?"

"No." Darn. That was lie one. He did fall, down the stairs at home, after Dudley pushed him.

"Have the other students been roughing you up?"

"No." He wished they had. It would have given him a good excuse to come in and get the bruises taken care of.

She paused and then pulled out a tin of bruise balm and began smearing it on his chest and injuries. Then she stopped suddenly and looked up at him. "Has a professor done this to you?"

"No," Harry said, shaking his head and looking like she was crazy.

"I don't understand then. Why won't you tell me?"

He shrugged, and she continued to apply the bruise balm.

"These will take a few days to heal. I'm supposed to take a photo of every injury for the records, to prove we've given the correct medical treatment. May I do so?"

"I guess," Harry said, wishing she would hurry so he could put his shirt back on and get some medicine for the cold, which is what Hermione had dragged him in for.

She took out a very wizardish looking camera and snapped a photo of his front and back and then set it down.

"Now for the cold." She waved her wand over him, paused, and then measured out half a cup full of electric blue potion. Harry recognized it as one of the forms of Pepperup potion, the only one he actually liked the taste of. It tasted like blue popsicles to him, well, the one he'd ever had anyway.

"There, you'll be feeling better by lunch. Try to stay out of the rain." She looked up at the clock and then said, "Oh my. Breakfast is already over and you're late for your first class. Here, I'll write you a note."

"Won't matter," Harry said. "August will still be mad."

"Hm. He wasn't mad when I sent Jimmy late yesterday morning."

"Well he's not accused of all sorts of crimes by Professor Snape," Harry said, feeling bitter.

"No, I suppose not."

She wrote him a note and reminded him to stay out of the rain again, and then he left. He ran across the lawns to August's building and hurried inside.

"Late Potter," August said with a dirty look. "Too good to show up on time?"

He held out the note wordlessly. He'd tried to keep it dry in his pocket but it was still moist.

"Oh, he was sick," August said in a mock sympathetic voice. "Well then, sit down so you don't exhaust yourself." Harry noted that Draco was sitting next to him today, and Draco gave him a look he couldn't decipher. It wasn't pity, but it wasn't anything unkind either.

Adeline was right, Harry was feeling better by lunchtime, especially since Snape had decided to hold class inside because of the rain and go over their last few group duels, and Harry got lucky again in Healing when they brewed potions on the counter in the Infirmary. Even Gan had decided to hold classes inside a different building than the gazebo because it was too cold and wet and the wind was blowing the rain in through the gazebo building sideways. Harry enjoyed the warmth of all the buildings and spent his free time after his last class of the day studying in the Dining Hall despite that it was full of other students stuck inside because of the weather. Hermione sat with him and they went over the classes they both had in common, quizzing each other and going over the things both were having difficulty with. Finally at ten when all the other students, including Hermione had cleared out, Harry went back to his cabin in the rain and stripped off his soaking wet clothes, laying them in a heap on the floor. He sent a warming charm at them and hoped they'd be dry by morning because if it was still raining then he didn't want to wear shorts, and he only had the one pair of pants which were now soaking wet.

Harry tried desperately hard to keep his head down in the coming days, but it didn't help the way others treated him. Three days after Hermione had dragged him to the infirmary, she took him back again, literally holding his hand and pulling him all way to the infirmary door. It had stopped raining the day before, but he was sick again.

"Did the last potion help?" Adeline asked, and Harry nodded.

"I can't imagine why you're sick again, it should have stayed in your system for three days. Have you been staying out of the rain?"

"Yes maam," he said.

"Better take some more then, and don't make your friend drag you in here if you're feeling sick again. There's no need to be that stubborn." She made Hermione turn around and then silently lifted up the front of Harry's shirt. The bruises were almost gone but not quite, and after instructing Hermione to keep her back turned, she applied another layer of bruise balm, for which Harry was grateful.

Later that day, when Ganzorig came to the infirmary to wait for the first Healing class of the day to start, Adeline locked the infirmary door and said, "I think you were right about Harry."

"How so."

"He's hiding something."

He raised his brow.

"He's been sick twice in five days. If he was dressed warmly and staying out of the rain he shouldn't have gotten sick again."

"I often find that children have a penchant not to do as they are told," Gan said, "even my own students, who learn to respect their elders since the time they can talk."

"It's more than just that," she said. She wouldn't be breaking any sort of Healer code of conduct by telling a fellow Healer at the school of an issue with a student, especially not one she knew was on Harry's side.

"When I asked him to take his shirt off, his entire torso was covered in bruises. His chest, his back, even his shoulders. He wouldn't tell me how it happened, but he did have a more enthusiastic response when I asked if a teacher had done it."

Gan placed his hands behind his back.

"And his foot?"

"What about his foot?" She took in a deep breath.

"He is required to take his shoes off for Root and meditation. He tried to hid it for the first week, but I was still observant enough to see that it was black and blue. He limps when asked to stand without his shoes on."

"That boy," she said. "He won't come in when he's sick or hurt and now I'll have to see him again for his foot!" She seemed angry and Gan only nodded.

"I will take the class to look for mushrooms for our next healing potion. You can see him then."

"Thank you. But he doesn't seem to want to talk to me. I tried getting him to talk after the vote at the start of the week and he refused. He wouldn't even tell me about Severus."

"Perhaps you should take the class to look for mushrooms then, and I will stay."

She nodded, "Yes. I want to know what's going on."

Harry had no idea when he turned up for Healing class at eleven later that morning that his two Professors had been plotting behind his back to ambush him and make him miss class, but that's exactly what happened. Adeline said they'd be looking for more ingredients today down on the beach, and when Harry went to follow his two classmates out the door, Gan cleared his throat and asked him to stay.

"Teacher?" Harry asked as the door closed, leaving him separated from his peers.

"I would like to see your foot."

Harry bit his lip, but Gan didn't give him time to say no.

"Sit, please."

Harry took a seat on the other bed this time, the one right by the door, though didn't make a move to take his shoe off. He was surprised when Gan got down on one knee and began unlacing Harry's shoe for him, and then pulled it off (with some difficulty as it was so tight) and then his sock. Harry was more ashamed that the man saw his holey socks and too tight gray shoes than his black and blue foot, which he'd already seen earlier in the week.

Gan held his hand over Harry's foot without touching it, and then said, "It is broken."

"Broken?" Wow, he knew Dud was a whale and had been wearing his shoes, but he never imagined that his cousin had broken it when stomping on it. Maybe he wouldn't have if Harry had been smart enough to wear shoes.

"Yes. Will you allow me to heal it?"

"Is it going to take skelegrow?"

Gan smiled. "No. Watch closely. A wise man never misses the opportunity to learn something."

Harry bent forward and watched as Gan placed one hand on top of Harry's foot and another below, cupping his foot between the two hands, and closed his eyes. Harry had read just last night that those who could do magery could also heal others without a wand but thought that it must take some amount of concentration. He didn't feel anything, but then suddenly there was sharp, horrible, terrible pain in his foot and he fell back on the bed and clenched his eyes shut, and then it was over. Breathing hard, he opened his eyes and looked at Gan, who was watching him closely.

"It was not a single fracture, it was three."

"It- it feels better," Harry said, still trying to catch his breath, and Gan nodded. He rose slowly from the floor and retrieved the same jar of bruise balm Adeline had used on his torso that morning, and came back, this time with a chair, where he sat and gently rubbed it into Harry's foot.

"It surprises me, that a man would rather hide his broken bones and walk in pain for so many days, than see a healer."

Harry didn't say anything even at the look he got from Gan. It was a look he'd seen from Dumbledore too many times. One that said he was trying to figure you out, maybe even learn your secrets.

"The same man would hide his torso."

Harry's eyes widened. Ah, they'd been talking to each other and this had been some sort of ambush. Well, it was over with now and he was healed. He couldn't much complain about that.

"It would lead another man to wonder, why one would do such a thing?"

Feeling like an answer was expected out of him, Harry shrugged.

"You do not know why you would do such a thing?"

"I know," Harry said. He hated to feel foolish in front of someone who he thought was wise.

Gan picked up on Harry's need to sound smart though and needled him more. "A man who knows, but does not say. Such a man could be a foolish man, or a wise man hiding inside a foolish man's clothing. Who should I say you are?"

"Just Harry."

"A humble man," Gan said, and Harry kept staring at him as Gan kept putting the bruise balm on his foot.

"Is there anywhere else?"

Harry bit his lip and Gan motioned for him to show him, so Harry pulled down his pants to expose the large bruise across his thigh, which was always covered by his pants or shorts. Gan began applying balm there too.

"Is this why you take so many defense classes?"

"I have to take defense," Harry said. "The Headmaster sent me to get an edge so I can fight Voldemort."

"You will fight him alone?"

"I don't have a choice."

"Every man has a choice."

Harry sighed. "Not me. There's a prophecy. Neither one can live while the other survives. He's come back, and I'm supposed to kill him somehow."

"Professor Snape says you chase after this evil man foolishly, recklessly. He says people die in your pursuit to kill him."

Harry looked away. "I know what he says."

"And?"

"I didn't go after Voldemort at the end of the school year. I didn't learn Occlumency like I was supposed to and Voldemort tricked me. He made me think my godfather was being tortured. I went to save him."

"And your friends?"

"I didn't want them to go. I asked them not to, but they insisted."

"And did you save your Godfather?"

"No." There was a long pause as Harry tried to work around the large lump in his throat. "He died."

Gan pushed his chair back to give Harry some space and motioned for him to pull his pants up again and put his shoe and sock back on.

"And these bruises are from that battle?"

"No." Harry didn't look at him and tried to focus solely on getting his sock on.

"Professor Snape teaches Occlumency at Hogwarts, does he not?"

"No," Harry said, "only to me."

"But you did not learn it."

"No."

"Yet you need to learn it, and stopped taking his class here?"

Harry shrugged.

"Do you want to learn it?"

He nodded. He had to, didn't he?

"Harry Potter."

Harry looked up. With so many people using his last name here, like they didn't respect him as much as the other students who they called by their first names, his full name got his attention.

"Did Severus Snape give you these injuries?"

Harry couldn't help himself and actually burst out in laughter then. When he saw that Gan was serious he said, "No, of course not."

"Then why are you afraid of him?" Harry closed his mouth and his smile faded. Gan was certainly more like Dumbledore than he'd given him credit for. He'd noticed, somehow, that Harry was afraid of Snape. He'd never admit it to anyone, not even Ron and Hermione, but he was. The man was like an acidic mix between uncle Vernon and Lucius Malfoy, and he never knew what he'd do, or what new way he'd come up with to torture him next.

"A wise man who keeps his mouth closed to keep from looking foolish," Gan said, "or a scared man." Harry waited for the rest of that sentence, but it didn't come. Just a scared man.

"The others will be back soon," Harry said.

"Yes."

"You're going to tell Adeline?"

"She knows of your foot."

"It's not Snape," Harry said seriously. The last thing he needed was for them to tell Snape he'd been lying about him.

Gan looked as though he was going to say something, but the door opened just then and Adeline stuck her head inside.

"Class is over."

Harry stood and paused at the door. He turned and gave Gan a look, and Gan gave him a nod, and then he left. It was a ‘thank you' look, and he hoped Gan knew that.

* * *

Severus Snape was seething. He could spit like Granger's demented cat he was so angry. Potter would be the death of him he swore it was true. He paced back and forth in his cabin. That little brat had gone and told Ganzorig and Adeline that he had done something to him. He'd never laid a hand on the boy! Even the jar of cockroaches he'd thrown at him the year before had missed its mark!

He stopped pacing for a moment and said aloud, "Oh, well played Potter, well played." Of course, now that the boy had made accusations, he couldn't go near him, couldn't continue to tell others of the brat's misdeeds at Hogwarts, because it would seem like he really was abusing him. Ganzorig had even had the audacity to ask him if he, SEVERUS SNAPE, was romantically interested in the boy!

He stepped over to his wall and hit it hard with his fist, ignoring the pain now shooting through his knuckles.

Potter would pay. This was HIS professional reputation on the line here! What did spoilt, pampered prince Potter care if he was asked to leave Gemini, or if his reputation was tarnished forever. That sort of accusation, even if it wasn't true, didn't leave. It followed you around everywhere! It would get back to parents who would demand that Dumbledore, or else the Board of Governors remove him from his post! He would lose everything! His post as Potion's Master at Hogwarts was the only status symbol he had, not like famous Harry Potter, Boy-Who-Lived, who would have fame and fortune wherever he went.

Severus hit the wall again, this time with his other hand and not as hard. Damn him and his attention seeking. He bet the boy had gone in with a scrape and said he'd done it. The way Gan and Adeline talked, the boy had been half beaten to death, and they'd even questioned him about the brat getting sick too as if he'd controlled the wind and rain and made the irritating child get the sniffles. No, Potter was already getting his grips here at Gemini and getting ready to dig his claws in deep and that just wouldn't do. There was still four weeks and Severus was not going to let the boy have this school. How the boy had gotten away with the theft (and even gotten Draco's school supplies back!) he would never know. He would also never understand, he was sure, why Draco refused to tell the truth and say that Potter had stolen the expensive items from him.

Severus stared out his back window and up the hill towards the row of boy's cabins he was responsible for. Somewhere up there, Potter slept in his nice warm bed, laughing at him and the mess he'd made. But it was Severus who would be having the last laugh.

 "I know what you're doing Potter."

Harry closed his eyes and the hair on the back of his arms and neck stood up on end. He'd just come out of his cabin and taken a few steps down the path to go down to breakfast, looking forward to a mostly free Saturday when Snape had stepped out behind him.

He turned. "Sir?"

"You're trying to get me fired. I have news for you, it will- not- happen." He punctuated the last few words and then gave Harry a glare as he strode away and down the hill. Harry gave a sigh. He didn't know what the man was talking about. He thought in fact, he'd shown great restraint in not telling others when asked, what Snape's problem was. He never said a bad word about the man unless it was to Hermione, and generally they were alone when speaking about such things.

It was a dreary day and Harry felt a little sad because he was tired of the rain that had fallen off and on that week, and he really wanted to go swimming. He didn't want to get sick again though so he nixed the idea. Unfortunately the only common areas indoors they were allowed to share were the Dining Hall and study building, and Harry was sure they would be packed. He wanted to hang out with Hermione, but since he wasn't allowed in her cabin and visa versa, it looked like they had no other choice but the Dining Hall.

He went to Hermione's cabin and knocked on her door. "Hermione," he called when she didn't answer, and he knocked again. She still didn't come out so he headed off to breakfast by himself and noted she wasn't there either.

After filling up his plate with some sort of ultra-sweet pancake, Harry was surprised to find Axle across from him. He must not have been paying attention because he hadn't seen him sit down. Axle was staring at him without touching his own food.

"Er... hi?" Harry said.

Axle kept staring and Harry frowned.

"Was there something I could help you with?"

Finally Axle looked to his left and then his right and started eating. "You're very smart in Healing," Axle said.

Harry shrugged. "I like it. I read ahead before we go to class."

"They say you don't work hard."

"They say I'm lazy," Harry corrected him and Axle looked abashed but didn't look away. From what Harry had seen, he was quiet, but Harry only had one class with him and nobody had really been talking to Harry, so they all seemed rather quiet.

"You do not seem lazy to me."

"Uh, thanks I think," Harry said.

"And you did not steal the books."

Harry shook his head and took another bite of the disgustingly sweet breakfast. What was this called? Crepes?

"I'm not a thief."

"Why do the professors say you are?"

"Because they make assumptions that aren't for them to make."

Axle ate some more of his breakfast and then said quietly, "I would like to study healing potions with you."

"Ok. I'm not sure where my friend Hermione got off to- but we didn't have any solid plans for today anyway." He looked around the full Dining Hall and noted that even though breakfast was nearing its end, people didn't seem in any hurry to go anywhere and some had already broken off into groups to study.

"It's kind of crowded in here," Harry said. "Want to study in one of the cabins?"

Axle nodded. They finished their breakfast and then Harry said, "Where's your cabin?"

Axle pointed and said, "Down the path by building 11. It's cabin 44."

"Ok, let me get my book and notes and I'll be back."

Harry hurried to his cabin to retrieve his supplies and then back down the hill. At the Southern end of the compound were a few cabins and 44 was in a cluster of three boy's cabins on either side of the path. Harry knocked on the door, noting that there were no steps leading up to this cabin like there was to the others and that the porch sat flat on the ground. Axle opened the door and moved aside so Harry could come in. He immediately liked the inside of Axle's cabin. Like Hermione's it was decorated, but with dark blue and silver. It reminded Harry of Ron's room because it was covered in posters for a single Quidditch team.

"What team is this?" Harry asked, pointing to the posters. There was a silver eagle.

"Boden Eagles."

"I didn't think you had a lot of students at your school," Harry said. There were only three students from Boden there at Gemini.

"Two hundred," Axle said, sitting crosslegged on a round dark blue shag rug on the floor. Harry did the same, though he still looked around at all the posters and triangle flags. Even the bed had a soft, warm looking blue blanket with the silver eagle.

"I like the Falmouth Falcons," Harry said, pointing to his blue and silver shirt. It was almost the exact same colors.

"Your school team?"

"No, our school has four teams, one for each house."

"Explain to me... house."

Harry smiled at his rough English.

"There were four founders to the school, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Slytherin, and Ravenclaw. They each valued different things in students. So when a new student comes to school at 11 as a first year, they're sorted into different houses based on the qualities they have. Then they stay in that house until they graduate after seventh year and that house is like their family when they're at school."

"What are the qualities?"

"Oh, um..." Harry thought about it. He knew Gryffindor and Ravenclaw but he never really thought about the others. He knew what he thought of students from the other houses, but he couldn't remember what the hat said.

"Well Gryffindor is supposed to be full of courage and loyalty, and Ravenclaws are very smart and attentive, and Slytherins are cunning, and Hufflepuffs are very friendly and open minded."

"What house are you in?"

"Gryffindor, but I almost got sorted into Slytherin in my first year."

"And the others from your school?" Harry went on to describe which houses Draco, Hermione and the others were in, and when Axle asked, told him about the house rivalries and the Quidditch teams and how their tournaments worked. Harry learned that Boden's team, since it had no other student teams to play against, actually counted as a national team in Sweden and played against Professional Swedish teams five times a year. Axle wasn't on a team, but he went to every match, and had to miss the one taking place this summer because he was here at Gemini.

Harry and Axle studied for almost an hour before they started talking about their schools again, and Harry found that he really quite liked Axle. He reminded him of both Ron and Seamus in some ways. Axle's parents had worked extra long hours for the last few years to save up to send him here this year, he had a younger sister who was a year behind him in school, and three cousins that also attended Boden. He also had a rich cousin who went to Beauxbatons, but who was lazy and not smart enough to make it into Gemini, and his cousin's parents were upset that Axle had gone and their own son hadn't.

"I have a cousin," Harry said, "he's fat and lazy. He's a Muggle and goes to private school during the year."

"Muggle?"

"Non-magic folk. What do you call them?"

"We call them people."

Harry stared at him.

"It is no lie. We call ourselves wizards and witches, and we call them people. People is like saying ‘plain."

"Huh." Harry found that he was rather fascinated by the different cultures he was encountering here, from Gan and the students at the monastery to Axle and his school in Sweden.

"Where's your school at?" Harry asked. "I mean, is it in the mountains or on a lake?"

"The school sits on a river. It is a grand castle and the river runs right through the school. We have bridges that cross from one side to the other within the castle. It's up in the mountains and it gets very cold. We fish for our own food, and having the river inside where it's warm lets us continue to fish without going out in the snow. In the summer some students continue to live at the castle to study longer or take other subjects. There's a large field full of wildflowers on a hill and it smells very nice. I like to sit and study there."

"It sounds amazing," said Harry, and he told Axle about Hogwarts and where it was at and the hidden passageways and moving staircases and Great Hall with its enchanted ceiling.

They studied some more and then decided to go to lunch. Axle said goodbye to Harry to go and sit with the other two students from Boden, a boy and a girl, and Harry was glad to see that Hermione was there.

"Where were you this morning?" Harry asked.

"Oh, um... study group," Hermione said.

"I was studying too," Harry said with a smile. "Axle and I studied in his cabin. Boden sounds really interesting Hermione. There's a river that runs right through the center of their castle! Their castle isn't as big as ours, and it goes straight up for seven stories, and they fish right there from the ground floor for their own food."

"I'm glad you made a new friend," Hermione said. "Do you still want to study?"

Harry looked out the window and saw that it looked like it was sprinkling outside. "Yeah, I guess we can't go to the beach if it's raining. I was hoping it would be nice out today because I wanted to go out and practice some of the wandless magic I was having trouble with.

"I think it's supposed to be nice out tomorrow," Hermione said.

Since Harry already had his bag and books, he stayed and staked out their spot in the corner while Hermione went to retrieve her things, and they spent the afternoon studying, not bothering to go back to their cabins before dinner. Harry was looking forward to hearing about another school tonight at the cultural exchange, but was surprised when after dinner, it was announced that it was Hogwarts' night to share.

Harry and Hermione moved to the front of the room and sat on the bench with the others from Hogwarts and listened as Snape spoke to the school for twenty minutes about how the school worked, the Sorting Hat, meals, punishments, OWLs, NEWTs, and other things. Finally he was done and the floor was open to students to ask questions. Whenever a student raised their hand and asked a question, Snape would direct the question to a specific student to answer. Draco told the room about how Quidditch teams were chosen and the Forbidden Forest, Hermione talked about holiday's and taking the train to and from school, Ernie talked about Prefects and the Head Boy and Girl and their duties, Pricilla talked about school dances and rules for students dating, Mae talked about the Tri-wizard tournament that had been hosted at Hogwarts a few years ago (and did mention that Harry won but did not talk about Cedric), and finally Olivia fielded questions about ghosts and Peeves the Poltergeist. Harry was just starting to think that Snape was going to ignore him all night, when a boy in the back raised his hand and asked about house points and the house cup. Snape directed the question back to Draco. The same boy asked then, who had lost the most points at once, and Harry paled at the thin smile he saw on Snape's lips.

"Mr. Potter, why don't you take this one," Snape said. He didn't look at Harry, but the other 29 students in the room were staring at him expectantly, as were the teachers.

"What was the question again?" Harry asked, wiping his sweaty palms on his jean shorts.

"Who lost the most points at one time?" the boy asked again.

Well, he couldn't just refuse to answer he thought, that would be a cowardly thing to do, and Axle was amongst those staring at him. Hadn't Harry just told him that morning that he was a Gryffindor, part of the house known for its bravery? He could feel how tense Hermione was on the bench next to him. Might as well, because if he didn't, Snape would tell.

"I did," Harry said.

The hall was quiet.

"Tell them what for," Snape said. He almost seemed gleeful.

Harry looked at the staring faces again and said, "For hexing Professor Snape in the shrieking shack in my third year."

The hall broke out in murmurs and the Professors in the back looked angry and shocked. Harry looked at his classmates from Hogwarts and Hermione looked angry. Draco looked as though he'd gone even paler if that was possible but Harry couldn't decipher his look aside from that, and the others were also whispering. It wasn't fair, Harry thought, to use something that had happened in third year against him. He was stupid then, and he was protecting Sirius. He thought of saying something along those lines, but was afraid of how Snape would smear his godfather's name and Harry didn't want that to happen, especially since Sirius wasn't alive to defend himself and Harry felt too stupid at that moment to do a proper job of it.

Harry didn't wait to be dismissed and stood up and walked out of the room. It was dark outside and drizzling. Hermione had followed along with Adeline and Gan, but Gan and Hermione stayed under the covered porch and he didn't notice. Only Adeline came out in the rain and put her hand on Harry's arm to stop him.

"Harry. You hexed a teacher?"

He turned angrily and saw that Hermione and Gan were also watching from the porch, and through the windows he could see students still talking amongst themselves.

Hair soaking wet now and feeling upset at the unfairness of that question being directed at him said, "I was thirteen. My Godfather, who I had only just met and was on the run from the law, was just explaining to me that he was innocent, and that he wasn't the one responsible for my parent's deaths. Another Professor was there too, Lupin, and he confirmed what Sirius, my godfather was saying." Harry was working himself up and he could feel the anger bubbling inside him. "Then Snape barged in and started firing off curses at my Godfather and accusing Professor Lupin of being a criminal too, and he wasn't even going to let anyone explain, he was going to turn him over to the Dementors to get the kiss. So I hexed him." He was half shouting by the time he'd finished and Adeline gave him a sad look. Harry wondered if Gan had told her what he'd said, about his Godfather dying at the Ministry just a month ago.

He turned and took a few steps, intending to walk away, but turned again and shouted, "Nothing he does is ever fair!" and then he really did turn and storm off. Hermione came out into the rain after him, Harry knew she had because he heard her call his name, but Adeline or Gan must have stopped her, so Harry continued back up to his cabin by himself. He tore at his soaked clothes angrily and pulled them off, leaving them in a wet heap on the floor and threw himself down onto his plain mattress. He fell asleep after a while, but Snape chased him into his dreams, and laughed as Sirius died. The other students from Gemini laughed too.

* * *

Harry didn't bother going to breakfast or lunch the next day. Hermione had come both times with food, knocking on his door, but he didn't answer. He was too embarrassed, to upset, to angry to come out. More than that though, he was too depressed. Snape had officially ruined this school for him. Things were already bad enough, weren't they? How was he supposed to make it for another four weeks?

He tried studying to take his mind off of things, but found he couldn't concentrate and ended up pushing his books away from him, frustrated, and returning to lay on his back on his bare bed again.

At five o'clock, Hermione was knocking on the door again, and this time he heard Axle's voice outside with her, asking her if she was sure he was inside. Harry had purposefully closed his shutters early that morning so no one could look in at him.

He supposed if he didn't come out they'd eventually bring a teacher and he didn't want that. Snape was in charge of this group of cabins and he shuddered to think what would happen if they made Snape come up here after him. ‘Stop wallowing Potter,' he heard Snape's snide voice in his head.

Feeling tired and like he was getting sick yet again, Harry threw on a dry t-shirt and his only pair of long pants and shoes and wrenched the door open as Hermione started pounding on it angrily from the other side. He came out onto the tiny porch, forcing Hermione and Axle backwards, and shut his door so they couldn't see inside.

He wasn't sure what to say now that he was out here though, so he stuck his hands in his pockets and stared at the ground.

"You can't stay locked up all day," Hermione said.

"I can try," he said under his breath.

"Here, I brought you dinner."

"Thanks," Harry muttered, and he took the slice of pizza which was still warm, stuffing half of it in his mouth. He was hungry after all.

When he was finished scarfing his food down, he looked up to find Hermione and Axle staring at him and didn't know why he'd expected that they wouldn't be, especially after his little reclusive hobbit act.

"Are you ready to do something today then?" Hermione asked. Harry looked at her and Axle and wondered that Axle was there at all after what had happened last night. Hermione knew the truth, but Axle didn't.

"What do you want to do?"

"I heard there is a cave," Axle said then. His face looked hopeful and Harry motioned for them to lead the way.

"Can Basia come too?" Axle asked.

"I didn't think she'd want to," Harry said.

"She's ok," Axle said, and Harry noted that his face flushed then. Were they dating? Durmstrang was in Bulgaria... that was an awful long way from Sweden.

"She can come," Hermione said, and Axle motioned for them to stay there and then ran off. Harry and Hermione started down the hill and watched from a distance as Axle ran almost all the way back to his own cabin before they were at the bottom and lost sight of him.

"Why'd he come along?" Harry asked.

"He saw me coming up with food and asked if he could come. I think he was worried about you."

"Well doesn't he believe what everyone else believes?"

"I don't think so. You must have made an impression on him. Besides, I told him you were protecting your godfather and me and Ron and that's why you hexed Professor Snape."

"And he believed you?"

"Well he's coming with us isn't he?"

"Basia probably won't want to come."

"Don't be so negative," Hermione scolded him gently. "Not everybody is against you."

At that moment someone shouted, "What a loser," though and Harry raised his eyebrows at Hermione.

"You were saying."

She only pointed in response at Axle and Basia coming in the distance from behind the Dining Hall. Harry and Hermione met them on the path and they began walking towards the beach. Axle and Basia were holding hands.

Axle wasn't sure exactly where the cave was supposed to be, only that it was somewhere down the path to the left, the path people hardly ever took to the larger beach because it was such a long walk to get down to the water, and because it didn't look as pretty as the little cove they all swam in.

They kept their eyes peeled for any caves in the cliff face and eventually made it down to the beach. Hermione talked to Basia about her interest in Healing potions and she said she was thinking about becoming a healer after graduating Durmstrang, and as the girls talked, Axle let go of Basia's hand and moved to walk next to Harry up front.

"Professor Snape does not seem to like you very much."

"No."

"Because you hexed him?"

"I'm sure it didn't help," Harry said. "But he was on my case since my first day at school."

"Is he like that to other people too?"

"Well, he's nicer here to students than he is at Hogwarts. At Hogwarts he tries to intimidate students into submission mostly, but no, he's not very bad to them."

Axle pointed to an outcropping of rock where the beach seemed to end and the cliffs went straight up to the top and Harry spied a cave about half way up.

"That looks awful high up," he said when they reached the bottom of the sheer rock face.

"There's a path," Axle said and pointed. Sure enough there seemed to be stairs carved into the rock face that lead to a flat place that looked almost big enough to hold a duel on. From there it looked like they might be able to climb up the ten feet into the cave.

"Well, if we fall at least it will be into water," Harry said. The tide was coming in and the flat place was over water as it was, though he didn't like the look of the jagged rocks under it.

Hermione and Basia didn't object to climbing the natural stairway in the rock, so they began their ascent as it grew steadily darker out. It took some time to climb the stairs and when they made the flat place it looked a lot smaller than it had down on the beach. It was about 6 feet wide and ten feet long. Harry stared straight up at the teen feet of rock they'd need to climb with their bare hands. It didn't look that far. He lit his wand tip with a Lumos and the others did the same. He put it between his teeth and then began to climb.

"Don't fall Harry!" Hermione said with worry, but Harry only grinned. He quite liked the challenge, and really, ten or eleven feet wasn't that high. He bet tons of students had climbed up in here before. At the entrance, he navigated some sharp rocks and pulled himself into the cave entrance. He shined his light around, and not seeing any animals or other dangers, called down to the others.

"Looks ok!" Harry said.

"Are there bats?" Basia asked.

He shined his wand around the cave again and at the low ceiling and didn't see anything.

"I don't think so, but I could be wrong."

Hermione climbed up next and Harry held his hand down to help her up, followed by Axle who helped Basia. With four wands, the cave didn't seem so dark. It wasn't large, but it seemed to go back for quite a ways and Harry wondered what had made it.

"Looks like fun," Axle said, and Harry had to agree. He'd never really been in a cave before. They walked and followed the cave as it curved several times. It began to slope upwards, but they heard voices in the distance and turned to see if someone had followed them into the cave.

Harry strained to listen, and Basia said, "Maybe we should go back. It sounds like Nikolas and Petr."

"And Acel," Axle said. Harry thought Axle was right. He recognized the French accent of Acel, one of the boys from Beauxbatons.

"They must be exploring the cave too," Axle said. "Lets turn around and go back for them so we don't end up surprising them."

Harry didn't feel like going back but didn't complain and turned to go back with them. They'd only been inside for a few minutes anyway.

At the entrance, it was completely dark out now and Harry knew it was probably around ten o'clock. He shined his wand down and found the three boys on the narrow flat place staring up at him.

"What'r you doin' up there Potter?" Acel asked in his thick accent.

Harry pulled his head back inside and Axle and Basia looked out.

"Basia! Come out of there!" Petr shouted angrily, and Basia gave Axle a sad look and then climbed out of the cave and down to the flat place. "Go back to your cabin," Petr commanded, and from inside the cave Harry thought that Petr sounded controlling and wondered if perhaps Petr and Basia had once dated, or if it was the culture at Durmstrang for the girls to obey the boys. If it was, he didn't think he liked that very much.

"You don't have to go anywhere!" Axle said and he hurriedly climbed down to the flat place.

"I- I don't want to cause trouble," Basia said. "I'm sorry." She lit her wand again and hurried down the rock stairs.

"Wait!" Axle turned to Harry, gave him a sad look and then said, "I'm sorry," before hurrying down the stairs after her.

"Potter, get out here," Nikolas said and Harry climbed down, reaching up to help Hermione.

"I don't see that you have a right to boss anyone around," Harry said, holding his wand up to shine more light on them. Nikolas shot him a dirty look.

"Let's face it Potter, you don't belong here. You don't belong anywhere near Basia either!"

Hermione put her hands on her hips and gave a glare Molly Weasley would have been proud of.

"He belongs here just as much as anyone Nikolas! And he's right, you're not in charge of anyone."

The three boys laughed then and Acel said, "We have no problem with you. You're one of us, you're a Gemini. Just stay back and you won't get hurt."

Harry didn't like where this was going and had just lifted his wand and assumed one of the Root defense stances when he heard a familiar voice and Draco's pale face appeared from the stairs.

"Who's going to be the one getting hurt?" His voice was sly and drawling as always, and he shot Harry a look and a single nod letting him know he was on his side. A moment later, Harry was surprised to find Ernie appear from the stairs too, huffing and out of breath.

"What do you care?" Acel asked. "He stole your supplies, and he's in a different house than you. We heard what your Professor Snape said about how much your house hates his."

"Yeah," Nikolas chimed in.

"Yeah?" Draco asked, lowering his voice in a very ‘angry Snape' like way. "Well what makes you think I'm going to let you just have at any person from Hogwarts?"

Acel took a step forward and squared his shoulders and Draco stood stock still. Harry wasn't certain why Draco was taking such a bold stance in his favor all of a sudden, but if he was going to help get him and Hermione out of this situation then let him. The fact that they were engulfed in darkness and the sea was crashing against the rocks some thirty or forty feet below their narrow little flat place didn't escape Harry, and it made him nervous. If they were down on the beach, he'd feel more up to dueling.

"Stay out of this," Acel said. "You can take the girl and go. We're only here to teach Potter a lesson."

Ernie was quiet and looking nervous, watching the exchange from behind Draco, and Harry hoped he wouldn't flee if things got as ugly as it looked like they were going to.

"We'll see who learns the lesson." Draco's last statement seemed to be the one that pushed things over the edge. Acel dove forward, choosing to duel it out Muggle style and Draco did the same. Petr turned and hit Harry square in the jaw and Harry hit him with a stunning spell, catching him before he went over the edge and dropping him to the ground where Hermione dragged him backwards and out of the way as Harry dove for Nikolas. Ernie was trying to pry Acel's arm from where he had Draco in a choke hold, but Harry barely had time to register it when Nikolas kicked him in the shin and Hermione hit him with a stunning spell as well. Nikolas fell to the ground right on top of Petr and Hermione stepped out of the way again since there was very little room.

Harry turned his attention to Acel and hit him in the side from behind, but Acel stepped back several times, dragging Draco with him, still in a choke hold, and Harry lost his footing when his foot hit a little rock, and fell over backwards. He threw his arms out and tried to take hold of anything, but there was nothing, and he went over the edge of the cliff, tumbling as he fell through the darkness.

He panicked and didn't think to take a breath, and was engulfed in dark icy water sooner than expected, mouth open. He struggled, confused as the rough water tumbled him head over heels several times, and didn't know which way was up. He wasn't a good swimmer without the flotation charm and though he tried to do the charm without speaking, he had never practiced this charm in the Magery class, and it didn't work.

After what seemed like an eternity, Harry surfaced, the waves pushing him closer to the rocks at the bottom of the cliff and then tossing him back again. He could hear shouts from up above and he thought he heard a splash somewhere but he couldn't be certain. Realizing he still had his wand gripped tightly in his hand, he lit it up with Lumos and got a mouthful of water for the trouble. Spitting and flailing, Harry shook his head, trying to get the water out of his eyes and off of his glasses so that he could see to swim back to the beach. He thought he knew which direction it was in and hoped he didn't make the wrong choice. The waves were hard to swim against and fighting them and the cold was going to exhaust him quickly.

"Hey!" He heard someone call and after a moment, something bumped into him. He turned but didn't see anything until suddenly Draco's head bobbed up from under the waves.

"Did you fall?" Harry asked, spitting out more water after every word.

"No, I went in after you!"

Harry could see that the blond was having as much trouble as he was.

"I think- this way," Harry said, and swam as hard as he could against the waves as they tossed him and Draco around, throwing them into each other again and again.

He didn't know for how long they swam, or how many times he and Draco went under. Draco pulled him back up twice and Harry pulled him up three times. He heard Draco cry out in pain once and was sure he'd been thrown into a rock under the water.

Finally though, Harry's feet found purchase on sandy ground and he struggled to lift his too heavy body out of the water, Draco coughing and doing the same next to him.

Draco lay on the beach next to him, waves still coming up over his legs and stomach and Harry sat up, wondering if he had enough strength to stand at this point. He was freezing and hated that they'd come down to this beach, when it would be such a long walk and then hike back up to the top. At least it wasn't raining. He looked up to the sky through his wet, water speckled glasses and saw stars.

"Ok?" Harry asked Draco, who coughed some more.

"I hurt my knee. I hate those guys."

"Harry! Draco!"

Harry could hear Hermione and squinted into the darkness where he finally spotted a bobbing yellow light, and after another minute or two, Hermione dropped to her knees next to them in the sand.

"Where's Ernie?" Harry asked.

"He's ok. He's already taking the others back up to the school. Acel's arm is bleeding from where Draco bit him," (Harry took a moment to appreciate Draco's assistance then as he looked over at him), "and Petr was complaining about his head hurting when I unfroze him. I think Nikola was all right."

"Who cares about them," Draco said, voice still full of anger and bitterness. "Nobody attacks someone from Hogwarts and gets away with it."

Harry laughed then, and Hermione and Draco both stared at him. "Well, I'm glad you were from Hogwarts tonight and not Slytherin."

"Whatever. Are you going to help me back to the school or leave me here to freeze to death?"

Harry stood, still feeling very heavy after having been in the water for so long, and helped Hermione drag Draco to his feet. Draco lifted his injured leg and tried not to put any weight on it and Harry and Hermione struggled to get him up the beach, up the cliff path and to the top.

"What are you, a baby walrus?" Harry asked when they were halfway up and he felt like Draco weighed a million pounds.

"Shut it, I saved your life."

"Well now I'm repaying the favor."

They finally made the top, and heard shouting in the distance. Harry and Hermione paused and Harry could tell that even Draco seemed alert. They heard Ernie shout something about it not being true, and then heard Nikolas say that Ernie was lying and they had been attacked.

"If that's a professor," Hermione said, voice filled with worry.

"They're going to kill you," Draco finished.

"Harry- go," Hermione commanded then.

"I can't just leave you here."

"No, you have to go." They saw a light bobbing towards them and Draco shoved Harry away from him, before leaning more heavily on Hermione.

"Go and lock yourself in your cabin. Spell it closed."

Harry bit his lip. Maybe it was because he was tired and shivering that he felt so indecisive.

"Potter, password protect it with Bloody Baron. We'll make sure only Snape can get in."

Harry wasn't sure if Snape would be any better than one of the other professors, but after seeing such a display of his other Hogwarts peers standing up for him, he nodded and ran off as fast as his heavy legs could carry him. He made the base of the hill the cabins were on and heard August shouting at him to stop, and ran as hard as he thought he'd ever run before. At the top he threw open the door to his cabin, slammed it closed and threw every locking spell and charm at it and his windows that he could remember, silently adding Bloody Baron as the password to each one. If it worked like he hoped it would, then Snape, or preferably Hermione or Draco would be able to say the password once and unlock all the spells simultaneously.

Just as he finished he heard something slam against his door hard and he jumped, startled.

"I know you're in there Potter!" August shouted. "Unlock this door now!"

He shook his head, but didn't say anything. There was another bang and then a bang on his front window, followed a few moments later by a bang on his side window. Suddenly he wasn't feeling as safe in his little cabin as he once had. If the man thought hard enough Harry was sure he could come up with a spell to tear off the roof to get at him or pry boards loose in the side. He heard the man curse loudly and then there was nothing.

Minutes ticked by... maybe half an hour, before Harry finally sat down on his desk chair, eyes still glued to the door and wand at the ready. He didn't think he'd be able to fight August if he came through the door, or any of the other professors. He almost hated to think it, but he wished Snape were there to protect him. Maybe the man's sense of duty to Hogwarts and to Dumbledore would make him do it. Maybe not.

Harry shivered and wrapped his arms around himself. His clothing from the night before still sat in the corner, wet and cold. He felt numb and he couldn't stop his teeth from chattering. He looked at his watch but it seemed to be broken and even if it wasn't, he hadn't looked at it when he'd got there so he wouldn't know how long it had been.

Hanging his head he sat and worried. He was sure they'd throw him out this time, if not for fighting then for going to explore the cave, or some other stupid mistake. Maybe Snape was right, maybe he was reckless and foolish and always leading his friends into danger.

Finally, when Harry was gripping his arms so hard they hurt just trying to stop from shaking so bad, there was a sound out on his porch and he startled, wand out. His hand shook though and he was certain he'd be useless and unable to cast any spells. He heard Snape's muted voice from the other side of the door though and just prayed he didn't have other staff with him. The door opened and there stood the foreboding man alone, and Harry wasn't sure whether to be worried or relieved.

Snape scanned the room and Harry dropped his wand.

"Potter," he said cautiously.

"Are- are they out there?"

"Who?"

"August, and Blazhe."

"No, they are with their own students."

Severus watched with some curiosity as relief washed over the Gryffinor's features. He also noted that he was still soaking wet and shivering violently.

"Put some dry clothes on," he ordered him, and Harry moved to obey, setting his wand down on the table and going to open his trunk at the foot of his bed. He didn't know why he hadn't thought of it before. He still had a dry pair of shorts and a dry shirt left in his trunk.

He changed with some difficulty because he couldn't get his hands to hold still, but finally he was done and he sat nervously back in his chair. Snape was still standing in front of the door, blocking it. For the first time in... well, ever, Harry didn't feel trapped and threatened. He was glad he was there.

"Are you injured?"

Harry looked down at himself. "I don't think so," he said through chattering teeth. "D, D, Draco? Hermione?"

"She is with Draco in the infirmary. He will be fine after a night there."

"A- And Ernie?"

"Also fine."

Harry nodded, and Severus wondered that the boy cared at all for those from other houses, especially Draco.

"I've heard two disturbing sides to a disturbing story tonight Potter, and I already have a headache. What happened, and I warn you now, if you lie to me, there will be consequences that I will not take responsibility for." He sent Harry a deadly glare and Harry nodded.

"We w, went to explore a cave. A, Axle, Hermione, and B, B, Basia, ‘n me. Got there o, ok. Came b, back out when we h, h, heard voices. Was boys from other sc, schools. Th, they wanted to fight."

"So you obliged them?"

"No, wasn't going to, but the one- he attacked Draco!" Harry shouted the last bit out in earnest and found that if he shouted he didn't stutter as bad through his teeth chatter.

"And then?"

"Fought, and I fell."

"To the ground?"

Harry gave a particularly nasty shake and said, "To the ocean. D- Draco went in after me. We- we- we swam back."

Draco, Hermione and Ernie had all given him the same story but with more detail, and were adamant that none of them had done anything wrong. Apparently Draco had seen the boys from the other school following Harry, Hermione, Basia and Axle, from the top of the path and decided to follow. When he'd gotten to the top of the path, the other boys were demanding a fight and had attacked first. Hermione was adamant that Harry hadn't started it, and Ernie, being more impartial than he considered Draco and Hermione, corroborated their story. Axle had also given a small piece as had Basia. The other boys however, were claiming that they'd gone on a hike when Potter had leapt out at them brandishing his wand and demanding a duel, at which point they politely declined but he insisted anyway. They didn't have any explanation for why Hermione, Axle, Draco or Ernie were involved, but that didn't stop their own professors from believing their story. Hermione and Draco had also insisted that August had taken off after Harry and given him a password to get into Harry's cabin. They were adamant that only he could go in.

"You don't know the trouble you have caused Potter," Severus said, rubbing his throbbing temple. This was supposed to be a school to help unify the various magical governments, and here they were on the brink of starting up some sort of international incident.

Harry's teeth only chattered in response, and Severus yelled, "For pete's sakes Potter! Where's your blanket?"

Harry looked at him seriously and said, "You took it sir."

Severus rolled his eyes, seeing the boy's empty bed. "Your real blanket Potter. Where is it?" He had no time for the boy's childish attention seeking games.

Teeth still chattering, Harry looked him in the eye and said, "I only have one blanket. You took it."

Narrowing his eyes at him, Severus thought back to the ratty gray blanket he'd banished a week ago.

"I'd really like it back. It's the only blanket I've ever had."

"That was NOT your blanket!"

Harry jumped as Snape suddenly yelled at him, and sat staring at him, wide eyed. He was rubbing his temple again and looking like he was trying desperately hard not to lose his cool again.

"It- it has my name on it," Harry tried. There was a tag at the foot and his name was sewed into it. He liked to think his mother had perhaps sewn it for him as a baby and lovingly sewn his name into a tag so he'd always remember.

"It did not," Severus said in a voice that clearly told the brat shivering in front of him that he was feeling testy.

Harry leaned forward, arms wrapped around himself and insisted, "yes it did! I think my mum gave it to me! I've slept with it since I was a, a kid! What did you do with it?" He didn't like where this was going at all. It was one thing to take it from him, it was another to refuse to give it back at all.

Snape gave him a hard stare, and then with a sudden movement that startled Harry reached down and wrenched his trunk open. He stared inside and then let the lid fall closed, and got on his knees and peered under the boy's bed. There was no blanket. When he stood back up he said, "I burned it Potter. It looked infested."

"You- you burned it? That was the only thing I had left of her! Why would you do that!?"

"Why would you sleep with it until it was worn through instead of tucking it away in a keepsake box?" He was angry now. It wasn't his fault that the boy had ruined his own keepsake to the point where it really should have been thrown out.

"It's the ONLY blanket I had!" Harry was standing and shouting, forgetting that he was freezing and his arms and legs, and especially his fingers and toes were starting to really go numb.

"Why didn't you buy another one?"

Harry simply stared at him. What did he mean why didn't he buy another one? He never even had any money until he'd gone to Hogwarts, and even then, if he'd bought one, the Dursleys never would have let him keep it. They never let him have anything that was nice or good. "I don't have any money," he finally said, feeling defeated. He sank back onto the chair and put his head in his hand.

"Potter, your parents left you a vault full of gold, and you bought a Firebolt."

"I emptied the vault trying to come here, but I was short twenty galleons, so I sold my Firebolt and now I don't even have that. It was the only thing I had that Sirius gave me."

Severus paused and closed his mouth, suddenly forgetting what he was going to say. Instead what came out was, "Your vault?" His voice was muted somehow, soft, and Harry noticed.

"Yeah I only had 80 galleons in there. I had to sell my broom to Draco. Maybe that's why he gave me the supplies. He saw I was using the pink stuff Hermione gave me and said I was making him ashamed to go to Hogwarts, and then the next morning the pen and notebooks were on my porch."

Staring at the floor, he continued, "I didn't have money left over for supplies or a coat or anything. I have what I have and I didn't expect you to go burning it or trying to steal it away from me!" He was practically in tears. It was just to much and it had finally gotten the best of him. He'd been put down and trampled on, tossed off a cliff, and he'd lost the only things he had of Lily and Sirius. Tears did come, but they were silent and Harry let his head hang low so that Snape wouldn't see and laugh at him.

After a long, quiet moment, Severus finally said quietly, "Draco has your Firebolt?" He had been so certain that Albus had paid the boy's way with the way he'd hurried Harry through the process of getting into Gemini. He'd been aware of Hermione, Draco and the others trying to get in all year, and then suddenly out came Harry Potter, Boy-Who-Lived asking for signatures and Dumbledore smiling at him. He'd been sure the old man had put the boy up to asking for his signature in front of the whole school, just to ensure he'd say yes.

"It's in his cabin," Harry said, wiping his eyes across his bare arm. "He took it off me in Diagonalley in the used clothing store before we met at Fortescues."

Severus sighed. He felt like an ass and really, it was more than that. He felt like his father, and that was an all-time low he never thought he'd see. He'd piled one assumption on top of another until he'd worked himself up, and then he'd put the boy down. He'd also given the rest of the staff and students here the wrong impression, and look where that had lead. Draco and Harry had both gone over a cliff and into the sea. The night could have turned out more disastrous than it already had, and if any of the children had died or been seriously injured, he never would have been able to forgive himself for it.

He rubbed his temple hard and considered the child before him, maybe for the first time. His eyes traveled from the shivering form hanging his head and staring at the floor, around the sparse walls of the room, to the pink notebook on the desk and back to the bed that didn't even have sheets again.

"Do you have a coat?"

Harry shook his head and Severus took in a deep breath. He wasn't wearing his robes or else he would have given them to him. As it was the temperature was still dropping outside as it got later and he'd have to take him down the hill and across the compound to the Infirmary.

"Stand up. We're going to the infirmary." He gave a last look at the empty bed as Potter stood and then cursed at himself internally. He had been the cause of the boy getting sick. Damn.

He opened the door and waited until Harry was through, and then lit his wand and followed Harry down the steps. Part way down the hill path they encountered Ernie who was coming up and Severus instructed him to go to bed so he didn't have to miss any classes tomorrow.

Ernie gave Harry a sullen "Hullo," and then, presumably moved off to do as he was told. Severus would be back to check on him after a while.

They didn't encounter anyone on their way to the Infirmary, but once they were inside the tiny building, they found it hard to find space to stand. Draco was in a bed at the far end where Adeline was tending to him, Ace was sitting on a stool at the counter holding a bandage around his arm (he didn't know why the boy was still there really, he'd cleaned and bandaged the bite mark himself and given him a healing potion before going to check on Potter), and Gan was standing next to Blazhe tending to Petr's head as he sat on a stool with his head against the wall. Hermione appeared to have been sent to her own cabin already to make space, or was perhaps in another building still defending Harry to the other staff. If she spoke to them the way she'd spoken to him on the field the other day, then he had no doubt she was holding her own ground and could most likely do so well into the night.

Severus motioned for Harry to sit on the bed by the door, and Gan and Adeline both looked over at them.

"Do you need help?" Gan asked.

Severus noted that Blazhe rolled his eyes, but ignored him and said, "No." He went to one of the glass cupboards and slid the glass door open, pulling down a warming potion, and bar of chocolate. He also got a thick gray wool blanket from the cupboard below the counter and came back the three steps to where Harry was on the bed.

He sent a drying charm at the boy's tousled black hair and then handed him the blanket. Harry was quiet and kept his eyes averted as he took it and wrapped it around his shoulders. He buried his head down inside the blanket as much as he could as well.

He measured out a dose of the clay colored potion and said, "This will warm you up."

Harry looked up and held out his hand. He downed it in two swallows. He also accepted the large bar of chocolate his Professor handed him without a word and said, "I will be back to check on you in a moment. Be certain you eat the entire thing." Harry didn't give him a verbal response or a nod, but he did start opening the candy bar, so Severus stood and squeezed past the others to where Adeline was sitting next to Draco.

"How is he?"

"He tore a ligament. It will be healed by morning but he shouldn't put any weight on it tomorrow. After breakfast I'll send him back to his cabin to rest for the day. What about Harry?"

"He has hypothermia but otherwise seems to be fine. I gave him warming potion and chocolate. The potion should warm him slowly over the next few hours."

"He should stay the night too then. The other two will be fine to return to their cabins tonight. Petr doesn't have a concussion, and the bite wasn't deep on Acel's arm. They'll both be well enough to attend classes tomorrow."

"I will be back tomorrow morning to get Draco and Harry then," he said quietly. Harry was listening across the small room though and heard Snape use his first name. It was a first, and he was certain once the shock of the night's events wore off, would probably be the last.

"Where is Miss Granger?"

"I would imagine she's in the Dining Hall with Iva and August. I sent her to her cabin but I doubt she went."

"I will retrieve her as well then before I go to check on Mr. McMillan. He was on his way back to his cabin but I want to be certain he made it there."

She nodded and Severus stood straight from where he'd been bent over. He went back to Harry and gave him an appraising look.

"You should start feeling better in the next few hours. If you do not, tell Adeline. I will be back tomorrow morning to collect you and Mr. Malfoy."

Harry looked up at him, half eaten bar of chocolate in his hand. He was too exposed here in the infirmary and didn't want Snape to leave. He and Draco were in no condition to fight. Draco was already asleep and if Gan left, then any of the other Professors or students could come in to take their revenge.

Severus turned to the door to go but Harry reached out a hand and the boy's numb fingers brushed his wrist. He turned and looked down at Harry who looked up at him with a look he didn't want to acknowledge.

"No one will harm you," he said. "There is a spell in place on this building to ensure that no harm comes to those inside." Harry looked over at Gan who gave a single nod even though he was still looking at Petr.

Severus fixed Harry with a look he hoped was reassuring and then left. He did find Hermione in the Dining Hall arguing with Iva and August. Apparently Ernie had given up but Hermione had taken up his place. It was nearing midnight and he convinced her to go back to her cabin and stay there with a stern look and a promise that it would get sorted out in the morning. He also checked on Ernie and spoke to him briefly about his exchange with the other staff and sighed heavily after he left him to go to bed.

Harry and Draco were both asleep when he went back to the Infirmary forty minutes later to check on them one last time, and Blazhe was gone, probably making sure Acel and Petr got back to their own cabins. Gan was sitting next to Harry on a low stool with his eyes closed, and Adeline wasn't there.

"The boy is afraid of you, yet you show surprising gentleness to him when he is sick," Gan observed, not bothering to open his eyes.

Severus considered the older man for long moments. He is not Dumbledore, he told himself, yet I have found him to be wise, even if he is mistaken about many things, namely his previous assumptions about his role in Harry's injuries.

"Perhaps because I found myself mistaken," Severus said. He backed out and closed the door. He'd only stuck his head inside to check on the two boys.

It was almost one am, but it would still be a long time until he was able to sleep. He had work to do, and he hurried to the lane leading out of the school and apparated away. The first thing he had to do was make sure the boy had a blanket so he didn't get sick again. The second was to wake the Headmaster, and get some sort of letter of recommendation for the whelp and the others to be certain it was made clear that Hogwarts students, were not trouble makers and did not start this fight. The night was far from over.

Someone was pushing Harry's shoulder, trying to get him to rouse from sleep, (the best he'd had since before Sirius had died consequently), and he was refusing to budge from the warm bed with the scratchy yet blissfully warm wool blanket.

"Come on Potter, move," came Draco's irritated voice, and finally Harry pulled his arm down from where it was up over his head and eyes, and squinted at the irritated blond.

"Put your shoes on Mr. Potter," came Snape's voice from somewhere behind Draco.

Harry yawned and sat up. That's right, he was in the infirmary, and Snape had promised to come and collect him and Draco in the morning. He pulled his tight gray shoes on and stood up, wishing he could take the gray blanket with him. Even if he was going to get expelled today, he'd need a blanket to take back to Privet Drive. He wondered suddenly, if the Dursley's would be angry with him for sneaking out and running off without telling them where he'd gone, but thought better of it. They wouldn't care and were probably just glad he was gone, he reminded himself.

It was early in the morning and the air was cold and damp as they left the infirmary and crossed the compound. Fog clung low to the ground and their legs like it was lonely and wanted to follow them back to their cabins. Harry thought no one else was awake yet as it was far too early for breakfast, but he spied August striding into the study building looking cross. As they started the ascent up the hill to their cabins, Harry looked sideways at Snape and thought he looked like he'd had very little sleep himself, if any at all, and wondered why he didn't look cross as well.

"You are both to spend the day resting. You may attend meals if you wish, but other than that I expect you to be in your cabins, in bed," he added with a stern look at Draco. "If you do not appear for meals, food will be brought to you. Someone will bring notes to you from the classes you miss."

He stopped at Harry's cabin and motioned for him and Draco to their separate cabins, but neither moved.

"Are we expelled?" Draco asked, and Harry was glad he did because he wanted to know but didn't want to ask just in case Snape was masking his irritation and looking for someone to lash out at.

"It is being discussed this morning, but I do not believe either of you will be."

Draco grumbled something but Harry didn't catch it, and then moved off to his own Cabin next door. Harry went up his steps and opened his door, but paused on the threshold. This wasn't his cabin. He frowned as he looked around the room and spied his green notebooks next to his pink notebook on the desk, and his books were there too. But it couldn't be his room. He looked up at the door and saw his name there, and looked back to the bed where a dark red blanket with the Gryffindor lion was along with a matching pillow. On the floor was a deep yellow shag rug and a small black square trunk with its lid closed, half the size of Harry's own Hogwarts trunk.

He turned to ask Snape what was going on, but the man was gone, presumably to the teacher's meeting. He closed the door and took another step in. Where had it all come from? It couldn't all really be for him could it? At the foot of the blanket he saw a tag though, and paused when he bent over to read the label. It said Harry J. Potter. It was his.

Still feeling exhausted despite a good night's rest, Harry sat on the edge of his bed. He wanted to stay awake but knew he really should rest. Curiosity was getting the better of him though, so he dropped to his knees on the soft yellow rug and unlatched the trunk. Inside was a stack of red Muggle notebooks, a box of red and black Muggle pens, new quills, bottles of ink, stacks of parchment, Muggle sticky notes, a box of highlighters, and several yellow pencils. A note was taped to the inside of the lid and Harry pulled it off. It was from the Headmaster and said, "My sincerest apologies Harry. I did not realize you did not have the necessary supplies to succeed at The Academy Of The Gemini Trees. It is my hope that these supplies will suit your needs and help to make up for my grievous error. Yours, Albus P. W. B. Dumbledore. Harry closed the lid and smiled, feeling overwhelmed. So all of this had come from Dumbledore. Someone must have told him what had been going on. They weren't allowed to have pets here, Harry had sent Hedwig home with Ron for the summer, so he knew it couldn't have been Hermione. Yet here were all of these brand new, beautiful things.

He got up and pulled the blanket back, surprised to see red sheets underneath. He slipped between the soft sheets and closed his eyes. Maybe a full day off wouldn't be so bad.

* * *

Harry woke to the smell of roast beef and opened his eyes. On his desk there was a plate with a warm roast beef sandwich, carrots, pineapple, and some sort of hot broth to dip the sandwich in.

He rose, feeling stiff, probably from the prolonged swim last night, and sat in his desk chair. He must have missed breakfast because he was starving, so he practically inhaled the delicious warm food. When he was done, he flicked his wand to open both sets of shutters to let some light in, and then stood to take in his new belongings again. He still couldn't believe it was all his.

Feeling sticky from sleeping during the day under such a nice warm blanket, Harry took his shirt off and dropped it on the floor and went to open his trunk to retrieve his last clean shirt. The only thing was, his last clean shirt wasn't there. He blinked as he stared down into the trunk. There were stacks of neatly folded clothes. T-shirts, polo shirts, shorts, jeans, slacks, socks, underwear, gloves, hats, a maroon zip up hoodie, and even a warm winter coat. He opened and closed his mouth several times, completely shocked. He couldn't even think straight long enough to pick up the soft blue polo shirt on top to put it on.

A knock on the door brought back his senses however and he quickly snatched up the shirt, pulled it on over his head, admiring only for a moment how well it fit, and slammed the trunk lid closed. The knock came again and he turned and opened the door. Hermione was standing on the other side with Axle.

"Harry, you're all right!" she exclaimed, and ignoring the rules she stepped over the threshold of his door and gave him a big hug.

"Careful Hermione," Harry said, "the rules."

"Oh, right." She blushed and then stepped back out onto the porch. Axle did come in however and admired the room.

"Nice," he said.

Hermione's eyes widened as she looked around the room as well. "Harry, where did it all come from?"

He grinned and said, "I think Dumbledore sent it all. There was a note in the trunk. Look, it's full of school supplies!" He opened the square black trunk and dragged it over for her to see.

"That's wonderful Harry."

"You didn't have any before?" Axle asked, and Harry shook his head. "I didn't have any of this before." He motioned to the blanket and pulled at his blue polo shirt.

"Huh. I just thought you had good decorating style when I brought your lunch up earlier," Axle said. "You were sleeping and Proffessor Snape told me to leave you alone so I just set it on the desk and left."

Harry gave a small laugh. He couldn't imagine Snape telling anyone not to disturb him.

"How have classes been?" Harry asked.

"Well," Hermione hedged, "they've actually canceled classes for today. I guess the professors didn't get much sleep, and with so many students out of bed so late they didn't want us all missing classes. Professor Iva said we'll do an extra day of classes on Saturday instead to make up for it."

"What have you been doing all day then?" Harry asked.

She crossed her arms in the door frame and said, "Well most everybody is down on the beach because it's a warm day, but I've been questioned half a dozen times by the teachers."

"Me too," said Axle. "And Ernie and Basia."

"Have they voted then?" Harry asked.

"Yes. We're staying. Apparently Professor Snape went to Hogwarts last night and woke up the Headmaster and all of our professors around 2 am to get them to write each of us their sincerest letters of recommendation. I read Professor McGonagall's about you and it was glowing Harry."

"Snape did that?"

She nodded, looking surprised herself. "I couldn't believe it. With so many letters they couldn't expel us. He also brought back the records of any trouble we'd made and since mine is mostly clean they had to take my word on what happened."

"But not mine," Harry said.

"Well, not exactly. Draco's isn't the cleanest either, but I don't think they've spoken to him today. But Ernie's never been in trouble one time and he told them exactly what he saw too."

"What about the ones who started the fight?" Harry asked.

Harry and Axle watched as Hermione balled and unballed her fists twice and then spoke in measured words, trying not to appear too angry. "Apparently, since they let you off with 1 strike for having Draco's school supplies, they're giving the same courtesy to Petr, Nikolas, and Acel, even though Professor Snape told them all that he had been mistaken and that Draco had admitted this morning to giving you the supplies."

"So they're staying," Axle said with a slap on Harry's back as if he was breaking the bad news.

"And they still dislike me," Harry concluded. If they wouldn't take Snape's word that he hadn't stolen the items, then it meant they still thought poorly of him.

"August said that you ran from him last night so it made it clear that you are apt to rebel against any and all authority. Gan and Adeline stuck up for you, but he wouldn't listen. Even Professor Snape said you locked yourself in your cabin because you thought he was going to hurt you."

"Well he was," Harry said, remembering how both Hermione and Draco had told him to go. If they thought so too then it couldn't all have been in his head.

Axle had just plopped down onto Harry's bed when Draco appeared behind Hermione. "Professor Snape said we had to rest," he said, sounding irritated as he pushed past Hermione and sat on Harry's desk chair, elevating his leg onto Harry's desk and looking like he might still have been in some pain.

"Why aren't you in bed then?" Hermione asked and Draco shot her a look that told her he wanted her to be quiet.

"Well nobody's come to visit me have they? I'm going stir crazy over there." He let his eyes travel around the room and Harry watched as he looked, sure he would make a snide comment, but he kept his mouth closed.

Hermione huffed, arms crossed. "Well this is fine for you boys, but what about me? I'm not allowed inside. I wish we had a common room."

"Common room?" Axel asked, and finally giving up, Hermione sat down just inside the door frame to explain it to him.

Harry sat on the rug and looked around. Even yesterday he wouldn't have imagined Axle or Draco sitting in his room amiably with him, yet there they both were. Harry wondered what Draco would say to his Slytherin goons at Hogwarts if they ever found out he'd spent time with Harry Potter, defeater of evil wizards over the summer.

* * *

Severus Snape was not pleased. Not only had he had to admit his wrongdoing in taking Potter's blanket to Adeline, but he'd had to admit, in giving the other staff Harry's fine letters of recommendation, that he'd been wrong. Not just a little wrong either, but wrong enough that he'd caused the boy trouble there at the school. This wasn't the root of his displeasure this afternoon however. Despite the letters, despite the truth about the school supplies, Blaze and August were still sticking their noses up in the air about Potter. Don't get me wrong, Severus told himself as he strode angrily up the hill towards Potter's cabin, he still didn't like the brat and didn't think he ever would, but perhaps he'd been mistaken about a few things. The boy was still the attention seeking, rule breaking brat of Gryffindor however, and he wasn't ready to drop those assumptions just yet either. Much to his chargrin, he also realized the irony, that he was angry at August and Blazhe for doing the same thing.

At the start of the row of cabins he stopped short and narrowed his eyes. He was already breaking two rules, yet again. He could tell that Granger was sitting inside the brat's cabin, and that the teen was definitely not resting.

He strode purposefully up to the cabin and up the three steps, where he stood behind Granger with his arms crossed. His shadow alerted her to his presence and she jumped up and stepped out of the cabin before he could even clear his throat.

"Go to dinner Miss Granger."

"Yes sir," she said and hurried off without looking back.

"I specifically remember telling the two of you to rest."

"You said we could go to meals," Harry said.

He narrowed his eyes and looked at the dirty plate and empty glass on Harry's desk. Brat.

Draco seemed to realize that he too was in trouble. He pointed to his leg and said, "I am resting sir. I just got... bored."

"And you did not think of taking the time to study?"

"Sir?" Axle said. Harry knew that Axle didn't know how mean Snape could be, and could see the other boy didn't look as tense as he and Draco felt at his presence right at the moment of their rule breaking. "Hermione was here quizzing us on different classes, and we were telling each other about the cultural differences between our schools and families."

Huh, Harry thought, that was true enough. They'd talked about Hogwarts and Boden for ten or fifteen minutes, and then the gathering had turned into an impromptu study session, where Harry and Draco got into a heated competition to answer the most questions right about whichever class Hermione asked questions for, even the ones Draco wasn't taking. Harry had been quite proud of the fact that he was holding his own against the Slytherin, who like Hermione, usually did better than him in most of their classes at Hogwarts.

"Draco, Axle, would you please go down to dinner with Miss Granger. I would like to have words with Mr. Potter."

Axle got off the bed and Draco stood up and they left, Axle giving Harry a friendly wave as he went out. Then Snape came in and closed the door. Harry looked nervous, and Severus didn't fail to notice.

"You are feeling better I trust?" he asked with hands behind his back.

"Yes sir," Harry said. He was still stiff and sore and a little tired, but otherwise fine.

Severus looked at the stack of books next to Harry's desk and said, "I did not realize you were taking so many courses."

"Oh, erm, eight." He scratched the back of his head. Would he be in trouble for taking so many?

"Are you struggling in any of them?"

He bit his lip. He was, but only in the ones where he was singled out and not really allowed to participate.

"Speak your mind Potter, I asked you a question."

"It's hard to do well in classes where I'm not called on when I have a question or answer, or when I'm not allowed to practice what I'm learning in class."

"And such courses would be?"

"Magery... Defensive Tactics," Harry said this one carefully knowing it was Snape's class, but the man didn't flinch as he listed it off, and Harry continued, "and Muggle Defensive Tactics."

"Perhaps it would be wise to stop attending Magery and Muggle Defense." He knew August and Blazhe were planning on doing worse to Potter than they'd done before, despite evidence that they had previously been wrong... and misled. Damn, he thought silently. I hate being wrong.

Harry climbed to his feet and looked angry. "I'm not dropping classes! I told you before, I'm not lazy! I'll get it!"

"Calm yourself Potter, I was not accusing you of anything." He sneered. The brat was jumping to conclusions. "I was merely suggesting, as a professor from Hogwarts, that taking classes with two professors who are exceedingly angry at you, would benefit your own safety."

"I make it through your classes," Harry said, feeling a little burst of bravery, but it dissipated right away and he watched Snape's eyes for any hint of anger.

"You may of course do as you wish, but if you are not learning anything from them anyway, you would do well to focus your time and energy on the courses you are doing well in. Despite what you may think, you are meeting my expectations for Advanced Defensive Tactics."

Harry wondered then if Snape's expectations were low, or if he was really doing as well as everybody else.

"I want to learn Magery," Harry said.

Snape cleared his throat then and Harry listened. He felt on edge and thought it must have been from so many years of seeing the man explode at him or put him down, even though he didn't seem inclined to do so today.

"Do you also want to learn Occlumency?"

Harry bit his lip again. He didn't want to, but it wasn't a question of want anymore. Sirius had died because he hadn't and he didn't want anyone else to die. It was a necessity.

"Yes."

"If you are amenable then, I will tutor you in Occlumency, and Magery."

"But I've missed a week of class."

"The reason the price is so high to attend is that teachers are not ‘off the clock' at a certain hour. Many of the students get one on one tutoring from their professors before or after class hours or on the weekends. Miss Granger is getting private tutoring in two of her courses and Mr. Malfoy gets private tutoring for violin."

Huh. He supposed that since everybody had been so against him, that none of the other staff had offered to tutor him outside of class time.

"If you drop the other two courses, you will have time to learn."

"When would we do it?"

"An early breakfast is served at seven. If you will be available at eight, we can begin Wandless magic. I will teach you as much Occlumency as I can during class time, and we will practice in the evenings on any days you are free."

Harry had never had an offer like this before, certainly not from Severus Snape, bat of the dungeons. It was almost... friendly. Strained, but friendly.

"Ok," Harry said hesitantly.

"Do not give your text books back for the classes you are dropping. They are yours to keep and study as you will. Meet me at eight tomorrow morning on the training field."

"Yes sir," Harry said. He felt like he should say thank you, but didn't quite know how. He wasn't used to saying thank you to Snape.

He opened the door and walked out, but turned back and said, "And Potter."

Harry stilled and stared at him. "Do not be afraid to ask for extra tutoring in the courses you are doing well in. It is my understanding that Ganzorig and Adeline think quite highly of you and your abilities." And then he was gone, down the steps and down the lane, presumably to dinner.

Harry sat on his bed and thought for a few minutes before he got up and followed, hoping to find Hermione and Axle, and dare he say it, Draco. He wasn't sure what to think of Snape's offer, but it was feeling like a pretty good day so far, especially with the prospect of not going to class with August and Blazhe, though he still had drawing with Blazhe in the afternoon.

Harry made his way through the foggy grounds to breakfast at seven and ate while looking over his Occlumency text book. He thought Snape would help him with Magery that morning and then Occlumency later, but he wanted to be prepared either way. At seven thirty he finished and made his way to the training field. Snape wasn't there since Harry was almost half an hour early, so he sat on the damp grass and closed his eyes, trying to meditate. He knew he was supposed to take his shoes off so he could feel the earth beneath him, but it was cold out and he was enjoying his new socks and warm hiking boots, which he'd found under his bed last night before going to dinner.

"Potter."

Harry looked up to find Snape standing there over him in the fog. He hadn't startled, not quite, but he looked down at his watch. It was strange to him how this happened sometimes, that he'd sit down and close his eyes to meditate, only to find out his time had elapsed without his knowing it. He stood up, back side damp from sitting in the grass, and looked at Snape expectantly.

"We're going to start with silent magic today."

Harry stared at him. That was supposed to be very hard. He knew some of the older students knew how to do it from the other schools, but as far as he'd read in the magery book, it wasn't something they'd be learning there.

"Problem Potter?"

Harry shook his head. He really wanted to say that it would be too hard and that the man wanted him to fail, and maybe he did, but he was there early in the morning just to tutor him, so Harry thought he'd give him the benefit of the doubt just this one time.

"Pocket your wand." Harry did as he was told and watched as Snape withdrew a small mossy stone from his pocket.

"You are to levitate this from the ground without your wand, and without words."

Harry stared at him as he dropped the rock and there was a muted thump as it landed in the grass. Snape didn't take his eyes off of Harry.

With an internal sigh Harry stared down at the rock, which he could hardly see thanks to the thick fog that seemed intent to clinging to him, and concentrated on the wingardium leviosa charm. He didn't expect it to work but was still disappointed when he didn't. Determined not to give Snape the satisfaction of besting him, he didn't look up and kept trying. He tried for an hour until 9 am when Snape told Harry he had to get to class and bent and picked up the rock. He didn't say anything as he walked away and Harry felt a little miffed that the man hadn't even given him any instruction on what he'd done wrong. Looking at his watch and then back up as he saw students coming to the field for whatever class they had, Harry realized he had an hour of free time and wondered what he'd do with it. Normally he would be on his way to Magery with August but since he'd just done that with Snape, there was no need to subject himself to whatever torture August had planned. Harry wandered for twenty minutes through the fog before he bumped into Axle coming out of his cabin.

"Harry. Do you have free time?"

"Yeah, it's too foggy out to do anything though."

"Want to come in and study?"

Harry nodded and went into Axle's cabin which felt overly warm now that he'd been outside in the fog for too long. They didn't get any studying done and ended up talking about Quidditch instead. They made plans to meet at Axle's cabin at the same time tomorrow and Harry left at nearly ten to hurry to Defense with Snape.

They were practicing dueling in teams again today, but Snape had changed the rules since it was foggy to some sort of twisted version of capture the flag. Today it was capture your partner. One person would be looking to seek and capture and their partner would be looking to evade capture and disable their pursuer. Harry, Draco, and a few of their classmates were told to wait on the foggy field for five minutes as their partners went off to hide. Harry thought immediately of going to the wood as that's where he and Hermione had been practicing, but thought it too likely a place to hide and decided instead to look on the little steep hill behind the infirmary. There weren't many trees on it, but there was a lot of tall grass in the meadow on top a person could hide in. Harry hadn't been up there yet, but he thought he remembered Hermione saying something about studying up there with her other friends one day. It was a good place to start his search.

He stealthily made his way across the grounds, picking up rocks as he went and putting them in the pockets of his new red zip up hoodie. The fog was thick as he made his way to the base of the hill. At the bottom he avoided where he thought the path started and instead climbed up through the grass. When he was near the top, ears perked for any sign of his friend, he took a rock out of his pocket and threw it hard. He heard it land somewhere in the distance and listened to see if he could hear a rustle of grass. There was a noise but he wasn't certain what it was. He took another rock and threw it even harder. This time he did hear a rustle and hurried as quietly as he could the rest of the way up the hill. He peered through the white fog and tried to keep his heavy, noisy breathing at bay. In the distance he heard a shout from somewhere down in the main compound and assumed someone had captured their prey, but his was still lose somewhere.

Harry had one rock left in his pocket and instead of throwing it he decided to try something new. He couldn't cast any kind of wind or light charm from his wand because it would give away his position, but maybe he could attach a wind charm to the rock and then levitate it across the meadow. It might be enough to clear the fog for a moment if he could. Trying to remember any kind of attachment charm, Harry decided on trying some transfiguration. His first three whispered attempts failed, but finally he did attach a little whirlwind charm to the rock and levitated it out in front of him. The fog cleared for three feet in every direction of the rock and he sent it off, squinting as the fog came back in again and the rock disappeared. He swung his wand around and the rock came back and to the left. He caught a flash of purple movement and sent the rock back towards it. Aha, he thought. He sent a stunning charm towards the movement in the grass but immediately a hex came right back at him and he ducked into the tall grass, lying flat on his belly. He'd given away his position. He searched for another rock and found a pebble and spent the next few moments trying to attach a freezing spell to it. He avoided touching it as the rock turned blue and ice began to form around it and then sent it to the place where the wind rock was now laying on the ground, presumably right next to his pray. It hovered in the air but he needed to know exactly where to drop it. He felt around and found a stick and threw it. It hit someone who moved just enough to give away their location, and Harry dropped the freezing rock, causing a high scream.

He leaped from his position in the grass and hurried over to find Hermione shaking her hand and blowing on it, trying to get the ice crystals off.

"Got you," Harry said.

"Not yet you haven't," she said, looking up at him with a frown.

"I can stun you if you want, or you can walk back."

She stood up with a huff and started off through the fog, Harry right on her heals so he didn't lose her. They hadn't covered anything like escaping while captured, but if it was in the book he was sure Hermione would have already read ahead to it. They were all the way back down the hill and across the compound to the practice field when Hermione decided to take advantage of a convenient distraction. Lyn was there on the field struggling to get Jacques back into some rope she had conjured to bind him and had caught Harry's attention, when he suddenly found himself face first in the grass, stunned. The spell was lifted and he heard Snape say, "Well done Miss Granger."

"What? No! I had her here on the field already!" Harry jumped up angrily and saw Hermione's smile.

"You did not deliver her to me," Snape corrected. He waved his hand and called for the others to come over. It appeared that Harry and Hermione had been the last to return.

"You have all just learned two valuable lessons. First, it would be better to completely incapacitate any subject you are bringing back and levitate them, instead of trying to walk them back. Two, even when you think you are in the clear, you may not be. A captured person will take any advantage they can to escape."

Harry wondered bitterly for a moment if this was what Voldemort taught his death eaters, but cast the thought aside as Snape started to tell them to reverse rolls with their partners. They still had thirty minutes left in class. Harry hurried off, wondering where he could hide with a good advantage as Hermione and the other pursuers disappeared from sight in the fog. Anywhere out of the way would be too obvious, especially the forest or where he'd just found Hermione. Snape hadn't put buildings off limits today, so he considered something a little sneakier than he normally would. He knew Gan wouldn't practice Root in the fog like this because it was too cold and distracting, so he headed off for the building Gan sometimes used in bad weather and opened the door. He peeked in, and hoped Gan wouldn't be angry with him for interrupting. There were four students sitting inside on the floor with their shoes off and eyes closed. It looked like meditation but he couldn't be sure. Gan was also there but he never opened his eyes to see who the intruder was, so Harry came in and sat down. He didn't take his shoes off in case Hermione found him, though he didn't think she'd dare interrupt a class like he had.

He kept an eye on his watch, not wanting to lose time accidentally again by meditating, and instead sat quietly and pondered on ‘losing time', as if it were an actual thing one could lose. He felt very much like Luna then. Finally his watch read one til' the hour and he stood up and exited the building, Gan never having looked at him. He waited just outside until he knew for certain that class was over, and then returned to the field. Snape and Hermione were still there though it looked like the others had gone.

"Where were you hiding?" Hermione asked.

"If I tell you, I won't be able to hide there next time," Harry said, feeling a little smug after she had turned things around on him earlier.

"Hmpf," she walked off, bag over her shoulder, probably not wanting to be late to her next class or study group.

"Where were you hiding?" Snape asked. He didn't seem angry.

"You'll tell her."

"I will not."

Harry nodded. Ok then. "In a classroom."

"With students?"

"Yes."

"Hm."

Harry started to move off to go to Healing, but Snape asked, "When are you free today for Occlumency?"

"I have a free hour at three."

"That is after my last Occlumency class for the day. We will practice then."

"Ok." Harry hurried so he wouldn't be late. The fog was finally starting to clear and he could finally see more students walking across the grounds.

In Healing Harry considered Snape's words to him the other night about asking for tutoring in his other courses, and wanted to ask Gan if he would give him extra help in Root, but suddenly felt bad for using his class as an escape from capture and didn't ask. He also didn't ask in Root after lunch, and felt silly about his cowardice through Occlumency where Snape lectured about different techniques for hiding your thoughts from intruders. Finally it was three o'clock and Occlumency class was over. The other students filed out of the building, and Harry stayed in his seat. He'd been so caught up in trying to think of how to ask Gan for extra help that he'd forgotten to be anxious about Occlumency, which up until this point had never gone well for him

"Were you listening at all during my lecture?"

Harry looked up from where he'd been staring at his desk. "Yes."

"What are three ways to keep your thoughts hidden then?"

"Empty your mind only thinking of one thing or image, re-direct your thoughts to something you are ok with your attacker seeing, or force the person from your mind." There were more but Harry had tuned out part of the lecture and he didn't want to be asked to list the things he couldn't remember.

"Bring your chair up to my desk." Harry did as he was told and sat facing Snape across the teacher's desk. "I will be entering your mind. You will attempt to block your thoughts from me in any of the ways we have learned about in the book or in class."

"Yes sir."

"It is not necessary to throw me from your mind today. If one thing does not work, try another. One Occlumens rarely is able to master more than one or two ways of keeping his or her thoughts to themself, so for now you will focus on trying to find at least one way that works for you."

Harry thought that if he had had this information to start with, he might have done better in Occlumency previously and Sirius might still be alive, but he tried to push those bitter thoughts away. He didn't want Snape seeing them. Those were his thoughts meant only for him and his own brooding.

Harry closed his eyes and waited, and though Snape never spoke the words of the spell, he suddenly felt him in his mind, and thoughts and memories began flashing through. Snape was not choosing to pause on any particular flash of memory at the moment, which was different from Harry's previous lessons with him, and so Harry felt he could concentrate on trying to do as he had been told. By the end of the hour however, he'd made little progress.

"We will try again tomorrow," Severus said. "I have another class to teach."

"Ok," Harry said. He felt a little irritated but not like he would have been coming out of one of Snape's classes a week ago.

Harry went to drawing, forgetting that Blazhe was probably still very angry with him, but was snapped back to reality when Blazhe laughed at his attempt at drawing a person proportionately a few minutes into the lesson. He didn't put any of the other students down and Harry tried to ignore it, but Blazhe soon came back for another attack. "You're not even trying now are you Potter? I know this course isn't for credit, but I would have thought you would try to attempt to do as you're told."

Harry knew Draco and the other three students were watching him but he decided to try not rising to the bate. Blazhe would take any chance to get him kicked out.

Harry thought he had done fairly well not leaping out of his seat and screaming at Blazhe, but it left him feeling angry and he had a lot to think about during meditation. Typically meditation was only half an hour, but when Kushi tapped him on the shoulder and told him class was over at 5:30, Harry nodded and then closed his eyes again. He wasn't done yet. He needed to think some more. Meditating helped him be a little less angry. If only he could figure out how to do it without closing his eyes so he could be less bothered during the day. Soon another distraction came however and Harry looked up.

"It is dinner time," Gan said.

Looking up at his teacher Harry realized they were the only two there now. "Oh, ok." Harry didn't get up, but didn't close his eyes again either. He was surprised when Gan sat down across from him, crossing his legs a moment later. Harry looked at him.

"You came into my early Root class today."

"How did you know it was me?"

"Just because I meditate, does not mean I am unaware of my surroundings."

Harry thought it was strange that his Root class had been meditating. They never did that in the Root class Harry went to.

"I'm sorry," Harry said. "I didn't mean to interrupt. Professor Snape told us to hide and avoid capture."

"And you decided to hide in my class."

"I knew Hermione wouldn't look in a classroom full of people."

"Why?"

"She considers school sacred ground. She'd never interrupt a lecture."

"And you?"

He bit his lip. "I wasn't trying to cause any trouble. I just wanted to not fail."

"Is this what you meditate about?"

Harry frowned. Maybe he did sometimes. It was hard not to think about failing when everyone around you wanted you to fail.

"Maybe."

Gan closed his eyes then and appeared to be meditating. Harry guessed that meant that their conversation was over. He was about to get up but then he asked, "Why do I lose time when I meditate sometimes?"

"You are deep in thought," Gan said without opening his eyes. "Sometimes this is good, other times, it is not."

"Because I'm not aware of my surroundings?"

"Yes. For you in this place especially, it would not be wise to meditate alone out in the open if you intend on losing yourself in thought."

"Can you teach me how to stay aware?"

Gan opened his eyes.

"You like meditation." It was not a question, so Harry didn't answer. Gan stared at him for a long moment and then said, "I come here every other year. There are not many students who choose to take up the art of meditation, despite constant recommendations from their teachers. You are the only one this year, aside from my own Karh students."

"Will- will you teach me then?"

"Meditation is not something that can be taught. Guided yes, explored, discovered, enjoyed, but not taught. I will guide your meditations if you wish."

"Yes," Harry said, "I mean, please."

"Come back tomorrow. Or you may stop and join me any time you see me meditating."

Harry stood up. "Thank you."

At dinner Harry sat with Hermione, Axle and Ernie and wondered at how much change one day could bring. Yesterday he was in bed recovering from a long distance swim in icy crashing waves wondering if he was going to be expelled, and today he had had a pretty decent day, gotten two extra tutoring sessions and been told he could get extra tutoring from Gan as well. He could only hope that tomorrow he would be so lucky.

Today was one of those days where Harry was feeling particularly taxed and overworked. Snape had been trying to teach him dueling spells he already knew and had him trying to hex him on the training field without words and without his wand. Harry thought it sounded a lot like root to do it this way if he was supposed to channel pure energy from his hands to throw at Snape, but Snape hadn't agreed. In the end Harry hadn't thrown anything at him, but felt completely spent before his other classes had even begun that day.

After Occlumency, Harry moved to the front of the room and sat facing Snape for their tutoring session and Snape informed him that it was going to be all out today since Harry really hadn't made any progress up to this point by going slowly. He had a feeling the man was growing irritated with him, just like the last time he'd tried to learn occlumency last year. He hoped the outcome would be different this time.

The Potion's Master hadn't been kidding, Harry thought, when he said he wasn't holding anything back. Before Harry could really prepare himself (and at the same time he was trying to assess his feelings in the instant like Gan had told him to) Snape was in his mind and tossing memories around like a tornado. Harry wondered if he was looking for something in particular when he stopped on the image of a baby whale leaping up into the air about to stomp on Harry's foot. NO! Acting on pure instinct, as if he were yanking an injured part of himself away from the man, he yanked the memory away and it was gone. He could feel him trying to pull it back, but every time the image started to materialize, and Harry's feelings about the incident with it, Harry yanked it away. Finally Snape left his mind and they were left staring at each other.

"What was that?"

"None of your business," Harry said, feeling a little snarky.

"No, I mean, what did you do with the memory?"

"I pulled it back."

"Back where?"

Harry stared at him. What did he mean where?

"I don't know... just, away."

"Away from me?"

"I guess."

"That is not one of the techniques discussed in the text."

"But it worked."

"It would appear so, for the time."

Harry continued to stare at him and Snape stood up and began gathering his books and notes. It must be time to leave already.

"Because it worked this time, does not mean it always will. You clearly had a strong emotion attached to that memory, so you acted on instinct. This will not always be the case. The dark lord may be browsing through memories that you are not emotionally attached to, yet which may still reveal key details of your life or the Order's plans. You must try to use the other more sound strategies, and they must become like an instinct to you."

Without even looking at him, Snape took his books and walked out of the room. That was it, Harry thought. He'd finally blocked him from seeing a memory and all he got was, 'Ok but not good enough?' Feeling irritated he went about his day and was still irritated by the time he found Gan around seven o'clock sitting at the base of Harry's favorite tree. The sun was just starting to come down out of the sky and Harry yanked his shoes and socks off and plopped down into the dirt between the roots.

"Have they done something to you?"

Harry looked at Gan. "Teacher?"

"Your shoes and socks. Have they done something to you?"

"No..." he paused. Oh, I guess I am a little irritated, he thought. Gan had given him an entire list of words describing emotions and had told Harry to try identifiying every single thing he felt throughout the day.

"I'm sorry teacher," he said, "I'm irritated."

"Your shoes and I can see that. Perhpas now is a good time for you to meditate on that."

Harry sighed and looked out over the ocean and the birds swooping down low over it, searching for fish. The breeze gently tousled his hair and he didn't close his eyes. He didn't want to. He wanted to stare out at the sea and forget about his day, not think about it. What was Snape's problem anyhow? He was hard to get along with at his best, but couldn't the man find some other way to teach Harry Magery than just telling him to do something? Couldn't he give him examples or show him what to do? And what about in Occlumency... the man was literally in his mind, couldn't he help him tuck memories away or something? He felt like he wasn't helping at all and it made Harry want to throw his hands up in the air. Gan on the other hand, really was guiding him with meditation. He talked to him about different things to do and try, he asked him about his progress, he monitored him while he meditated, and at times he even spoke gently to him during meditation to guide Harry's waking mind in and out of his meditative mind.

"Are you meditating Harry?" Gan's voice came from beside him.

"Yes teacher." He didn't look at him but knew his teacher must have wondered since his eyes weren't closed.

"And are you aware?"

Harry thought about it. He supposed he was. He'd been watching the birds fight in the air for a little fish one of them had caught, but whether he'd really been seeing it, he wasn't certain.

"I might be."

"Does keeping your eyes open help?"

"Maybe."

"Perhaps you should keep your eyes open in the day as well then."

Harry did look over at him now. Gan smiled at him, a rare sight Harry thought.

"Teacher?"

"You have been learning to evaluate your emotional state throughout the day," he paused for a moment and then said, "I believe you know well how to evaluate the emotional state of others as well. Perhaps you should begin trying to evaluate the motives of others as well."

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"To walk in another man's shoes," Gan said, and gave another smile, and then Harry nodded. He did understand though he didn't think he liked it. Walking a mile in Snape's shoes... no he didn't like that at all. Gan was telling him to try looking at himself through Snape's eyes and situation and then maybe the world would be colored differently.

"Not too many people walk in my shoes," Harry said feeling a little defensive then. Really nobody at all had except maybe Gan and Adeline who had taken the time to really see him and even stand up for him.

"Because one man jumps from a bridge, does that mean another should also?"

Harry stared at him. Did they say that kind of thing in Mongolia? "We're not talking about doing something dangerous," Harry protested, but stopped at the patient look on Gan's face.

"Aren't we?" he asked. "Failing to take into account another person's situation, another person's point of view is as good as doing yourself harm. It breeds a one sided perspective of the world, it breeds bitterness and hatred where there might not be any at all in other circumstances."

"You say it like you've seen it happen."

"Haven't you?"

"No."

Gan just looked down at Harry's new boots and Harry followed his gaze. He stared at them too and when Gan said no more Harry knew he was supposed to get some meaning from it, so he stared at the boots and then closed his eyes to think about it. Haven't I seen people be one sided, bitter, hateful when they shouldn't have been, he rephrased the question. What does it have to do with my shoes? He tried again. Haven't I seen people hurt themselves by being bitter against other people? Actually all he'd seen was people hurting him by being bitter against him. Harry paused in his thought and tried to let his mind grasp onto the answer he felt was so near to him. My shoes, my shoes come from Dumbledore... but Snape told Dumbledore what was going on... unless the shoes didn't come from Dumbledore and they really came from Snape. His mind officially went blank for at least a minute. Dumbledore never said he bought the other things, only the supplies in the black trunk. And Snape was the only other possibility. Snape bought my shoes, Snape bought the clothes, the bedding, the rug, the coat, the sweat jacket, everything. Snape did it all. Snape, who had spread the rumors and lies, Snape who was bitter, Snape who was hateful, Snape who had not seen Harry for who he really was at all because he hadn't tried. Gan was right. It could cause a lot of trouble, and Harry for one thought that maybe the man was bitter and hateful when he didn't have to be. If Gan thought it was from a lack of other people's perspective then Harry didn't want to fall into the same boat as Snape. He didn't want to be miserable and he didn't want to cause others misery.

Having a lot to think about Harry went back to his cabin and lay awake that night. He knew Snape had hated James, but was that really enough of a reason to be so angry at Harry all the time? There had to be another reason. And what about all the others? What was their excuse? Even Draco was being reasonably nice to him now, why was that? Gan's voice filled his head about walking in another's shoes and Harry wondered if Draco had become less of a git all the sudden becuase he'd seen how little Harry truly had. He didn't know, but the question gnawed at him. Something else gnawed at him too... Snape knew his situation, sort of, and had bought him the things he needed and more, but he was still being a git. Did that mean that Snape was still lacking perspective on Harry? He fell asleep before he came to an answer, but in his dreams Gan said that Harry was the one still lacking perspective.

* * *

Harry was on the floor and his elbow smarted. He opened his eyes and looked up to find Snape sitting in the chair at the front of the room giving him a dirty look.

"Must you be so dramatic Potter?"

Harry pushed himself up, feeling irritated. The man was trying to pry memories out of him that he didn't want to see or even think about. He'd already had one sleepless night, he didn't need others. The effort of keeping Snape away from those memories was taxing and somehow, he wasn't sure yet, he had ended up on the sandy class room floor. He wouldn't have put it past Snape to push him out of the chair, and maybe he had. Harry couldn't be self aware during these sessions with Snape, there was too much going on in his head. It was all out war. Harry returned the dirty look.

"You never fell while learning this?"

"No."

Irritation filled him at the small smile that crossed the man's lips. Git. He sat back in the chair and before he had time to prepare, Snape was in his mind again. For the last half hour he'd been trying to latch onto any one of several memories involving the bath tub filled with cold water at four privet drive, and he was trying again presently. Harry tried to yank the memories away but as soon as he pulled one out of reach, another was at the forefront of his mind again. There were so many. Three minutes later he opened his eyes and found himself on the floor again, staring at the sand that had piled up under Snape's desk. Didn't they ever clean in here? He sat up and wiped the gritty sand from his cheek.

"You are making very little progress Potter."

"You're in my head! Can't you just tuck the memories away?!" He snapped at him. He was surprised when Snape didn't leap up and pick him up by the front of his shirt. Instead he was staring at him with question in his eyes.

"You have memories you would rather not think about?"

Harry tried to calm his breath and recognized the panic that was trying to rise up in his chest. He looked away. "Doesn't everybody?"

Snape was quiet for a full thirty seconds as Harry sat on the floor and continued to brush sand off of his arms and shirt. He assumed the man was watching him, so he took his time, not eager to get back into the chair.

"It is possible, but it takes complete trust in the Legilimens."

Harry looked up. When Snape saw that he had his attention he continued.

"A Legilimens may help an occlumens or a student of the art to tuck memories away. Doing this is much the same as putting a memory in a pensieve. Both parties see the memory as it is being tucked away, but when it is done, the memory is no longer at hte forefront of the mind. It is still there, but at the edges of the mind where it is recalled less often and with less clarity. The legilemens must be given full trust however-" he paused and stared at Harry, who was still staring at him. "The memories must not be pulled away or otherwise tampered with by the occlumens or there would be dire consequences."

"Consequences?"

"If one were to tamper with the memory being tucked away, to hide the truth from the assisting Legilimens, then they would only succeede in tucking away a false memory. The true memory would still be there. As a result, there would be two conflicting memories warring with each other. It would be impossible to tell which was true. It could be enough," he paused again and looked down his nose at Harry," to drive a person insane." Another pause for dramatic effect Harry was sure. "Especially if the split memory was particularly important or dramatic, or if multiple memories became split."

Well, so much for that," Harry thought. He had a lot of memories he'd rather have tucked away, but he didn't trust Snape. Well, he didn't trust him completely. The man was a loose canon and even though he'd bought Harry the new things, he was still being a git and Harry wasn't convinced he had his best interests in mind. He had trusted him that night the other boys had attacked him though, his mind tried to tell him, but Harry pushed the thought away. That was because Hermione and Draco had been so certain.

"Are we done?" Harry asked as he stood up and gave his pants one final brushing off.

Snape stared at him and then waved him away. "Be gone."

* * *

Harry was tired. He'd slept, but not much. The bath tub full of cold water plagued his dreams along with several other unpleasant memories that Snape had so carelessly rifled through. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he made his way to breakfast and yawned as he went to the field for magery with Snape.

"Follow me Potter," Snape said. He lead Harry away from the field and down the path to the little cove where students usually gathered and swam.

"You seem to preform better under duress Potter," Snape said. He pointed at the water. "Go in and preform the Bubble Head charm."

Harry stared at him. "Without my wand?"

"Without your wand and without words."

Harry turned to look at the water lapping against the beach just a few feet away.

"Above water?"

"No Potter."

Harry crossed his arms. "Not a chance sir."

"Are you refusing my instruction?"

"I'm refusing to go underwater and try to do magic with no wand or words. I can barely do that charm with my wand and you want me to go underwater and do it?"

"Tell me Potter, would it have been easier to get back to shore when you'd fallen from the cliff if you had been able to cast the Bubble Head charm on yourself? Was your mouth not frequently under the water making it impossible for you to speak the words? And what of your wand? What if you had fallen in without it?"

"You expect me to believe this is for my safety," Harry said, feeling on edge, "but it's not very safe to send me in like this to try it."

"Contrary to what you believe Potter, I do not have all day to debate this with you. I have a class to teach in twenty five minutes. Get into the water."

Harry crossed his arms. "Forget it." He was feeling more on edge by the moment. He'd already dreamed of drowning all night and was sure Occlumency later would be spent re-living the event. He didn't want to actually drown before he even got that far into the day. He looked out over the water again and was unaware that his eyes had glazed over.

"Potter! Are you listening to me at all?"

Harry's head snapped back to Snape who had his arms crossed now and was tapping his fingers on his shoulder.

"Repeat to me what I just said to you."

"Uh, you said get into the water."

Snape narrowed his eyes and huffed. "You were not listening." He looked down at his watch and turned his back on Harry, muttering about wasting his time on a student who didn't want to learn as he walked back up the path.

Harry looked down at his own watch. Several minutes had apparently passed since he had looked out at the water. What had Snape said to him that he hadn't heard?

Twice more during tutoring over the next couple of days Snape lead Harry down to the water and they fought about Harry not doing as he was told, and twice more Snape stormed off back up the path, their tutoring time wasted. Finally on Thursday that week, just as Harry was heading to Lunch to meet Axle and Hermione, Snape stopped him on the path.

"Come with me Potter."

"Why?"

"You've wasted three tutoring sessions this week as well as my time. You will spend lunch making up at least one of those tutoring sessions."

Harry's shoulder's fell a little becuase he didn't have much free time as it was, but didn't complain and followed him back away from the Dining Hall, stomach grumbling as he went. Harry wasn't surprised to be lead back down to the cove, but he didn't know what he thought Snape expected of him after he'd refused three times in a row.

"Get in Potter." Harry crossed his arms and stared at him, ready to have it out yet again. Unexpectedly Snape pulled out his wand though and Harry found himself in the air upside down hanging by one ankle as if a giant had grabbed his foot.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked. He was surprised more than anything else.

"Ensuring that you do as you are told," Snape said. Suddenly Harry started floating towards the water and his stomach sank. No no no. Panic filled him and the bath tub flashed into his memory. This isn't the tub, this isn't the tub, he thought to himself, but as Snape hovered him twenty feet out over the water upside down and he stared down into the clear water, he couldn't help but thinking it was. Don't drop me, don't drop me, Harry thought desperately, but then he was falling and was suddenly submerged in icy water. Harry opened his eyes in a panic just to confirm that he was not in the bathroom at 4 Privet Drive and cold salt water stung them momentarily. Light filtered down through the crystal clear water from the surface and he swam towards it, surfacing only a moment later. He sputtered and coughed and looked around wildly to get his bearings. Snape was there standing on the shore with his arms crossed, watching him.

"Preform the charm!" He called.

Harry ignored him and swam towards the shore, still filleld with adrenaline and feeling panicked. He'd be lucky if he didn't have a panick attack right there in the water and drown.

He dragged himself onto the shore and trudged past Snape. "I hate you," he said.

"You were in the water. Why did you not take the opportunity to try the charm?"

"Damn you and your damn charm!" Harry shouted as he continued up the path.

Harry's soaking clothes hung off of him and clung to his skin as he crossed the compound. Students were already filing out of the Dining Hall so he knew he wouldn't have time to change before Root.

"Take a dip Potter?" He turned and spied Blazhe laughing and tried to ignore him, but the further he walked in the wet clothes, the less panicked and more angry he felt. By the time he got to the Root Gazebo, he was fit to be tied.

Gan saw him approaching and stepped down off of the deck. There were only two students already there for class.

"Is there a reason you are soaking wet?" he asked calmly and Harry had to work to hold back a growl. His angry face and his effort didn't escape Gan however.

"What has happened?"

"That- he- water! In the water!" He struggled not to shout as he pointed randomly back towards the ocean. He'd never been so angry that he'd been unable to form a proper sentence. He wondered if this was what Ron felt like when he got angry as he often stumbled over words when he was.

Gan held up a hand as Harry ran his hand over his wet hair to push it out of his face. "Be self aware of your emotional state, take hold of that feeling." He locked eyes with Harry to be sure he was listening. "Now close your eyes. Feel the emotion, let it wash over you like a wave. Good, now prepare to take control over it. Count to five with me, and when we get to five, let the wave of emotion wash away from you. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5."

Harry opened his eyes after Gan counted to five and allowed his breathing to slow. This was one of the meditation techniques Gan had been teaching him, to recognize an emotion and then take control over it so it didn't take control over him.

"Better?"

Harry nodded, feeling quite deflated after experiencing such anger.

"Good. We will talk about this during tutoring at the tree." He looked at Harry until he gave a nod and then turned to go back into the gazebo. Harry followed, still wet, and dried over the next hour of Root where Gan called on him and another student who had recently achieved a state of Root to battle one another.

At seven that evening Harry went to his tree and sat down, pulling his shoes off. Gan was already there, as usual, but was not meditating yet.

"Would you like to tell me what happened during lunch today?"

"Snape happened."

"Oh?"

"He was mad at me. He levitated me out over the water and dropped me in it."

"Did he have a reason other than anger?"

Harry huffed and said, "He keeps taking me to the cove for tutoring and telling me to get in and do the Bubble Head charm without my wand or words. I kept saying no so he took me from lunch and told me to get into the water. When I didn't, he dropped me in."

"I see."

They were quiet for a few minutes and Harry wondered if Gan was done questioning him and had started to meditate, but then Gan asked, "You said he did it because he was angry with you. Was this the only reason he was angry?"

Harry turned to look at him. "I don't know, I guess."

"What else has happened in the last few days."

"I do Occlumency tutoring with him. I was able to pull some memories away from him but he said it wasn't the right way. I got mad at him one day and said he's already in my mind and he should just tuck the memories away for me, and he said he couldn't because I had to trust him completely."

"You do not." It was not a question.

"Well look at what he did! He dropped me in the water!"

"I see." He went quiet again. Gan was slow and measured in every thing he did. His speech, his meditation, his teaching, his thoughts. Harry was growing accustomed to the way the man often stopped to think before talking to him.

"The night you fell from the cliff, you trusted him, did you not?"

"Teacher?"

"Hermione and Draco both told Professor Snape that you had locked your cabin and only he could get in. Did you do so because you trusted him?"

"Hermione and Draco told me to do it," Harry said. "August was chasing me and they said to spell my cabin closed so only Snape could get in."

"So you trusted your friends."

"I guess."

"And in the Infirmary?"

Harry looked over at him. "What do you mean?" He asked it, but he didn't need an answer. He had been... needy, in the infirmary that night. He had needed Snape's protection. Gan must have seen that.

"You ask a question you already know the answer to."

"Why does it matter if I trust him or not?"

"Learning Occlumency requires trust, does it not? If the student does not trust the teacher, it is almost impossible to learn the art."

"Professor Snape only said it was important for tucking away thoughts and memories."

"Professor Snape knows better. One can be taught the theory of Occlumency, and perhaps even the basics without trust. But to gain a true understanding of it, there must be trust becuase the Legilimens must show the Occlumens how, mentally, to hide a thought, or to alter it. The course here is but an overview of the basics of the subject. No one expects a student to come out of Gemini with a true grasp of it. Many students who take the course here go home and work privately with a tutor whom they trust to master the skill."

"So- so I'm just wasting my time?"

"I believe you are the only student he is offering private tutoring to in Occlumency. He is not a man to waste time, am I correct?"

"He doesn't like other people to waste his time," Harry said, repeating his words from the last few days.

"Perhaps, if you wish to learn from him, you should trust him so that he is able to teach you."

Harry sighed and stared back out over the ocean as the sun began to set. If only it were that easy.

"Why are you afraid of him?" Gan suddenly asked. Harry remembered him asking this weeks ago in the infirmary when healing his foot. It was strange how he saw right through Harry so easily. Because he's like Uncle Vernon, Harry thought to himself. Snape is dangerous... but he didn't say it out loud. Instead he told Gan of how Snape always punishes him at school for things he didn't do because Snape hated his father.

"Hate doesn't usually lead to such vindictive behavior," Gan observed.

"Seems like it does," Harry said. Even now, even after Snape had bought him all the nice things (which still confused Harry), he seemed hateful.

"Not hate," Gan said, "resentment."

"You think he resented my father?"

"Did he have reason to?"

"I don't know."

Gan stood up then and left Harry there to meditate and think about it. He still hadn't reached a conclusion by the time the sun had gone down. Harry sat under his tree in the darkness and watched as lit wands made their way down the path to the beach in the distance, though he was too far away to hear any of the voices that belonged to the wands.

He had another sleepless night, but added to his nightmares was a new one, of him swimming in the ocean, lost and alone and with no sight of shore.

"If you waste my time this morning Potter, you will be back at lunch." Figures, Harry thought. He's not only like Uncle Vernon but Aunt Petunia as well. Do what I want or you can't eat. He felt a little bitter towards the man. He wasn't exactly starved here but Snape had the power to cuase him trouble here, Harry had already seen it happen. Perspective, whispered Gan's voice in the back of his mind, but he pushed it away. Not me, him, Harry thought, he needs to get a grip. How is he helping me by tossing me into an impossible situation? He's not and that just means I'll have to help myself.

"I'll do your charm," Harry replied coldly to Snape. He'd been up early that morning at his tree, unable to sleep anyway. He'd been meditating and trying to prepare himself mentally to go underwater to try to preform this charm. The meditation had calmed his nerves some, but had not quelled his fears completly. I'll drown, he thought, as he left his wand with Snape and walked to the water's edge. He turned back to see the man with his arms crossed, Harry's wand in hand. Git. As he turned back to the water though he saw another figure, high above them on a cliff, sitting crosslegged. It was Gan. He couldn't be certai if he was meditating or watching him because he was too far away, but he was there, and if Harry did start to drown he could do something about it.

"Any time Potter," Snape called impatiently.

Harry took a deep breath and kicked his shoes and socks off. He took a step into the cold water and let it lap around his ankles. Closing his eyes he tried to talk himself down from his fear like Gan had done the other day after Snape had dunked him, but he could only hear his own voice.

"Feel the emotion," he whispered, "take hold of it, let it wash over you, then let it wash away with the waves." He let himself feel fearful for five seconds and then he opened his eyes and walked into the water up to his shoulders. He was a good distance from the shore but he could still see Snape standing there, arms crossed.

"Feel the fear, let it wash away." The gentle waves of the cove rocked him back and forth and he used his arms to get a little further out so that his feet were no longer touching the soft sand. He looked up and could no longer see Gan but he thought it was just becuase he had lost his bearings and wasn't sure of where to look.

Harry tucked his arms into his sides so they weren't available to help keep him afloat anymore, took a breath, and went under. He opened his eyes, wondering if there were mer-people here or a shark, but saw nothing but clear water and just below him, the sandy bottom. He was uneasy about this, just like he had been during the Tri-Wizard tournament. At least then he'd had gillywead as his assurance that he wouldn't drown though.

He concentrated on the Bubble Head charm and moved his hands up to his face, trying to channel the energy through them. Nothing happened. He tried harder as he felt his air running out. How long could he hold his breath anyhow? He already knew the answer. Several minutes. It would be something, he thought sadly, if Snape were the one to finish me off. Voldemort wouldn't get the satisfaction then, and Harry could come back to haunt Snape. He brushed the stray thoughts away though and tried again. Nothing.

His lungs felt like they were about to burst. If he passed out, then his body would take control and open his mouth and force him to breath in the water. He didn't want that. Mind feeling fuzzy Harry tried again. How long had he been under anyhow? A minute? It seemed like eternity.

The edges of his vision began to darken and he wondered if he was imagining it. This is what Snape wants, he wants me to try under pressure. If I go up now he'll say I didn't try and just force me to come back. I don't want to do this again. Think, try harder.

Suddenly there was movement beside him and a hand grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him to the surface. The world was spinning for Harry as a wave of dizinness over took him. He gulped in the air and tilted his head back, aware that someone had an arm around his chest and was taking him back to shore. Had Gan come down to get him?

Strong arms dragged Harry onto the beach and as Harry stared up at the spinning sky, a dark silhoutte with shoulder length hair swam into vision.

"Potter?"

Harry tried to sit up but tilted sideways onto the sand again.

"Potter, look at me." Snape said. Harry sat up and stayed up this time as he looked into the Potion Master's eyes. The diziness was slowly fading and Harry wondered if it was all from a lack of oxygen.

"What happened?" Harry asked. "I was trying to do the charm. Why'd you bring me back?"

"You were under water for four and half minutes."

Well, that's a record, Harry thought to himself, or at least he thought it was.

"I was trying."

"You did not think to surface for air so you could make another attempt?"

Harry glared at him. "You didn't want me to! You told me I should do it under pressure!" Why could he never do anything good enough for him? His efforts were good enough in other classes, but not matter what he did, Snape criticized him.

"I wanted you to try to use your dunderheaded brain for once Potter," Snape said. Harry gave the angry man a close looking over. He was soaking wet. So it was Snape who had gone in after him.

"Well so sorry to inconvenience you. You make me do something I begged you not to do, you dump me in the water anyway, and I have to meditate for two hours before I come down here just to psych myself into trying it!"

Snape sat back on his knees. "You what?"

"You heard me."

"I heard you lying and telling me you did everything you could to not complete the assignment." His voice was starting to take on that deadly tone.

"What? I didn't lie! I did everything I could to do it!"

"At no time did you beg me not to make you go into the water. You refused to go like a spoiled little brat who always gets what he wants. The point of this exercise was not for you to meditate before coming down here."

"The point was for me to learn the Bubble head charm." Harry was confused. Had he really told Snape that he'd begged him not to go into the water? He had begged in his head but not out loud. He wasn't at Privet Drive.

"The point was for you to trust me Potter!"

Snape got up and then threw Harry's wand down onto the sand before stalking off. Harry was sure he heard the words 'insolent, foolish, and childish' come from Snape as he went up the sandy path.

"Who's the foolish one?" Harry asked to himself, still sitting in the sand. "Not me." He looked up towards the cliff to see if he could find Gan, but he didn't see him.

Harry skipped his study session with Axle to go change. Once he was back in his cabin, he didn't want to go back down to find Axle though. What he really wanted was sleep, and some time alone before he had to face Snape again at ten for Defense.

He lay back on his bed and stared at the ceiling. Why was Snape so mad? He hadn't told him the point of the exercise had been trust. The man hadn't been truthful about Occlumency either according to Gan. Harry was supposed to keep Voldemort out of his head and to do that he had to trust Snape. Snape wasn't exactly trustworthy despite that Gan seemed to think that he was. No one was really very trustworthy. Ron and Hermione and Ginny were ok, but even they sometimes made promises they didn't keep, or said things they didn't mean. Harry sighed. It wasn't fair of Snape to mix up tutoring sessions like that on him. Occlumency was supposed to be during Occlumency and Magery during Magery. So really the man had lied saying they were doing magery when the point was to strengthen Occlumency. Why did Snape have to be so complicated? He'd never seemed this complicated at Hogwarts. Snape was just Snape there, mean, unfair, and somtimes ruthless. Here he was something else entirely.

To the rest of the school here he was trustworthy, upstanding, fair, and almost decent. He was being distinctly un-Snape like. Snape would never buy him boots and clothes and a blanket, but the un-Snape had. Snape would never step up to bat for Harry with the other Hogwart's teachers, but the un-Snape had. If Snape was untrustworthy, did that mean that un-Snape could actually be trusted? And if he could, then what did that mean when they went back to Hogwarts? Harry didn't know.

His watch beeped at him and he looked down at it. It was already ten. Damn, he was going to be late for Snape's class. He grabbed his backpack and hurried out of his cabin and down the hill. He ran to the training field and quickly took a seat next to Hermione and the others, earning a glare from Snape. He didn't pause in his lecture to berate Harry however.

"There are only three weeks left before the end of Gemini. At the end of next week, on Sunday, there will be a school wide contest for anyone that wants to compete. It is not mandatory, but it is tradition and it is encouraged that you enter."

Harry noticed that the others seemed interested to hear what this contest was about. "You will likely hear about this contest in some of your other classes today as well. If you enter, you will take what you have learned in Magery, Root Defense, Advanced Defensive Tactics, Muggle Defense, and also Healing, and you will battle other students across the compound and school grounds. There are few rules, and the last five students standing will get a certificate. The goal is to incapacitate as many students as you can and not be incapacitated yourself. We have covered a number of tactics in this class, but I want to go over more advanced evasion tactics today and next week to better prepare those of you that wish to compete. Are there any questions?"

Hermione rasied her hand and asked what the rules were, and Snape said they were secret until the day of the challenge so that students didn't have time to come up with special strategies or that would defeat the purpose of being put in that kind of situation.

When class was over there was excited chatter between the students about the upcoming contest and Draco said he would be one of the last five standing.

Harry was about to leave with Hermione when Snape called to him. "Potter."

Having the feeling that he was about to be chewed out agian, Harry gripped the shoulder strap of his bag tighter and made his way over to him.

"For the next week you should make yourself available at lunch for extra tutoring."

"But you said the Bubble Head charm wasn't the point. I don't want to go back into the water."

Snape sneered at him. "I assume you are planning on entering the contest. It will be a good test of your skills up to this point. What I didn't tell the class was that the last five standing will face off three days before the end of school. The last one standing of the five will receive a second certificate. Anyone with the second certificate is likely to get any posting they want in their Minisitry, especially if it is a posting in law enforcement."

"Oh."

"Come to my building during lunch (that includes the weekend) and we will discuss what you can do to prepare. I assure you that Blazhe and August are preparing their chosen picks for the competition."

"Oh, ok."

Harry turned to leave but turned around again. "So- I'm your chosen pick?"

"You are the one I am tutoring," he said, and then turned away to tell Harry he was done talking about it. As he walked away Harry couldn't help but thinking that he was the one that had to defeat Voldemort, and that maybe Dumbledore was making Snape give Harry this extra help. So Harry wasn't his pick by choice.

"You're going to enter aren't you?" Hermione asked. She had been waiting at the edge of the practice field for Harry to be done with Snape.

"Snape wants me to."

"He does?"

"He said it would be a good test of my skills. Are you going to enter?"

"I don't have much choice, do I?" Her voice was serious as she looked at Harry. He stared at her. He was grateful to have a friend who thought like him, and he missed Ron then. She knew as well as he did that he needed to be here to learn to protect himself from Voldemort. She was part of the fight too. So was Ron.

"No, I don't suppose either of us do. Ron should really be here."

"I told him I would try to teach him what we learned when we got back. He sent me a letter the morning that we met on Diagonalley. He said he was going to work through the summer to save money so he could go next year."

"I would give him money if I had any."

"I know."

They split to go to their separate classes and Harry was quiet through Healing as Adeline taught them about various roots and at what time to gather them when they're most potent. Then he skipped lunch and headed to Snape's building.

Harry found him sitting at his desk eating a sandwich. Great, he gets to eat, Harry thought. If this was how it was going to be, then he was going to stop and get lunch to bring tomorrow.

"I'm going to teach you something that I will not be teaching the others here. You will not master it in one week. You may not master it in a lifetime. It is often considdered the cowards way. Not very- Gryffindor." He paused to gauge Harry's reaction, and then continued.

"I will teach you the art of hiding."

"Hiding?"

"Camoflauge, seeking refuge where others will not look. If you had by some chance mastered the Bubble Head Charm," Harry gave him an unhappy look at the mention of this morning's fight, "then you could have used it on yourself and hidden in the water until the contest was over. Seeing that you have not, I will teach you another tactic." He took a minute to finish his sandwich and then motioned for Harry to come forward. Harry sat in the chair he usually occupied during their Occlumency tutoring (Harry hated that chair), and listened.

"Give me your arm," Snape said, and Harry held it out.

"Metamorphmaguses can camoflage themselves to some extent, like a chameleon. They can change their hair, skin, and eye color to match their surroundings if they so choose. The few of them that there are often make excellent spies for those that would employ them because of this. You are not a metamorphmagus so you will need to learn the magic to camoflage yourself. It helps," Snape paused and narrowed his eyes at Harry, "if you can do it without a wand or without words so you do not give yourself away if yor pursuer is nearby."

He took Harry's wrist and touched the tip of his wand to Harry's arm. Without saying a word, a brown spot appeared there. Snape touched his wand to a new spot on Harry's skin, and another brown rough patch appeared there. By the time the wand made it's way up to Harry's elbow, his arm looked like a tree trunk with bark and moss. Harry stared at it. If he hadn't seen it being transformed, he wouldn't know it was an arm.

Running his fingers over it in awe he asked, "What's the spell?"

"There is no spell. It is pure thought. You can speak it to your wand. This is the base of magic, the way spells are created."

"Is it in a book somewhere?"

"It is not"

Harry looked up. "You made this spell?"

"Yes. And I forbid you to tell any of the other students how to do this whilst we are here. Am I understood?"

Harry nodded. Snape spent the next forty minutes trying to describe to Harry how to accomplish the effect, and just before he had to leave Harry managed a single spot the size of a pencil eraser on the back of his hand. Snape waved his wand and the camoflage on his arm was gone.

"You will practice, when you are alone. On Monday you will show me how quickly you can cover your arm."

Harry nodded and then hurried out of the building to go to Root. What Snape could do was actually sort of... cool. Harry smiled. This would definitely give him an advantage.

Harry's first encounter with Snape that day hadn't gone well and had ended up with him getting yelled at. His second encounter had ended with biterness for the part he had to play in Voldemort's downfall. His third encounter had Harry learning a new spell. As Harry lay on the floor of Snape's building during Occlumency tutoring that day, he thought that his fourth encounter with the man that day was likely to end up as well as the first had.

"Focus Potter."

"I am."

"You have been learning Occlumency far longer than any of the other students, yet they can do more than you can. I find it hard to believe that you are giving any effort at all to this."

Harry gave him a glare he thought Snape himself would have been proud of. If anyone knew the importance of learning Occlumency, it was Harry. He hadn't learned it last year and Sirius had died at the start of the summer because of it.

"Get back in the chair, and stop fighting me."

"I'm not fighting. I'm trying."

"You are struggling with me in your mind. You pull thoughts and memories away. You only succeede in tiring yourself out. Voldemort will outlast you in such a battle of tug of war."

Harry huffed and plopped back into the hard wooden chair.

"Gan said I'm not supposed to learn anything real from these classes anyway, that the Occlumency taught here is just meant to scratch the surface of the subject." He crossed his arms.

"Gan is a foolish old man who does not know how to do Occlumency."

"He said to master it there had to be trust between the Legilemens and Occlumens."

"Which I told you several days ago Potter." Snape was getting irritated, Harry could tell.

"Then how am I supposed to learn this? You're not helping me. You don't help me in magery either. I'm not learning anything."

"You don't learn because you don't try," Snape spat at him. He stood up in frustration and cast a more than irritated look in Harry's direction.

"That's not true. I learned a lot from Gan about Meditation and Root. I'm one of the only few students that came this year that picked up Root."

"Speak to me no more of this. I am not here to have my time wasted listening to you prattle on about other classes."

Snape sat back in his own chair and dove into Harry's mind, and Harry lasted a full five minutes tugging his memories out of Snape's reach before he lost balance and found himself on the floor again.

"Insolent child. You will never learn." Snape pointed to the door and Harry pushed himself up, grabbed his bag, and left. The had ended early and though he felt like he was having a day that couldn't decide whether to be good or bad, he reveled in having a few extra minutes of freedom out in the sunshine before his next class.

During Meditation tutoring Gan observed out loud that Harry seemed in a bad mood again. Harry told him about his day and Gan listened like he always did.

"I also wished to speak to you about the competition. I will also help you to prepare."

Harry stared at him. "Why?"

"Is there a reason I should not?"

Playing with the shoelaces of his discarded shoes for a moment, Harry said, "Well I thought you'd be preparing your own students. Professor Snape said the other teachers would be preparing the students they thought would win."

"I have taught my pupils from Kahr and will continue to do so when we leave. They did not come to learn from me, and I did not come to teach them. All of the Kahr students are receiving extra tutoring from other professors in their chosen classes. You are the student I have chosen to tutor."

"Just me?" Harry was surprised.

"You are the only one who has asked for help or expressed any interest in learning what I have to teach."

That evening, instead of meditating, Gan took Harry around the grounds and showed him three or four different plants that grew that he could eat without preparing that would do things like give him extra energy, or heal his wounds if he made them moist and rubbed them onto a cut to stop the bleeding. Harry couldn't help but feel a little special, to be the only one Gan was taking the time to teach. Harry wasn't used to people taking extra time to spend on him.

* * *

The next few days went much the same as Friday had. Harry spent a mostly sleepless night doing homework or meditating, and would then rise early to meet Snape for tutoring. They were no longer trying the Bubble Head charm but had moved on to other things Snape thought would be useful during the competition, and Harry had managed two spells by that next Friday without words or a wand. Occlumency still wasn't going well and he and Snape had had three more rows, usually only if Harry mentioned Gan, Root, or Meditation. Harry wasn't certain why Snape seemed to get so upset over Gan, but he did.

Harry also took the time to show the special plants Gan had shown him to Hermione, Axle, and Draco, which seemed to surprise Gan but Harry wasn't sure why since Gan hadn't told him not to tell.

In a last ditch effort to prepare Harry for the competition on Sunday, Snape dragged him out of dinner on Saturday night to go to the training field.

"Throw your best at me Potter."

As the wind whipped through Harry's hair and the evening sun made his skin feel too warm, Harry stood there facing him.

"What?"

"Show me your best Potter. I wish to see if you have any chance at winning tomorrow."

Feeling irritated, and perhaps still a bit mad from their many fights during the week, Harry pulled out his wand. He had just raised it up in the air intending to cast the nastiest stinging hex he could at Snape when something tackled him from the side and took him hard into the grass. He struggled but someone was on top of him with his knee on the back of his neck pinning him to the grass. Harry's arms were ripped out from under him and pulled behind his back, where strong arms held his wrists too tight.

"I caught you this time Potter. Hexing a teacher. You'll be gone before night fall."

Blazhe's hot breath made Harry shudder as it blew across his ear and neck as the man laughed and leaned in to taunt him.

"I didn't," Harry ground out, but Blazhe only dug his knee into the back of Harry's neck harder.

Harry was just wondering where Snape was in all of this when the man said lazily from somewhere above them, "Would you mind getting off of my student?"

"What?" Blazhe asked. "I caught him Snape. You should get the others to show them. We'll be right here."

Snape repeated himself with emphasis on the last word. "Would you mind getting off of my student?"

Blazhe looked up. "What, you're actually tutoring him?" Snape must have nodded because Blaze got up and Harry pushed himself off of the grass, neck sore. The man didn't have to use that much force. He could have just used a spell to bind him in ropes or something.

"Yes, I am tutoring him, and you are interrupting. Now kindly remove yourself so we may continue."

Blazhe huffed, gave a warning look to Harry, pointed at him, and then strode away, shoulders squared as if nothing had happened at all.

"How come you didn't rip into him?" Harry asked angrily.

"It would not have mattered. Now, throw your best at me."

Without warning Harry raised his wand and cast his hex but Snape had it blocked before Harry could even finish it, even though he'd done it wordlessly.

"That is not good enough."

"Why not?" Harry spat angrily. He was tired of being put down. Couldn't Snape even manage one word of praise for him?

"I could tell what hex you were going to cast before you'd even finished your wand movements. You must learn to do it without a wand."

Harry dropped his wand on the grass and dropped to his knees. He dug his fingers into the grass and let the life of the grass flow into his fingertips. Then he raised his hands high and forced energy out of them and at Snape. Snape threw up a shield but it passed right through it, though he was able to dodge the force just in time.

"Really Potter? Root?" He shook his head and walked away, leaving Harry there on his knees. Harry picked up his wand. It would have been good enough for Gan.

"Nothing. He just asked him to get up."

"I really thought he was-"

"What?" Everyone was out in the middle of the compound, mulling around and waiting for the start of the competition. When Hermione didn't answer him, Harry asked again, "You thought he was what Hermione?"

"You know," she hedged, "I thought he was coming around."

"To me?" Harry laughed. "I don't think so."

"We have to make this a Hogwarts win," came Draco's voice from behind them suddenly, and Harry and Hermione turned to find Draco and Ernie.

"A Hogwarts win?" Hermione asked.

"Everyone else here are dim witted. We have to show we're the better school. We need to have at least three of us in the top five."

"What did the others say?" Harry asked. There were other Hogwarts students that he hadn't interacted with at all that summer.

"They're not competing," Ernie said. They didn't come for the certificate or the Ministry jobs. They came to get 'cultured.'"

"So it's just the four of us."

"I assume you have a plan," Draco drawled. "You've been doing so much tutoring with Professor Snape."

Harry gave him a hard look and Draco rolled his eyes. "Come on Potter. I saved your rear earlier. If it comes down to you and me and gits from other schools, I"ll take them out first."

He waved to him and Ernie then and they huddled together. Hermione cast a charm around them to keep others from listening in.

"Hermione, show them the herbs." Hermione pulled several plants from her pocket that she'd collected despite that Harry had told her he thought they couldn't start with anything but their wands.

"Collect these while you're out," she told them after she'd explained what each of them was for.

"That's it?" Draco asked. "Heal yourself if you get hurt?"

"The contest could go all day and into the night and maybe even into tomorrow," Harry said. "I don't know. Snape said that even if someone passes out, that doesn't count as incapacitated because they could still get up and make it to the finish. They're going to spell all of us to tell them whether or not we're out of the competition. When we are a teacher will collect us. So collect these, especially the tingurf and keep it with you. If you're hurt and close to passing out you can eat it and it will keep you from showing up on the teacher's radar, and it will keep you from passing out."

"What else?" Ernie asked. "What else do we do?"

"Snape said a good strategy was to hide. If you can do a Bubble Head charm you can hide out in the water somewhere until most everyone else is out. Or else try to camofalge yourself. I reckon a lot of people will just try to hide though so there might not be many places to hide. Also at some point if everyone left is hiding, someone will have to come out and hunt them down or we could be here for weeks. There's something else too. Snape said the top 5 from this contest will face off again in the last week of school and the winner from that will get another certificate."

"We know that already," Ernie said.

"You do?"

"My dad told me."

"Mine too," Draco said.

"Don't forget to secure whoever you knock out," Hermione said, "or they don't count as incapacitated."

Draco smiled then and gave Harry a funny look.

"What?" he asked.

"How very- Slytherin, of you, this plan," Draco said.

"I haven't told you my plan," he said then. "I've only given you the information I was given."

"Slytherin," Draco said as Hermione waved the spell away and they could suddenly hear the other people around them again.

"I think they're starting," she said, pointing to where the Professors stood up on the porch of the study building.

"Attention!" Professor Iva said, pointing her wand at her throat to magnify her voice. People stopped chatting to look at her. "I need every student who is participating to form a large circle around me. Students not participating should step back at least thirty feet or the spell will hit you. Once the spell is on you, you must participate."

People moved to do as they were told and Harry noted that Draco and Ernie separated from them and moved to opposite sides of the circle. "See you later Hermione," Harry said, and moved off too. Maybe it wasn't good to be seen as having allies at the start of the contest. Harry went to stand next to Axle, who gave him a smile and a nod.

"Is this everyone? Ok then. She waved her wand and said a spell and everyone in the circle glowed blue for a moment. Harry looked down at his arm and was surprised to find that there was now a glowing blue number 30 there.

"As you can see, there is now a number on each of your arms. This is the number of participants still left in the contest. When the number reads five, you must return to this spot and present yourselves for your award."

"Now for the rules. Number one, you will not permanently damage, maim, or disfigure another person. You will refrain yourself from using any of the four unforgivable curses. You will not kill on accident or otherwise, another person. Anyone breaking this rule will be sent home immediately and will be dealt with by their governments Auror division."

"Two, you may not take anything into the battlefield with you except for your wand and the clothing you are wearing. Please empty your pockets and form a line for the professors to check. Once the competition starts, you may use things that you acquire after that point in time."

"Three- you may go anywhere, including any building that is on school grounds. The boundaries have a spell on them. You will not be able to pass school boundaries while the spell is on you."

"Those are the three rules you must abide by. We have a map inside this building of the grounds. Each of you shows up as a blue dot on this map. There are no names to label these dots so we do not know who is where. When one of you is incapacitated, your dot turns red and after ten minutes a teacher will come to you to bring you back. Your goal is to incapacitate all other players and be one of the last five left. I suggest you find a way to bind or otherwise immobilize whoever you have incapacitated, because when one of you is incapacitated you have ten minutes to get out of your situation before a teacher retrieves you. Once a teacher gets to you, you are out of the game. Are there any questions?"

No one raised their hand. "We wish you all good luck, and we adivse you to stay safe and not take up a position that could endanger yourself against the elements. The competition will go until there are only five left. If you wish to give up, then you will have to incapacitate yourself with a petrificus totalus, preferabbly you will come to the center of the compound to do so. I will count to ten and then shoot sparks up in air with my wand. At that time, the competition will begin. 1, 2, 3-" He gave a last look to Gan and Snape who were both looking at him and then ran. People scattered in every direction. Harry's goal was to run as far and fast as he could because he didn't want to get into a firefight there in the middle of the compound when she hit ten. He'd just gotten to Axle's cabin when he heard people shouting hexes at each other and he dodged not knowing if something had been aimed at his back. It hadn't and he kept running giving a look behind him.

His arm tingled and he glanced down at it to see that it already read 28, make that 27. Three people had already been taken out of the game. His lungs burned by the time he made the tall grasses at the other end of the compound. He dove into them and watched, trying not to breath too loudly. A Durmstrang, a Boden, and Hermione were having a three way battle in the middle of the compound and in the distance he could see students running towards the forest and paths to the beach.

Hermione took the girl from Boden out and then turned to the girl from Durmstrang. She was throwing hexes at Hermione that Harry had never seen. They were only a foot apart and Harry was surprised that they had time to react to each other's spells. Hermione seemed surprised when the girl reached out and punched her in the face. Just as she fell back, Harry saw the Durmstrang girl's wand come up and he reacted, aiming a hex at her. He put all the force he could muster into it and was surprised when it raced all the way across the compound and hit her in the wrist. She pulled her wrist back, which was now covered in boils and Hermione took the opportunity to bind her with ropes and then cast a petrificus totalus on her. She gave a wild look around, sent another spell at her, though Harry wasn't sure what, and then took off running towards the hill she and Harry had once battled on. Don't go there, Hermione, he thought. He'd already see three people heading up it. He looked at his arm. 24. There were 24 people left including him and Hermione. That meant he needed to take out 19 of them.

Harry looked around. He was in a ditch. This wasn't a good hiding place. Anyone walking through here could find him, plus he'd just given away his location with the hex he had cast.

He got on his stomach and crawled through the grass as fast as he could hoping that no one was looking at the grass just then. Where is a smart place to hide? He wondered. He wondered how many students were in buildings now, in their cabins or in someone elses. He may have to go cabin to cabin later to find them if it came down to it. His arm tingled several more times before he made it to the cliff face on his stomach. He'd never really explored this end of the grounds. There were only a few Gemini trees and mostly tall yellow grasses and weeds. He didn't know how far the boundary extended but thought that now was a good time to find out because unless he could find a way down the cliff face, the beach was not currently an option.

Harry crawled into a ditch and then got to his feet, crouched down and ran. He was surprised when he moved along the ditch for several minutes and didn't hit the barrier.

A hex zipped past his left ear and Harry dropped flat to the ground, uncertain of where the attacker was. He waited. He could be pinned down or the person could have moved on. He found a stick and lifted it into the air. There was no response so he lifted his head experimentally. There was another hex, green this time and he ducked again and began looking around for any of the plants Gan had shown him. There was a small ammount of Tingurf so Harry picked it. It would be just enough to stuff into his mouth if he had to make a run for it. At least then if he got hit he had a chance to keep himself from getting hurt.

There was a scream somewhere from in the distance and Harry wondered if someone else had been taken out. The number on his arm still read 24 so he knew that at least Hermione was still in it. He lay still and quiet for long minutes, and just when he wondered if he would be here at a stand still all day, a quiet voice said, "Got you."

Harry turned his head and looked up. One of the Karh boys faces was just visible through the tall grass above him.

"You're supposed to take me out," Harry said quietly. The boy raised a finger to his lips and then smiled.

"I will be one of the top 5, and at the end of school, we will have our battle."

"I don't think that's how this is supposed to work." The boy put a finger to his lips again with another smile then and his face disappeared from the grass. Harry heard him moving away this time and wondered that he'd snuck up on him so quietly in the first place.

Harry got to his feet again and continued on his running crouch through the grass. It was odd to be spared like that. Had Gan told him to leave Harry alone? He didn't know but knowing that he needed to be prepared for real battle in the real world, didn't think it had done him any favors.

After another five minutes, Harry finally felt himself come up against an invisible barrier and knew he'd hit the edge of the battlefield. He rose slightly to get his bearings and see if there was any good place to hide. He spied what he thought was a path down the cliff and hurried over to it and looked down. Below the cliff was crashing waves. It wasn't a path exactly, more like potential handholds on the way down to a little ledge. It might be a good place to hide. Exposed, but only from directly above him and from the ocean, and he didn't think anyone would be down in the water this far away from the main beach. Harry slid over the side of the cliff on his stomach and found a hole in the rock for his feet before he made the decision to climb all the way down. Hopefully he could get back up once he was down there.

It took Harry several strained minutes until he reached the little ledge, it was just wide enough for him to sit cross legged on, and so long as he didn't fall asleep, he felt confident he wouldn't fall over the edge and fall the rest of the way to the water and sharp rocks below. Now to address the problem of being seen from above. Harry was already wearing a gray shirt so he supposed that blended fairly well with the rocks around him. He touched the wand to his hair and began transforming it into the rocks that he could see. He didn't know if he'd done a good job or not, but after he'd done his arms and then transfigured his pants, he thought that of what he could see, it looked like he'd done a decent job.

Harry sat for hours on his ledge and every once in a while his arm would tingle to let him know someone else had been taken out. When it hits ten, he thought, I have to climb back up and start searching for people. At 15, his stomach started to growl becuase he'd missed lunch, and at 14 he knew he was getting sunburned sitting in the open like he was. The sun was starting to make it's way down towards the horizon when the counter hit 13. It was nearing two o-clock.

Harry used the time to think about his next move. They said every building was available to use. What would the teachers do if he strolled into the study building where they were at to look at the map? Blazhe or August might announce his presence to everyone, but if Snape or Gan or Adeline was there... but what if they weren't?

The counter hit 12 and then 11 in quick succession and Harry waited to see what would happen. A few moments later, it popped back up to 11 again. Someone had managed to come back into the game and Harry wondered what had happened.

Finally, when Harry thought it was around three o'clock, the counter hit ten and after ten minutes it hadn't gone back up again. Time to come out, he thought. He stood up on his small rock shelf and stared up at the climb he faced. He could spot all of the hand holds he'd used to come down. Up couldn't be that much harder, right? He struggled. His arm muscles weren't as strong as he'd thought and by the time he made it to the top, his arms felt like jelly. He was just wondering if they would stop feeling weak anytime soon when a cold, foreign voice came from behind him.

"Well, look who it is. The one who doesn't belong." Harry pulled out his wand but Acel had already fired something at him and it had hit him in the chest. He couldn't move. As he lay there on the ground he thought about the plant in his pocket. If only he could get some into his mouth.

"Oh, don't worry, the spell will only last for a few minutes, but once we're done with you, you won't be able to get up. Muggle defense is allowed you know." Acel kicked him in the side and then laughed.

"Nikolas, come here."

Nikolas came into Harry's view and the two boys laughed. They lifted Harry up and dragged him away from the cliff before they began pounding and kicking him mercilessly, laughing and joking with each other as if Harry weren't a person, as if they were kicking a rock or a sack of flour. They were right, Harry thought when he began to regain some feeling in his limbs. He was fairly unable to move after the three minutes of beating they had given him.

"Now, we have had our say about your laziness," Nikolas said. "We deserve to be here. We worked hard to be here. We don't want to go to a school where they let just anyone in."

"And now you know what is coming to you if you don't leave after tonight," Acel said. "More of this, from more of us."

Harry lay there as they walked away. He was fairly certain his ribs had been broken and his arm too. He'd heard it crack. He was bleeding from several places and he hurt everywhere. He'd thought this would be a summer away from pain being away from the Dursleys, but so far he'd already spent so much time in the infirmary.

He rolled onto his side and dragged himself the distance back into the ditch he'd hidden in earlier and fished in his pocket for the plant he'd picked earlier. It would be barely enough to keep him awake and he wondered if his dot on the map was already red. He was certainly in no condition to fight anyone, or even make it back to the compound.

Lying on his stomach he saw more of the plant and picked it, stuffing it into his mouth and chewing it, desperately hoping it would keep him in the competition. If he couldn't survive this silly game, then how could he survive Voldemort and a horde of death eaters and other dark creatures? The way things had gone down at the Ministry at the start of summer had served to show him just how unprepared he was for the real world battles he faced. He stuffed more of the leafy weed into his mouth and wished the other plants were there before him too so he could stop some of the bleeding, but there was nothing else. "Accio Hagave," he tried, but nothing came to him and he thought that the roots of the plant were holding it into place wherever it was.

He sighed and laid there. It wasn't the worst beating he'd ever received. He'd survive. He knew how to handle the pain, though he didn't by any stretch want to feel more of it by moving around unneccesarily. Stupid, stupid. He said to himself. You should have stayed put until there were only five people left. That would have been the intelligent thing to do, but Draco's voice came to mind then and said it would have been the 'Slytherin' thing to do. I am almost a Slytherin, Harry thought to himself. The hat wanted to put me there and I spent my time today hiding. Will hiding keep me alive when I have to face down Voldemort? It seemed he had done the more cowardly of his options. Even Hermione had stood her ground in the compound and dueled it out at the start. Harry had run.

His arm tingled a few more times but he didn't bother to look at it. It was under him and it would hurt to much to bring it out. When it tingled again, he did drag it out though. The number 6 stared back at him. It was finally getting dark and Harry felt like he had no energy. The pain was sapping it out of him, but he also hadn't eaten anything since eight that morning. He gingerly pushed himself up and looked around. He couldn't see anyone and wondered if the boy from Karh was still hiding in the tall grasses somewhere. Dragging his feet and not bothering to crouch, he began to make his way back towards the compound. It wouldn't take much for someone to finish him off at this point, but he didn't feel like being cowardly anymore. He tripped and caught himself several times as he went, almost feeling like he was in a daze. It felt like when he was under the water trying to do the Bubble Head Charm and was running out of air. Everything felt hazy and slow. Even if someone attacked him now, he thought he'd be too slow to react. It was almost at this precise moment when someone came running out of the tall grass at him though, and he saw Acel's blond hair gleaming in the last of the sunlight. Acel yelled, maybe trying to scare him, and Harry did the only thing he could think to do. He dropped his wand, hand too weak to hold it, and let the energy from the grass and plants around him climb up his feet and into his hands. "NO!" he shouted, and a blast of hot air shot out of his hands and hit Acel in the chest. Acel flew backwards and landed hard in the grass. Harry watched for him to get up, but Acel only groaned. He had to be sure though so he raised a hand again and thought the binding charm. He was surprised when it worked. It had been one he hadn't been able to manage wandlessly or wordlessly. Ropes appeared from thin air and wound themself around Acel, and one even went across his mouth and tied itself tight. Bound and gagged, Harry thought. He stooped, painfully, to pick up his wand and then went to stand over Acel.

"Only people who deserve to be here Acel. I'm one of them. You aren't." And then he walked away. His arm tingled and he knew the number had dropped to five. Hopefully no one else would attack him now as he made his way down the hill and towards the study building. It was slow going and the sun had sunk below the horizon when he reached the edge of the compound. He could see people gathered around the study building and wondered if he was the last to come in. He hadn't seen a teacher going for Acel but maybe he hadn't noticed. Things were still foggy for him.

People stared when he got near and there were whispers but he didn't hear them. He didn't think he liked this 'game' very much. As he rounded the side of the building he spotted the teachers standing there with the other winners. Draco, the boy from Karh, Axle, and a girl from Hogwarts were there, which surprised Harry because he hadn't seen her enter the contest and thought that the others from Hogwarts weren't participating.

They stared at him as he made the edge of the porch, and then Snape shouted, "Catch him!" as Harry's world tilted sideways. Someone caught him painfully under the arm before Harry hit the ground, but he thought that if he had just been allowed to fall it might have been better.

"Dramatic as always," he heard Draco say, but he was out of sight somewhere.

"What happened Potter?" Snape asked.

"Nothing," Harry said stubbornly. It wasn't like they'd do anything about it anyway. Muggle defense was allowed and the competition had given Acel and Nikolas the excuse they'd needed to stun him and then beat him to a pulp.

"You look like hell," Draco said, finally apearing through the crowd.

Harry ignored him as someone levitated him onto a stretcher and then levitated it off towards the infirmary. Inside, Acel was nowhere in sight. Ernie was on the other bed and a girl from Beauxbatons was on a chair getting some salve onto a burn on her wrist.

"They get you too Harry?" Ernie asked. He seemed to be all right.

"It was a Hogwarts win," Harry said. "Three of us."

"I fell and broke my leg and had to stun myself," Ernie said. Hermione almost made it to the end but a boy from Karh took her out.

Adeline hurried to Harry and fussed over the state of him for a full five seconds before Snape came in and started to gather supplies. Draco and Axle followed.

"You don't have a scratch on you," Harry said to Axle. Draco had a healing bruise on his face and his arms were scratched up and dirty, but Axle looked like he'd never even competed.

"I stayed in the study building all day. Had lunch and dinner and everything."

"Cheater," Draco said, and Harry got the feeling that he'd said it several times already.

"Smart," Harry told Axle though.

"That means we're competing against each other later," Axle said, and Harry nodded as Adeline shooed them out of the way in the tiny space.

Axle and Draco left to give them room and Snape sat beside Harry to clean his dirt and blood covered injuries off with a wet cloth.

"Are you going to tell us what happened?"

"No."

Snape motioned to Adeline for something and she handed him a handheld mirror, which Snape brought into Harry's face to show him his reflection. He looked like he'd been stampeded by a herd of hyppogryffs.

"Hid, came out, got caught."

"By a gorilla?"

"Something like that."

There was an 'ow' from Ernie at the other end of the building and he heard Adeline clucking her tongue.

"Take pictures," she told Snape and he pulled out the same camera she and Gan had used to show his injuries earlier in the summer. He wondered if they'd taken a photo of him with hypothermia too.

Harry tried to look as un-injured as he possibly could as Snape snapped the picture, and the man sighed. "Stoic as always." He hadn't meant it to be that way, it was just habit.

"Will the next competition be like this?" Harry asked.

"No. The next one is a duel in the center of the compound where everyone can see. No two or three will be able to gang up on a student then." Harry gave him a hard look.

"Stop Potter, before your face gets set in stone that way. I do know of a spell..."

Harry sighed. After they'd set him on the mend, he was brought dinner and a tall cup of water and helped to sit up so he could eat. Snape left to take Ernie back to his cabin and the girl was also released, leaving Harry there alone to eat. "Hermione was ok?" he asked of Adeline.

"Of course. I gave her some bruise balm for her eye and sent her to rest in her cabin. She said she had homework to do."

"That's Hermione."

Adeline stopped what she was doing and turned to Harry. "What Professor Snape said is true. Several students ganged up on you?"

"Doesn't matter."

"Of course it does."

"Nothing happened to them the last time it happened. I don't expect it to be any different now." She looked sad to hear him say that but he tried to ignore her as he finished his meal. Later that night, Snape came back to take him to his cabin. There was a Slytherin green note taped to his door that said, 'For the Hogwarts Win' and Harry gave a tired smile. Once he was inside, he expected to turn and get some bit of praise or else rebuke from Snape, but there was nothing. He was already gone.

Harry sat up, gasping awake. He rubbed his eyes hard and took in a deep breath. I am NOT a Slytherin, he told himself, despite that his dreams that night told him that he was. He flexed his muscles and moved his arm back and forth, trying to get the stiffness in his elbow to go away. He still hurt, and wished that he had some more pain killer potion so he could rest better. It had been a rough day, and now he was having to suffer through a rough night. Every few minutes he woke up from a nightmare, and this night, they all centered around him having been sorted into Slytherin. 'How Slytherin of you,' Ron taunted in his dreams when Harry took a bite of cereal. 'I wish you were in Gryffindor,' Snape told him when he failed a Potions test. 'You can stay in the basement since you're used to living in the dungeons,' Uncle Vernon told him as he pushed Harry down a set of non-existent stairs into a non-existant dark and bottomless pit of a basement under four Privet Drive.

Harry heaved a sigh as he realized it was morning. The sun was just coming up, but there was no use going back to sleep now, even if he was still tired. He had tutoring to go to, though he couldn't say he was looking forward to it. He was certain that Snape was unhappy with his preformance in the competition yesterday.

Getting dressed slowly because he still ached, Harry headed out and met Snape at the bottom of the hill where the path to the boy's cabins met the main path.

"I am surprised you are up this early," Snape commented, and in his head Harry grouched and added 'prince Potter.' Snape had called him that before on several occasions when Harry had shown up late to Potions.

"Couldn't sleep," Harry said, feeling groggy. He was determinedly not looking at Snape and so didn't catch the look Snape had that said, 'I can tell.'

"You should visit the infirmary before we begin tutoring."

Harry didn't argue. He didn't have a mirror in his cabin but he imagined his face was still bruised because it still hurt. Snape accompanied him to the infirmary though he didn't go in, and Harry was back out in five minutes. He followed Snape to the training field and dropped his bag on the grass. Snape had been quiet on the way out, and Harry wondered at it. Snape was usually quiet with the exception of his snarky comments and occasional yelling, but this was a different sort of quiet. Was the man calm? Harry peered up at him and frowned. Was the man actually... cheerful? He didn't think it was possible for Snape to feel cheer, but there was a bounce in the man's step, though Harry thought it was possible that he was so sleep deprived at this moment that he had imagined it.

"Tell me about the competition," Snape said, and he waited while Harry tiredly detailed who he had encountered, how he had hid, and how he had successfully bound an opponent without a wand or words after incapacitating him with Root.

Snape went over some of the details with Harry about how he could have done better and what he had done that he approved of (mostly of Harry hiding and disguising himself like rock), and finally sent Harry on his way to eat a quick breakfast before hurrying to his first class.

After Harry had left, and Severus had made his way to his classroom building, he wondered that the boy had confided in him about being ganged up on when he had refused the night before. He looked aweful, and he would have bet a Galleon that the teen hadn't slept at all.

Harry felt like he was in a stupor all day, but somehow made it through his classes and tutoring sessions. When he headed towards the hill where the Gemini wood started, he found Gan by his cabin and was told to go to bed instead of tutoring that night.

"Thanks," Harry said, and went inside to lay down, ignoring his homework. He slept, but it was a fitful sleep like the night before. He didn't dream of being a Slytherin, but the next morning, the thought that he was not fit to be in Gryffindor still plagued him. I hid, Harry thought. I hid, and waited, and in the end I paid for it because I got ganged up on and I let myself lose that fight too didn't I? Even Draco said I was being Slytherin by hiding. Hermione fought, other's fought, but I layed low. I laid low like Voldemort. The thought of being like Voldemort made his stomach churn, and when Harry went to breakfast, he wasn't hungry at all.

"Your bruises are gone," Hermione observed as she put eggs on Harry's plate.

"Yeah," he said with a yawn, ignoring the food.

Hermione gave him a worried look but he ignored that too.

He still wasn't hungry at lunch and had to fend off Hermione's insistance that he eat something. They had a short argument about it which ended with Harry leaving early because he felt testy and didn't want to fight with his friend. He walked around the compound and let the cool breeze whip throug his hair. Others started to make their way from lunch to class and Harry began his slow descent down the hill from the Gemini wood where he'd wandered to, and towards Root. He looked at his watch and knew he would be late because he was going so slow, but he felt sluggish and had not intention of hurrying, even though other classes had clearly already started.

With a huff Harry made a last second decision to pick up his pace because Gan had been nothing but good to him and he didn't want to disappoint him too by being late, but just as he began to walk faster, he heard several screams. Head snapping towards the training field, Harry saw a group of students gathered in a line for what he could only assume was Magery or Muggle Defense. There was another scream that was more like a girl wailing this time, and he ran to see what was going on, hoping August or Blaze wouldn't yell at him for interrupting their class.

Dropping his bag on the lawn next to the other student's bags, he ran to where they were lined up at the edge of the field staring down into a deep, dark crevasse. They had been warned plenty of times to stay away from this edge of the field as well as the cliffs, and Harry wondered why they were there now. He could hear unseen water lapping against rocks in the crevasse.

"What's going on?" Harry asked, and the only girl from Boden sobbed into another girl's shoulder.

Pricilla, the seventh year from Ravenclaw said anxiously, "Professor August fell in there. We called to him but he hasn't answered back."

"Professor!" a boy from Durmstrang called loudly, but there was no answer.

"We heard him hit the water," Pricilla said then.

"Go get help!" Harry shouted. He lit his wand with lumos maxima, tossed it into the crevasse, and when he saw it hit the water and that the path was clear, he stepped off the edge and tucked his arms in to his sides. The last thing he heard before the rush of wind deafened him was gasps and one girl scream, "No!" and then he was falling, his stomach up in his throat. He tried to remember to take a breath, but he hit the water sooner than he expected and was plunged deep into it's icy, dark depths. Harry opened his eyes and looked around. It was dark, and he wasn't certain which way was up. Disoriented he searched around him and finally saw the light of his wand floating on the surface and swam to it with some difficulty because his leg was aching and felt like it didn't want to work right. Wand in hand Harry turned and searched the cavern. High above him he could see the light, blocked out at intervals by the students trying to see down into the cavern, but he couldn't hear their voices. A big wave came in from the ocean where the wide crevasse opened up to the sea, and pushed Harry several feet before pulling him back again. Where was August?

Without thinking, Harry took a breath and dove under the water, wand still lit, and searched for his professor. Out of instinct, he thought the encantation to the bubble head charm and was surprised when it worked and he was able to breath. He didn't know for how long he was under the water before he saw a hand appear from the darkness. He grabbed it and swam to the surface, struggling to drag August with him. They broke the surface as another big wave came in and pushed Harry towards one of the steep, black walls.

With a grunt Harry bumped into a boulder, head knocking into it, and turned with the unconscious August. He waved his wand and barely managed a feather light charm, which didn't work completely but did make the heavy man lighter, and Harry was able to pull his torso up over the rock.

"Professor?" Harry asked timidly. He could have been dead. He was pale and Harry couldn't tell if he was breathing or not. He was reluctant to let go of his small piece of the slipper rock to go around the other side to see if he could see his back rising at all.

"Proffessor August?" Harry tapped him on the cheek as he held onto one of his hands to keep him on the rock, and then pinched his cheek twice, drawing a sudden gasp of breath from the man. He choked several times and groaned, and finally opened his eyes and squinted into the darkness.

"Where am I?"

"In the crevass," Harry said, and August's head snapped to where Harry was. He wrenched his arm from Harry's grasp and regretted it immediately as he slipped off the rock. His arms jerked forward and wrapped around the rock in time to keep himself from going under, and he turned his attention back to Harry.

"You, what are you doing here?"

"You fell," Harry said, pushing himself away from the rock now and looking around to see if there was another to hold on to. There wasn't, and there were no hand holds on the smooth surface of the crevasse walls either.

"Or you pushed me more like," August accused him with narrow eyes.

Harry shook his head as he stretched his arms out and tried to keep himself from going under. He suddenly regretted skipping breakfast and lunch, because he was sorely lacking on energy, and just like the previous times he'd been unexpectedly plunged into the sea, the cold water was sapping what little energy he did have.

"Oh my, you did, didn't you Potter? You pushed me in and I took you down with me. Is that it?"

Harry shook his head again and felt panicky, as if he were trapped down here with this man, who was bigger and stronger, and even though he looked weak and hurt, could probably still do Harry in if he wanted. No one could see them, and there was nothing to stop him.

"You shake your head no, but I know better. I know what kind of person you are. What would you have me believe? That you came down here to save me?"

Harry didn't bother nodding as another big wave came in and pushed him to and fro. Why couldn't this horrible man just be thankful and leave him alone? He was cold, and hungry, and worried now that he had accomplished his task, that there was no way to get back up to the training field. He moved to the other wall and treaded water, not taking his eyes off of August, who seemed intent on staying at his rock where he could hold on.

"You're done after this. They can't keep you here any longer. They'll revoke your certificate too. It was obvious to everyone that you cheated in the competition. They'll give your certificate to Acel."

Another wave came, this time bigger than the rest and pushed Harry down under the water. His leg touched something, probably a rock, but he panicked, thinking some sort of creature might be there with him and broke the surface again gasping. He spit out the mouthful of water he'd taken in. At the start of the summer, the prospect of spending time at the beach had seemed so nice, but he was thoroughly tired of the water by this point. His leg brushed the rock again and he shuddered, taking in another unsteady breath as he began to shake.

"You."

Harry's eyes snapped back to August. He was staring at him.

"Come here."

Harry shook his head. Like hell he was going to swim over there and let the man hurt him or worse.

"Now."

"No," Harry said, teeth chattering, "I didn't push you. C-came in after you. Pulled you up. Put you on the rock."

"I don't believe you. Come here before you drown."

Harry shook his head harder. "No. You'll hurt me." His words hung in the air for long moments as the waves came and went, the water lapping at the sides of the crevasse.

"I'm an adult. I won't hurt you." August finally said, but Harry thought it was fairly obvious that he would hurt him because he was an adult, bigger, stronger, and more powerful than he was. He had chased him earlier in the summer and Harry had been certain then too that this man would do him harm. But at this moment, it didn't matter that it was Alvar August, one of the professors who had been against him this summer, tormented, him, chased him. It only mattered that he was an adult, and he was there, and Harry wasn't going to go anywhere near him. He didn't shake his head, but he did turn it away, making his answer clear. He wasn't going. Harry could still see the man in his periphery as he shook.

"You'll drown," August said with resignation in his voice.

"You know magery," Harry said quietly. "Can't you use it to get us out of here?"

"I'm too weak."

Good, Harry thought silently. That's one tool you can't use against me then.

There was a shout then that echoed off the walls of the cavernous crevasse, and Harry and August both looked up to the bright light at the narrow opening at the top. The silhouetted figures were still there, and Harry strained his ears to hear what was being said to them. He thought it was Snape, but the way the words echoed made it hard to hear.

"Harry! Alvar!"

"We're here!" August shouted up.

"Is Harry there?"

"He is here!"

"We can't bring you up by rope. It's too far! We'll be around by boat in a minute. Can you get to the entrance?"

August looked to the distant entrance, where the waves were stronger and where there were sharp rocks.

"I do not think it is safe!" he called.

"Stay put then!"

Harry shivered violently and hoped they would hurry. He wasn't sure if he was shivering from the cold, or anxiety. He just wanted to be back in the crowd. No one ever tried to get him there.

As promised, a boat appeared at the entrance to the cavern with several professors, Snape included. Iva stabalised the boat against the waves, and Snape sent a long rope to them with his wand. August put the loop at the end around himself, held his hand out to Harry who shook his head, and shouted for them to pull him out and towards the boat.

Harry watched him go and let go a long breath. One threat was gone. The water and darkness he could handle. He heard Snape ask where Harry was when August got to the boat and the man told them that Harry had refused to come. The rope came back then and Harry struggled towards it, arms heavy and feeling like lead. He didn't think he could manage to get the loop around himself so he hooked it with his arm and shouted shakily, "Ok!" The rope tugged and he was pulled along to the entrance. He squinted in the bright light when he neared the row boat, and allowed himself to be pulled into it, where he sat awkwardly, shivering on the floor. Someone wrapped one of the scratchy gray blankets around him from the infirmary and he looked to see Iva. She looked worried and he thought that this was the first time she'd been nice to him, even though she'd never really been mean like the others. August was on a bench at the other end with another gray blanket and Professor Camille, who gave Harry a weak smile, also a first, as she propelled the boat forward and around the sharp rocks with her wand. Someone sent a jet of warm air at Harry's head as they headed towards the beach at a speed no rowboat should be capable of and he realized it was Snape. He expected him to say something, because it looked like he really wanted to, but he didn't.

There were students on the beach from August's class waiting for them, and Gan came out into the water with Blazhe to get the boat up onto the shore. August stepped out with Blazhe's help, looking weak and Harry was surprised when Snape lifted him out and set him on the wet sand. He kept quiet about it because he didn't know what to say. The students crowded around them and someone shouted, "Way to go Harry!" but Harry wasn't sure who. It wasn't any of his friends or Pricilla.

Gan told everyone to get back to the top of the beach and Harry let them go ahead of him. He felt weak anyway and would just hold them up if he was at the front. As it was it was a long walk back to the top and he wasn't certain if he'd make it. He lagged further and further behind, and even August was far up the path with the help of the other professors.

Harry stopped walking. Maybe the adrenaline was finally leaving his body, or maybe the anxiety had taken too much of a toll. He didn't want to go anymore.

A voice startled him from behind though and he was surprised to find that Snape was right there behind him. "That was wreckless Potter." He didn't sound mad. Instead he sounded... tired.

"I did the Bubble head charm underwater," Harry said­. True, he'd had his wand, but it was something to do it wordlessly. Snape gave him a hard look.

"Wreckless Gryffindor." Harry couldn't help but let his chest swell a little then, becuase today he was a Gryffindor. Today he was good, despite what August thought of him. Today he had not been a coward. He hadn't thought of the risk when he'd jumped, he'd just gone in. It would have been easier, and certainly a lot less stressfull to just run for help. Harry took a few steps on shaky legs then and was suddenly in the air in a strong pair of arms. He turned red as he allowed Snape to carry him and wondered that he was strong enough to carry a sixteen year old, even one who was as light as Harry. They were quiet until they reached the top, where Snape set him down and allowed him to preserve some of his dignity as they slowly walked to the infirmary, where Harry was sure to get an earful from Adeline.

"Potter, we will have words."

Harry looked up at Snape, who was motioning for him to get off the bed and follow him out. Harry limped out because the potions hadn't taken full effect yet on his sprains and he knew it would be evening before they healed his leg.

He followed him down the path and to the empty dining hall. He wasn't asked to sit but he did anyway because his leg hurt. He looked up at Snape expectantly. The man just stared at him though and Harry wondered if that was all he'd brought him there to do.

"Why did you do it?"

"Sir?"

"Why did you jump in?"

"They said August was in there. He wasn't answering."

"Did it not occur to you to fetch help?"

"He'd been in there for a while already..." Harry faltered. He did tell them to fetch help. If Harry hadn't gone in, it would have been too late. "I told them to get help."

"But you went in anyway."

"I threw my wand down first, so I could see where to jump."

Snape looked like he was getting irritated, but also looked like he was trying very hard to restrain himself.

"So you risked your life by taking a death defying plunge into a watery abyss that could have been too shallow to leap into, for a man who might have already been dead."

Harry bit his lip. "Yes." There was nothing more he could really say about it than that. Yes, he had done it, and August was fine, and he was fine. Couldn't Snape just leave him alone about it? Apparently not. He crossed his arms and looked... unsettled. He looked like Adeline but without the tears. What was going on here?

"Did you not think of the danger to yourself?"

"I didn't have time to think. He was unconscious and drowning. Even after I got down there I had to search for him under the water."

Snape stared at him for a moment as if searching for something and then turned to look out the window, where students were mulling about, apparently out of class for the afternoon becuase of the double rescue. He didn't ask Harry anything else and Harry wondered if he could go.

"Can I go now?"

Snape turned slightly and then gave a single nod. "Go."

Harry rose and tried not to limp noticeably as he left and headed back to his room. Hermione was there on his porch waiting for him with Draco and Ernie.

"Harry!" He stumbled when she threw her arms around him.

"Did Snape tear you to pieces for jumping?" Ernie asked.

"It was more of an unceremonious fall," Harry said, pushing his door open. Draco and Ernie followed him in and Hermione stood in the door.

"That was like... a hundred foot drop!" Ernie said, sounding thoroughly impressed. Harry never really talked to him at school, and had always gotten the feeling that Ernie didn't think much of him, so it was strange to have him there now acting as though Harry was one of his everyday friends.

Harry shrugged as he sat down on the edge of his bed. "He said I was wreckless."

"Gryffindors," Draco scoffed.

"Hey," Harry said pointing at Draco, "you jumped in after me, and that was the same distance."

"I got shouted at for almost an hour the next day for that," Draco said.

"You did?"

Draco nodded. "Yeah because I didn't have to and there were rocks at the bottom, and I could have died and blah blah blah."

Hm. So they weren't just reading Harry the riot act, although they hadn't really... they looked more worried about him than angry.

"I'm going to sleep," Harry announced, and Ernie and Draco left. Harry fell sideways on the bed, not bothering with the covers, and Hermione came in and closed the door. Harry looked over at her.

"You're too brave for your own good," she said. He gave her a smile.

"No Harry, I mean it. You could have died."

"But I didn't."

"That's not the point and you know it. There's too many people putting you in danger, why do you have to put yourself in danger?"

"Is it any more dangerous than at Hogwarts?"

"You've always put yourself in danger. You know, Mrs. Weasley always yells at Ron when he follows you into things... tells him to leave problems for adults to deal with. He's usually grounded for most of the summer because of what happens at school."

"And your parents?"

"The same. Only I don't get grounded. They say things like, 'it's not up to children to solve mysteries and catch murderers.'" She crossed her arms but then let them fall to her side again.

"I've never asked you to follow me into danger. Last year.... I told you not to go to the Ministry." His voice cracked and he swallowed. He didn't want to think about Sirius.

She came in front of him then and sat on her knees on the floor so they were on the same level. "But Harry, if we don't go with you, who will?"

He didn't know and so he didn't answer. He rolled over and wondered why it was such a big deal. What did they want from him? To let people die? To let bad things happen when he could try to stop it? There was already too much indifference in the world, already too much bad happening. He fell asleep, though he never heard the door open again. When he woke later, Hermione was still there, sitting in his desk chair and reading one of his school books. She didn't lecture him any more as they walked to dinner, and she didn't try to force him to eat, because he was starving. He looked around for Snape, but he wasn't there.

* * *

"You have a duel to start thinkinig about," Snape announced at their early morning tutoring session the next morning. They weren't holding it on the practice field next to the crevasse this morning, and Harry wondered if it was because of what had happened the day before. Instead they were in Snape's classroom building.

Harry sat in one of the desks and waited to hear what else he had to say.

"Just like the competition, it would be wise to have a strategy. The duel will be held in four rounds. The first round will pit all five of you against each other. The first one down will be out. The remaining four will then be paired off to fight, and the two winners from those duels, will duell each other. The winner will get the certificate."

"What kind of strategy?" Harry had been in a lot of duels and had never had a strategy. It was all action and reaction. Attack and defend.

"I believe you should choose one type of magic and stick to it during the duel. It will be easier to concentrate on what you are doing if you are not jumping back and forth between the different things you have learned." Immediately Harry's mind jumped to Root, but he had a feeling that Snape was talking about Magery.

"You want me to use magery."

"I believe it would be a wise choice considdering who you are going up against. Wandless magic will give you an advantage against those who know what wand movements to look for."

"What about Root?"

"One of your opponents has trained in Root for his entire life. While he is younger than you he has still been training in it for 11 more years than you have."

"Won't the others know Magery?"

"Draco does. However even if they all know it, it will give you an advantage instead of just using your wand. If you can manage some, or all, of your spells wordlessly as well, you will have a more complete advantage."

"That's not going to happen," Harry said. He'd tried too hard for too long just to learn four or five spells wandlessly and wordlessly and they weren't defensive or offensive spells.

"There are still almost two weeks until the duel for you to learn."

"Gan said I'm getting good at Root Defense."

"And you can control your actions and reactions with root completely?"

Harry frowned. Well, no, but there were still two weeks left...

"I believe you should devote your time to magery. If we turn our attention to hexes and shields during all of our tutoring sessions in the next two weeks then you may have a chance. We can practice after dinner as well."

A chance? Just a chance?

"I have meditation after dinner."

"If you want to get the certificate then you should take every opportunity to practice."

Harry didn't want to give up his meditation sessions or tutoring though, not with only two weeks to go. He looked forward to meditating with Gan all day and some days he felt like it was the only thing keeping him sane. If he was going to be studying magery with Snape all day then he couldn't give up the meditation. It was too stressful.

"I don't want to stop meditating."

"You can meditate on your own time."

"I don't want to stop meditating with Gan."

Snape slammed his open hand down on the teacher's desk then, causing Harry to jump and his heart to start pumping.

"Stop- Arguing with me! This is for your own good Potter! Do you think Root will win you a duel with the dark lord? When you are in a graveyard where there is nothing living to draw energy from, what will you do then? What experience will you fall back on?"

"Or when I'm in the ministry of magic you mean?" Harry said through gritted teeth.

Snape stared at him and Harry stared back.

"That is not what I said Potter."

"No but it's what you meant! I know what you told the staff at the start of the summer. I heard you. I know that you told them it was my fault that Sirius died. I know you told them I lead a bunch of students into danger. I know what you think of me. You think I'm stupid, insolent, weak."

"I did not say that."

"Didn't you? Well guess what. I'm not quitting meditation and I'm not practicing Magery with you anymore. You're the one that told me to take meditiation in the first place."

"I told you no such thing Potter."

"You did too! You said it on the first day here to the group when we were touring the classes! You said it would help if you were going to take Occlumency."

Snape paused and looked uncertain for a moment, maybe even cautious but Harry couldn't tell anymore because he was so mad. "You took meditation because I said it would be helpful?"

Harry crossed his arms and looked cross. "Yes." Severus opened his mouth to say something but Harry was already gathering his bag and heading for the door. He was done tutoring with Snape. He was done with never being able to please the man. He'd had enough of trying to gain perspective on the man too when it was quite clear to him that it was the other man lacking perspective.

As Harry walked away from Snape's building however, and headed to the gazebo to see if he could find Gan, he felt confused. Snape had saved him from August earlier in the summer, and taken his time to help him. He had also bought him the clothes and bedding and other things for his cabin, and... Harry paused, feeling over emotional and not being sure why. He had carried him the other day. It almost felt as though the man had been carrying him through the turbulence of the summer, even if he had caused most of it. It was nice to have someone else to carry some of the weight. Well, there was no more of that, he thought. He'd always been alone, always been on his own. If that was how it had to be from here on out, so be it. But the further he walked from Snape's building, the more uncertain he felt about his decision.

* * *

Gan had agreed to tutor him twice a day in Root as well as continuing their once daily meditation sessions, although now Harry was feeling more unsettled than ever and felt like he should be having twice daily meditation and only once daily Root. Gan didn't have time to tutor him in the mornings or other open times Professor Snape had open, so Harry ended up switching some of his classes to othe times of the day so he could practice with Gan.

Several times he caught Snape watching him as he crossed the compound or ate at meal times, and once he caught the man watching him and Gan practice Root on the practice field as it got dark out. It made Harry regretful and he didn't know what to do about the strange feelings plaguing him. It was Snape's own fault that Harry decided to stop tutoring, and what did Snape care anyway? Harry was just a burden on his time, he'd said so himself.

It was shortly after one of Harry and Gan's training sessions when Harry found himself nearly jumping out of his skin. Gan had just left the field and it was getting dark out. Harry had knelt down to put something in his bag and get a drink of water when August's voice came from behind him, making him jump and spin around, eyes wide. He almost fell over himself jumping like he had, and his heart was pounding.

"Mr. Potter."

Harry stared at him, wondering what he wanted, eyes darting to his left to see if there was an easy route of escape.

August held up a hand and Harry stood stock still.

"I only came to apologize to you Harry, and also to say thank you, for rescuing me when I fell into the crevasse." He waited for Harry to say something, but Harry still felt trapped and wondered if he was trying to lure him into a false sense of security.

"I was mislead by my own want to feel hatred, and it was uncalled for. It is a dangerous thing, to go about life in such a manner, being blown by the wind here or there, and to stick to one thing without really knowing what lead you there. It is a mistake I cannot promise I won't make in the future, but I will try to avoid."

When Harry still didn't say anything, August nodded. "Ok, I have come to say, what I had to say." As he left, Harry's muscles remained tensed, and he was unable to let them relax until he was certain August was far enough away that he couldn't turn and hex him if he changed his mind. Harry picked up his bag and walked back to his cabin.

Down the path, Gan and Severus watched the exchange with interest, wondering what was being said and why Harry was standing so tense. Gan spoke first.

"It is a wonder."

"What is?"

"Why do you suppose he fears all adults?"

Severus looked at the aging man, wondering what he was talking about. Potter didn't fear all adults. He was often rebellious and strong willed, ready to stand his ground, even with adults. For heaven's sakes, he had cursed him as a third year without a second thought to his actions.

"You do not see how he tenses around you? Around Alvar and Andrei?"

"He is... high strung sometimes."

"With his injuries, I imagine he would be." Gan walked off and Severus frowned. Riddles. He disliked when people talked in circles and never got around to a point. What injuries was he talking about? The injuries he'd sustained here? Yes, he had been in the infirmary a lot that summer, but more often than not he'd put himself there.

Severus made to go back to his cabin for the night to get in some reading before turning in, but took a turn and went towards the infirmary instead. Gan and Adeline had accused him of hurting Harry earlier in the summer. If Harry had been 'injured' there would be a picture on record. How bad could it be? Earlier he'd supposed the boy to have a scrape. Severus opened the door to the dark infirmary and turned on the light. From the upper cupboard he pulled down the summer's injury log and flipped to P for Potter. As he flipped through the pages of reports and photos he shook his head. He'd taken several of these photos. There were two or three reports of him getting sick, and he cursed at himself mentally yet again for taking the teen's blanket. He flipped another page and stopped. Why was the boy's foot black? He squinted at Gan's untidy scrawl listing the injury and treatment to his foot. It had been broken in several places and the boy had refused to say how it had happened. And Gan somehow thought that Severus had been responsible for it.

'Why do you suppose he fears all adults? Do you not see how he tenses around you?' Gan's words rolled through his mind. Was the boy really afraid of him? He'd never caused him injury. He'd punished him, yes, given him detentions, and been unjust and unfair that summer, but he never hurt him, never threatened to harm him. He stared down at the picture. He hadn't hurt him, but someone had. He flipped another page and there was a photo of Potter's torso, covered in bruises. Adeline's flowing cursive revealed that he'd refused to tell her how he'd gotten the bruises.

Mind spinning Severus closed his eyes and tilted his head. He'd come to school with virtually nothing, not even a proper blanket or sheets or a coat, he'd come to school injured, and Gan and Adeline had both picked up on Harry's fear of adults, especially of him. Severus didn't know what was going on, but he had an inkling and he didn't like it. If what he was seeing was true, then Harry's lack of trust made sense.

Feeling disturbed by the conclusions he'd come to that evening, Severus lay in bed that night, unable to sleep. Potter's relatives weren't taking proper care of him, were mistreating him even, and Potter seemed intent on mistreating himself by putting his own life in danger time and again. No, there was no thought to comfort Severus this night.

"Hi Harry," a girl he didn't know from Beauxbatons waved as he sat crosslegged on the grass with Draco and Axle, and the three boys watched her as she passed.

"That's the third one in five minutes," Draco said, sounding a little disgusted.

Axle smiled. "They all seem to like you now."

No, Harry thought, they don't like me, they like what I did. They like the idea of me. He was certain it was true, just like the way Ernie seemed to think he was Harry's best friend now. People were inviting him down to the bonfires at night and trying to sit next to him at meals and in classes, but they didn't want to be his friend, they just wanted to be associated with him and how he had saved August. Look at me, I'm friends with Harry Potter. Harry sighed. At least Acel and Nikolas were still shunning him. He didn't like that they did it, but it was normal.

Draco scoffed. "Hogwarts all over again," he said with a roll of his eyes. "I jumped in to save you Potter, but what do I get? No accolades, no waves. Nothing at all."

Axle laughed and said, "I could send google eyes at you if you want." Draco only scooted another foot away from him in response though, making him and Harry both laugh.

"Lets make google eyes at him together," Harry said, and he and Axle both stared at Draco, batting their eyelashes and putting their hands up under their chins.

"Stop it! People will get ideas!" Draco said, and when they didn't he picked up his notebook and pen and hurried away, shooting them an irritated look as he went. Harry and Axle laughed again.

"The student girls aren't the only ones giving you looks," Axle observed, and Harry followed his gaze to the porch of the medical building where Adeline stood and watched them.

"I don't know why they have to do that." Harry looked down at his notes and pretended not to be paying attention.

"Well, she is pretty..."

Harry picked up his notebook and slapped Axle on the shoulder lightly with it. "She's not looking at me like that."

"Ok ok. Besides, I think she gives her google eyes to Snape."

Harry frowned and shook his head at Axle's strange English. "No way. No one likes Snape."

"I thought you got along with him ok? Other people seem to like him. He's a lot nicer than Blazhe."

Harry gave him a look that said 'really'? "You haven't seen him at Hogwarts. He wears these big black robes that billow out behind him in the halls, and most of the younger students are terrified of him."

"Not you though, you're Harry Potter! Anyone who dives into an abyss isn't afraid of Snape. Besides, look." Axle pointed back to Adeline and Harry saw that she was no longer watching him, but was looking across the compound, eyes following Snape as he stepped out of his building and stretched in the sunlight.

"I don't want to think about it. Is this what you do at Boden? Talk about professor's personal lives?"

"In a small school like ours, you underestimate how boring it can get," Axle said. "What do you do at Hogwarts when you get bored?"

Harry thought about it. He usually didn't get bored at school. There always seemed to be a mountain of homework, a tournament, Quidditch, teachers out to get him, or something along those lines to keep him occupied.

"Fly," Harry said. "Or get in trouble," he added as an afterthought. And then a third thought came to his mind unbidden: or I lead my friends into trouble and get my Godfather killed. He was surprised that the negative thought hadn't come to mind in Snape's voice but his own.

"You will show me Hogwarts at the end of the summer?" Axel asked. "The Quidditch pitch and all that you've told me about?"

"Will you be going to Hogwarts to visit?"

"We will all go to visit Hogwarts. August told us last night."

"I haven't heard anything about it," Harry said, and he wondered if Snape would round all of the Hogwarts students up to tell them later at some point.

"It's tradition. On the last two days of school everyone visits the other attending schools. We'll spend a half day at Hogwarts and the Hogwarts students get to show everyone around. And then a half day at another school. Then the next day everyone visits the other schools. I don't know which days we'll go to which schools though."

"Huh. Yeah, I'll show you around. There's seven of us from Hogwarts, so I guess they'll split everyone up into seven groups." Harry tried to do the math in his head figuring out how many people would be in a group if there were 28 other students not from Hogwarts. He supposed Snape would lead the professors around. "That's only like... four people per group. Just make sure you're in mine."

"Me and Basia and two girls who will give you google eyes the whole day," Axle laughed.

"Let's hope not," Harry said with a laugh of his own. The end of school was still two weeks away so he had some time to think about where he would take a group of people at Hogwarts and how the tours would take place. He hoped people would be able to choose their own groups so he didn't get stuck with Acel or Nickolas.

"Lets go to Healing," Axle said, sticking his books and notes into his bag. Harry looked up and noted that people were changing classes, so he put his things away too and stood up to go to Healing. It had been one of his favorite classes all summer because of Gan and Adeline, and he always looked forward to going.

As Harry set his bag down on one of the beds next to Axle's and Basia's he took note that Gan wasn't teaching today. He gave a smile to Adeline but she turned away without returning it. Well that was odd, he thought.

"Today we'll be out on the grounds collecting common plants that can be used as disinfectant. Leave your bags here. Everyone take one of the collection jars." She handed one to Axel and one to Basia, and Harry moved forward to get one but she wouldn't look at him as she held it out for him to take. What was going on? Was she mad at him? Snape had been acting odd, and Gan was just Gan, but what was going on with Adeline?

She lead them on a walk through the tall grasses and to the forest and then down to the beach, lecturing as she went and asking questions, though she didn't call on Harry once. After class was over Harry felt bothered by her change in attitude. Was she changing sides? Some of the other teachers were still ignoring him, even after saving August, and he didn't want her to ignore him too.

When he went to tutoring with Gan later he didn't say anything about Adeline for fear that whatever her issue was, Gan would talk to her and then change sides too. Then the only one he'd have left would be Snape, but even then he wouldn't really because he'd already told him he wasn't going to tutor with him anymore.

After dinner Harry went with Hermione and the others down to a bonfire and tried not to feel lonely as everyone laughed and joked and sang songs in different languages. He was there with his friends and it was his first bonfire of the summer, but he couldn't stop thinking of the cold shoulder Adeline had turned to him that day. Finally after a nudge from Hermione, Harry decided that he was just imagining it and that it would all be better tomorrow, and gave his friends a smile.

The next day was the same as before however. Gan was in healing today and he called on Harry when questions were asked, but Adeline still wasn't looking at him or speaking to him. Harry's stomach felt like it was full of butterflies as Axle's words from the day before came back to him. She liked Snape, and Harry worried that the man had been telling her lies about him, turning her against him like he'd done to the other teachers at the start of the summer. He tried to hang back at the end of class hoping to talk to her so he could defend himself, but she left right away.

"C'mon Harry," Axle said, wanting him to go with him to lunch with him.

Unable to concentrate through the rest of his classes that afternoon, Harry decided that he had to know and went to the infirmary building after dinner instead of to literature. He knew there was a late healing class in half an hour and that she'd be there preparing for it.

Harry pushed open the door and Adeline turned to see if it was one of her students there early. "Are you injured?" she asked.

Harry shook his head and she turned away, busying her hands at the counter with her back to him.

"Then you'd better get to your last class or you'll be late."

Harry turned and reached for the door knob, feeling more and more confused, but then stopped and turned back again. "A-Adeline? What did I do to make you mad?"

She stopped putting corks in the medicinal bottles, but didn't look at him.

"I'm not mad Harry. You need to go to class."

"I'm sorry," Harry said, throat feeling tight. "For whatever I did." He reached for the door and opened it and said, "I just didn't want you to hate me too." He took a step out but Adeline grabbed his wrist and pulled him back inside gently and shut the door.

"I don't hate you Harry."

"I thought maybe you'd been talking to Professor Snape... like the other teachers. You wouldn't look at me or call on me in class."

"Harry," she paused and looked close to tears like she had been after he'd been pulled out of the crevasse days ago. "I care about you. So do Gan and Professor Snape. But it's very hard to care about someone who hurts himself constantly. Every week you're in here with new injuries that could have been prevented, and every day I wonder if it will be the day you're injured too badly to heal."

"Prevented..." Harry repeated. Yes, he supposed he could have prevented spraining his leg by not jumping into the crevasse, and not entering the competition for the certificate, but what others? He'd been attacked by the other boys on the cliff shelf, made sick by not having proper clothes or bedding, and beaten at home. Those injuries were about as preventable as being born.

"You are very wreckless Harry. You don't seem to care about your life at all."

"Professor Snape already read me the riot act for jumping into the creavasse," Harry said quietly, thinking that maybe she was just upset about that incident.

"It's not just that Harry."

"I hid and tried not to fight in the tournament, and Snape wanted me to enter that. The only thing I could do to prevent those injuries was to be better at defense..." he trailed off as she held up her hand.

"Harry, I'm not talking about those things. I think you've been hurting yourself. You put yourself in situations that are dangerous over and over and the only reason I can think of is because you want to be hurt. You come to school covered in bruises, and after seeing what you do here, I can't help but wonder what you do to yourself at home."

Harry felt like he was about to see red and he wondered if this was how Ron felt when he got so angry that he lost control over himself.

"Right," Harry said, "I put myself in danger. I could prevent my uncle and cousin from throttling me because I didn't get my chores done quick enough or because I burned their bacon at breakfast. It's not like I ever beg teachers at school to let me stay over the summer so I don't have to go back. And I could prevent professor Snape from taking away my blanket, the only one I had and from not having warm clothes to wear so I don't get sick. I didn't tell him it was all I had or anything like that. I could prevent the boys from other schools from following me and pushing me off a cliff into the water too, and stop Professors from chasing after me through the dark. I could prevent them from ganging up on me during the tournament and beating me while I was stunned and unable to move. Well guess what, I try to prevent myself from getting hurt every day, but when everyone is intent on beating you, drowning you, making you sick, killing you, it's real hard to stop yourself from getting hurt. Go ahead and be like everyone else and blame everything on me. I can take it. I'm Harry bloody Potter, everyone's scapegoat!"

He threw open the door and stormed out, ignoring her calls for him to stop. He was so mad he was shaking. He knew he was supposed to go to meditation in the woods with Gan, but for the first time that summer he didn't want to go. He didn't want to calm down. His anger was so firey hot that he just wanted to be mad and stew over the things that had been said for a while. So instead of going to find Gan, he wandered the grounds, making sure to stay away from Hermione's cabin or the dining hall so he didn't run into any of his friends. He didn't want to be mad at them and he didn't want to be invited to a bon fire where they would try to cheer him up.

What would they do if he just left the school? They had put wards at the edge of the grounds for the competition to keep contestants from wandering too far, but were they still there now? He couldn't possibly be in any more trouble than he had already gotten himself into, so he might as well just leave. He turned his steps towards the dirt lane where they'd initially portkeyed in at the start of the summer and decided to just drop his bag on the ground. He wouldn't need his heavy books anymore if he was leaving, and at this point he didn't even care to go back for any of his things.

The sun was almost all the way down as he made the dirt lane. As a cool breeze from the ocean picked up he felt chilled without his sweat jacket or coat but he was determined not to go back for any reason.

Harry walked for ten minutes and couldn't see the school compound anymore and hadn't hit a barrier yet so he assumed he was off of school grounds. He wished he knew how to apparate so he could go to see Ron. He was sure the Weasleys would let him stay the last few weeks of summer with them if he could get there. He was done with this place. It had been a mistake to come here. Yes he'd learned things he wouldn't have otherwise, but he'd also learned that there were too many people against him in the world. It wasn't just people from Hogwarts, it was people from other schools. He'd rather spend his time with the few people he knew actually cared about him. It was just too bad that Hermione would still be at Gemini and not at the Burrow, not that Harry had any idea how to get off of this island so he could somehow make his way South to Ron's house.

"Potter." He heard Snape calling for him in the distance and in the darkness saw the dark haired professor jogging to catch up with him. "Potter!" he called again when Harry didn't stop walking. After another minute, the man caught up with him and put a hand on his shoulder to stop him but Harry grunted and turned to shrug it off.

"Where are you going?"

"Away from here," he said angrily.

"And how do you plan on getting off of the island?"

"I don't know but I'll manage."

"I see." Snape was able to keep pace without hurrying because of his long legs.

"Don't try to stop me."

"I have not yet attempted to do so," the professor pointed out.

Harry frowned. It was true enough he guessed. He'd followed him and called after him, but hadn't told him to go back.

"Might I ask what has caused you to decide to leave so suddenly?"

"I'm tired of everyone hating me. No one bothers to ask my side of things, they all just assume."

"Have things not improved in the last few weeks?"

"No," Harry said. Well they had, but not for the better, not really. More people were being nice to him, but it was a fake kind of nice because of his celebrity status or because he'd saved August. He wasn't convinced that August was actually thankful that he'd gone in after him either. He'd apologied but Harry didn't trust him. Still angry Harry stopped suddenly and turned to face Snape down in the darkness.

"You think just because you bought me clothes and blankets it makes up for all you did? You don't really want to help me, you only do it because you feel bad. That's for you, not me."

"You are mistaken."

"Am I? You told me time and again that I just wasted your time. You think I'm worthless like everyone else thinks." He started walking again, anger radiating from his very steps, and Snape followed.

"Like Gan and Adeline?"

"Gan's ok," Harry said, but then he spit out, "but everyone's got their own preformed opinions of me and I've never been able to do a thing to change them. Adeline's no different."

"I was under the impression that she was quite fond of you."

"Fond," Harry scoffed. "As fond as you are of me. She wouldn't even look at me or talk to me for the last two days because she's mad at me and I didn't even do anything wrong."

"Because?"

"Because I'm Harry Potter and no one gives me a chance to just be me. Either people pretend to be my friend because of my status or they hate me because they've got things in their mind that aren't true. Either way that leaves me alone."

"So you are running away to stop being alone?"

Harry turned and frowned hard at him. "I'm going to Ron's. I shouldn't have come here this summer."

"But you did."

"The Headmaster told me to. I'm supposed to learn something to get an advantage over Voldemort."

"Have you?"

"It doesn't matter. If he doesn't kill me someone else will. You should know that by now after this summer." Or even after the years he'd spent at Hogwarts Harry thought darkly.

"You do not help matters by putting yourself in danger."

"Stop following me. You're just like Adeline."

"Am I?"

"And the others too. You're not following me being nice to me for my own benefit. You have some other motive."

"It is hardly fair to accuse me of being 'nice'."

Harry kicked at a stone in the dirt lane and frowned. Only Snape would say he was being 'accused' of being nice.

"Whatever. Are you just going to follow me around the countryside all night? I'm not going back." Even as Harry said it he was very aware that the man was powerful with or without a wand and could take him back forcibly if he chose to. He was also aware that it wouldn't be pleasant.

"Until you give me a satisfactory answer to my question. What has caused you so suddenly to want to leave. You have endured up to this point."

It was so dark Harry was having a hard time seeing now. He stopped and put his hands on his hips as he tried to make out Snape's features to see what kind of expression he had. He could light the tip of his wand, but he didn't know if he really wanted to reveal the man's countenace or not.

"People don't give me a chance. They take every opportunity to think bad about me so they can treat me like rubbish. Just when I think someone's going to really be nice to me, it turns out to be a lie."

"Whom are you speaking of?"

"Everyone."

"Specifically."

Harry could tell that the man who had so far shown more patience than Harry had ever seen him show to anybody, was starting to sound irritated.

"Adeline. She accused me of hurting myself and said that I could have prevented being hurt all these times." In the last few minutes the firey hot feeling Harry had had earlier had started to cool off, but remembering the conversation suddenly stoked the coals again. He threw his hands up into the air for dramatic effect even though it was too dark to really see him do it, and stalked off again. He was irritated that Snape followed. He'd given him an answer hadn't he?

"Explain." Snape said after long quiet moments, where the only sound was their shoes against the gravel in the road and the breeze through the tall grasses on either side.

"Why should I? I don't even have to ask what you believe to know I'm not going to be given a fair chance."

"I am giving you that chance now."

"I hate being hurt or sick. I go out of my way to avoid those things. Just because I can be thick sometimes and jump into situations without thinking of all the consequences first doesn't mean I want to be hurt. That's a terrible thing to accuse someone of who gets hurt all the time while trying to avoid it." Harry shivered again and wrapped his arms around himself trying to keep the goosebumps away.

"Did you tell her that?"

"More like screamed it at her. Sort of. Maybe." Harry mumbled something else but Snape couldn't make it out.

"With your track record at Hogwarts of putting yourself in danger, that is hard to believe."

"Right, see, I told you," Harry said, shaking his head. "You didn't want to really know the truth. You just want to think what you're going to think like you always do, like everybody always does. You're as bad as the Headmaster." He sounded disgusted and he knew Snape could hear it in his voice too.

"The headmaster believes he is preparing you to fight for your life by sending you here."

"That's not what I'm talking about," Harry said. His arms were covered in goosebumps now and so were his neck and back and he was starting to regret his decision not to go back to his cabin for a coat. Harry thought Snape would ask him to explain further but he didn't as they walked. The silence was uncomfortable though, and so far Snape has listened, even if he wasn't willing to change his mind, so Harry clarified for him anyway.

"I tell him the truth and he doesn't want to hear it. I tell him every summer I don't want to go back, but he won't listen. This is the only summer I got to get away, but I didn't really get away from anything. It's the same wherever I go."

"You are speaking of the injuries you received at home before you came here."

Harry stopped and stared up at the man. The sky was clear and millions of stars twinkled in the sky above them, Harry noticed. Adeline and Gan had taken pictures of his injuries before treating him and put them in a record of some kind. Snape was a healer too and he supposed he must have seen them and put things together.

"I didn't want to empty my vault to come here or sell my Firebolt to Draco. I just wanted not to go back." Another bad choice on his part, he thought. Maybe if he'd just gone back to four Privet Drive and kept his head down, he could have gotten hurt less often than he had here.

"Do you still wish not to return?"

Harry gave a nod, and then realizing that his professor probably couldn't see it, said, "I don't want to go back."

"I will find a way for you not to return between Gemini and Hogwarts, but you must return to the school until it is over."

Harry knew that he didn't really have a choice in the matter and wondered why Snape was trying to make it seem like he had one. Dumbledore would never let him just wander off and Snape knew it too. As a teacher responsible for him here at Gemini or as Dumbledore's right hand man, or as an Order Member, he couldn't let Harry just leave.

"I don't believe you. People don't keep promises," he said, but he turned and started walking back towards the school anyhow.

Severus followed a few paces behind, trying to give the teen time to think. He was glad Harry wasn't going to fight him about returning to Gemini, but also disturbed at the admissions the child had made, both about being mistreated at home, and about not trusting him that he'd make things right.

It was also unsettling that the child had apparently told Albus about his home situation and the man hadn't done anything to rectify the situation. There were only three possibilities he could run by the Headmaster for Harry not returning to the ward safety of his relatives in two weeks. He could ask that Harry go to the Burrow, but he knew that the Weasley's had been asking Albus every summer for four years. He could ask that Harry return to Hogwarts, but Albus would say no because the child needed to spend a certain number of weeks with the Dursleys in order to continue being protected by the wards placed on their home. No, his best chance was to make a case for Harry to go home with him at the end of Gemini so that he could continue to give him extra training in Occlumency and magery. He doubted that Potter would like going home with him but knew he would accept if he truly did not want to return to his relatives. He would send an owl to the Headmaster in the morning detailing a rigorous training schedule for Harry for the two weeks between Gemini and Hogwarts. It was a schedule he did not intend to keep but that would be convincing enough to get Albus to agree.

He followed Harry back to school grounds and made certain that he was safely in his cabin before going back down to the base of the hill, intending to turn in for the night. There were a number of students still out and about down at a bonfire on the beach, but it wasn't his night to patrol and make sure that things were running smoothly and that students weren't getting too carried away with their summer romances. He pushed open his cabin door but heard Adeline call his name and paused before closing the door again. She hurried to his porch and stood there looking anxious and guilty.

"Did you find him Severus?"

"I did. He was almost to the B8072. He is in his cabin now."

She shook her head and held onto her left shoulder with her right hand. "I feel awful. I accused him of hurting himself and he shouted at me that he couldn't stop other people from hurting him. Severus, I think something awful has happend to him. You didn't see the injuries he came to school with."

"I saw the photos. He will not be going home at the end of school."

"He'll never forgive me, not after what the other teachers have put him through this summer."

Severus felt trapped inside himself for what seemed like eternity then but was only a moment. He wanted to reach out and touch Adeline's arm or face to comfort her, but did not know if he could bring himself to do it. He was fairly certain that she enjoyed his company and had feelings for him, but not certain enough to act on those beliefs. He felt cowardly for a moment and then remembered Harry's words about sometimes jumping into situations without thinking through the consequences completely. Maybe he was over thinking this and should take the chance. He reached out and touched Adeline's soft cheek, bringing her eyes up to his.

"If I have observed one thing about Potter, it is that he seems too willing to forgive others too easily. Case in point, he and Draco Malfoy have been enemies since their first day of school, yet they now seem to be friends." His hand was still on her cheek, holding it, and she hadn't pushed it away yet. Their eyes were locked and he felt foolish because his heart was beating erratically wondering what she would do next.

"You are not one of the other teachers. You are not like me. He was upset primarily because you have treated him well to this point and he believed you were going to stop."

"You seem capable of change too," she said, and he dropped his hand slowly, uncertain if he was creating an awkward moment by holding one side of her face for so long. "You came here with a strong conviction against him, but I've seen you sticking up for him, protecting him, admitting you were wrong."

"Not a common occurence," he assured her, but she moved in closer to him and their faces were only inces apart as she stared into his dark eyes.

"I believe you're a good man Severus Snape."

He wanted to correct her; to rid her of that notion, but it was too tempting to lean in and kiss her, and the thought faded from his mind as he closed his eyes and gave into temptation.

"What does that mean?" Draco asked with a frown. Hermione covered her mouth and Harry stared at Axle, waiting for an answer.

"How do you say it in Britain?" he asked, trying to think of the term. "In Sweden we say 'kyssar.'"

"That's gross," Draco said, putting his fork down like he was going to be sick.

"Snogging," Harry said. "That's what we call it here, and Draco's right. We don't want to hear about it."

Hermione giggled loudly then, still covering her mouth and Harry and Draco both looked over at her.

"It's not funny, I know," Hermione said. Then she lowered her voice and leaned in so only they could hear. "But it's Professor Snape and he never seems to like anyone because he's always in such a sour mood, and well... it's cute actually."

"Ugh," Draco said, pushing his plate away from him. "It's bad enough seeing my parents do it, I don't want to see it happen here too."

Harry thought about aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. He never saw them kiss except for every morning when his uncle left for work he'd give her a peck on the cheek and every evening when he got home she'd give him a peck on the cheek.

"Teachers don't kyssar at Hogwarts?"

"Not in public!" Draco said, wishing they'd just change the topic already.

"At Boden there are many teachers that are married to other teachers or staff. One teacher's wife and children live with him at the school. It is not uncommon there to see kyssar in the hallways."

"Well we see students kissing in the hallways," Hermione said.

"Everyone else is kind of old at Hogwarts," Harry told Axle. "The Headmaster is probably 100, Professor McGonagall is..."

"68," Hermione said matter of factly and Harry nodded. "Professor Flitwick is 70, Treylwaney is-"

"Let's not talk about Treylwaney , ok?" Draco asked. "I don't want to think about her kissing anyone... that's just wrong." He shuddered.

Harry laughed then and had to agree. "I think Snape is the youngest teacher there. Madam Hooch is maybe ten years older than he is and I'm not sure about Hagrid."

"Well Sinistra is about the same age as Snape," Hermione said.

"Change of subject," Draco pleaded, covering one ear as he tried to finish his breakfast. "It's bad enough you've put the image of him and Adeline kissing in my head, I don't need to have the image of him and Sinistra together too."

"Is kyssar even allowed at Hogwarts?" Axle asked.

"Well, yes," Hermione said, "but they don't like to see it too much. Professors or Prefects will stop couples who are a little... too interested in each other."

"Like Professor Snape and Adeline," Axle said and Draco finally stood up with his plate and napkin and moved to another table, causing Hermione to giggle again and Harry to shake his head.

Harry hadn't told his friends about what had happened the night before and as far as he could tell they didn't know about it. He knew Adeline and Snape knew and possibly Gan, but wasn't sure if they'd told other teachers that he'd tried to run away. As he went to Occlumency with Snape that morning, he wondered what Snape had in mind for keeping him from going back to the Dursleys. He'd already tried everything. Ron's parents asked if he could stay with them every summer and he always asked if he could stay at Hogwarts at least twice at the end of every school year. What could Snape do that he couldn't? He supposed he hadn't been clearing his mind effectively because Snape was able to see his thoughts as he invaded Harry's mind.

"You are supposed to be occluding, not worrying."

"I'm not worried," Harry said, feeling a little snarky. "Just curious." He was glad that the other Occlumency students were outside waiting for their turn or else had already left.

"I have written to the Headmaster telling him that I would like to continue your training after Gemini has ended. If he agrees, you will come with me when school is over. I sent him a schedule detailing rigorous academic and practical activities."

"So you intend to torture me for the rest of the summer?" he was incredulous.

"I intend to do no such thing," Snape said crossly as he sat up and straightened his shirt, giving off the air that he was 'proper.' "I am aware however that you must spend a certain ammount of time at home for the wards to be effective and that you have not yet spent the required amount of time there. As such the Headmaster must see greater benefit in letting you come with me than returning home. He may yet insist that you go home for Christmas to fulfil the wards time requirements, but we will cross that bridge when we come to it."

"Oh."

"Now concentrate."

Harry closed his eyes but with his questions about the end of the summer out of the way, Axle's story about seeing Snape and Adeline kissing came to the forefront of his mind and as soon as Snape entered it he backed out of his own accord. Harry opened his eyes and tried not to be too interested in Snape's red face. Harry hadnt actually seen them kissing, but as hard as he tried not to imagine it, he could still see it in his mind's eye.

"You were supposed to be in your cabin."

"I was!" Harry protested. "I didn't see anything I swear!"

Snape gave him a doubtful frown.

"Axle saw it and he told me and Draco this morning. We told him we didn't want to hear it but he told it anyway."

"Is that why Draco moved to another table at breakfast?"

Harry nodded.

"Be gone. I can see that I will not be able to get you to concentrate this morning."

Harry was up out of his chair faster than Snape thought possible and out the door. Harry shook his head as he walked towards the place where he and Gan met for Root tutoring during the day. Why had Snape come after him last night? Was it because it was his duty as staff, or was it becuase Adeline had asked him to? He supposed it didn't matter. Either reason was for his own sake and not Harry's.

* * *

Two days before the duel Harry was surprised when he went to meet Gan for Root Tutoring in the evening in the woods and found Snape there with him.

"What's going on?" Harry asked, setting his bag down between the tangled roots of one of the trees that had mangos growing off of it.

"The duel is in two days," said Snape. "It can not hurt you to have as much help as you can get until then."

"What are we going to do then? You said you didn't approve of me doing root."

"Whether I approve or not does not negate the fact that it is what you have chosen to do."

Harry looked to Gan to see what he thought about this, but the man only stared back at him patiently.

"Ok."

Snape pointed up into the branches of the tree Harry usually sat beneath and Harry looked and was surprised to find tiny white fruits the size of grapes.

"There are not really rules for the duel about using potions or other items to help you so long as the item is not a weapon. What you see above you is moon fruit. They are not yet the size they should be picked at, but I believe you would do well to eat one before your duel."

"Ok, what's moonfruit?"

"It only grows under the light of a full moon. It will help you cast stronger spells and will help you focus your energy. I would not," Severus cautioned, "recommend eating more than two moon fruits in a month. You should however eat one now to see how it will make you feel and to practice root with it so that you will know what your limits are with it during the duel."

"Because they are so small," Gan said, "it will only last for ten or fifteen minutes. Not enough time to last you through the entire duel tournament which could last up to two hours. When you use it during the tournament will be up to you, but I would suggest waiting until you face your last opponent."

"If I make it that far," Harry said. He didn't know who he was going to be paired up with at first. "What happens if you eat more than two in a month?"

"At any size, eating more than two in thirty days will make your magic become dangerously wild. It would be powerful and you would not be able to control it in the same manner that young untrained children cannot control their bursts of accidental magic. In some cases wizards who have dosed themselves too highly with moonfruit have had their accidental magic turn inward and have died, and at other times they have eaten so much that they have depleted their magical core and become squibs."

"I don't want that," Harry said. Snape motioned that Harry should climb the tree to get some, and he did so, pulling one of the white grapesized fruits from one of the lower branches.

"I just eat it?" he confirmed and they nodded. He popped it into his mouth and was not impressed by the bitter taste and the crunchy nature of it.

"I don't like it," Harry said, trying not to gag. "It's crunchy and sharp... like eating glass."

"It's not ripe yet," Gan said. "When it's ripe it will be gelatanous and the size of a small apple."

"Ew, that doesn't sound any better," Harry said, but as he spoke he could feel the magic coursing through him, like it was trying desperately hard to come out of his arms and through his hands.

"It's... strange," Harry said.

"Assume the first Root position and defend yourself," Gan said before stepping back out of the way. Snape stood in front of him with his wand up and Harry frowned. He was going to practice duel Snape? Snape hadn't been too happy the last time Harry had used Root against him.

Without warning Snape threw a stinging hex at Harry and Harry fell backwards to get out of the way of it, hitting the ground. As soon as his hands touched the cold damp earth though, he felt more aware of the life and magic around him than he had ever been before. It must have been the moon fruit helping him. From the ground Harry leaned forward and pushed his palms into the earth and imagined a hole opening up beneath Snape's feet. The man looked startled as the solid ground turned to mud beneath him and the soles of his shoes sank into it. As he was trying to extricate himself Harry used his wand to send an Expeliarmus at him but Snape, looking irritated threw up a fast shield and blocked him. Harry threw his own stinging hex at his Professor, but was blocked again.

Finally the Potions Master got free of the mud but Harry dropped his wand and dug his hands into the dirt again and wondered what else he could do with Root and the strange moonfruit in his system. With his mind he urged roots and vines to come up from the ground and tangle themselves around Snape's shoes. The vines climbed several inches, entangling Snape's feet, but before they could get further, Harry was hit with a curse that made his wand arm go numb. Using his left hand he picked up his wand and cast a shield around himself just in time to keep himself from being hit with a stunning charm. Thinking about what he had done to Acel during the first part of the tournament, Harry threw up his hands and shouted "NO!" and a blast of hot air hit Snape in the chest, knocking him off balance, though because his feet were rooted to the spot, he didn't fall over.

They exchanged several more curses, hexes, and charms with Harry dodging quickly using Root and Snape blocking before the man finally silently thought a spell and took Harry by surprise, incapacitating him. As Harry lay there dazed, he could feel the moonfruit leaving his system.

"That was, surpisingly good Potter," Snape said as he and Gan helped Harry sit up. Harry's head was spinning and he wondered what spell had been used.

"What did you send at me?"

"A stupor charm. It makes you feel as though you are mildly inebriated."

"When will it go away?"

"When you drink some coffee." Snape and Gan lifted him to his feet and walked him (in a very zig zaggy way) out of the woods and down the hill to the empty Dining Hall where Gan brought Harry some coffee. After a few sips the effect started to dissipate and after a full cup Harry felt back to normal. Gan and Snape went over Harry's tactics with him and told him how he could improve for the duel.

"Before the duel will you teach me that charm?" He could only imagine how powerful it would be if he had moon fruit in his system when he cast it.

"In the morning."

They sent Harry to bed after they were sure he could walk straight, but Harry didn't go to his cabin. Instead he went and knocked on Hermione's cabin door as the last of the light faded. She opened it and seemed surprised to see him there. Usually she visited him, not the other way around.

"Harry. Is everything ok?"

"Do you have any of your Hogwarts books with you?"

"Of course I do."

"Will you help me find some spells to use during the duel? Snape just got me with a stupor charm. I want to find spells like that... things that will disorient whoever I'm fighting against."

"I think we can come up with some good ones."

Harry sat down on her porch steps and a few moments later Hermione came out with a heavy book of charms and a glass jar full of fairy lights. Leaving the door open behind her to give them some more light, she sat beside him on the steps and opened the heavy tomb.

"How about this one? It makes you go cross eyed. And there's another that makes everything seem upside for a few moments."

"Good, lets learn those," Harry said.

When Snape left the Dining Hall forty minutes later to find Adeline (he wanted to spend some time talking with her before he headed to his own cabin for the night), he spotted Harry and Hermione on her porch pouring over a book. When he passed by again a half hour later on his way to his cabin, they were still there, practicing spells, and he had a feeling they'd be there well into the night.

"I think all the teachers have gone to bed," Hermione told Harry as soon as Snape went into his cabin and closed the door across the compound.

"Let's go practice some of these bigger charms then. I wish we could get Axle or Draco to help, but I don't want to show them any of these in case I have to go up against them."

"What about Ernie?"

"No," said Harry. He didn't want to ask Ernie for anything and pretend that he was really his friend. It still rubbed him the wrong way that Ernie seemed to only want to be his friend to be associated with him.

"Wait!" said Hermione, "I have an idea!" She left and hurried down the long line of girl's cabins, and Harry wondered what she was doing until she came back a few minutes later with Lyn, the girl from Kahr, who looked like she'd just been woken from sleep.

"Hermione, we can't practice with her. No offense Lyn, but I have to duel with Kushi and you'll just tell him what we practice."

"No," Lyn said. "How do I say it? The way you are with Draco Malfoy, is the way I am with Kushi."

"Er..." Harry said, uncertain of what she meant.

"A friendly rivarly," Hermione clarified, and then Hary nodded.

"You promise you won't tell?" he asked.

"Kushi always bests me when we duel. I wish to learn what I can here so I can go back to Kahr and best him. I will show him I am worthy to be his wife instead of Juchi."

Hermione ushered them down the path to the small cove beach in the darkness, taking the jar of fairy lights with them.

"What do you mean wife?" Harry asked. "You're only nine aren't you? Kushi's what... ten?"

"He's eleven. In our culture parents arrange their children's marriages as children and it is rare to change minds that have already been made up."

"Does Kushi like you?" Hermione asked. Harry could tell she thought it was odd too to talk about liking someone as young as nine and eleven.

"Yes he does, but I must prove I am worthy of him to get his parents to change their minds. I must be the best in all that I do. That is why I came here. Juchi, Kushi's promised wife, did not get to come. She is twelve and she did not work as hard as I did to come here. She does not want to marry Kushi. She dislikes him because he is thin and has no muscles. She likes an older boy."

"So she let you beat her out in academics to come here," Harry said.

"Yes. Kushi knows but he will not let me win or his parents will know."

"Why do you have to beat him instead of Juchi?" Hermione asked.

"It is our way. Juchi is older and seen to be stronger and more talented than Kushi which is why his parents chose her. Kushi's parents have more money than Juchi's family, which is why her family agreed. I am not older, and my family has no more or less money than Kushi's."

"It all seems confusing," Harry said as they made the beach and walked out about fifteen paces from each other so they could duel. The tide had come in and there was less beach here than normal.

"Not more confusing than your culture is to me."

"You know, Draco and I aren't trying to get married," Harry said with a laugh, becuase she had said she and Kushi were like him and Draco.

"No... you are like... friends. But both of you want to win at whatever you do."

"Sounds about right," Harry said, though two months ago he would never have described the relationship as friendly or even thought it possible.

Hermione stood back and decided to direct their late night dueling session. She told Lyn to use Root against Harry while Harry practiced the new spells, and after they had practicd they switched roles and Harry tried to get used to using Root while on top of sand while Lyn practiced the new spells on him. Harry did fairly well but in the end got hit with the upside down spell twice and found himself unable to do anything once he'd been hit with it until the counter was given.

"This is going to be great," Harry said as they made their way back to their cabins at almost two in the morning. He was wide awake after their dueling and the coffee Snape and Gan had given him hours earlier, and felt further invigorated by the crisp, cool night air.

He said goodbye to Hermione and Lyn and made his way up the hill to his cabin. He was halfway there when a voice stopped him.

"I sent you to bed over four hours ago." Harry stopped and turned to find Snape in the darkness. He was leaning against the bathroom building at the end of Harry's row of cabins.

"There's no curfew."

"That is beside the point."

"I was practicing."

"With two girls alone on the beach?"

Harry actually laughed then. Hermione was Ron's girlfriend, and Lyn was far to young for him to have any interest in. Snape seemed chargrined by Harry's laughter.

"Oh come on," Harry said. "What do you think we were doing?"

"I did not imply that you were doing anything. I was merely curious as to why you did not wait until morning to practice and why you chose such a remote location."

"We didn't want anyone else to see what we were practicing."

"Hm."

"I'm going to bed now, I promise," Harry said, and when Snape didn't do anything but continue to stare at him with his arms crossed as he leaned against the building, Harry walked off to his own cabin, still laughing. Inside as he pulled his shoes off and sat on his bed, he wondered that Snape had the ability to make him laugh. He'd never done that before. Harry was in a good mood as he fell asleep, and was in a good mood the next morning.

Harry didn't practice dueling the next day, and instead spent the day on the beach with Draco. Axle was nowhere to be found, but neither was Basia, and Hermione wanted to study some more with Lyn since there were only a few days left of school. She had seemed to take up Lyn's cause with full heart. Harry had asked Draco if he wanted to duel, but not knowing if they would go up against each other, Draco had refused, saying he didn't want to give Harry any of his secrets. Instead they headed down to the beach and ended up finally exploring that cave. The cave, as it turned out, went all the way from the cliff ledge where they had once fought the boys from the other schools, all the way up to the side of the practice field where it was covered with shrubbery and hidden from view. Harry thought it was funny that he'd never noticed the upper entrance before as he had freuqently set his bag right by this set of shrubs. He thought it would have been an excellent place to hide during the first part of the tournament if he had known about it.

That night Harry went to bed early since the big duel was the next morning. He wanted to be well rested. He already had a piece of moon fruit ready, sitting on his desk. His plan was to take it secretly so no one else would get ideas and go searching for it up in the woods during a break in the duel.

Early the next morning, Harry woke to a knock on his door, and found Snape and Gan on the other side. Gan handed him a cup of strong tea and Snape had a plate of eggs and bacon for him with silverware.

"I'm eating in here?" Harry asked.

"The duel starts in two hours and we wanted to discuss final tactics with you with some amount of privacy."

"Draco's going to be jealous you know," Harry said and Snape cleared his throat.

"I have already spoken to him about tactics and spells. He had a good grasp of magery and I will be going to see him in half an hour when he is done with breakfast."

"Oh," Harry said. Maybe after Harry had told him he didn't want tutoring from him anymore the man had decided to help Draco. It didn't matter to Harry, Draco deserved to have some help too.

Snape made Harry tell them what new spells he had learned the other night with Hermione and what he planned on doing with them, and then taught Harry the easy charm he had used against him two nights before. When he left to go next door to speak to Draco, Gan closed the door and asked Harry if he wanted to meditate before the duel. Harry nodded and they sat on the floor and Gan talked him through a different kind of meditation, one meant to help focus and channel his power before a battle. In the end Harry felt sort of amped up and not relaxed like he usually did during meditation. They left a few minutes before the duel was supposed to start and when they got to the center of the compound where a large round platform with ropes around the egdes had been set up, Snape and Draco were already there. The entire school had turned out and Harry was interested to see that both Blazhe and August were standing with Kushi talking to him. Lyn was also standing with Kushi and Harry figured it was for moral support, hoping she hadn't told him all of the spells he planned on using.

"Duelers, we are about to start," Professor Camille said, and Harry, Draco, Axle, Kushi, and Mae Greenwood, the seventh year Hufflepuff who had entered the competition accidentally stood around her in a semi circle, ready to hear the rules. Voice amplified so the crowd could hear, she explained about the three stages of the duel and said, "No unforgivables or maiming disfigurement spells are to be used. If you do not know the counter to a spell, you are not allowed to use it. In this first round, the first one to be incapacitated will be elimanated. Are there any questions? No? Good. All duelers will please enter the ring.

Harry climbed between the ropes and decided that for this first duel, because there were so many people in the ring, he would just stick with the spells he knew. He didn't want to knock out anyone from Hogwarts to start with, but he also didn't want to knock out Axle or Kushi. He was friendly with everyone in the ring except for Mae, but Draco's words kept coming back to him about how someone from Hogwarts should try to win this tournament to show that they were the best. Suddenly Harry wished that he'd thought to talk to Mae and Draco beforehand about a strategy for this first round and chosen someone to gang up on to knock them out quickly.

Harry was starting to feel nervous when Proffessor Camille said, "I am placing a shield around the arena ring so that no spells will accidentally hit the crowd. When you hear the whistle you may begin. When you hear two blasts of the whistle, you must stop immediately." Everyone nodded that they understood, and watched as she and Adeline placed a large shield spell around the platform that extended an extra few feet in all directions. They could tell where the boundary was because people crowded around them to watch at the edge of the spell. Harry watched as Camille lifted the whistle to her lips, still undecided about who to fire off his first spell at, and then it blew.

Before Harry knew what was happening, Mae, Draco, and Kushi had all sent a spell off at him simultaneously and he dropped to the ground faster than he thought possible and flattened himself to the platform. He rolled and sent the upside down spell at Mae. It hit her and she stumbled, confused. Draco and Kushi sent more spells at him as Axle sent a spell at Draco. Draco turned his attention away from Harry and got into a side duel with Axle while Harry took on Kushi and tried to ignore Mae who was confused and sending off spells into the air. Kushi sent what looked like a ball of ice at Harry and it hit him in the hand as he tried to get up, freezing his hand solid. He used his wand to throw an Expelliarmus at Kushi who was caught by surprise and thrown backwards as his wand went flying into the air. There was a double blast of the whistle, and Harry stopped, turning to see who was out. Axle was lying on the ground, petrified and bound with chains. Draco had boils on one arm and blood pouring out of his nose.

The shield was removed from the ring and professors rushed in to counter all of the spells that had been done (finally helping Mae to see things right side up again), and to stop Draco's bleeding nose.

"Axle is out of the competition," Professor Camille announced when he had been unpetrified and taken out of the ring. "The next round will be Draco versus Kushi, and after that, Harry versus Mae. Harry and Mae, please leave the ring and go beyond the shield circle."

Harry climbed out between the ropes and went to stand next to Hermione as the shield went back up again. Draco and Kushi faced off on opposite sides of the circular platform and Kushi took a root stance that Harry was not proficient at yet. He hoped Draco won because if he had to face Kushi later he was not feeling confident about his choice to focus on Root Defense as a strategy. Maybe Professor Snape had been right and he should have tried to learn magery.

Draco and Kushi dueled for almost five minutes, Kushi using a surprising amount of Magery and Draco holding his own until Kushi abandoned his use of magery and going back to Root. He threw several spells from his hands at Draco in rapid succession and finally hit Draco in the chest with something, knocking him out cold. The whistle blew twice and shield came down. As the Professors went in to handle things and Harry headed to the platform, Hermione said, "Good luck Harry."

He didn't feel like he needed luck against Mae, but he knew that when he won he'd be facing down Kushi, and that made him feel anxious.

When the shield was in place again and the whistle blew, Harry didn't want to use the upside down spell against her again. It would be too obvious to do it twice and he was hoping Kushi didn't realize he had been the one who had used against her in the first round so he could use it against Kushi later. Instead he put his shoes flat against the platform as best as he could and tried to let energy flow up from the white wood and through his hands. He aimed a blast of hot air at her and she leapt out of the way just in time, sending off several spells Harry didn't know existed at him. He threw up a shield which stopped the first one, dodged the second one and was hit with the third, which made his hair suddenly feel very tight on his head. He didn't have time to reach up to see what was going on though, and instead used the stupor spell Snape had taught him that morning, hitting her with it. As soon as she stumbled he used a stinging hex and cast a jelly legs jinx at her before petrifying her and casting robes to bind her. She was down and out in a matter of seconds and the whistle blew twice.

"Before the final round there will be a fifteen minute break," Camille announced and Harry climbed out of the ring. He was glad there would be a break. He wanted to talk to Draco and see if he could tell him anything about what Kushi had used against him.

"He's fast," Draco said, looking irritated that he had lost as he sat on a bench looking like he was nursing a headache. "He likes to dodge spells without blocking them though I don't know what you're going to do with that. I don't think he's good enough to switch back and forth between Root and other types of spellwork though... he uses one for a while and then switches and uses that for a while before switching back. Maybe you could get him there."

"I could try to trick him," Harry said thoughtfully, possibilities already running through his mind. He didn't know if he could mire Kushi's feet down with Root like he had done to Snape two nights before because they were on wood, not dirt, but he'd have to think of a way. If he couldn't best him with Magery or Root, both of which Kushi seemed to be proficient at, he'd have to surprise him somehow.

The fifteen minutes passed by faster than Harry thought as he talked over possibilities with Draco and Hermione, and before he knew it he was climbing back into the ring. A lot of people from Durmstrang and Beaubatons were standing beind Kushi and cheering for him as the shield went up, but all of the Gryffindors, the Boden students, and a smattering from the other schools were cheering for Harry.

"When the whistle blows you may begin," Camille said, and Harry still wasn't sure how to surprise him until he saw Blazhe with a smug look standing in the distance behind Kushi with his arms crossed. Kushi probably wouldn't be expecting Muggle tactics to be used. Harry remembered how Blazhe had surprised him on their first day of learning Muggle Defense on the training field, and as the whistle blew, Harry dove at Kushi launching himself from the platform. Kushi was surprised as Harry knocked him to the ground and they struggled for almost two minutes hitting each other as Harry tried to pin Kushi down. Harry had lost his wand somewhere and was trying to keep a hand or a foot or anything flat on the surface of the platform while trying to keep Kushi from doing the same. Harry thought he could easily pin Kushi because he was smaller, but finally Kushi pushed Harry off of him and dove for his own wand. Harry stuck his hands flat on the platform and imagined the platform melting under Kushi. Kushi yelped and dove away from the soft spot that had formed in the platform, slipping in the newly liquified paint, and picked up his wand, casting something at Harry wordlessly. The iceball Harry had been hit with before flew at him but Harry raised his hand and thought a shield and it came up, shattering the ice around him. Harry dove for his wand as Kushi cast another wordless spell and when he got to it sent the upside down spell at the younger boy. It hit him but he didn't seem as disoriented by it as Mae had. He properly aimed his wand at Harry and hit him with something that took Harry's breath away. Panicking Harry dug in his pocket for the small moonfruit and stuffed it in his mouth, chewing it up halfway and then swallowing it. Like before he could feel his magic coursing through him and he put his hands to the platform again and imagined it melting. Kushi slipped in more liquified paint as he tried to get up, covering his arms and legs with the white goop and Harry used his wand to send an angry stinging hex at him, which hit his ankle and made the younger boy yelp. Kushi let go of his wand and unable to stand on his injured ankle threw his entire body flat on the ground and concentrated. A shockwave went out towards Harry a the platform seemed to move. Harry tried to jump into the air to avoid it but was too late and ended up flat on his stomach, where he smacked his chin hard on the wood. He could tell he was bleeding but rolled as Kushi sent something else at him with Root and then sent a binding charm at him, which only hit his already injured foot, tangling it in a mess of ropes.

They exchanged several more hexes, charms, and jinxes, and just when Harry thought he had the upper hand, Kushi went back into Root mode and dodged every one of them before sending the ice spell at Harry again. This time it hit him in the face and disoriented by the cold and the thick blue ice he was having to look through, the cross eyed spell Harry sent off missed Kushi and Kushi got Harry with a binding spell. Harry was tied, and through the ice heard two blasts of the whistle. He was out.

Within second someone was at Harry's side and melting the ice (for which Harry was greatful because he couldn't breath with it), and helping him up.

With the help of a Professor Kushi stood up and made his way to Harry where he grinned.

"I won," he said, and Harry nodded. He could tell it was a great victory for the younger boy.

"Practice," Harry said, "because the next time we face off I'll give you a run for your money, I promise."

"I will!" he said and went off to the cheering of the 14 or so students who had been rooting for him.

"You lasted a surprisingly long time," Severus said as Harry climbed down from the platform.

"How long were we in there?" Harry asked.

"Almost fifteen minutes," Hermione said. "It was mesmerizing watching the two of you."

"Yeah," said Draco, "but just so you know, we all thought you'd lost your mind when you dove at him."

"I was hoping to surprise him."

All five of the duelers went to the infirmary building to be checked out and given bruise balm, and were released. Harry had to have a skin stiching spell on his chin to stop the bleeding and was given a blood restorative potion, but was fine within a few minutes. They had the rest of the day to themselves and after a couple of hours, grew tired of talking about the duels.

"I'm excited for tomorrow," Hermione said. "We finally get to see some of the other schools."

"I wish we could see Kahr," Harry said.

"Me too," said Hermione, "but it isn't allowed." They were going to get the chance to see Boden, Durmstrang, and Beauxbatons but the monks at Kahr had a rule against anyone visiting who wasn't a student of the school, or an invited guest of a specific student or teacher. Something about throwing the 'balance' of the magic off that surrounded the school.

"Do you know where we're visiting tomorro?" Harry asked.

"Beauxbatons and Durmstrang," said Draco. "Father says they always visit Beauxbatons and Durmstrang first, then Hogwarts and Boden."

There was a bonfire that night and Harry went with his friends. He was surprised to see that the teachers went too, and watched with a morbid curiosity as Snape left the bonfire early with Adeline.

"Kyssar," Axle joked and elbowed Harry, but he didn't think it was funny and Draco shot Axle an irritated look as well.

As they gathered sleepily out on the grass in front of the dining hall, waiting for the teachers to be ready to take them to Beauxbatons, Harry noted that some students had brought notebooks and pens to take notes with, but he wasn't interested in taking notes. He wanted to relax for the next two days. They were done with classes and he was looking forward to the prospect of exploring the other schools and seeing how other people lived. The school he really wanted to see was Boden, but Hermione was excited to see Beauxbatons and Draco really wanted to see Durmstrang.

Snape came up to their group of Hogwarts students with the same portkey book they'd first used to come here and told them all to take hold. The other professors were doing the same with their groups of students. This time the words Snape spoke to the portkey book were different. "To the palace of shooting stars." Harry felt the familiar hook behind his navel and they were gone.

He kept his footing when they landed and sucked in a deep breath of fresh mountain air. There was a serene high mountain lake in front of him with a jagged mountain rising up behind it in the distance. The lake wasn't nearly a sixth of the size of the Black Lake at Hogwarts and he doubted very much if it was deep enough to support merpeople or a giant squid.

He heard Hermione ooh beside him and turned around to see a large palace like castle with pristine lawns and dozens of tiny turrets. He could tell it was old like Hogwarts, but looked newer because it seemed better maintained. The stones were off white instead of Hogwarts large gray stones and it had hundreds of grand looking windows overlooking the lake and grounds.

Within moments the other groups of students portkeyed in around them, and Adeline and Professore Camille stepped up to organize them into groups. Harry ended up in a group with Axle, Basia, Snape, Hermione, the youngest boy from Kahr and two older boys from Durmstrang that Harry hadn't much spoken to. Adeline lead off giving them some history about how the palace was built and about rules for being out on the grounds. The grounds compared to Hogwarts were compartively small. Behind the palace Adeline said there were gardens but that was as far as the grounds stretched that way. In front the grounds went to the other side of the lake. In the winter the entire lake froze solid, she said, and they offered ice skating classes as well as classes about how to form and shape ice by magic. The inside of the school looked as pristine as the outside. Instead of one grand staircase leading up into the school there were four smaller but no less grand looking staircases with light blue sparkling carpet up the center leading to different areas. They were lead past the staircases and into the heart of the school to a dining hall that was about the same size as the Great Hall at Hogwarts. There were no floating candles here. Instead there were sparkling chandeliers hanging over every table. There were ten long white tables with benches and under each table was a long blue carpet that matched the carpets on the stairs.

Harry sat down with his group and some adults in light blue unifofrms came out with trays of food to serve them.

"Is it always like this?" Axle asked, and Adeline nodded.

"Yes. The school employs almost one hundred people to serve the students and keep the palace and grounds."

"We have house elves," Harry said.

"We employ people to provide them work. Many of the people have other family that teach at the school and it is considdered an honor and privelage to serve the students and teachers."

They served some breakfast foods Harry was familiar with, and some he wasn't, but he enjoyed the meal. The servers came back to take their plates and the food that hadn't been eaten as Adeline motioned that they should all rise to start their tour. "The food that we do not eat is taken to the nearby Muggle village. There is an orphanage there and all food not eaten goes to the orphans. They never want for anything."

"I like that," Hermione said quietly to Harry as they were lead in a tour of the classrooms, which were mostly on the ground floor. The second floor also had classrooms but not as many, and the third floor had only ten classrooms. It was explained to them that first and second years used the ground level classrooms, third and fourth years used the second floor classrooms, and fifth, and sixth years used the third floor classrooms. The students of different age groups didn't really interact except at meal times and out on the grounds.

"Students start school here at twelve as a first year and finish at seventeen. There is a lower part of the grounds on the other side of the lake half a mile down the mountainside where there is a smaller school building that is two stories. Ten and eleven year old attend there and are called pre-students. They attend classes on the first floor and all living quarters and common areas are on the second floor. Some students stay there and others return home in the evening via floo or apparation. Every student who attends Beauxbatons must graduate the lower level school with top marks or else they will be denied entrance."

In the main school, where they were touring now, students were divided up by year, not by house. First years had a set of rooms on one side of the castle on the third floor, and second years had a set of rooms on the other side of the third floor. Third and fourth years had the entire fourth floor to themselves, fifth years had the fifth floor to themselves, and sixth years had the smaller sixth floor to themselves. There were staff rooms scattered around the castle and each staff member was in charge of a set of rooms. In first and second year there were 4 students to a room, and in third and fourth year there were 2 students to a room. When a student graduated to fifth year they were granted their own room, and sixth years got to decide if they wanted a room mate or not and were allowed to have a room mate of the opposite sex if they wanted. Hermione looked shocked at this information but Adeline explained that there were cultural differences in the way people viewed romantic relationships and said that most who shared a room in their sixth year with someone of the opposite sex ended up getting married to that person after school.

"Can you imagine sharing a room with Ron by yourself this year?" Harry teased her, and her cheeks turned red.

"No actually, I can't."

Harry raised his brows, unsure what she meant. Maybe she just wasn't ready to move in with Ron and his dirty socks that were always on the floor, Harry thought.

They were taken to see some of the student rooms (which were currently empty because it was summer), and Harry was interested to see how plain the first through fourth year rooms were compared to the more lavish fifth and sixth year rooms. It wasn't big differences, but the differences that were there were interesting. The first through fourth year rooms had wood floors and the fifth and sixth year rooms had light blue carpet. The first through third year rooms had plain stone walls, and the upper year rooms had wallpaper or paint and had crown moulding on the ceiling. There was the size difference too. The rooms for the first four years were just big enough for two bunk beds and two desks, and the upper year rooms were double the size for a single bed and a desk, and often had extra chairs or couches.

They looked at some of the classrooms, which were about the same as Hogwarts classrooms only with the lighter stone, and Harry listened to all the classes they had that were different than Hogwarts classes. Some of the courses were the same, like Potions and Charms and Transfiguration, but there were ten or more classes devoted to the arts like drama, literature, law, painting, and music. Apparently the lower years studied the things that they learned at Hogwarts, but once they hit fifth year they were given a choice of two tracks to take in school, one geared towards the arts, and one geared towards mastery of the subjects Hogwarts students covered in thier OWLs and NEWTs.

At noon they went back out to the grounds and after a headcount was done by the teachers to be sure they had everybody, they portkeyed to Durmstrang.

They appeared on a small rock outcropping with a low stone wall on the edge of a cliff.

"Whoa," Harry said, stepping back from the edge. Thousands of feet below them was a deep blue fjord surrounded by towering mountains that still had snow on top despite that it was the middle of the summer.

Harry turned and was impressed with the towering stone castle that was behind them, carved right into the face of the mountain. Even craning his neck he could not see all the way to the top of the castle, but he could tell that there was snow up there on some of the highest turrets, and in his t-shirt he was chilled in the cool mountain air. It wasn't a pristine school like Beauxbatons, and wasn't even in the condition Hogwarts was in. The stone had crumbled in several places and when Harry looked back down the nearly vertical mountain he could see that the school extended below them as well and that there was at least one area that had crumbled down the side of the mountain altogether.

"Incredible," Draco said in awe. Draco had once said that his father had wanted to send him here. The view was awesome, Harry had to admit, and he was eager to see inside the school. Others portkeyed in around them in the narrow area and Snape ushered them inside the grand wooden door to make room for the others. Inside was a stone hall and Harry could see that his assumption about the whole place being carved from the mountain face was right. Where Hogwarts was laid stone by stone and Beauxbatons brick by brick, every inch of this piece was solid rock.

Blazhe and Emiliaya divided up the students and staff into a group of girls and a group of boys, explaining that there were certain areas of the school only for boys, and certain areas only for girls. After that the group of boys was split in half and the group of girls was split in half and the students from Durmstrang divided up and took the four groups off on a tour. Blazhe and Iva took the teachers on a separate tour where they could privately discuss disciplinary and teaching styles.

Harry was in a group of about 7 boys which included Axle, Draco, and Ernie and was lead by Nikolas and another boy he couldn't remember the name of.

They took them to the Great Hall to eat lunch, where girls had to sit on one side, and boys on the other. "Don't you intermix at all?" Ernie asked.

"During classes and free time," Nikolas said. "Meals are not free time."

"When is free time?" Draco asked.

"Saturday and Sunday all day. For one hour after breakfast each day, for one hour after lunch, and two hours after dinner. We eat breakfast at five am, and free time is until six. At six in the morning we meet with our advisors in the classroom and regular classes start at seven. Lunch is at noon and classes resume at two and go until seven. Dinner is at seven and free time is from eight to ten. Everyone must be in bed by ten."

"Where do you spend your free time? Are there common areas?"

"There is a library, an outdoor common area at the lowest part of the castle, there is also an outdoor area at the lowest part of the grounds on the fjord. On the girl's side of the castle there is a common area and a dueling room for girls, and on the boys side there is the same. In the very center of the castle there is another common area for all to share, and when meals are not being served the Great Hall serves as a common area."

Lunch appeared on each of their individual plates and the other boy leading their group, 'Aldor', explained that they had two or three hundred house elves that did the work here. He also said that you didn't get to choose what you ate for meals, you ate whatever the house elves put on your plate, and if you got in trouble the teachers would tell the house elves and they would only serve you disgusting or bland food until they felt you were repentant.

Harry ate quickly and was eager to move on, but the Durmstrang boys at their table seemed to be in no hurry. "We cannot rise until the girls are finished," Aldor said. "It's tradition. When the first one rises to leave, we may leave." Harry thought it was strange, but watched keenly for the first person to stand, and finally one of the girls from Durmstrang stood to lead her group on the rest of the tour and they got up as well.

"There seem to be a lot of rules about girls and boys," Axle observed.

"It is our way," Nikolas said. "We have respect and courteousy for the girls, but they are to defer to us in many things. It is their way of showing us respect. They do not defer to us if we are younger than them, only if we are the same age or older, and not in all things. In some things, we follow their lead."

"Like?" Draco asked. Harry was curious too. He had seen the Durmstrang boys bossing the Durmstrang girls around several times at Gemini.

"In your culture the boy makes a romantic gesture first, in ours we do not show romantic interest to the girls as it would disrespectful, we wait for them to ask us to court. And before we say yes we must get permission from a staff member first because they want to make sure our intentions are honorable."

Harry frowned. He couldn't imagine having to ask Snape's permission to go out with a girl, especially if she had asked him out first.

They were lead to the various common areas first, including the library, which went straight up for four floors and had small study areas on each floor and a hollow center allowing you to look straight down to see who was on the other floors. It wasn't very big lenght and width wise but was dizzyingly tall, Harry thought. Most of the school was inside the mountain, so there weren't windows, though all of the classrooms were along the outer edge and had windows. From where they apparated in, they were lead up through nine stories of the school in the mountainside and shown to the boys side of the school where there were corridors with dorm rooms and common areas and a dueling room with a long platform just for the boys to use.

"We hold dueling competitions every month," Aldor explained. "The boys duel the boys, and the girls duel the girls. The boy who wins duels the girl who wins. If the boy wins the final duel, the boys get special privelages for the month. If the girl wins it, the girls get the special privelages."

"What are the privelages?" Harry asked.

"Better food at meals, desert at meals, an extra half hour to stay awake to study, and private use of the fourth floor of the library for the month."

"Where do you play Quidditch?" Harry asked.

"We do not have a pitch. We play on the fjord. The rings hover in the air over the water and the students go out in boats to watch the game. There are big boats and boats as little as kayaks. There are two all boy teams and two all girl teams. All four teams play each other but are not allowed to play on the same team. There is more than enough space on the fjord for two teams to practice at once or for two games to go on at once."

"That sounds interesting," Draco said.

"You may not play on a team unless you pass the Quidditch class and you may not play on a team if your grades drop below second tier."

"What's that?"

"First tier is full marks, second tier is ten percent below that, third tier is twenty percent below first tier, and fourth tier is failing. There are awards at the end of each school year for those who have stayed in first tier for the entire school year, and improvement awards for those who have moved up one tier and stayed there for at least four months."

They had just enough time to take the narrow outdoor staircase down the side of the mountain to the fjord (Harry didn't think he liked it because there were no rails and it was a long steep drop if he were to fall). There was a forested area at the bottom and at the waters edge there were four docks and two boathouses (one boat house for the girls and one for the boys). There were also two Quidditch buildings, one for each sex. Harry thought it might be fun to take a kayak out and learn to use it, but they didn't have time, and almost as soon as they got to the docks they had to start their trek back up the side of the steep mountain to the castle. Nikolas showed them a spell however to make their body lighter and their feet faster and it seemed like they practically flew up the stairs. Harry, Draco and Ernie found Snape and waited for the girls to show up before they took hold of the portkey and went back to Gemini. It was past dinner time and Harry was hungry, but he didn't mind waiting half an hour for his meal as he sat in the dining hall chatting with his friends about the schools and all of the differences between them and what they were used to.

"Boden is first thing tomorrow," Axle said, and Harry was more than excited. There was no bonfire that night, as everyone was too tired from the tours they had taken, but as Harry returned to his cabin he found that he didn't want to go to sleep. He had too much to think about. He liked how pristine Beauxbatons was, and the beauty of their school grounds high up in the Pyrenes mountains, but Durmstrang was cool too, though it seemed a lot darker inside and he imagined that it was probably cold and damp inside the mountain during the winter. He knew that part of the red Durmstrang uniform was a fur coat and hat, and Aldor had said that the boys had to kill all the animals for their fur coats at the start of the school year, and that it was a sign of love for a boy to kill one for a girl he liked and give it to her.

It was past midnight when Harry fell asleep, and if he wasn't so excited to see Boden and show people around Hogwarts, he would have taken it as a personal offense that Snape was knocking on his door at sunrise the next morning.

Harry opened his door excitedly and hurried down the side of the hill to meet with the others, Draco right behind him.

"I'm going to show them the room of requirement," Harry told him.

"The room of what?"

Harry gave him a look. "That place where you and your gang of Umbridge helpers tried to take us down last year."

"Lets not talk about Umbridge," Draco said, and Harry nodded. He didn't want to think about her either.

Everyone was eager to get started, so they portkeyed to Boden. Harry barely had a chance to look around the hillside meadow they'd landed on before August was dividing them up into four groups. There were only three students from boden, so they each took about 9 students and August took the teachers into a group.

Harry and Ernie went with Axle and unlike the other groups that moved away towards the small castle set on a hill for breakfast, Axle kept their group in the meadow. "This is my favorite place," he said. "In the spring it's full of wild purple and red flowers and a lot of people come out here to study. He started walking slowly towards the castle, far behind the other three groups. A lot of people study out in the forest too. There is nowhere on the grounds that we're not allowed to go. The castle is small, but the grounds are big. If you stay to study in the summer, the river is a nice place to cool off and there's two streams in the woods where people like to get in and swim." He pointed in a vague direction of the woods. Someone asked if he was going to take them to breakfast, and he said, "If you will let me show you a small bit of the forest, I promise breakfast will still be waiting for you when we get in." He had a mischevious look and Harry wondered what he was up to.

They followed a well worn path through the hillside meadow and around the side of the castle into a pleasant looking forest. There were wooden benches and tables scattered around and small footbridges across shallow streams. There was moss everywhere and Axle lead them into a smaller meadow surrounded by trees that was still full of purple and red wildflowers.

"There is a secret," he said. "If you pick wildflowers and take it to the cook, you will get a special desert."

He bent down and started picking wildflowers and so did Harry and the others. Then Axle lead them down another path that lead to the castle and an entrance in the side of the little steep mountain it was on right at the edge of the forest, explaining the boundaries of the grounds as he went. "The boundaries go up this hill behind us and down the other side. There's a pond there where a troll lives with his family."

"A mountain troll?" Harry asked.

"No, those are big. A bridge troll. The pond belongs to him and if you want to swim in it you have to pay him a fee. He takes trades for interesting things though. Once I traded him a pack of chocolate frog cards to let me swim."

"Why not just swim in the river or streams?" someone from Kahr asked, and Axle smiled.

"Bridge trolls can't swim, so he doesn't used the pond anyway. But there are precious stones at the bottom. If you can dive down deep enough you can pick one up and bring it back to sell to a jewler. Some parents send their children with things to trade to the troll so they can dive down and get the stones. The troll has magic and he only lets students dive down to get the stones."

He lead them inside and down several corridors and to a wooden door. "This is the kitchen. We will present our flowers to the cook." He knocked and after a moment the door opened. Axle grinned as a woman opened it and looked shocked to see nine students with bunches of wildflowers. She took Axle in a hug and covered his face with kisses then.

"Oh," she fussed over the state of him and pulled him inside the kitchen and the others followed.

"This is my mom," Axle said with a grin and the others started to laugh, realizing what he had done. He had tricked them all into bringing flowers to his mother and surprised her. She took all of their flowers and put each bunch in their own vase and then gave them each a desert and sent them through a door in the opposite side of the kitchen. On the other side was the dining hall, which was only half the size of the Great Hall at Hogwarts or Durmstrang. Snape and some of the other people watched with interest as they came out of the kitchen, Axle's mother's laughter filtering out behind them. They were all smiling as Axle lead them to one of the four large square tabes in the space, the only empty one left. A few minutes later, just as they were finished eating the little cakes they'd been given, Axles mother and three other women came out and served them food.

"Hey," Draco said from the next table, "you've got something different than the rest of us."

"We took flowers to the cook," Harry said. The dining hall was small enough that everyone could hear the conversation. "And besides, I think we get preferrential treatment since the cook is Axles mum."

Draco rolled his eyes and the other two Boden students and August laughed.

"Does your dad work here too?" Harry asked. He remembered that Axle said a lot of the staff had their families there at Boden with them.

Axle leaned in and whispered to Harry, "He does, but I don't think you'll like it when I tell you who he is."

Harry raised his brow and Axle glanced over at August.

"He's your dad?"

"Yes."

"How come you didn't tell me?"

"I did not want your relationship with him to affect our friendship. I did stick up for you with him in private though. He said he apologized to you."

"He did," Harry said, re-evaluating the man's apology now that he knew he was Axle's father. He watched August across the hall for a few minutes and then wondered that he'd never thought to ask Axle for his last name.

They ate quickly and left the dining hall only shortly after the other three groups did despite that they'd started their breakfast a lot sooner.

"Where do you want to see?" Axle asked. Ernie asked him about the library so he took them there first. It was only one story but it was a big room. Axle told them that when it was too cold to study outdoors, people studied in the library. In the winter the dining hall was used for students to play games together, and it was the main indoor common space they had. He said the large classroom corridors often also filled up with students studying or playing games, and because of this and the small number of students that attended each year (only 200) that the school was very close knit and that all of the staff took a personal interest in each students success and wellbeing, often acting like their own parents would to look after them.

In the center of the school there was one stairwell that lead up to the other four floors, and Axle showed them the space where the river ran right through the school. Harry was in awe of the bridges that went over the river on the ground floor and above their heads on the other floors. Axle opened one of several closets in the corridor with the river and revealed fishing poles and tackle. "We fish for our own food. We eat a lot of fish in the winter. We also eat a lot of elk and deer. In the summer there are rabbits and birds that we eat. The school has a garden and each student must tend to it for a certain number of hours a month, as we grow our own vegetables too. There is a class just about growing food with magic and preserving it with magic. Each first year has to take it.

"How many years do you go to school?"

"Seven, like at Hogwarts, "but some students stay here all summer to study. Sometimes students come and go in the summer, studying for one month then leaving, or leaving for a few weeks and coming back to study. In the summer we are allowed to choose our own topics and the teachers help us to put together a course and grade us on our work.

Axle showed them one of the boys dorm rooms. Like Durmstrang boys lived in one area of the school and girls in another, but there were large dorm rooms that fit 5-7 boys each. Each dorm room had bunk beds and desks, couches and tables.

"If you don't like those you share a room with, you can ask to transfer to another room, but you're only allowed to change rooms one time per year, so you have to be sure you are going to like who you move in with. Some people live with their families who work here. There are ten houses behind the school on the hillside where individual families who work here live. We call it Hill Village. Every few years another family builds a house there. The Quidditch pitch is behind Hill Village in the forest. Not too far away there is a village of the People. They know we have a magic school here, so there are no barriers placed to keep them out. We live in harmony with them. There is no doctor in the People's village, so when some one is sick they send someone to fetch a healer here. Their village and Boden are so remote however, that they don't get many outsiders, so our secret stays safe. Some students who go here even live in the People's village.

Before they left, Axle said goodbye to his mother and Harry tried not to watch as August kissed her goodbye in the corridor outside the kitchens. They turned to leave but Axle's mother reached out and gently put her hand on Harry's wrist. He stopped and looked at her and she seemed to be searching in his eyes for something. She looked up at his scar and he felt uncomfortable for a moment.

"You are the boy who saved Alvar from the water."

"Yes."

"They say you could have died. It was very dangerous."

"Yes," Harry said, hoping she wasn't going to tell him off for it too. Adeline had only recently started talking to him again and he didn't want to bring this up yet again.

"Thank you," she said, and like she had done with Axle and August, she pulled Harry into a hug.

"Um, you're welcome," he said, and she released him.

"You are a good boy. Now go before they leave you behind. Hurry now!"

Harry flashed her a grin and hurried to the end of the hall where Axle was waiting for him.

"My mom, she likes you."

"Heh," Harry said, and they hurried to the meadow where the others were waiting to Portkey to Hogwarts.

"You are late," Snape observed when he jogged up to the group, the last to arrive. He didn't seem angry.

"I was being appreciated," Harry said, thankful that someone approved of what he had done.

"Hm."

He grabbed the portkey and Snape said, "Where four houses reign," and they were gone, reappearing in the middle of the grounds on the path leading to the castle.

Snape didn't care who was in what group. He told Harry and the others from Hogwarts to spread out and then told the other staff and students to join a Hogwarts student to lead them on a tour. August and Axle went to Harry's group and so did Basia. Nikolas also came over to Harry's group, though he didn't look happy about it, and Harry lead off. He wondered if Hagrid was there during the summer, and lead them to Hagrid's cabin, thinking that they could get lunch after and that if they didn't see the grounds first, they wouldn't have time to later.

"That's the Black Lake," Harry said. "There's a city of mer-people that live at the bottom of it, and a giant squid that likes to sunbathe himself when it's nice out. The Forbidden Forest is over there. We're not allowed to go in without a teacher and even then most students never go inside. There's acromantula's in there and Cenataurs who don't like humans very much."

"Are we going there?" August asked, since Harry was leading them directly towards it.

"No, I want you to meet my friend Hagrid. He teaches Care of Magical Creatures and he's the keeper of the grounds." As they approached the cabin, Fang started barking and came running around the side to greet Harry, covering him in slobber, and Hagrid came out from around back as well.

"'Arry! Yer back!"

The others stared up at Hagrid and seemed impressed by his size, and Harry let Hagrid tell them all about his class and the Thestrals that they sometimes studied. Harry told Hagrid goodbye and they headed towards the castle. Harry pointed out the Quidditch Pitch and the green houses, and Axle was interested to know that they only grew magical plants there and not their own food.

Inside the Entrance Hall Harry pointed out the entrance to the dungeons and the corridor that lead to the Kitchens and to Hufflepuff house and then took them into the Great Hall. They sat at Gryffindor table a little ways away from Hermione's group and Harry talked about the separation of the four houses and how they each had their own common rooms and how they were different from each other.

"Students are allowed to visit the other houses?"

"No," Harry said. "I think it happens sometimes but they discourage it. If you have friends from other houses you're supposed to spend your time together outside of the houses, like in the library or out on the grounds. Sometimes students sit at tables at meal times that aren't their own house table, but they don't like that either even though the teacher's never stop it."

Harry showed them the library and the room of requirement (which impressed them), and then lead them on countless secret passages (Axle and Nikolas were fascinated by this) to Gryffindor tower, where he told the Fat Lady an expired password, but she let him in anyway. He showed them the common room and the dorm he shared with the other sixth year boys and explained that they had the same dorm and bed year after year until they graduated.

As Harry showed them some of the classrooms and introduced them to Professors McGonagall, Flitwick and Sinistra, he also told them about Hogsmead and about Hogsmead weekends. He talked about their grading sytem, how Quidditch games worked with the four houses, about house points and the giant hourglasses in the Great Hall, and about the Tri-Wizard tournament and how he'd had to swim to the bottom of the lake and fight with the Mer-people.

"You won the tournament?" Nikolas asked, and Harry nodded. He was surprised the boy didn't know since he went to Beauxbatons. Maybe they didn't tell other students about it since they didn't win.

"And-" Nikolas hedged. Harry could tell he wanted to ask something else but wasn't sure if he should.

"Yes?" Harry asked as they came out of another secret passage outside of the Hospital Wing.

"After the tournament, you took a portkey and fought He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named in a graveyard?"

"Yes. Cedric Diggory, the champion from Hufflepuff went with me. We didn't know it was a portkey and Cedric died. I barely escaped."

"You were a fourth year?" Nikolas asked and Harry nodded.

Nikolas didn't ask any more questions, but seemed sufficiently impressed. Maybe now he wouldn't think Harry had just skated into Gemini without deserving to be there. He introduced everyone to Madam Pomfrey, and just as Hermione's group with Adeline and Snape came in, she told Harry that she was glad to see him there for a social visit and not a medical one. Harry turned red when he turned and saw that Adeline had heard her proclamation and quickly hurried his group out.

On their way back down to the Entrance Hall (they still had a little time and Harry wanted to show them the Quidditch Pitch), they ran into Dumbledore, who beamed at Harry and shook hands with the four touring the school. He tossled Harry's hair, told Harry to take them down the West corridor on their way back to the Entrance Hall, and then walked away smiling. Harry wasn't sure why he'd been told to take them that way, it was the long way around, but he did as he was told.

Portraits talked to them along the way and when they were halfway down the long West Hall, Axle stopped and said, "Harry. This one's got your name on it!" Harry frowned and turned to see what he was talking about and then realized that they'd been passing by all of the trophy cases where Quidditch trophies and school awards for special service were displayed. Harry went to look. "That's from the Tri-Wizard tournament."

"What about this one?" August asked, pointing to one next to it.

"Er... that was from when I fought the basilisk in the school basement and stopped Voldemort from coming back to life. My friend Ron helped, see, he's got an award next to it."

"There's one in this case," Basia said, and they went to look.

Uncomfortable with all of the sudden attention, Harry turned red and said, "That was in my first year. Ron and Hermione and I stopped Voldemort and Professor Quirril from getting the last Philosopher's stone."

"I don't see one with their names on it," Axle said, and Harry looked around wildly thinking it must be in another case. "It's here somewhere. I wouldn't have gotten far without them."

"The Hermione who went to Gemini this summer?" August asked, and Harry nodded.

"Ron would have come too but he's still saving money to go next summer."

He tried to usher them down the corridor but Nikolas stopped and said, "There's a big one here with your name on it. It says Dumbledore's Army." There's a picture.

"Erm... there was an evil professor here last year whose in jail now.... she wouldn't teach us defense and banned anyone from learning it so Ron and Hermione and I started an illegal student club and I taught everyone who wanted to learn Defense Against The Dark Arts."

"You, taught?" August asked.

Harry turned red again. "Yes, in the room of requirement."

"What did you teach them?" August asked. He seemed interested.

"Patronuses, defensive shields, jinxes and hexes, that sort of thing."

"You taught people how to cast a patronus?"

"Yes."

"There are no students that I know of at Boden that can cast one. It is very advanced magic."

"I learned how in third year to deal with the Dementors. A professor that was friends with my parents taught me. I think about thirty students can cast one now."

"That is impressive," August said.

Harry hurried them down the hallway past the Quidditch trophies as fast as he could, not wanting to tell them about helping to win the Quidditch tournaments for several years, and finally lead them out to the Quidditch Pitch.

"What kind of broom do you have?" Nikolas asked.

Harry sighed and looked unhappy. "I used to have a Firebolt. My Godfather gave it to me. But I had to sell it to get the rest of the tuition for Gemini."

"Who has it now?" Axle asked.

"Draco. When we get back to school I'm going to ask him if I can buy his old Thunderstruck so I can keep playing on the Gryffindor Quidditch team."

"A lot of people at Beauxbatons have Firebolts," Nikolaus said. Harry thought he might have said it just to make conversation, but it didn't make him feel any better. He looked at his watch and lead them back to the place where they would be apparating back to Gemini. No one else was back yet though, and Harry thought it might have been because they were still touring the school.

Axle and Basia stepped away from the group to sit under a shaded tree, and Nikolaus wandered off a little ways to get a better look at the covered bridge that went from the castle over the gulch to the upper grounds. Harry didn't want to intrude on Axle and Basia's private moment, so he stayed with August.

"It seems as though you have done quite a lot here," August said after several uncomfortable silent minutes.

"I guess."

"You must have many friends."

"A few in Gryffindor."

"And Draco Malfoy."

"We just became friends this summer."

"Because he gave you some of his school supplies?"

"Yes. And he stuck up for me."

"And you are friends with my son. What did he give you?"

"His friendship," Harry said, trying not to watch as Axle kissed Basia and she giggled.

"I wish to apologize again for my behavior. I should not have chosen a side without researching the other side of the argument. It is not in my nature to do such a thing or to act in such a way, and I am embarassed by my foolishness."

Harry looked up and met his eyes. He seemed sincere, and here at Hogwarts, on his own ground, he didn't feel afraid of the man, especially not now that he knew he was Axle's father.

"It's ok," Harry said. "I'm frequently told how foolish I am."

"By Professor Snape?" August asked, and Harry flashed him a grin.

"He told me I was foolish for going in after you."

"It was... rash," August agreed. "I would not have allowed my own son to do such a thing. However, I am glad to be alive, and the fact that I am alive because of you only underscores my own foolishness. I will not make the same mistake again. To think that you deserved to be where you were, had in fact earned it and payed for it to the point of giving up all that you had, and I treated you so badly. I am filled with anger at myself."

"What if I hadn't earned it?" Harry asked. "What if everything Professor Snape said was true? Would I still have deserved to be treated like everyone treated me?"

August seemed taken aback by the question. "I-"

Harry gave him a serious look. "Everyone deserves basic kindness and respect, even if they haven't lived up to someone's standards. Someday someone is going to go to Gemini who's parents paid for them to get in even if they don't deserve to be there, and if they're treated badly they'll have no motivation to try to be better than they are. I would hate to see that happen... what happened to me, happen to anyone else. I've lived through it a few times, I wouldn't wish it on anyone, not even once."

"A- a few times?"

"Even people that know me sometimes forget who I am because of what I did when I was a baby. The news will post an article with lies in it, and they all start to hate me, like I've done something wrong when I haven't. Most of the school hated me when a Death Eater put my name in for the Tri-Wizard Tournament, thinking I'd done it to get more fame and glory for myself. No one understands that I don't want fame or glory."

Harry turned away because he could feel his cheeks heating up again. The words that he'd said stung like little bees trying to get at his heart. Yes, it had happened before Gemini, and it had even happened before Hogwarts at the Dursleys.

"What do you want?"

Harry looked back up at him as Nikolaus started to make his way back and as other groups started to come down the path from the castle.

"Basic kindness and respect," Harry said. That was all he'd ever wanted: for someone to just see him as himself and to treat him with kindness and respect. Ron and Hermione and the Weasleys had done that for him, Remus and Sirius had done it, and recently so had Axle, Draco and Gan. People that were willing to be nice to him when others weren't, they were the ones worth being friends with.

August looked like he had a lot on his mind as they portkeyed back to Gemini, and wasn't at dinner that evening. Harry was reserved through dinner and through the bonfire down at the beach that night, the last one they'd have before leaving the Island of Coll for good.

"Do you need help packing Harry?" Hermione asked as she appeared at his open door. "I'm all done with mine."

"I think I've got it," he said. Really the only thing he had to do was put his books, bedding, and new rug into his trunk, and with the help of magic it had gone quickly. He wished he had his Firebolt, but knew that wasn't meant to be.

"Are you going home when we leave?" she asked him as he dragged his large trunk out onto the front porch and down the steps.

"I guess. Professor Snape said he was going to try to get Dumbledore to let me go with him instead, but I know Dumbledore will say no. I wish I could to Ron's or go back with Axle." If it weren't for Lucius Malfoy Harry would have even been glad to go back with Draco instead of going to Privet Drive.

"I'm sorry Harry," she said. "I wish you could come back with me. I know my parents would let you stay in the guest room. At least it's only for two weeks. Then you'll be back with us."

"Yeah," Harry said, feeling glum, only two weeks. But it had only taken Dudley and Uncle Vernon three days to do him in at the start of the summer. Hermione levitated one of his trunks down the hill for him and he levitated the other, and then they both went back up the hill to help Draco and Ernie and one of the boy's from Kahr. Everyone was supposed to eat breakfast as awards were handed out, and then say their goodbyes and portkey away. Snape was going to take them back to Diagonalley.

"Think Ron will meet us there?" Harry wondered. He would have to take the Knight Bus back to Privet Drive, but he planned on stalling as long as he could. Maybe Dumbledore wouldn't even check to see that he went back and he could just go back with Ron.

"Erm, I don't know," she hedged. What was wrong with her? She seemed to be acting oddly.

"Aren't you excited to see him?" Harry asked.

"Oh, yes, I suppose I am."

She didn't seem like she was though. Had she gone and struck up a relationship with someone else there at camp over the summer? Harry didn't remember seeing her hanging out with boys from any of the other schools aside from Axle, but then again there were a lot of times when she was off on her own and Harry didn't see her.

"You er," he paused, "you didn't go and start fancying some other guy did you?"

"What?"

"I mean, you don't seem too excited to see Ron."

She looked away and Harry turned to her and said, "You did didn't you?"

"Don't be mad at me."

Harry laughed. "I'm not mad at you. It's your love life. I don't want to be there when you tell Ron you don't fancy him anymore though. He'll be crushed."

"Well maybe he's started to like someone else over the summer."

"You hope," Harry teased her, but she didn't look like she appreciated the teasing so he stopped.

He looked around the compound, wondering who it was and how she would maintain a long distance relationship with him. She had liked Viktor Krum at one time and he wondered if it was another boy from Durmstrang.

"Is it a boy from Durmstrang again? That will drive him bonkers."

"It's not," she insisted.

"Well it can't be from Kahr, they're all really young. Boden?"

"Neither."

"Beauxbatons?"

"No."

"Fine, don't tell me then," Harry said, "because I know it's not Draco and you've said before that Ernie annoys you."

She flushed and Harry said, "It's not Draco, right?"

"It isn't!"

"Keep your secrets," he teased her. "I'm sure you'll tell Ginny all about it when we get back to school."

"If she's speaking to me after I talk to Ron."

"She will."

They ate breakfast and at the end everyone faced the front and Snape called up the five winners of the first part of the tournament to receive certificates for participating. Then he called Kushi up to the front to recieve the dueling certificate. One by one they called every student up to recieve a certificate of completion for Gemini, and wished them all good luck with their academic endeavors. Snape came to where all of the students from Hogwarts were sitting and told them they had twenty minutes to say goodbye and make sure they had all of their belongings.

Outside the dining hall, Harry shook Axle's hand and got his information so he could write to him. Axle told him that Basia was going to go home and ask her parents to transfer her to Boden for their last couple of years of school so she could get experience at another school, and he seemed excited about it.

"That's cool," Harry told him.

"What about you?" Axle asked.

"Me? You want me to transfer too?"

Axle laughed. "I mean what are you going to do when you leave here?"

"Back to Hogwarts for the next two years, and after that I haven't thought about it yet."

"Maybe you can come visit sometime in the summer or on the holidays, yeah?"

"I'd like that," Harry said. He really liked Boden. It was small and felt comfortable to him, though he thought he'd miss Hogwarts too much to transfer there permanently.

Harry sat down on his trunk as Axle went to say goodbye to Basia (who was crying), and watched as Hermione gave a tearful goodbye to several of her new friends. Draco came and sat down on his own trunk next to Harry's.

"So what happens when we get back to Hogwarts?" Harry asked him after a moment.

"What do you mean?"

"Are we back to, 'Potter Stinks', or am I just another Hogwarts student you're friends with?"

Draco frowned, acting as though he hadn't decided yet. But then he said, "If we can come here and be Hogwarts students instead of Gryffindors and Slytherins, then I don't see why we can't go back the same."

"Funny," Harry said, "we were supposed to come here for international relations, not to make friends with people who go to our own school."

"Yeah, well..." Draco paused, thinking about what to say. "I always thought you were stuck up, like you thought you were better than everybody else because of your fame. I didn't realize you were just a regular guy." Harry thought what he really wanted to say was, 'I didn't know you had next to nothing.'

"Same," Harry said. Draco shot him a frown but Harry laughed. Before now he never would have thought Draco would have given him anything, let alone his friendship or risked his life for him. As much as Draco had called Harry a Slytherin over the summer, Harry could have called Draco a Gryffindor for the traits he'd shown.

"It is time to leave," Snape said, and Hermione and the others came over, Hermione wiping her eyes and trying to give Harry a smile. He smiled at her as he picked up his big trunk (Snape had a hold on the small black one) and grabbed onto a corner of the book. Harry was interested to see what he would say to get the book to take them back to Diagonalley where they had started. It was obvious now that each school and place had a special password to get the portkey to take them there. "At the end of an adventure, we go home again," he said, and the portkey sucked them away, leaving them again in the center of Diagonalley. They startled several shoppers and Harry fell backwards over somebody.

"Oy!"

Harry scrambled up and found that he had landed right on top of Ron, who was looking irritated as he stood and tried to dust himself off. When he finally looked up to see who had landed on him and saw that it was Harry, he grinned.

"Nice of you to drop in!" he said, and Harry laughed.

"Wait here," Snape leaned in to say in Harry's ear, "I want to speak to you."

Snape moved away with Draco and the others, leaving Hermione, Ron, and Harry there. Ron gave Hermione a hug, which she returned halfheartedly with a smile that didn't seem genuine.

"Boy am I glad to see you. It's been a downright boring summer. What does Snape want with you anyway Harry? You get in trouble or something?"

"Something like that," Harry said.

"I bet it was horrible spending the summer with him."

"How was your summer?" Hermione asked.

"Fred and George hired me on in their shop and I earned seventeen Galleons. Mum and dad helped me sell some things at a boot sale and we made another three, and Mum said she'd give me five more. With all that I have twenty five and Fred and George said if I would sell some of their jokes when we got back to school they'd give me another five. Dad talked to Dumbledore, and he said the school would pay the rest for me to go to Gemini next summer since I worked so hard to earn the money. 'A real desire to learn,' Dumbledore told mum."

"That's great," Hermione said, and smiled at him.

"Ginny wants to go too. She babysat for witches all summer and earned ten Galleons and she reckons she'll work for Fred and George next summer so she can try to get up enough to go in her seventh year. So tell me about it. Hermione, do you have to leave right away?"

"My parent are waiting for me. I should go. But I'll see you in a couple of weeks at Hogwarts."

"Ok," Ron said, sounding sad. He hugged her and she waved at the both of them and then took her trunk towards the Leaky Cauldron.

"Want to get an ice cream at Fortescues?" Ron asked Harry when Hermione had disappeared into the crowd.

"I don't have any money," Harry said, holding his hands up. "I spent it all on tuition."

"I'll buy," Ron told him, sounding proud that he could afford to take his friend out for ice cream. They crossed the lane to Fortescues and sat down at one of the outside tables so Snape could see them when he came back.

"So how was it?"

"Snape told everybody that I didn't deserve to be there and that I didn't work hard like all the others and they believed him. Only two teachers believed me, Adeline... she taught Healing Potions, and Gan, he taught Healing Potions and Meditation and Root Defense. And the only students on my side were Hermione, Draco, and Axle, a friend I made from Boden. The students from Kahr weren't so bad but they weren't really friends either. They seemed to want to have nothing to do with any conflict."

"Did you say Draco was on your side?"

"I didn't have any school supplies, and he actually gave me some of his. Hermione and Axle and me went to check out a cave at the beach and some boys from other schools followed us. Right as they were trying to pick a fight Draco and Ernie showed up and backed us up. Draco actually bit one of the other guys and I ended up getting knocked into the sea. Draco went in after me. After that we all just sort of stuck together against the rest of the school."

"Are you sure it was Draco Malfoy? Not a nice twin or something?" Ron laughed as they ate their ice cream, and Harry nodded.

"It was him. I had to sell him my Firebolt right before we left so I could pay for the rest of my tuition."

"No, say it isn't so. Not your Firebolt?" but at the sad look on Harry's face Ron looked saddened too.

"That sucks. I'd buy it back for you if I had the money."

"I know. He took it off me for twenty one Galleons."

"You are broke aren't you."

"I don't have a knut to my name."

"Well can you come home with me for the rest of the summer instead of going back to those Muggles?"

"I don't think so. I have to wait for Snape. He said he was going to speak to Dumbledore for me to see if I could not go back."

"Why would he do that?"

"He sort of realized he was wrong about me part way through and started acting very un-Snapeish. He wasn't exactly nice but he wasn't downright nasty anymore either... except when he threw me into the sea because I wasn't doing what he wanted."

"It sounds like you had a strange summer. You could just sneak away now before he comes back."

"I did have a strange summer, and I'd better not. He'll figure out where I've gone. At least it ended on a good note. We got to visit and see Durmstrang, Boden, and Beauxbatons and we showed everyone around Hogwarts yesterday."

Harry told Ron about the other schools and was just done telling him about the strange traditions at Durmstrang between girls and boys when Snape came back.

"I did not get a chance to speak to you last night. I have spoken to the Headmaster and he as agreed to let you come with me for the next two weeks." Harry looked at Ron and Ron gave him a wide eyed look, as if saying, 'run, run now and run fast.'

"Professor," Ron said, and Snape looked down at him as if just realizing he was there. "Can Harry come home with me for a little while? I'm sure my mum will be ok with it. Just for a few hours? He was still telling me about the school and the classes he took."

"That is acceptable." He turned his attention back to Harry and said, "Floo directly there and nowhere else. I will retrieve you at seven o'clock. I will take your things."

Harry raised his eyebrows, surprised. He wasn't going back to the Dursleys, and Snape was actually letting him go home with Ron for the rest of the day? Ron seemed surprised too as Snape took Harry's two trunks and Harry said quietly, "Thank you." Snape nodded and disappeared with a pop.

"Odd, very odd," Ron said.

"He seemed to have a girlfriend this summer," Harry said. "Maybe that has something to do with it." Ron got a disgusted look on his face and Harry laughed as they headed for the twins shop to use the floo.

Mrs. Weasley was surprised and delighted to see Harry, and gave Harry cake and strawberries while she asked him questions about the school and his summer, and he told her the less horrible details of it. She asked if Harry would let her give him a haircut, and after she showed Harry his reflection in a mirror, he agreed. His hair was about three inches longer than he usually wore it and was almost long enough to be considdered feminine. How long had it been like that?

"Yeah, get it cut mate," Ron laughed, "you're starting to look like Snape." Ginny giggled and covered her mouth with her hand and Harry sat down in one of the kitchen chairs with a sigh.

"How short dear?"

"As short as it takes to not look like Professor Snape I guess."

"Uh oh Harry," Ginny said. "You didn't just see mum's face light up. She likes to cut hair short."

Harry tried to get out of the chair but Mrs. Weasley pushed him gently back down by the shoulder and said, "Don't worry about a thing dear. I do have fashion sense you know." She began clipping and Harry worried despite her reassurances when he saw Ron and Ginny sniggering. After ten minutes Harry was finally released from the chair and given a mirror. Man was his hair short! She left it a little long on top but on the sides it was shorter than Harry had ever worn it.

"You could do with a shave as well dear," Mrs. Weasley said, and as Harry examined his chin he realized he'd grown some stubble and that it had probably been there for weeks. He wasn't sure if he liked it that way or not. He felt manly to finally have some stubble and thought he looked rather like Remus with it there.

"I don't know," Harry said.

"Keep it," Ron said, "looks good."

He turned to Ginny. "What do you think?"

"It looks better on you than it does Ron."

Harry laughed and decided to leave it for now. He looked at all of his cut hair on the ground and shook his head. He wasn't sure if he could get used to his hair this short. Harry thanked Mrs. Weasley anyway and followed Ron and Ginny up to Ron's room, where he told them the details of his summer that he hadn't told Mrs. Weasley, including his dive into the icy crevasse and finding out later that his new friend's father was the same man he had saved.

Ginny went downstairs to see if dinner was ready and Ron turned to Harry and asked quietly, "How was Hermione's summer?"

"Better than mine. She made a lot of new friends. You know how girls are... she cried when she was saying goodbye to everyone."

"And she's friends with Draco now too?"

"I don't know. I only asked Draco if we were still friends once we went back to Hogwarts."

"I'll believe that when I see it."

"That place... Gemini," Harry thought out loud. "It changes people."

"You don't seem any different."

No, Harry thought, but he felt different. He felt more open to different possibilities.

"Hermione... did she meet someone there? She seemed... strained." Harry could see the worry on his friends face even if he couldn't hear it in his voice, though he could.

"Do you want to know the truth?"

"Am I going to like it?"

"I don't think so."

"Tell me anyway."

"I asked her today if she'd gone sweet on someone else, and she didn't admit it, but she didn't deny it. She wouldn't tell me who it was. I asked her what school he was from, and she wouldn't tell me. I even asked her if it was Draco, and he was the only one for sure she said it wasn't."

"Well I suppose I should be grateful for that. I don't think I could handle losing her to Draco Malfoy."

"I don't know if you've lost her," Harry said. "Just give her some time. And don't say I told you anything. I think she was going to try to find a way to tell you. Maybe she's still making up her mind, you know? Besides, think about it. If she did start to fancy someone else, it has to be someone from another school, right? That can't work, being so far away. Things didn't last between her and Krum when he left after the tournament."

"Ugh." Ron put his hand up over his face.

"I'm sorry Ron."

"It's not your fault. I was sort of worried this would happen because I wasn't there."

"Not sort of worried," Ginny corrected as she came back into the room with three fizzy drinks. "He was tied in knots all summer. I never saw him work so hard to get money to go to the school. Fred told him he'd better stop working so hard or he was going to strain something."

"Thanks," Ron said to his sister sarcastically.

"I'm sure things will work out in the end," Harry tried to reassure him.

"Don't give up Ron," Ginny said. "I'd like to be involved with someone who was willing to fight for my affections."

"How do I fight for her if I don't know why she stopped liking me?"

"She might still like you, you don't know until you talk to her about it. Someone else may have just gotten her eye," Ginny told him.

Ron fell back onto his bed with a moan, and Harry felt bad for him. "Don't give up," Harry said. Ron was persistent, and Harry hoped he'd win her back.

Harry ate dinner with the Weasleys (Ron was miserable throughout and refused to tell Mrs. Weasley why), and it was soon seven o'clock. As soon as the hand struck the hour, there was a knock on the back door and Mrs. Weasley opened it and gave Snape a warm greeting.

"Severus, how good to see you. Would you like something to eat?"

"No, thank you."

Harry appeared from the living room and Mrs. Weasley gave him a hug as Snape looked him up and down, eyes lingering on his extra short haircut.

"Bye mate," Ron grumbled before disappearing up the stairs, presumably to his room. Ginny gave him a more enthusiastic goodbye with a hug, and then Harry went out the back door with Snape.

Snape gripped his arm and they disappared, reappearing on a dirt lane as the sun started to set.

"Where are we?" Harry asked. He could smell the sea.

"The Isle of Coll."

"We're- going back to the school?"

"We are going to my house. I live a few miles from the school."

"Oh," Harry said. That was interesting. He wondered if there was a beach near Snape's house and if he'd be allowed to go to it. They walked up the lane for less than three minutes when Snape directed him up a short dirt drive to a small white house with a brown roof.

"There are wards that will let very few people in. You have been added to the list for the time being."

"Oh," Harry said. "Thanks." It was nice of Snape to offer to let him stay with him for the two remaining weeks of summer, but he wasn't sure what those two weeks would be like. All Harry really wanted to do was relax.

"Is the Headmaster going to check that we've kept up with training?" Harry asked when they got inside.

"I doubt it. Was there something in particular you wanted to learn?"

"How to apparate."

"You are not seventeen. It is not allowed until then."

"I'd like to be able to do it in case I have to use it when I go up against Voldemort."

"You plan on apparating behind him?"

"I was thinking more about getting away from him. Every death eater has an advantage over me because they can just appear and disappear where they want."

"I will consider it. I assume you've been fed?"

Harry nodded. Snape looked at his hair again but didn't say anything.

"Mrs. Weasley cut it."

"I can see that." Snape looked like he approved and Harry felt relieved but didn't know why.

"Why was Mr. Weasley distraght?"

"Erm..." it was kind of a personal issue and one of those things Harry didn't think Snape would ever care about. "Hermione met someone at school she likes more than Ron."

"I see. And Mr. Weasley was not angry with you?"

"With me? Why would he be mad at me? All I did was break the news to him. I couldn't even give him a name because Hermione wouldn't tell me who it was."

Snape raised a brow as if there was something Harry was missing, but he still didn't understand so he let it drop.

"Your room is upstairs on the right. The bathroom is the first door on the left. You may go out if you take your wand and inform me of where you are going first."

"You're not going to keep me locked up inside because of Voldemort?"

"Should I?"

"No?" Snape was always so strict at school and everyone else always kept such a tight reign on him away from school, whether it was his aunt and uncle's rules at home or Mrs. Weasley's mother henning at the Burrow or Grimmuald place. He had expected it to be the same here.

"Provided you promise not to put yourself into danger, I do not intend on holding you hostage for the next two weeks. I have seen you duel enough times to know that you are capable of holding your own, even against adults. Keep in mind however that Death Eaters do not play by the rules and live by the motto, 'always cheat, always win'."

Harry didn't have to be reminded. It was why he wanted to learn how to apparate. No one would expect it of him.

"For the remaining two weeks I will consider the same rules that were in play at Gemini to be aplicable here."

"Ok."

Without another word, Snape turned and left the entryway, presumably to go into the living room, but Harry wasn't familiar with the first level of the house yet. He went up the stairs to go to the guest room and was pleased to see that even though it was small, it was clean and tidy. His large trunk was at the foot of the bed by the door and his black trunk with school supplies and his Gemini books was between the wardrobe and desk. There was a window that looked out to the back of the house, but Harry couldn't see the ocean, only a rocky hill covered in tall grass.

He turned to go back to his trunk so he could put his new sheets and blanket on the bed, but stopped instead and stared at the corner behind the door. His Firebolt was leaning against the wall, and it looked like it had the last time he'd seen it, a month and a half ago as Draco had walked off with it at Gemini. He blinked hard several times and even closed his eyes tight and opened them again just to be sure they were working correctly. His Firebolt was still there.

He walked over to it and picked it up, inspecting it. Not a single tail twig was out of place. "How did you get here?" It was like he was speaking to an old friend, and he really felt like he was. Sirius had given this broom to him, and it was like he was speaking to a part of Sirius. It was strange to think of a broom as sentient, but it was to him. He thought of his broom like Neville thought of plants and like Snape must have thought of his potions. Snape. It was the only reasonable explanation Harry could think of. Somehow Snape had gotten his broom back for him from Draco, but the problem was, it wasn't a reasonable thing to think at all. The only way he could have gotten it back was by paying Draco for it, and Snape wouldn't do such a thing. Remus would have done it, Ron would have done it, maybe even Dumbledore would have, but Snape? But Snape had bought him things that summer, and he had taken care of him in the infirmary, and he had even carried him up the beach path when he had been unable to keep going by himself.

Harry sat on his trunk with the broom across his lap and stared at it, unmoving. This broom had been from Sirius. But now it was from Snape too, and Harry wasn't sure how to feel about it. Sirius was his Godfather. He loved Sirius, and Sirius had loved him. Snape was just Snape. The black eyed, black robed man from the dungeons that Harry had been afraid of from day one... was still a little afraid of. Harry sat there on his trunk for a long time, and was still sitting there staring at the broom half an hour later when Severus passed by the open bedroom door on his way to his own room.

* * *

Harry wasn't sure how far he was allowed to wander, but Snape hadn't set any boundaries and didn't seem to be worried about it, so Harry set out on his own the next morning. He walked down the road and occasionally passed by another house or some cows behind a low stone wall. Almost two miles down the road a little girl waved at him from a front yard and Harry waved back but didn't say anything. He thought he would have liked to have had a bike so he could see more of the island faster, but then thought better of it, thinking he wasn't in any real hurry to get anywhere. It was the late afternoon before Harry made it to one end of the island. There was a long stretch of beach on the edge of a cove, and in the near distance he could see another island across a little stretch of the sea. If he had a boat it would probably only take a few minutes to get there. Harry turned around and headed back to the house, hungry. He hadn't eaten breakfast that morning and had missed lunch and his stomach was grumbling heavily.

When he finally got back and made it inside, Snape came out of the living room and gave Harry a close looking over, as if assessing if Harry was all right.

"I went to the beach," Harry said, but Snape didn't seem mad.

"I assumed as much. Your dinner is in the fridge. A simple heating charm should suffice." He went back to the living room and Harry looked inside a moment later to see that he was sitting with a stack of parchments, a quill and a large bottle of ink.

Harry went to the kitchen and found a plate wrapped in the fridge and pulled it out. There were two cooked chicken legs and a serving of vegetables. He unwrapped it and sent a heating charm at it and then opened the fridge again and found a fizzy drink, which he took out and opened. He stood at the counter in the kitchen and ate his dinner, glad to finally have something in his stomach that day, and then washed his dishes and found the cupboard where they went and put them away.

"Harry."

Harry turned towards the sound of his name. Snape was calling him. Why hadn't he called him 'Potter?'

In the living room, Harry waited for Snape to finish whatever he was doing, and after a few moments Snape set his quill down, and looked up at him.

"If you do not plan on coming back all day, you may make yourself food to take with you. A cooling charm will keep it good in your book bag."

"Oh, ok."

"I have considered your request. I will teach you to apparate. We will have to do it at Gemini as that is the only place on the island shielded from Muggle intrusion."

"Will we have time?"

"Apparation is very simple, yet some people fail to grasp the concept and never learn, hence the need for the Floo Network and brooms. You will either understand it right away and master it quickly, or you won't." He reached over to the end table beside the couch and picked up a book, holding it out to Harry.

Harry took it and Snape said. "Instructions on how to apparate are in chapter two. Pay careful attention to the many warnings about splinching. If you splinch yourself, I do not have the ability to rectify the mistake and we will have to contact the Ministry, at which point you will be penalized for doing illegal underage magic, and I will be fined for trying to teach you."

"How big is the fine?"

"Almost one hundred Galleons."

"Oh."

"If you have read the chapter by tomorrow, I will take you to the school to teach you. I suggest you read it several times."

"Thank you... sir." Harry added the sir on the end, feeling odd doing it, because he didn't usually call Snape sir, but felt like he should because the man was being so oddly kind to him.

He retreated to his room upstairs and set to reading the book. He pulled out one of his notebooks and took notes and then re-read the chapter two more times. The next morning after eating breakfast, Harry went back over his notes twice.

They left after that and Snape lead Harry down the lane in the opposite direction he'd taken the day before. Harry guessed they had walked a mile and was just feeling awkward about the silence between them when they turned up another lane. It was only a minute before Harry started to recognize where they were. This was the drive leading to the school. The same drive he'd tried to escape down a couple of weeks ago when Snape had come to find him and stopped him in the darkness.

"You do live close," Harry commented.

"Yes."

"So, for the rest of the year the school just sits empty?"

"It does."

They walked to the center grassy area of the school outside of the dining hall and Harry thought the place seemed eerie being so empty and quiet. It was only two days ago that this place had been filled with students and he'd been saying goodbye to Axle and Gan and watching Hermione cry.

"Explain to me the premise of apparation," Snape said, and Harry stopped looking around at the buildings that all now had their shutters closed to protect the windows from the weather.

"Moving yourself from one point in space to another point in space at the same time."

"And why can you not apparate great distances... such as across oceans?"

"Because you would be moving yourself in space and time, since there are different times around the world, and time travel isn't possible without a timeturner or mixture of potions and magic."

"How does one move himself from one place to another with appration?"

"By folding space and creating a hole to instantly move between two points."

"And how does one fold space?"

This was the part Harry had an issue with, because the book didn't really say how to do it, only that one had to do it. "You reach out with your consciousness and grab hold of the point you want to go to, and pull it back to yourself. Like pinching space."

"How do you create a hole in that pinched space?" Snape asked. So far he seemed pleased with Harry's answers.

"You push yourself through it until you come out the other side."

"Do you have any questions?"

Harry wanted to ask about splinching just to be sure he was clear about it, but the book had been plenty clear. If you didn't make it all the way through the hole you created, the pinched space would pinch bits of your body off, leaving them separated from each other.

"How- exactly, do I reach out to pull space to myself?" Harry asked instead.

"This is the part that you will either grasp, or you won't. I will apparate with you and I want you to pay attention to how exactly your body feels. You have apparated before, but because you have been unaware of the principles of apparation you have likely been unaware that as the adult's mind grabs the space you are going to, that yours does as well."

"So, when you apparate me to someplace else, I've really been apprating myself?"

"Yes. It is not possible to apparate with a Muggle for this reason. A Muggle is unable to reach out with their mind to apparate, so I could not grab a Muggle and apparate with them."

"Ok."

Snape took Harry's arm and said, "Keep your eyes open. Pay attention to everything."

Harry nodded, and with a pop, they were gone, appearing twenty feet away a second later. Harry took a deep breath. Apparation was always unsettling for him.

"What did you feel?"

"I'm- not sure. It was like, a sensation of speed. Like going on a broom very fast."

"Is there anything else?"

"There's a feeling like when we portkey... a tugging in my stomach."

"A portkey pulls space together and creates a hole for you. The feeling behind your navel is you being forced through the hole."

"But how do I do that on my own?"

"The best way for you to learn is to apparate with me and pay attention to what you feel, and how your mind and body reacts as we apparate." He reached out and held Harry's arm again and when Harry nodded that he was ready, they apparated again, only this time as soon as they re-appeared Snape took them away again, and then again. Harry lost count of how many times they apparated and when they finally stopped he felt unsteady on his feet. He stood there with closed eyes for long moments.

"Do you understand yet?" Snape asked.

Harry thought that previously he would have been frustrated with the vague instruction, but the numerous and sudden apparations made it almost seem like one long apparation, and Harry had really been able to feel his mind reaching out for another place in space and pulling it to himself.

"I- can I try?"

"If you are ready, you may do so. You must get all the way through the hole in space."

"How do I make sure I do that?"

"It is pure concentration. Do not stop the apparation until you feel your feet firmly on the ground in the place you intend to go."

"I think I can do it."

"You may try. Do not apparate outside of the school compound."

Snape let go of his arm, and Harry resisted the urge to close his eyes. He stared across the area they were in towards the medical building and tried to feel the sensation that he had felt while apparating with Snape. He tried to feel himself grabbing on to that point in time and pulling it towards him. Before he could think about it any more, he felt the hook behind his navel and felt himself zooming forward towards that place. He felt himself hit a barrier and put his head down, forcing himself through the pinched space. All of it happened in a blink of an eye, and he reappeared outside the door to the medical building. Snape jogged over to him.

"Am I all here?" Harry asked, dazed and giddy at the same time, feeling his ears and then shoulders and arms.

"You appear to be so."

"I did it?"

"It seems so."

"How far can I apparate? I mean... could I make it to Hogsmead from here, or to London?"

"Longer distance apparations take more concentration, but they are possible so long as you do not travel too far East or West, becuase then you would be taking yourself to a different time. It is advisable to do several shorter distance apparations instead."

"What if I've never been to a place before?"

"You must know what it looks like for your mind to be able to reach out for it. If I were to give you a map and show you a point on it, and show you a photo of a street, you should be able to apparate there."

"Can I try again?"

"Stay inside the compound."

Harry, eyes wide open, reached out with his mind for his cabin and appeared there a moment later. Feeling exhilarated, he apparated back to where Snape was.

"You intend on using this new ability to your advantage against Voldemort." It wasn't a question.

"Yes."

"I would advise you then to not show others that you have the ability."

"So... I can't go to Ron's with it then?"

"If you wish to go back you may use the Floo."

Harry couldn't help but flashing the man a grin, and Snape raised his brows at it. He allowed Harry to apparate ten more times for practice, and then they walked back to the house. As they ate lunch, Snape said, "There is information about apparation that is not in the book. It is not common knowledge and is generally considered to be dark magic, though it is crucial for you to know."

"What is it?"

"When you fold space and punch a hole through it, the hole remains open for several minutes. This means that it is possible for others to follow you."

Harry could tell he was wearing an expression of horror becuase that's how he felt. Voldemort could follow him? He'd always just assumed that apparation was a great way to escape quickly.

"If you were to apparate, a wizard with the knowledge of how to find that hole could easily follow you. If you do not wish to be followed, you should apparate to many different places before you reach your destination."

"How long does the hole remain open?"

"Three minutes. There is a way to prevent yourself from being followed, but it is risky and I would not advise you try it.  What seems to be a split second to others who watch you appear and disappear, is really much longer while you are apparating."

"Yes, it felt like a longer time."

"If you were to divide that time into thirds, and could wait until the last third of that time to go through the hole, the hole would close immediately after you went through it. In the apparations you just completed, you were in a hurry and went through the hole right away. Even though you are going from one point in space and time to another point in space at the same time, during the apparation you are also bending time."

"I'm not sure I understand."

"Most don't, and so it is not often written or spoken about. The danger to waiting until the last third of time during the apparation, is that you could miss the window of time to get through the hole in space, and simply not reappear. Also, when you wait, you run the risk of apparating somewhere where you didn't intend to, which is especially not advisable when precise apparation is needed, such as when traveling to a narrow path or near a cliff."

"Because a foot off could mean death," Harry said.

"As I said, it is considered dark magic. Any magic that involves risk to your own life or the life of someone else is considered dark."

"How is it dangerous for a person trying to find an already formed apparation hole?"

"When you go through right away you leave two thirds of the time for the hole to remain open, which is approximately three minutes. When one is able to find an open hole in space they have no idea how much time remains before it closes. It poses a risk to them then to attempt to go through the hole before it seals itself."

"So I don't really have an advantage over Voldemort then do I? He can just follow me?"

"If several people apparate in an area, there is no way for him to know which open hole to go through to follow you. Also, if he does not realize you can apparate, he will have no reason to look for an open apparation hole."

"Do they teach this kind of thing at Durmstrang? Draco said they embrace the dark arts there."

"I do not know if they teach this particular thing, but they do teach certain types of magics that are considered dark. I believe they have a ban on all magic requiring a human sacrifice or the consumption of blood, as those are considered the darkest of all."

"But not too dark for Voldemort," Harry said. Voldemort had used bones from a grave at the end of the Tri-Wizard tournament and stolen some of Harry's blood. He had no doubt the evil man would sacrifice a person if he needed to.

"He frequently sacrifices followers he deems worthless or unworthy, as well as the lives of each person he murders."

"For what spell?"

"He has no need of one. For every person he kills he feels more powerful. Every ounce of his blood is full of darkness and evil. His mind has been so distorted by dark magic that he can no longer tell right from wrong. If there is something he wants, he takes it, and feels no remorse. It is one reason his name is so feared. He is so full of evil that people fear even his name is evil and that saying it will bring a curse upon them."

"Is it?"

"Is his name evil?  It is just a word Potter. Not even his real name. His name is no more evil than yours is good."

As Harry lay in bed that night, contemplating the meaning of good and evil and thinking of all the horrible things Voldemort had done, he felt sorry for him, and felt certain at the same time that Voldemort had to be stopped. As he drifted off to sleep, he also felt fear and anxiety, knowing that it was up to him to stop him, and he was just a boy. He wasn't especially skilled at any one thing, and he wondered if he had gained that advantage Dumbledore had meant him to have by going to Gemini, or if it had slipped through his fingers.

Harry still had most of the school supplies Dumbledore had given him for Gemini, and knew they would be enough to get him through the school year. That only left his robes since he already had a new wardrobe. The day before Snape was going to take him back to Hogwarts, he surpriesed Harry at breakfast with, "I will buy your school robes."

Harry looked up and raised his brows. "You- will?"

"I will buy them on the condition that you try to stay out of trouble for at least the first month at school. I do not wish to see you in the Hospital Wing, or detention. As far as I'm concerned, both of those are out of bounds for you."

"I'll pay you back," Harry said.

"You have money left?"

"No," he grumbled. It wasn't that he had plans to get into trouble in the first month of school (or at all this year), but it was known to happen and he didn't like that Snape had forbidden it. "I'll work it off."

"You have a job?"

Harry stared at him, and then, not sure why he felt like being flippant, said, "I'll brew potions for you or something." Harry didn't think Snape would take kindly to him inviting himself to work for him, but the man's dark eyes seemed to be considering it. He could see the cogs in his mind working.

"If you were working for me, you would not have time to get into trouble."

"How much work do you want me to do?" Harry asked, wondering what he was getting himself into. Each set of robes was 2 Galleons, and with two sets of robes plus his Quidditch uniform which would cost three, that would be seven Galleons he'd owe him.

"You tell me Potter. This was your idea."  Snape looked interested in the answer.

Harry frowned. Ron had worked all summer to earn twenty Galleons.  "I don't know what normal wages are," Harry admitted, and Snape seemed to approve of his admission for some reason.

"Typically two Sickles an hour."

Doing the math in his head, Harry figured out that at seventeen Sickles in a Galleon, he'd need to work off 119 Sickles, and that would be almost 60 hours. "60 hours at 2 sickles an hour," Harry said.

"You will come to my office for one hour after dinner on Monday and Friday evenings, and ­for two hours on Saturday and Sunday directly after breakfast. That will be six hours a week and you will be done in two and a half months."

Harry nodded. That wasn't too bad. He just hoped it wouldn't be like detention where he'd be scrubbing out jars that had held pickled brains and other disgusting things.

"I will go to Diagonalley with your measurements to purchase your robes. While I am gone you will need to look over this list and memorize it." Snape handed him a piece of parchment with a schedule on it.

"What is it?"

"I promised the Headmaster that I would be training you in the two remaining weeks until school. That is the schedule I gave to him. If he should ever happen to question you on it, you will know what to say because you have memorized it." It almost seemed like a threat and Harry was certain that if he slipped up and got the schedule wrong or any of the other things Snape had noted at the bottom and around the edges that he'd be in detention for a long time.

As Harry stared at the list, Snape used a spell to get his measurements and then told Harry to stay in the house until he got back. He apparated away with a pop and Harry squinted to read some of the tiny writing Snape had crammed into a tight space under the heading: DEFENSE. He was glad he hadn't had to keep this schedule and had gotten some time to relax. If he'd had to train with Snape for an additional two weeks with this schedule, he wouldn't have had a moment of free time, as the man had accounted for every waking moment. He went upstairs and pulled out a piece of parchment, and began copying the schedule over and over again, hoping to memorize it this way.

* * *

Snape apparated them to Kings Cross early the next morning and left Harry there on Platform Nine and Three Quarters to board the train. Ron and Hermione didn't seem to be there yet, as the first families were just starting to arrive, so Harry levitated his two trunks onto the train to an empty compartment by himself. He pulled out his fake schedule and went over it again while he waited. It was twenty minutes before the compartment door opened again, and Hermione came in with a smile and sat down next to him.

"Hi Harry," she said.

"You seem happy," Harry noted. "Did you enjoy the last two weeks of the holiday?"

"Yes. Did you get to go with Professor Snape?"

"Yeah. He let me spend the day at the Burrow and then took me back to the Isle of Coll."

"You went back to Gemini?"

"His house is a mile away."

"That's interesting. I thought it was such a bright and cheery place."

Harry laughed. "You mean to say that Professor Snape is not a bright and cheery man?"

She put her hand up to her lips and giggled. Harry told her about his agreement with Snape to work for the robes, about borrowing some of his books, and that he had enough school supplies to get through the summer.

"I actually bought you these," Hermione said. She dug around in her bookbag and pulled out several black Muggle lined notebooks. "I added the Gryffindor Crest to them," she told him. "I wanted to make up for the pink notebooks."

"Thanks."  He took them.  "You didn't have to."

Harry saw Draco pass by in the corridor, but Draco made no effort to get Harry's attention. It was another few minutes before the compartment door opened again and Ron and Ginny came in. Ron still looked glum.

"Hi Harry, Hermione," Ron said, sitting opposite of Hermione. Ron was staring at the floor, but Ginny was staring at them and Harry frowned, wondering what that was about. Hermione got up and went to sit with Ron, which seemed to cheer him up a little. Ginny sat down next to Harry and nudged him with her elbow.

"What?" he whispered to her, but all he got was a frown in return.

As they rode to Hogwarts, Neville, Luna, Dean, Seamus, and a few others dropped by to ask what Gemini had been like and Harry and Hermione took turns telling them, though Harry tended to leave out the worse parts of his summer.

Harry told Ron about his agreement to work for Snape, and Ron looked like he felt pained on Harry's behalf, but Harry reminded himself that Ron looked downright awful to begin with. At one point Ron got up to find the lunch trolley and Hermione left to use the loo, leaving Harry and Ginny alone.

"Ron doesn't look good," Harry commented as soon as his friend had left.

"No, he doesn't," Ginny agreed. "He's kept himself locked in his room or else he disappears for the whole day to some part of the property."

"He'll win her back," Harry said. He was rooting for him in any case.

"You think so do you?"

"Don't you?"

"I'm not so sure anymore."

The compartment door opened before Harry could ask her why she thought that, and Hermione came back in.  A moment later Ron came in with an armful of food. "Here Hermione, I bought you lunch," he said. "I got the trolly lady to mix chocolate and strawberry ice cream the way you like." He said it with a hopeful air but his face said he was still unhappy.

"Oh, thank you," she said, taking the bowl of ice cream he was handing her. Harry and Ginny shared a look, seeing that her smile was still strained.

"Where's my lunch?" Ginny asked Ron.

"I didn't buy you any," he said. Harry laughed at the glowering look Ginny wore and as soon as he did Hermione did too.

That night at the feast, Ron and Hermione sat together, but Ron gave up trying to engage her in conversation by desert when she wouldn't give more than one or two word responses to him. He looked to Harry and Ginny across the table for help, but they didn't know what to do.

"It's useless," Ron said glumly in their dorm room that night. "I can't win who I'm competing against."

"You don't have to compete against anyone," Harry told him. "Just be yourself. She's not going to be with someone who's being fake. I mean," he paused, not sure he was making things any better. "Ron, you're my best friend and I'm rooting for you to win her back. So is Ginny. Maybe just give her some space, yeah?"

"I guess," he said.

"Just be you. You got her to like you once by being you."

"And look how that turned out." Ron flopped on his bed face first and didn't say anything for several minutes, so Harry climbed into bed, though he lay awake for a long time feeling bad for Ron, and wondering who Hermione thought was better than his best friend. Harry didn't think anyone could be.

Ginny seemed perpetually irritated and angry at Harry over the next few days, though he couldn't figure out why. He tried to spend as much time as he could alone with Ron without Hermione that week to cheer him up, though he had made a comitment to work for Snape for six hours a week and so had to leave his friend alone some of the time.

Monday Snape had Harry sweep all four dungeon classrooms and his office, and had him count all of the cauldrons and sort them by quality in the store room. Harry hoped it wouldn't be like this every time he went to work for the man, and was pleased when he went back Friday and found that the Professor wanted him to take stock of all of the school's potions. It wasn't hard work, just time consuming, and Harry took a clipboard and parchment into the store room and had only barely finished when his hour was up.

"Come back tomorrow morning to take stock of all of the ingredients. It will likely take you two days."

"Yes sir," Harry said as he picked up his bag to head back to the common room. "Thanks," he said as he left. The man didn't have to buy him his robes after all, or let him work to pay him back. Harry still wasn't used to feeling grateful for Snape's help, and wondered if he ever would. He had a feeling that at the first sign of trouble, the man would be back to his old self, telling Harry off for every little thing and trying to get him expelled.

Harry was still contemplating the un-Snape when he made the common room. Ron was sitting in a corner by himself at a table, his head down on a large brown book. Ginny walked up to Harry and Harry asked, "What's up with him?"

"He tried to give Hermione a book he bought for her over the summer, and she told him she couldn't take it because she couldn't date him anymore."

"That's harsh. I'll talk to him."

"You'd better not," she warned with a hard look, and Harry raised his brows.

"Ok, I know what's going on with him, what's up with you? You've been mad at me all week and I don't even know why."

"Figure it out Harry." She stalked away from him with a huff and he felt confused. What was going on here? This was not the Hogwarts he had left last summer. Snape was being almost nice, Hermione had broken up with Ron, and Ginny, who was usually keen on him was angry for no reason at all. He rubbed his eyes, thinking it was possible that he was stuck inside one of his nightmares or other strange dreams, and turned and walked back out the portrait hole. He walked back in and Ron was still at the table with his head down.

"Do you know where Hermione is?" Harry asked Parvati, who was sitting at a table studying right by the entrance.

"The library. After the scene she made with Ron, I don't think she wants to be here."

"Thanks," Harry muttered, and went back out the portrait hole. She had hurt his friend, and he had a feeling that Ginny was somehow involved in this whole thing. He wanted to know once and for all who it was that Hermione was interested in. Surely someone at another school that she wouldn't see again wouldn't be worth all of this trouble that had been caused.

Hermione was sitting right at the front of the library. She had a book open, but Harry could tell she wasn't reading it, just staring at it. He sat down next to her.

"Ok, I want to know," he said. She looked up at him, surprised.

"What?"

"Ron's gone catatonic in the common room. Ginny told me what happened before she practically tore my head off for no reason at all. I wan't to know. Who's so much better than Ron that you had to break up with him? Things were fine between the two of you before we went to Gemini."

"You are."

Harry blinked. "I am what?"

"You're the one who's better."

Harry stared at her for what felt like three or four minutes, mind blank. She said his name a couple of times and at the sound of it his mind started spinning faster than the time it took to apparate. I'm better? How am I better? Ron's tall and has a lot of muscles. He has a good family and he has a real job. Ron's a Prefect this year and I'm just me. Voldemort's got a price on my head and I officially live in a cupboard under the stairs. What's so good about me?

"Harry?"

"Me?" He met her eyes and she nodded, seeming uncertain.

"Why would you like me?"

"You can't think of any reason?"

He shook his head. She had been his friend since first year, so he knew she didn't just like him because of his hero status like a lot of other people did.

"This summer was the first time we'd really been alone, away from everyone else. I was angry for you this summer, for what people did, and I realized I wasn't being a good friend by separating myself from the issues. And then, the more time I spent with you... the more I worried about you... the more I really saw you. I'd never seen you like that before.

"Like what?"

"Like you. Just you."

Harry felt something squirm in the pit of his stomach. Someone... sees me for me?  He'd always felt like his friends were there for him, like they understood some of the things about his life, but aside from Remus, he'd never felt like anyone else really saw him, not even Sirius. And now Hermione was telling him that she saw him, and still liked him.

"Ron will never forgive me," Harry said as a statement of fact.

"I feel bad about hurting him," Hermione said. "I've felt bad all summer about looking at you the way I do, thinking about you like that. I don't know what else to do though."

"Don't you like him at all anymore?"

"I care about him. I'm just not sure I feel about him like I do you."

"This is a real mess."

"I know."

"It's my job to make a mess of things," Harry commented, not really to her, just out loud. She didn't respond and Harry reached up and scratched his head. He really felt like he'd been thrown for a loop. He'd never even thought of Hermione in a romantic way before because he knew Ron had his eye on her since their third year. He glanced at her, and unbidden, thought, she is pretty. Stop that, he scolded himself, you're not helping. Ron will be crushed if I start dating her. But with that thought, he realized that he would like to be with someone who really saw him, and understood what he was going through.

Harry stood up, bookbag still over his shoulder, and started to walk away.

"Where are you going?"

"I need to think," he said, stomach already tying itself in knots with confusion. "And you need to tell Ron."

"Tell him what?"

Harry turned to look at her. "That you fell for his best friend and that I had no idea about it."

"What good will that do? You don't want to be involved with me anyway. I don't want to hurt him more." She bit her lip.

Harry paused. "I never said that. You need to tell him. He'll find out one way or another and it will hurt him more figuring it out on his own." Harry walked away then and didn't look back at her. He wished he had someone to talk to. How had he not seen this coming? Ginny must have known, that was why she was mad at him. He closed his eyes as he leaned up against a wall outside the library in a corridor. When he'd first gone to Snape's house, he'd asked if Ron was mad at him. Did that mean Snape knew too? Well it wouldn't do any good talking to Snape would it?

Instead of returning to the common room, Harry went to the Owlery and sat in the darkness with nothing but his wand for light, and penned a letter to Axle. Maybe he would know what to do. Harry wanted to know if it had been obvious to Axle that Hermione had started to like him over the summer, and what he should do about it. Harry explained about Ron and how everyone else apparently knew, but that it had somehow escaped him. He didn't go back to the dorm until past curfew, forgetting his promise to Professor Snape not to get in trouble. He didn't want to face Ron until he could really wrap his head around this mess, and even then, he wasn't sure he wanted to. Ron was asleep when he got back, and Harry was glad to have the excuse of going to work for Snape the next morning so that he could leave early.

As Harry took stock of potions ingredients after breakfast, he was distracted, and Snape pointed out to him that he'd made several mistakes at the end of the first hour. Harry tried to concentrate harder during the second hour, but was sure his list of ingredients was still flawed.

Axle's reply didn't come back to Harry until Sunday evening as he was sitting at his desk studying for Transfiguration. He opened it eagerly, excited to hear from his friend, but also eager to get some help with this issue. He had been trying to think of anything except for Hermione, because when he thought about what she'd said, he thought that he really did like her, but his mind always circled back around to how it would hurt Ron.

Harry,

It's good to hear from you. Basia was able to transfer to Boden, but only for the first half of the school year. You know we are dating, but I do not know much about a situation like you describe. I did not tell her about your letter, but I did ask my father. I hope you do not mind, but he has always given me good advice. He says: Who do you value more? Your friend or Hermione? You will date her and lose your best friend, or keep your best friend, and lose her. I told him I didn't think his advice would help, but it was all he had to say. I am sorry. I hope this helps.  I did not realize that she liked you.  I hope you are having a good start of term. Write me again to tell me what you do. I would like to know.

-Axle

Harry folded the letter up and put it in his pants pocket. He didn't think August's advice helped one bit, and he didn't feel any the wiser for having written to ask for help. Normally he would have gone to talk to Ginny if he couldn't talk to Ron or Hermione, but he wasn't sure she'd give him unbiased advice since she was obviously angry at him and upset on her brother's behalf. He didn't necessarily want to be talking to other people about it that didn't already know either. Who did that leave? Snape, was the answer that came to him, but Harry brushed the notion aside again. He didn't think Snape would be willing to help him. Besides, it would just be uncomfortable talking to him about it.

But as Monday rolled around, Harry felt uncomfortable anyway. Ron was waiting in each class to see where Hermione sat first so that he could sit at a different table. Harry wasn't sure where to sit, next to Ron or Hermione. If he sat next to Ron, he'd be lending good moral support to him, but if he didn't sit next to Hermione, he thought he would hurt her feelings, and he didn't want to do that after what she'd revealed to him. He was worried he'd give her the impression that he was somehow rejecting her.

At lunch Ron made it a point to sit all the way on the opposite end of the table as Hermione, and Harry chose to sit right in the center, across from Ginny despite that she glared at him the whole time.

"What?" Harry asked her, feeling testy.

"You know what," Ginny whispered to him from across the table.

"It's not like I knew about this," Harry said. "I knew she'd fallen for someone, I didn't know it was me!" He thought she wouldn't believe him, but her expression softened somewhat.

"You're dense sometimes Harry," she told him, and he lifted his hands like he didn't know how to respond.

"I don't know what to do," he said.

"Neither do I. I wrote to mum."

"You told her?" Harry hissed. His stomach started to bubble with worry. The Weasleys had always treated him like a son, and now Mr. and Mrs. Weasley would be mad at him like Ginny had been for over a week now.

"I told her Hermione broke up with Ron and that I thought she liked you, and that Ron's been moping, that's all."

"What did she say?" Harry asked.

"You want to know don't you?"

"Well I don't know what I'm doing here. I can't date her or I'll hurt Ron, and I can't not date her, because I'll hurt her. I know you think I made this big mess but I had nothing to do with it."

"All that time with her all summer, and you didn't do anything?"

"We had classes together and studied together like we do here, that's it, I swear. I was more focused on not getting killed by all the people there that hated me, including Snape."

"Well he doesn't seem to hate you now," she observed. She knew that Harry was working for him.

"That's a whole other topic and I don't know what to think about that either."

They finished their lunch in silence and Harry was quiet for the rest of the day, skipping dinner altogether and instead opting to wait outside of Snape's office for his hour of work.

Snape showed up ten minutes before dinner ended and let him in.

"Take inventory again. There are too many mistakes. When you are working for me, I am counting on you to be reliable and give me reliable data. I will not accept laziness."

"Yes sir," Harry said glumly, holding out his hand for the clipboard and parchment. Harry stood up and turned to leave the office and go down the hall to the store room between the two largest Potions classrooms.

"Potter."

Harry turned.

"If you've already checked out before you go to the store room, you are of no use to me."

"Sir?"

"Would you care to enlighten me on what has so captured your attention these last few days?"

Harry frowned. No, he would not like to enlighten you, he thought bitterly, but then stopped. Axle didn't know what to do, he didn't know, and Ginny didn't know. Maybe Snape would, even if he didn't want to ask him.

"Out with it Potter," he said, and Harry sighed.

"How did you know?"

"Be specific if you expect an answer."  He crossed his arms and waited for Harry to reply.

"How did you know that Hermione liked me? You asked if Ron was mad at me when I said Hermione liked someone else."

"You have been friends for five years Potter, and you spent the summer together. She was with you more often than not at Gemini. I just assumed."

"Oh." He was quiet for a moment. "Well what do I do about it?"

"You do not know what to do when a young lady likes you?"

"Not that," Harry snapped angrily. He had dated Cho before. "What do I do in this situation? Ron would be hurt if I dated Hermione and she would be hurt if I didn't." He didn't have the heart to say that the rest of the Weasleys would want to have nothing to do with him, and that he'd be alone again in this world.

"Do you respect Miss Granger's intelligence?"

"Yes. What does that have to do with-"

"And you respect her as a person?"

"Yes but-"

"Then do not act as though it is only your decision. She has made the decision, and has the right to do so regarding who she is romantically interested in. The fact that you feel conflicted about it tells me that you have feelings for her as well."

"I would betray my best friend if I took his girlfriend."

"She is not a posession Potter."

"So you're saying I should do it?"

"I said no such thing."

Gee, thanks for the help, Harry thought to himself sarcastically.

"Well what would you do then?" he asked, feeling miffed because all Snape had done was add another layer of issues to the problem.

"Fortunately," Snape said, "I am not faced with the situation. I can only say that I would deal with your friends the way you would want to be dealt with." He motioned for Harry to take the clipboard and get to work and Harry left the office.

How would he want to be dealt with if his best friend wanted to date his girlfriend? He didn't know because he couldn't imagine the situation being reversed. He supposed that if Hermione had made up her mind, she wasn't going to go back to Ron whether or not he dated her, so in that respect, he should go through with it. On the other hand however, just because she had decided to break up with Ron, didn't mean that he had to be a jerk about it to his best friend. If he had been dating Hermione to start with and Ron had decided to date her, he would want Ron to tell him face to face. He bet Ron would too. He was a Gryffindor. Then again, so was Harry. At the end of his hour he had taken stock of the potions supplies yet again and handed the list to Snape. Then he went straight back to the common room to find Ron, whom he'd been avoiding since Friday night.

"Where's Ron?" Harry asked Ginny when he got into the common room.

"Upstairs."

Harry didn't answer the questioning look in her eyes and jogged up to the dorm. Ron was at their desk doing some homework, hand supporting his head. Harry was glad that the rest of the dorm was empty, because he didn't feel like making a fool of himself in front of everybody else, and he was sure he would.

"Ron, I need to talk to you," Harry said. His voice seemed steady enough, but he felt anything but. What am I doing? Am I crazy? This is stupid!

Ron set his quill down and looked up.

"I know who Hermione likes."

"You."

Harry pulled back a little. "You, know? Hermione told you?"

"I knew since you told me at the house."

"I don't- why didn't you say anything?"

"Because you didn't know and I was hoping you wouldn't figure it out."

"How did you-"

"Come on Harry. It was only a matter of time until she realized who she was dating and who she could be dating." Ron seemed resigned but also bitter.

"I don't know what to say to that aside from that I never thought she'd want to date me. You have everything."

"Everything?"

"A family, a job-" good looks, muscles, people that care about you, Prefect status... he didn't say it all, because he couldn't bring himself to do it. To admit just how much he envied his friend for all that he had.

"Well, now you have everything."

"What do you mean?"

"You've got Hermione. There's no use in me trying to fight for her."

Harry bit his lip. One part of him was still rooting for his friend to win her back, and the other part of him was rooting for himself. He'd been too busy these last few years to think about dating or about other things normal teenagers got to do, but now that there was the prospect of getting to be normal, even just a little, he wanted to jump on it.

"I haven't got her. She only just told me Friday that she liked me."

"I figured. You avoided me all weekend."

"I wasn't sure what to do. I don't want to hurt you."

Ron suddenly looked very serious and looked straight into Harry's eyes. "It's not your job to mind me Harry. You just don't hurt Hermione or ther'll be trouble, hear me?"

Harry sat on his bed. Even though Ron was hurting, all he cared about was Hermione getting hurt.

"I haven't talked to her about dating her or anything. If I don't date her she'll get hurt."

"Do you even like her?"

"I didn't think about her before, because she was dating you. I swear Ron, I never even looked at her sideways or gave it a second thought."

"I know. But you're looking at her like that now."

"I won't date her if you don't want me to."

"I don't want you to. It's not up to me though. If you don't date her, she'll find someone else."

Wasn't that what Snape had said? It wasn't up to Harry who she had feelings for? She wasn't a posession? Ron seemed to understand that, and Harry felt more lost than he had before. Ron was lightyears ahead of him when it came to knowing how to date, and when it came to knowing who Hermione was and the things she liked. He felt inferior then, more so than he had before.

"I'm sorry Ron." It was all he could think to say.

"If you hurt her, you will be." He closed his book, stood up, and left the room. There it was. Ron had tried to be indifferent, but couldn't be. He was hurt whether or not Harry dated her, and Hermione would be hurt if he didn't date her, and would find someone else. He didn't feel right about dating her in light of who was involved, but he really wanted to, and he felt like being selfish just this once instead of always doing what was right for other people, which in this case, he didn't even know what the 'right thing' was.

* * *

Harry was faced the next day with where to sit, as he had been the day before. Ron was sitting apart from Hermione and trying not to watch Harry as he made his decision. Harry went and sat next to Ron at breakfast, causing Hermione's face to fall where she sat down the table.

"I hate you. Go sit with her," Ron said as Harry sat across from him. His voice lacked any real conviction though.

"You don't hate me," Harry said. "I'm just trying to do what's right."

"You're thinking about me and I told you not to. Look at her. You hurt her feelings."

"I was friends with you first."

"And you're friends with her now. Stop being a jerk and go sit with her."

Harry sighed. "You're intent on making this harder than it has to be."

"Sit with me in the common room or something, but go sit with her now." He sounded defeated.

"She has a choice, but what about me?  Where's my choice?"

"Look Harry," Ron looked up into his eyes and Harry was unsettled to see that his eyes were shining with wetness that hadn't fallen yet. "I just need some time, ok? I'll rejoin the group when I'm ready." It was the same thing Harry had told Ron about Hermione, to give her some space. Now Ron was throwing the same advice back to him, and Harry felt bad that his friend sounded like he was pleading to be left alone.

"Ok Ron," he said. "But I don't like this."

"No one does."

Harry got up and went down the table and sat across from Hermione.

"How is he?" she asked.

"He said he hates me and he wants me to give him some space. He told me to sit with you."

"But you didn't want to, did you?"

"I didn't say that," Harry said, and he flashed her a smile. She blushed.

"This is a real mess isn't it?"

"Maybe for now," Harry said. "But Ginny hasn't been mad at me since I talked to her the other day, and we can figure the rest out."

"We?"

Harry blushed this time and looked down quickly into his bacon and eggs.

He sat with Hermione through classes that day and at the rest of the meals and when he was done with his homework that night, he wrote another letter to Axle.

Axle,

I don't know how things will work out. I tried to make peace with Ron. He's going to be hurt either way. I think I really like Hermione. I'm going to try to make it work. It's a big mess, but it's nice to have someone to sort through the mess with.

-Harry

He mailed the letter and went to bed. 'We?' Hermione's question from earlier floated back to the forefront of his mind. He hadn't known what to say to her, so he'd said nothing at all. He wondered if he was doing the right thing, and how he'd make it work, or if it was meant to work at all.

In the last week, rumors had spread like wildfire about he and Hermione, ever since the first time they'd held hands a few days after Harry had spoken to Ron about the situation. Everyone knew they were dating, (really it had only taken the space of one class period), and stared at them as they walked down the halls. Some people smiled, a lot of girls giggled, and a few glared, perhaps thinking that Hermione had stolen Harry right out from under their noses.

"Everyone's looking at us," Hermione said one afternoon as they walked down the corridor holding hands.

"That's normal for me," Harry said. "Think you can get used to it?"

"Of course," she smiled at him.

"Actually," he hedged, "the real reason they're staring, is because you're so pretty, and they're not sure how I got so lucky to be holding your hand."

"Harry!" she blushed and lightly slapped him on the shoulder.

"Ow," he feigned being hurt. "You've mortally wounded me."

Ever since they'd toured the other schools, he was looking at Hogwarts and the relationships people had in Hogwarts differently. If he and Hermione were at Durmstrang, Harry would have had to ask for a teacher's permission to date her first, and if they had been at Beauxbatons, they would be allowed in each other's private dorm rooms. He blushed at the thought, and Hermione asked, "What are you turning red for?"

"Nothing," he said with a smile as they headed to the library. They were skipping lunch because Hermione wanted to look something up.

As she browsed the bookshelves a few minutes later, Harry said, "I can't get over this feeling that things are different."

"Maybe you're different," she said, still browsing the shelves and not turning to look at him. "The school isn't really smaller. It's just our perception of it that's changed."

Harry set his bookbag on the floor and sat at the table that was there. He almost wished things hadn't changed. He had looked forward to going back to Hogwarts every summer, including this last one. Would he look forward to coming back next summer?

"We got to learn things no one else here will get a chance to," Hermione said casually, pulling one book off the shelf and continuing to browse. "Who else here knows Root? You could use it in a duel and no one would know except the others that went to Gemini." Harry nodded in agreement, feeling like all kinds of possibilities were open to him, especially now that Hermione was by his side. Maybe change wasn't all bad.

"You're blushing again," Hermione said with a small smile as she found the book she was looking for.

"Sorry."

"It's given me some ideas for things I might like to do when I graduate. I'm very interested in Magical Law. I've been reading more about it in the last two weeks since we've been back. What do you think you'd like to do after you graduate?"

"I don't have any career plans..." Harry started. He'd never thought about it too much because he'd always assumed he'd be dead before graduating or shortly thereafter. His career was to put an end to Voldemort and Voldemort's was to try to kill him in return. He didn't say that though. It was too dark a thought to share with Hermione when they were both having a pleasant conversation. "I mean, I always thought about being an auror," he finished, and then added, "but I think I'd like to go to Mongolia first and study more there. Maybe I can get Gan to tutor me more in Root." Thinking about Gan made Harry remember meditation. He hadn't really meditated since he'd been back, and he missed it. Maybe he would start again. He wondered then if he had taken the time to meditate on the Hermione and Ron issue, if it would have given him some insight into it.

"That sounds interesting. Their magical laws are very different there. All children are allowed to use magic from the time they're born."

"Yeah, Kushi told me that one time. It's similar in Sweden."

"Is it?"

"They can start using magic as soon as they can get a wand to work, but only in their home or school."

Hermione sat down to read the books she'd pulled off the shelves and Harry closed his eyes, sitting across from her. He wanted to meditate and think about things, though he'd never meditated at a table before. It was a few minutes before Hermione realized he was quiet and looked up at him.

"Are you sleeping?"

"No," Harry said, eyes closed.

When he didn't say anything else, Hermione reached forward and took his hand, and he opened one eye to look at her. "You're making it hard to meditate," he said with a smile. She smiled in return and let go of his hand, but his hand shot out with the reflexes only a Seeker could have and took her hand again, startling her.

"You said I was distracting you."

"I'll get over it," he said. He closed his eyes again with a grin and his meditation turned from how small the castle felt to how warm Hermione's hand felt, and how nice it was to have someone with him all the time. He wasn't used to a lot of physical contact unless it was geting pummeled on the Quidditch field or by uncle Vernon and Dudley, so this was nice. It was different and new to Harry and he liked it. He liked being able to hold her hand in Charms under the table and sit shoulder to shoulder at meals or in the common room.

"You're turning red again," she commented, and he tried to ignore the heat in his cheeks as he tried to think about other things.

* * *

Harry missed Ron. They still had classes together, and slept in the same dorm, but Ron wasn't really talking to either of them. He'd borrowed a quill from Harry the other day, and asked Hermione for her notes from Transfiguration last night, but that was about all the conversation they'd gotten from him. Every time Harry turned around to tell his best friend something, and he wasn't there, Harry felt bad again about dating Hermione. Hermione it seemed was feeling bad as well, but Harry didn't like to see her like that. Instead he tried to get her attention whenever she looked down by asking her questions about herself, saying silly things, or dragging her away from studying to go for a walk around the castle or grounds.

They weren't completely alone though. Ginny was keeping her distance and seemed reserved, but Ernie had asked to study with them several times in the library, and Draco had been coming around as well, even if his friends from Slytherin seemed chargrined by the new friendship. Harry often found Draco waiting for him outside Snape's office after he was done fulfilling his hours of work, and they would walk up through the castle to find Hermione to start a study session. Other times Draco would just show up and he and Harry would play gobstones (he wasn't very fond of Chess), or a variety of wizarding card games Draco knew while Hermione studied.

"Have you kept in touch with any of the students from Gemini?" Hermione asked him one Saturday afternoon as they sat in the mostly empty Great Hall at a table. Draco was showing her how to play a card game for a change while Harry tried to study for an upcoming Potions test. He'd been putting his studying off to spend time with his friends and was now having to cram the information into his head in the hopes he would remember it all on Monday morning.

"Isn't that what I'm doing now?" Draco asked.

She gave him a look. "You­ know what I mean."

"I've been writing back and forth with a few of the boys from Durmstrang and a girl from Beauxbatons."

"Kushi wrote to me the other day," Harry said, not looking up from his work as he copied down notes.

"What did he have to say?" Hermione asked curiously. Harry knew she'd been in contact with Lyn.

"Lyn beat him in a duel and his parents were upset."

"I'm not sure whether to be happy for her or not," Hermione said thoughtfully.

"Kushi thought it was a good thing," Harry commented, before checking out of the conversation again.

"What about you?" Draco asked Hermione.

"At first I was writing back and forth with fifteen people, but most of them have stopped writing now that school has started again. I hear from Lyn from Kahr once every couple of weeks, and a couple of girls from Durmstrang. Harry's been writing back and forth with Axle and Kushi."

"Is he still talking about kyssar?" Draco said. He sneered but it didn't seem unfriendly to Harry in that moment as he looked up and saw the expression. Once Harry would have thought everything Draco did was unfriendly, but he had gotten to know his expressions, moods, and likes and dislikes over the summer. Now he knew that Draco had different sneers for different feelings he wanted to express.

"Yes," Harry said as Hermione giggled.

"He asked Harry if we were kissing," Hermione told Draco, and he shook his head in disgust, not even looking across the table at Harry.

"I don't want to know."

Hermione giggled again and Harry smiled even though he didn't look up from his paper. Draco had come to find them yesterday in the library and walked around the corner to catch them having their very first kiss. He'd gagged and walked away without a word, and while Harry was busy turning beet red, Hermione was laughing herself silly.

* * *

Harry had not failed the Potions test (or so he hoped). He had a free period after Potions and had decided to de-stress by trying to meditate. Ron had also gone back to the common room, but hadn't followed Harry up to the dorms immediately.

As Harry rolled things around in his head, trying to remember the answer to a Potions question he had forgotten in the middle of the test, and wondering how the missed question would affect his grade, Ron came into the dormitory unnoticed. Harry thought he must have been very deep in thought because he hadn't heard Ron come in despite that he had gotten pretty good at meditiating while keeping himself in the here and now. Ron cleared his throat and Harry startled, opening his eyes and looking up.

"What are you doing?" Ron asked, voice subdued as it had been for the last few weeks.

"Meditating," Harry said. He'd told Ron he'd learned how at Gemini, but hadn't said much more than that about it.

"Why?"

"It helps me think."

Ron gave him an uncertain look as he crossed the room to his bed. "What good is that?"

"Thinking, or meditating?"

"Meditating."

"Gan said it teaches you to look inward, so you can learn to view the world outward of yourself. They were teaching it at the school because it helps you learn Occlumency though, and Root. If you have your mind in order you can channel your power more effectively."

"And does it work?"

"It helped me duel," Harry said, remembering the duel he'd had with Kushi.

"Does Hermione meditate?"

"No, she didn't take a lot of the classes I did so she had no need for it."

"Hm."

Harry closed his eyes again, wondering if this conversation meant that Ron was talking to him again, and was surprised a few moments later as there was a shuffling movement in front of him. He opened his eyes and found Ron there in front of him sitting crosslegged with his eyes closed.

"What are you doing?"

"This seems to be the only time I'll get to spend with my best friend this year. I might as well try it. I've got nothing to lose anymore."

"What do you mean?"

Ron opened his eyes and gave him a hard look, though Harry found it tinged with uncertainty. "You've replaced me with Draco."

Harry was quiet as he looked into his friends eyes. He thought Ron would have liked to have said, 'and Hermione's replaced me with you.' He didn't know what to say to him to make him feel better, but Snape's words came to the front of his mind, about treating his friends the way he'd want to be treated. Finally Harry said, "I couldn't replace you. You're my first and best friend. We've been trying to give you the space you asked for and were waiting for you to come back to the group."

"A group with Draco Malfoy."

"He's not that bad," Harry said.

"He's a Slytherin."

Harry closed his eyes and thought. Ron hadn't seen all Draco had done for him that summer. He hadn't been there and coudn't understand if Harry couldn't find the right way to put it all into words. When he opened his eyes again a few minutes later, Ron was staring off into space.

"If I die, what will you say at my funeral?" Harry asked.

Ron looked at him with a little bit of shock. "What are you talking about?"

"If Voldemort got me in ten minutes, and I didn't make it, what would you say about me?"

Ron's blue eyes flickered up to Harry's scar, and then back down. "Are you trying to tell me we're about to be attacked?"

"No, just answer the question."

"You know- I'd say you're brave and loyal and all that stuff."

"Keep going."

"I'm not going to deliver your eulogy," Ron protested, but at seeing Harry's earnest look he frowned and thought, and then continued, "You're good at flying, and the way you battled that dragon in the tournament was pretty epic, and you're good at defense, and you're friendly, and you don't think anybody sees when you're nice to the first years in Slytherin."

Harry was surprised for a moment. He really hadn't thought anyone had seen him comforting that first year in the corridor last year who was homesick and crying. "But you didn't say I was in Gryffindor," Harry said.

"No. I know you were in Gryffindor."

"But the Daily Prophet will be there, and some people reading the paper might not know."

"What is this? Do we really have to rehearse this now? Tell me what you want me to say if you don't like what I'll tell them about you." Ron looked uncomfortable and sounded exasperated.

"No- I just want to know why you didn't mention I was in Gryffindor."

"It's not important."

"Why?"

"Come on Harry. Nobody will really care. They'll want to hear stories about you fighting acromantulas and trolls in the girl's loo." Harry smiled suddenly then and Ron looked confused. "What?

"Dead, it doesn't matter if you were a Gryffindor or not, people will only remember you as dead, and the things you did when you lived, right?"

"Ok, but-"

"Just hear me out. You listed things like brave and friendly and loyal. That's the important stuff right?"

"I guess."

"So if houses don't matter while you're dead, why does it matter while we're alive? I mean, really, the only people we remember what house they were in after they died are the founders, and the people we were close to, but I don't think about my parents being in Gryffindor when I think about them. I don't think about Sirius' house either."

Ron seemed surprised to hear Harry talking about Sirius, but didn't comment on it. "It's different with Slytherins," Ron insisted.

"All four of the houses have good qualities according to the hat." Maybe if the school hadn't been split up in the first place, Voldemort never would have come to power. Slytherins were the ones who typically joined him, weren't they? Harry didn't know why that was, but thought it shouldn't have happened that way.

From memory he tried to recite the traits the hat usually spouted off at the Sorting. "Slytherins are cunning, Gryffindors are brave and loyal, Ravencalws are smart, Hufflpuffs are friendly and open minded."

"Everybody knows that."

"Ok, but Draco was loyal to Hogwarts students at Gemini, not just Slytherins, and Slytherins in general are pretty loyal. And he was really brave to jump into the ocean off a cliff at night to try to rescue me after I fell in. What about Hufflepuffs? Cedric was one of the most loyal people I've ever known. And we know Gryffindors are friendly and open minded, which are qualities of Hufflepuff house. What about Hermione? Look how smart she is. Everybody says she should be in Ravenclaw. What if we're not all that different from students in other houses? Maybe we're all just the same."

Ron looked at Harry for a long time, as though he was trying to understand him. Harry hoped he would, that he would come back to their group at meal times and to study and talk, and would also not have a problem with Draco being there. But his look changed slowly over the course of a few moments, and Harry felt uncomfortable as he realized that Ron was looking at him like he didn't know him at all. Like he'd somehow changed. Ron's mouth was closed, but his eyes held the question, 'who are you Harry?' Harry never longed more for someone to be there right then who understood him for who he was, and who didn't have a problem with him. His thoughts flickered to Hermione and how she saw him. Just him.

Ron cleared his throat after the silence between them felt like it was beginning to be too thick and heavy, and said, "I heard one of the things they're teaching at Gemini next summer is how to control the weather, like lightning."

"That would be useful to fight with," Harry said. He looked at his friend who had finally looked away, but didn't feel comforted like he wanted to.

When Harry was halfway done with his work hours to pay off the robes, Professor Snape asked him to stay back after class one morning, and told him he wanted to continue the Occlumency classes.

"Yes sir," Harry had told him. He didn't enjoy Occlumency, but he knew the importance of it.

"I believe you were near a crucial point of understanding at the end of the summer. Generally when students of Occlumency reach a certain point, everything falls into place for them and they are able to effectively occlude their mind, and at that point even begin to learn Legilimency."

"I'm going to learn that?"

"That is up to you Potter. It is not something I will be teaching you." Snape looked as though even the thought of it left a bad taste in his mouth, and Harry imagined he was thinking of Harry using it on him or Draco or other people without their knowledge.

"If you are amenable, we will cut your work hours in half and spend the other hours to practice Occlumency. That will extend your working hours until the end of the Christmas break."

"Ok," Harry said. It wasn't like he had anything to do for Christmas anyway. His friends always went home, and now that Sirius was gone, he had no one to convince Dumbledore to let him leave for Christmas.

"Seeing that you will be practicing Occlumency and paying off your debt during the Christmas Holiday, I believe the Headmaster will agree to let you stay instead of returning to your relatives to fulfill the time requirement there for the wards."

Harry looked into dark his eyes, surprised. Had he planned this to keep Harry from going back to Privet Drive?

"Did you have a question Mr. Potter?"

He shook his head with a slight smile. "No sir."

"Good. We will begin Monday evening after dinner. Prepare yourself over the weekend by re-reading notes from the summer course and practicing the methods that you were unable to get to work for you."

"Yes sir."

Hermione was waiting for him in the hall when he came out, and he took her hand so they could walk to the next class together.

"What was that about?"

"He wants to start Occlumency again. I'm supposed to get it down. I didn't manage by the end of the summer."

"I'm glad you're going to learn it. I think it's important." She was serious and Harry was thankful that she understood how important his role was in this war. Then again, the fact that he'd gotten Sirius killed had helped drive the point home for everybody. If Harry's brain was hijacked, people died.

In Transfiguration Professor McGonagall introduced them to a new type of transformation, one that they would be working on mastering until the end of the year. She tried to impress upon them the importance of understanding the rules of the magic and mastering the transfiguration method so they could pass their NEWTs at the end of their seventh year.

"You are in the NEWT Transfiguration class. If you do not master the three forms of Transfiguration we are learning this year, you will be completely lost next year and there will be no hope of passing your NEWTs."

Hermione worried her bottom lip between her teeth as she took notes. Harry wanted to learn the magic, but wasn't as concerned as she was about passing the NEWTs. He only needed an OWL in Transfiguration to get into the auror program, but the more he thought about the program, the more he realized that it wouldn't be the end of the world if he didn't make it in. There were so many different kinds of magic he still wanted to learn and master. Things like Root and magery and controlling lightning. He almost fancied traveling the world after school to learn those things. He could always come back and take the NEWT's again later if he needed to in order to get into the auror program. Ron said adults had to re-take their NEWTs sometimes when changing careers and that there was an entire office at the Ministry dedicated to helping adults pass.

Harry tried to pay attention as McGonagall lectured, but the diagrams she had drawn on the chalkboard looked complicated, and might as well have been an unfamiliar language.

"Mr. McMillan, would you like to try the seventeenth form of transfiguration?"

Ernie looked like he was uncertain about how to do it at all, but he nodded his head and stood up to go to the table at the front of the room. McGonagall had a bowl of water there and he was supposed to transform the water into a shape. Harry's eyes glazed over momentarily as he scanned the instructions on the board again. He wasn't entirely sure he understood making a non-visible container of air to hold his magic in order to shape the water.

Ernie was able to do little more than make the water ripple (and only that because he'd knocked into the table), but McGonagall didn't sigh or even seem disappointed. "I did not expect you to get it on your first try Mr. McMillan," she told him as she sent him back to his seat. "This will take practice and dedication, and I would be surprised if any of you managed before Easter. Would anyone else like to try?"

Hermione didn't raise her hand, which surprised Harry. Another Ravenclaw went up to try, and Harry thought about why she wouldn't volunteer like she always did. He looked at her as she continued to bite her lip. Was she afraid of failing? Maybe it was the fear of failing in public. She was always good at everything she did, and Harry knew she practiced a lot of the magic they were taught before classes so she could go to class already knowing the spells. Maybe this was one thing she just couldn't learn on her own.

"Mr. Potter?"

Harry looked up and realized the class was looking at him.

"Professor?"

Some of the Ravenclaws laughed. Obviously he'd been caught not paying attention. He'd been busy gazing at Hermione who was now turning slightly pink with embarrassment.

"Would you mind coming up here and showing us the proper way to do this? You were concentrating so hard on Miss Granger that you must have channeled her intellect by now."

Harry bowed his head as the students around him laughed and stood up to go to the front. It wasn't the first time he'd been caught day dreaming or not paying attention in his years there. It had happened to Ron and Seamus a lot too, but it was still embarrassing.

Feeling like he would rather not be so embarrassed and would rather lighten the mood, he looked at her and asked with a smile, "Is there something in particular you'd like me to turn it into Professor?"

She raised her brows as more laughter made it's way in a wave around the classroom. Even Ron seemed to be amused.

"Oh by all means Mr. Potter. Impress us." She motioned to the small bowl. "How about a fish?"

Harry put his hand flat on the table as he aimed his wand at the bowl and wished he could abandon his wand altogether to try to use Root. He could actually feel life coming from the water, though he wasn't sure what it was. Maybe it was just germs or microbes or something. He remembered learning in primary that there were germs on everything.

What if he used Root while using his wand? He wasn't sure if that was possible. Part of Root was the fighting style of shooting off spells while sensing the life around you to dodge, but the part of Root that Harry was fascinated with was feeling the energy of life all around him and using that to change things, like making roots grow or dirt turn into mud.

"Any time Mr. Potter," McGonagall said, and Harry was brought out of his thoughts by another round of laughter.

He stared into the water and thought about fish and the way they swam. He wondered what their life force felt like and decided to try to figure it out down at the lake at some point. As he thought about the fish he aimed his wand at it and said the incantation. He was surprised when the water started to rise up out of the bowl. His hand was still flat on the table and he could feel the energy of whatever was in the water changing, as though it were vibrating at a speed it wasn't used to.

There was a gasp from several people in the room, but Harry wasn't paying attention. He was spinning his wand like McGonagall had lectured them about twenty minutes ago, and trying to get the energy in the water to want to be a fish. It wasn't working. Maybe the energy just wanted to be itself, he thought, irritated that it wasn't doing what he wanted. Ok, so be yourself, he said, trying to force that thought down through his wand arm and through the wand. A moment later the water melded not into a fish, but into a blob with a familiar shape. The blob split into two of the shape, and then into four, and then into eight, each replica of the water shape growing smaller as it divided.

"What are you making Mr. Potter?"

"I think it's the germs in the water," Harry said. He lowered his wand and the water splashed unceremoniously all over the table and Harry and McGonagall's shoes. Very little of it ended up back in the bowl.

"See me after class," she told him, and he wondered if he was in trouble as he sat down.

"Germs?" Ron asked from behind him when he was seated.

He shrugged. "The water wanted to be itself. I just let it be."

When class ended twenty minutes later and the students had filed out to go to lunch, Harry stood up and began packing his own bag. Ron and Hermione were waiting to hear what McGonagall had to say.

"What you did was interesting," she said. "Were you trying to form it into a fish?"

"Yes," Harry said. "But it didn't want to be a fish."

"Please explain."

"I could feel the energy in the water... the living things. I didn't know what was in there to make it have energy like that, but when I made it rise and told it to be a fish, the energy vibrated and I got the feeling it didn't want to do what I said. So I told it to be itself and that's what it did."

"You are aware that the water is not sentient?"

He nodded. Maybe she thought he was crazy. "I think the germs formed the water. It was their energy not mine. Like when I can make vines grow."

"I was unaware you possessed this type of knowledge or awareness."

"I was learning Root at Gemini."

"Yes, I am aware of the practice, though I was never very skilled at it. What you did with the water was not transfiguration though. It was something else entirely. Root as I am aware of it is being aware of the energy in all things, and the stored magic in non living things. How did you come to be aware of the actual living organisms in the water? That must have taken a great deal of concentration."

"I think it might be the meditation."

"Oh?"

"The teacher said that having the mind in order helps magic flow better. When I left we were working on being aware of what's in the outside world while meditating. That might have something to do with it."

"Whatever it was Mr. Potter, I'm impressed with your new-found skills. You will still have to practice and learn this form of transfiguration however, as you'll be asked to form the water into various things on the NEWT exams."

"Yes maam."

Hermione was pleased that Harry had done something so exciting and complicated with his magic as they walked to lunch, Ron trailing quietly behind.

"I'm proud of you Harry. I don't have a clue what it was you did though. I'm going to have to go to the library to check out books to read about it. I wonder if the Headmaster can do what you did."

Harry didn't see the scowl etched deep in Ron's face as he followed them to lunch.

* * *

The sun was making a last attempt at warming up the grounds as fall tried to turn leaves to glorious colors. It was Monday morning and Charms had been canceled because Professor Flitwick had come down with the wizarding influenza. That left Harry, Ron, and Hermione with a free period followed by another free period, followed by study hall. Hermione couldn't fathom spending so much time during a school day just doing nothing however, so she went to the library to study. Harry didn't want to be confined to the castle if he didn't have to be however, so he went out to the grounds with Ron.

"Fall's my favorite time of year," Harry said. "I like the colors of the leaves and the smell of a little fireplace smoke in the air."

Ron grunted in response.

"Do you want to go flying?"

"No."

"We could practice Keeping. I'm not much good with a Quaffle but I bet I could get it through the rings at least once."

"I don't need to practice Harry," Ron snapped, and Harry looked over at him with his brows raised. They'd practiced together last year before Harry's broom had been confiscated by Umbridge.

"What do you want to do then?"

Ron looked a little deflated after his outburst and said in an irritated way, "Just walk to the lake. Maybe the squid is out."

They altered course and began walking down towards the lake. When they got to the treeline, Harry reveled in the oranges, reds, and yellows of the tree leaves. There was a cool breeze blowing through and making some of them fall, and also ruffling their hair.

"This is nice," Harry said, but when he looked at Ron, his friend didn't look like he agreed.

"Maybe we can drag Hermione and Ginny out here later," Harry said, just trying to make conversation. "Draco'd probably like to come too."

"Great," Ron muttered. "Why don't I just stay in the tower by myself then."

"I thought we talked about this," Harry said. "Draco's just-"

"You know what Harry, why don't you just cut the crap? Huh?" Ron threw his hand down in anger as though that gesture alone would stop it. Harry wasn't sure what he was talking about though.

"What-"

"Oh yeah," Ron said in a mocking and angry tone. "Harry smoothed it over, no ruffled feathers, so everything's ok now. Just peachy. So Ron can just suck it up and be a man, right? Just forget that the hero of Hogwarts swept in and swept my girlfriend right off her feet? Forget that he replaced me with a Slytherin? Hm? That what you want Harry? Want me to just forget about everything like nothing happened at all?"

"Come on Ron, you know that's not fair." His response only seemed to make Ron angrier though.

In a high mocking voice, Ron tried to imitate Hermione and did a poor job of it. "Oh Harry you're so wonderful! Your magic is just exquisite! I've never seen anything like it before! Well you know what? I can't take it anymore!" He was huffing and out of breath. Harry's heart was up in his throat. He hated fighting with Ron, but he'd never seen him this mad.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm done Harry."

"Just like that? We're not friends anymore?"

"We stopped being friends the moment you took her from me! This is the last you'll see of me."

"Oh yeah?" Harry was starting to get angry now. It wasn't like he'd planned any of this. In fact he'd gone out of his way to try to not hurt either of his friends. It wasn't fair that he'd been caught in the middle. "Well maybe we were never friends in the first place if you're going to act like this!"

"What? Can't stand someone telling you the truth? You talk about loyalty and house traits, but you're not loyal. You don't even belong in Gryffindor. You don't belong anywhere!" Ron spat the last out and Harry felt stung. He felt like lashing out at his friend, his brother, because they were no longer friends or brothers and to him that meant that Ron's words rung true: he didn't have a place where he belonged because Ron was always the one who made him feel like he belonged at Hogwarts. So Harry lashed out, hands shaking as he said the words that he'd never dreamed of saying before.

"She picked me because I'm better than you. I can't help that."

Ron lunged at him and took Harry down to the ground, hitting him in the face. Harry forgot about shielding his face like he usually did, feeling more hurt than he'd ever felt before, and swung wildly at Ron's face, making contact. They rolled in the mud beside the lake for long moments before they both scrambled to their feet and lunged at each other again. Ron hit him in the stomach and Harry put his hand up over Ron's face, trying to keep him from seeing where he was hitting. Ron pushed his hand away and they grabbed each others arms. Ron was strong though and forced Harry backwards into the water. He hit Harry in the face again and Harry tried to push Ron over, but Ron gave him a forceful shove in return and hit Harry in the face harder than he had before. Harry fell backwards into the water, stunned, and went under. His mouth filled with lake water which mixed with the bitter blood that was already there. He struggled to get to the surface even though he was only in a few feet of water, but he was dizzy and seeing double and as soon as he broke the surface and gasped for air, he went down again, arms flailing. He struggled to get his head above the water again and caught a glimpse of Ron standing ten feet away and looking angry, face bloody. Harry thought he had his footing and was wondering if Ron would push him back into the water, when something grabbed his ankle under the surface and pulled him under. Surprised, Harry screamed and the air went out of his lungs under the water. Whatever had him dragged him away, and he was totally helpless without air. His wand was somewhere back on the shore, and his mind was too clouded to try to think the bubble head charm or do anything with Root, even if he did know how to use it in the water.

Harry felt like he was under the water forever, and felt confused. Was he back at Privet Drive? Was he shackled to the bottom of the tub? That had never happened before. There was a commotion somewhere nearby, but his vision had gone dark and he couldn't see anything anymore. He couldn't hear anything either. There was just nothing.

Harry came to several minutes later as someone struggled to drag him to the shore, trying to carry him under the arms from behind him. Harry coughed and choked on water and his own bile for a minute before being able to spit some of it out just before someone dropped him heavily on the shore, feet just out of the water. Harry looked up, confused. It was Ron, soaking wet and looking concerned and scared.

Harry coughed violently again and choked up more water. Ron slapped him on the back hard and Harry gave him a look that clearly said he was as scared and shocked as he was.

"What?"

"Grindylow," Ron said, and Harry noted that he was shaking slightly as he stood in front of him, hands on his knees, dripping water everywhere.

Harry frowned, trying to remember what had happened. They'd been fighting and then Harry had been struggling to break the surface. Then something had dragged him away and under the water.

"I thought you were going to let me drown," Harry said seriously. He realized he was also shaking.

"I couldn't do that. I love you Harry. You're my brother. I don't know what's wrong with me. I've never hit anyone before, ever."

"Me either."

Ron fell back onto his hind end in the mud and hung his head, too ashamed to look up again at his friend who had clearly just had a close call with death. Grindylows killed children every year, and Harry had almost been one of them.

"What are we doing Harry?" His voice sounded uncertain and pained.

"I don't know."

"I feel- I feel all wrong. Like everything's wrong with me and I can't do anything right." He ran his hand through the sopping strands of orange hair. "And you, you went off to school and changed. You came back wiser, older, able to do advanced magic. I'm still just Ron. I'm not worth anything, and I hate that. I lost her because of me Harry. I don't have anything to offer her or anyone else."

Breathing hard Harry closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to clear his vision. He was having trouble getting in a full breath and wondered how much water he'd breathed in while he was under. His brain felt fuzzy from the lack of oxygen, and he felt like he had to think twice as hard to say what he wanted to. "I- I'm just the same as I was. I'm never changing who I am. You don't have to worry about that."

"You say that, but we both know it's not true. And then I let you down. I'm such a bad friend that you thought I wouldn't even save you when you were drowning."

"That's to do with me," Harry said, not wanting to explain further than that. He didn't trust anybody most of the time, but especially when it came to water. Ron was one of the few he did trust. "I'd bet my life on you. You're my brother no matter how hard you hit me." He looked over at Ron then and said, "Damn you hit hard." He gulped for air again and Ron gave him a worried look.

"Come on, you need Madam Pomfrey. Unless you plan on telling the water to transform out of your lungs." Ron picked up both of the fallen wands and then helped Harry to stand up, and held his elbow as they made their way up out of the trees to the open castle grounds. Harry was unsteady on his feet because he was still feeling lightheaded.

"You were right," Harry told Ron halfway up to the castle. "We can't keep doing this."

"I understand if you don't want to be my friend after I hit you."

"No- I mean, we can't keep going on like we are. We've got to find a way to set this aside or it's going to tear us apart. I admire you Ron. You have no idea how much I look up to you for the way you act and the relationships you have."

Ron gave a nervous laugh then and Harry wasn't sure if it was because he was wheezing or not. "That's funny because I've always admired you for your bravery and leadership."

"I don't want to be a leader," Harry said. "I only do it because I have to. Part of why I like being your friend so much is because you like to take the lead, and when you're there it doesn't all fall on me."

Ron seemed both surprised and bolstered by that admission, and they were quiet until they got into the castle and to the Hospital Wing. Just outside Harry pushed Ron's hand off of his elbow.

"You're not hurt bad are you?" he asked, and Ron shook his head. He had a split lip and dried blood coming out of his nose. He probably had bruises up and down his arms and chest to go with them too, but that was the worst of it.

"Go on then. There's no use in both of us getting in trouble for fighting and getting points taken."

"Are you sure?"

"Just, clean yourself up," Harry said. "I think Ginny keeps a supply of minor healing potions in her dorm." So long as no one stopped Ron on the way to the tower to question why his shirt was ripped and he was covered in dried mud and why his hair was a mess, then things might work out.

Ron waited until Harry went in the doors and then stared at the solid doors for long moments. Harry really admired him? He liked to follow his lead? He was a friend worth holding onto, and Ron felt ashamed of how he'd acted. He turned and went back to the dorms. He'd lost Hermione, he didn't want to lose Harry too.

Madam Pomfrey did not believe that Harry had simply fallen into the lake by himself. Not with his split lip, black eye, and the fractured cheekbone.

"Did Mr. Malfoy do this?" she asked seriously. Everyone knew he and Harry were friends now, but she clearly believed they'd had a row.

"No."

"I believe that like I believe in Santa Clause Mr. Potter."

He gave her a look. She'd given him potions and used a spell to remove the water from his lungs.

"I want to know who you've been fighting with so I can treat them if they need it."

"It was a grindylow," Harry said, and she gave him a stern look.

Harry wasn't sure how he escaped the Hospital Wing an hour later without losing points or getting detention, though he reminded himself that that could still happen. Maybe she'd let him off easy because he looked tired and defeated.

Harry did not have a pass from Pomfrey to skip his last two classes of the day, so he sat through Defense and Divination next to Ron (who had showered and changed and didn't look too terrible). After their last class Harry asked, "Did you get into Ginny's Potions?"

"She thought I was starkers for breaking into her dorm room and rifling through her trunk. Luckily she was the only one in there. She scolded me and then covered me in bruise balm and sent me on my way. She said I was lucky she wasn't Percy or she'd write home to mum."

"Did you tell her what happened?"

"No, but she's gonna figure it out when she sees you at dinner in a few minutes."

"I'm not going to dinner. I'm going to study for a few minutes before I have to go to Occlumency. Tonight's the first night."

Ron sighed and gave a look at Harry's still split lip and black eye. The bruise on his eye was turning lighter from the bruise balm Pomfrey had applied, but what she had used must not have been as strong as what Ginny had.

"I'll save something back from dinner for you."

They paused in the Entrance Hall and stared at each other. "I'm sorry," Ron said.

"Me too," Harry told him, and then they parted ways as Ron went in to eat and endure glares from Hermione, who had already figured out that he'd fought with Harry, and Harry went down the stairs to the Dungeons.

Severus eyed Harry's face warily half an hour later as Harry knocked on the doorframe of his open office door and came in. He didn't comment though, for which Harry was grateful.

"You have reviewed the notes and practiced?"

Harry nodded and looked up from his seat in the visitor's chair expectantly. He wasn't dreading Occlumency like he used to, but he wasn't exactly looking forward to it either. He had tried to meditate and clear his mind since leaving Ron in the Entrance Hall, but he couldn't manage. When Ron had hit him, it hurt more than he wanted to admit to himself. He was used to people that hated him trying to thrash him, but when his best friend did it, it was worse. He couldn't forget the look of hate and anger in his friend's blue eyes either. For a few moments, Harry was certain Ron had wanted to kill him. And then he'd hit him hard and shoved him back into the water, and Harry was sure he'd let him drown.

Snape didn't comment on the troubled look Harry had. Instead he said, "Are you ready?"

Harry nodded, and in moments felt Snape enter his mind. He tried to throw up several of the shields he'd been told to practice, but each of them failed and the first memory Severus saw was the freshest, rawest memory Harry had. Ron was screaming words at him on the lakeshore that stung him like bees, they were throwing punches, Harry was stunned as he fell back into the water, vision blurry, something was grabbing him and dragging him under, and then Ron was dragging him onto land again as Harry was coughing up water.

"I thought you told Madam Pomfrey that you fell into the lake," Snape said impassively as he withdrew from Harry's mind.

Harry looked down at his hands. Obviously Snape must have spoken to her at dinner. The rest of the staff probably knew by now too that he'd had some sort of row.

"I can see that you are going to be useless at occluding your mind tonight," Severus told him. "Return tomorrow evening instead." He went to sit behind his desk again, and Harry looked up. No scathing remarks about how useless Harry was in a fist fight? No threats of detention or put downs for not being able to get a shield up? Harry wanted to ask him why he wasn't mad, but Snape was already grading student papers behind his desk again, as he had been when Harry had come in five minutes before.

"Ok," Harry said quietly, and he stood up and left, feeling confused.

He really just wanted to go back to the dorms and crawl into bed, but Hermione intercepted him in the Entrance Hall and they began to walk up through the castle together.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah."

"I know you were fighting with Ron."

"He told you?"

"No. I saw the bruises. You look a lot worse than he does."

"He hits harder," Harry said with a shrug. She looked angry on his behalf then and Harry stopped and turned to her, putting his hands on the sides of her shoulders. "It's fine."

"It's not fine! I can't believe he did that to you!"

"He didn't do anything to me. We fought together. And he saved my life from a grindylow in the lake."

"It sure looks like he did something to you."

Harry sighed. "You don't know how bad he feels. You can't understand because he hasn't told us until he told me today."

"It doesn't matter how bad he feels. There's no excuse for fighting." She seemed upset and unwilling to listen.

"You said you see me for me Hermione, and I believe you. You don't know how much that means to me, to have someone who knows who I really am, because no one else does. But there's something you should know."

"What?"

"Ron sees you for you."

"Don't say that Harry. You see who I really am. Ron's just- Ron."

"I like to think I do, but Ron saw you first. I'm not trying to be barbaric sounding. I mean that he was the first to see who you really are. He was the first to notice you, to make an effort to be the person you wanted him to be. You don't see it now, but he's still trying to be the best for you. He worked all summer so he could go to Gemini so he could live up to your intellectual standards. In the dorm, he reads books from the library so he can keep up with you when you're talking about things, and he's always been there for me just like he's always been there for you. I can't guarantee that I always will be."

She looked at him and he could tell she was feeling ashamed about having hurt Ron, but he hadn't intended for her to feel that way. "I don't want him to be hurt, but I have to think about me Harry, and what I feel."

"I don't say these things to make you feel bad Hermione. I will do everything I can to be who you need me to be. But I know I'm not good enough to be the man you want. Not like Ron is. There's a price on my head, and someday I'm going to have to face that. And when I go against Voldemort, I have to do everything I can to stop him. If that means I won't come back to you, then that's what it means. I can't help that. It's what was written for me before I was even born. Ron... he'll always be there for you. He will always make sure he comes back to you at the end of the day. I don't know if I have love like that."

"Sacrifice is the greatest love of all, isn't it?"

Harry looked at her seriously. "People say that, but it's hard to remember that when my parents are gone, and I have no one. Then all there is is loneliness, emptiness... and I can't feel the love from my parents at all. I just- you have to remember that."

"You're a better person than you think you are Harry. You're too humble for your own good sometimes."

"I'm just realistic. I have to be. When you have no one, you have to be."

"You have me," she told him. "You won't lose me." He wanted to believe her, but knew he couldn't. Ron had lost her and she had probably said the same to him. One way or the other, through Voldemort, or her coming to her senses and realizing that he wasn't who she thought he was, or that Ron was better, he would lose her. All he could do was enjoy the peace he felt with her while he could.

"Three days Potter. Only you could be on the cusp of having an understanding of Occlumency, and then spend three days throwing that understanding away." Harry didn't argue with him or even get mad. He only hoped that the man hadn't put all the pieces of the jumbled memories that he'd seen the last few days together. He'd only seen flashes of a tub full of water, but he'd seen the replay of himself dumping Harry into the cove enough times that he might start to relate the two.

"Again, pick one of the approved methods and stick with it."

"Yes sir." He heard Snape say the spell and felt him in his mind again. August staring at him in the water filled crevasse. "Come here before you drown." "No, you'll hurt me." Snape had seen this memory already this evening and seemed to be tired of it. He searched for another memory only to find himself watching Harry tumbling off a cliff in the darkness. He pulled out of Harry's mind and stared at him.

"What is it about water Potter?"

"Nothing," he lied.

"I believe that like I believe that you just fell into the lake the other day."

"Just leave me alone. Look at some other memories."

"I don't wish to see any of your memories Potter. I want you to apply yourself enough to master this skill so you can move on and learn other things. You are wasting both of our time."

Feeling irritable and not knowing why Harry said, "Yeah that's me, just a waste of time."

"I do not enjoy your teenage dramatics, nor do I wish to waste my time listening to such things."

Harry thought that was rich coming from him because he was often sarcastic to students and dramatic, especially if he was angry. He stood up. "I'll just see myself out then. You've got more important things to be getting on with then teaching me how to defend my mind." He opened the door and stomped out. Snape didn't call after him and Harry was grateful. The man was clearly irritated with him and his lack of progress, and an irritated Snape was never something he wanted to deal with.

Harry began his trek up out of the dungeons, and then started up the grand staircase in the entrance hall. He was almost to the top when there was a strange wooshing noise, and he paused mid step. It sounded like running water. He turned, wondering where it could be coming from, but saw nothing. The sound grew louder and Harry thought that whatever was leaking was going to flood the whole of the ground floor if they didn't fix it. He turned in a circle at the top of the stairs and realized he was alone. It was after dinner and most people would be in their common rooms or the library by now. Finally, wondering if he should find a professor, he took a step and heard a slap and looked at his feet. There was a growing puddle of water.

"What?" He turned again, feet slapping on the wet stones.

"Potter?"

Harry turned and found Snape staring at him from the bottom of the grand staircase.

"I didn't do it sir, I swear."

"What are you talking about Potter?"

"There's water everywhere sir," Harry said, turning in another circle.

Snape came up the stairs and looked at the floor where Harry was staring.

"I see nothing," he said, and met Harry's eyes just in time to see the confused look in them.

"It's running down the stairs. Where's it coming from?" Harry lifted a foot up high as if he was trying to keep his shoe dry.

"Potter- perhaps you should go to the Hospital Wing."

"What about the water?"

"It can wait."

He motioned with his hand for Harry to lead off in the direction of the Hospital Wing, and Harry took a step forward, but stopped cold as soon as he did. "I can't go that way. It's totally flooded." He sounded panicked, and took an uncertain step backwards.

"There is no water Potter." But Harry wasn't listening because the water he was seeing was heightening his fear of drowning as each second passed. Before Severus could stop him, Harry turned and ran back down the stairs, and then, heaving open one of the heavy oak front doors, he hurtled out of the castle.

Outside Harry was relieved to find that there was no water, though there was water running out the front door behind him and down the steps to the grass below. Snape came out the doors behind him and said sharply, "Potter, look at me."

Harry obeyed, but felt uncomfortable looking into the dark eyes of the Potion's Master. He found worry there, and that was something he wasn't used to seeing written across the man's face.

"Clear your mind. Now."

"But-"

"Clear it."

Harry closed his eyes, but was finding it a little more than difficult with the sound of running water. "I can't."

"Forget the approved methods. Think about your fears of water and pull them away from the forefront of your mind."

"I'm not afraid of water," Harry protested opening his eyes, but at the commanding look he received, he closed his eyes again. Because Snape was there in front of him, the immediate memory that came to mind was getting dunked in the cove, so Harry imagined that it was Snape trying to pry the memory out of him as he had been twenty minutes ago in his office, and yanked it away. Surprisingly Harry could feel the memory slipping to the back of his mind. It was strange, because he could still feel it there, could still remember, but it wasn't as sharp as it was before. It was as if it had happened a long time ago. He moved on to him and Ron fighting in the lake, and then the crevasse with August.

"Can you still see the water?"

Harry opened his eyes. There was still water, but he couldn't hear it anymore. It was as though the sound had turned off. "I can see it, but the sound is gone."

"It is imperative that you clear your mind. Because the images of water were at the forefront from our lessons, I believe the dark lord is using them to breach your mind."

Harry stared at him and a cold chill went over his body. Just like before, when he'd been made to believe Sirius was in trouble at the Ministry, he was being tricked. Harry stared at the water and willed with all his might that it would go away because it wasn't really there, but it only deepened in response, and began gushing out the castle doors.

"Is he here?" Harry asked.

"It is possible he is nearby and is trying to flush you out of the castle."

"Literally," Harry said, and received a sharp look in return.

"If he is aware of your fear, he is aware that I was helping you with occlumency."

"I'm sorry-" Harry started, but Snape held up a hand to stop him.

"Clear your mind, now."

"I can't."

There was a high laugh then, and Harry stared up at the sky and then to Snape, who was looking too.

"I heard it as well."

A moment later after another cackle a flaming ball fell out of the sky and right between them, making them jump back.

"Lestrange," Snape said. "Inside! Go!"

Harry ran back into the castle, despite that he still saw almost half a foot of water on the floor, and Snape slammed the door closed and warded it shut. There were several bangs on the front door, and then a burn mark appeared on the inside.

"Go to the Headmaster's office!" Snape shouted, and when Harry started to protest, the man reached out and shoved him forcefully in the direction of the stairs. Harry gave him a shocked look, and then ran. He was only halfway to the Headmaster's office when the man came around the corner in a hurry.

"Harry. He's here."

"They're trying to burn down the front door," Harry said.

Dumbledore lifted Harry's chin with two fingers and stared into his eyes. "He is inside your mind." He took Harry's hand, startling him, and began pulling him back down the hallway towards his office.

"But Snape's in the entrance hall by himself!"

"By now Minerva and Filius are already there. There are more pressing matters to attend to." Harry didn't see what could be more important than keeping death eaters out of the castle though. There were close to 300 students to protect. As soon as they were inside the man's office (Harry had never seen the stone steps rise so fast), the Headmaster was pressing a small silver orb into Harry's hands.

"What-" but he wasn't allowed to finish his question because the Headmaster was talking in hurried tones.

"He is only able to breach your mind because he knows where you are and because he is nearby. If you are suddenly not where he thinks you are, and in a place you don't know, the link will be broken until he can find you again."

Harry was about to ask what that meant, but the Headmaster looked into his eyes then and said, "Be careful Harry." Then he tapped the orb with his wand and said, "Away," and Harry felt the familiar tug of a portkey behind his navel. The Headmaster and his serious blue eyes and his office disappeared, and Harry found himself on a cobbled street in the twilight. He looked to his feet and the water was gone.

There was a scream from somewhere nearby and Harry searched for it. He seemed to be in an alley. He crept along the stone wall of a building and peeked out onto the main road as several more screams rent the air. He was in Hogsmeade, and for a moment he couldn't believe that the Headmaster had sent him away from the safety of the school. There was an explosion in the distance and Harry crouched low and ran down the street as close to the buildings as he could get until he could see Hogwarts up on it's hill. Something was on fire, but he couldn't tell what. It might have been one of the greenhouses. His heart wrenched. His friends were still at the castle.

A door burst open suddenly across the road, and the owner of the pet shop came tumbling out onto the cobbled street. Two masked death eaters came out behind him and hit him with a hex that lifted him into the air and cast a green glow around him. Harry wanted to throw a spell to help him, but he was out in the open and would give his location away if he did. Instead he slipped away into another alley, though he was unable to ignore the screams that followed him. There was another explosion and this time Harry could tell it was in Hogsmeade. They were going to burn the town down. He didn't know how many people he was up against or where Voldemort was, and in that moment he felt more vulnerable and alone than he ever had. Not even Ron and Hermione were there to stand back to back with him now.

Harry continued down the unfamiliar alley, uncertain how to get back to Hogwarts without being spotted by Death Eaters, who were running up and down the streets chasing shop owners and children. It sounded as though Madam Rosmerta was somewhere putting up a fight, but Harry couldn't tell if she was on High Street, or Low Street.

A child ran past the end of the alley where Harry was crouching in darkness and Harry reached out and pulled the small boy into the darkness. The boy's eyes were alight with fear and Harry held up a finger to his lips. "Where can you hide?" he whispered.

"A hidden room in the cellar of Honeydukes," he said, voice shaking. He pointed to a wooden door a few feet down the alley and Harry ran down the alley with him and unlocked the door with a spell. He opened it and the boy ran inside and disappeared. At a particularly loud cackle Harry shut the door and continued down the street, not wanting to be anywhere near the boy's hiding place if he were caught.

Suddenly a cold hand came out of the darkness of the alley and grabbed Harry's wrist, and his heart jumped up into his throat, pounding painfully. He spun, wand out, and found the pale face of Narcissa Malfoy. She had her wand up under his chin and digging into him painfully. She gave him a calculating look, searching from one wide eye to the other.

Grip painfully tight on his wrist, she said swiftly, "You are Draco's friend." It was a statement, and Harry wondered how much he'd told her about their summer. Her voice was tinted with disdain in the same way that Lucius' voice always was when talking to Harry.

Harry swallowed. "I don't know how good of a friend I've been to him." He tried to gauge her reaction, but her eyes were cold and lifeless like glass. "He's shown his friendship to me every time I least expect it."

Her grip loosened ever so slightly. "That does sound like Draco." There was a spark of something in her eyes not like glass there in the dark alley. It reminded Harry of the way aunt Petunia looked at Dudley. "He is like his father," she finished.

Feeling like he couldn't possibly be in any more danger than he already was there in the grips of a death eater who could apparate him away at any moment to Voldemort, Harry hazarded, "I've never seen Lucius be friendly."

"Draco is nothing like Lucius," she said with contempt, "Lucius is nothing but cruel."

"You said-"

"I know what I said."

Harry stared into her eyes, searching for an answer, or for that cold glass like look to disappear again.

There was another scream, and it made Harry's heart race faster than it had been before. It sounded like Rosmerta. Someone ran past the end of the alley, throwing a curse as they went, and when they were gone, Narcissa said quietly, "He doesn't know that his father is not Lucius." Harry's eyes came back up to meet hers again, and she let go of his wrist. "Have you never wondered why Severus Snape treats him with such kindness?"

"Professor Snape?"

"Is Draco's father," Narcissa said with finality. There was relief on her face, and Harry wondered if he was the first she'd ever told. He also wondered why she was telling him now instead of taking him to Voldemort. Maybe it was because he was Draco's friend. Maybe it was just to try to throw him for one last loop before she took him to his death.

He didn't bother to say that Draco looked nothing like Snape with his white blond hair because with magic he knew almost anything was possible. "And Professor Snape knows?"

"He does." There was another explosion, this time right near the end of the alley, and bits of glass and stone went flying landing at their feet. Something hit Harry on the temple and sliced his skin open. Narcissa acted as though nothing had happened at all. "I will not turn you over to the Dark Lord. Draco would never forgive me, and neither would Severus when he finds out the truth about you."

She stepped back from him, like she was done with him, but Harry shook his head in confusion. "About me?"

Her look of disdain came back. "He knows he has one son... he does not realize he has two." Harry let his mouth hang open slightly. He wanted to ask what she meant, but someone came into the alley then and she shoved him away from her. "Go!" she hissed and she apparated away. Harry did the same a split second later, uncertain of where he meant to go.

When he reappeared he wasn't anywhere close to Hogwarts. He was outside of Privet Drive, staring up at the quiet house in the darkness. Such a stark contrast from the war and chaos he had just left.

The porch light was on and he could tell that Aunt Petunia was in the kitchen washing dishes because the kitchen light was on as well. He imagined Uncle Vernon was probably in the living room watching the news. 'He knows he has one son... he does not realize he has two.' Narcissa Malfoy's words ran through his mind again, not just once, but over and over. 'Draco would never forgive me, and neither would Severus when he finds out the truth about you.' The truth about me? Professor Snape has two sons? Just finding out that Draco was Snape's son was shock enough. He didn't think he could handle fully thinking about the second son that Narcissa was implying. She can't be talking about me, Harry thought. She can't. She had to be lying, or trying to trick him somehow. Lily and James... but Gan's words from summer came back to him. He said that hate wouldn't cause a person to be so cruel, but resentment would. Harry hadn't had a clue what Snape would be resentful about during the summer, but with Narcissa's implications he thought he had an idea now. Snape wasn't resentful towards Harry but towards James. Because Lily had been with James and had Harry. But that wasn't true was it? Somehow, everything that Harry knew about the world had come crashing down in the last few minutes. He was not James Potter's son, he was Severus Snape's (if that was indeed what Draco's mother had been implying and if it was the truth), and with the revelation that Draco was Snape's son too, that meant that Harry and Draco were brothers. Harry had a father and a brother. It was what he had always wanted, but at this moment he felt betrayed. There was such a tangled web of lies to work through that he didn't even know where to start.

The front door he had been staring at blankly for several minutes opened and Aunt Petunia stepped out with a bag of rubbish and looked startled to see him there. "You!" she screeched.

Harry walked forward, uncertain about what he was doing. "Me," he said, and forced her to move aside as he swept into the house. He was confused and hurt and angry. He couldn't think of a way to make it stop. Could not think about the techniques Gan had taught him to let the emotions wash away from him. He was too full of adrenaline to use those techniques in any case.

"Vernon! The boy is back!"

Harry turned to face her so sharply that she took a step back in surprise. "I want to ask you a question, and then I'll be gone. I'll never come back." Her eyes were anything but empty like Narcissa's had been. They were hard and angry and shocked.

He heard his uncle lumber into the room behind him from the sitting room. "Ask it then boy, so we can be rid of your unnaturalness. Why aren't you in school anyway?"

"The school is being attacked," Harry said. "I escaped." He turned and stared directly into Petunia's eyes. "Who is my father?"

"James Potter. Why did you have to come all the way back here to ask that?" She eyed the gash on his head and Harry could tell that she wondered if he'd lost his memory, or perhaps his mind. The anger had faded and Harry wondered just how bad, and how angry he looked because she looked uncertain and afraid.

"But my mum, she wasn't always with James, was she?"

"She was with that riff raff that lived down the street from us. Severus Snape was his name. He went to school with her."

"He teaches at the school. I've been with him since I left in the summer."

"Just like your mother," Aunt Petunia spat. "Always running into his arms. It would make sense that he's your father instead of that James character."

"Why does it make sense?" Harry was hoping she'd say anything at all to dispute Narcissa's words... to turn them into lies. The more she said the more Harry's heart felt like it was shredding though.

"You look like him. I don't know why I didn't see it before." She said it as if she were disgusted. "I was surprised when she married James anyway. He was only nice when he wanted to be and she didn't have the sappy look of happiness in her eyes when she was with him, not like she did when she was with that boy... Snape."

Lily wasn't happy with James, but she had been with him, and apparently what Narcissa said was true. He was Snape's son. But so was Draco, and they were the same age. He didn't know when Draco's birthday was, but he didn't like the idea that Snape had somehow gotten two women pregnant in such a short time.

"Is that all you came for boy?" Vernon said gruffly, cutting his circling thoughts short. His patience seemed to be wearing thin. "You promised you'd leave and never come back after we answered your question."

Harry turned to stare at him. He had a desire to see fear in his uncle's eye's like aunt Petunia's. "I'll leave," he said, but he wanted to do something that he had never been allowed to do in that house before. Magic. He bolted up the stairs despite his aunt and uncle's shouts of protest and ran into the upstairs bathroom. He stared at the cold, empty, pristine bathtub. His nemesis. Wand in hand he pointed it at the tub and forced magic out of it with the intent to make the tub useless. It was like Snape had said about inventing spells with intent. He watched with satisfaction as the tub filled with liquid concrete. Petunia was behind him screaming then and Harry sent a spell at the tub that hardened it. That tub would never be used again. They would have to replace it, but he wouldn't be there to see it. He would never be back there again. He turned and stared directly into Petunia's fearful eyes and Vernon's surprisingly impassive ones and grinned. Then he turned on his heel and was gone with a loud pop, Petunia's screams following him to his next destination. Harry opened his eyes in the pitch blackness, and was once again alert, aware that cruel enemies could be anywhere, even in an unassuming house in a quiet neighborhood.

Why hadn't he gone back to Hogwarts to help them? It was his destiny to face down Voldemort, but he'd taken the opportunity that Dumbledore had given him to run. He could have made his way back to the castle. In fact, he was certain that's what Dumbledore had meant for him to do, or else he would have used the portkey to throw him somewhere far away and safe. 'Be careful Harry'. Not 'be safe Harry'. So why had he not gone back then after Privet Drive? The word 'Slytherin' flitted across his mind, and his mind began racing again. His father and brother were in Slytherin, and the hat had tried to put him there. He had certainly shown his true colors tonight by turning tail and running instead of facing death like a man. He imagined the Headmaster would be disappointed in him. Hermione would be too... he hadn't sacrificed himself for their safety. He'd sacrificed them for his own.

It began to rain harder and Harry took a step towards the castle in the darkness, immediately slipping in the mud and falling to the ground. He hit his knee on a rock and knew that his pants had ripped. James wouldn't care about Harry if he knew the truth, but what about Sirius? What would Sirius say if he saw him now, lying in the mud in the darkness after having run from everything he was supposed to be?

He pushed himself up, slipped, and finally found solid footing on a patch of grass.

There were lights on in the castle, but Harry couldn't remember where the main entrance was because he hadn't used it when they'd visited at the end of the summer. The thought crossed his mind that he also didn't know what room Axle slept in or how to find him. He could apparate to Hogwarts now and show he wasn't a coward, but paused at the thought. No, he would have to take his chances here even if it was a cowardly choice. Harry lit his wand and shined it at the ground, looking for any flowers he could pick. He'd have to take a chance on going in the side entrance and hoping to run into Axle there or else find his mum instead of some other staff member who would likely send him straight back to Hogwarts.

With a few soggy flowers in hand (some of them wilted), Harry made his way over a footbridge and around the side of the castle to the small side door. It was locked, but he opened it with, "Alohamora," feeling like he was entering the Forbidden Forest or the Restricted Section of the Library. The hall beyond the door was empty, and the torches flamed low. It was probably later at night here than it was at Hogwarts.

Leaving wet footprints down the hall, Harry crept around two corners and to the kitchen. He pushed the wooden door open slightly and peered inside. There was someone at a sink with their back to him doing dishes with magic. It was Axle's mother, and Harry's mind flitted to Mrs. Weasley then. Why hadn't he gone to the Burrow? They would have taken him in wouldn't they? Or would they have contacted Dumbledore and told him that Harry had run. Or maybe they would have just looked down at him and shaken their heads since he had hurt Ron's feelings. Well either way the Headmaster and everyone else would know Harry had run now.

He pushed the door open all the way and stood there, still soaking as water dripped onto the clean stone floor. After a few moments Axle's mother turned with a clean pot in hand intending to put it away and spotted Harry. She startled, but then set the pot down and hurried over to him.

"Oh!" she fussed. "Harry, what are you doing here?"

"I didn't know where else to go," Harry said, but felt conflicted in doing so. Now that he was here, half a dozen places came to mind where he could have gone aside from the Burrow. Grimmuald Place, to the cabin Remus lived in that he'd sent a picture of last month, Gemini, or even Snape's house. All places they might look for him. Maybe he didn't want to be found, but he couldn't think of why. Hogwarts was home, and here he felt like he had left it for good.

She ushered him to a wooden chair and when he sat, took the damp dish cloth hanging from the apron she wore and began wiping dirt and blood from Harry's face. She pulled out her wand and closed the gash on his temple and then stood back and looked Harry up and down.

A moment later the door on the other side of the kitchen opened and Axle walked in. He stopped suddenly seeing Harry there, and looked confused and concerned. "What's going on? Harry, why are you here?"

"Go and get your father. Hurry now." Axle gave a last look at Harry and then disappeared.

"Hogwarts was attacked," Harry said. "I know I can't stay here or Voldemort will come looking for me eventually."

"Don't worry yourself about that now. Let's see what Alvar has to say."

The door opened again and August came in with Axle looking concerned. He looked to his wife and then to Harry, who still had a good deal of blood on his face.

"Hogwarts has been attacked," August said. It wasn't a question. Knowing who Harry was and his dealings with Voldemort, he had pieced it together.

"I'm sorry for coming here," Harry said. "I don't want to put you in danger. Voldemort- he was inside my head and the Headmaster sent me away by portkey to Hogsmeade to stop the connection. The village was under attack too though. A death eater caught me but I got away." He didn't think he should go into detail. If any of them got caught, the information that it was Narcissa who had let him get away, as well as the information she'd told Harry could easily be tortured out of them.

August was looking into Harry's eyes and it was unsettling, because the man wasn't saying anything. There were no questions about the story Harry had just relayed, or about how he'd gotten there to Boden all the way from Hogwarts. Just - searching. Like he wanted to know who Harry was and what he was all about at that particular moment, though Harry didn't feel the man inside his head using Legillimency.

"All right," he finally said in a steady tone after long moments of staring at Harry. Harry wondered if he could sense his fear somehow. Sense his cowardice and his loneliness and his longing to go back to his home.

"Sir?" Harry asked.

"We will hide you."

"You don't have to. It's dangerous. I'm not sure why I came here." He felt in the back of his mind he was certain why though. It was something more than just hiding so he wouldn't have to face Voldemort. He wasn't ready for that yet despite that he'd faced him so many times. But the vision of Snape lying dead in the Entrance Hall or else alive and staring down his nose at Harry, the possible son who always disappointed him weighed much heavier on him than fighting Voldemort yet again.

"Our Headmaster is not like Dumbledore," August said in a serious tone. "He does not take in werewolves and half giants, and he wants nothing to do with the war your ministry is involved in. When he finds out you are here, you will not be welcome. But I am not the Headmaster. You will stay with us until he finds out. You will go to classes."

"What about the other staff... and the students?"

"The Headmaster rarely comes out of his rooms. He is lazy and does not like to be bothered. Even if a staff or student wanted to report you, they would find it difficult to do so. In any case, we will say you are a new transfer. Basia came last month and brought her older brother, and it is not uncommon for someone to transfer in from Beauxbatons for a few months."

"I guess I'd better learn French," Harry said.

"It will be better if we change your name and say you came from Beauxbatons even though you are from Britain. Many students from your country go to Beauxbatons."

"I didn't know that," Harry said, and his mind flitted back to Draco again, whose parents had wanted to send him to Durmstrang instead of Hogwarts.

"Well," Axle said. "What's your name going to be then?" He seemed excited to have Harry there, but Harry was too wound up and tense to feel anything else at the moment. Harry stared blankly at his friend and then at his parents. They didn't even question that he was there and didn't suggest sending him back after the attack was over, if there was anything left of Hogwarts to send him back to.

August and his wife shared a look and then she said, "Henry I think. Henry Bellamy."

"That's good," August said. "A French name. You can tell people you have family in France which is why you were sent to Beauxbatons."

Harry let the name roll around in his mind for a moment. He could live with that. Henry sounded a lot like Harry, so he didn't think it would be too hard to get used to responding to it.

After working out a few more details of Henry's life story, Harry followed Axle and his mother to a room used by the school's seamstresses (of which Axle's mother was also one), and was given a uniform. She also brought out several shirts and pants that had been left behind by other students, and then told both boys to go to bed. Axle lead Harry up through the castle to his dorm, and pointed to an empty bunk below his own. There were two other boys sleeping on the other set of bunks.

"Father will bring some things up for you later," Axle told him as he climbed into his own bunk. "Books and school supplies. You'll have to use the same spell we used at Gemini to speak our language for classes." Axle yawned and laid down in the top bunk. Harry was tired, but he still felt amped up and nervous. Could this work? Could he just get away with sneaking into the student population of another school? He was safe here for the time being, but felt unsettled about it. He had no idea if his friends were ok, or if they were even alive. For all he knew, Hogwarts could have been razed to the ground, or the battle could still be raging. He didn't close his eyes because he didn't want to imagine it. It was too horrible to think about.

Several hours later, when Harry was almost asleep, the door to the dorm creaked open and Harry sat straight up with his wand aimed, panic rising in his chest again.

"It is only me," came August's voice through the darkness. He came and crouched next to Harry's bed. "Henry, I went to your old school." Harry blinked a few times and felt stupid because he had already forgotten that Henry was his new name. August looked behind him to see if the other two students were asleep, and turning back to Harry whispered, "The falling out you had with your parents is over. Everyone is fine. I'm certain everything will return to normal soon."

"Do they know where I am?" Harry asked. He wondered if August had spoken to the Headmaster.

"I spoke to no one. There was some damage and people were busy repairing it. I observed and listened, and all seems to be well."

Harry sighed in relief. August had risked his life going to Hogwarts just to bring Harry reassurance.

"Thank you," Harry said.

"Will you be contacting them?" August said.

"Only Draco. I'm not sure if an owl would be... wise."

"We have other ways of communication. Write a letter and Axle will show you how to send it." He stood up from where he was crouching in the darkness, gave one last look at Harry, and then left the small room, closing the door behind him.

I'm safe, Harry told himself, but a coward for being so.

Harry was still tense and anxious in the morning. Axle rose early and reminded Harry to do the spell that would let him understand their language. He had barely put the spell on when the other two boys woke and looked at Harry curiously.

"Henry, from Beauxbatons," Axle offered as an introduction, and at the blank look on the other two boy's faces, Harry raised his hand in a silent wave.

"Lucas," the sandy haired boy said from the top bunk as he pulled a gray blue t-shirt on, and the boy from the bottom bunk said, "I'm Erik."

"Got it," Harry said awkwardly, feeling like he needed to say something. He already missed Ron and Hermione, and Neville and Seamus and Dean. Ginny flitted across his mind then and he decided that he missed her too, even if she was still mad at him for dating Hermione.

Lucas and Erik got dressed in their uniforms but kept giving Harry curious looks as they pulled clothing out of their dressers and stuck books and Muggle lined notebooks in their book bags.

"Have you been here before?" Lucas asked.

"I know Axle from Gemini over the summer," Harry said. "I saw the castle for a few hours. It's nice."

"Nicer than Beauxbatons?"

"It's different," Harry said. "I like it." He felt like he should make something up about Beauxbatons to make his story seem more real, but he was worried he would make something up that was unbelievable. They had said a lot of people transferred in from Beauxbatons, which meant there was a possibility that there were other Beaxbatons students there now. Hopefully Beauxbatons had a big enough student population that not everyone knew everyone.

"Henry, this way," Axle said, and lead Harry to a staircase he hadn't seen the other night. "It goes straight to the kitchen hall," Axle said. Lucas and Erik followed at an easy pace.

"What's it like there?" Erik asked at the bottom of the stairs. Harry opened his mouth and was going to start telling them about the dorms in Gryffindor tower and the four houses when he remembered he was no longer officially from Hogwarts. Instead he told them what the Beauxbatons students had told him about the private dorms for upper years when he and Axle had visited Beauxbatons.

"It's very open. Lots of high windows and light in every hall and room."

"Do you have a forest with a troll there?"

"No," Harry said. "A little lake in the mountains and a big wide open lawn."

"You have an English accent," Erick observed.

"My aunt and uncle live in France," Harry lied. "My cousin Piers goes to Beauxbatons so my family sent me there as well." Piers was Dudley's lankey friend who always had a scowl on his face, but the name seemed French to Harry, and he didn't want to use Dudley's name.

"My sister went to Beauxbatons for a term," Lucas said. "She said it was lonely there because none of the staff have families there."

Harry shrugged because he didn't know what to say to that.

After sitting down at one of the large round tables in the dining hall, Harry tried to act normal when he received curious looks from several people around him. The staff didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary, and Harry wondered if August had already told them that he was a late transfer student. Axle made a few more introductions before the meal of fish and bread with berry jam was over, and then lead Harry out into a wider hall lined with classrooms, and small footbridges leading over the river that ran through the school.

"Does anyone ever fall in there?" Harry asked.

"On purpose, all the time," Axle said, "but not in winter. If you can hold your breath it will flush you out under the outer wall of the school and into the meadows."

Harry filed the information away for later, thinking that if he needed to make a fast escape through unfamiliar halls from Voldemort, that he could hop in the river though that wasn't a desirable option.

"What about the other students from here that went to Gemini?" Harry asked. "There were a few others."

"They graduated. Here we're also allowed to go to Gemini after our last year of school has ended." They walked further down the hall and Axle said, "We have growing first." He led Harry out of the back of the castle to a plot of land surrounded by three glass greenhouses.

"There is no teacher," Axle explained to Harry. "I'll show you the spells to help the food grow." He led Harry over to a list nailed to the wooden wall of a shed. It had that day's date on it and a list of vegetables and fruits with a number next to each one. Axle took out a black muggle pencil and crossed off 14 cabbages. "That's what you and I are going to be responsible for harvesting today."

"I don't know how to do any of that," Harry said, but followed Axle into the shed where he pulled out a gardening tool, and then followed him into a greenhouse where there were mounds of dirt in straight rows.

"This one is the cabbage row," Axle said. There was a sign on the end with a picture of cabbages, but Harry didn't see cabbage. He saw tiny sprouts sticking up out of the dirt.

Axle bent down, pointed his wand at a sprout, and said a spell. The sprout doubled in size. Then he moved on to the next one. "I'm making them grow. The next group will come in in an hour and make them grow a bit more. Students do it throughout the day and then you and I will come back before dinner and pick them and take them to the kitchens. Then the last group will come in after dinner and plant cabbage seeds tomorrow."

"And this is how the school gets food to eat?" Harry asked.

"How do you get food at- Beauxbatons?"

"I don't know," Harry admitted. "Maybe the house elves buy it."

Harry tried the spell on a sprout, and it shot up three times as high as Axle's.

"You have to control the power going through your wand. If you make it grow too quickly it won't taste good. The cooks will yell at you and so will the teachers when they taste it." Harry tried again and really concentrated on restricting some of the magic from leaving the wand, and the next sprout looked more like Axle's. It wasn't long before they were done. Axle used his wand to water the row of cabbages and sent Harry to water the next row which were carrots. Before their hour was up they had watered the entire greenhouse, and Axle explained that only 6 students per hour came to grow food and that each greenhouse was taken care of by 2 students each hour.

"The next two that come in will start growing some of the other rows that take less cycles of magic to grow, and will continue growing our cabbage." It seemed like an efficient system to Harry, and also a good way to practice how much power you allow through your wand, something that they didn't often focus on at Hogwarts. Harry wondered if they did practice it more often, if people would be better at Transfiguration, which did sometimes require you to control your power.

After they left the greenhouses, Harry asked what class they had next, but Axle said they had a free period, and took him out to the meadow in the front of the school.

"So. Last night was pretty intense at your school?"

Harry gave him a sideways look. "Is it always this mellow here?" he asked in return.

"Mellow? Yes. The most interesting thing that happens is when the troll comes to the front door and demands a student trade him something back for his rubies."

"At Hogwarts it's something new each year. The first year I was there Voldemort tried to steal the philosopher's stone the Headmaster had hidden under a trapdoor on the third floor guarded by a cerberus." Axle raised a brow. "In my second year, Voldemort tried to re-incarnate himself from a diary he'd possessed as a teenager. He released a basilisk on the school and a lot of people and ghosts got petrified. I had to fight the basilisk. In my third year Voldemort didn't show up, but there were other things to deal with like my Godfather who I thought was a murderer out for my blood. That worked out ok in the end I guess."

"And the teacher's allow this?"

"Not- allow. It just happens. To me. Every year. Fourth year was the tri-wizard tournament, which a death eater illegally entered me into, fifth year there was an evil witch from the ministry teaching and trying to take over the school as she tortured students..." Harry didn't want to finish with Sirius' death at the Ministry. "This year, Voldemort finally attacked the castle. He was trying to lure me out. He got inside my head and made me think the castle was flooding."

"And your headmaster gave you the portkey?"

"It worked. It got Voldemort out of my head." And then I ran, Harry thought, allowing his features to harden.

"Father said he went last night and the school seemed ok."

"My friends could still be dead. If I stay here long, everyone here will be attacked too."

"But no one knows you're here, right? Only us."

"Voldemort has spies everywhere. He'll figure it out eventually."

"We don't have a problem with him in Sweden."

Harry gave him a serious look. "You don't know him like I do. He has spies everywhere."

"Will you run away from us too?"

Harry's head snapped over to Axle. "What?"

Axle looked confused. "I said does your Ministry have spies here too?"

"Oh- I don't think so. Our Ministry isn't involved with the fight against Voldemort. It's smaller groups like the Order of the Phoenix that stand up to fight against him." Harry was certain he'd heard Axle say something else.

"Oh, rebels," Axle said. "A lot of the popular novels in the library are about rebel groups. Most of them are from the People. Did you know there's even one about rebels at Boden?"

Harry gave him a curious look. "Here? What are they fighting against?"

"Going to classes. One of the People in the village wrote it. He imagined himself into the school and the battle for freedom from the teachers. The spells he made up for the story were fascinating."

Harry was interested to find out that they had another free period right after the one they'd just finished, but Axle said this one was strictly for studying and if they were caught being lazy they'd have to help the librarian put away books and dust shelves. Axle pulled out a book and walked Harry through the last few chapters of what they'd been doing in magery, which was the next class they'd be going to.

At the end of the day Harry had been to Growing (twice), Magery, Advanced Charms (which had a lot of charms he had mastered in 5th year charms at Hogwarts), and had three free periods along with breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It would have been a relaxing day if he hadn't been thinking about the friends he'd left behind at Hogwarts, who may or may not be alive.

"Your dad said I could write letters to- Beauxbatons," Harry said to Axle when they got back to their dorm. Lucas and Erik weren't there. Apparently they had a late astronomy class.

"Here," Axle said. He gave Harry a black piece of parchment from the top desk drawer and a bottle full of white ink. "Write your letter on that and then we can take it to the box for letters."

"We're mailing it to Hogwarts?"

"When you put it in the box it will be transported to a box in England somewhere at an owl office. We use black paper and white ink because the magic makes it reverse. It will appear at the owl office as white paper with black ink. They'll send it along to the person it's supposed to get to. Just fold the paper up and write their first and last name on the outside."

"Good," Harry said. "I have to write to Draco."

"Not to Hermione?"

"No. No one can know I'm here."

"But Draco will know."

"I'm not telling him where I am. I have information he needs to know though." Harry put the end of the quill between his lips, wondering how he could word the letter so that Draco might be able to figure out who it was from without Harry signing his name. The things he had to say were also delicate and he didn't want to give away Snape directly in case the owl was intercepted.

'I ran into someone who informed me that your father is not the man you think he is.' Harry started. That didn't sound exactly right though. It could be read in a way that implied that Lucius was his father but not the kind of person Draco thought he was. Biting the quill again to think, Harry decided on how best to clarify his meaning. ‘Think about the man who has always been very good to you. This man knows you are his son but has never been allowed to tell you for safety. I have to believe that knowing we were friends, the one who told me expected me to tell you.' The only two people who knew were Draco's mother and Snape. Hopefully Draco would write to his mother to get the sordid details or else go to Snape. Either way, Harry felt like he'd done what he was supposed to do in telling Draco. Why else would Narcissa start off with, 'You're Draco's friend,' and then finish by telling him that Draco's father was Snape? Harry looked at the letter and felt indecisive about sharing the rest of the information he had. He wanted to tell someone because it was going to eat him up alive if he didn't, but he wasn't sure Draco was the right person to tell. But he was his brother. If anyone should know, it would be him. After all, by sending this letter, Harry would be turning Draco's world as he knew it upside down. Maybe it would be the polite thing to do to let Draco know that his world had also been turned upside down. He put the quill to the paper again and wrote, ‘This man also has another son (you have a brother) but he does not know and shouldn't. Both of you would be in danger if anyone ever found out. Though when he does find out I want to see his face when he realizes how he has treated his other son over the years.' Harry had never corresponded with Draco before and didn't know if Draco would recognize his handwriting or not, so at the bottom of the letter he drew a tiny Firebolt. As far as Harry knew, he and Draco were the only two people at Hogwarts to ever own a Firebolt even if Draco had only owned one for a short time.

From a chair at the other desk in the room, Axle watched Harry curiously to see if he was finished yet. "Ready to send it?"

"No," Harry said, feeling like he was sending a piece of himself away with the letter, or at least a very big secret about himself. "But it's going anyway." He folded the thick black parchment in thirds and then wrote Draco's name on the outside.

Axle got up and lead him to the end of the hall where there was a box, and told Harry that this was the box for everyone that lived in this hall, so this is where he should check for return letters in the future.

"Will anyone at the owl office be able to read this?"

"No. The best thing about the way we send mail is that only the intended recipient can see it. It takes a lot of different spellwork by multiple people to read what's on a letter from a Swedish person if it's not meant for them."

"Good," Harry said. He dropped the letter into the mailbox and then went back to the room with Axle. How would Draco react to the letter? Would he go to Snape and demand the truth? Harry hoped that whatever he did he would write back. Harry wanted to ask him about Ron and Hermione, but he'd have to figure out a way of doing it so their names didn't get written into the letter. If there was a way to read the letter, Voldemort would figure it out if it got into his hands, no matter how complicated the spellwork would be.

Harry checked the mailbox throughout the next day between classes (Growing three times, Transfiguration (where they worked on the same thing McGonagall had been trying to teach when Harry left), and Potions). Finally just before bed he checked a final time and found an envelope with his name on the outside. He opened it eagerly and found a black parchment with white ink on it. It looked like Draco's messy cursive.

‘What does my brother think about having me for a brother and a bat for a father?' That was all it said and Harry felt rather disappointed. He wanted to know what Draco thought, not to be asked what he felt. The things he felt were too jumbled and confused to put into words. He didn't write a reply that night, and didn't write one the next day or the day after that either. It was the end of the week before Axle asked Harry why he seemed sullen and wasn't talking much.

"Don't know," Harry said.

"You got a reply back from Draco though."

"Yeah."

"What did he say?"

"I'd have to tell you everything I wrote to him first."

"Yeah?"

Harry looked at him. It was too dangerous to tell him. He knew that. Despite Axle's belief that they were safe there, Harry knew better. He knew he was a coward for leaving his friends in danger at Hogwarts, but he was also a coward for coming to a place and endangering people that hadn't been in danger before. No, Voldemort would come and Axle would be tortured for information. Harry wanted to push that thought aside and pretend it wasn't true, but he couldn't. He looked away from his friend.

"Do you keep secrets from your other friends?" Axle asked.

"This would put your life in danger."

"You really believe that don't you?"

Harry looked up at him. "You don't understand what it's like with Voldemort in power. He intercepts people's mail, destroys businesses and murders entire families. The only place that was safe was Hogwarts and he tried to destroy that too. One of his people murdered my Godfather in front of me just before I came to Gemini."

Axle looked at him seriously. "Is he anything like Grindewald?"

"Worse," Harry said. "He's more like... Hitler, but a wizard."

Axle frowned. "The people teach the history of Hitler. We have to learn it here too in the lower years."

Harry pulled out a piece of black paper and began writing his response to Draco on it. 'He is pleased to have a brother but confused about how the bat is his father and not sure if he's more angry or... angry by the web of lies he's believed his entire life.' Harry paused and wondered how to enquire about his other friends. Finally he wrote, ‘Your brother heard there was a commotion the other day and would like to know if many people had to see an undertaker.'

After Harry had mailed the letter he lay on his bed and stared at the bottom Axle's bunk which was above his. Axle had gone to the library but came back rather quickly with a book which he handed to Harry.

"What's this?" he asked.

"Reading takes my mind off of things. Whatever it is upsetting you, maybe you can escape it for a while."

Harry took the book and looked at the title. It was the novel Axle had talked about that was written by a Muggle about students revolting against teachers at Boden. Axle climbed up into his bunk with his textbooks to do homework and Harry stared at the cover, not really seeing it. Escaping. Apparently that was what Harry was good at. He didn't think he deserved to just escape reality and forget about everything.

"He's such a coward." Harry looked up as Lucas and Erik walked in.

"Look at him just lying there," Lucas said with a smirk like Draco's.

"What?" Harry asked sitting up, still holding the library book.

Lucas and Erik walked over to him. "Did your language spell wear off?" Lucas asked.

Harry frowned, "No-"

"I said we have Howard. He's the star Chaser on Boden's Quidditch team."

"Yeah, with him flying there's no way we can lose in the match next week," Erik said.

Harry felt stupid then. "Oh." He laid back down. He was sure they'd called him a coward.

He tried to imagine Draco's response to his letter telling him that August was wrong and that Ron and Hermione had actually died.

I have to stay away from them to keep them safe, Harry tried to reason. That's not why I ran away but it's why I can't go back. If I go back, Voldemort will attack them again. It made sense but he knew it wasn't the complete truth. He didn't want to go back to face his father. Not yet. Maybe not ever. All of the confused feelings he'd had about Snape over the summer were all jumbled up and at the forefront of his mind again. He would have liked to have had a family, but not Snape. Snape would be a horrible father. Well, he'd be all right for Draco, he thought. He had bought Harry clothes and bedding though. And he had bought back Harry's Firebolt. And carried him up from the beach when he was hurt. Stop it, he thought to himself. I don't need a father. I'm 16. What good would it do me now to get close to Snape? He didn't even think it would be possible to get close to him. But he remembered the look Snape wore after Harry had gone into the crevasse after August. It was the wary and concerned look Adeline wore. Harry was still scared of him though wasn't he? That was a good enough reason to stay away from him. He would be just like the Dursleys... had in fact already proved time and again that he was like them with his biting words and snide comments. But Harry couldn't find any fear at the thought of Snape at this moment. Not after having tutoring with him and working for him. So why am I staying away then?

The next morning Draco's reply came. It was short but Harry let out a sigh of relief after reading it. ‘No one saw the undertaker. Mostly teachers and villagers saw the healer. The commotion didn't last very long once it was realized that someone was missing.'

* * *

Harry spent the next week barely talking. He was doing poorly in Transfiguration but was surprised that the teachers here were keen to give one on one attention to struggling students and was invited to stay during his free periods to get extra practice from the Transfiguration teacher. He explained things differently than McGongall had, or perhaps Harry just hadn't stuck around long enough to hear what McGonagall had to say about this form of Transfiguration, and with the extra help Harry was finally getting somewhere with it.

Harry had also been invited to private meals with Axle and his mother and father. His mother and father had a small house behind the school and sometimes took their meals there.

"Some of the other teachers know who you are," Axle's father told Harry a week and a half after he'd been there.

"They know?"

"They have seen your scar and have heard in the news about the attack at Hogwarts. They are not interested in turning you in to the mad man." Harry learned that instead of You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named they called him the ‘mad man' here because they saw him as crazy. "They are curious about you."

"Curious how?" Harry asked.

"Even though you are not famous here, many of the staff have heard of your deeds at Gemini and at Hogwarts. They have been talking about how quiet you are for such an accomplished wizard."

"Oh," Harry said glumly. He didn't feel very accomplished. He doubted Dumbledore, accomplished as he was, would ever run away from a battle. Harry remembered again how Dumbledore had sent him away but expected him to return. Dumbledore had trusted him to come back, not to abscond into the night. Harry supposed he had been very quiet that week. He wasn't interested in talking to people. He answered questions when asked, but most of it was lies about his time at ‘Beauxbatons'.

"We have sympathy for you here," Axle's mother said, "But it is hard for us to understand how your Ministry has let such a man continue his reign of- what is the word?"

"Terror," Harry filled in for her. Harry had a hard time understanding it too. He didn't know why the Ministry didn't step in.

"How they could leave it to their youth to fight such battles," she said as though such a thought was incomprehensible.

"It's mostly adults," Harry said. "A lot of people that work for the Ministry fight him, just not with Ministry approval. People are scared."

"Evil only exists if people let it exist in their hearts or in others," August said.

And I'm letting it exist by running and hiding, Harry thought silently. Harry wondered then how they would handle it if Voldemort was murdering their families and was set loose in their community. It was all well and good to say, ‘someone should do something to stop it,' but what would they actually do? Harry didn't voice his opinions though because he was aware he was only allowed to be here because they liked him and were grateful that he'd saved August's life.

Once Harry knew that some of the teachers knew about him he went to classes with the intent of watching how people looked at him and interacted with him. In defense (which really was a year behind what Hogwarts was teaching), Harry was treated like any other student. The same was true of his time in Charms class. In Magery August tried to treat Harry like any other student but was giving him extra help to catch up to the other students in his year. Harry thought that he really would have liked to have had this help in the subject all summer instead of being put down and ignored. In Transfiguration Professor Falk seemed to watch Harry closely however, and was quick to come to his desk and help him when he was struggling. Harry had a free period right after Transfiguration and stayed for extra tutoring while Axle went off with Basia to the library.

"Why are you giving me so much extra help?" Harry asked him.

Falk gave him an evaluating look. "I would have thought it was obvious by now Mr. Potter that you need the help."

Harry looked down at his wand. So this was one of the teachers who knew who he was. "I've never been very good at Transfiguration."

"You know that is not what was meant."

Harry looked up. Yeah, he knew. He had to fight his battles at some point. He wasn't sure how Transfiguration was going to help with that, although Snape's camouflaging magic was handy to have for when he didn't want to fight.

"You are in Gryffindor, are you not?" the man asked. Harry stared at him, not sure if he was hearing things again. It had been happening a lot lately. When Harry didn't answer Falk continued. "I know the Gryffindor head of house. We attend the same transfiguration conferences together year after year.

"I didn't know that," Harry thought aloud. He always just assumed the professors stayed at the castle over the summer to take care of school business. It was a silly thought to have now that he thought about it. They must have homes and families to go back to. Snape had a house away from the castle.

"Did you know that our government keeps close tabs on your war?"

"People seem indifferent here," Harry said. He didn't think they knew at all.

"Many are. We have not known war for many years. That does not mean we are ignorant about what goes on in other magical communities. It did not take long for many of us to recognize who you were after we heard about the attack on Hogwarts." Harry didn't know what to say so he stayed silent.

"Alvar said you had a difficult time at Gemini, yet you persevered and continued on."

Harry stared at him. August had told them about what had happened? "Yeah-" he said cautiously. He was still wary that any of the professors here could turn against him or turn him in.

"One wonders then, after persevering through something like that, what you plan on doing next."

"Sir?"

"You will not find anyone here who will turn you over to the mad man or who will insist you return to Hogwarts. You could stay for an indefinite amount of time."

"I could..." Harry agreed quietly.

"But will you?"

Harry knew where this conversation was going. He was supposed to be the hero, even here where they weren't involved in the war with Voldemort. If he'd gone through so many bad things before and kept going, then why was he here hiding out now? Falk wanted to know when he was going back to get on with things. To take care of the world's Voldemort problem.

"You may think I want you to return to some imminent battle, but that is not what I want."

"That's what everyone wants," Harry said.

"There comes a time in every person's life when they have to return to face the truth. What you do when you face that truth determines who you are and will be for the rest of your life. That is what I want to see Mr. Potter. That is what we are waiting to find out. Whether you return to the war or not makes no difference. Returning to the truth however, to yourself, that is what matters."

Falk looked at his watch. "Take out your wand. If you are to learn any Transfiguration today we must begin before my next class arrives."

Harry took out his wand and began to practice, but didn't get anywhere. He was too busy being lost in his own thoughts about what Falk had said. Did they really not care if he went back or not? He was sure Dumbledore cared. He was sure his friends cared. He felt bad about Hermione then because he'd left her just like he said would happen. He wasn't selfless like Ron was. He was just Harry, and he guessed that was all he could expect to be.

* * *

"Potter!"

Harry spun around. It was Professor Falk. He looked... strained. It was after dinner and Harry had just gone down the hall from his dorm to check the mailbox. Falk hurried up to him and said, "Khar has fallen."

"What do you mean?"

"It happened this morning. We just got word. The entire school and half the forest around it was burned to the ground. Many are dead. It was the mad man."

Harry's mind began spinning. Voldemort was looking for him. Somehow he'd found out that Harry was at one of the other schools.

"He'll be coming here next," Harry said, but August rounded the corner then at a run and said, "He's already here."

Axle came out from the room down the hall to see what the commotion was about.

"Find your mother," August told him. "I'm taking Harry. Tell her I may not be back for some time."

Axle looked uncertain for a moment but hurried up to Harry and gave him a hug before running down a nearby stairwell.

"He's started a fire in the People's village," August told Falk. "They will be here any minute."

The castle shook ominously then as if to prove that time had run out.

"I'll help fight," Harry said, feeling bad that he had brought this upon their quiet school.

Falk cursed in his own language and then ran off in the direction Axle had gone, presumably to round up other teachers.

"No, I'm getting you out of here," August said.

"It's not fair," Harry said. "I did this. He's looking for me."

"The school will be fine. There are secret ways out of the school the students have been trained to take in case of emergency."

"But Axle-"

"Will be with his mother. Now hurry."

Uncertainty flooding him, Harry hurried after Professor August and found it strange that he was trusting this man to do what was best for him when a few months ago he'd been scared of the man i the icy waters of the crevasse.

"Where are we going to go?"

"Beauxbatons," August said. "Durmstrang will not host you. There are too many ill feelings towards you and towards your headmaster."

"Voldemort will just go after Beauxbatons next," Harry said.

"No. Beauxbatons has too many defenses. The French Ministry guards that school as a national treasure. He may be able to follow us there but once you make it inside you will be safe."

He lead Harry to the lowest floor and right to the edge of the river that ran through the castle.

"Don't let go of me. We have to get out of the castle before we can apparate." He didn't give Harry a chance to protest about getting into the water. He grabbed his arm and jumped in, taking Harry with him. The water was icy as it came from the mountains where there was already snow, and also swift. When Harry surfaced he saw flashes of different parts of the castle and then before he could go under again they came out under a wall into the open night. There were hooded figures running past him on the banks and casting fiery curses at the castle. They didn't see him or August in the water. The river carried them far beyond the castle and August pulled Harry out when it grew shallow. Before Harry could protest about leaving the others to fight Voldemort again August had gripped his arm hard, ready to apparate him away.

"A battle against the madman is not meant for here," he told Harry, and then Harry felt the familiar tug behind his navel. Not wanting Voldemort to follow them, Harry separated himself from August, who had already punched a hole and gone through, and waited. He didn't know how much time should pass before he should go through. It felt like only a few seconds before he pushed his head down and made a hole. He went through, but was surprised to find himself back in the river August had just pulled him from. What was going on? His arm hurt worse than anything he'd ever felt before and he opened his mouth to scream when he tried to use it to swim, but only got a mouthful of water for the trouble. Air gone, confused about which way was up, and in agony, Harry stopped struggling. There was nothing he could do and he felt an ache in the pit of his stomach to realize that he would die there in the water, just like he always knew he would. It was a horrible way to die, and even worse, a horrible way to let Voldemort win.

On the grass in the darkness, August spun in a circle looking for Harry. He had been with him only a moment ago. They had apparated together. There were lights on in the school in the distance, but all was quiet around him. What had happened? How was it possible to lose his one charge?

The sound of bubbles came from the dark mountain lake behind him then and he spun to stare at the water's glassy surface. If Harry had not come through with him, he must have come through on his own and ended up in the water. August lit his wand and dove into the water. The teen was only a few feet under but the lake was dark and the cold water unforgiving. There was already ice forming around the edges of the lake in the late fall's chill air. He grabbed the boy's shirt and pulled him to the surface and then to the shore. He was unconscious.

Drenched and shaking August used a featherlight charm on Harry to make him easier to carry and then picked him up and started towards the school. Several dark figures were coming out to meet him, wands raised in alarm at the sudden intruders.

"Who is it? What do you want?" they shouted in French.

"We come from Boden," he said. His French was broken and horrible. He'd never learned it properly like he was supposed to as a child. A woman came forward and the light from her wand revealed that it was Adeline.

"Alvar? What are you- why do you have Harry? What's happened to him?"

"There is no time to explain. The mad man- Voldemort is after us." Adeline and two other professors August didn't know ushered them inside, one of the other men taking Harry from him and carrying him up the stairs.

August was too tired and cold to go with them. Instead he watched as Harry disappeared from view. The boy's face was cold and pale and his lips were turning blue. There was no hope of repaying his debt to the child if he died. He didn't think he could live with that on his conscience. A child dying on his watch... if Harry did die, he knew he'd never be able to face his own son again.

He wanted to open his eyes, he really did, but it was a struggle. His mind felt sharp and clear aside from his questions about where he was, but his commands to his body to open his eyes were going unanswered. It was like he was in a dream and telling his body to do something like run from Uncle Vernon, but none of his muscles were obeying him. Open. Open. OPEN OPEN OPEN! His eyes snapped open and he gulped down greedy breaths, as if realizing for the first time that he hadn't been breathing because all of his efforts had been going to opening his eyes.

"Adeline."

Harry frowned at the voice as he looked to his right to find Snape sitting in a chair beside his bed. Adeline appeared from his left and he was interested to see that she was wearing some sort of healer's uniform, though it looked different than the one Madam Pomfrey usually wore.

"You're awake," she said as though she was pleased to see him. Maybe pleased wasn't the word Harry was looking for. It was relieved.

Harry looked around the room. It looked sort of like Beauxbatons, but how had he gotten here? Had he gotten injured on the tour? Suddenly his mind didn't feel as focused as when he first awoke.

"Do you know where you are Harry?" she asked.

He let his eyes come back around to meet hers again. "Beauxbatons?"

"Do you know how you got here?" Snape asked and Harry turned to him. There was no edge to the man's voice like there usually was. He was being very quiet.

"Erm-"

Snape's eyes found Adeline's and they shared a worried look.

"What is the last thing you do remember?" Snape asked.

"I-" he had to really stop and think about it. Had he been at Gemini, or on tour of the schools? It seemed likely since he had memories of classrooms at Boden. But he remembered being in the water with August too. They were in the crevasse, weren't they? But it wasn't water at the ocean, it was a river.

He looked at Adeline for help but she didn't say anything.

"I don't know," Harry said finally. "I remember water. And Professor August."

"You were at Boden when Voldemort attacked. August brought you here and Adeline contacted me at Hogwarts to retrieve you."

Harry frowned. "He attacked while we were on tour?"

"He attacked while you were there taking classes," Snape said, and he seemed irritated but Harry wasn't sure why other than the fact that he was always irritated with him.

"Classes? Why was I there taking classes?" Harry asked.

The two professors shared a look again.

"That is the question isn't it Potter," Snape said, sitting back in his chair. He looked like he'd been there all night, but Harry wasn't sure why he'd sit in a chair at his bedside for any length of time.

"I don't remember."

Snape shifted in his chair slightly and then said, "When Voldemort attacked Hogwarts, the Headmaster sent you to the village by Portkey, where you encountered someone who informed you about Draco's... true parentage. From there-"

"Wait- Hogwarts was attacked?" Harry interrupted, trying to sit up but finding he was weak and unable to do so.

Snape only glared at him for his interruption and continued with his story. "You apparated to Boden, where Alvar August and his family took you in, and you apparently began to attend classes as a student. You decided to correspond with Draco but not tell him where you were. He informed me that you were alive but would not say where or show me the letters. Voldemort attacked-"

"Khar," Harry said quietly, everything coming flooding back to him. "And then Boden." He had apparated into the lake on accident when trying to get to Beauxbatons. Harry looked down at his arm and was surprised to see bandages wrapped tightly around it. "What happened to my arm?"

"You were splinched," Adeline said. "You lost a lot of skin. We couldn't retrieve it so you've been taking potions to grow it back."

Harry reached up and rubbed a hand across his face hard and then through his hair. He wished he hadn't remembered. He'd run again. He should have stayed.

"Who died at Khar?"

"No one you know," Snape said.

"What happened at Boden?"

"The Muggle village nearby was destroyed. The school was left mostly untouched, but the students and staff have not returned to it."

"Where are they going to have school then?"

"At Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang." Snape just stared at him. It seemed like it was old news to him, though it surprised Harry.

"The school disbanded?" His voice was dry and cracked as he spoke.

"Yes."

This was all because of him. He should have just gone on the run by himself and not involved Boden or Axle or his family. He could have gone to Grimmuald Place but he didn't want to go there alone. Not after Sirius. "Where's Professor August?" he asked quietly.

"He left last night to find his family. He stayed with you until I came."

Harry stared at Snape and then asked for confirmation, "You came to take me back to Hogwarts?"

"You can't be moved by magical means until your arm heals or the damage will become permanent since it was gained from magical transport. It will be a few days."

Adeline scanned Harry's arm, gave him a potion, and then smiled at him gently before moving off through a door, leaving Harry and Snape alone.

"Why Boden Potter?"

Harry stared at the wall opposite the foot of his bed. "Don't know." He could have gone to a lot of places but Boden was where he'd ended up. He'd thought about it enough to know why he hadn't gone back to Hogwarts though. It was more than just fighting Voldemort; it was facing Snape. Yet here Snape was anyhow. Draco must not have told him about he and Harry if he wouldn't show Snape the letters. Maybe he'd taken what Harry had said to heart, that Harry wanted to see his face when he found out. Well Harry had changed his mind. He was face to face with the man now, and he didn't want to see his face. He didn't want him to know at all. And Harry didn't want to go back to Hogwarts with him either. He wished August had taken Harry with him to find Axle instead. Harry wasn't happy staying with them but he didn't care. It was better than going with Snape. Harry felt exhausted just from his emotions flip-flopping back and forth. He knew he shouldn't involve Axle any more than he had or put him in any more danger, but he would rather go with August than with Snape.

"You've been gone for three weeks and you don't know?" Harry sensed the rising irritation in Snape's voice.

"Why did you buy back my Firebolt?" Harry asked suddenly instead of answering the question.

Snape stared at him.

"You bought it back from Draco. Why?"

"So you wouldn't mope about it all year and complain about having to use school brooms. You shouldn't have another reason at your disposal for people to feel like you're a martyr."

Harry rolled over to end the conversation and Snape stood up with an irritated huff.

"I told you it was dark magic to divide your time while apparating. It was a foolish thing to try. You almost drowned."

"It'll happen sooner or later," Harry said to himself. He didn't know Snape had heard as he exited the Medical Ward.

* * *

Under normal circumstances (if there ever was such a thing), Harry would have been happy to see Adeline again and to talk to her. Adeline ran the medical ward at Beauxbatons differently than Madam Pomfrey ran the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts. There were students who helped Adeline and it looked like she taught a small class every morning and every afternoon. Adeline kept the students away from Harry's end of the ward but between those two classes she spent her time by Harry's side. He supposed he was glad that she was there because when she was there Snape seemed to stay out of the Hospital Ward, (probably because he was frustrated with Harry's lack of answers and unresponsiveness to his continued questions), but Harry didn't feel like talking to Adeline either.

"Would you like me to read to you?" she asked.

Harry looked over at her but didn't say anything.

"What shall I read then?"

Harry sighed. "Don't know," he said. What he really wanted was just to be left alone. In a few days Snape would drag him back to Hogwarts and he'd have to face Dumbledore and his friends and more questions he didn't want to answer. Occlumency would start up again because Dumbledore would make him continue, and then Snape would find out everything that Harry knew. Everything that Narcissa had told him.

"There must be something you like to read?" she said. "I can just read a healing textbook but that would be dry, wouldn't it?"

Harry shrugged.

"Come on Harry," she said with a sincere look.

Harry pushed himself up to a sitting position but it was a struggle. He'd been awake for a few days now but his arm still burned and the muscles in his injured arm were weak. "Professor Snape said the Boden students and teachers went to other schools."

"Yes. Over half of their students and staff are here. I heard many also went to Hogwarts and a few to Durmstrang."

"What about the students from Khar?"

"They are trying to rebuild. They don't learn the same kind of magic that is taught in Europe."

"Do you know if Gan is ok? And the others from Gemini?"

"As a matter of fact, they are doing well."

"Did many people die there?"

"Only one. Their headmaster," she said sadly. "He held off Voldemort until the students and staff could get away. As I understand it Gan is now filling the Headmaster's position until the school is rebuilt."

"It's my fault," Harry said. "If I'd just stayed at Hogwarts, Voldemort wouldn't have gone looking for me at other schools."

"You can't think like that Harry. There's more at work in the world than just the role you play."

"As he well knows," came Snape's irritated voice from the door to the Hospital Ward. Harry immediately closed his mouth and his gaze went blank. He didn't see the stern look Adeline shot at Snape or the way he looked contrite a moment later.

Adeline got up and crossed the ward. She said something in low tones to Snape but Harry couldn't hear what, and then she left. It was a few moments before Snape walked over and took the now vacant seat beside Harry's bed.

After a few moments Snape said, "Tell me Potter, what would possess you to tell Draco the truth and put his life and mine in danger?"

"He deserved to know the truth," Harry said without looking over at him. His stomach was squirming. He had put Draco's life in danger, and that had been stupid. There was nothing new there. Just another mistake to add to the long list of ones he'd already made.

"And you came to this hairbrained decision how?"

Harry wanted to flinch at his tone. "Narcissa wouldn't have told me if she didn't want him to know."

"You spoke to Narcissa in Hogsmeade?"

Harry was done talking though and after several minutes of silence Snape rose, frustrated again and walked to a nearby window to look out. He came back and sat in the chair a few minutes later but Harry was pretending to be asleep. Snape wasn't buying it.

"Adeline says you will be well enough to travel tomorrow. We will return to Hogwarts tomorrow after lunch."

Harry opened his eyes and stared at Snape. "I'm not going back."

"You believe you have a say?"

Feeling defiant then Harry shot out with, "You're not my father. You can't tell me what to do." Harry had a morbid curiosity about how Snape would respond. He wondered if Narcissa was wrong and Snape knew that he was Harry's father. If he did know, he might be angry enough to tell Harry, and then Harry would know the truth. He had known for all these years and he didn't want anything to do with Harry because Harry wasn't worth his time or attention.

Severus didn't lash back at Harry though. Instead he stared at Harry and Harry turned away so he didn't have to see the look of pity on the man's face. Maybe he didn't know, and Harry would make sure it stayed that way.

"You've been wallowing for four days Potter. From what Professor August said before he left, you moped for three weeks at Boden as well. That ends today. Tomorrow you will return to Hogwarts and resume classes like every other 6th year."

"No," Harry said quietly, and stared at the wall across from his bed. He wasn't going anywhere. He couldn't go back to Boden though because it had disbanded, Durmstrang wouldn't take him, and he wasn't certain he'd be allowed to stay at Beauxbatons.

"Why Boden?" Snape asked, repeating his question from days earlier. When Harry didn't answer, Snape switched to another question, one he hadn't asked several times already. "What is it about the water that you're afraid of?"

Harry's eyes did slide over to meet Snape's briefly, but he looked down at his hands again. He wanted to go to sleep and forget that his father was sitting there by his bedside. He hadn't slept much since he'd woken to find himself at Beauxbatons despite that he was tired.

"You take a death defying leap into a watery abyss to save someone who hates you, but panic when you accidentally apparate into a lake instead of onto dry land." Harry could tell that Snape was trying to rile him into answering, but he wasn't going to do it. "And you're certain you'll drown," Snape said. "You must want to kill yourself with your recklessness. Adeline was right." No she wasn't, Harry thought to himself, but Snape couldn't hear his thoughts and kept going. "That's why you jumped into the water with a man that hated you, and didn't try to swim to the surface when you apparated into the lake." When Harry didn't show any sign that he was going to start answering the man's questions, Snape suddenly stood up and grabbed Harry's arm.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked as Snape pulled him out of bed and towards the door leading out of the Hospital Ward. He looked around wildly for Adeline but remembered that she'd left twenty minutes ago.

"To get answers." Harry didn't have the energy to fight him as he dragged him down through the school to the first floor and then out the front doors. Students stopped and stared as they passed but no one said or did anything to stop the dark haired man from dragging Harry out onto the chilly grounds in the early evening.

"You said we couldn't go back to Hogwarts until tomorrow," Harry said. Snape still had a tight grip on his wrist but Harry was too tired to put up a fight.

"We're not going to Hogwarts," Snape said, "we're going to the lake."

"The- why?" Harry pulled against his grip but Snape wasn't letting go, and before Harry knew it they were at the edge of the lake.

"You can perform the bubblehead charm underwater if you want, but you won't do it. You're content to let yourself drown in front of me at Gemini, or in front of August here, and you probably would have let yourself drown if Draco had not gone in to save you after you threw yourself off a cliff."

"That's crazy!" Harry shouted. "I never tried to kill myself!" He worried that the Potions Master had finally lost his mind.

"So I brought you down here to finish it Potter. No one else to see. Get into the lake and be done with it."

Harry's throat tightened then and he had trouble getting words out. "What?" He looked around but there was no one else out on the grounds aside from them.

"In Potter! I'm not going to bother trying to save your hide anymore if you're content to let yourself drown or try to do yourself harm at every turn!"

Harry didn't move, feeling like he was frozen to the spot as he stared into Snape's eyes. Snape reached forward and grabbed Harry's shoulders and tried to bodily throw him into the lake. Harry struggled with him for a moment but was too weak from his injury and lack of sleep, and after only a moment Snape had pushed him back far enough that his bare feet made it into the icy water.

Harry's chest tightened and he began gasping for breath. His legs buckled and though he held onto the sleeves of Snape's shirt for dear life, his eyes went glassy. Snape wasn't in front of him anymore, and the tub at Privet Drive wasn't filled with cement. The water was cold and so was Dudley's laugh as Vernon held Harry under the water fully clothed. He couldn't breath.

"Potter." He heard Snape calling his name, but it seemed strange, as though he could feel the man's mind brushing against his rather than hear him physically calling his name.

Harry didn't answer because he couldn't. There was no air to speak with, only water.

"Harry." The name came to his ears this time and the blurry vision of his uncle and cousin above him faded and Snape's pale face came into focus in front of him. They were on the crisp grass and Harry was shivering on his knees. Snape was holding his shoulders.

"Breath Harry."

Harry shook his head. He wasn't under water, but he couldn't. He felt Snape brush against his mind again and felt comforted somehow. He didn't know why, but his chest didn't feel as tight, and he sucked in greedy gulps of air.

"You do not want to hurt yourself." Snape looked sorry and haunted at the same time and it unsettled Harry. He'd never seen the man look like he was either. "And I was wrong to try to force you into the water at Gemini, and here."

Harry continued to shake instead of responding and Snape sighed. "I can help you tuck the memories away, but you have to trust me."

Harry shook his head, still not trusting himself to speak.

"I have seen what they have done to you," Snape said to him. "And I know about the injuries you sustained at home from the records at Gemini. There is no need to hide those things."

"I can't," Harry said, teeth chattering.

Severus eyed him critically. "You have other secrets you do not wish me to see."

"I can't," Harry repeated.

"Let me help you."

Harry stared into his eyes and in that moment he really wanted Snape's help. He wanted the memories to be tucked away like he always had, but didn't know if he was willing to pay the price of Snape knowing everything. There would be no going back if he found out.

When Harry didn't tell him no, Severus lifted the boy up under the arms and helped him back across the lawns and into the school. Harry felt weaker than he had before they'd left the Hospital Ward, and let his bed in the Ward swallow him whole when Snape deposited him back in it less than half an hour after he'd been dragged out of it.

"Will you trust me to help you?" Severus asked, taking his seat beside Harry's bed once more.

"I-"

"There can be no secrets," Severus said. "It would destroy you."

"Just- just do it," Harry said, trying to keep his hands from shaking. He didn't see that he had a choice. He'd never be able to defeat Voldemort with his mind the jumbled mess that it was. If defeating Voldemort was his one and only purpose in life, then he supposed he'd have to face the truth to make it happen. Voldemort would win if Harry kept running away from him. Then it wouldn't matter what Harry's secrets were.

Harry closed his eyes and braced himself but after a few moments his fearful mind felt the comforting presence of Snape's mind there beside it. Harry didn't try to pull any memories away since that wasn't the point. The first memory that floated to the surface was that of meeting Narcissa in the alley.

"I will not turn you over to the Dark Lord. Draco would never forgive me, and neither would Severus when he finds out the truth about you."
"About me?"
"He knows he has one son... he does not realize he has two."

Harry could feel Snape rolling the information around in his own mind, trying to make sense of it. He could feel the man's confusion, followed by his hurt, and then finally his acceptance. Harry couldn't hear his exact thoughts, but it was as though the presence of Snape's mind had realized he couldn't dwell on that memory because that wasn't his mission at present.

A storm of memories surrounding water came rushing into the space their two minds occupied then and Harry could feel Snape examining each memory before gently ushering the memories to the edges of Harry's mind. The memories dimmed. Harry could tell they were still there, but the more memories that were pushed to the side, the more calm the storm of memories felt. There were only three involving the tub at Privet Drive, but the many others Harry had were all linked to those. It was as if the memories were sticky and they all stuck together. Harry in the lake during the Tri-Wizard tournament, fighting with his panic to continue with the task and not turn back. Harry and Draco in the sea, Harry psyching himself up to get in the water at Gemini to try the bubblehead charm because he knew Snape wouldn't let up about it. Something grabbing Harry's ankle and dragging him away from the fight he'd been having with his best friend. Harry refusing to go to August in the crevasse because he was certain August would drown him. There were twenty five memories in all, and when the last was tucked away, another storm of sticky memories came in to fill the space up. These involved his uncle, his cousin and his cousin's friends, the cupboard under the stairs and his aunt. Harry felt no judgements coming from Snape as he tucked those memories away. When those memories were dimmed, Harry gave him new memories to take care of, and new memories after that. It was two hours before they were done, and Snape pulled himself out of his son's mind.

Harry was asleep and Severus stared at him in awe. It seemed like more memories than one person could bare. More things to deal with than he thought anyone capable. The guilt and self-doubt Harry fought with on a daily basis, the fear and uncertainty, and the knowledge that he was alone. Always alone. Severus didn't even know what to feel for him because he was emotionally exhausted himself after sifting through the boy's memories as he had. Severus stood up and went to the bed next to Harry's and laid down. He was tired, but didn't want to leave Harry alone. He didn't cover himself in the hospital blankets but Adeline did when she came through the Ward an hour later to check on Harry and found both he and Severus sleeping.

When Severus woke in the morning and looked around the Ward, Harry was nowhere to be seen. He and Adeline searched the school and grounds for him, but Severus knew they wouldn't find him. He knew Harry had gone. Harry felt like he had no one to fall back on, so there was no reason for him to wait for his father to wake and take him back to Hogwarts. No reason to try to face down the turmoil of his emotions surrounding subjects like suddenly finding out he had a father; a father who had always treated him unfairly.

"Where will you search for him?" Adeline asked as Severus prepared to return to Hogwarts.

"Nowhere," he said quietly.

"But he's just a boy. He's all alone."

He looked at her and wondered if he looked as exhausted as he felt. "He doesn't want to be found. He'll remain alone until he decides to let someone in."

"But Severus-"

"There's nothing more to do but wait Adeline." He gathered his traveling cloak and then left the Ward. He wasn't sure what to tell Albus when he returned to the school, but he'd have to figure something out.

When Severus apparated just outside the Hogwarts gates ten minutes later, he half hoped he'd find Harry there waiting for him, or waiting inside the castle, but he knew he wouldn't be. He was right.

He thought of Snape's- of his father's house, but wasn't sure if he had been removed from the wards or if Snape had alarms set up around the house to notify him when someone entered during school months. Harry sighed as he sat with his back against a tree in the forest he'd apparated to in the south of Britain. He could go to the Weasleys, they weren't even that far away, but he was positive they would contact Dumbledore. Dumbledore would ask a lot of questions that Harry didn't want to answer.

Rain drizzled down around him and splashed into his eyes and on his glasses and face as he hugged himself. Maybe he should have just stuck around Beauxbatons and watched for Snape to leave and then snuck back inside. It was obvious to him that Adeline had been the one to contact Snape and give away his location though, so Beauxbatons wasn't exactly a safe bet. Not that sitting in the woods on someone's private property was a stellar idea either. He only hoped that Voldemort didn't think to use some sort of tracking spell on him while he was out in the open and unguarded.

Exhausted, Harry tried to keep his eyelids from falling closed as the rain continued to thoroughly soak him. He must have dozed off though, because a sudden noise to his left had startled him awake so badly that he jumped and his heart began to race.

"Easy boy," said a voice as Harry pulled his wand out, wincing at the pain in his arm. There was a man that looked familiar staring at him, but Harry couldn't figure out who he was.

"I'm Cedric's father," the man said, and Harry, heart still beating erratically, lowered his wand slightly, squinting through his water speckled glasses to see him better.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked. "Why aren't you in school?"

"It's a long story," Harry said.

"Why don't we get you up and out of the rain so you can tell it then," Mr. Diggory said. He pulled Harry to his feet and motioned for him to follow him through the trees.

"Am I on your property sir?" Harry asked.

"You're on my wife's property," he said. "She owled me and said an alarm sounded and wanted me to come and check."

"Your wife's property?" Harry asked.

"Things have been... strained, since Cedric died," he said. "She moved a couple towns over."

"I'm sorry," Harry said, looking at his shoes as he was led to the back door of a small cottage and inside.

"It's not your fault," he said.

Harry looked around and didn't see anyone and Mr. Diggory told him that as soon as his wife had sent an owl off, she'd floo'd away, scared that Death Eaters had come to destroy her house since she was Muggleborn.

Harry was led to the large fireplace and Mr. Diggory threw a handful of floo powder down and said an address and password and stepped into it with Harry at the same time. They re-appeared a moment later in Mr. Diggory's empty house, which Harry knew was just a short walk away from the Weasleys.

"Now then," Mr. Diggory said, motioning for Harry to sit on the couch as he fetched a towel and handed it to Harry and then sent a drying spell at his clothes, "let's hear why you aren't at school."

Harry dried his hair off with the towel, trying not to use his sore arm too much and thought about what he should say, if anything at all. He didn't know if he could trust Mr. Diggory. He'd never actually spoken to the man before. At the end of the tournament Harry had tried to give his winnings to the Diggory's, but Cedric's mother had politely declined and his father had never said a word. They knew Voldemort had killed Cedric though, so they probably weren't on Voldemort's side. They might want to turn Harry in to Voldemort however as he was mostly responsible for Cedric's death.

"Voldemort attacked the school."

"Yes, I heard," said Mr. Diggory gravely.

"Mr. Diggory-"

The man held up his hand and said, "Amos, please. I don't like to be called Mr."

"Amos-" Harry started again uncertainly, "I'm really sorry about Cedric."

Amos stared at Harry for long moments, eyes full of emotion, and then looked away. "You think it's your fault. I saw it in your eyes in the Hospital Wing after the tournament."

"If I would have been better I would have got to the cup first and he wouldn't have been in the graveyard at all."

"You were a- you are a-," he paused, looked Harry up and down, and then re-thought what he was going to say. "No one thinks you're to blame Harry. You did better than could have been expected given your age. I don't want you to think it was your fault. Unless you held up your wand and used the killing curse, then that blame doesn't fall on you."

Harry wanted to tell him he was wrong, but kept his mouth closed, not wanting to disrespect the man, especially since he had just pulled him in out of the rain and dried him off.

"Continue with your story," Amos said, and Harry fidgeted uncomfortably.

"Dumbledore sent me away from the school during the attack. I was supposed to go back and fight but I didn't." He wondered if the man would be angry that he had run away instead of fighting and looked up to gauge his reaction. It wasn't about the fight, it was about Snape, but he couldn't tell him that. If Snape hadn't already been fully outed for having helped Harry with occlumency, he didn't want to put him in danger by spreading it around that he was Harry's father.

"That was three and a half weeks ago."

"I went to another school and stayed with friends there and took classes. It was attacked too."

"Boden."

Harry nodded.

"Then I ended up at Beauxbatons, but someone contacted Hogwarts and my- and Professor Snape came to get me. That was the other day."

"Why don't you want to go back to school?"

"It's complicated."

"Life can be that way sometimes," Amos agreed as he conjured tea and handed a steaming cup to Harry, "but it doesn't have to be. Sometimes we make it more complicated than it should be."

"It's not exactly something I have control over," Harry said.

"Where do you plan on going since you're dropping out of school?" Amos asked.

"I'm not dropping out," Harry said, startled.

"Staying in school could be a problem if you don't go back."

Harry took a drink of his tea and thought about it. He supposed he'd have to drop out if he wasn't planning on going back. Was he really planning on staying away forever?

"I'm not sure what I'm going to do," Harry admitted after several long moments in thought. He didn't want to give up his education, but his options were pretty limited if he wasn't planning on going back to Hogwarts and dealing with the problems he'd left there.

"You look tired," Amos said.

"I got hurt in the attack on Boden."

"Do you need a healer?"

"No," Harry said. He pulled up the sleeve on his arm and showed it to the man. "It's healing, I'm just tired and achy."

"I assume you have no place to stay since you were sleeping out in the rain."

"Not unless I want to get caught and taken back to Hogwarts," Harry said.

"Hm." Amos took a drink of his tea and left the room. Harry thought the man had gone into the kitchen as he heard him pulling out what sounded like plates and silverware, but couldn't be sure. Harry thought that now would be the time to leave if he was going to do it, since Amos was occupied, but he was so tired and his arms and legs felt like jelly. He could hear that it was still raining heavily outside as well and didn't fancy going back outside and getting soaked again. Harry used the time alone to wrack his brain for anywhere safe he could go, but couldn't think of anyplace and ended up falling into a doze as his eyes fell closed. When Amos re-emerged from the kitchen ten minutes later with two sandwiches and a cut up apple, he found Harry slumped sideways on his couch fast asleep. He threw a white blanket over him and considered the boy. He was almost as old now as Cedric had been when he'd died. It had been a long time since he'd spoken to a teenager, but he could tell Harry was conflicted about something. It had to be something big to make him run away from school. Something bigger than grades. Something bigger than Voldemort even. If the boy had someplace to go he would have gone there already, and at the moment, seeing the slumped over from sleeping on his couch he was reminded of Cedric and didn't have the heart to turn him out just yet, or to contact Dumbledore, though he knew he really should.

Amos sat down in his chair and watched Harry sleep.

* * *

"Harry."

"Hm."

Someone shook his shoulder gently and Harry winced. "Harry," said the voice again, and Harry's eyes snapped open to find Remus hovering over him.

"Remus!" Harry threw his arms around the man and tried not to wince out loud as his arm twinged in pain. "What are you doing here?"

"Amos is a friend of mine and he remembered that I was friends with your parents. He wasn't sure he should contact Hogwarts and floo'd me instead."

Harry hugged Remus tighter.

"You know they've been looking for you," Remus said.

Harry let go of him and looked into his eyes as Remus sat down on the couch next to him in Mr. Diggory's living room. "Are you going to take me back?"

"Is there a reason you shouldn't be in school with your friends?"

Harry looked around the room and noted that Amos wasn't there.

"He went out to fetch his wife and take her back to her cottage," Remus said.

"Do you think- would you mind-"

"What?"

"Could you prove to me you're Remus?"

Remus gave him a serious look and then said, "You used Expelliarmus on Severus in the Shrieking Shack after he interrupted us and tried to arrange for Sirius and I to go to Azkaban. When you were in my office learning to cast a Patronus you preferred chocolate biscuits over pure chocolate after the boggart knocked you out, and I generally served orange tea with your biscuits."

Harry hugged him again suddenly and Remus held him tightly for a moment before Harry pulled away.

"People must think I'm a coward for running away from the fight," Harry said.

"No one thinks that."

"That's not why I ran away, and when Voldemort attacked Boden I tried to stay and fight but August dragged me away."

"You went to Boden?"

Harry nodded.

"Maybe you'd better tell me the whole story," Remus said. Remus explained that there hadn't been an Order meeting in several weeks so he was a little out of the loop. Harry explained about attending classes at Boden, the attack, and waking up at Beauxbatons with Snape by his bedside telling him that he was going to take him back to Hogwarts as soon as he was able to travel. "I was supposed to go back yesterday, but I left before he could take me back."

"The question is why?" Remus asked.

Harry took a big breath and sighed. Remus was an Order member so he supposed it wouldn't be a danger to tell him about Snape, and he did want to tell someone. He wasn't sure if Remus would help him or take him back to Hogwarts though.

"Professor Snape is my father," Harry said, watching Remus' face for his reaction. Remus' eyebrows raised in surprise.

"What makes you say that?"

"Narcissa Malfoy told me... that night the Headmaster sent me to Hogsmeade. She let me go and instead of going back to the castle like I was supposed to, I disappeared."

"Harry, she's a death eater. What makes you so certain she was telling you the truth?"

"At Beauxbatons-" his voice caught and he swallowed, hoping tears wouldn't spring to his eyes. "Snape helped me tuck some memories away... he saw what she told me and he didn't deny it. He knew it was true."

"He's known all this time?" Remus asked.

"Not until he saw what she told me."

Remus sighed and then gave Harry an appraising look. "It's a lot to take in. I can see why you might not want to go back."

"It's stupid," Harry said. "I know that."

"It's not stupid. You've been away for almost a month though. I know you know how important your education is, especially with what's going on."

"Please don't make me go back Remus," Harry pleaded. "I just need a place to lie low where Voldemort can't find me so I can recuperate. My arm is all messed up and I'm still really weak. If I go back to Hogwarts now they'll stick me in the Hospital Wing until I'm better and Snape will be able to do and say whatever he wants and I won't be able to get away."

Remus searched his eyes for a moment and then said, "You can come to my cabin. I won't contact the Headmaster."

"Won't you get in trouble with the Order?"

"So long as I know you're safe," Remus said. "Come on cub." He pulled Harry up off the couch, wrote a quick note to Amos thanking him for contacting him, and then apparated Harry to his cabin in Falstone.

"I don't have a spare room," Remus said, "but the couch is comfortable." Harry fell onto the brown couch in the tiny living room in the stone cabin and felt like he was finally someplace safe where he could just think for a while.

"You're sure no one's mad at me for acting like a coward?" Harry asked before he closed his eyes.

Remus dropped a green blanket on him and sat down on the wood coffee table. "The only thing I've heard talk of is, ‘Where is Harry? Where do you think he would have gone? Is he chasing after Voldemort on his own? Is he trying to get to Mongolia?"

"Mongolia?" Harry asked, surprised.

"Word is you were very taken with the culture of the students from Khar and got close with one of the teachers there."

"Yeah but... Mongolia's a long way off." Harry had never even considered traveling internationally during his time running from Snape until he'd ended up at Boden.

"We'd hoped you'd gone there instead of going after Voldemort. I don't think it's yet crossed anyone's mind that you ran away from a fight. I heard what you did at Gemini and I don't think anyone that's ever met you would think you'd run away from danger."

Harry sighed. "No one knows me," he said, "not really. Sirius would be really mad if he found out I was Snape's son."

Remus gave him a look Harry couldn't decipher and then said, "Sirius loved you Harry. He might have loved you at first because he thought you were his best friend's son, but it doesn't take anyone long to love you just for who you are. I don't think it would have mattered." Remus looked down after Harry didn't respond, and found him asleep. He pulled the blanket up over Harry's shoulders and stood up. Harry clearly needed the rest.

* * *

Remus had gotten sixth year textbooks from somewhere and given them to Harry to read while he was recuperating. He emphasized again to Harry how important it was to stay caught up on his work and after two days set Harry to writing essays on each chapter and on several concepts Remus thought important enough to write about. Harry did so, glad to have quiet time to himself and also glad that Remus had put his mind at rest about people believing he was a coward.

Three days after Remus had taken him in, Harry felt well enough to get up and move around. His arm no longer hurt and his energy had come back. Remus brought another book out full of shield spells, counter curses and counter hexes and told Harry that he wanted him to master as many of the things in the book as he could. They devoted their mornings to practicing things from the book and Remus had Harry practice as much of it as he could without a wand, though Harry still wasn't very good at wandless magic.

Harry felt guilty for enjoying his time there with Remus, and he felt even more guilty when Remus showed him a copy of the Daily Prophet with a Headline reading: ‘Voldemort launches attack on Beauxbatons Academy.'

Harry reached out and took the paper and scanned through the lengthy article. Apparently only minimal damage was done and no one was hurt. What caught Harry's attention however was that the paper had somehow gotten a quote from Voldemort about the attack.

"Harry Potter is nothing but a scared little boy. I chased him out of Hogwarts, Boden and Beauxbatons."

"That's crazy," Harry said suddenly. "I left Beauxbatons over a week ago. He just attacked last night."

"I know," Remus said. "And you know, and Professor Snape knows... that's good enough."

"Is it?" Harry asked, feeling sick to his stomach.

"He's trying to lure you out because he knows your weakness is appearing cowardly to others."

Harry frowned. Was he that easy to read? He'd told Remus a lot of things but he knew Remus wouldn't have reported anything to Voldemort or his spies.

"Don't give it anymore thought Harry," Remus said, but the next day there was an article in the Daily Prophet asking questions such as, ‘Where is Harry Potter now and why has he run away from school?' Harry huffed in irritation and wondered what his friends thought about the article.

"What are you doing?" Remus asked, watching as Harry pulled out a pen and parchment.

"Writing to the Prophet."

"What do you intend to tell them?"

"That I'm off receiving special training to knock Voldemort on his scrawny arse."

Remus raised his brows. "I doubt the Prophet will print anything in your favor. The Headmaster believes they've been bought off and have been since just after the Tri-Wizard Tournament."

Harry stopped writing. "Voldemort is running the Daily Prophet?"

"It's likely he's pulling the strings."

Harry set his quill down and sighed. Remus went into the small kitchen to make breakfast and Harry sat back on the couch and thought on his predicament. He had run away and without being present to account for his actions people would believe whatever the Prophet printed because that's what always happened. He wouldn't be able to convince the Prophet of anything, but what about other papers? Luna's father owned the Quibbler, and Hermione had taken advantage of that once before.

Harry pulled out a new parchment and scribbled out a quick letter to Luna and signed it with a picture of a Firebolt at the bottom. Remus allowed Harry to use his old barn owl to send it off and asked Harry if he'd sent a letter to the Prophet anyway.

"Nope," Harry said, pulling out his Transfiguration textbook to study for the day. "I wrote a friend."

Two days later Harry received a newsletter in the mail he'd never seen before. It was one page front and back and at the top in bold print it said, "Hogwarts Guardian". There were four hand drawn towers at the top of the page, two on each side of the newsletter name, and each tower had a house crest drawn on.

"Remus," Harry said, and Remus came into the room with a cup of coffee. "Look at this," Harry said, feeling giddy.

"I didn't know Hogwarts had a student newsletter," he said.

"I don't think they did until today."

There were only two articles, one on the front and one on the back. The article on the back talked about how the many Boden students at Hogwarts were adjusting to life in a new school and had an interview with several Boden students about what they thought about the house system they were now part of. On the front was the article Harry was interested in though. It was written by Luna and titled, "Boy Who Lived Just Misses You Know Who At Beauxbatons."

‘You-Know-Who's recent attack on Beauxbatons is just another in a string of attacks on magical schools in several countries. You-Know-Who claims that he is attacking schools while searching for the Boy-Who-Lived, Harry Potter, but The Hogwarts Guardian has it on good authority that Harry Potter is searching for Voldemort.

"I feel really bad," said Potter in a one on one interview with The Hogwarts Guardian. "I heard there was an attack going on at Beauxbatons so I hurried over, but by the time I got there it was all over and done with."

When asked what took Potter so long to reach his destination, he said, "I was having a bit of a lie in and I missed him. Voldemort has terrible timing."

Harry and Remus found a photo of Harry on the lawns in front of Beauxbatons and Remus said, "You didn't sneak out when I wasn't looking did you?"

Harry laughed. "It's a photo from when we took a tour of the school. Look, I think you can see Hermione's arm in the side of the frame. I didn't know anyone got a photo of me."

The article went on briefly to detail the damage done to the school and that repairs had already been completed. At the bottom of the article there was a note that said, ‘This is the original article. Other newsletters and papers may copy and redistribute this article in its entirety with permission by The Hogwarts Guardian.'

Harry laughed out loud and Remus took the newsletter to read what was on the back.

"Was this your idea?" Remus asked when he was done reading.

"I asked Luna if there was anything she could do to get the truth out. I might have jokingly told her I was having a lie in and missed him."

The next morning Harry received a copy of another newsletter, this one several pages long and looking as though it had been running for a while longer than the newly formed Hogwarts Guardian since it read issue 134. It was called ‘The Beauxbatons Star,' and it had re-printed the article Luna had written about him on the front page. Later that evening another newsletter arrived called ‘The Durmstrang Daily,' and the article appeared again, this time on the back page.

"She sent it around didn't she?" Remus asked, and Harry grinned.

"Look at this," Harry said, pointing at the bottom of the page. "According to the Durmstrang student paper, their articles are sometimes picked up by the ‘Magic of Norway Herald."

"That is one way to get the word out," Remus said. More than that though, Harry found out it was a way to make Voldemort angrier than he was before, if that was even possible. Voldemort set part of the Forbidden Forest on fire and burned down Hagrid's cabin, and ‘The Daily Prophet' reported that Harry had abandoned his friends at Hogwarts and left them in danger. Without having to write to Luna, another edition of ‘The Hogwarts Guardian' was sent to him the day after the Prophet article with an article about the incident. Even though Harry hadn't given Luna any quotes, she wrote that Harry had.

'"Voldemort should really wait to start destroying things until after eleven in the morning if he wants me to come by. It would help if he would have a cup of tea waiting for me."'

"Harry," Remus said, half in shock when he read the quote.

"It wasn't me, I swear," Harry laughed out loud. "I bet you anything Ron said that and Luna put it in there."

There was also a quote from Hagrid saying that he'd been wanting to build a bigger cabin for years anyway and now was as good a time as any to do it.

"Harry," said Remus seriously, "I think you should be very careful. Toying with Voldemort might not be the wisest idea. The more you toy with him the more he might destroy and the community could blame you for provoking him."

Harry wanted to tell Remus that he wasn't enjoying this back and forth, but he couldn't. Looking contrite he said, "I understand. Should I write to Luna and tell her to quit?"

Remus held up the copy of the newsletter and said, "Just be wise with your words and actions. I think this newsletter may be a big encouragement to the students and the community at large so I'm not sure stopping it now would do any good. I think whatever you say and do you should try to remain blameless. I've seen the Ministry blame people and charge them with criminal actions for a lot less than this."

There were no new attacks reported about and no new articles about Harry for the next several days, and Harry was starting to get bored with his studies again and starting to feel cooped up living in Remus' tiny living room. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy Remus' company, it was that he missed his friends. Hermione was on his mind often and the longer he was away the more he felt as though he had abandoned her. It hadn't escaped him that Ron was still there while he was away either. Hermione had left Ron because he wasn't at Gemini and Harry was there. Harry wasn't sure how to feel about that because he was still half rooting for his friend to win her back, and half rooting for himself because he really enjoyed knowing there was someone there for him who saw him just for who he was and liked him anyway.

"Are you thinking about Charms?" Remus asked as he came into the living room and saw Harry on the couch with his Charms book open and staring off into space.

"Thinking about Hermione," Harry said.

"More studying and less day dreaming then cub. You've still got catching up to do. Your mother and father would never forgive me if I let you fall behind in your studies."

Harry frowned and then looked up at him. "James was that studious?"

"Severus was that studious yes," Remus said. "James studied hard because he had to so he could spend all his free time practicing Quidditch. I think Severus studied hard, like your mother did, because he wanted good grades and enjoyed learning. He was top of our class in Potions and Defense. Your mother was second in Potions and first in Charms and Arithmancy if I recall right."

"I didn't know that," Harry said.

Remus sat in the worn green chair by the fireplace and looked thoughtful for a moment. "Harry, have you given any thought about returning to Hogwarts? You've been here for almost two weeks and your injuries are healed."

Harry closed his book with a sigh. He'd been dreading the moment when Remus would bring this up. He scratched his head and said, "I'd rather not go back right now."

"Because you don't want to deal with Professor Snape," Remus said.

"You know what he's like," Harry said, half pleading. "It was pretty bad at Gemini over the summer."

"I heard," Remus said. Harry hadn't told him much about it, but he wondered if Dumbledore had at one of the Order meetings. "How has he been since you returned to Hogwarts though? I heard you were getting special training with him and working for him."

"Not as bad as at Gemini I guess," Harry mumbled. Snape had also bought back his Firebolt from Draco but Harry didn't want to bring that up.

"I understand this is difficult for you, but it's also not something you can leave as it is. You won't be able to deal with the situation and get things sorted out unless you go back."

"Maybe I'll just enroll at Durmstrang," Harry half joked half snarked, "then I won't have to deal with anything."

"Don't you have questions for him that you'd like answered?"

Harry did have questions, like why Snape was sleeping with his mother and Draco's mother at the same time. He wasn't sure he wanted to hear the answers though, and he wasn't sure Snape would give him answers in any case. What he didn't want to do was go back and get cornered and get yelled at, or bossed around, or told that he was Snape's ward now and had to do as he said.

"If I don't make the decision to go back," Harry said, "are you going to tell them where I am?"

"Cub, you're welcome to stay here as long as you want. I'm not going to turn you in, and I'd rather you stay here instead of try to strike out on your own. I think it would be wise to return though, and not to put it off until the end of the school year. It's only a few weeks until Christmas. That might be a good time to return, when you can be on holiday and not have to deal with classes and Severus at the same time."

Harry thought Remus had a point, but that didn't mean he wanted to go back.

"There's something else I didn't tell you," Harry said a few minutes later when Remus sat down with a cup of hot tea.

"Draco Malfoy is your half brother?"

Harry stared at him and let his mouth hang open.

"I'm one of the few in the Order who knows Severus is Draco's real father. I had questions about some of the things Dumbledore had Severus doing... about why Draco was allowed to get away with certain things. The Headmaster explained that it was Severus' goal that Draco be spared from having to become a death eater, and that it was necessary that he be able to continue looking up to Severus as a role model."

"That explains a lot," Harry said. "I mean, I figured he was nicer to Draco because he always knew, but-"

"There's a lot more at play than just you and the prophecy," Remus said. "Order members never get more information than is necessary for them to do their jobs so if they're caught too much information doesn't get revealed to Voldemort. There are a lot of moving parts to the Headmaster's plans. I don't know that we'll ever know all of it, even after it's all over."

"Draco plays a part in it is what you're saying though," Harry said.

"I don't know," Remus said. "Aside from the fact that Draco's life would obviously be in danger if Lucius or other Death Eaters found out that he was really Severus' son. As of right now the illusion stands that there is no one Severus cares about, so Voldemort can never threaten him in that way. For now they're both safe. And Severus obviously doesn't want Draco to join Voldemort's ranks. Beyond that, I'm not certain if Draco has a part in this or not."

"Except we're tied together now," Harry said. "It's all so complicated."

"Unfortunately life is rarely ever simply," Remus said, sipping his tea. "What defines us is how we handle the complicated things we face. If everything were simple... easy, life would be boring, don't you think?"

Harry thought it sounded like something Luna would say. What he wouldn't give for one boring year at Hogwarts though. One year without Voldemort, or without being yelled at and given detention, or finding out secrets about prophecies, or lost fathers and brothers, or the death of friends.

"I'd like a boring year," Harry said.

Remus looked at him sadly, but didn't say anything as he rose to leave Harry to his thoughts.

"Ignore it Harry," Remus said as he brought a cup of tea to Harry and set it on the coffee table in front of him.

"Someone at Hogwarts is talking."

"Someone at Hogwarts always has."

Harry didn't understand how this wasn't phasing Remus at all. "But- someone is on the inside giving information about me to Voldemort."

"The Headmaster knows there are children of death eaters at the school. He can't ban children from coming just because of who their parents are, and even if he could he wouldn't." When Harry just stared at him, not understanding, Remus said, "At school they get the chance to be exposed to new ideas about how the world works and are shown that there are paths for them to take other than joining Voldemort. They get the chance to meet and become friends with Muggleborns and students from outside the social circle of their parents. Those are all things that will make them think twice about following in their parents footsteps."

"And some get exposed to death eater ideals and join the ranks when they might not have before."

"That's what some have argued," Remus said. "In the end, everyone has a choice to make. The goal is to show as many as possible a better path."

Harry stared down at the quote in the morning's Prophet again and let the upset bubble in his stomach for a moment. Everyone in school knew he and Hermione had been dating, so it would be impossible to know who had given Voldemort more ammunition to throw at him in the papers. The day before the Prophet had spoken about how Harry was ‘a boy of very little moral regard.' The Hogwarts Guardian had been quiet all week, and Harry wondered if it was just because they'd run out of material to print, or if it was because his friends were starting to believe the lies the Prophet was spreading around. There was nothing more demoralizing to Harry than the possibility that his friends no longer believed in him... that they believed he no longer cared.

Remus tried to distract Harry throughout the day with an intense training session where he threw everything he had and then some at Harry in the small living room while Harry practiced various shields, but late at night long after Remus had gone to bed, Harry still lay awake staring at the ceiling. After hours of trying to get to sleep and failing, Harry lit his wand and pulled the stack of old Prophets over to himself. While Voldemort's quotes had been on the front page, there were other stories pushed to the back. Stories about missing families, Ministry employees who were acting strangely, and on the very last page, a list of buildings that had been ‘mysteriously' destroyed. The most recent was Fortescue's Ice Cream on Diagon Alley. That had happened sometime late the night before, and Fortescue had disappeared.

Harry wished there was some way he could let his friends know he hadn't abandoned them, or to at least give them hope. If he wrote to them the owl could be traced and he knew they'd want to write back and would have a lot of questions he didn't want to answer. He wasn't looking forward to answering those questions when he eventually returned either, but figured it would be better to hash things out in person than via owl in any case.

Harry's eyes roved around the small living room and fell on an old camera Remus kept on top of the mantle with his sack of floo powder and a picture of Sirius, Lily and James. Harry didn't know how to work a wizarding camera, but he bet he could figure it out. He could send some kind of photo to Luna for the newsletter. What kind of photo though? Harry picked the camera up and then sat back on the couch to think.

He needed a message just for his friends, even if they didn't print it in the newsletter. Something just they would understand so they knew it was from him. Maybe him in front of one of the destroyed buildings, to show he was trying to do something, though really he wasn't.

Harry pulled his jacket on and put his wand up his sleeve. Camera in hand he crept out the front door and into the night. It was three something in the morning and he hoped Remus was asleep enough that the sound of apparating wouldn't wake him. Still not having a firm plan in mind, Harry apparated to behind the Leaky Cauldron and crouched down in the darkness, waiting to see if any kind of alarm had been set off. Once he was sure no one had noticed him apparating in and that he was alone, he entered the alley, wand out but not lit.

More than just Fortescue's had been destroyed as it turned out. Tripple-W was gone, just a hole in between two other shops and filled with rubble. When had that happened? Gladrags wasn't demolished, but it had a big hole in the front glass window, and a sign on the door that read, "Shop Closed. Muggle-Borns Not Allowed To Own Businesses. Wiz. 1327 Code B." Harry tried to think back to the stack of Prophets on the table to any article about a new law, but couldn't think of one. Maybe it had happened the day before or even before Harry had gone to stay with Remus.

Harry was just stepping away from Gladrags when a loud sound came from down the alley. It sounded as if someone had kicked over a group of rubbish bins. Shrinking back into the shadows of the Gladrags' doorway, Harry held his breath and waited, heart beating. There was laughter and then the sound of breaking glass, and two men came into view, one holding his wand on the other.

"Please-" one of them said, but the other shoved him roughly and he fell, before being dragged back up onto his feet.

"Shut it Fortescue. You love your alley so much? I want you to see your shop. I want you to know there's nothing to come back to. If you join us the dark lord will let you rebuild it. He'll have a law made saying everyone has to buy from you and get the other sweet shops shut down."

Harry couldn't make out Fortescue's face in the darkness, but he could see him shaking his head. "Just let me go. I won't tell anyone it was you."

The other man began laughing, and Harry realized his hands were sweating as he rolled his wand between his fingertips. Curses and shields began running through his mind, and just as quickly stopped as the man spoke again with mirth. "Is that your final answer? It's a shame. The dark lord said he really liked you..." the man raised his wand and Fortescue began to beg. Harry could both see and feel the buildup of magic coming from the man's feet as he began to enchant the killing curse. Without thinking, Harry had come out of the shadows and had raised his wand and shouted a binding curse at the man. The man swore as his killing curse was sent up into the air and blasted part of a roof off a shop, and then shrugged out of Harry's binding curse as if it was nothing.

"Who did that!?" the man shouted. Fortescue made a break for it but the man sent something at him that made him go flying face first into the street.

Harry threw several cutting and stinging curses at the man in a row and two of them hit their mark on his face, causing the man to curse even more. Harry tried the binding curse again as he got closer to him but again the curse was thrown off. Harry didn't understand why, because it didn't look like the man was even trying to throw it off.

"Come here you little wretch!" the man screamed as he threw something at Harry he'd never heard before and Harry dodged and blocked at the same time with a shield Remus had only just taught him the day before. Finally Harry was close enough that when he cast the third binding curse he could see that something glowed around the man and kept his binding curse from sticking.

Harry dropped down to his knees, threw another shield up to protect himself from a blasting curse, and then let his fingernails dig at the stone of the alley. There was no dirt here, but there was magic imbued in the stones and Harry let it all come to him before he sent it towards the man with the thought to contain him somehow. The man screeched as the stones from the street rose up around him and squeezed like a gigantic fist. Harry could see the glow around the man shimmering, trying to throw the curse off, but it wasn't a curse, it was just stones and mortar trying to squeeze him to death. It was raw magic that had been soaking into the stones for generations, as far back as when the alley had first been built.

"What are you doing?" the man asked, out of breath. Harry finally released some of the magic and the stones loosened just enough for him to breath.

Harry didn't know what to say, so he said what he'd been thinking about before he'd set out on his late night excursion. "I'm sending a message," he said, only instead of to his friends he said, "to Voldemort."

"What's the message?" the man asked, still trying to catch his breath. "I'll give it to him. Promise I will, just let me live long enough to do it."

Harry was aware Fortescue was lying on the ground next to the erupted stones watching him, waiting for his response. "Dumbledore's Army Lives."

* * *

Remus was at his side faster than Harry thought would have been possible as soon as he opened the door to the cabin and stepped inside.

"Diagonalley? You went out to Diagonalley?"

"How did you-"

"The Prophet!"

Remus practically threw it at him, and Harry shrank back, not used to Remus being so riled up. It was half past six and Harry wondered that the Prophet had come out so early, but then again, he'd left a mess right in front of the Prophet office on the alley, so maybe they would send out an early edition.

"What were you thinking?"

"I wanted to send a message."

"I can see that!"

"Not that message," Harry said, setting the paper down. There was a big photo of bright red words spray painted on the cobblestones of the alley, ‘DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY LIVES'. Fortescue had helped him do it before he disappeared into the night. Harry hadn't asked where he was going and Fortescue hadn't told. The death eater had cursed at them the entire time they'd spray painted the message as he hung in the air in the clutches of the alley cobbles.

"I was just going to do something and take a photo and send it to my friends. I just wanted them to know I hadn't given up on them."

"You could just go back to school you know, instead of trying to give me a heart attack at half five when I get the early edition and find you missing!" Remus pulled Harry into a tight hug and mumbled something about ‘raising teenagers', and Harry didn't argue because he could see how upset the man was.

"What happened?" Remus asked when he let Harry go and gave him a close looking over. Other than being covered in grime and red paint, Harry was fine.

Harry relayed the story and ended with, "It was a wicked block with that shield you taught me yesterday." By the time he was done with his tale, Remus had pushed a mug of strong tea into his hands and gone to sit at the dining table.

"The Prophet says you helped the fugitive Florean Fortescue escape and nearly crushed to death the Editor in Chief of The Daily Prophet. You're being called a hoodlum and a vandal."

"Why are they calling him a fugitive?"

"They said he destroyed his own shop."

"No, I heard them talking. The Death Eater-"

"Martin Green," Remus supplied.

"He was casting the killing curse on Fortescue when I stopped him. He was trying to get Fortescue to join Voldemort."

"That's not what the Prophet will relay to the people though." Remus slid the paper over to Harry so he 'could read it and Harry found himself being slandered as a ‘wild truant teenager' who needed to be ‘gotten under control'.

"Clearly I pissed him off," Harry said. "Look, he didn't even wait for Voldemort to give a statement. He just rambled on about me."

Harry pulled the camera out and asked Remus how to get the pictures out he'd taken. Remus tapped the camera with his wand and the photos appeared on the table. Harry had noticed there had been no picture in the prophet of Martin Green being held up by the alley's raw magic. Luckily Harry had a photo of that and the ‘vandalism' spray painted in three foot high letters in front of him.

"I take it you're sending those off to Hogwarts?"

"Shouldn't I?"

"I don't think it matters what I think anymore," Remus said, standing to start making breakfast. "Once you've made up your mind, you do what you want."

"I'm sorry I scared you Remus," Harry said. He did feel sorry. He also just felt cooped up in the house and bored and useless.

"I believe you," Remus said. "You're very much like your mother though. No one can tell you anything."

"Are you going to kick me out?"

"We've discussed this already."

"Yeah but-"

Remus cut him off as he began making toast. "Are you going back out in the middle of the night again?"

"I-"

"I can tell you're getting bored Harry. You need something to do. You need to be with Ron and Hermione."

"Snape'd have my hide if I snuck out to vandalize the street in the middle of the night."

"The Headmaster would too," Remus said. Harry thought he said this in lieu of ‘I should now to make you think twice about scaring me like that again,' but Remus continued with, "I don't think you've ever seen the Headmaster truly angry with a student. I have. It's not something one ever wants to experience, or even to recall in later years."

Harry set his tea down. "What did you do Remus?" If Remus had seen him angry, he must have had the experience first hand.

"I- tried to eat a student."

"What? Who?"

"Your father."

"James?"

Remus gave him a look of consternation. "Severus, and I'd prefer not to talk about it. The Headmaster wasn't angry with me in any case as I had no control over it. I was in the room as he yelled at James and Sirius though and it's something I'd like to forget. James said the Headmaster was so angry he thought he was going to cane them. I'm surprised he didn't given I almost killed Severus becuase of a stupid prank."

Remus sat down heavily with two pieces of toast with jam and gave one to Harry.

"No more late night excursions," he said seriously. Harry nodded, and only after Remus had given him another look and Harry apologized again did Remus say with a light tone, "We can't have the world thinking you're a hoodlum now can we?"

* * *

Voldemort was just as angry as Martin Green about the message Harry had left. He was angry at Martin Green for printing the photo of the ‘vandalism' more than anything though, and the same day the article appeared, Martin Green disappeared without a word. The entire vandalized area of the alley was blasted to bits, and Voldemort went quiet in The Prophet for several days. The Hogwarts Guardian had proof it had all happened though, and spread both of Harry's photos around. The other student papers, and papers of other nationalities picked up the story, and they didn't report about ‘Harry the hoodlum'. They reported about a man being dragged down the alley in the middle of the night and being saved by a teenager who was stronger with magic than a full fledged death eater.

Harry had just wanted his friends to know that he was still with them in spirit, but this was quickly morphing into something far beyond that. As Harry spent the remaining days until Christmas break writing essays and answering questions Remus asked about his schoolwork, more photos began circulating in the student newsletters and international papers. Photos of three foot high words painted in yellow on the side of Boden, and of blue words painted in the grass outside Beauxbatons, and of gigantic orange words hanging from a sheet strung between the two buildings Weasley's Wizard Wheezes used to sit between. Vandalism everywhere, and in different languages declaring proudly: DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY LIVES!

* * *

Harry supposed the Weasley twins were the ones responsible for the words, ‘YOU KNOW POO, I'M WATCHING YOU' appearing on the street in Muggle London on billboards and fliers printed on parchment hung up around the city and in Diagonalley. Remus wanted to be sure Harry wasn't responsible and had taken to coming out of his room at random hours of the night to check that Harry was still there.

"It has to be Fred and George," Harry said. "I had nothing to do with this."

"It doesn't matter. Everyone will think it was you."

"Very childish," Harry said of the twins, though quietly he thought to himself they were brilliant. Voldemort was no longer using the Prophet to say Harry was a coward, because with his blatant acts of ‘vandalism' across the country and in other places Voldemort had previously attacked, no one could say he was just running away from a fight. To the world it looked as though Harry was calling Voldemort out.

Remus wasn't pleased, but Harry couldn't do anything about it but assure Remus such taunting wasn't his style. Harry didn't know what to feel about it. He didn't want to call Voldemort out and dreaded the day he'd have to face him again. He still had nightmares about the night in the Ministry when even the Headmaster's magic barely held Voldemort off. Harry wasn't nearly as strong as Dumbledore, so how was he supposed to defeat him? On the other hand though, he didn't feel like a total coward in the eyes of the media and his friends anymore. He didn't know why it was so important to him but it was. He'd rather be Harry the hoodlum than Harry the coward.

"Christmas holiday is coming up," Remus commented casually as he sat down in a dining chair with a piece of toast and cup of coffee.

"I know," Harry said, pretending he was trying to study Transfiguration instead of thinking of other things.

"If you're going back, I'll take you."

"I'm still thinking about it. Ron and Hermione will probably be going home for the break anyway."

"Maybe." Remus ate his toast and then looked over at Harry. "I have an Order meeting tomorrow night at eight. I should only be gone a couple hours."

Harry looked up from his book and met Remus' eyes. "Are you going to tell them you have me?"

"I wasn't planning to, no. That's not why I brought it up."

"Then why?"

"I won't be here to see if you sneak out."

"You're giving me advance notice so I can sneak out?"

"I'm letting you know I'm not going to be happy if you do. You won't know if I'm going to be out for thirty minutes or two hours, or I could decide to pop home for something I forgot."

"Or you could be gone all night and not know at all if I went out." At the look on Remus' face Harry laughed though. "Come on, where do I even have to go? I'd tell you if I was going back to Hogwarts and you know I'd rather not."

"You went out to Diagon two weeks ago."

"I told you why I did that. Look what happened. People are spreading the message everywhere. I've no reason to go out and do that again." Harry wondered if they'd be talking about it at the Order meeting and wished for just a moment he could go so he could hear what they'd say and hear the twins explain themselves to Dumbledore for their shenanigans.

"Stay in Harry. I don't have to tell you how dangerous it is."

"I hear you Remus. I don't want to run into Voldemort anymore than anyone does. What am I gonna do, Jelly legs him to death?" Harry meant it to be funny but supposed too much anxiety had come across in his voice, because Remus seemed appeased and sad at the same time and left him alone about it after that.

As Harry thought about where he would go if he weren't here, he was surprised to come up with several places. His thoughts roamed to Gemini where there was moonfruit growing in one of the trees and how that could give him a boost of magical energy to fight with when it was time to face Voldemort down. He also thought about going back to thank Cedric's father for helping him find Remus and for getting him out of the rain. Harry even about going out to pick up some more clothes. He'd been living in the clothes he had plus a couple shirts Remus had given him for the last several weeks and desperately wanted something more to wear. He didn't know where he could possibly go to get new clothes that would be open at night, but Gemini and going to see Amos Diggory were both doable and both away from crowds of people where he could potentially cross paths with Death Eaters.

When it came time for Remus to leave he gave Harry a pointed look and said, "Dinner's on the table so there's no need to go out."

"Thanks," Harry told him.

"And you have no idea when I'll be back."

"No idea," Harry echoed, pretending to be very interested in finishing the extra long essay Remus had set him to an hour ago.

"You'll probably have time to finish that essay by the time I get back," Remus said, putting his coat on.

"Should have," Harry said.

Remus looked like he wanted to just take Harry with him to the meeting, but sighed and waved at Harry before apparating away. Harry waited ten minutes while working on his essay to see if Remus would make good on his threat to return, but Remus didn't come back. Harry pulled on his jacket and put his wand up his sleeve and thought about Gemini. If he was quick and only spent a few minutes gathering moon fruit, and only spent a few minutes seeing Amos Diggory then he could be back in an hour. He might even have time to finish that essay before Remus returned. Harry apparated out of the cabin with a pop and found himself in the darkness outside his old cabin at Gemini. The school was deserted as he'd expected and he breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't until Harry hiked up the hill in the light drizzle of rain to the trees behind the cabin that he realized there was a problem with his plan. It was cloudy and raining and there was no moonfruit in bloom. The clouds would have to part so moonlight could shine through on the trees if he was going to pick any.

Harry cast a water repellant charm on himself that did nothing to keep out the cold and moved up against the tree to wait. He checked his watch every so often to see that twenty, then forty, then fifty seven minutes had passed when there was finally a break in the clouds and the rain stopped. Harry looked up into the branches above him and found a tiny sliver of moonlight illuminating white globs of moonfruit in the tallest branches. Harry set to climbing the tree and fell several times because the branches and moss were wet and slippery before he finally made it high enough to reach the fruit. He pulled one silvery slippery blob off a limb and almost dropped it before stuffing it into his jacket pocket. He had to climb to another branch for another blob, and then higher again to get a third. He had seven by the time he was done and spent nearly half an hour trying to climb carefully back out of the tree as it had begun to rain again.

He zipped up his jacket pockets and re-cast the water repellant charm on himself before trying to concentrate on getting to Amos Diggory's house. He wanted to appear on the lane that led from the Weasley's to the Diggory's, but after several minutes of concentration found he couldn't apparate at all. Maybe it was too far a distance. It was all the way at the south of England. Instead Harry focused on apparating back to Remus' house, which was still thankfully dark and empty when he got there, and then south to the Diggory's. Instead of the peaceful quiet lane he expected, Harry appeared in the midst of flames and screaming.

Harry ducked as he tried to figure out what was going on and who was wailing, and saw a figure pop up from behind a large rock next to what was Amos Diggory's house before it had been set ablaze. The figure cast a red spell that sizzled through the air to Harry's right. Another figure twenty feet from Harry ducked and cast a spell that felt oily and made Harry's skin crawl back towards the house. The wailing continued and Harry realized it was a woman. If this was going on here, what was going on at the Burrow down the lane? Making sure there was no one behind him that he might give away his location to, Harry cast several spells in quick succession at the Death Eaters. None of them hit their marks, but it distracted them long enough that one of Amos Diggory's spells hit one square in the back and another in the rear end, making him howl. There was quiet for a moment aside from the crackling of the flames and the wailing seemed to have stopped.

Diggory's head appeared again from around the side of the burning building and Harry cautiously lifted a hand in the air to let him know where he was. On impulse Mr. Diggory sent another red spell at him and Harry pulled his hand back just in time not to be hit.

"It's me Mr. Diggory!" Harry called.

"Who?"

"Cedric's friend Harry!"

"Harry?"

Harry raised his hand again, ready to pull it away once more, but this time no spell was fired at him and he got up cautiously and approached the flaming house. Amos and a woman he could only assume was his wife were crouched down beside a decorative boulder with scorch marks marring one side.

"Get down, what are you doing here?"

"I came to talk to you."

"Whatever you came to do, thank you. You distracted them."

"Was that all of them? What about the Weasleys?"

"I don't know," Amos said gravely. "The alarm went off at my wife's house and she came here. They followed her. You need to find a safe place. We're leaving here."

Harry looked at the flaming house and thought they didn't have much of a choice.

"I did that," Amos said. "My flame stinger went astray."

"I'm sorry," Harry said.

"Don't be. Come with us. The bindings I put on those two won't last for long and they'll wake up soon."

"I have somewhere safe to go," Harry said.

"Then go there. Don't stick around here." Amos took his wife's arm and then stuck a hand out to Harry to shake. "Thank you. Go now, don't wait." Then he let go of Harry's hand and was gone with a pop, just like Fortescue, and Harry wondered where they had gone and if they'd be safe there.

Harry crept down the lane towards the Burrow and found the field on fire, but the house seemed undamaged and the flames stopped as though there was a magical circle drawn around the perimeter of the house to keep it safe. There was no one around, for which Harry was thankful (they were probably at the Order meeting and the two Death Eaters who did this were probably lying stunned outside the Diggory's house), so Harry walked back down the lane. He didn't want to apparate straight back to Remus' house for fear he'd lead them back there, and was entertaining ideas of somehow permanently binding the two Death Eaters that were here while they were incapacitated.

Both men were still knocked out when he got back to the flaming house, whose flames had subsided somewhat now, and Harry crouched next to an overgrown patch of weeds on the side of the lane to think on what to do. He cast a binding charm at one of the unconscious men and was pleased that it bound the man in ropes, and then did the same to the other. That wouldn't hold them though, and there were no rocks around to force up around them like the cobbles on Diagonalley. The only thing available was mud and that wouldn't do much. Harry put his fingers down in the mud on the side of the lane to see what he could do with it and only succeeded in liquifying it to the point that the men sank into it. Harry went up to them and took their wands and snapped them and threw the pieces towards the smouldering house and then put his fingers back into the mud. The men sank further and Harry went to each and pulled just their faces above the mud so they could breathe. Then he did his best to solidify the mud (which he had to do with a spell because he couldn't figure out how to with Root), and stood back to admire his work. He wondered if this would hold them. They would have to wandlessly cast spells to liquify the mud and break their bindings. Harry sent a tongue tie hex at their mouths and hoped they didn't know how to cast wordlessly and wandlessly. He figured he could tell Remus as soon as he returned from the meeting that they were here and Remus could bring the Order back before the men woke and figured out how to escape their earthen prison. Remus would know he went out if he told but with a look at his watch he reasoned Remus probably already knew. It was midnight and Harry had been gone for almost four hours. Surely Remus was home by now worrying himself sick, or would be soon if the meeting had run long.

Harry apparated away to the town next to Little Whinging, and to a spot outside London, once again to Gemini, and then finally to Remus' home. His mouth fell at the flames that greeted him when he arrived. At first Harry was confused and thought he had accidentally apparated back to the Diggory's, but this wasn't their cottage on the lane, it was Remus' cabin at the edge of the wood. While Harry was out helping the Diggory's someone had come and torched Remus' cabin, flames leaping into the night sky and the blaze lighting the entire property.

"REMUS!" Harry yelled. There was no one else around which meant whatever fight had taken place here was long over. "REMUS!" There was no answer. Harry ran at the house intending to go in and drag Remus out, but he couldn't get within twenty feet of it without the heat scorching his skin. Harry backed up to find relief from the heat and then ran at the house again, determined to get in and save Remus, but only succeeded in burning the skin on his hands before he had to back quickly away again. "REMUS!" Harry yelled again, feeling frantic and hopeless at the same time. If Remus was inside he was gone by now. Harry reached up to his hair and wove his fingers through it, at a loss for what to do. Remus was gone because Harry had disobeyed and gone out. He was gone because he had helped the Diggory's. He was just gone and there was nothing more than that in that moment. Remus was dead.

Harry didn't know how long he stood there and watched the flames burn, mind blank, but at some point he came back to himself, probably because his hands hurt from the burns he'd received. They were black and Harry wasn't sure if it was charred flesh or soot until he realized his sweat jacket was covered in soot as well.

He well and truly had no place to go now. He'd exhausted every option. Harry was surprised when Remus' voice sounded in his head and reminded him once again that the holidays were almost upon them and he had a place to return to. A place with a half brother and friends and a father he didn't want to deal with... didn't want to see. The only thing was that Harry wanted his father just then in a way he'd never wanted anyone before. Harry wanted someone to hold him and tell him it would be ok even though he knew it wouldn't be. He didn't know if Severus Snape was capable of hugging him or would even want to, but he had nothing else... no one else to go back to but Snape. Harry apparated away, heart empty and eyes blank.

The darkness of the drive leading up to the Hogwarts gates was a stark contrast to the blaze that had lit Harry's eyes a moment before and Harry blinked a few times feeling blind in the darkness. The bright flames still colored his vision as tried to blink them away and pulled the gate open, glad it opened for him and wasn't locked tight. He closed it behind him and plodded up the dirt drive towards the castle. It was drizzling here too, as it had been at Gemini and was causing the soot to become thick mud on his hands and clothes. It was also causing the snow on the ground to become slush that came up over his shoes and soaked his socks.

When Harry made the great oak front door to the castle he pulled on it but found it wouldn't open. He threw two unlocking spells at it and then let go of the heavy handle he'd been yanking on. He'd been running all this time trying not to come back. It hadn't crossed his mind that the castle didn't want him back. He pounded on the door several times with his fist and then gave up and slid down the door to the snow. He wanted to be up in his dormitory bed in the safety of the castle. That was the next best thing to finding his father and he knew when he did the man would spend hours on end yelling at him for getting Remus killed instead of holding him tightly (or perhaps the Headmaster would yell him senseless instead). If Harry had his broom he could just fly up to Gryffindor tower and break a window in his dorm to get in. Ron would be surprised but he and the other boys would let him go to sleep he'd bet. He didn't have a broom though. He supposed he'd have to slog to the Quidditch Pitch and spend the night in the changing rooms so he didn't freeze to death in the cold.

Just when Harry had given up all hope of getting into the castle and finding his father, the sound of a heavy lock sliding open was heard and the door inched open. Harry looked up and saw an eye peeking out and staring down at him. The door opened further and a surprised voice asked, "Harry?"

Harry pulled himself up to face the Headmistress.

"It is you," she said, "or the wards would have bound you already." She opened the door enough to let him in and he came in. He was surprised to see several sleeping bags on the floor against the walls near the stairs with wary people staring at him. He didn't recognize any of them and they were too old to be students.

McGonagall closed the door behind him and slid the heavy bolt into place and cast several wards at it.

"Harry, what happened?"

Harry stared at her and willed tears not to come into his eyes, but it didn't work and they pooled there anyway. He opened his mouth to tell her but there was a lump in his throat. After a moment he tried again. "Remus is dead," Harry said.

Minerva put her hand up over her mouth. "Oh my. Harry-"

"Where is Professor Snape?"

"He's in the dungeon. He just returned a couple hours ago-, Harry wait!"

She reached out for him but Harry had already strode off on shaky legs towards the entrance to the Dungeons and was running down the stairs. The lump in his throat was too tight to tell her that it was his fault that Remus was dead, and that was sure to be her next question.

Harry rounded the corner towards Snape's office and he hurried past it to what he thought might be the door to the man's quarters. He didn't know what else it could be in this corridor as it was the last door before a dead end. Harry rapped hard on the door and then stood back. When it didn't open immediately he rapped on it again and then pounded on it with the side of his fist. Finally the door was thrown open and Snape stood there looking ready to murder whoever was trying to break down his door at this hour of the night. He looked surprised when he realized it was Harry there soaked and covered in soot and dirt, but didn't have time to say anything before Harry had thrown himself bodily at him and was holding him around the middle for dear life.

Severus pulled Harry backwards into the quarters and shut the door quietly and the two stood there for several minutes as Harry clung to him and cried into his shirt. Severus held his shoulders and the back of his head and let him cry. He wasn't sure he'd see the boy again and here he was falling to pieces.

"What has happened?"

"I killed Remus."

"That is doubtful."

"Remus is dead," Harry said into his shirt. "They burned him alive."

"I saw him four hours ago at an Order meeting."

"He's dead," Harry said. "I couldn't save him. The fire was too hot." Harry finally let go of Severus and pulled back to show him his hands. He knew the man couldn't tell they were burnt under the soot, but Harry could feel that they were.

"You're injured."

"It was too hot to get into the cabin."

"I'm surprised you knew where it was. It is not information he has shared with anyone." Severus steered Harry through a livingroom and then down a hall to a bathroom and had him sit on the closed toilet seat. Severus sat on the edge of the tub and used a cloth to gently clean off Harry's hands though it hurt for him to do so.

"They're burned, but not terribly."

"I tried to save him, I really did, I promise."

"I believe you."

Severus looked up at movement in the door and found the Headmaster there watching and listening, though Harry hadn't noticed him yet.

"I couldn't get into the house."

"So you said."

"I came back to the cabin and it was on fire. Remus was gonna come straight back after the meeting. He was in there. I should have been there."

"You saved the Diggory's."

Harry finally looked up and found the Headmaster. "And not Remus," Harry said, tears making muddy soot tracks down his face. They were quiet for a few moments as Severus gently rubbed burn salve into Harry's hands. Harry surprised them when he broke the silence a moment later and asked the Headmaster, "How did you know about the Diggorys?"

"They're here. So is Florean Fortescue," the Headmaster said. "You've been busy Harry."

Harry hung his head. He'd been busy being disobedient and costing Remus his life. He knew already.

"Perhaps we should discuss this after he's had some sleep," Severus said. "It's past three."

"Of course," the Headmaster said sadly, though he looked like he'd rather hear Harry's story now. The Headmaster left the bathroom and Severus told Harry he should take a shower. Harry winced when his hands accidentally touched the counter though and Severus rose and shut the door before returning to help Harry get his soiled jacket and shirt off. He helped him out of the rest of the clothes and Harry was thankful he was too tired and sad to be embarrassed right now as he stepped into the tub and Severus turned the shower on. Severus used some kind of spell to get most of the soot off but there was soot left on Harry's face and neck that Severus scrubbed off with a washcloth and then he shampooed and rinsed Harry's hair. He sent two drying spells and a warming spell at Harry and then helped him into some clothes the elves had brought from Harry's trunk. Harry was thankful to have them.

The Headmaster was waiting at the dining room table but Severus ignored him as he led Harry back to the living room and directed him to one of the two soft dark gray couches. Harry laid down and fell asleep before Severus could bring him a blanket, which he draped over him.

"Minerva was right," Albus said when Severus came into the kitchen where the Headmaster was standing and watching as Severus had put Harry to bed. "He looks like he's in shock. I sent someone to check on Remus. His house is burned to the ground."

"The boy must have been staying with him." Severus sneered. "He sat there at the meeting and acted as though he hadn't a clue where he was."

"I imagine Harry will have quite a story to tell when he wakes."

"I will bring him to you in the morning," Severus said.

"It's interesting that he came to you Severus, even after Minerva greeted him."

"Not interesting enough to discuss," Severus said, crossing his arms.

"Of course. Try to get some sleep dear boy. The coming day may be long."

The Headmaster left and Severus leaned back against the doorframe to the kitchen and stared at Harry's sleeping form on the couch. Had he really been staying with Remus all this time? Why had he come back now instead of running to somewhere else? The boy was clearly able to live independently now and had had many grand adventures while away, saving Fortescue and facing off with three death eaters now as well as vandalizing destroyed buildings across the country and even in other countries. Severus took a breath and quelled his anger at the boy's foolish stunts for the time being. For the moment he was just happy to have eyes on Harry again and to know he was safe and finally where he should be. For now at least no harm could come to him, from himself or otherwise. Not while he slept under his father's watchful gaze.

* * *

"Where is he!? Where's Harry!? Tell me he's here!"

Those that had been trying to sleep in the Entrance Hall were woken a third time and sat up bleary eyed once again as shouting rang out across the hall. First the Diggory's had shown up seeking refuge and the Headmaster, newly returned from wherever he had been had let them in. Then hours later Harry Potter, the Harry Potter had knocked on the door and one of them had gone to fetch McGonagall who let him in. The scene with Potter had been short lived however as he ran off and McGonagall had gone up to get the Headmaster. Now Remus Lupin was standing in the hall demanding to know where the Boy-Who-Lived was. No one had let him in, he'd gotten in on his own.

"Dungeons," a bleary eyed sleep deprived twenty something man said, pointing towards the stairwell Lupin would need. Lupin raced out of sight and the young man asked, "Who's going to go tell the Headmistress that Lupin's not dead after all?" There were murmurs until another twenty something got up and shivered in the cold air before trodding up the stairs and out of sight. The rest of the small group closed their eyes and burrowed back into their sleeping bags. The sun would be up soon and people would be coming down for breakfast, then they'd have no choice but to get up. Just another normal night in the Hogwarts Entrance Hall.

* * *

"Severus! Severus open up! I need to see him!"

The door opened and Severus stared at Remus warily.

"Is he here Severus? Is Harry here? Tell me he came here!"

"He's on the sofa. You'll wake the entire bloody castle if you don't stop-"

But Remus had pushed past Severus roughly and gone to the sofa. He choked when he saw Harry there on the couch sleeping and then stepped back, ran his hand through his hair (which looked as if he'd been doing this all night already), turned in a circle and then stopped to stare at Harry again.

"I'd hoped he'd come back here. After the meeting I went back to the house and he was gone. I went out to look for him and when I came back to the house two hours later to see if he'd come back it was nothing but embers. I'd feared the worst Severus. My only hope was that he'd come back here."

"You lied. You deserved the stress of not knowing."

Remus looked at him guiltily. He supposed he deserved that. It was only hours earlier that he'd pretended not to know where Harry was, not that anyone had asked him directly.

"Has he been with you the entire time?"

"Since he left Beauxbatons. Amos Diggory found him near the Burrow and contacted me. I took him home. He begged me not to take him back to Hogwarts and let him recuperate before I told anyone."

"Clearly he has recuperated," Severus spat, picking up an old copy of The Prophet from his desk with Harry's handiwork plastered all over the front page and throwing it into Remus' hands.

"He snuck out."

"Several times!" Severus spat. "Every night, to taunt Voldemort and vandalize the countryside!"

"That only happened the first time," Remus said. "Then he left again tonight when I went to the meeting. I have no idea where he went."

"He went back to the Diggory's and got into a duel with two Death Eaters, who he encased in mud and left there for us to find. He believes you are dead."

Remus moved to wake Harry but Severus pulled him away. "Let him sleep." Remus looked as though he wanted to fight Severus on the issue but nodded and took a step back. There was a knock on the door a moment later and Severus waved his hand to open it knowing it must be the Headmaster. It was.

"Severus, they said Remus-" his eyes had already found Remus however and he stepped inside and embraced him. "Harry was so certain you were dead."

Remus spent several minutes relaying to the Headmaster what he'd already told Severus and then asked the Headmaster about Amos and his wife.

"They turned up just after midnight seeking refuge. Apparently Harry showed up at the end of a firefight with them and distracted the two Death Eaters long enough for Amos to disable them. Amos told Harry to get somewhere safe and came here. When we went later to check the area we found the two Death Eaters encased in mud up to their mouths and noses. Their tongues were jinxed and they were bound with ropes. Their wands had been snapped. They were both very distraught."

"I'm just relieved Harry is here. I've been trying to convince him to come back by the holidays. When I couldn't find him I feared the worst... that he'd been in the house when it was attacked. My only hope was that he'd listened and come here."

"Why did he not want to return?" Albus asked.

Remus gave a sideways glance at Severus, who crossed his arms and glared at him, and then said, "You'll have to ask Harry when he wakes up."

"Very well."

They stared at Harry as he slept for several moments, but Severus' eyes were on Remus. The man had hidden his son from him. It was clear to him that Remus knew Harry was his son, that he might be worried about him, but he'd hidden him away anyway. In that moment Severus had to work very hard not to wish that Remus had died. He was just another marauder, the last living one as it were, and just like all marauder's, he wanted to cause Severus pain and keep Lily (or her son) away from him.

Feet away Harry slept, dreaming that Remus was still alive, and wishing with all his heart that it were true.

Feeling like he was going to throw up Harry made a mad dash for the hallway and bathroom and was thankful Snape seemed to be out or still asleep as he lost what little was in his stomach. He sank to the floor and rested his head on the side of the tub.

"You're ill." Harry didn't have to look up to know his father was in the doorway watching him a moment later. So he wasn't asleep after all.

"Remus is dead."

Severus sighed heavily. "He is not dead. He showed up two hours after you did screaming like a banshee and demanding to know if you were here."

Harry threw up again at the news and Severus came into the bathroom and lifted him from under the arm to help him to the sink so he could wash his mouth out.

"I'm not still dreaming? Remus is alive?" Harry asked, and he looked like he really wasn't certain what was real anymore.

"He is in a guest room sleeping." Harry looked away and Severus said, "You do not believe me."

"I'm just not sure if I'm dreaming." It wouldn't be the first time that Harry had wished so hard for something to be real that he had dreamed about it being real and been confused when he'd woken. Several times when he was younger and locked in his cupboard he'd had dreams that seemed so real of living with another family that when he woke in the darkness in his cupboard and couldn't get out he panicked and made Aunt Petunia yell at him for causing such a racket.

"You are not," Severus said, and let Harry sit down on the edge of the tub.

"Can I go see him?"

"You can have something to eat and then we are going to have a long discussion. At some point this morning the Headmaster expects to receive an explanation as well." Harry wasn't sure what part of those instructions irritated Snape the most, but he was definitely irritated.

Snape led Harry back to the kitchen where he fed him a bowl of cereal, which Harry only ate a few bites of, and then set two cups of coffee on the table, one in front of himself and one in front of Harry. Harry looked at it, surprised. He didn't usually drink coffee and only knew a few students who did. It was black and he wasn't sure he could drink it so he took a sip and set it back down and decided not to finish.

Harry thought his father was going to ask why he ran away, but he didn't. Harry had no idea that his father already understood why. Instead of questions for Harry, Severus looked at him seriously and said, "I did not know you were my son until I looked into your mind. If I had had any idea, you would not have been living with those Muggles, and I never would have treated you as I had all these years."

Harry squirmed in his seat for a moment. He hadn't expected the Potions Master to jump to the point so quickly, though he didn't know why since Slytherins in general had a way of being blunt. Harry was reminded of his conversation with August however. Whether he realized it or not, it was never ok to treat Harry as he had. Saying that to the man in front of him who was somehow his father seemed a lot harder than saying it to August though. He took another drink of the black coffee and tried not to make a face and said, "It was never ok to treat me like that, whether you knew about me or not." At the same time Harry couldn't help but feeling that he'd given August a pass and had done the same for a lot of other people who had treated him horribly in the past. "You're no different than anyone else," Harry said. "Everyone treats me like that. Forget it."

It was Snape's turn to look uncomfortable now, and there was silence between them for a long moment. "I will- not forget how I have treated you." He looked like he had more that he wanted to say, but his mouth stayed closed and he drank his coffee instead. Harry suffered through another drink of his bitter black coffee as well. If Snape could handle drinking it black, he had to as well, at least until this cup was gone.

"You have questions." Snape made it a statement, but Harry surprised him when after a moment he said, "No." Draco had had all sorts of questions about how he and Harry were practically the same age, how Narcissa and Lucius had ended up together and why Severus and Narcissa had not, and why it was kept a secret and had to remain so.

"You do not have questions about-"

"No." Harry suffered through another drink, and tried not to notice the awkward silence. He did have questions, but suddenly he felt like he didn't want to know. Getting answers would mean a shift in his relationship with Snape... some sort of understanding, and he didn't know if he was ready for that.

"Then it is time for you to explain to me what has gone on since you left Beauxbatons."

This Harry could do. He'd known coming back to Hogwarts would mean getting in trouble for running away and was ready for it. He was ready to get yelled at and given months of detention. He wasn't ready for Snape to sit there and listen as he drank his coffee and not interrupt him until he was finished. Harry kept looking up at him as he told about being found by Amos, sneaking out in the middle of the night to go to Diagonalley, and burying death eaters in mud with Root. When he was done Severus rose to get a second cup of coffee and Harry intentionally left a few swallows left in his so his wouldn't be refilled as well.

"What about this nonsense in the student newsletters?"

"What do you mean?"

"You were writing your friends with quotes meant to taunt Voldemort."

"I didn't. I only wrote to Luna once asking if she could do something to get the truth out, and they started The Hogwarts Guardian."

"You were having a lie in?"

"It wasn't me. They made that up."

"And you did not vandalize buildings across the country? You did not go back to Beauxbatons and Boden to do the same there?"

"People did that on their own. I didn't mean to start something, I just wanted to get a message to Ron and Hermione and let them know it wasn't like the Prophet was saying."

Severus took a deep breath and then sighed as he took the sight of Harry in. Harry was just as insecure as when he'd seen him at Beauxbatons. It was even clearer to him now that most of his actions were fueled by insecurity. Harry wasn't trying to start a rebellion or taunt Voldemort, he was just trying to keep himself from disappearing. He wanted to be seen. If Severus hadn't seen his mind fully at Beauxbatons, he was certainly seeing Harry now.

"Has your arm fully healed?"

"I think so."

"Are you injured anywhere that I didn't treat last night?"

"I'm ok," Harry said.

"You're well enough to return to classes tomorrow then."

Harry paused as he was rising to put his mug into the sink. "I'm behind though. I'm going to have to repeat a year."

"You are caught up."

"But I missed over a month of classes. I didn't do homework or take tests or-"

"You sent essays in every day. You are caught up in everything but practical Transfiguration and practical Potions and Charms."

Harry frowned. "I didn't send in any essays."

Severus rose and went into the living room and Harry followed. He pulled a file out of his top desk drawer and handed it to Harry. Inside were all the Potions essays he'd written for Remus while he was staying with him.

"But- I thought Remus didn't tell you where I was."

"He did not." Severus took the file back. "You mean to tell me Remus sent these daily?"

"He said I couldn't fall behind and he had 6th year text books and assigned me essays from all the readings every day. I didn't know he was sending them in. He sent all of them in?"

"I would assume so. Every morning an owl comes in with them and the Headmistress sorts them and gives them to the appropriate teacher. As far as I am aware you are counted as caught up in your classes, though you will have to brew ten potions for me and your other professors may make you perform spells to prove you have mastered more than just the theory."

"Remus was teaching me all kinds of shields and blocks and some hexes."

"You will be caught up in after school classes then."

"In what?"

"Since the students from Boden have come to stay, and since three of the schools have been attacked, after school classes are being held to teach dueling, extra defense, magery, and other skills. All students fifth year and above are required to take two after school classes per day. First through fourth years must take one after school class per day geared towards their level of understanding."

Harry was going to ask more, but closed his mouth. Apparently he'd missed a lot while he was away, and despite Snape's assurances that he was all caught up, he felt anything but.

"You will report to the Headmaster's office for a discussion with him. You may do as you wish after that, but you are to return here after dinner."

"For detention?"

"You will be staying the night."

"Why?"

Severus gave him a calm but serious look. "We have more to discuss." Harry's stomach squirmed. What more could there be to discuss?

His father waved him away and Harry left, feeling odd about his morning and the exchange. He still felt queasy and exhausted from the events of the night before, and the only thing he wanted to do right now was find Remus and make sure he really wasn't dreaming. Harry would have gone to find Remus too if he knew what room he was staying in, but had no choice but to do as he was told and go to the Headmaster's office.

The corridors were empty as he made his way up through the castle and as Harry checked his watch he realized everyone was in their late morning class.

The gargoyle guarding the Headmaster's office stepped aside automatically when he approached without waiting for a password, and Harry swallowed. The Headmaster was expecting him, and Remus' warning about how angry the Headmaster could get was fresh on his mind. When Harry knocked on the door and was bade to enter, no yelling met his ears however. Instead he was swept up into a tight hug that took his breath away and almost knocked him off his feet. He wasn't sure who had him until Remus said in his ear, "I'm so upset with you cub. I thought you were dead. You had no right to put me through that." Remus let go and looked him up and down and then pulled him into a tight hug again. Harry hugged him back, equally glad the man was alive and not burned to death.

"I'm so sorry Remus. I should have listened."

"What's done is done," Remus said, releasing him. Remus pulled him down into a seat and took a seat in the other visitor chair and Harry looked to find the Headmaster watching, no anger evident on his face.

"Tell me what happened," Remus said. Harry thought Dumbledore would have been asking questions, but it seemed for the moment Remus was still in charge and was conducting this interview.

"I waited until you were gone for ten or fifteen minutes and went out. I was only going to be gone a few minutes, and I was going to stay away from populated areas. I wanted to thank Mr. Diggory for helping me out and getting me to you, but when I got there he was in a fight with two Death Eaters. His house was on fire. I distracted them and he took them down. He left and I went down the lane to check on the Burrow but it seemed ok aside from their field was on fire. I went back and bound the unconscious Death Eaters more and used a tongue tie curse. I snapped their wands and buried them in mud. I figured unless they could do wandless and wordless magic they'd be stuck. I was going to go back to the cabin and tell you when you came back so you could send someone to pick them up, but I got back to the cabin and you were-" Harry swallowed back the tears that fought to burst forth. Remus reached over and squeezed his shoulder and Harry finished, "You weren't there. I came back here."

"Harry," the Headmaster said, reminding him he was there. "How did you bury the Death Eaters in mud?"

"I put my fingers into the mud and made it soften until they sank into it. I pulled their mouths and noses above it and used a spell to harden the mud again with my wand."

"You used Root?"

"Yes sir."

"I was unaware you had gained such an understanding of it during your time at Gemini."

"I've been practicing."

"Is that what you did to The Prophet editor on Diagon Alley?"

"Yeah. It was easy because there was a lot of magic in the stones. I just brought them up and made them squeeze him."

"But it was harder at the Diggory's house?"

"I found the magic in the lane, and I could get it to liquify, but I couldn't get it to harden. I couldn't figure that part out so I used a spell."

The Headmaster asked him a couple of other questions about Root and then said, "Remus, if you'll excuse us for a few minutes, I have some things I would like to discuss with Harry. I'll send him down so you can take him to lunch shortly."

Remus gave a nod, looked Harry up and down again as though he weren't sure if this were a dream or not, and then left Harry alone with Dumbledore in his office.

"You've been busy while you've been away Harry. Remus has filled me in on some of your time away and has helped me separate the truth from some of the fiction your friends have been printing in The Guardian. Some things still remain unanswered however."

Here it comes, Harry thought. The Headmaster was going to scream at him til' his ears bled for running from a fight.

"When I sent you to Hogsmeade during the initial battle, what happened?"

"There was a little boy trying to hide. I helped him hide and ran in the opposite direction. I ran into a Death Eater."

"Who?"

"Narcissa Malfoy."

"And what happened? How did you get away?"

"She said-" Harry frowned, had his father or Remus already told Dumbledore about his connection to Snape? "She told me about Draco and Professor Snape. She said Draco would never forgive her if she hurt me, and let me go."

"Why?"

"Draco and I are friends."

"I was not aware there had been a shift in your relationship."

"At Gemini we all decided that we didn't have houses there, we were just from Hogwarts. In the competitions we wanted to have a win for Hogwarts. Nobody cared what house we were from except Professor Snape."

"I see. That is welcome news. You are aware however that no one can know about Draco's connection with Professor Snape? That would be dangerous for both of them as well as for Narcissa Malfoy."

"Yes sir."

"Do you believe based on what transpired with Narcissa in Hogsmeade that she would be willing to change sides?"

"I don't know," Harry said. He hadn't thought about it and was only thankful that she'd let him get away without a fight.

"When you left Hogsmeade, why did you not return?"

Harry looked down at his hands and fidgeted with them. That was harder to explain without giving his own connection to Snape away and he really didn't want to besides. "It's hard to explain."

"No one will blame you for being scared to return Harry."

"It wasn't that," he said. He had been panicked and everything had happened so fast, but that wasn't the reason.

When Harry still hadn't come up with a sufficient answer and was still staring at his fingers, the Headmaster asked, "Was it about Voldemort?"

"No."

"You had another reason not to return?"

"I- didn't want to."

Dumbledore was quiet and Harry looked up only to find the man watching him and green eyes met blue. "You did not come back for personal reasons," Dumbledore said.

"Yes."

"You realize, it's been quite some time since we've had a student run away from Hogwarts. The last was before you came to school. It hadn't crossed my mind that you had something you were trying to work through. I must admit it eases my mind some that you were not out searching for Voldemort."

"I'm sorry."

"Do not be Harry. I have been accused from time to time of forgetting that you are still a student and not a fully fledged member of the Order. You are allowed to be human and to be a teenager. It also eases my mind to know you were with Remus for some of the time you were gone. Did you enjoy spending time with Remus?"

"I- yeah. I'm not sure how much he enjoyed it though."

Dumbledore chuckled. "For now I will be placing you in Remus' charge. Remus will be staying at the castle. He will be staff but for now there is already an abundance of teachers so there's no need for him in that capacity. His primary goal is you and to see to any extra training you need."

"You're not- putting me with Professor Snape?"

Dumbledore looked at him over the top of his half-moon glasses. "Is there reason to? I was under the impression the two of you did not get along. That is why you refused to return with him when he found you at Beauxbatons is it not?"

Harry bit his lip and shrugged. What was he supposed to say? Draco's relationship with Snape was a secret from most everybody and he wasn't sure if his relationship with the man was supposed to be a secret from Dumbledore or not.

"Try not to give Remus too much trouble Harry. After recent events he deserves a little time to unwind."

"I won't run away again," Harry promised. He wouldn't vandalize anything or do anything else stupid either, he thought to himself, becuase he was sure that was what the Headmaster was telling him.

"I meant what I said Harry," Dumbledore told him with a serious look. "You are allowed to be human. I only ask that you work with Remus and not against him."

"Yes sir."

"Remus should be waiting for you at the bottom of the stairs. He'll make sure you are caught up enough to return to classes."

"Yes sir."

Harry got up and left the office. Remus was waiting for him in the corridor as promised.

"Lunch?" he asked.

"You didn't tell him about Professor Snape?" Harry asked.

"I thought you didn't want anyone to know."

"I don't- he said you were my guardian now?"

"Yes. I'll be staying in a room down the corridor from Gryffindor tower. Just a couple doors down from Professor McGonagall's."

"Because I need watching?"

"Because you're not going back to the Dursleys next summer and that means you need a guardian. Every other student here has one."

"Don't you think Professor Snape might have a problem with this?"

"It'll be something to discuss with him," Remus said. "But unless he wants certain details to be known this is where we're at."

"I'm supposed to go back to his quarters tonight to stay the night."

"Harry." Remus pulled him into an alcove. "I'm not going to interfere with your relationship. As far as I'm concerned he's your guardian. What he says goes."

"Maybe don't tell him that," Harry said, eyes wide.

"You're going to have to deal with him sooner or later Harry. I'd recommend sooner."

Harry kept his mouth shut as they headed down through the castle and began running into students coming out of class and heading to the Great Hall for lunch.

"Hey! Harry! When'd you get back?"

Harry turned and waved at Dean, though his words had caused several people to stop and crane their necks over the crowd trying to spot Harry.

"The halls are certainly more crowded with the Boden students here," Remus said, and Harry had to agree. They finally made it to the Entrance Hall a minute later and Remus said, "I'm going to the staff table Harry. I'll see you after unless you make plans with your friends."

"Ok."

"Look, see!" Dean's voice rang out again in the crowd and a moment later Ron and Hermione appeared, following Dean to where Harry stood against the wall under the Slytherin hourglass.

"Harry!" Ron had him in a hug before he could respond and pulled back only after Draco came up to them to see that Harry was back as well. Harry wasn't sure if he should hug Hermione or not because he wasn't sure if they were still dating, so instead he stood there feeling awkward and trying not to look at her.

"When did you get back? What happened?" Ron asked.

"This morning round three I guess."

"Remus is here too you know," Hermione said quietly. "We saw him between morning classes."

"I know," Harry said.

"Wait here," Ron said, "I'll get lunch and we can eat in the Newsletter room." Ron and Draco disappeared leaving Harry and Hermione alone.

"Hi," Harry said quietly.

"Hi."

"Why-" "I'm-" They both quieted so they didn't talk over each other.

After a moment Hermione said, "Why did you leave? Ron thinks you were out searching for Voldemort."

"It wasn't that."

"I'd like to know."

"It was- it was personal reasons. Family stuff."

"What do you mean?"

"I found some stuff out about my parents. I don't really wanna talk about it."

"So you just left? You didn't write or anything?"

"I'm really sorry Hermione. I didn't want anyone to know where I was because I didn't wanna come back here and deal with it."

"You wrote to Draco though, and Luna."

"I wrote Draco so he could let people know I was safe at least and not dead. I wrote Luna because I didn't want you guys to believe what the Prophet was printing."

"We didn't," Hermione said. "No one believed what they were printing."

"I tried to leave you guys a message."

"Dumbledore's Army lives," she said.

"Yeah."

Hermione sighed. "We were all really worried about you Harry."

"I'm sorry." He wanted to ask if they were still dating, but didn't know if he really wanted to know the truth or not. Remus' voice was in his head telling him to get it over with though so he said, "Are you- are we-"

"Still dating?" She gave him a sad look. "I don't know what we are Harry. I don't even know if we're friends. I thought you would have written me or Ron at least after all we've been through together, or taken one or both of us with you."

"I didn't have a lot of time to think about taking someone with me. The Headmaster sent me to Hogsmeade and once I was there and it was under attack I didn't have a lot of time to think about anything. I ended up leaving and going to Boden."

"I know where you went. Axle told us you were there for a while. He's been hanging out with Ron and Draco."

"Look- I really am sorry. I did what I had to do. I told you when we started dating that something like this might happen."

"Yes," she agreed, "you did. I just didn't know that I wasn't just gonna lose my boyfriend, I was gonna lose my best friend too."

"You didn't. I'm right here."

"For how long? When you disappear again, how long until you decide to write and let me and Ron know where you are and that you're ok? Do you know Ron and I checked the Prophet every morning to be sure you weren't listed as dead? That you weren't in the section in the back of unidentified bodies? It wasn't just us Harry. Everyone was stressed about you missing."

"I'm sorry."

"I know you are and I forgive you. I'm still upset with you though." She stepped back and then walked away and into the Great Hall. She hadn't yelled at him or even used a harsh tone during their conversation, but Harry still felt as though he'd been slapped. He still didn't know if they were done dating or not. She hadn't been clear. Maybe she wanted him to be uncertain like she'd been.

Harry turned and found Snape leaning against the wall on the other side of the Entrance Hall at the entrance to the Dungeons, just watching, arms crossed. Harry was going to say something but didn't know what, and a moment later Ron and Draco came back with their arms full of food.

"Where's ‘Mione?" Ron asked.

"I don't think she's coming," Harry said.

"C'mon then, we only have forty minutes til' lunch is over." Ron and Draco led Harry up to the second floor and down a side corridor he didn't often go down. They opened a door on the end and Harry followed them inside. There were four tables and a workbench against one wall with an ancient looking contraption Harry thought might be a printing press.

"McGonagall's overseeing the Newsletter club," Ron said. "There's a whole bunch of us doing it. I'm Editor," he said proudly, and pointed to a pin on his chest below his Prefect badge. He set several apples down on the table and a bag of crisps he'd come up with somewhere. Draco had four sandwiches and set them next to the other food. They pulled up stools and ate quietly for a minute.

"Luna's in charge of publishing," Ron said. "Neville's been interviewing new people that come to the castle and writing stories, and there's some younger students from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw that have been coming more often lately and working on fixing up the printing press."

When Harry looked at Draco, Draco said, "I'm not allowed to participate. Father won't let me." He and Harry shared a look and Ron scoffed but didn't say anything. Harry and Draco both knew he was talking about Snape.

"And Professor McGonagall lets you publish whatever?" Harry asked. "You printed a lot of stuff I didn't say."

Ron grinned. "Professor McGonagall came up with some of it. She said we all needed a morale boost and rebellions have to start somewhere."

"Rebellions?"

"People have been showing up since you left. Not just Boden students, although we got a few more of them after the first wave arrived. Harry, even the Chudley Cannons came!"

"What?"

"They've been sleeping in the Entrance Hall as a first line of defense. They wanted to be part of the ‘movement'," Ron said.

"I don't-"

"When you painted Diagon Alley," Ron said. "Fred and George painted a sign and put up over their ruined shop. And some Boden students put it up over the part of their school that was destroyed. Some of the kids you went to Gemini with did it at Beauxbatons too. Everyone thinks it's you that's been being cheeky in the Newsletter and then the vandalism and all the stuff the Prophet editor said about you..."

"It just exploded," Draco said. "The Cannon's showed up and said they wanted to help you with ‘The Dumbledore's Army movement'. Father says the whole thing is ridiculous." He gave Harry another look which Harry ignored.

"Not just the Cannons Harry," Ron said. "Fortescue showed up and told us how you came out of nowhere and saved him, and we put that in the Newsletter. Then other people who have been targeted started to show up... you know, Muggleborn business owners and whatnot. A bunch of them have been staying in guest quarters down the Hufflepuff Hallway and some down in the Dungeons. The people from Gladrags and the guy that runs that apothecary on Diagon and his wife and kids."

Harry nodded. "So it's this whole thing now."

"Yeah, and now you're back and you can lead it. You can give us some real quotes for the Newsletter."

"I don't- what am I even gonna say?"

Ron shrugged. "This is one of the after school classes. You have to take two. This could be one of them. We meet after dinner."

Ron and Draco explained that every day 6 after school classes were offered, though they were run more like clubs. They happened from 4-5 and 6-7. You had to take two but it didn't have to be the same two every day. If for instance they were going to teach an advanced shield you wanted to know in the dueling class then you could skip one of your other after school classes to go to it instead.

"I've been doing the Newsletter and duelling," Ron said.

"What about Hermione?" Harry asked.

"Duelling and Defensive Charms."

Draco finished his apple and said, "There's Duelling, Newsletter, Defensive Charms, Snape is teaching Defensive Tactics like he did at Gemini, Magery, and Healing like at Gemini but Madam Pomfrey is teaching it. Once a week McGonagall cancels Newsletter and does a Defensive Transfiguration lesson with that Transfiguration teacher from Boden. They're gonna make you take Healing with Pomfrey for at least two days. First aid stuff. They made everybody do it."

"Remus has been teaching me new shields and defensive spells," Harry said.

"Maybe you can teach us tonight in the dorms."

"Erm- I can't go back to the dorms tonight," Harry said.

"What? Why not? We'll put an extra bed in and move Axle out of yours."

"He's been staying in our room?"

"Yeah, they spread the Boden kids out everywhere. They let them choose where they wanted to stay. They said they can't sort them because they're not technically enrolled as Hogwarts students. They're still following Boden rules and going to classes with the few Boden teachers that came with them. For classes where they don't have a teacher they go to ours. I thought it would be a shocker for them going to Potions with Snape but he's been off lately."

Harry frowned. "What do you mean?"

Ron shrugged. "Dunno. He's not snapping at anyone anymore and deducting points like a lunatic."

"He's been worried," Draco put in quietly, and didn't give Harry a look this time.

"Well-" Ron said. "He did storm into the Newsletter office that one day and threatened to take a hundred points from each of us if we printed anything about you again Harry, but McGonagall came in and made him get lost and told us to keep doing what we were doing."

They stood up a minute later and gathered their trash and threw it away. "Are you coming back to classes today?" Ron asked.

"I'm not sure what the schedule is," Harry confessed. "I'm supposed to go back tomorrow."

"You can come with us," Ron said. "There's only a couple classes left today anyway."

Harry nodded, but felt weird about jumping straight back into classes. They went to Transfiguration and after McGonagall gave the class something to practice on, she called Harry to the front of the room.

"I have all of your homework for the past couple weeks Harry, so you're caught up there. I need to see the transfiguration work though." She asked him to show her several spells, which he did, but she spent the entire lesson correcting the wand work and pronunciations and Harry tried to pay attention instead of looking over to where Hermione was sitting and working.

When class was over McGonagall said, "We'll work on this again tomorrow, but I'm confident you'll be caught up by the end of the next class. If not we can find someone to tutor you over the weekend."

"Yes maam."

McGonagall dismissed the class, but before Harry could leave she put her hand on his wrist to keep him from stepping away and joining his friends. "I'm glad you're back Harry. I don't know why you left, but I assume everything is taken care of now?"

Harry bit his lower lip and then nodded. "Yes maam."

"If you need to talk about anything Harry, let me know. That's what a Head of House is for."

"Yes maam."

She gave him a worn smile and sent him on his way.

Harry went to Charms next which went much the same way as Transfiguration. Flitwick didn't have to correct his wandwork as much, but did end up giving Harry a three page long test to make sure he was satisfied that Harry knew all the concepts he'd need to continue. Harry passed, and Flitwick only assigned him one extra essay about a concept he wasn't sure Harry had mastered yet.

By now the word had spread that Harry was back and going back to classes, and it was impossible for Harry to make his way down to the Great Hall for dinner. Everyone wanted to slap him on the back and congratulate him on making a fool of Voldemort in the papers. To the student body it seemed as though this had been Harry's plan all along. No one knew he ran away, and people were under the impression that Dumbledore had given him leave to go on some sort of special top secret mission for the Ministry of Magic.

Harry ended up skipping dinner, though he told his friends to go ahead without him. The problem was he didn't know where to go instead of dinner. He couldn't go back to the dorm yet, primarily because he didn't have the password or a bed to go back to, and he didn't think he'd be allowed back in Snape's quarters before the appointed time. That left him with standing in the middle of the Entrance Hall feeling lost.

"Harry."

Harry turned and found August.

"Has your arm healed?"

Harry nodded and August seemed relieved.

"You do not know how happy that makes me to hear that. I thought I'd lost you in the lake, or that I'd accidentally left you at Boden."

"It wasn't your fault. I pulled away in the apparation. I'm sorry."

August waved him away. "It is done and over. I am only happy to know that you are well."

"Thanks," Harry said quietly. Apparently Harry had been causing people to worry all over the place. He felt bad about Remus but after Hermione had told him off, and then finding out Snape had been worried while he was away, and now August... even McGonagall seemed relieved he was back. Maybe Hermione was right and he had been selfish.

"I know you've only just returned Harry, but I have a request."

Harry looked up.

"You have heard about after school courses."

"Yeah."

"Most of them are based on defense and offense in preparation for whatever comes next. In Magery I have been trying to teach students how to cast a patronus so we can work on it wandlessly. Aside from the few who already know how I have been unsuccessful. I was hoping you would come to my class for a few days and help me teach them what they need to know."

"You want me to teach?"

August nodded and Harry said, "I- ok." He really didn't know what to say to a request like that. He'd never been asked to teach before, or even to take over the class for a minute when a teacher had to step out. Hermione had been asked, and once Flitwick had even told Draco to take over when he had to step out to deal with something, but never Harry. "Remus taught me," Harry said. "He's on staff now."

"I heard," August said. "I would not be opposed to him coming to help as well. I was hoping since you have had success teaching younger students how to cast you could use the same techniques with this class."

"Ok," Harry said.

"Our class is working on something else tonight. Would later this week work for you? Friday?"

Harry nodded. "Yes sir."

"All is well then. I must get back to my family and dinner." He left Harry in the Entrance Hall to think over the conversation and his stomach bubbled at how different things were. He didn't even know what after school classes looked like yet, or who was in them, and now he was being asked to teach one, at least for a day.

"Mr. Potter." Harry turned and found Snape coming out of the Great Hall. "Come with me."

Harry followed him down into the Dungeons and back to his quarters.

"You didn't eat dinner."

"No sir."

Snape tapped his wand on his kitchen table and a plate appeared with dinner. "Sit and eat."

Harry sat and took a few bites of potatoes and roast beef and ignored the strange chutney sitting on the side of his plate.

"The elves have been including food from Sweden for the Boden students."

Harry nodded but didn't say anything as Snape sat at the other end of the table and drank tea. Harry was only thankful the man wasn't inviting him to another bitter coffee drinking contest.

"You attended classes today?"

"Just Transfiguration and Charms. I had to take a charms test and show Professor McGonagall some spells."

Severus nodded. "You wish to go to after school classes?"

"Not particularly."

"Then you will not start until tomorrow evening."

"What about the Potions I have to brew?"

"You may do so this weekend."

Harry bit his lip. He wondered if Snape knew the Headmaster had put Remus in charge of him yet and if he really wanted to be the one to tell him about it. Perhaps he'd best leave that to Remus.

"Why can't I go back to the dorms tonight?"

"If you really want to I will not stop you from doing so."

Harry stopped pushing the chutney around the plate and looked up and met his eyes. He didn't really want to go back tonight. He was sure they could find a sleeping bag or something so he could sleep on the floor next to Ron's bed, but he was done answering questions for the day and dancing around the issue of why he'd left in the first place. He was also tired of people slapping him on the back and asking him what his next move was. Snape must have known this would happen ahead of time, and Harry was surprised the man had been so thoughtful.

When Harry pushed his plate away from himself, Severus motioned for him to follow him into the living room and sit on the couch. Severus sat in a comfortable chair next to the spot Harry took on the couch. "Would you like help clearing your mind before bed?"

Harry fidgeted and played with his fingers. He'd been doing that a lot today. He did want help. There were a lot of confusing things floating around and fighting for attention. Snape had apparently known that too... had apparently put himself in Harry's shoes and was ready for this, which surprised Harry. Harry was up against the same conundrum he'd had that morning though. Accepting this help from Snape would mean a shift in their relationship. He'd let Snape help him clear his mind at Beauxbatons because he'd really had no choice. He'd felt a peace afterwards that he wasn't used to... like someone else had taken the weight off him for just a little while so he could rest. Harry couldn't bring himself to believe that Snape wanted to take this on though. No one had ever wanted to do that for him. His friends had helped him, but only because his problems were theirs too with all the things Harry had gotten them involved in. Now here was Snape ready for him. Here was Snape ready to give him a place of rest after a draining day, and ready to help him tuck things in his mind away so he didn't have to by himself. The man was his father, but Harry didn't understand. Snape still hated him. He had to, son or not. He might have promised not to treat him like he had before, but that didn't necessarily change his feelings about Harry.

"Do you want the help?" Snape asked again.

"I don't know why you want to help me."

Snape was silent as he looked at Harry and Harry pulled his eyes away. "I am your father."

"That doesn't mean anything to me."

"It means something to me."

"What does it mean?"

Snape leaned forward causing Harry to look up again. "It means I am here to help you bear your burdens. You do not have to do it alone anymore."

Harry swallowed hard and nodded. He didn't understand, but he wanted to. He wanted to know what that was like to have a father to help. He wanted that more than anything.

"Then open your mind," Severus said. Harry looked into his eyes for a moment, and then closed them as he let his father into his mind, which was once again jumbled with confusion and overwhelmed with the days events. Severus felt the desperation in Harry's mind to be helped, and began to sift through Harry's feelings over the conversation Severus had seen between he and Hermione earlier in the day, August's request for him to teach, and all the changes the school had gone through in Harry's absence. As he worked Severus felt Harry's anxiety over the changes, over the possibility of getting yelled at by the Headmaster for running off, and over getting the help from Severus that he wanted but didn't know how to deal with. Just as Harry drifted off to sleep an hour later, Severus felt Harry's anxiety over one last thing: how his father would react to the Headmaster making Harry Lupin's ward. Severus removed himself from the boy's mind, stood and covered him with a blanket, and then left his sleeping son to go and find the wolf. It was time to have words with him.

"You've been here less than a day and I've had just about enough of you wolf."

Remus' eyes flashed for a moment and Severus didn't miss the wild look in them before the man tempered his reaction to being pushed into his quarters and then held up against a wall. It must have been near the full moon for the normally mild man to wear such a murderous look, but it was gone as soon as it had flashed across his face.

"Severus," Remus said mildly, but his voice was strained. "I assume you've heard about Albus' decision. I can only hope this didn't happen to Harry when he told you."

"He did not tell me. No one told me. Just as no one told me where my son was when he should have been at school," Severus sneered, not letting up on the force he was using against his chest to hold Lupin against the wall. He was certain the man would be bruised.

"Perhaps we should shut the door before talking about this," Remus suggested. Severus growled lightly before letting Remus off the wall and reaching over to slam the door to the man's quarters closed.

"You have no right," Severus seethed.

"Would you like some tea Severus?"

Severus ignored him but Remus went to the small kitchenette in his staff quarters and put the kettle on anyway.

"I am sorry I kept Harry's whereabouts from you."

"You knew I was the boy's father and you continued to conceal him from me."

"It was what Harry wanted."

"I have a right to know where he is instead of continually worrying for his safety."

"Harry has the right to deal with his feelings how he sees fit, which at the time meant staying away from Hogwarts."

"You're just like James and Black," Severus accused.

"Am I?"

"They would do anything to keep Lily from me. Now you do what you can to keep her son, my son from me."

Remus stopped making tea and turned to look at Severus. "They did that," he agreed. "But I'm not James or Sirius, and this isn't about you."

"Isn't about-" Severus started angrily, but Remus had turned his back on him to finish making tea then and seemed content to ignore him until he was done. He turned around a moment later with a cup of tea and set it on the small round table in front of Severus and then set to making his own. Severus was seething by the time Remus had turned around again with a second cup of tea.

"Wolf if you ignore me again-"

"It was about Harry Severus."

Severus glared at him. "What is about Harry?"

Remus sat down with his tea and said, "I wouldn't keep him from you and have no intention to. But Harry didn't want to come back. He needed a place where he could just think through things, and he needed someone that didn't have any other priority than him."

"You believe I would put others before him?" Severus sneered.

"No," Remus said, "but like I said this isn't about you. It never was. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you where he was. I've been encouraging him to come back to school since I got him home. I've been encouraging him to come back and speak to you."

Severus gave Remus a look like he didn't believe him and said, "Which is why you followed him here and then took him as your ward? "I am the boy's father."

"I'm the only one Harry's told aside from Draco. I assumed you hadn't told Albus and didn't want him to know, so when he asked me to watch after Harry I had little choice but to say yes. I told Harry already that I have no plans to interfere with his relationship with you and that you're his guardian and what you say goes."

"I'm sure you said that," Severus said sarcastically.

"It's exactly what I said," Remus told him. "Harry needs you whether he believes it or not. He doesn't have anybody. I'll always do what I can to be there for him and just him, but he believes I'll abandon him the moment he does something wrong." Remus looked uneasy for a moment as he took a sip of his tea and then said, "I think it's what his relatives would have done. I've always had the feeling there was no love lost between them and Harry."

It was Severus' turn to look uncomfortable now. Clearly the wolf had picked up on what Gan and Adeline had. The only one who'd had no idea was Severus. Who else had read all the signs Severus had missed?

"You don't look surprised," Remus said.

"I have- learned some things about his home life."

Remus sighed in frustration. "I don't know that Harry will ever believe that I will always be here for him. We're not related and I can't even claim that I'm his godfather, and he's used to losing people or people trying to get rid of him." He looked up at Severus. "You're his father, and he needs you to prove to him somehow that no matter how bad it gets, you're going to be here for him."

Severus took a drink of his tea and said with less of a sneer than he usually conjured, "I don't need you to tell me how to raise my son."

"I meant what I said Severus," Remus told him. "I've been encouraging him to come back to school and seek you out, to work things out between the two of you. I understand he came straight to you when he got back?"

"Yes."

"He knows he needs you too," Remus said. "You're all he has."

"Apparently he has a wolf as well," Severus said, setting his tea down. He'd known Remus and Harry had spent time together in Harry's third year, but hadn't realized the extent of the relationship they apparently had. Remus had been there for Harry when Severus had yet to realize he had a second son. For the first time since Severus had known Remus, a feeling of respect for the wolf was kindled in him. A feeling of respect for the man.

Severus stood and moved for the door to the man's quarters and Remus didn't move to stop him. "The boy still needs a godfather," Severus said, hand on the doorknob. "I would be unwise not to appoint one for him when war is at our doorstep."

"Severus, I-"

Severus turned back around and took in the stunned and touched look the man wore. "Don't get any ideas," Severus said. "I'm still his father, and I check my food for poison before consuming it." He didn't give Remus a chance to respond, but as he moved into the hall and closed the door, he heard him chuckling.

Severus smoothed down his robes and strode off to update his will.

* * *

"Looks like more people came in the night," Ron commented as they made their way to breakfast a few days later.

"Families," Axle said as they watched a boy and girl about eight and nine years old running after their parents.

"I got the early edition of the Prophet and didn't see any news of an attack," Harry said, wondering why more people were seeking refuge if Voldemort hadn't been out destroying homes. He'd been relatively quiet for the last few days and Harry worried that meant Voldemort knew that his adversary had finally made his way back to Hogwarts. Harry was only glad he didn't seem to be the only one feeling the tension rising. Everyone seemed to be on edge. People still talked and laughed but smiles were strained and laughter nervous and ingenuine.

"They're just scared," Ron said, "and they know you're here. They know this is the safest place."

Harry paled as Ron confirmed his fears that word had gotten out about his return.

"Relax," Ron said, slapping Harry on the back when he caught sight of his friend's face. "You couldn't stay away forever. We knew that. Staff and the Ministry have been beefing up the wards and protective charms for when we're attacked again."

"Is your family coming?" Axle asked Ron, and Harry was curious to know the answer too. He thought they would have been there already, and was nervous about seeing them after all that had happened between him and Ron.

"I don't think so," Ron said. "They're at a safehouse," Ron said with a meaningful look to Harry, who nodded. They must have been at Grimmuald Place. "The wards held at the Burrow during the fire, but just to be safe they moved. They aren't going out anymore either since Dad stopped working at the Ministry."

"He did?" Harry asked. He'd been trying to catch up with everything he'd missed since he'd been gone, but there was a lot he still hadn't heard.

"Death Eaters are in control in high places," Ron said. "They disbanded his office. No need to protect Muggles when you're out there killing them every night." Ron sounded as disgusted as Harry felt.

Axle shook his head as they sat down at the end of Gryffindor table and Draco came over to join them. He had a black eye.

"What happened to you?" Harry asked.

"I'm a sympathizer for being friends with you and my father is a head Death Eater," Draco said. "Half the house wants to be my friend suddenly because they're scared, and the other half has decided I need to be punished. To top it all off I have detention with Professor Snape later for fighting." Draco didn't seem perturbed about the last bit at all. The detention must have been for show.

"Wonderful," Harry said quietly. He looked over at Slytherin table and found that there was a clear divide between the house. There was a gap about five feet wide right in the center of the table.

"Which side is which over there?" Ron asked, looking too. "Just so I know who to be wary of."

"Goyle and Blaise pummeled me last night in my sleep, if that answers your question," Draco said, resolutely keeping his back to Slytherin and filling a cup of coffee up for himself. Harry noticed he was drinking it black.

"That's surprising," Ron commented, still looking over at Slytherin. "I thought Pansy and Milicent would be with them for sure, and Crabbe. Look at him, he's all the way at the other end looking miserable."

"They knocked him around too for trying to get between us last night. Pansy's family is under pressure from both sides right now and Milicent's uncle was killed last year by You-Know-Who, so she isn't particularly keen on being on the other side."

Axle was ignoring his breakfast altogether and watching the other boys go back and forth. "I can't believe this is happening," Axle said. "It's so... bizarre."

The others looked at him, question in their eyes.

"I thought at first the way Harry described the houses at the school was interesting," Axle said. "I thought I'd be a Hufflepuff if I were to go here. But it's so divided."

"You're visiting under extreme circumstances," Neville said, late to breakfast as he sat down next to Harry. "It's divided a little, usually only because of Quidditch and everyone's got pride in their house. "This is different."

"But Harry said there is always something extreme going on here."

"With Harry, Ron and Hermione," Neville said, not with the rest of us.

Ron gave Neville a pointed look and Neville amended, "sometimes with the rest of us, ok. But this is war, and Slytherin has a lot of people on one side and some on the other, and a lot who don't know which side they should be on."

"Extreme circumstances," Axle repeated Neville's words in acknowledgement. "Maybe what I can't believe is that we are in this situation. I would have liked to have visited when everything is normal. I did not believe it was possible to miss Boden this much, or to miss... ach, I don't know the word. Koppla av."

"Not being stressed out every minute of the day," Harry filled in for him. It was so relaxed at Boden. No one there thought of war or prepared for an attack or worried that the war would come to them. Here, now, it was a constant worry, punctuated a little more each day when new refugees showed up seeking safety. Harry missed the quiet of Boden as well.

"Yes," Axle said.

That seemed to end the conversation, but not their thoughts on it, and their entire section of the table grew silent as they finished their breakfast.

* * *

Harry had made up all of the practical work he'd missed in Transfiguration, Charms, and Potions, though he had a lot to catch up on in ‘after school classes'. Madam Pomfrey had asked him to come to the Hospital Wing for an hour for the last two days before breakfast to catch up on basic first aid spells, and then told him if he wanted to learn more to come to Healing in the evenings. Harry was very tempted to take her up on the offer, but had been dragged to various other after school classes by his friends in the few days since he'd been back. Ron had roped him into going to Newsletter and giving an interview to Neville about his time away, and Ginny had asked him to go to Duelling with her. Harry noted that Hermione skipped Duelling that day and felt bad that she was avoiding him. Draco brought Harry along to Defensive Transfiguration and had to spend the entire hour helping Harry transfigure a piece of broken wood into a knife, and then Harry went to Magery with Axle, if for no other reason than to see how people were doing with the Patronus charm. August was right, they were struggling.

Even though teachers were giving them little to no homework aside from practical practice so they could have time to go to their after school classes, Harry had had no time yet to put together a lesson on the Patronus charm. Now it was Friday and it was too late to put anything together as he was supposed to teach that night.

"Remus." Harry stood at the door frame to Remus' quarters, which he was currently using as an office as there was limited space elsewhere. He was keeping his door open so staff and students could seek him out if they needed help with something. Apparently Remus had been busy since they'd gotten there earlier in the week, and had been giving private tutoring to students who needed help in dueling and defense, mostly students from Boden and younger Hogwarts students.

"Harry, come in."

"I was asked to teach Patronus charms in Magery tonight, but I haven't had time to prepare anything."

"You taught it to the DA, right?"

Harry nodded.

"Did you prepare for that?"

"A little," Harry said, his stomach churning at the thought of having to teach in front of students from another school and in front of August, who had faith in him to teach for some reason.

Remus waved his wand and his door closed. "Get out your wand. Show me your patronus. Let's make sure you can cast one."

"I haven't forgotten how."

Remus smiled. "I know that cub. Your state of mind will impact your performance though." Harry swallowed and tried to think of an appropriate memory, and was finding trouble doing so. Now that Remus had said it, Harry was mortified that he might have gone to teach how and not been able to even cast one himself.

"Has anything really good happened since you've been back?"

"Not particularly," Harry mumbled.

"I have something good that happened," Remus said, and Harry looked up.

"Severus came to see me the other day. He said he's making me your godfather."

"What?"

"I almost didn't believe it was true, but he brought papers back later that day and had me sign them. In case of emergency, I become your guardian."

Harry sat back on the small couch he'd taken a seat on and breathed a sigh of relief, not even certain why. The Headmaster had made Remus his guardian even though he couldn't be, because his father was, even if in secret. But then his father had gone and made it official. Harry wondered why as he knew the two of them didn't get along.

"Does that help?" Remus asked with a smile.

"It's a relief," Harry said, though he wasn't sure it was a good enough feeling to conjure a patronus.

"Let's think of something together then." It was an hour before Harry could come up with anything. His previous triumphs in Quidditch and with his friends all seemed dimmed somehow by the overshadowing anxiety of their current situation. Harry was finally able to settle on the memory of sitting by the fire in the common room with Ron and Ginny, Hermione reading a book in the corner and Neville dozing lightly on the couch behind them. He cast a patronus that was bright and clear.

"There you go," Remus said with a small smile. "You said August's class was having trouble casting. Maybe it's for the same reason. Maybe they just need help finding a memory strong enough to cut through all the uncertain feelings of today."

"Will you be there to help?"

"Yes."

Remus wasn't the only one planning on coming to the lesson Harry found out. Ron had shown up even though he didn't usually go to magery, and so had a dozen Slytherins, and a variety of staff. Falk was at a table with McGonagall and Harry was aware Snape was in the door to the Great Hall watching with his arms crossed.

"You all know Mr. Potter," August said, "if not from Hogwarts than from Boden. I've asked him to come help teach wandless casting of the Patronus, as it's something many of you have been struggling with."

"We know, that's why we're here," Harry heard a seventh year Slytherin he didn't know mutter from one of the tables.

"Harry, we've gone over the spell, the wand movements, the movements without a wand, and the basics of how the spell works. Only a few have managed to cast a patronus at all however."

Harry nodded and looked to see that Remus had finally come in through the open door and sat down on the platform the staff table sat on. "Can I have a volunteer who hasn't cast yet, who doesn't mind sharing the memory they're using?" Harry asked.

The seventh year Slytherin who had muttered stood up and came to the front. He was almost a foot taller than Harry and looked irritated to be there but eager to learn.

"What's your memory?" Harry asked.

"When I got an O on my Potions Owl after I'd studied all year for it and thought I was going to fail."

"Does the memory feel strong, or dim?" Harry asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You probably felt relieved," Harry said, "to pass."

"Yeah."

"But how strong was the feeling then?"

"It was very strong."

"And how strong is it now, after everything that's been going on? Have you thought about that Owl you passed lately, aside from trying to cast a patronus?"

"Erm," the boy said, "I haven't."

"Is there a stronger good memory you can think of? Something you think of a lot maybe. Something that's stronger than what's been going on."

The boy thought for a few moments and then said, "I think I've got one."

"You think you've got it, or you know you've got it?" Harry asked. "Is it the best memory you've got, or not?"

"It's the best," the boy said.

"Ok," Harry said. "Cast with your wand first."

The boy cast and a large wisp came out of his wand.

"I thought that was the memory," the boy said.

"It is," Harry said. "Pour more power into the spell as you cast. Make the memory form and take shape. You really have to feel like you did in the memory. Think about every part of that memory that made you feel so strongly, and that will make your patronus strong enough to take shape."

"Perhaps a demonstration," Remus said from behind him. Harry half turned to look at him and then nodded. He thought about how calm and happy he'd felt sitting by the fire with his friends. It had been after exams and there was no more studying to do, and Ron had invited him to go to the Quidditch world cup with them that summer. Ginny's hand had been slightly touching his as they sat on the floor together, and Harry had felt sleepy and comfortable. He'd been content. All of this flew through his mind in only a few seconds. "Expecto Patronum!" Harry said loudly, and a stag burst forth from his wand and galloped over a group of students in front of him, making them leap aside as the force of the spell blew through their hair like a warm wind.

"Show em Harry!" Ron shouted from the back, and someone else whooped. Harry realized it was Neville.

He cancelled the spell and turned to the Slytherin. "Try again. This is your memory. It's part of you, and your patronus will be too."

With a look of determination, the taller boy shouted the spell and a large cat tumbled out of his wand and began rolling on the floor.

"That's boots!" the boy said, stunned. "That's my cat!"

"Huge cat," a girl nearby said and Harry had to agree. It was a house cat, but it was almost half the size of a lion.

A few minutes later they broke into small groups to practice and Harry moved around the groups trying to help people come up with a good memory. Remus did the same, and Harry realized later that Ron and Neville had been moving group to group as well.

"Amazing," August told Remus at the end of the hour. "Ten people in one day," he said, "and one of them a first year."

"Harry's taught a lot of students how," Remus told him.

"I heard, but this is beyond what I'd hoped for. And so many students came today as well."

"They came to learn from Harry," Remus said. "They always do."

Across the hall, Severus removed himself from where he'd been leaning stiffly against the door frame for an hour. He wasn't yet certain if he was perturbed to see Harry and Remus teaching together and working so closely and in such comfort, or if he was relieved that Harry was already close with the person who would care for him if something happened to Severus. Harry and Severus had tutored together and worked together at Gemini and later at Hogwarts, but never in such companionship as he and Remus had done in teaching how to cast a patronus. It hadn't come easy to Severus to work with Harry, and in finally glimpsing the boy's memories Severus knew it hadn't come easy to Harry either. Unsettled, and not completely certain why yet, Severus moved off to his quarters to think on things more.

* * *

"Harry."

"Hm?" Harry looked at Draco.

"Did you hear what I said?"

"Erm-"

Draco didn't point out that Harry hadn't been listening to him at all, and instead said, "Three families from Hogsmeade this morning. At this rate the village will be empty. Madam Rosmerta came in last night I heard."

Harry frowned, but looked to where Draco was pointing. There were four or five children sitting at the end of Hufflepuff table this morning that seemed much too young to be students. Harry recognized one of them as the boy he'd saved just before he'd run into Narcissa. He was glad to know the boy had survived.

"I don't understand why they're coming here of all places," Harry said.

"What are you talking about?" Draco asked. "This is the safest place."

"It was until Voldemort attacked," Harry snapped, feeling irritable as he pushed his eggs around his plate.

"It still is," Draco said.

"Voldemort will break down the barriers," Harry said with certainty. "He'll waltz right in the front door."

"They're very comforted that you've returned," Hermione said quietly from across the table. She'd been sitting over there reading a book and quietly ignoring him, as she had since he'd returned.

"What?" Harry asked.

She looked up and said, "They're here because you're here. They feel safe."

"Well they're wrong," Harry snapped loudly, and got up, leaving his breakfast mostly untouched, and stalked out of the Great Hall in a way he felt sure Snape would have been proud of.

"Were you trying to rile him?" Draco asked Hermione curiously. Harry wasn't usually so irritable.

"No," she said, and looked away.

"You know he feels bad about leaving," Draco said.

"I know."

"Are you two going to- you know."

She looked up and seemed to be trying to gauge Draco's motivations and perhaps his entire personality in that one moment.

"I'm only curious," Draco said when she hadn't answered. "I don't care if you get back together or you don't."

"I don't know," Hermione told him. She rose from the table and took her book and bag with her. Draco didn't think she was going after Harry but figured she wasn't coming back. She looked as hurt as Harry did. She looked like Ron had looked those first few weeks after the term had started and she'd started dating Harry. With all the changes happening around them though, and the tension he was trying to quash down in himself each day, Draco wasn't sure how the three of them were coping with the added hurt and drama of breakups. If it was up to him he'd pull everyone he cared about as close as possible and not let go until everything was over, and even then maybe he still wouldn't let go.

Up two flights of stairs and halfway to Charms, the Headmaster caught up with Harry. He'd followed him out of the Great Hall and found him with the help of the portraits, who were wont to answer any of his questions truthfully as Headmaster.

"Harry, a word if you would."

Harry gripped the strap of his bookbag tight and nodded, wondering what he was in trouble for, and followed the Headmaster to his office in the next corridor.

"Tea?" the Headmaster asked.

"Yes please," Harry said. He was hungry and after he'd left regretted leaving his breakfast behind.

The Headmaster called for an elf, who brought tea and large soft croissants in less than a minute.

"Is everything well my boy?" Dumbledore asked after Harry had had a chance to drink some of his tea and eat a croissant.

Harry shrugged, and then remembering his manners said, "I guess so sir."

"You seemed to be upset when you left the Great Hall."

"I'm sorry for shouting."

"If I heard right, you don't believe Hogwarts is safe."

"It's not that sir," Harry said, feeling for certain he was in trouble now. "I wasn't trying to scare anyone. I'm sorry." What Remus had said about the Headmaster getting angry was still in the back of his mind. Common sense said they didn't want anyone inciting panic, especially with how many people were currently at the castle. Yelling at his friends at breakfast about Voldemort breaking down the wards probably wasn't the smartest thing to do if he didn't want to raise the Headmaster's ire.

"I realize I'm not Remus, and that you've been going through something," Dumbledore said, referring to Harry running away, "but I'm here to help if there's something you're trying to work through."

Harry fiddled with his fingers for a moment and then said, "Everyone's coming here because of me."

"You disapprove?"

"Hermione said they're coming here because they're comforted by my presence or something, but I can't fight Voldemort on my own. I'm not strong enough. He'll attack again, and everyone here will be in danger. They should all be going far away from me, not flocking to me. You sent me to Gemini to train, but I feel like all I can do is send a tongue tie at him or jelly legs him to death."

Dumbledore didn't say anything, but he nodded in thought and was silent for a few moments, thinking over what Harry had said.

"In your parents time, the Order of the Phoenix was started as a secret society... a secret rebellion against Tom Riddle and his followers. We believed it was necessary. People like Professor Snape could infiltrate Voldemort's ranks, blend in, and gather information we could use to fight him. Your acts of defiance, or seeming acts of defiance in the papers, have started a very public rebellion, especially amongst the young people Harry. You and your friends called it Dumbledore's Army, but I've always believed it should be called Potter's Army as it's always been your rebellion. Your rebellion against those who would use their power against you in the worst way... against Umbridge, and Death Eaters and Tom.

"I never wanted to start a rebellion though," Harry said, desperate for the man to understand that he wasn't meant to lead anybody and that people shouldn't be following him at all. "Ron and Hermione are the ones who wanted to start the DA when Umbridge wasn't teaching us."

"Perhaps so," Dumbledore said, "but when they wanted to start it, did they plan it all themselves? Did they say, ‘how shall we teach our friends?'"

"No," Harry said, brows furrowed. He wasn't sure where this was going yet.

"They wanted to start the DA so you could teach them," Dumbledore said. It wasn't a question.

"Yes but-"

Dumbledore held up a finger and Harry quieted so he could continue.

"When you went to the Department of Mysteries," Dumbledore said, and Harry swallowed hard. He really didn't want to talk about this. "They followed," the Headmaster finished. "Did you ask them to?"

"I asked them not to," Harry said, but he remembered Hermione sitting with him at Gemini and asking him, ‘if we don't go with you, who will?'

"I've watched this rebellion grow from a few children who wanted to stand up for themselves, to something much larger. When you saved Florean Fortescue and vandalized Diagonalley, people saw it as a call to arms, to stand up for those who need protecting. Fortescue came to Hogwarts seeking refuge and told anyone who would listen how Harry Potter came out of the dead of night and saved his life, calling upon the elements of magic to crush the spirit out of a Death Eater. That act inspired others to spread your message Harry, "Dumbledore's Army Lives." Without knowing what it means to you, or why you did it, they wanted to follow you Harry. Despite the name of the army, you were the one who inspired them. Perhaps it was foolish of me to have a secret society geared at destroying Tom Riddle when a true rebellion was what was needed. A public rebellion. What the Order does is necessary, but the missing piece is the public's support. People are tired of being targeted just for being born to Muggle parents. They're tired of being targeted because they don't support Tom Riddle or his followers. They're scared too, but your private rebellion against him has turned their fear into something much bigger and more important: the will to fight."

"I'm not meant for this," Harry said.

"You said you weren't strong enough to fight him alone. Neither am I."

"But you're the only-"

"one he's scared of?" Dumbledore finished. He chuckled. "He was never scared of some secret power people think I wield. He was concerned about the ability I have to rally people around a cause... to rile people up enough to stand against him. Now you've scared him Harry. Look what you've done with his attacks... what your friends have done in the papers. You've scared Tom into complete silence. Whether you want to be, or whether you feel like it or not, you're the leader of Dumbledore's Army. No one expects you to do this alone Harry, and with the people you've called to you, you won't have to."

"I don't want people to get hurt because of me."

"When people get hurt in this war, it will be because they finally decided to stand against a tyrannical murderer, or because they decided to stand for him."

"So you're saying I have to lead this... lead them."

Dumbledore leaned forward in his chair and patted Harry's hand across the desk. "You only have to continue being you dear boy. Continue being you, and they will follow."

* * *

Harry was sent on his way with a note excusing him from the Charms lesson he'd missed while talking to the Headmaster, another croissant, and the feeling he wasn't quite understanding all that Dumbledore had said.

He frowned as he passed Professor Falk in the corridor and the Boden teacher gave him a knowing look and a small smile. Harry wanted to curse at him because he still hadn't understood all of what Falk had said to him weeks ago at Boden either and had noticed the teacher watching him closely since Harry had returned to Hogwarts, as if waiting to see what he'd do. The man had talked about Harry facing his truth and it determining the rest of his life. Falk hadn't known that Harry had been running from facing Snape so he knew he couldn't have been referring to that as Harry's ‘truth'. What he had meant Harry didn't suppose he'd ever know, and he wished the man would stop watching him to see what he was going to do like a soap opera on the telly.

Harry turned as he left dinner in the Great Hall and found several team members of the Chudley Cannons setting up their sleeping bags along the wall of the Entrance Hall for the night. "Yeah?" Harry asked. He hadn't spoken to any of them yet, though Axle and Draco had informed him that Ron made a point of pestering them whenever he could with questions about maneuvers, and had several autographs from each team member. ‘They know my name Harry. They know who I am!' Ron had told him the day after he'd returned. Harry was too busy bouncing back and forth between numb and anxious to be too star struck however.

"Can you teach us to cast a strong patronus like fyou did the students?"

"Erm-"

"Go on Potter, you got time for us yeah?" another teammate said. Harry knew he was a Chaser but couldn't remember his name. He wasn't as up to date with the Cannons as he was with the Falmouth Falcons.

"Right now?" Harry asked for confirmation. He didn't have anywhere to be for a few more minutes when after school classes would start.

"Yeah," the team's Keeper said.

Dumbledore passed Harry on his way up the stairs in the Entrance Hall and winked at him. He supposed he had to now. "Ok," Harry told them.

The Cannons leaned up against the stairway banister or against the walls near their belongings and listened intently as Harry described coming up with an appropriate memory, and no one interrupted him until he was done. They asked questions and practiced casting until two of them had it down and the others had strong wisps coming from their wands.

"What else?" asked Ball, their Seeker. Harry was a bit in awe of him. The Cannon's had one of the best Seekers, and Harry had been happy to enthuse about his moves with Ron in previous years.

"What do you mean?"

"What else you got to teach us?"

"Erm-"

"What about that fancy magic you've been using against Death Eaters?" Ball asked insistently.

"That's Root. I'm not very good at that."

"But you must have something good for defending ourselves."

"What about reinforcing shields?" Harry asked.

"Like the aurors can do?"

"Sure. It takes two to do it though. Better if there's more." Remus had taught him when Harry had been staying with him, and they'd been practicing since they'd returned to the school. Harry had already taught Ron, Neville, and Seamus, and the four of them had been practicing together. Axle, as it turned out, already knew how as it was standard upper year curriculum at Boden.

"Erm-" Harry turned, looking to see if he could spot Ron coming out of the Great Hall from dinner to help him demonstrate, and found that he had a bit of an audience. There were students sitting on the steps leading down into the Entrance Hall listening attentively, some as young as first years, and several upper years were behind him near the front doors leaning against the walls and listening. August was there too in the door to the Great Hall and Harry wondered just how long he'd been teaching the Cannons about Patronuses. Had he missed his first after dinner class?

His eyes found Ron, and he came over to stand with Harry without being asked. "What do you think?" Ron asked. "A blast shield over the front doors?"

Harry nodded, feeling nervous now that he had realized how many people were there listening to him, (how had he not seen them before)?

Ron motioned people near the great oak front doors away impatiently and cast a blast shield.

"The shield isn't big enough to cover the front doors," Harry said to the Cannons, aware that he was really speaking to the entire audience but trying to pretend he wasn't. "No one can cast one that big on their own. If I put my energy into it, it'll grow and get stronger though." Harry turned and cast his energy into Ron's shield. "Professor August," Harry said, "could you throw a mild blasting charm at the door?"

August came to them and cast a hex that made the shield fizzle yellow all over.

"The person who casts the shield initially concentrates on just keeping the shape of the shield... just keeping it up. Everyone else who casts pours their energy into size and strength. When you cast your power into it you have to modulate your magic to fit with the magic that's already there, and you have to work on how much energy you pour in. If you pour a lot of energy in, the shield will be stronger, but you'll tire faster. If you pour too much in all at once, you could burn the shield out, so you have to start with low energy at first when you come into it, modulate your magic, and then you can put more energy into it if you want. Who wants to come up and try it?"

Ball stepped up and cast towards the shield and it immediately fizzled out.

"What happened?" he asked. "I put hardly any power in at all."

"My magic and Harry's magic are different," Ron said. "When they mix they become something else, like mixing potions ingredients. You have to feel what's already there and mix yours in. Your magic has to be part of what we're making, it can't be just yours anymore. Here, try again with just me."

Ball looked irritated, possibly because Ron had already pestered him so much before this, but tried again after Ron cast another shield. The shield blinked in and out for long moments, but eventually held. Harry lifted his wand again and said, "Now just hold on to what you've got, and I'll come in with mine and figure out where I need to modulate my magic to get into the mix." He casted and the shield didn't waver at all.

Ron ended up working with all of the Cannon's team mates at the front door and August and Harry took the rest of the students and split them into two groups. Harry took the younger kids to a corner and August took the older ones to try casting at the entrance to the Great Hall.

Harry sat with the ten kids in his group in a corner and they cast a small easy second year shield around a quill on the floor in the center of their group. Harry held the shield and had each child take turns casting power into it. When everyone was able to do it, he had them practice adding their magic until they were all in.

"This is so cool," a first year Hufflepuff said. "When do we get to learn it on a blasting shield?"

"We'll have to try on a larger sound shield first," Harry said.

"Why?"

"If it's bigger it needs more power. You have to get good at the easy things first."

Harry cast a large sound barrier around their little group and the others began pouring their magic into it. It was so quiet that they didn't hear Ron yelling at them from the outside, though they could see him. Ron gave them a thumbs up and turned back to what he was doing with the Cannons and August's group, who had both put up their own reinforced blast shields now and were firing at each other's shields to see which would hold out longest. Harry turned and put his own blast shield around their group as the younger kids practiced on the sound barrier so they wouldn't be in danger of any stray blasts. When Harry saw the other two groups dispersing, he had the kids lower the sound barrier and told them it was time to go back to their dorms.

"This is so cool," a girl said. "We can have private conversations whenever we want now."

"I could break into your sound shield," a boy told her.

"Yeah? What if Janice helps me reinforce it?"

"I'll get Billy to help me break in then."

"Sounds like good practice," Harry told them, and ushered them off to bed. Ron was talking quietly with the Cannon's Keeper and one of the Beaters and Harry noted August was heading back into the Great Hall. Harry followed as he looked at his watch and realized it was after nine.

"Sir," Harry said, and August turned around. "I'm sorry I disrupted your after school class."

August smiled. "Did the students learn something useful?" he asked.

"Erm, I hope so," Harry said. Remus had said a blasting shield was one of the most important things he could use if there was a firefight.

"Of course they did. Once they had practice with what you taught them, the older students got to practice casting wandlessly. Besides, I wasn't about to stop your class to start mine."

"Sir?"

August smiled and reached forward to tossle Harry's hair slightly. "You're really something Harry, and the more I get to know you, see you interacting with others... teaching them advanced magic that's far beyond what they should be able to do at their skill level, the more foolish I feel about how I treated you at Gemini. Every day a little more foolish," he pondered.

Harry really didn't know what to say to that.

"Twenty people now," August said. "Twenty people can cast a strong patronus; four without a wand. And those are people just from this year, not counting the students you taught in your student club before."

Harry shrugged.

"There's no way a group of eleven and twelve year old should be able to pour magic into shields like that, even sound barriers. The students from Karh maybe, because they study from such a young age, but children from Hogwarts and Boden?" He shook his head and smiled. "That's something."

"I didn't know anyone else was listening in," Harry tried to assure him. "I would never pull people away from their other classes on purpose."

"Maybe you should," August said with a smile, and moved off towards the teacher's lounge behind the Head table. Harry knew August and his wife were staying in a room directly behind it and he was probably turning in for the night.

Harry didn't know what to feel about the impromptu lesson he'd ended up giving the Chudley Cannons plus twenty four students. He felt proud of the younger kids for what they'd accomplished, but uncertain they should be looking to him to be taught at all. He didn't want them following in his footsteps. He didn't want them to be part of the DA and to chase after him into a firefight. They'd end up dead if they did.

Harry's lesson that night was still being talked about the next morning at the staff table and amongst students. Harry heard some younger Ravenclaws at the table behind him complaining at breakfast that they'd missed the lesson, but immediately heard one of the kids he'd been teaching the night before offer to teach his friends.

Two nights later, on his way out of his Healing class after dinner, a group of upper year Ravenclaws including Ernie ambushed him and asked him to teach them any curses and hexes he knew for binding people. Harry told them he only knew a few, and likely the same ones they knew, but they insisted he teach them and soon Harry heard shouts ringing up and down the corridor that, "He's doing it again! Hurry up or we'll miss it!" and, "Harry's doing a lesson!"

It was seven and Harry wondered which classes people were going to skip to learn something he felt totally inadequate teaching. It didn't matter though because he soon had fifteen students around him in the Hospital Wing corridor with Madam Pomfrey supervising (in case of injury). It turned out Harry did know a binding curse they didn't know, and had just assumed they had. He and his friends had checked out and bought so many defense books over the years to teach themselves that he couldn't remember what he'd learned in books or in classes anymore. This time Madam Pomfrey didn't let them go until nearly ten o'clock and had everyone going to their dorms at eight thirty so the few first years there could make their curfew.

Before there was a third instance of people skipping after school classes and keeping Harry from his, Snape- his father pulled him aside. He took him down to his quarters and said he'd be given lunch there as they had things to discuss. Harry wasn't sad about missing lunch in the overcrowded Great Hall, and was glad to have a chance to eat in silence.

"You've been all anyone is talking about the last week," his father said as he handed Harry a plate made by the elves with fish and chips and a handful of celery sticks.

"I'm sorry," Harry said automatically.

"What for?"

He shrugged. If they'd been talking about him he could only imagine the varied reasons why. He'd been doing poorly in Transfiguration and had missed several after school classes for a variety of reasons.

"What are they saying?" Harry asked.

"The talk has been about the lessons you've been giving."

"I didn't mean to. They keep ambushing me in the halls and asking me to tutor them right there."

"Which is what I wanted to talk to you about."

Harry let his shoulders fall. Severus sighed at how fragile the boy's emotions seemed to be, but he knew the reason and so couldn't get upset with him. He would have once said the boy was being dramatic and doing so for attention. Now he knew Harry was just used to being in trouble: fearing the consequences, but being resigned to them. Had the boy believed he was being called down here to be punished?

"The Headmaster approves of the tutoring you have been giving and many of the teachers do not mind that students have missed classes so long as they are learning something valuable."

Harry watched his face closely as he spoke, and Severus wondered if he was trying to read his features, or look into his mind, though he didn't feel any mental intrusion.

"So-" Harry started.

"You may continue, though staff feel it would be beneficial if you set a time and place one day a week on the weekend to host the DA. This would allow you to attend classes yourself and stop students from following you around on the off chance you may decide to host an impromptu class."

Harry thought that was a good idea and a bad idea. He was tired of students following him and being ready to shout at any moment, ‘Harry's teaching!' He was still uncertain about continuing the DA though.

"What are you thinking?"

"I don't want people to follow me."

"Which is why this is a wise idea."

"No- I mean, I don't want them to follow my lead. I don't want them to go into battle and get killed. The Headmaster said it wasn't my choice though, it's theirs."

Severus was silent for several moments and then said, "You are aware that Molly Weasley did not think you should attend Gemini?"

"What?"

"The Headmaster sent you to learn what you could, to fight Voldemort. Molly did not approve."

"I knew she didn't want me to join the Order early but-"

"This is also true. She did not want the Headmaster to divulge any details to you about Voldemort, about the Prophecy, or about the role you must play. What was the result of you having a lack of necessary information?"

"I don't-"

"At the end of your fifth year, did you insert yourself into the fight despite Molly Weasley's insisting you not be told anything?"

"Yes," Harry said, looking down. He still felt guilty about leading his friends into danger and still felt guilty about Sirius' death. Sirius wouldn't be dead if he hadn't run off to the Ministry.

"And if you had had the appropriate information, would that have benefited you?"

"Yes," Harry said, looking up. He wasn't sure where this was going.

"And did you learn something useful at Gemini?"

"A lot of things."

"Things that helped you?"

"Yes."

Severus gave him a meaningful look, but Harry still wasn't picking up on whatever it was the man was trying to tell him.

"Lupin said he told you not to go out, yet you did. And you faced off with Death eaters twice."

"Yeah. Look, that really wasn't his fault. It was my choice. I didn't listen."

Severus gave him another meaningful look, but Harry was tired and cranky and snarked, "If you want me to know something, tell me already."

"Despite that others have told you to stay out of it, you have gone anyway. It was your choice. When you did not have the information you needed to make wise choices, you found yourself and your friends in situations you shouldn't have been in. However, when you were given an opportunity to learn things like tactical planning, Root, and other defensive strategies, you had the tools you needed to defend yourself when you did find yourself in situations where that were necessary."

Severus found that Harry was listening intently, eyes locked with his own. "People will do what they want, and children rarely do as they're told. People have been fighting this war long before you were born, and will continue to do so whether you are here to follow into battle or not. What we have been doing in after school classes is giving students some of the tools they'll need to defend themselves. Death Eaters will not just battle out on the grounds, they'll be in the castle where the students are. So if you have something to teach that might save a life, then do so."

Harry felt deflated. What his father had said made a lot of sense. "I don't know what to teach."

"Many lack common sense. That is a good place to start. Give situations and scenarios to talk and battle through instead of focusing on shields and hexes. A person who can think critically is better equipped with their mind and a jelly legs jinx than a person who knows a thousand curses and shields but doesn't know to stay down and not to run headlong into a firefight."

"Maybe you could help me," Harry said. "And I don't know when to meet."

"I would suggest Saturday after breakfast."

"How do I let people know?"

"I will have the Headmaster make an announcement."

"But tomorrow's Saturday."

"Then we have work to do."

"Can I-"

Severus noted the uncomfortable look on his face.

"What?"

"Ron knows so much of what we did in the DA. He usually helps me. I was wondering if he could come down here and plan with us."

"It is your class. You may do what you wish."

"I don't think I'll get used to that," Harry said. It was strange having people look to him to teach them. Harry had felt that way at first in the DA in fifth year too, but that was more of a club. This was being offered up as a class.

Harry left a few minutes later to go find Ron and made plans with his father to come back to his quarters as soon as he did. Harry found Ron working late in the Newsletter room with Draco, who wasn't supposed to be there at all since their father had banned him from taking part in Newsletter, and they snagged Axle in the corridor on the second floor, and then Ginny in the Entrance Hall. Harry for his part tried to look sorry when he showed up at his father's quarters with the extra students. He wished he and Hermione were on speaking terms, because she was a great planner and was part of the original DA.

"Is this all?" Severus asked when Harry came in with his friends.

"Erm- we're missing Neville and Luna and Hermione."

Severus snorted, called for house elves to bring snacks and tea, and they sat down around the living room to plan what kinds of scenarios to go over. Harry and Severus bounced ideas back and forth so fast the others weren't sure if they should jump in until Ron did and reminded Harry about some of the things they'd faced together. In the end they had a plan and had agreed to split up the students who attended and each take a group. Axle was surprised he was going to be allowed to teach as well, but was as excited as he was nervous about it.

By the time Saturday morning had rolled around, Harry didn't feel nearly as nervous, which was a good thing when he found a hundred students and several staff lingering in the Great Hall after breakfast to wait for the first meeting of the newly formed Defense Association.

Harry, Ron, and Axle went to the teacher's table, which was raised above the rest and Harry did a spell to make his voice carry a little further when he spoke. "We're not covering new spells, shields, or hexes today," he said. "We're going to talk about tactics and how not to get yourself or your friends killed in a firefight."

That statement quickly quieted the room, and Harry found all eyes on him. There were a surprising number of Slytherins here, and Harry wasn't sure if he should be pleased or worried.

"A few members of the DA have been chosen for today to teach you what we have to go over. Because there are so many people, we need to get into small, equal groups to discuss tactical situations. Everyone that's been chosen to teach today has the same information to go over with you. If you want to get something out of this, listen and participate in the discussion."

Ron stepped forward and said, "Get in groups by year. First years over there in the corner, second years by Slytherin table, third years by the back window." Ron went on giving directions until everyone had split up. He'd told the staff that were present to disperse around to various groups without thinking twice about it, and they did as they were asked. Severus ended up working with the seventh years, and Harry went to work with a group of first and second years, who he combined since there were only 12 of them total. The other groups groaned when Harry didn't come to speak with them, but Harry ignored them. Harry noted that some of the kids in his group had worked on shields and barriers with him the week before.

Harry sat down on the floor with his group and motioned for them to do the same and to form a circle.

"What's the number one thing that will get you and your friends killed in a firefight?" He asked, knowing the others teaching that day were asking their groups the same thing.

"The killing curse," a second year girl said boldly.

"A slicing hex," said a first year boy.

"Those will kill you," Harry agreed, "but it's not the number one thing. The one thing that will get you killed is not thinking, not planning, and being reckless."

Harry told them the same thing his father had told him, that they could do a lot more with their brains and a limited number of spells than with complex hexes and no thought to what they were doing at all.

"You're first and second years. The Death Eaters will all be adults or close to it, and they won't think twice about using a killing curse or a slicing hex against you," Harry told them. "And you don't have those curses to fight back with. It's not possible for you to learn some of the hexes and curses the older students know, and it's not possible to teach it all to you in time. We could be attacked tonight, or next week, or next year. We don't know. It could happen right this very minute."

The children in the circle gave a scared look around at each other then, as if the ceiling would collapse right then just because Harry had said it would.

"So what you've got to do is outsmart the people you're fighting, and that is possible. They'll think they have an advantage over you just because they're older and know more than you do with hexes and shields. They'll expect you to have no defense against them at all, but your brain is your biggest defense."

"How Harry?" One of the kids from his earlier shield group asked.

"Let's go over some scenarios you might find yourself in if Death Eaters come into the castle," he told them, "and we'll figure it out together."

The kids looked eager to begin, and Harry paused to listen for a moment to Ron's group, who was already discussing scenarios at the other end of the staff table, arguing about what was the best way to take out two death eaters at once.

"There's been an attack on the castle," Harry said. "It's been going on for a few hours already. You got separated from the Prefect you were with, and it's just you and a group of other first and second years. You're hiding in a classroom in the dungeons."

"But why hide?" asked a boy.

"Because running out into battle with just a few hexes and a shield isn't going to keep you safe. If you and a friend run out into battle with almost nothing to protect you, you and your friend will get killed, and there's a good possibility an older student or staff member might see you and try to protect you and they'll get killed. Do you want to be responsible for that?"

All of the children around him shook their heads.

"So you're hiding in a classroom, just you and some other kids. You're scared, and you hear people start to fight in the hall. What do you do?"

"Uh- put up a shield against the door?"

"Do you know a shield to put against the door?"

"No."

"What can you do to keep them out then?"

"I know a locking spell," said one girl.

"I know two locking spells," said her friend.

"Good," Harry said. "So make sure the door is closed and use both locking spells. What else?"

"It's a classroom, so we can pile some tables up in front of the door," a boy said.

"Yes," Harry said, "what next? What if the person sends two unlocking spells at the door and a blasting spell to get the tables out of the way?"

"What about a rope through the handle?" a boy said. "We could conjure a rope."

"Or use a belt," another boy said, pointing to the belt he was wearing.

"That's a good idea. That would take some doing to get through," Harry told them.

They talked about being prepared with spells already in mind to incapacitate the person, to bind their hands and legs, to gag them so they couldn't speak a spell, and to get their wand away from them.

"What next?" Harry asked. "They got inside, you ganged up on them and bound them and they don't have a wand. What do you do now?"

"Put the barricades back up in front of the door," a girl said.

"What about some traps?" asked her friend. "We could put some spikes or something up, or hang a chair on a rope to swing into them."

"Whatever you can reasonably do," Harry said. "Always be asking yourself though, what next? Think three or four steps ahead. Once you're in that room and you've locked that door, think, "what if they unlock it? After that, what do we do when they're inside? What after that?"

He moved on to a new scenario with them where they were without an older student and were in a corridor in the middle of two people duelling, and after that to scenarios about what to do if they were out on the grounds, where to hide inside and outside the castle, using what they had on hand to fight, and doing what was unexpected. It was lunchtime by the time they finished, and Harry was pleased to see that the other groups had been in such deep discussion that it looked like they didn't want to finish their lesson at all.

"Let's do it again tomorrow," a fifth year boy came up and asked Harry at the end of the meeting, and Harry nodded and went off to collect Neville and Hermione for their next planning session. For the first time in a long time, Harry felt good about their chances to survive this. A hundred and two students and staff had come and learned how to use common sense and strategy. That was almost a third of the people living at the castle. He couldn't wait to come up with something else to save lives for tomorrow.

Harry wasn't much help the next day at the DA lesson as he was still learning reverse shields himself, but by the end of the lesson he felt he had the basic concept down. Neville, who was proud that he'd been able to teach students something they could actually learn, promised to practice with Harry later in the dorms and make sure he was squared away with the technique. It wasn't just Neville and Harry later in the dorms however. Several Boden students had shown up to Gryffindor wanting to practice, and so had a handful of Hufflepuffs. Harry also learned later that other groups had formed around the castle later that day and the next to continue practicing what they'd been learning in the DA.

Seamus had an idea for the next lesson, and the Gryffindor boys and Axle, taught a DA lesson the next weekend on how to make the most mundane of objects explode. Seamus had had plenty of practice over the years, and knew exactly the wrong way to say spells and wave your wand to make a pillow explode instead of levitate, a cup or jar of liquid explode instead of turning into wine, and the wrong potions to mix together to make a really big bang when dropped or thrown. They'd had to do this lesson outside, and though many professors weren't pleased at the chaos they thought they might face in the future with the new ‘skillset' students had learned, Dumbledore thought it was a wonderful idea, and Peeves was having a jolly time zipping around overhead on the front lawns and giving suggestions to students about how to light dung on fire and how to aim for the face when throwing it.

Not every student came to the DA to learn. Harry had heard a variety of reasons why, but he wasn't perturbed because he knew the kids who were coming were teaching what they'd learned to their housemates. Some said they didn't think they had anything to learn from Harry because he was just a kid. Others didn't come simply because they didn't like Harry or his friends, and others still because they were focused on studying and practicing what was being taught in after school classes or just trying to keep up with their normal schoolwork and studies. Harry was certain most everyone was learning though, and that made him feel like they would be safer than they would be without these skills.

The professors who were teaching after school classes seemed to feel the need to ramp up the information they were teaching as well, and although Harry tried to ignore it, there was a rising tension all of the adults around the castle were displaying over the next week.

Madam Pomfrey was dragging random students out of regular daily classes like Charms and Transfiguration to take them to the Hospital Wing to cover more about medi-magic. She also dragged Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Neville out of bed at five one morning on a Sunday and took them to the Hospital Wing. She had breakfast waiting for them, and wouldn't let them leave until they could each identify what every healing potion she had in a certain cabinet was. They each had to tell her what it was used for and how to administer it. It was twenty five potions in all, and if Harry hadn't learned half of them at Gemini he would have struggled that morning as Ron did to memorize them.

It annoyed Hermione to some extent that she was missing regular classes, because going to class was what made her happy. But she along with Harry, Ron, Ginny, and sometimes others now seemed to be excused from regular classes. They were still required to show up to after school lessons, but on some mornings Snape would come get them to teach them a new defense technique or just to practice duelling. Remus would also sometimes find them and teach them something new, or go over things they'd already learned but he wanted to be sure they had down. Even Dumbledore seemed to have some amount of anxiety as the days wore on, and called Harry to his office after dinner to speak to him about Voldemort's mindset, his goals, and the way he might organize his death eaters during any future battles.

"I think it's going to be soon," Harry told Ron and the other boys in his dorm when he returned from his meeting with Dumbledore late one evening.

"Did Dumbledore say something about it?" Ron asked.

"No," Harry said. "But the teachers are nervous, I can tell. Look how they've been pulling us from regular classes and making us cram information."

Dean moaned. "Yeah, I think I've studied enough to pass my NEWTs and then some and we still have a year left for that. I'm practically ready to enter auror training now and I don't wanna be an auror. That's always been yours and Ron's thing."

Ron shrugged. "I dunno, maybe after I play Quidditch for a few years." They looked at Harry but he only shook his head. He didn't know if he wanted to be an auror or not.

"Madam Pomfrey keeps pulling me into the Hospital Wing," Seamus said. "She said if I was gonna teach people how to cause explosions and catch things on fire I'd better know how to heal all the wounds that would cause. I can tell you every potion in every cabinet now. I haven't been to Potions or Divination for almost two weeks." He grew quiet in thought then for a moment and said, "I think I quite like healing. I might like to do that after school."

Finally they turned to Neville, who had been listening quietly. They wanted to hear what he wanted to do after school.

"I'd like to be an auror," he said, and he seemed so sure of his answer.

"Good for you Neville," Dean said. "You'll make Gryffindor proud."

Harry only hoped they would all get a chance to.

* * *

Harry thought the battle he was going to face would start with an attack on the school. He wasn't expecting Voldemort to send a messenger up to the door to knock and ask politely to come in and have a chat about a treaty. That's what happened though. A new recruit who also happened to be a barrister for several old pureblood families was able to make it past the wards that wouldn't let Death Eaters in because he hadn't been branded, and had approached without ill intentions. Dumbledore was as surprised as Harry, and Harry was even more surprised he was being let in on the meeting with this man, the Headmaster, McGonagall, and Professor Snape. Lupin was absent, but only because last night had been the last night of the full moon, and he was recovering in the Hospital Wing.

"What do you mean a treaty?" McGonagall asked the barrister, and the man pulled out a stack of parchments and set them on the table in the Great Hall in front of them.

"A cease fire before it starts," he said. "If you will agree to the terms and conditions laid out here, there will be no bloodshed. The dark lord knows you have dozens of refugees, and hundreds of students and staff quartered here. He does not wish to see magical blood unnecessarily spilled, especially the blood of the very young."

"And what are the terms?" McGonagall asked, but Dumbledore was already sitting at the table and reading over the papers, Snape doing the same behind his back.

After a few minutes, Dumbledore looked up, "He must know we would never agree to such terms."

Snape was handing Harry the papers Dumbledore had finished with now to read over, and he and McGonagall were sharing a page as they read quietly.

"It is our greatest hope that you would set aside your pride and sign for the safety of all involved," the Barrister said stiffly.

"Not of all involved," Dumbledore said, never taking his eyes from the man.

"The criminals will have to be turned over as the first condition of the treaty."

"Five students, three staff, myself, and Florean Fortescue," Dumbledore deadpanned. "Not criminals, and that is not to mention what you plan on doing to the Muggleborns."

"They will be removed from school, that is all. The treaty assures that no harm will come to them. They will be given a chance to leave the country with their families."

Snape looked up and said to the Headmaster, "Voldemort believes he is being reasonable. He also likely believes that when we turn down the opportunity to sign the treaty, and he wins, which he believes he will, that our not signing will bring all survivors over to his side without a fight." Snape didn't even try to hide which side he was on, but given that Harry had just read his name from the list of criminals that was to be turned over, he guessed Voldemort had finally figured out that he was a spy. Harry was surprised to find Luna's name on the list of students found guilty of being criminals against Voldemort's reign, and felt bad then that her starting the newsletter had put this target on her back.

"The choice is not yours alone," the barrister said. "It may be signed by either you or the boy." He turned to Harry, who was still scanning down the ridiculous list of demands, including that the new Ministry Voldemort would set up would be allowed to dictate who married who.

His Professors must have expected him to object right away, because they all gave him a startled look when he began asking questions instead. The barrister seemed surprised as well.

"Is any part of this open to negotiation?"

"No."

"A treaty is negotiated by both sides, not dictated by one side," Harry said, "or it's not a true treaty. Even in the Goblin Wars of 1702 and the Werewolf Rebellion of 1906 the Ministry negotiated a treaty until both parties were satisfied. I'd like to have a treaty with you, but I can't sign it in good conscience without a negotiation, and possibly a mediator who's impartial. Would Voldemort be willing to negotiate so we can stop this bloodshed?"

"I will... ask him," the barrister said, suddenly looking nervous. He gathered the papers and was escorted out of the castle.

"You cannot possibly be serious about negotiating," Severus said, but Dumbledore was smiling at Harry, even if the smile was tired and drawn.

"Very clever Harry. If Voldemort refuses, then the bloodshed is on him."

"Given your average grades in History of Magic," McGonagall said, "I'm surprised you remembered the dates of the Goblin Wars and Werewolf Rebellion."

Harry laughed nervously and told her, "Hermione would never forgive me if I messed something like this up just because I couldn't stay awake in class. Whenever a history test was coming up she'd repeat dates and details to us throughout the day while we were walking to class, or trying to eat, or getting ready for a Quidditch match. Even after school's out for the year, she quizzes us relentlessly on history dates and facts on the way home."

Severus cleared his throat and said seriously, "The castle needs to be alerted and people need to be in place. This is not going to end well."

Dumbledore nodded. "I already sent patronuses off when I saw him out." As if in answer to what the Headmaster had said, Flitwick and Remus came in, Remus looking knackered, and began reinforcing the wards on the tall glass windows in the Great Hall. Several seventh year Ravenclaws came in a moment later to help, and there was a flurry of noise in the Entrance Hall as younger students were being ushered out of the upper castle and into the dungeons.

An hour passed, and no attack came. Messages were sent off to the Ministry, and other far flung places via floo alerting them to an impending attack, and Harry wondered if anyone at all would come to help them. It didn't seem likely. After a second hour, meals were sent down to the dungeons where students were waiting impatiently, and also up to the towers where staff and older students were stationed in case they were needed to fire down on approaching enemies from the rooftops. Harry even had time to run up to the dorms to retrieve his stash of moonfruit from the night he'd come back to Hogwarts and stuff it into his pockets. Finally there was another knock on the great oak front doors. The barrister had returned.

"This is a revised treaty," he said, coming back into the Great Hall with Dumbledore. As they read it over the next few minutes, Harry found that several new demands had been added, including that complete authority of the school be handed over to Voldemort's new Ministry of Wizardkind.

"What about what we want from the treaty?" Harry asked.

"Do you have a list?" the man asked nervously.

Harry did have a list. They had spent the better part of an hour writing down everything the opposite of what was in Voldemort's treaty. He handed it to the Barrister and then Dumbledore said, "The beginnings of a true treaty, if Voldemort genuinely wants one."

"I will see to it that it is received," the man said. He was escorted out again, and Dumbledore called for Harry's main group of friends. A few minutes later Ron, Hermione, Neville, Draco, and Ginny came into the Great Hall and sat down. Minerva and Severus were still there as well.

"It is time that vital information is dispensed," Dumbledore told them all seriously when they were seated around the table. "I believe Voldemort does not believe he can be killed because he has created several Horcruxes."

Minerva gasped and Severus pursed his lips. Harry and his friends didn't know what that was so they remained quiet.

"When a wizard commits murder a piece of his soul is ripped away from himself, and if he wishes he may put that piece of soul into an object. If he is then killed, he is not truly dead, because part of his soul lives on. This is why he was able to return at the end of the TriWizard tournament. He would have had to break one of his horcruxes to use that portion of his soul in the ritual to regain his body. Our sources say it was a locket."

They all looked at Harry, and he said, "I think there was a locket they dropped into the cauldron. So what do we do then?" Harry asked.

"How many are there?" Severus asked after that, and they fell silent again to listen.

"I believe there are three left." Here Dumbledore pulled a ring from his pocket. It was wrapped in cloth and tucked into a cloth bag that was charmed closed. "Do not touch it, it is cursed."

They stared at it and Harry felt a cold chill run down his spine. The hairs on his arms stood on end, and his scar tingled and burned.

"I believe the second is his snake," Dumbledore said.

"And the last?" Severus asked. Harry noted something odd in his father's voice, and that too gave him chills.

"That is to be discussed in private," Dumbledore said, sounding sad.

"So, what do you need us to do then?" Neville asked.

"The horcruxes must be destroyed. Before he is killed, or after, it does not matter, though I believe the first two should be destroyed before."

"How do we do it?" Harry asked.

"You destroyed one with a basilisk fang. Tom Riddle's Diary." Dumbledore snapped his fingers then and the sword of Gryffindor appeared on the table in front of them. "The sword was imbued with basilisk venom during that incident."

"Should we wait to destroy the ring until they decline to make a treaty?" McGonagall asked, and Dumbledore nodded.

"Yes, I believe he will know right away when one of his horcruxes is destroyed, which is why I have yet to destroy this one. I did not want another attack on the castle before we were ready." He looked at Harry's friends then and said, "You have one job."

"Destroy the snake," Draco said, voice flat. Harry could see the fear in his eyes. That snake was big enough to eat a grown man and fast enough to do it without anyone being able to react. The fact that it rarely left Voldemort's side hadn't escaped any of them either.

There was a low rumbling then, and the windows rattled in their panes along the front wall of the Great Hall. "It appears we have our answer," Dumbledore said. There was another rumble, and Harry's gut clenched. This was it. There was no running this time. There was nowhere left to run to, and all the people Harry wanted to run to were right here in the castle.

Severus took the sword and motioned for everyone to back up. He lifted it over his head and swung it down with a force Harry didn't think was possible into the ring on the table. The table cracked under the ring and the ring began to bleed black ooze, just as the diary had bled ink. The rumbling stopped then, only for a moment, and then there was an explosion and the sound of shattering glass. Harry's scar seared.

Severus and the sword were thrown backwards. Harry dove for the sword, but Ron had reached it first. "That's our job," he said to Harry, face hard, and he took the sword from where it had clattered to the floor.

"But-"

"Harry," Ron said seriously, "We've got this one."

Harry nodded and wondered if this would be the last time he'd ever see his best friend. He wanted to stop him from taking the sword, but Draco was pulling Ron to his feet and away towards the Great Hall, the others following after him. Ginny came to Harry though and touched his cheek as McGonagall helped Severus up and the Headmaster hurried to put a shield up over the broken windows to keep Death Eaters from flying in on brooms.

Harry wanted to pay attention to what was going on around him, but Ginny's face was so close to his he could feel her warm breath, and he couldn't look away.

"I might not get another chance to do this," she said, and before Harry could wonder what she was talking about, she kissed him deeply, hands still on his cheeks. At screams from the Entrance Hall, she pulled away and took a few steps back, eyes still locked with Harry's, and then turned and ran after the others. Harry stared after her for only a moment, and then turned and found his father and McGonagall watching him.

"Well Mr. Potter," McGonagall said, flattening the front of her rumpled robes from where she'd also fallen a few moments before, "now you know what the rest of us have known since the day Ginny Weasley turned up at school."

Harry looked at his father, and he only laughed, which surprised Harry and McGonagall both. McGonagall moved to help the Headmaster and several others who had come in to barricade the tall broken windows, and Severus moved to Harry.

"I'm not letting you out of my sight," Severus said.

Harry shook his head. He didn't want to be separated from him; not again.

At more screams from the Entrance Hall, Harry and Severus hurried out to see what they could do to help. Two of the Chudley Cannons were in the stairwell leading to the Dungeons casting a reinforced shield to keep Death Eaters out since most of the students were down there, and Professor Sinistra was standing back to back with Professor Trelawney trying to fight off a ring of Death Eaters. August was on the floor struggling with a Death Eater who had a long sharp blade and Axle was using magery to try to cast the Death Eater aside.

"Aim away from our people!"

Harry looked up and found Seamus and a mixed group of older students throwing burning items at the Death Eaters from the first floor landing and stairwell. There were several small explosions at the Death Eater's feet that made them jump and turn away from the people they were fighting.

Harry ran to help Axle and August and Severus downed several Death Eaters from behind so he could get to Sinistra and Trelawney, who were holding their own. After every curse Trelawney sent off, she was yelling things like, "I forsee your face sprouting up with horrible boils!" and, "You shall meet an untimely demise at the wand of a lovely witch!"

Harry sent a dancing curse at the Death Eater on top of August, and his legs jerked so violently he toppled off of the teacher. Axle pulled the man's knife away from him with a summoning spell and August climbed on top of the Death Eater and began hitting him in the face.

Harry looked around again and couldn't see his friends. The front doors were open and he could hear fighting outside and wondered if they were out there. He remembered running away before and thinking he could lead Voldemort off. Perhaps getting the fighting out onto the grounds wouldn't be such a bad idea. Harry made for the front door but his father grabbed him roughly from behind before he got out.

"You're not doing this alone," he said. "Remember that."

"I was going to lead the fighting out of the castle."

"But not alone." He was given a quick stern look, but Harry nodded. "Not alone," his father reiterated, and Harry nodded again. They went out the front doors together and were greeted with more Professors fighting. Harry was confused at first though, because these weren't Hogwarts Professors. Some of them weren't Boden Professors either. Blaze was there, and so was Iva. There were three or four professors Harry thought he had seen at Beauxbatons, and someone he thought at first was Gan, but was a younger man.

"What are they all doing here?" Harry asked his father as Severus pushed him out of the way of a red cutting spell and ended up taking the brunt of it himself.

"The Headmaster sent word to the other schools that it was time."

"And they came?" Harry didn't understand, especially after his time away at Boden, where the people felt far removed from war and uninterested in it.

"They have reason to fight now." Harry thought that was certainly true after Khar had been destroyed, and both Boden and Beauxbatons attacked.

Harry and his father fought next to each other for several minutes, but despite their best efforts they got separated. Harry couldn't find him again once he lost sight of him. A Death Eater tackled Harry and tried to put his wand up to Harry's throat, but on his back on the ground Harry felt all the new magic being infused into the soil from the fight and willed the soil to liquify. Harry sank into it and the Death Eater on top of him rolled away, uncertain of what was happening. As soon as the man was on his hands and knees in the mud, Harry thought the solidifying charm and was pleased when it worked and the man's hands and knees were stuck in the rock hard mud. Harry got up, slipped twice and then moved off to continue fighting. For Harry, it suddenly became like the fight in the woods at Gemini. Time seemed to slow. He felt pulses of magic around him from explosions and spells zinging by. He saw people casting and falling and dying in slow motion, and as an angry green spell was sent towards his face, Harry stepped aside and let it pass as if he had until next Tuesday to do so.

Harry dogged several more spells and cast a few himself, and took the few spare moments he had in this state to look around himself. He still couldn't see his father, but he saw Ron and Draco fighting a pair of Death Eaters side by side. They no longer had the sword. He found Gan nearby dodging spells with Root and then turning to kick the legs out from under the person he was fighting. Harry swore that Gan made eye contact with him and gave him a nod as he knocked the man down, but in the next moment found himself struggling with a young wizard trying to take Harry's head off with a curved blade.

Harry struggled in real time for long moments with the Death Eater whose mask had fallen off, and then knocked him down and in the next moment had the man drowning in deep thick mud that hadn't been there a moment before. Harry saved him before his head went under and hardened the mud, but also bound him with ropes before he moved away.

Harry heard Ron shout and turned in time to see Draco pushing Ron down as something flaming came sailing overhead and slammed into a Death Eater's face, catching his mask on fire. Whatever it was was dripping down onto the man's robes, flames trailing behind and he was screaming as he fumbled to get them off.

Draco pulled Ron back to his feet and they moved away, not knowing Harry had been watching them. Since when had they become friends? It was then that Harry saw Voldemort, protected by a shield he'd put up around himself and watching the chaos. It was also then that Harry realized what they were really fighting over.

Voldemort wasn't attacking because he wanted them under his control, and Harry and his friends weren't fighting back because it was just. They were fighting because Voldemort had nothing to fight for, and Harry and his friends did. Harry and his friends had a reason to win... to live. They fought for each other. They fought because of the connections they'd made with people from other houses, and people from other schools. It was the friends they'd made and not wanting to lose each other. Harry certainly didn't want to lose his father and brother. He didn't want to lose Ron and Hermione and Ginny. Harry fought because he loved them, and he could stop them from dying at Voldemort's hands. He could give them more days to get to know each other. He could give Axle and his father and mother more time to be a family, and Draco and Ron more time to be friends. Maybe he could even give his father more time to try to make something of a relationship with Adeline. He knew they liked each other and wondered if she was here somewhere too.

Voldemort saw Harry coming. They locked eyes as Harry crossed through people scuffling with each other and struggling to stay alive or snuff the life out of their opponent. Voldemort didn't try to stop him. Harry heard his father shout from somewhere for him to stop, but Harry had one mission now: stop Voldemort from killing his friends. He trusted that his friends would take care of the snake. Voldemort was his job.

Voldemort let his shield down and Harry passed into the unblemished circle of grass that was inside. As soon as he'd crossed that boundary, he heard his father shout his name again and then there was silence as Voldemort raised his shield again, blocking out all other magic and the noise that went with it. Harry turned and found his father on the other side of the shield, eyes full of fear and anxiety.

"I'm surprised by how many have come to support you," Voldemort said, wand at his side. Harry put his wand in his pocket. He wouldn't need it for what he was about to do. "Far more supporters than I brought with me."

Harry remembered what his father had said about not doing this alone, and looking again out at the fighting, Harry realized that he wasn't. Voldemort was right. He also remembered Hermione once telling him, ‘If we don't go with you into battle, who will?'

Harry remembered his moonfruit then and pulled a glob out of his pocket and stuffed it in his mouth. Voldemort laughed.

"You think that will help. You think you have this battle won, because people came to support you." He laughed again.

Voldemort didn't give Harry warning as he ripped his way into Harry's mind and Harry fell to his knees, scar exploding in pain.

In moments Voldemort had listened to several remembered conversations and discovered the truth about Harry's father and brother. "Interesting twist Potter. I'll be sure to kill them publicly after you're dead. Narcissa too."

Then he was forcing his way into the dark calm spaces of Harry's mind and pulling out all the tumultuous memories Severus had helped him tuck away: being locked in the cupboard... not being able to breath under the water... being thrown against a wall so hard his ribs and arm broke on impact... being locked out of the house in the rain for the night.

Voldemort tugged memory after memory out, lingering on the physically painful ones, but Harry wasn't in his mind with Voldemort. Instead his hands were feeling the magic in the soil. The magic Voldemort's shield had been spilling into the soil for almost an hour. The magic of children learning to fly on a broom for the first time. The magic of a unicorn that had walked over this spot years before. The magic of a healing spell used on a scraped knee. Harry could feel it all and it was keeping him in the here and now, not in the painful past Voldemort was trying to drown him with.

Harry wanted vines, and vines sprung up and began to grow around Voldemort's feet and legs and then his torso and around his warms where he knelt before Harry, still invading his mind. The vines twisted and turned and knotted themselves around every inch of the man. Harry pulled the magic from the grass and the mud and stone and felt even deeper for magic that had been left behind long before scraped knees and flying lessons. He found thestrals grazing on the grass, centaurs roaming freely and a long forgotten anti-apparation ward that had since failed. There was an anti-Muggle charm that was pulsing under Harry's fingers as the vines began to tighten and beneath that a ward meant to do things Harry didn't understand. There was a spell to hold a foundation together, and a spell to lay that foundation in the first place. There were four friends making a magical pact to educate young people like them...

Voldemort ripped himself from Harry's mind, horrified that he'd been so entrenched in Harry's memories that he hadn't noticed what Harry was doing to him.

"What is this?" Voldemort said, unable to free himself from the vines, though he began encanting cutting spells that were cutting vines away from his wand arm.

"Magic," Harry said, and he reached up to Voldemort's face and cupped it with both his hands. Voldemort flinched back but couldn't move far enough to get out of Harry's grip. Then Harry thought of cement, and Voldemort struggled harder as his skin began to harden and turn gray. Harry didn't let go, and the gray cement radiated down from Harry's hands to the man's neck, then his shoulders and stomach. Harry didn't look at him. He was too busy pulling every ounce of magic he could from the grounds. Hagrid's hut wasn't nearby, but Harry could feel it, and the magic in the pumpkins and in the forest beyond that, and he pulled it towards him, towards the cement.

"Fool," Voldemort spat. "I can't die!"

Harry did look up at him then, and smiled. Every part of him was cement now but his eyes nose and mouth. Voldemort took one last breath as the cement encroached, and whispered, "Avada Kedavra." Then the man's face wasn't skin anymore. Harry also wasn't breathing anymore.

Severus couldn't catch Harry as he fell. The shield around them fell as the green light from Voldemort's last curse washed over Harry. Harry hit the grass and Severus slammed to his knees next to his son.

"No," he breathed.

Harry didn't respond, and Severus knew he wouldn't. Tears slid down his face. He put his hand up to his face and then to his mouth and choked on the sob trying to escape.

Someone touched his shoulder but he didn't know who, and then knelt next to Harry's body.

"We've got him sir," Ron said quietly. Severus choked again and opened his eyes. Ron and Axle were lifting Harry's body up and handing it to someone behind him. Severus turned and found two people he didn't know taking Harry's body and then handing it to two others. There was a line, and his son's limp body was making its way across the lawns to Dumbledore. Ron and Axle tugged on Severus' arms to get him standing, and began to walk him towards Dumbledore.

Harry was laid gently on the grass in front of Dumbledore, Hagrid, Gan, Adeline and August. Hagrid was crying and August had tears in his eyes as well. Adeline's eyes were glazed over as if she wasn't really there and this wasn't reality.

"What's that stuff?" Ron asked as they made it to them with their Potions Master. "In his pocket."

Dumbledore got to his knees and pulled a purple glob of something from Harry's pocket where it had partially fallen out and quickly shoved it into Harry's mouth as far as it would go. Severus watched, confused as Gan and Adeline dropped to their knees and began digging in Harry's pockets, pulling out blob after blob and stuffing it in his mouth. Adeline's eyes were far from glazed over. They were frantic now and there was a frenetic energy as they worked.

"What are you doing?" Severus asked, trying to get the words passed the knot in his throat and simultaneously trying not to burst into sobs.

"The moonfruit. I assume he has a tree at Gemini and that it grows moonfruit?"

"Yes, but-"

"That tree took up his energy and magic every time he sat there. It's time we give it back to him."

Severus lost count of how many pieces of moon fruit they'd found and given Harry, but after the last piece had been put in his mouth and a spell used to make him swallow, nothing happened. Severus couldn't breath. His chest hurt. This was worse than losing Lily.

Someone gasped for breath and Severus looked to see who it was. Perhaps Ginny or Hermione had finally come down and seen Harry's body. Everyone was staring at Harry though, and Severus looked down and found the boy gasping for breath and shaking uncontrollably.

Severus fell to his knees in the grass beside his son and pulled Harry's torso up to hug him. He held onto him and vowed never to let go again. Tears were still falling from his eyes. Snape didn't care that people were watching, only that Harry was breathing.

Behind him somewhere he heard Albus say quietly, "The last time I saw him cry was when Harry's mother died."

Harry weakly opened his eyes then and looked up into his father's face. "We beat him dad. Together." Then he fell unconscious, and Severus held onto him tighter than before.

Other bits of magic were full of the feeling of healing, and when Harry followed the red strands around he found that each of those strands were different. Some he could tell were female, and others male. Some of it felt full of comfort, some full of panic, and others a calm strength. Harry straightened up. He knew some of this magic. He didn't know how he knew other than that he'd been on the receiving end of it before. The comforting healing magic was from Madam Pomfrey. He could sense it all around him now that he recognized it. Healing spells used on students with the flu or stomach aches or broken bones from playing Quidditch. One of the red strands was calm and measured, and Harry felt like that strand belonged to Gan. When he reached out and touched it, it felt like it was a bit of magic Gan had done, but that had been given to Harry. This one's mine, he thought. Was it from when Gan had healed his foot at Gemini? Harry didn't think so. This strand of magic felt tied to this place, though Harry wasn't sure where this place was. Was this death? It certainly wasn't unpleasant, but Harry felt trapped here and unsure of where to go to find a door to get into the Hospital Wing. He was in the Hospital Wing. He knew that now. He had to be with all the healing spells lingering there.

He didn't know how long he'd been here. Maybe he'd always been here in this place. Every now and again he heard voices, but he couldn't tell if they were male or female or who they belonged to. He couldn't make out what they were saying either, and they were faint, though not far away. Harry didn't have a body in this place. He felt like he could straighten up, walk around, reach out and touch something, but he had no hands or feet or legs or arms to do these things with. It was just him and the magic, and he was here, and the magic was here, and that was all he knew. This was Harry's world now.

* * *

"Something to eat Severus?" Adeline asked him quietly. She'd come back to the Hospital Wing to check on him and Harry. With all the injuries from the battle, Madam Pomfrey was grateful to have another healer there to mind patients. They couldn't send anyone to St. Mungos because it had been overflowing with Death Eaters and others who had come to Hogwarts to fight against Voldemort. Gan had stayed as well, but it was less to help heal people and more to heal Harry.

"Thank you," Severus said quietly as he accepted the bowl. Severus had barely left Harry's side since they'd brought him to the Hospital Wing. That had been weeks ago, and he hadn't woken yet. He had left just after they'd brought Harry up here, but only to find Draco and ensure he was alive and not in need of medical attention, and then he'd come back to sit with Harry.

"I wish I knew what to do for him," Adeline said. The Hospital Wing had emptied now aside from Harry. Most of the injured were healed or well enough to go back to their dorms. Everyone was troubled that Harry hadn't woken yet. He was alive, and his body appeared healthy, but they were all wondering if that was all that was left of him. No one was sure if his magic would return when he woke. If he woke. There was a lot of uncertainty these days. Voldemort had died, and that was to be celebrated, but the future for Harry, and of Hogwarts was elusive.

When Voldemort died, the wards fell. The anti-apparation wards, the anti-Muggle wards, and the multitude of ancient wards placed by the founders to keep students safe, assign and sort house points, and even just to allow staff the privilege to lock their quarter doors. All of it was gone, and despite all attempts by the staff and the Ministry of Magic, it seemed they weren't coming back.

"I'm not sure what to do," Severus told her truthfully. Gan had already reached out with his healing spells, both by his hands and his wand, and healed what he found in the boy, but there was nothing else he could do but wait with the rest of them. Severus was grateful that Adeline had stayed, and often came to sit with him and watch over Harry.

Many of the Boden students and staff had left now that Voldemort was dispatched. They wanted to finish the school year at Boden and return to life as normal, or at least as normal as it could be after having lived through what they had. August and his family were still at Hogwarts though, determined to stay until they knew what Harry's fate would be. The refugees had also gone home to rebuild their lives, but the Chudley Cannons had stayed, wanting to see their mission through. They'd taken it upon themselves to take groups of students around the grounds and castle to repair what damage they could find and to try to help the Headmaster figure out what was going on with the wards. Hogwarts had never been so exposed before. But as one day turned to the next, and as the grounds and castle were slowly set to rights again, Harry still slept.

The Hospital Wing doors opened and Draco entered. Harry had a regular stream of visitors, and Severus, who liked the quiet and peace of being alone, hadn't been sure what to do with himself when Harry's friends came to sit and talk with him. Severus took some of those moments to go and shower and change clothes and use the bathroom, but other than that, he was with Harry.

"Hey," Draco said, looking cheerful. There was a bounce to his step that hadn't been there before the battle. "Any change?"

"No."

Adeline smiled up at Draco. "You seem very bright this morning," she said.

Draco blushed. "Megan Jones and I spent the morning together."

"I see," Adeline said, a knowing look on her face.

Adeline knew now that Draco was Severus' son, as did everyone, but Severus had yet to give any explanations to anyone. He wasn't sure if he was perturbed or pleased that Harry and Draco both seemed to like Adeline so much, and she liked them in return. Pleased, was what he'd decided, but he wasn't looking forward to having to explain anything to her. The Headmaster and Adeline and Gan had asked, as well as Minerva, but Severus had kept his mouth shut this far other than to confirm that Harry and Draco were his sons.

Draco sat and chatted with them for a few minutes, and then moved to leave. He turned back to Severus then and took in his father's defeated posture. "He'll wake up you know," Draco said.

"You seem certain."

"Well he's the bloody Boy-Who-Lived," Draco said with a laugh. "If he doesn't wake up, you can always go in after him and drag him out by his ear." Draco left and Severus rolled the idea over in his mind.

"What did he mean?" Adeline asked.

"Legilimency."

"You can't," she said, putting her hand on his arm to stop him from even thinking about it. "There's a reason that practice is banned in healing circles. You don't even know what's keeping him in the coma. The chance that a legilimens will get trapped in the coma with the patient is too high."

"She's right," Poppy said, coming over to check Harry's vitals and spell a nutritive potion into his stomach.

"But I have to do something."

"He may still wake on his own," Adeline tried to reassure him, but Severus turned and looked into her eyes and she stopped talking.

"I promised him he wouldn't be alone," Severus said. "I promised him he wouldn't have to deal with things alone anymore." It was the most he'd said to her or anyone about his relationship with Harry, and it seemed to mean a great deal to him.

"At least let Albus have a chance to talk you out of this," Poppy said, and before Severus could object, she'd gone to her office to send a patronus since the floo wasn't working anymore.

Twenty minutes later, Albus came in with Remus.

"This isn't a good idea Severus," Remus said, sitting on a stool on the other side of Harry's bed. The Headmaster conjured a chair and did the same.

"I have to try."

"He may still wake," Albus echoed Adeline's earlier statement, but Severus wasn't arguing anymore. He stared at Harry and concentrated on reaching his mind. It was his job to save his son.

* * *

Harry was convinced there was something missing that ought to have been there with him... with the other magic in the sea. He couldn't tell exactly what it was, only that there was something that was always a part of him that was gone now. If only he could put his finger on what it was.

As time wore on in this place, Harry tried to recall memories of recent events, but couldn't. There were definitely things he could remember, but he had no context for where in a timeline they belonged. He had tried his hardest to figure out what had put him in this place, but was drawing a blank.

Couldn't you just give me a door? He thought to the magic, reaching out and touching Gan's strand of magic again, and then Pomfrey's. If he could just have a door, he could find the answers he was looking for.

There wasn't a door, but there was something brushing against his mind. It felt familiar, like magic he knew and had dealt with before. What was that? It was in one of the dark spaces in his mind. The dark spaces were abundant now. He knew they hadn't been before. Now there was something brushing against his dark spaces.

‘You're not alone. I'm here. Come out.'

Harry frowned. What was that? Who was that? It wasn't a voice, or at least not like the voices he heard but couldn't understand. It was said in his own voice, but Harry knew he hadn't said it.

‘I'm here with you Harry. We all are. Come out'.

‘Who are you?' Harry asked. ‘I want to come out, but there's no door.'

‘Then hold on to me. I will bring you out.'

‘How do I do that? How do I hold on to you? I don't know how.'

‘Then I will hold on to you. Always.'

Harry felt something grab him then. It was jaring after floating here in this place for so long. It was like a pair of strong hands even though no one had hands here. Harry felt himself being pulled to one of the dark spaces in his mind, only the space wasn't so dark. It was bright and warm and white. Whoever had hold of him wasn't letting go, and Harry was glad.

Harry sat bolt upright in bed and gasped, sucking in air as though he hadn't breathed in years. If that wasn't enough to startle those seated around him, the bright flash of light and wave of energy that exploded out of him when he sat up was.

Adeline gasped and Albus and Poppy closed their eyes as the force of it hit them and then moved away, out through the walls and into the castle.

"What was-" Remus started, but he didn't finish his sentence. Harry was awake, and sitting there looking confused as he breathed heavily.

"Was that wards?" Poppy asked, but Dumbledore was already doing a spell and didn't answer for a moment.

"They're back up," he said, perplexed and relieved.

"All of them?" Remus asked

"All of them. They're all there."

They looked again at Harry who had yet to speak, and Adeline looked at Severus to be sure he was awake and had not taken Harry's place. He was watching Harry as well, studying his face.

The first thing Harry said was, "Did Ginny Weasley kiss me? On the lips?"

They were quiet as Harry looked from face to face, and then nervous laughter broke out amongst them. Harry wasn't sure why it was funny, and found himself being pulled into a hug from his right. It was his father, and he was holding him tightly.

"That must have been some kiss cub," Remus said, "if it's the first thing you're asking about after being asleep for three weeks."

"I think it was," Harry said. He wrapped his arms around his father, and then Remus leaned across the bed and hugged Harry from the other side.

The Hospital Wing doors opened again and August burst in, full of anxiety. "There's something going on," he said quickly. "A burst of light and energy."

"The wards are back up," the Headmaster said, "and Harry is awake."

Harry noted that August's hands were shaking slightly as he came over to the group of people around his bed, but after a moment they stopped and his eyes drank in Harry's appearance. "I'm so happy you're ok," August said, and Harry could hear in his words that he meant it.

Remus let go of Harry, and after another moment, Severus did too.

"Has anyone told Gan?" August asked, and people shook their heads, so he moved off to find him.

"Give him some space," Madam Pomfrey said as she pushed through Remus and the Headmaster to get to Harry so she could check his vitals again. "Normal," she said after long tense moments, "though I'm getting strange readings from his core. Harry dear, take this." She handed Harry his wand from the bedside table and said, "cast something please."

"What do you want me to cast?" he asked, holding the wand limply. It felt wrong to him somehow. Normally when he touched his wand he could feel a slight warmth. The wand usually felt familiar, and he knew it was his by touch. It was just a piece of wood now, or so it felt to him.

"A levitation charm," she said gently. "Or lumos."

"Lumos," Harry said, but the wand tip stayed dark.

Harry felt people shift in their seats around his bed and frowned. "Wingardium Leviosa," he said, aiming at his glasses on the side table next to his father. The glasses stayed firmly rooted to their spot.

"Try again," the Headmaster encouraged, and Harry tried several more spells, but nothing was working.

"With all that has happened," Madam Pomfrey said sadly, "and with the excess of moon fruit, it may have been enough to save him, but not his magic. His core may be depleted."

That didn't sound right to Harry though. He'd been positively bathed in magic while he was sleeping. That hadn't felt like a dream. He reached down to the bed with his hands and could feel no magic there. But there was magic in this place. There had to be. He'd felt it while he slept!

Harry shifted the blankets off his legs and moved for the edge of the bed. Albus stood and scooted his chair back to move out of the way but Adeline and Severus both moved to grab for Harry.

"Harry, your legs will be weak," Adeline warned, but Harry had already moved to the edge of the bed and fallen on the floor. Severus and Remus moved to get to him to pick him up, but Albus held up his hand to stop them. Harry couldn't stand, but he seemed ok. He was crawling on his hands and knees, fingers feeling along the rough edges of the stone for any trace of magic at all.

"My core's not depleted," he said a moment later, relief in his voice. "I can feel the magic in the stones. It was all around me while I was unconscious."

"But the spells-" Madam Pomfrey said. She stopped when Harry raised his hand up towards his glasses on the table on the far side of the bed and they flew to him. He put them on and everything came into focus.

"Would you explain what you just did?" Albus asked.

"Accio," Harry said. He looked back up at the bed above him as though it were a mountain to climb, and Remus and Madam Pomfrey lifted him up to sit on the edge again.

"He was struggling with magery at Gemini," Severus said quietly.

"Apparently not anymore," Albus said.

"Can you do another spell?" Pomfrey asked.

Harry looked at a pillow on a bed across the aisle and reached out his hand towards it and thought the levitation spell. It began to hover above the bed.

Poppy made Harry drink several potions, ran several more scans on his core, proclaimed that she didn't understand why Harry couldn't get his wand to work, and then moved off into her office. Adeline went with her as well, wanting to talk through the issue and figure out what was going on. Remus wanted to fill Harry in on what had gone on since Voldemort had died, but Albus had questions he wanted answers to instead. The Hospital Wing door opened and Gan came in just as Albus began asking Harry about what he'd done to Voldemort.

Gan took Adeline's seat next to Severus and listened as Harry explained about Volemort trying to hurt him with Legilimency, but how Harry's mind had been out in the real world and feeling for magic to use Root.

"You could tell the exact spells that had been used in that spot previously?" Albus asked.

Harry nodded.

"Had you been able to do this before?"

"No. Before I could feel magic in the ground, but not what was there."

Gan cleared his throat and said, "His awareness of Root has become more acute. Some who have studied Root all their lives have not attained such an awareness, but many have."

"It was like," Harry frowned and thought back to the moment it had all been happening. "It was like layers of magic, and the further down I felt for it, the more there was. I found an old ward that had fallen, and wards for the foundations of the school, and wards I didn't know the purpose for. I even felt-" he paused, and looked around at the Professors.

"Yes?"

"The founders."

"The Hogwarts founders?" Severus asked.

"They'd made a pact in that spot... a magical agreement or something to educate young people. It was like I was there with them in the moment. I couldn't understand their words, but I knew what they were saying. They toasted each other, and that made a contract."

"Harry," Dumbledore said. He'd been hanging on Harry's words, mind working to figure out how the wards had reestablished themselves when Harry had woken. "What did you do with the wards?"

"I don't think I did anything with them," Harry said. "I just did what I always do with Root. I felt for the magic in the environment and I pulled it to me so I could use it to cause vines to grow around Voldemort while he was in my head not paying attention. And then when he finally felt them and realized what was going on, I pulled magic to me from everywhere... even from Hagrid's pumpkins to cement him." Harry looked at Dumbledore and said, "He is dead isn't he?"

"He is. The statue you made of him is still in place, covered in vines."

Harry sighed in relief.

"Harry, when you died, the wards fell. Every ward in the school and on the grounds. Even the floo stopped working. The point system, everything," Remus explained. "When you woke up forty minutes ago, the wards exploded out of you and were suddenly up again. It was like a reverse shield. Everyone felt it."

"Even down on the school boundary and in the forest," Gan said. "I was out gathering potions ingredients and speaking to the Centaurs."

"They came from me?" Harry asked.

"I believe you may have pulled them into yourself," Dumbledore said. "As long as you were in a coma, they couldn't get out."

"When I was unconscious," Harry said, "I knew I was in the Hospital Wing because I could feel all the magic. I could feel all the spells healers had done here, and I could tell which ones were Madam Pomfreys, and I even found one from you Teacher," Harry said, turning towards him. "I knew it was one you'd given to me. There was other magic there too. I didn't understand all of it. Some was woven together like a tapestry and felt like what happens when we add our magic to a shared shield."

"It had to be the wards," Albus said.

"I didn't mean to cause any trouble," Harry told the Headmaster.

"It was not any trouble dear boy," he said fondly, patting Harry's shoulder. "We are only glad that you are alive and well."

"There is still the issue of his magic," Severus said. Gan asked what he meant and Severus explained it to him.

"He may simply not need the wand to channel magic anymore," Gan said, "Or-" They all looked at him. "His magic may now be tied to the school wards. We would know for certain if he could still perform magic off of Hogwarts grounds."

"He's not leaving until he can stand up on his own!" Poppy called from her office. She'd left the door open and could hear them talking.

Gan smiled and so did Remus. They rose with Dumbledore a few minutes later to leave Harry and Severus alone. Adeline and Poppy were still in Poppy's office chatting and had now ordered tea.

"Thank you," Harry said after they were silent for a few moments. "For not leaving me in there alone," he clarified.

Severus looked at him and said, "I told you I would not."

"I- until now I've never had someone that would stay by me."

"Mr. Weasley."

"Except maybe Ron," Harry agreed. His mind flitted to Ginny and that kiss again though and he wondered if she wanted to date him or had just wanted to kiss him. He'd always liked Ginny, but had always been so preoccupied with staying alive or just trying to make it through classes that he'd never considered dating her before. But she'd been thinking about it apparently.

"So thoughtful?" Severus asked, wanting to know what he was thinking about.

Harry's cheeks tinged red and he cleared his throat and said, "I was wondering where Ginny was."

"I will fetch her if you wish."

Harry gave him a surprised look. "Really? The Potions Master would run errands for the Brat-Who-Lived?" Severus gave him a consternated look. "Didn't think I heard you call me that before, but I did," Harry teased.

"I will keep apologizing to you until you believe me."

"No- I didn't mean it that way. I'm sorry. I was just teasing."

Severus was unaccustomed to bantering with Harry. He and Draco had done so for years, and had even more since Draco had found out the truth. Sometimes he even bantered and teased with Minerva and Albus, but never with Harry. But if Harry wanted to tease...

"I will find her and tell her she is being summoned to make out."

Harry choked and sat up, coughing, a look of panic on his face. "No! I'll wait til she comes up on her own!"

Adeline stuck her head out the door of Poppy's office at the sound of Harry choking and gave Severus a stern look, followed by soft words. "Don't get him so riled Severus. Poppy might come out there and give you a calming draught by mistake instead of him."

Harry looked from where Adeline's head had just disappeared back into the office to Severus, who was watching Harry and smiling.

"Are you this mean to Draco?" he asked, realizing Severus had been joking.

"Frequently."

They were quiet for several moments as Harry fidgeted with his fingers.

"Do you need help tucking something away?" Severus asked.

"No. I was wondering- how you were... I mean, I didn't realize you and Lily had been together before Draco's mum said something."

Severus leaned back in his chair. He'd been prepared to explain to Harry when he'd returned to the castle, but Harry hadn't wanted to know. He wondered what had changed.

"Your mother and I were best friends in school. As I am sure you have heard, James was not pleased she was friends with, and later dating a Slytherin, especially one he deemed poor and unpopular. He believed she should be dating him or an upperclassman in Gryffindor, which is where most of the tension came between he and I. She did date him for a few months in our seventh year, but broke up with him and got back together with me." Severus watched Harry's face to see what he thought of it all. The boy was soaking up his words.

"We were together for almost a year after we graduated, however I became jealous of her continued friendship with Potter. I believed she preferred to be with him." He leaned forward then and said quietly to Harry, "I do not have much advice to give a young man about dating, but I will tell you this: insecurity is very unappealing. I would advise you not to make an ass of yourself as I did with Lily."

"What happened?" Harry asked. "Between the two of you?" He seemed desperate to finally know the truth.

"She broke up with me. It wasn't long after that... a few months perhaps, that she was together with James. Nine months after we split, you were born. I truly believed you were James Potter's son."

"And what about Draco?"

"I was feeling very sorry for myself, and made the mistake of taking comfort with Narcissa Malfoy. She had always liked me in school and was a year ahead of Lily and I. When Draco was born Narcissa informed me that he was my son and named me his godfather, but told me that if Lucius ever found out he would kill her and the baby. Draco was never told, and I kept my distance aside from seeing him at birthdays, on holidays, and in school."

Harry thought about it and realized that Snape hadn't really given preferential treatment to just Slytherins, but to just Draco. He and his friends had always assumed Snape hated Gryffindors, but thinking back on classes with the man now, Harry realized he hadn't treated all Gryffindors poorly, only Harry. He'd believed James had stolen Lily and had the son he'd wanted to have with her. Suddenly Snape's anger at thinking Harry had stolen things from Draco at Gemini now made more sense as well. Harry was floored, and felt suddenly like he had a little bit of that perspective Gan had talked about at Gemini.

"You're very quiet," Severus said, and Harry wondered if it was anxiety he detected in his father's voice.

"When we started school, Draco and I got off on the wrong foot, we still might have ended up friends though. But we saw how you were treating Draco versus how you were treating me every day in classes and when we'd gotten into arguments or scuffles, and that just fed our dislike of each other. But how you were treating us was based off of misconceptions just as much as how Draco and I reacted to each other was based on misconceptions." Harry looked at him and said, "We've got to stop doing that. We turned out just like each other and just like you, and we all thought we were so different."

"When did you get so wise?" Severus wondered aloud.

"Didn't you hear?" Harry teased with a smile, "I traveled the world and now I'm cultured."

* * *

A lot of boys were ribbing Harry about the kiss with Ginny they'd all heard about but not seen. That the first words out of Harry's mouth upon waking after three weeks were, ‘Did Ginny Weasley kiss me? On the lips?' had passed around the school several times by the time Harry had gotten out of the Hospital Wing a few days later. The teasing wasn't so bad though, because no one meant it to cause him any trouble. Ginny reacted to it by telling people if they didn't keep quiet about it she'd do it again in public, and she did two days after Harry returned to his friends. She kissed him in the Entrance Hall in front of a large group of students and Harry lost count of how many seconds it lasted for. When she finally pulled away she looked at him and said, "And don't forget it this time!"

She walked away, but she turned to give him a smile as she did, and Harry couldn't do anything other than stand there in the Entrance Hall and listen as the kids cat called at him and asked when they'd started dating or were going to start. Truthfully, he didn't know and wasn't sure where he stood with Hermione or Ginny.

Harry's friends spent days filling him in on things he'd missed during the battle and afterwards.

After Harry's friends had run out of the Great Hall when the attack first started, they'd tried to stick together but had been separated quickly. Ron and Draco ended up with a group of Slytherins out on the grounds, hunkering down in a muddy crater. It was a group of Slytherins who had been on Voldemort's side as well as some who had been uncertain which side they should be on. At first Ron and Draco had stared around at the group with fear, realizing their mistake in diving into that particular crater, and wondering if their classmates would murder them. A Ravenclaw who ended up trapped out on the grounds jumped into their crater several moments later however and looked around at the faces of her peers. "What's going on?" she asked when no one said anything.

That was when Ron looked his peers in the eyes and gave a speech, though Draco took pleasure in correcting Ron when he started to embellish his speech too much in the retelling of it. "A friend once told me that even though we're all in different houses who have their own values, we're all the same. He said he'd seen Slytherins be brave, Hufflepuffs be smart, Gryffindors be cunning and Ravenclaws be open minded. I didn't understand what he was saying when he said we were all the same and that together we'd be stronger. I didn't understand it when he said that if we were divided we were weak. I understand now. Each house only protecting themselves... well we're not four separate houses are we? We're one school. We eat and go to classes in the same place and walk down the same halls. We have friends that aren't in our own houses. So why don't we fight as one school together?" Ron moved forward towards the group of Slytherins and they looked wary, wands out and aimed at him, but Ron continued over to them. "One school," he said, making eye contact with a seventh year girl and then with Crabbe. "We can take our enemies down side by side."

Then Draco had raised his wand and said, "Let's make it a Hogwarts win." That was all it took. The Slytherins raised their wands in solidarity and said, "For Hogwarts." They exited the crater together shouting as they charged a group of Death Eaters and surprised them from behind. Later, when all the fighting was done, Draco would ask Ron who this friend was, and Ron had told him it was Harry.

"Harry said you were as much a Gryffindor as he was a Slytherin."

"Figures," Draco had told him.

The two boys continued to tell that story for weeks to whoever would listen. They were both very interested in school unity, and wanted everyone else to want that as much as they did.

Harry also found out that at some point in the first week after the battle Draco had owled Gringotts and emptied his portion of the Malfoy vault. He'd instructed the goblins to leave a note in the place of the money he withdrew with everything he'd always wanted to say to Lucius about how he'd treated him.

The Headmaster had a story to tell too apparently, and called Harry into his office a few days after he'd been released from the Hospital Wing. Harry met Neville on the way to the Headmaster's office and found out Neville had been called too.

"I never found out," Harry asked Neville as they walked through empty corridors. "Did the last horcruxes get destroyed?"

"I killed the snake," he said proudly.

"Yeah?"

"Ginny and I got separated from everyone else. We had the sword. Ginny went down and I couldn't wake her up, and then I saw the snake coming in to have us both for dinner. I took it's head off."

"Awesome," Harry said. He'd heard a lot of stories of bravery and the smart use of tactics from students. Students from the DA had enjoyed coming up to him at meals or in the halls to tell him how they'd used what he'd taught them to survive and to save their friends and even their teachers.

The gargoyle statue opened for them when they arrived and they went up the spiraling stairs. Severus, Remus and Dumbledore were waiting for them.

"Have a seat boys," Dumbledore said, and Harry and Neville sat in the only two empty chairs. Dumbledore was silent in thought for a moment, and then said, "You both know of the prophecy... Harry whom I told, and Neville who heard it when it broke in the Ministry."

Harry and Neville both looked at each other, and then nodded. "Yes sir," Neville said.

"What you don't know, is that either one of you could have picked up that prophecy. It only listed Harry, but it was about you as well Neville."

"Me sir?"

Severus and Remus were leaning forward in their seats now, listening intently. Apparently this was new information to them as well.

"Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies," Dumbledore recited. "Both of you were born a day apart at the end of July. Both of your parents defied Voldemort three times. Voldemort marked Harry as his equal." Dumbledore pointed to Harry's scar, "and Harry did have power he didn't know about, from his time at Gemini."

"How is the prophecy about Longbottom?" Severus asked.

"Either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives."

"I don't understand," Remus said.

"Prophecies are fickle things. They can be interpreted many different ways, which is why prophecies are frequently mislabeled, or why some never appear to come to fruition, even though they have." He pointed at Harry with one hand and at Neville with the other. "Neither," he said with heavy emphasis on the word, "can live while the other, (Voldemort), survives."

"That is stretching the interpretation," Severus said, sitting back in his chair.

"Is it?" Albus asked. "Both boys were vital in destroying Tom Riddle. The prophecy repeated itself, referring to two different boys. At first it says of one boy it will mark him as his equal but that boy will have a power Voldemort knows not. Then later it says the one with the power to vanquish him will be born as the seventh month dies. Two boys fit the prophecy. Two boys are described in the prophecy. These two boys both played vital roles in fulfilling it."

"Me sir?" Neville asked again.

"Harry destroyed Tom Riddle's diary, the first horcrux in his second year. When Harry met Tom in the graveyard after the tournament, the locket horcrux was destroyed to bring Tom back. Neville brought the ring to my attention and helped me find it so that Severus could destroy it, and then Neville killed Nagini. Tom would not be gone now if we had not destroyed the ring and snake as well."

Harry looked to Neville for an explanation about the ring, and Neville said, "All these years, my mum and dad kept asking about a ring. ‘Where's that ring? Neville, get the ring.' I thought they'd just lost mum's wedding ring, because we could never find it. I've been looking for a ring for years, and when I couldn't find it I started researching it. I started looking into what they were doing before they were tortured. I looked into the cases they were working as aurors. It wasn't until we went to the Department of Mysteries that I got a clue about what the ring was. Lestrange cornered me when Luna and I got separated from everyone else and kept taunting me about how my parents would never give up the location of the ring even though they tortured them out of their minds. Then I asked Professor Dumbledore about it."

"Neville shared his research with me, and I was able to determine that it was one of Tom's family heirlooms. We retrieved it together when you were away from school Harry."

"You said there was one last horcrux," Severus said then, leaning forward in the chair. "What is it? When was it destroyed?"

Dumbledore pointed to Harry's forehead where his scar had started to fade. "The scar. When he killed Lily, he inadvertently turned Harry into a horcrux. It died when Harry did."

Harry shifted in his seat uncomfortably when he realized they were all looking at him now. "It's gone," he said.

"Are you certain?" Remus asked.

"When I was unconscious and all I could feel was magic, I realized there was a part of me that was missing. I didn't know what it was until now."

"Perhaps that is also why your wand no longer works for you," Dumbledore said. They'd determined that Harry did still have magic, as Severus and Gan had taken Harry off of school grounds to test him and he'd been able to use root and regular spells he knew. "The cores of your wand and Tom's were the same. The wand chooses the wizard. When you got your wand it may have chosen you because it sensed Tom's horcrux."

Severus handed Harry his wand then, and motioned for him to try a spell with it. The wand felt different than Harry's old one had, but he could feel the magic in it. Harry said, "Lumos," and the tip lit up. He grinned.

"A trip to Ollivander's is in order then," Dumbledore said with a smile. While Harry could perform a lot of spells without a wand now, it was difficult to perform spells he was still trying to learn without one since he had no wand to wave to make the movements. He would be happy to have a new wand that would work for him.

Harry and Neville left the Headmaster's office together, their professors opting to stay behind so they could talk. In the corridor alone, they stopped outside the stone gargoyle and looked at each other.

"The boys who lived," Harry said. "I like it."

"But you're the Boy-Who-Lived," Neville said. "I barely did anything."

"We were tied together all this time and didn't even know it."

"I wish we could have been tied together by something less dire."

Harry surprised Neville then when he hugged him. "Don't change Neville, yeah?" Harry let him go and laughed at his surprised look. "Dean was right, you make Gryffindor proud. You already did and I bet you'll keep doing it."

"Yeah, well you just tell my gran that," Neville said with a short laugh.

"I will."

They walked away to tell their friends what they'd learned.

* * *

There was one more story to tell as it turned out, and it was Harry's. Gan and Adeline approached him one evening as he sat out on the grass near the lake, his skin warming in the last rays of evening sun. Harry was enjoying the feeling of not having to be anywhere, and not having anything expected of him. He was enjoying the feeling of normalcy, and of not being anxious about an impending fight or the loss of friends.

"Are you meditating Harry?" Gan asked when they approached. He tilted his head back from where he was lying on his back and looked at them upside down with a grin. "No teacher. Just enjoying the sun."

"May we enjoy it with you?" Adeline asked.

Harry sat up and said, "Of course."

They sat down on either side of him, facing the lake.

"It's a beautiful spot," Adeline said, admiring the view.

"My friends and I come down here sometimes," Harry said. "It's best in the fall when all the leaves are orange and yellow. And in the spring on the other side of the cove there's a huge pink tree." He pointed, and they looked, but all the trees were bare now as it was winter. It was a rare warm day, which was what had brought Harry out.

"We wanted to ask you about something," Adeline said, and Harry nodded. A lot of people had wanted to ask him things lately. Ministry officials had come and asked how he had killed Voldemort and wanted details. Ollivander had asked why Harry needed a new wand. And students had been asking why Harry hadn't asked Ginny Weasley out yet.

"At Gemini, you seemed afraid of Professor Snape at first," Adeline said.

"He didn't used to treat me very nice," Harry said. "What I said at Gemini was true. He was always on my case at school, or putting me down, or giving me detention when I didn't deserve it. There was no way for me to prove to him that the worst things he believed about me weren't true."

"But he is your father," Gan said.

"We didn't know that," Harry said. "Not until after Gemini."

"We have asked Severus," Gan said, "but he has not told us anything other than that it is complicated."

"It is," Harry said, and then corrected himself, "was."

He didn't know quite how to explain to them about Snape, or about his life really without telling it all to them. It would leave too many gaps and make them ask too many questions if he left things out.

"I live with my aunt and uncle and cousin who hate magic, and who hate me. They're Muggles. I didn't grow up with a family." He reached down past his knee to play with his shoelaces. "The only people I had were here at Hogwarts... my friends and Remus and my Godfather Sirius."

"The one who died?" Adeline asked, and Harry nodded.

"After Gemini, Professor Snape... my dad I mean, told me I could stay with him for the last couple weeks of summer, and that we'd tell the Headmaster that he was training me. He didn't, I mean, I just got a couple weeks to do what I wanted."

"Why did you need to lie to your headmaster?" Gan asked.

"He had custody of me in our world, so he got to say where I stayed on holidays. He said when my mother died protecting me it placed a protection spell on me that was only good if I lived with my family. I went to Gemini because it was a chance to spend the summer away from them."

"I'm sorry to hear that Harry," Adeline said. She touched his arm the same way Harry had seen her do with his father several times, and then pulled her hand away and Harry continued.

"Staying with him went ok, considering we didn't get along before that. And when school started again we were still spending some time together so I could learn Occlumency. Then the first attack on the school happened." He explained about being sent away by portkey to the village and meeting Narcissa and what she'd told him.

"That's why you ran away," Adeline said, finally understanding.

"Yeah. I didn't tell anybody but Draco. I stayed at Boden for a while." He looked at each of them and they nodded. They already knew that part. He explained about his stay with Remus, and the fire, and returning to Hogwarts to deal with Snape.

"He was just so different when I came back," Harry said. "Like it wasn't even a question for him that he'd be there to help me with whatever I needed. That was all new to me. I'd only had my friends before that, and Remus."

"And you are happy now Harry?" Gan asked. "To stay with Severus and Draco?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah. It's nice to have family and to know what that's like. It's good to have someone that will be there no matter what."

They talked for twenty more minutes as the sun went down, about Harry's new understanding of Root, and about what was next for him if he wished to pursue Root. They got up since the sun had gone down far enough to hide behind the treeline, and the air had grown chill.

"Teacher?" Harry asked Gan.

"Yes."

"Do you have a tree at Gemini?"

"There is a tree hanging out from the cliff over the ocean on the other side of the compound from your tree that grows pandafruit. It is used in calming draughts. Like moonfruit, it is magical and only grows in certain places, typically high in the mountains or on the steppe of Mongolia in winter."

On their way back to the castle Gan told Harry that he would be leaving soon, and Harry was sad to see him go. He would miss him. Gan told him however that if at any time Harry should wish to learn more about Root, he would be welcome to study with Gan, and that arrangements would be made.

Adeline it turned out, was not leaving so soon. She wanted to spend some time with Harry, Draco, and Severus, and was thinking of staying until the end of the school year. She had already taken a leave of absence at Beauxbatons, and since there was more than one healer there it wasn't an issue.

Later that evening Harry visited his father and told him about Gan's offer, and then asked if Severus had a tree at Gemini.

"I did get to attend for one summer, on scholarship from the Ministry."

"Did you have a tree?"

"Only students who spend an inordinate amount of time in the woods have a tree." Harry was looking at him expectantly though, so Severus continued. "Mine is deep in the woods, almost off of school grounds. It grows mangos."

"Mangos?" Harry asked, and then his brows creased in thought. He felt like mangos were an ironic fruit to grow on his father's tree because they were such a bright, tropical, cheery fruit, and everyone knew that Snape was neither cheery or tropical. But no- that was before. That was before Harry had gotten to know him... before he'd let his relationship shift with the man to one where they could joke and tease. To one where he knew his father would always be there for him. Harry still sometimes felt like he didn't know this man at all; like he was something exotic and new. Perhaps he was tropical and cheery, when he wanted to be.

Harry just wanted to relax and not have to think about anything other than summer.

"Father wants to know if you want takeaway," Draco said, sticking his head out the back door of their home on the Isle of Coll.

"Indian?" Harry asked.

"Of course."

"Who's he sending to get it?"

"Unlike some people," Draco said with fake sarcasm, "I just earned my apparation license and I'm not bored of apparating out to bring food back."

Harry laughed and Draco went back inside. He closed his eyes as the breeze rippled through his hair. In a few days Gemini would start up and Ron and Hermione would be attending classes on another part of the island. Draco mentioned possibly sneaking over there to go to a bonfire with them, and Harry wasn't opposed, though he was a little nervous as there wouldn't be many teachers there he knew. He'd heard McGonagall was taking a turn teaching this summer, but he didn't want to get on her bad side when he still had a year left at Hogwarts.

Ron was excited about spending a summer at Gemini with Hermione and Harry knew his friend hoped to rekindle his relationship with her. Harry wondered if he would. He didn't mind if he did and hoped it worked out well for his friends. More than anything he hoped Ron learned as much about himself and about other cultures as Harry had during his time there.

A noise to his left made Harry open his eyes. It was his father sitting down on the outdoor chair next to Harry's.

"Miss Weasley called for you in the floo a few minutes ago."

Harry sat up and looked interested, and his father gave him a knowing look. "I assume you'll be flooing to the Burrow this evening?"

"If that's ok. I'd like whatever Draco brings back for dinner first."

"As long as you return by ten."

Harry had already been to the Burrow a few times since school had ended last week, and had spent lazy hours playing Quidditch or reading magazines with Ron and Ginny. With Ron getting ready to head to Gemini, Harry was looking forward to spending some time with Ginny alone. She'd come to see him frequently while he was recuperating in the Hospital Wing and later in his father's quarters, and hadn't left his side much during free time during the rest of the school year. Harry hadn't realized before just how fond of her he was until he looked back at their time together as friends before he'd gone to Gemini, and then after defeating Voldemort. He realized that when they were apart, he missed her quiet companionship and more little things about her than he could count. Not to mention the two very public kisses they'd had.

"Such thought over a trip to the Burrow?" Severus asked. "Do you wish to spend the summer there?"

Harry looked up at him and laughed then. "Maybe once Ron is at Gemini I can invite Ginny to spend some evenings here if Mrs. Weasley will let her."

Severus snorted and shook his head with a small smile. "You realize I will be the one held responsible if there is any impropriety while Miss Weasley is here?"

"I'd never do anything-" Harry tried to assure him, but Severus held up his hand.

"I never expected it would be you who would," he said. Before he could elaborate, Draco reappeared from inside and called them to come get their dinner.

Draco was only going to be here a few nights a week, as he was spending the other nights with his mother who was in Paris, and Harry was happy to be getting to know him as a brother now that they had the time. Harry and Draco never told Severus, but they were both glad to be staying with him for the summer. With no threat of Voldemort or his Death Eaters hunting them down, with school behind them for a few months and no place they had to be, the three had a shot to make a go of it as a family, and that was something Harry was glad he had returned for. Remus had been right, as had Falk, and even Gan. Life was hard, and life was often complicated, but the reward of working through things was worth it. He looked up as his father laughed at something Draco had said over their meal and grinned to himself. It was well worth the trouble.

* * *

Once Dumbledore had sent Harry to Gemini to gain an advantage, and he had. It wasn't magic or meditation or new defensive tactics that Harry used to his advantage though, it was allies. He had become friends with Draco (and Narcissa was aware of it and spared Harry). He had become friends with Axle, who was willing to let Harry hide out at Boden. And he had gained something that Voldemort never had and Dumbledore never expected Harry to have either: a father... an adult that cared about him and was willing to teach him and direct him down the right path, even if he sometimes did so in a way Harry wasn't always pleased with.

Harry spent many more summers on the Isle of Coll, though not at Gemini. He didn't return to Gemini until years later when his own children were almost old enough to attend Hogwarts and he took up cabin 18 as a professor and taught Occlumency and Magery amongst other things. That summer his father lived in the cabin next door, and they remembered the summer long ago that they had spent together there, getting to know each other, and learning to walk in each other's shoes. It was a good summer, but there was never another like the first they'd spent there. There was also never another year like The Year Of Exchanges. So many students had gone to other schools for a term because they'd been displaced by the war (even Harry), that The Year Of Exchanges was written about in history books about the war, about Voldemort, and about Harry Potter and Dumbledore's Army.