TRUTH IS IN THE BLOOD
CHAPTER 3: MAY dAY
Italics: Flashback
Thanks to my wonderful beta, juliedecarson! Any mistakes are my fault as I added & revised more after she edited it.
"So, Neville," Harry asked, "Did you ever send Voldemort that blooming poison plant?"
"No," Neville responded with a grin, "It's not deadly enough yet."
It was now almost halfway through May and Voldemort still hadn't attacked. What was worse was that whatever he was planning he was keeping to himself. The headmaster had informed Harry that, according to Snape, he still wasn't telling his death eaters what he was up to. All the order knew about were the potions that Voldemort commanded Snape brew for him, which weren't much help, since most of them were strengthening, healing, or some form of blood potion.
"Ah, doesn't matter how deadly it is, it has to be 'at the hand of the other', remember?" Harry said, shaking his head. "I still think you should send it to him anyway, especially signed 'Love, your Secret Admirer'. What girl wouldn't like that?"
"Ah, Harry," Ron said cautiously, "Voldemort's a guy."
"I know, Ron," Harry said, "I know."
"Then why-"
"It was a joke. I thought we could use something to lighten this place up."
"Wouldn't a lumos work better for light?" Ron asked puzzled.
"I meant the atmosphere," Harry explained. "Lighten up is a muggle expression meaning, well, I guess, perhaps relax, unwind, or loosen up, is the best way I can describe it."
"Well, why didn't you just say that," Ron grumbled. "Why do you think we need to light up?"
"Lighten up, Ron," Hermione said to correct Ron, as Harry started to laugh.
"What? I am relaxed," He said. Turning to Neville he said, "I just want to know why Harry thinks we need to relax. Don't you think I'm relaxed?" Ron grew even more confused when Neville joined Harry in laughter and Hermione shook her head.
"We've been in here for hours studying," Harry said, answering the question Ron had meant to ask. "Not one of us has smiled or laughed or talked about anything other than our studies. Between that and waiting for Voldemort to attack, I'm going crazy. I wish we could just ask him when he was going to attack. It would make my life so much easier."
"But not as much fun," Ginny teased, as she realized that Harry was right, they had been pretty morose these last few hours. During the last few hours, if she wasn't concentrating on her studies, she was looking around the room at her friends, hoping that they would all make it out of the next confrontation alive.
"That's okay," Harry said sadly, "I'm used to not having fun."
After hearing Harry's words and tone, Hermione slammed her book shut and said, "Study break."
Ron looked at her in shock. Hermione never voluntarily called for a study break. Usually he had to beg for a study break, or at least pretend to be sick before she would agree to one.
"I'm going to the kitchen to get us some snacks. Anyone want to come along?" She asked.
"Why don't you just call for a house-elf?"
"Ronald! I will not create more work for them by having them deliver food to me when I am perfectly capable of walking and getting it myself." Hermione scolded before storming out the door.
"I still don't see the difference. They still prepare the food and with the blinking they do, it only takes a second for them to appear or disappear."
"2.3 seconds, actually," Luna stated, without looking up from her book.
"Face it, Ron; no matter how much Hermione has relaxed this year, she is still the same Hermione we know and love."
Harry smiled as he thought about the changes in the 'trio' since it doubled.
Ginny's eyes widened as she caught the smile Harry gave after using the word love. The first time she met the 'trio' at the train station, she wondered which one of the two boys would end up dating Hermione. Of course, at the time, she was hoping it would be Ron, so that she could marry, er, date Harry.
"What?" Harry asked, catching Ginny's gaze.
"Nothing, just thinking about the word you used," Ginny replied with a smile.
"Well, she has relaxed a lot this year. I mean-"
"I don't think that was the word she meant," Neville interjected.
"What word then?"
"Love," Luna stated.
Harry looked at Luna, hoping this was just another moment of Luna's randomness. Seeing the look on Ginny's face, he realized it wasn't. "What about it? I tell you guys I love you all the time."
"No, you don't. At least you don't tell me," Ginny moaned as she placed her face in her hands and wiped pretend tears from her eyes.
"Well, if you didn't keep teasing me, maybe I would." Harry responded, recognizing Ginny in actress mode.
"But Harry," Neville said, coming to Ginny's defense, "I thought you wanted us to lighten the atmosphere here?"
"Well, lighten it by picking on someone else," Harry retorted. "Pick on Ron for a little while."
"What?" Ron said. "No way. She gets to pick on me all summer; I deserve a break during the school year."
"Hope you guys are hungry," Hermione said as she entered the room, preventing anyone from responding to Ron's remark.
"What's in there?" Ron asked, already drooling at the thought of the food in the picnic basket she carried.
"Just about everything but the kitchen sink," Hermione replied as she sat down and opened the basket.
"Well, I would hope not. Why would we want a kitchen sink?" Ron asked puzzled. "Oh, wait, let me guess," he stated, seeing the look that passed between his best friends, "muggle expression?"
Hermione nodded as she started emptying the basket. "Biscuits, pumpkin juice, fruit, and sandwiches. That should be enough to reenergize us."
Ron nodded as he reached for a biscuit and some pumpkin juice, an action that was soon imitated by the other five.
"So Harry, if you think Voldemort is a girl, the next time you duel are you going to transfigure his robes into a dress?"
Ron's pumpkin juice burst from his mouth as he laughed at Neville's remark.
"Ron!" Hermione and Ginny yelled as they cleaned the mess up with a swish of their wands.
"Not my fault," Ron defended, "Neville should know better than to talk about Voldemort in a dress while I'm eating."
"What's your excuse at home?" Ginny chortled.
Ron just ignored her as he looked to see if Harry had answered Neville's question. When no answer was given, Ron stated, "Maybe that's what he's doing now, shopping for a nice spring dress. Now that he has the spring cleaning out of the way, I mean."
Luna just nodded in agreement when Ron looked at her, as the others gave a brief chuckle.
"Perhaps, or he could be painting his nails," Ginny said.
"Not until he picks out his dress and shoes," Hermione replied. "After living with Lavender and Parvati for five years, I've learned that one has to coordinate an outfit."
"So, if I do transfigure his robes into a dress, I need to be sure to change his shoes as well?" Harry asked, getting into the spirit of things.
"Of course," Hermione answered.
"And his nails," Ginny added, "You might want to add some jewelry as well. Rings, necklaces, bracelets, anything really, as long as it's nice and shiny."
"Don't forget the hair," Hermione added, remembering the trouble she went to for the Yule Ball her fourth year. "If the dress is fancy, the hair must be done to reflect this. You can't have a formal dress and everyday hair."
"True, true," Ginny agreed. "Otherwise he would be so embarrassed, and we wouldn't want that."
"No, of course, not," Neville said, laughing, as he pictured Voldemort with a make-over completed by Harry.
"As if being in a dress wasn't embarrassing enough," Ron commented.
"Sounds, like too much work, maybe I should just kill him."
The six became silent as the reality of the situation was once again brought to their attention. Harry could've kicked himself. He hadn't meant to bring everyone down again.
"So, Neville," Harry asked a few moments later, breaking the silence that had been in place since his regrettable remark. "Who will you be sending notes to signed 'Your Secret Admirer'?"
Neville blushed and replied, "No one," quietly mumbling a 'now' under his breath. If anyone did receive an anonymous note or plant after this conversation, the other five would know it would be from him.
The conversation continued in a lighter tone, as they stayed away from the topic of Voldemort and the prophecy.
"I gotta go," Harry said an hour later as he stood up and packed his books in his bag.
"Where?" Ron asked, ignoring Ginny's and Hermione's cries 'Ronald' for talking with his mouth full of food.
"Dumbledore's office. Time for my weekly check up," Harry gave a quick wave goodbye to his friends as he headed out the door and towards the headmaster's office.
After Harry no longer needed occlumency lessons from Professor Dumbledore, the two got together every week for tea. During this time, the headmaster would test Harry's occlumency skills, as well as talk about anything that might have come up regarding Voldemort, the Order, or Harry's life.
Harry remembered the first time they met for tea. Harry was anxious, half afraid that Dumbledore would put some type of potion in the tea to get Harry to talk. Even though the two had spent months in each other's minds learning occlumency, Harry still wasn't very open about what was going on his life.
FLASHBACK
"Sir?" Harry asked tentatively after entering the headmaster's office.
"Come in my dear boy, come in. Please, call me Albus."
"I don't think so," Harry replied honestly, "It just seems too weird."
"Perhaps you would feel better calling me Grandfather?" The headmaster responded with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Er, no, sir. Definitely not," Harry said shaking his head against that idea.
"Perhaps with time, until then can I offer you a cup of tea?"
"Yes, please." Harry said, reaching out to take the offered cup. He then looked into the cup, trying to see if he could notice anything unusual in the brew. He didn't notice anything, but then again, his potion skills weren't the best. Maybe he shouldn't drink it, just in case, he thought, at least not until after he asks the questions that are on his mind.
Putting his cup down, without taking a sip, he turned to headmaster and asked, "Do we know what Voldemort is up to?"
"No," the headmaster answered, before asking a question of his own, "Why aren't you drinking your tea? I can get you juice if you prefer."
"Tea is fine," Harry answered, trying to avoid the question about why he wasn't drinking it. "I thought you weren't going to hide anything from me this year?"
"I'm not. We honestly do not know what Voldemort is planning. Except for lab work, he hasn't required Professor Snape's presence."
"Oh," Harry said softly, "Sorry, sir."
"That's fine, my boy. It's understandable after the events of last year. I do hope that one day you will trust me again," he responded. With a pointed look at the cup of tea in Harry's hand, he continued, "There isn't anything in there but tea."
Harry turned red as he realized the headmaster knew what he was thinking. "Sir? Was I that obvious or did you find that out through legilimency?"
"As I said before, your emotions are one of your greatest assets and strengths. The fact that you display them quite clearly, is not."
"Oh," Harry repeated, before taking a sip of tea. While he might still have some trouble in completely trusting the headmaster, he also knew that the headmaster never lied to him.
"What about the order, sir?"
"Until we know what Voldemort is doing, there is not much we can do."
Harry nodded as he understood the problem. It was hard to defend and protect people when you don't know who you need to defend and protect, much less, what you need to protect them from.
"What about you, young Harry? Anything in your life you wish to share?"
"Not really," Harry responded, taking another sip of tea.
"The first Hogsmeade weekend is approaching," The headmaster asked, his eyes merrily twinkling. "Is there a young lady you wish to accompany around town that day?"
Harry blushed in embarrassment. If he thought calling the headmaster by his first name was uncomfortable, it was nothing, compared to discussing his love life.
END FLASHBACK
"Hermione, calm down. It's just year-end exams, not the NEWTS."
"Harry! What do you mean 'just year-end exams'? If we want to continue with our current classes, we need to pass these exams."
"Hermione, do you really think any of us are going to fail? We might not get the highest marks available, but we will pass, even if we don't open a book between now and the end of term." When Hermione went to comment, Harry held up a hand to stop her and continued, "I'm not saying that we don't need to study, because I know that we do. I also know that we need to help Ginny and Luna prepare for their OWLS, but I am not going to drive myself crazy obsessing about it. I have too many other things on my mind that are more important than exams."
"Harry, this is your future we're talking about, what could be more important than that?" Hermione chastised.
"Hermione, it's not often I get to say this to you, so don't take it the wrong way, but think." Harry paused, making sure he had Hermione's complete attention before he continued. "I already know my future. Remember, 'the one with the power…" Harry's voice trailed off as he reminded her of the prophecy he learned last year.
"Oh."
"Yes, oh. The school year is coming to a close and I feel like an idiot, just sitting here waiting for him to attack. And you know that he's going to attack. You're the one that said that he was a creature of habit. Everyone knows that his greatest habit is trying to kill me.
"That's why I'm not worrying about exams; I might not have a future to worry about."
"Harry, you will have a future. We will make sure of it, so don't try to push us away like you did last year after Sirius died. It didn't work then and it won't work now."
"I know," Harry said, smiling.
Last summer was the most difficult one of his life. He spent the first two weeks at the Dursley's with little contact with the wizarding world. The time alone just seemed to make him more depressed and withdrawn as he thought about how the people closest to him ended up dead or in danger. It wasn't long before he started to believe that everyone was better off without him. He wasn't suicidal; Harry knew that the future of the wizarding world depended on him, but he had decided that he needed to save his friends. The best way to do that, he had believed, was for him to stop being their friend.
Harry knew it wasn't going to be easy, but if he wanted to keep them from danger, he knew it had to be done. His opportunity to end the friendship came in the middle of July when Dumbledore moved him to a lake cottage that he 'found'. He was there alone with the headmaster for only a few days before Hermione and the Weasley family joined him.
Harry had tried everything he could think of to push his friends away. He tried to remember how angry he was the summer before and during the school year, when nobody was telling him anything, and proceeded to take that attitude out on his friends. He also dwelled on Sirius's death, hoping that his depression would keep his friends away. He could've sworn that Hermione had read his mind and knew what he was doing. The harder he tried to push his friends away, the harder Hermione pushed back.
Hermione noticed that she and Ron weren't getting the results she desired. After a few weeks, Harry wasn't any worse, but he wasn't any better either. She had decided that she needed reinforcements. That was when she pleaded with Dumbledore to allow Neville and Luna to visit. Between the five of them, they were able to accomplish what Ron and Hermione alone couldn't. Hermione's biggest fear was that once Luna and Neville left, Harry would once again slip back into the depression. Luckily, her fears were unfounded. Many owls flew between the three locations for the rest of the summer when Hermione wasn't able to talk the headmaster into allowing another visit.
"Hey, Ron, Ginny, come here a moment," Hermione called as they entered the common room. "Do you guys know where Neville and Luna are?"
"The library," Ginny responded. "I'm just here to pick up my books and then I'm meeting them there. Why?"
"Because we need to talk. Come on," Hermione said, as she stood up, dragged Harry from his chair and headed towards the door.
Soon all six were seated at a table in the back corner of the library, surrounded by privacy charms..
"Do we really have something we need to talk about?" Ron asked, "Or is this just a trick to get me in the library?"
Hermione glared at him, "We need to talk about Harry."
"Hermione," Harry groaned.
"We can't say much, Hermione; he is sitting right next to us." Neville joked. Harry smiled, in the last year, Neville had changed so much. The DA and the night at the ministry helped Neville to realize that despite what his family thought, he wasn't 'as good as a squib', but in fact was a powerful wizard. He was still quiet when in the company of others, especially Snape or the Slytherins, but when it was only them or their other roommates, he wasn't shy or quiet. Harry had discovered early in the year that Neville had some strong convictions and opinions and he wasn't opposed to telling his friends what he thought. He was more mature than most of the other boys his age, Harry attributed this to the fact that like himself, Neville has dealt with things at a young age that most people never see.
Neville also had a terrific sense of humor. He enjoyed the easy camaraderie between the six, and being an only child, delighted in teasing them about their lives, often playing the role of big brother.
The best thing, Harry soon realized, was that he had an uncanny sense of knowing what was needed. He knew if someone needed to talk seriously or if they needed to be cajoled out of their bad mood.
Neville's friendship had helped Harry tremendously this last year. His quiet nature was soothing, especially compared to Ron's fiery nature, and he noticed much more than people gave him credit for. Neville attributed this to the fact that most people tended to ignore him and often forgot when he was in the room.
"I meant that since the end of the year is fast approaching, so is Voldemort's annual attack. We need to go one step further in the plans we made in case an attack happens on Hogwarts. We need to make sure that Harry is protected at all times. This means that one of us or a professor that we trust should always be with him."
"Hermione, having someone with me at all times is going to drive me crazy." Harry whined.
Ginny sniffed, her eyes filling with tears as she said, "And I thought you liked us and wanted us around."
"Ginny! That's not what I meant. Of course I like you guys, hell, you know that I love you guys and don't know what I would do without you. It's just, well, it gets to be too much. I mean, it was bad enough knowing that someone was outside my window everyday last year when I was at the Dursley's, but not to have a single momen-"
"Harry," Ron interrupted, trying to hold in his laughter. "She's teasing you. I'm sure she knows what you meant."
Ginny loved to tease her friends as well. Of course, with Fred and George as brothers what else could she do? Neither Ginny nor Neville teased to be mean/cruel. It was done either to change the subject, make the situation lighter, bring up a serious topic, or just to be fun.
Harry's face turned red. "Oh," he said. Normally he could tell when Ginny was teasing him, but today he was so focused on what Hermione was saying that he couldn't believe that he fell for Ginny's acting.
"Harry, I know that it will be difficult for you. But the past five years have taught us that Hogwarts isn't as safe as everyone thinks it is. If Voldemort attacks, he's going to come after you. And he probably won't be alone, so why should you be? If one of us is there, we can help distract Voldemort enough for you to get away."
"Yeah, but then you'll be in danger."
"Harry we're already in danger. Besides, you are the one that will ultimately defeat him. It is imperative that you live to fight another day."
"Well, it's imperative to me that none of you die trying to help me. It won't be much of a life if Voldemort is gone and all of you are dead."
"Harry," Ron said, in a rare moment of seriousness, "We will do what we have to do. Just like you will. Trust me when I say that we don't want to die. We will do whatever we can to survive, but this is war and people will die. I would rather die saving you, at least then I know that there was a reason for my life and death. You are my best friend. There isn't anything that I wouldn't do for you. I will gladly risk my life to save yours, and not just because you're the boy-who-lived."
"Ron…" Harry began, not sure how to continue.
"Oh, just hug him and let's get on with it." Ginny interjected with a laugh, smiling as her two 'brothers' followed her advice. "Now, what where you saying, Hermione?"
"I've taken the liberty of creating a schedule for everyone, including study times."
"Been thinking about this much?" Ron asked, half jokingly.
"Naturally I think about my friends safety," Hermione replied before continuing. "Luckily we spend most of our time together anyways, so it won't be as noticeable to the other students what we are doing."
Hermione handed everyone a schedule and explained what the different colors meant. "The only thing not accounted for is detentions. If you get a detention for one of the times you are suppose to be with Harry, try to find someone to switch. Of course, most of us will still have study sessions during the evening, so Harry can always join us in the library or common room. But someone should walk with him to and from the library. Likewise, if Harry has a detention-"
"Don't tell me that one of us has to get a detention to be with him." Ron joked.
"I don't think that will be necessary. However, someone should walk him to his detention and meet him afterwards."
"Hermione, even as a prefect, if you are out after curfew without permission you might get a detention. Think about how that will mess up you schedule."
Hermione thought about what Harry said. "Hmm, that would create a lot more work. Okay, I'll see if on the nights Harry has detention-"
"What do you mean nights? I don't have detention that often!"
"That's only because Snape ignores you in potions." Neville and Ron said simultaneously.
Harry smirked as he remembered his first potion class of the year…
FLASHBACK
"Come on, get in," Snape snarled, as he opened the door to the potion classroom. "Stop dawdling. After five years, you should know how to enter a classroom. Sit down," Snape directed the students who made it into his NEWT potions class. "This is NEWT potions, most of you have made it in here on your own, proving that you are not as big a dunderhead as your classmates who are not here."
Harry looked around at the other students in the room, including him; there were thirteen students. As predicted, all of the Slytherins, except for Crabbe and Goyle made it into Snape's NEWT class. Harry wondered if all of them actually got an 'O' on their OWL or if Snape just admitted them into his class.
Snape smirked and strolled around the room, coming to a stop in front of Harry. "Mr. Potter, you are here at the request of the headmaster and for that reason only. As such, you will be allowed to sit in on my classes. You will complete all assignments on time, meeting my standards. You will be prepared for each and every class. Since you are not an official member of this class, you will complete all classwork on your own, without a partner. You will not interrupt my class or distract my students. Your work will be graded on a pass/fail basis. If you pass, you may return for the next class. If you fail more than two potions or at anytime fail to live up to the guidelines I set, you will be dismissed, never to return to my dungeons. I, in turn, will ignore you as if you were not here, which would be true, if it was my decision. Understand?"
"Yes, sir," Harry said quietly and clearly.
"Very well, then. Move to the back of the room. Since you didn't earn the right to be here, you will sit there where there is no danger of anyone 'helping' you." Harry gave Hermione a half smile as he picked up his books and moved to the desk in front of the door.
Snape went on to explain the rules to the rest of the class. He made it clear that everyone was to act as if Harry wasn't in the class.
END FLASHBACK
Snape was true to his word. He didn't terrorize Harry during class, in fact, he didn't even acknowledge Harry's existence. As long as Harry was in class on time, worked hard, was prepared and didn't disrupt the class, Snape pretended he wasn't there. Snape also made it clear to the other students that they were to follow his lead and act as if Harry wasn't there.
Without Snape's derogatory or distracting comments, Harry discovered that he wasn't too bad at potions. He wasn't as good as Hermione, and if he retook his OWLS, he might not get an 'O', but he wasn't as hopeless as Snape had made him out to be the last five years.
To Harry, having Snape ignore him was like a dream come true, now if only he could get the potion master to do it all the time, and not just during sixth year NEWT potions.
When Ron and Neville heard about Harry's first potion class, they wondered why Snape couldn't have set out to ignore all of them from the start.
"Maybe we should ask Professor Dumbledore if he would give one of us permission to be out to walk Harry back to the common room if Harry has detention. During detention you should be fine, as long as the professor stays to supervise your detention." Hermione continued, ignoring Neville's and Ron's comments.
"Hermione, why don't I just leave the map with someone? They can watch it to see if someone is around that shouldn't be."
"That might work. Although I still think we should ask the headmaster about permission to escort you."
"Well, just in case he doesn't give it, this way you have a backup plan."
"Like he'll deny you anything," Ron commented with a grin.
Harry made a face, but couldn't deny the truth of Ron's words. After sharing the prophecy with him last year after Sirius died, the headmaster had done everything he could think of to make up for the 'bad' decisions he made regarding Harry's life. Harry still had to stay at the Dursley's during holidays, but he stayed for the minimum amount of time needed to renew the wards. He also had the ban on Quidditch that Umbridge imposed on Harry repealed. Plus, whenever the two of them weren't around other students, Dumbledore treated him like the grandchild he wanted him to be. He even encouraged Harry to call him Albus or Grandfather when the two was alone. Harry didn't feel comfortable calling him either one. In fact, Harry suspected that the headmaster only included 'Grandfather' as a way to make sure Harry called him by his first name. The whole situation was very strange to Harry. Other than Mrs. Weasley, no one had really shown him any parental affection, and at first he wasn't sure how to act.
It took him a while before he felt comfortable enough to confide in the headmaster. Even now, there were many things about last summer and the current school year that Harry didn't share. The only adult he ever willingly told things to was Sirius, and some people would debate if he actually qualified as an adult, since Ron often showed more maturity than the animagus had possessed.
END CHAPTER 3: MAY dAY
Next Chapter: Yes, there is another chapter & it is just about ready to post.
Chapter 4: Hogsmeades & revelation of Luna's gift;The sixtalk aboutdates & dating; Harry also talks with AD & we find out more about how the six interact...
A/N:
Thank you for all of your reviews! I totally appreciated them (I also noticed that my updates seem to coincide with me receiving 20 new reviews-curious, very curious). If I mention that my birthday is tomorrow, will that get you to review? After all, I was nice enough not to split this into 2 chapters, but give you one nice long chapter…
So, who would Neville send a note/non-poisonous plant to if not Voldemort?
Yes, this is severitus/sevitus, you got a 'glimpse' of Snape in this chapter through a flashback…more of him in future chapters (Obviously)
Relationships: I'm not crazy over HP/GW; I do like HP/LL, but find that is more difficult to write (originally was going for that relationship, but the characters seem to be heading in a different direction).
As for Still Alive, Due to overwhelming response, I am going to see what I can do about a sequel, however, it won't be till after HBP is released.
6/24/05
