A/N: My thanks to TheGreatBubbaJ for beta-reading and correction of this chapter. Also my thanks for the wonderful welcome to this story. Unfortunately, not much action in this chapter, just closing the year. But the summer vacation begins in the next chapter with lots of news!
Chapter 2 - Homework
The next few days contained a lot of discoveries for Harry. His new friend had stayed with Wormtail, and she had taken care to see Sirius rehabilitated. She had vehemently refused the boy's plan to hand the rat over to Dumbledore, and showed strong distrust of the renowned headmaster. This inevitably drew the boy's attention to some facts, most of which she cited in defending her cynicism and mistrust: as head of the Wizengamot, Dumbledore could have done more for his godfather, and as his alleged magical guardian during Sirius' forced absence, he should also have done something to improve Harry's life with his relatives; as well as other things, such as the continuing security breaches at Hogwarts.
Telling his previous adventures to her was a lesson in critical thinking that Harry would never forget. How could he have believed that Dumbledore didn't know of Voldemort's presence in his first year? How could have he believed that the protections for the Philosopher's Stone, which three first-year students had beat, could be able to stand against the onslaught of a powerful dark wizard? And the basilisk roaming around the school? And the Dementors invading the Quidditch pitch, despite the protections around the castle? Or an Animagus hiding for years without being unmasked?
But there was even more. All the fame that the boy had received, and that put him in danger, only existed because Dumbledore decided that the wizarding world needed a hero to idolize. The magical world could easily have been convinced that he too had died that night, or that he was just an ordinary child who had in no way contributed to Voldemort's disappearance. His life could have been so much simpler and happier!
Astoria Greengrass was an enigma for the boy-who-lived. Gorgeous, from a rich and old family, highly intelligent, with knowledge beyond what to expect for her age, brave as the best of the Gryffindors, the girl was able to behave like an angel at certain times, and as the queen of mordacity and cleverness in others.
To the boy's astonishment, she had started the project of helping Harry improve by giving him some little 'homework.' The purpose of these duties had completely escaped the boy at first, but they had quickly borne fruit, and bitter tasting fruit at that. One of these duties was to make some new friends, which the girl had chosen carefully: Neville Longbottom, from his year in Gryffindor; Susan Bones, also in his year, but from Hufflepuff; and Luna Lovegood, a Ravenclaw a year down from him.
The task should have been simple, and Harry was happy with the idea. He honestly felt that he was past the time to expand his friendships. What he didn't count on was the interference of his two main friends, but mostly Ron. Taking note of this interference in a notebook as a part of his second task, developing lists of qualities and defects of his friends, the results worried the boy a lot.
One of the first things Harry realized was how his two best friends were different and how much these differences manifested themselves in constant quarrels and discussions, most of which he ends up having to interfere as mediator and reliever. Nor was it hard to realize that Ron was quite attached to his fame as the boy-who-lived's best friend, and he seemed to be fighting every attempt by Harry to expand his circle of friends. On the other hand, although Hermione did not seem to care so much about Harry pursuing new friends, her bossy, controlling style made the task quite difficult, especially in the case of the students suggested by Astoria, the three being naturally shy and quiet.
Even with so few days remaining, Harry was able to evolve a lot with his new friendships. He was rewarded by the close attention he paid to them, and by what he could do for his new friends. It was easy to see that Neville was fighting against a wand that wouldn't obey him. A conversation with Professor McGonagall had been enough for her to get in touch with the boy's grandmother and tear out the promise that the boy would have his own wand for the next school year. Another conversation, this time with Professor Flitwick, made the abuses against the sweet and peaceful Luna stop at once. Finally, a harsh and rough conversation with Zacharias Smith, accompanied by some threats, convinced the pushy and annoying boy that Susan wanted nothing to do with him and that any further advances would be grounds for retaliation led to Susan being relieved of her school time woes. Harry was very happy when Astoria praised him for having perceived the problems all by himself and settled them all on his own initiative.
The third and final task Astoria had asked Harry to perform was relative to the elective courses offered at Hogwarts. It didn't take long for the boy to realize the tremendous mistake he had made in selecting his electives. Yes, Arithmancy and Runes were difficult, but they were also extremely useful and important. A serious conversation with the two teachers, a strong determination to do better, and a commitment that he would study the subject of the third year during his summer vacation assured him the opportunity to change that sad picture, provided he showed good marks in the exams he will be taking at the beginning of the next school year.
-o0o-
Astoria and Harry's encounters occurred on alternate days, through a fairly secure scheme worked out by them, by making use of two special resources of Harry's: his invisibility cloak and the Marauders' map. Astoria had the task of arranging a suitable place for the meeting, remote and little used. Harry then simply hid under the cloak and looked for her with the help of the map.
It was at the last of these meetings, on the eve of leaving for a vacation, that Astoria told the boy her new plan.
"Though I did my best, Potter, Pettigrew's trial will not take place until next week. He was delivered directly to Madame Bones, Susan's aunt who runs the Magical Law Enforcement Department, with very direct instructions. She will do the right thing, but this is a situation that requires a delicate hand. You cannot imagine the repercussions that the failure of justice towards Mr Black will entail. Important careers are at stake..."
"I understand, and I thank you deeply for your help," he answered truthfully. "Do you think something could still go wrong?"
"Only if one or more of those with much to lose discover Pettigrew's existence before the trial. Madame Bones is doing her best to avoid it, and I trust her. There is no one with more integrity than her throughout the Ministry."
"Is that why you advised me to make friends with Susan?"
"That was one of the factors, though not the only one," the girl replied with a wry smile. "Surely, we can agree that Susan is more than attractive enough to be worth it all by herself."
After stammering, choking and coughing, Harry finally answered with a simple "Tori!"
"Oh, taking liberties with my name already, Mr Potter? How bold of you."
"Uh, no, sorry. But please don't talk like this ... It embarrasses me."
"I am aware, and I will fix this weakness, Potter. It is one of my next projects for you."
Harry glanced worriedly at Astoria, but decided to change the subject as soon as possible to avoid further embarrassment.
"I see I'll have to spend some time with the Dursleys..."
"Absolutely not!" The girl replied vehemently. "My partner returning to that hellhole is something I will not allow to occur! Besides, I have no doubt it would undue nearly all the progress I have made with you in our time together."
"Maybe I could stay in the Leaky Cauldron, like last summer..."
"No, Potter. Can you not see that it would be the first place they would look for you? You will spend these coming weeks at my residence."
"But ... your parents ..."
"They will be traveling across the continent while my sister and I are left alone with our homework until they come back and decide something boring and useless for us to do the rest of the summer!"
"Still, how are you going to convince your sister not to dob on us?"
"Blackmail of course. What did you expect?" she replied and Harry once again was startled by the direct and unconventional way the girl faced all her problems.
"Do not worry, Potter. My sister has already agreed to everything, and you will reap some of the benefits of our deal. You will travel normally on the Express, but when we stop on platform 9 and ¾ you will come to the opposite column to the exit under your special cloak and we will activate the portkey from there. Whoever looks at us will see only two sisters going home alone."
"My uncle will hate waiting for me and coming home late and having no one to vent his anger on... Good!"
-o0o-
To the displeasure of Ron and Hermione, Harry made sure his new friends shared the train compartment with the trio. Susan also brought her friends Hannah and Megan with her, to Harry and Neville's delight, and to Ron's bitterness. Said sour grape folded his arms and stared out the window for most of the train ride to London.
Hermione also didn't feel much better, especially when Harry made an effort to better understand little Luna's worldview. Harry made a question-and-answer game with the blonde while making a huge effort to ignore Hermione's frequent and scathing remarks, which rebutted Luna's every sentence with expressions like 'Nonsense', 'No proof', 'Madness' and the like.
The situation changed suddenly when Harry had an idea and asked Luna to describe how she saw him in detail. As the girl finished describing what Harry was beginning to think was his magical aura, he concentrated as if he were about to cast his Patronus, but without a wand or enunciating the spell, and asked if anything had changed.
"Oh yeah! Gorgeous, gorgeous! You're much brighter now, Harry, and such a handsome silvery tone! And your right hand, it seems to have grown huge, and it's shining like one of those lights that Muggles use to illuminate the streets! It is how teachers look when they are about to cast a really powerful spell."
"What about the nargles? Are they still around?"
"Not near you, Harry. They haven't come any closer to you for days. Since the last full moon, I think..."
"Great! You're going to help me keep away from them, aren't you?"
"Sure, Harry. But I don't think you're going to have any more trouble with them, do you?"
Harry was amazed! Luna had given him a smile that had something of a mischief that he could not match with the almost always angelic expression of the girl. Fortunately, Susan and Megan, convinced now that Luna was able to see auras and interested in knowing about the appearance of theirs, became the new centre of attention and left the boy alone with his thoughts.
Harry took the opportunity to see each of his companions. Ron seemed to be even more discomforted than before, as if the possibility that there was some truth behind Luna's assertions was a personal attack against him. The only time the redhead had opened his mouth during the whole trip was to propose a game of chess, which no one accepted.
Hermione was thoughtful, apparently making a serious effort to try to understand Luna's claims more thoroughly with this new evidence. Yes, the girl was a little bossy and too assertive in her statements, but she had, as Hagrid said, 'her heart in the right place' and was constantly striving to do the best she could. It would only be needed to smooth some more rough edges of her personality and she would be a great person to have as a friend.
Harry waited anxiously to see how Neville would behave with a new wand. The boy was quite quiet, but he seemed very attentive to everything going on around him and, if his performance with the new wand was significantly better, he could become a major figure in the wizarding world when an adult. The boy was also very considerate and solicitous, and rarely spoke ill of anyone, showing qualities that, with a little more self-esteem, would make him an excellent friend.
Susan was gradually losing her baby fat and becoming fascinating. Along with Lavender and Daphne, she was one of the most attention-grabbing girls in his year, due to the swift and bulging development of their breasts. 'Oops, another subject, another subject,' thought Harry, trying not to blush. He then turned his thoughts to the girl's personality, and noted the similarities between her and Luna. Both were very gentle and soft, almost angelic. They spoke in a soft, controlled way that was almost a whisper. The two were equally calm and with a joy to live, and to do what was possible for their friends that Harry greatly esteemed. Luna still stood out for her unique world view, and her habit to say what she thought in a totally frank and delightful naiveté.
Harry didn't know much about the other two girls. Hannah seemed a bit too outgoing for his liking, but she laughed easily and was usually in a good mood, which made her easily tolerable. Megan was harder to examine. Like Neville, she was very quiet but also very observant. She revealed very little of herself, but she seemed like pleasant company.
Awakened from his daydreams by the slowing of the train, Harry let the others say goodbye and leave one by one, promising to get in touch, and happy to have expanded his group of friends. Finally alone, he put on his invisibility cloak and set out for Astoria.
It was easy to find the two sisters, and soon Harry held Astoria by the waist with one hand, so that she knew of his arrival, while he placed the other on the ribbon that would serve as portkey. Immediately after his arrival Astoria, smiling, touched the ribbon with her wand and clearly said "Home", activating the portkey.