Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Harry Potter. If I did I would be a far richer man. And I'd be a woman. I also don't own Star Trek or Stephen King.

Reviews are appreciated but certainly not required.

AN: I do apologize for skipping the personal exploration items, but it seemed to bog things down when I tried to write it. So instead we have Version 2!

Staying in a single character's viewpoint is definitely more of a challenge than I had originally expected so I've taken some roundabout methods to show bigger scenes that happen away from Dora. Let me know how it turned out! This experience is definitely helping my writing I think which is always a good thing.

Chapter 7: Snape's Shame

School had been in progress for nearly a week and Dora was thoroughly enjoying it. It had taken all of one hour for word to spread about her new 'coupled' status. Or more accurately, Harry's new status. Lavender had of course been the first to notice that he and Dora were holding hands when proceeding to the carriages from the Express and Harry hadn't denied it when she'd bluntly asked him if they were dating. Dora had merely winked at her as the girl happily squealed and ran off to her own carriage.

By the time the plates had filled for dinner they'd been asked no less than ten times by people in three different Houses if they were 'really dating or just fake dating or having fun or…' Luna had – somewhat surprisingly – held off on commenting for nearly the entire meal. Once dessert was served though she'd made her move.

"I've very glad to hear that you have both upgraded your courtship to the next plateau however I am not certain I truly believe it. I request proof if you don't mind."

Coming from almost anyone else that would've been a bit annoying and possibly insulting. Coming from Luna Lovegood though…well Dora had found herself laughing uncontrollably at the delightfully adorable glint in Luna's eyes and the coy smile she'd flashed to both Harry and Dora. Harry apparently felt the same as he ended up leaning over and lightly kissing the metamorph's lips right there at the table. The chorus of groans from the men, sighs from half the women and frustrated grunts from the other half had been music to her ears. Luna's wide grin afterward made clear just how entertained the little blonde was about the situation she'd engineered.

Now a week later, the furor had yet to die down at all. Her boyfriend – her boyfriend – was still the talk of Hogwarts. And not in a bad way for once! Even knowing that every day brought her one step closer to the potential massacre at the Department of Mysteries hadn't been enough to dampen her spirits. She had a boyfriend. A boyfriend who didn't try to mould her into his personal vision of perfection. A boyfriend who was sweet and adorable. A boyfriend who cared about her not her powers.

A boyfriend you keep lying to. Dora scowled briefly as she shifted on the couch in the Common Room. A quick shake of her head had those traitorous thoughts fleeing and a smile back on her face. She'd tell him after the Department of Mysteries fiasco had come and gone. Well, after she'd prevented the fiasco. Keeping her best friend alive was more important than baring her soul. And continuing to get kisses every morning was certainly a nice perk.

Rule Number 51: Try not to lie to yourself.

Dora rolled her eyes at Mad-Eye's voice echoing through her thoughts. He hadn't steered her wrong in a long time, but sometimes his tutoring could be most annoying.

She idly conjured a small felt ball to play with and as she tossed it into the air and again she found herself reflecting on Luna's parting words from before the hols. Dora really was reacting like a typical love-struck teenager. The more she considered her actions in general over the past few weeks and months she could see clear signs of the radical extremes she'd been prone to while going through puberty the first time around. Dora tossed the ball again and heaved a heavy mental sigh. She really was hormonal wasn't she? Perfect. It seemed she'd made her new morph a little bit too good. She was almost curious as to what her base form even was at this point. Would it be closer to the sixteen year old she masqueraded as or more like Tonks? Actually answering that question would probably lead to tears no matter which way I lean now. Something to worry about over the summer in that case I guess.

The portrait hole opened behind her and Dora heard Hermione call out a soft welcome to Harry. The way that the brunette's voice trailed off into concern had Dora sitting up straight and quickly vanishing her ball. She turned to look Harry over as he sat down with a heavy sigh next to her and stared at his lap. "Harry? What's wrong? Did the Toad get to you?" Dora asked.

Hermione left her seat at the desk to come over and claim the armchair with a frown. "I doubt it's that because then he would be angry instead of frustrated and guilty. Talk to us, Harry."

Harry grunted in agreement and lifted his head enough to look at Hermione. He gave a small shake of his head and leaned back. "You seriously know me far too well, Hermione. Dora, you know I know I care about you right?"

"Yeeeeaaaah…" Dora said trying to dampen the cold knot that coiled around her chest. No conversation that started with those words had ever ended well.

"And you know I stayed a bit late to finish cleaning up the room when the DA left earlier?"

Dora frowned and nodded. He'd only been a few minutes behind them. She'd barely even gotten time to muse on the current state of her body's annoying teenage urges. "Did the Room get annoyed and kick you out?"

Harry snorted and the small smile the comment brought to his face proved her instincts right. Dora may not know Harry as well as Hermione just yet, but she was definitely getting better at figuring out how to break him out of his funks. "No. If the Room of Requirement ever gets annoyed enough with us to physically kick us out I think we have far bigger concerns. On multiple fronts."

"Then what happened?" Hermione asked.

Harry shrugged and turned back to staring at his hands. At least this time it was less 'guilty' and more 'annoyed'. "Cho stayed after too," he said. "I didn't think much of it until she was helping me put away the mats and she kept brushing against my shoulder. I may be dense, but I'm not stupid. I called her out on it and she turned to me and bluntly stated that she knew I was just with you, Dora, because of your abilities. Then she kept going and said that if I was looking for a real partner I should drop the fantasy girl and stick to more stable, mature options." His fists had clenched and he was scowling deeply now. Dora felt her own fists start to curl and she knew her hair had switched to a deep red. "It gets worse," Harry said.

Hermione grimaced. "How could she possibly dig her hole any deeper than that?"

"I asked her what we had remotely in common beyond enjoying Quidditch." Harry paused and his scowl deepened even further. "She got this extremely smug look, stood up straighter and proudly declared, 'Cedric.' I was too stunned that she went there to even really react. I honestly think she thought it was a good idea to bring that up! Like I'd want to get with the girlfriend of a guy I got killed!"

"Harry – " Hermione started before Harry waved her to silence.

"I know, I know," he said irritably, "'it's not my fault'. This one really is, Hermione. Wormtail may have fired the spell and Crouch and Voldemort may have set the trap, but I was the noble fool who convinced him to grab the Cup instead of just taking it like he told me to." Harry let out a long breath. "I'm not trying to be depressing or to dwell, I'm just stating facts. Cedric died because we were both idiots and because I'm incapable of accepting praise. Now, just how Cho thinks that he ties us together is so far outside my realm of understanding that she might as well be speaking Swahili."

Dora silently counted to ten before she let herself speak and even then she made sure that her hair had cooled from fire engine-red to a more regular burgundy-red. "Please tell me you slapped her or jinxed her or something?"

Harry's eyes narrowed down at his lap until they were only slits and he pulled his arms in tighter. The defensive mechanism wasn't lost on either girl. Dora shifted closer and snaked an arm around his waist while Hermione seemed content to shift forward on her cushion to shorten the distance. Harry stiffened as Dora's skin touched his and he refused to look up. "I was a bit too stunned and angry to speak. She…kissed me and I let her." Harry's body was as still and hard as a rock. Dora blinked repeatedly trying to process that statement. Harry barreled on at breakneck speed. "I just froze and I pushed her away once I realized what was happening! I didn't kiss her back I swear! I wouldn't do that! Not unless you wanted me too and even then there's only like one other–I didn't kiss her back! I pushed her hard enough that she hit the wall. I pulled out my wand and hit her with a body-bind and yelled at her that I was with you and that I love you and she was insane if she thought we would make a good couple and then I unfroze her and ran back here. I…I'm sorry Dora!"

"Harry," Dora said softly. She leaned her head over and lengthened her figure enough that she could whisper in his ear without moving her arm from around his waist. "I love you too. And you should stop worrying about me being potentially mad at you and be more worried that I'd seek revenge on Cho." She paused and pulled back just enough to cast a critical gaze over a shaking brunette whose teeth were currently very tightly clenched. "And perhaps we should both be worried about letting a Ruthless Vengeful Hermione free to seek her own revenge."

Hermione's eyes shifted to Dora and she glared hard enough for the metamorph to gulp. "This is not something to joke about! She assaulted him!"

"I don't know if I'd go that far…" Harry muttered. His muscles were slowly starting to loosen up and Dora could feel him start to ease into her. It was definitely a marked improvement and a good sign that with a few more months or years of work they might just be able to break him out of that pessimistic attitude. Sure if he lets me stay around that long.

Ginny plopped down in the remaining chair and crossed her arms. The nonchalance in the redhead's forced posture was at extreme odds with the fire blazing in her eyes. "I'm just glad Harry put the bitch in her place. Muscling in on a man like that when he's clearly not interested is completely out of line."

"Pot meet kettle," Hermione muttered softly enough that it only carried to Dora and Harry, both of whom gave her small knowing smiles. Hermione shook her head and replied louder, "That was not nearly enough. With Umbridge still on the war path I highly doubt we'll be able to do anything that would truly hurt her school standing – anything against Harry would be a positive for the evil woman after all – but I can certainly speak with Professor McGonagall and see her in detention until the end of the year. With Filch. And with Padma, Lavender and Parvati's help I can ensure that she is excluded from the remainder of any and all group activities no matter the House. I may even be able to influence her grades somewhat if I just…"

Harry finally relaxed fully, leaning back to rest against Dora's side as he stretched a hand to briefly clasp Hermione's own. "Hermione, thanks, but I'm good. Just give her detention for a day or two and then let the twins loose on her for whatever they feel to be appropriate. She's not evil. She's just…she's still screwed up by what happened to Cedric and she's not handling it well."

"I don't think that's good enough…" Hermione grumbled glaring at the floor hard enough that Dora checked it for smoke.

"For my part," Dora said, "I will agree to not seek righteous vengeance on the woman trying to assault my boyfriend if you will agree to help Hermione with her Occlumency starting this weekend."

Harry turned his head enough frown at her. "That's out of left field." Hermione nodded furiously in agreement.

"Not really," Dora said shrugging as best she could with her arms still wrapped around Harry. "She's probably gotten as far as she can with books and as you well know now, practicing your shields is a pretty intimate thing. I'll do it if you both want, but, Harry, you're good enough now that you should be able to do the first few Legilimency probes on your own. Neither of you seemed to believe me the other day when I said I'm okay with it so I'm going to use this golden opportunity while I have it. Plus I'd prefer not to be tempted into turning the Asian bitch into a smear on the wall and babysitting my two best friends for an evening is a good distraction."

Harry turned to Hermione and both seemed to carry on a silent conversation for a good ten seconds. Dora found her mood improving as she watched them. Maybe one day she'd be able to talk to him without talking. One day. Finally Hermione sighed and nodded. "Very well, I'll agree to the terms as put forth."

Harry was slower to agree. "You really don't mind me rooting around in Hermione's head? Neither of you?"

"Nope. She was your best friend long before I was. I trust you. The fact that you were this upset when you hadn't even done anything wrong with Cho really just cements that even further, luv." Considering that she was practically stealing him out from under Hermione Dora owed it to the brunette to give her something back and letting Hermione see some memories and letting him share in some of hers was the least Dora could do.

"Could I have some of those lessons with Harry as well?" Ginny asked.

Ginny's innocent tone didn't fool Dora at all and apparently Harry was unfazed as well. "Sorry, Ginny. It's nice that you can talk to me now, but I don't think we really know each other well enough for something like that. Maybe ask one of your older brothers? I'm sure Bill or Charlie would love to help out."

Ginny groaned and collapsed bonelessly back into her chair. "Sooooo not happening. My brothers are never getting into my head!"

All four laughed at that and the remaining tension in the group bled away. Hermione grinned at them all and leaned back still chuckling. "Are you certain that I can't give Cho detention for a month?"

The next morning Dora had woken up early to work out and let off some steam. Her dreams had been plagued by repeated scenarios of Harry and Cho together or of Cho screaming for mercy as Dora tried out several new jinxes on her. There was even one particularly disturbing dream where Cho took lessons from Umbridge on how to seduce Harry before Umbridge turned into Bellatrix who then proceeded to calmly explain the merits of the Cruciatus curse to a rapt class consisting of most of the female population of Hogwarts.

Dreams were frustrating.

Dora finished her morning routine and padded down into the Common Room to wait for the others. She was mildly surprised to find that Ginny was also up and about. The younger girl nodded curtly to her and beckoned her to sit nearby. Dora sighed and moved to the indicated cushion. She'd have to get this over with sooner or later so it was probably better to confront it now rather than let it fester.

"Morning, Ginny."

"Good morning." Ginny paused and ran her gaze up and down Dora's body. After a few stretched out moments, she sat up straighter and folded her hands in her lap before meeting Dora's eyes. "I want you to know that I understand you aren't playing with Harry. However I don't see this lasting. You're not his type. You're strong and confident true. So is he. He needs someone able to stand by his side, but he also needs someone who knows when to back down. When he needs to do things by himself and take matters into his own hands. When he needs to be the hero. I don't think you're ever going to be able to do that. You're too sure of yourself. Harry needs a sidekick, not a superhero."

Dora blinked and gaped. This was not remotely close to the conversation she'd been expecting. "Uh, first, thanks for the compliment. I think. But, Ginny, are you really trying to say that whoever Harry ends up with should stand aside and let him walk out to fight Voldemort and his army all by himself just because he tells them to?"

"I think you're putting words in my mouth," Ginny stated. "Harry needs someone to challenge him, but who can let him win. I can do that. You'll flame out with him before too long. You might make it through the year. I almost hope you do, if only so that we can get him through Umbridge without too many issues. But you'll breakup. And when you do, I'll be right there to help hold him up. I know who he is and how to be what he needs."

Dora pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Ginny, I honestly am not sure how to respond to that. You honestly seem to believe it which is…a bit disturbing. Harry is not some mythical hero from a story book. He's a real person and he can break his back if you pile the weight of the world onto his shoulders."

"I'm not talking about him taking on the entirety of wizarding society and culture, Dora. I'm just saying that you can't let Harry be the hero is he because you have to be standing by his side while he's doing it."

"Ginny," Dora said massaging her temples and praying for patience. "Harry is a 15 year old boy. He is not Merlin, he is not King Arthur, he is not Wizard Jesus or Wizard Pope or Wizard Churchill. He is just a guy just trying to survive his school years and be happy. You can wish he fit your ideal view of a superhero all day long, but if you try to lean on him like that…" Dora trailed off and frowned while she searched for the right words. "If you try to build him up in reality to match your fantasy he's going to collapse and become a shell of himself."

Ginny shook her head and pinched her lips into a thin line while throwing her hands up into the air. "You don't understand. You have no idea who he is. How amazing he can be. He can tear down any obstacle."

"And every time he does it leaves more and more scars," Dora said quietly. "Not every mark is physical, Ginevra."

Ginny went very still for nearly a minute barely even blinking. Finally she shuddered and narrowed her gaze at Dora. "You barely know him! I've been there for years and – "

"And this is the first year you've said more than two sentences while around him." Dora shrugged. "I know I'm new. Believe me, I get that. But you can't say that you know Harry James Potter. You know The Boy Who Lived. What you 'know' is a fantasy, Ginny, and you need to start realizing that before you get yourself or someone you care about hurt. The Boy Who Lived can pull miracles out of his arse while drinking tea and eating crumpets. Harry Potter has to fight and bleed for every inch and even then he needs friends and allies as much as anyone else on this planet."

"You just don't understand," Ginny denied with a strange, almost desperate, tone in her voice.

Dora sighed and shook her head letting it drop to her chest in resignation. There was no way she was going to get through to the girl. Not like this. "Even if what you say were remotely true Ginny it wouldn't matter. You were never going to be first in his heart. If I hadn't come here then…just trust me, you weren't even in the running."

Before Ginny could come up with a response to that a loud thumping sounded from behind them. Both girls turned in time to see the subject of their conversation come down the stairs with Ron following shortly behind him. Dora got up and moved to give him a hug before waving to the others and leading her boyfriend to the portrait hole. As it closed behind them, he grabbed her hand and smiled.

"Thanks for trying to clear things up with her. Do you think she'll get it?" he asked.

Dora's mouth lifted into a small smile. "I should've realized you were listening. That interruption was too perfectly timed. How did you get Ron to stay quiet?"

Harry shrugged. "I didn't have to. He was the one who said we should wait until you both were done. Said it might help him figure out what was going on with his sister if she didn't know he was listening."

"Well, that's a mildly creepy way of putting it, but at least his heart's in the right place. How much did you hear?"

"Enough." Harry trailed off and his gaze turned distant. "I know she was nervous around me before the stuff with the diary, but…now I wonder if that thing left more issues than we had thought. Ginny's smart, she shouldn't be that obsessed with me being a hero like this. I know I saved her, but I saved other people too and none of them ever became convinced I was Joan of Arc or something…"

Dora stared at the floor as they kept walking in silence. She considered everything she'd started to find out about her friends' lives. The basilisk had been set loose by a dark artifact that had essentially possessed Ginny. A dark artifact that had was imbued with Voldemort's will and personality. She'd managed to pilfer some of Tonks' manuals and Sirius' books on the subject. There were only a few options that were remotely close to the situation and while their methods and effects remained largely different they all had a few similar threads. One in particular being that prolonged exposure to such an object was bad.

It was always possible that Arthur and Molly had quietly taken Ginny to be treated for lasting mental scars over the summer after the incident and kept it hidden. That didn't ring true though. The Weasleys were never one to stay quiet about anything. They have been seeking restitution from Malfoy if they'd incurred any expenses; Molly wouldn't have let it rest. So that meant they'd probably never taken Ginny anywhere. Which meant they either hadn't noticed their daughter was hurt or they'd been convinced she would recover.

To be fair, she did recover remarkably well. She just did it by becoming obsessed with a fantasy. Dora heaved a heavy sigh as she sat down to breakfast. She would have to speak with Arthur and convince him to let a Mind Healer see Ginny. One more thing to add to her list.

"You've been avoiding me for almost three weeks now," Luna accused as she folded her robes, smoothed her skirt and sat down on the couch in the Lounge version of the Room of Requirement.

"I have not!" Dora protested desperately. "I've been busy! And…well…um…"

"Experimenting?" Luna asked. The salacious grin on her face was profoundly out of place for someone who usually looked so cute and cuddly and naïve. Dora mumbled something unintelligible to try and keep her from probing but it was useless. "Come again? I didn't quite catch that. The fizzlepinks seem to indicate that you've progressed, but I would like to hear it straight from you all the same."

Dora's abilities did nothing to stop the blush from rising to her cheeks. "Fine! Yes, okay, I've been busy experimenting! He's too bloody noble though! Do you have any idea how frustrating it is when you actually want a guy to grope you and it's all you can do to convince him to look at your breasts? At least I finally managed to get him to take my bra off the other day. I swear, how anyone in the castle could even remotely think that boy is a Casanova…"

"Have you gotten his shirt off? All that Quidditch…mmm…" Dora blinked up at Luna's comment and gaped slightly before shaking her head to clear it of naughty images.

"We need to get you a boyfriend. And yes I have, it was the only way to convince him he could look at me while I was topless." Dora smiled at the memory. Harry had been so adorably nervous that she'd almost forgiven him for being so bloody frustratingly noble! "For the record, his abs are amazing."

"Mmm good. I hope Ronald's are just as impressive. He does play quite a bit on his own after all."

Dora chuckled raised her fist to lightly tap the blonde's shoulder. "I honestly have no idea what you see in that kid."

"He lets me prattle on about the things I see and he seems willing to listen and comment. Even if he doesn't believe me, it's better than most boys." Luna's evil grin returned and she winked at Dora. "Plus I imagine I can suggest quite a few ideas that would intrigue me and he would be perfectly willing to go along with them."

Dora smirked back and nodded. "No doubt. Just make sure it's you who suggests them. Might want to wait another year too. You're a little young to be – don't look at me like that, I know I'm being a hypocrite! I'm time-lost and hormonal, I've earned the right be a bit hypocritical about some things," she declared pompously sitting up straight and thrusting out her chin. She managed to hold the pose for about two seconds before both girls broke down laughing.

"So really, Dora, how are things going with Harry?" Luna asked once they'd calmed down.

"Honestly?" Dora leaned back with a large grin plastered onto her face. "Pretty well. He walks me to breakfast, he helps me with Herbology; I always pissed that grade away. Too clumsy to handle the plants without cutting myself or the wrong branch. He cuddles with me on the couch, he lets me scream at him from the stands when he's practicing…It's been great!"

Luna nodded. "You sound quite happy now. I'm glad that you accepted your new self enough to be comfortable with accepting his feelings."

Dora raised an eyebrow. " 'Glad' huh? And just how much of an understatement is that?"

"There may have been some dancing involved on top of my bed the night you got back," Luna admitted. "Su Li saw me while she did rounds and I believe she termed it a 'Victory Jig'. She seemed quite intrigued."

Dora laughed again at the complete matter-of-fact tone Luna was using. "Somehow this does not surprise me at all." Luna nodded sagely setting off another soft peal of laughter from the two of them. Eventually she managed to rein it back in and the blonde moved to slightly more serious topics.

"So how does the other front go? Are you on track for assisting the Langoliers in eating the future that never was and won't be?"

"Assisting what in eating the what?" Dora asked utterly confused.

"The Langoliers!" Luna smiled and waved her hand towards the ceiling. "They are like little brown fuzzy balls with razor sharp teeth that eat dead possibilities and moments. I don't actually know what their real name is, but there was a Muggle novelist that described them quite well even if he got which direction they eat wrong. So I call them what he did!"

It took several seconds for Dora to puzzle through that statement and her head hurt before she thought she had a handle on it. "You're asking if I need help with preventing the disaster at the end of the year that sent me here?"

"Well if you want to be boring, then yes, that is what I'm asking."

Dora chuckled. Talking with Luna was sometimes an exercise in itself. "Well I could do with bouncing an idea off of you. See Harry and Hermione mentioned something the other day that got me thinking. I'm a metamorphmagus."

"Yes you are. At least I thought you were. Or are you really an animagus who can transform into people?"

"Haha," Dora responded deadpan. She rolled her eyes and stood spreading her arms wide. "All our current problems are stemming from Fudge being an idiot and refusing to acknowledge that Voldemort is back. Sooooo…What if I morph into old Voldy, do a bit of song and dance in front of the Minister and then poof helpful Ministry!"

Luna frowned at that. "I think you greatly underestimate the sheer stubborn idiocy the Ministry is capable of. And greatly overestimate its potential usefulness as an institution. There would be a few who could assist in the fight, but many who would simply hinder it or worse, accept their new future ruler." She paused before sighing. "And I do not think you have fully thought your plan through."

Dora sat back down with her arms crossed petulantly. "Okay, why haven't I thought this through? What did I miss? It's a simple job. If I can fool Dumbles I can fool the idiot Minister."

"Well…for one, do you know enough strange, esoteric, ancient, forgotten magic to make the performance believable?"

Dora opened her mouth to respond before slowing closing it again, thinking for a moment and trying again. "It doesn't have to be ancient or fancy, just flashy. I can do some flashy things to convince him and the few lackeys he'll have nearby."

"And who will you be fighting?"

"Well I don't have to fight anyone I could – "

"You have to be fighting someone," Luna stated shaking her head. "If you are not fighting than you should be conquering because the Dark Lord does not simply pay a social visit to the Minister of Magic. You aren't going to conquer so you must fight. So I ask again, who are you fighting against?"

Dora grimaced. "Okay yeah when you put it like that I guess I really should have a partner there. I'm not going to ask Hermione to polyjuice and Harry is definitely out…So probably Shack or Tonks? Or maybe Sirius?"

"And would any of those three be comfortable trusting a 16 year old girl to play He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and not get hurt?"

"Err…well…um…no. Probably not, no." Dora wasn't going to be beaten just yet. This had the potential to fix a ton of issues with minimal effort. "I could tell Tonks. We could have her play the part. They'd be okay with – "

"Surely you thought of this last time though correct? Why did you end up deciding against it then?"

Dora was silent for nearly a minute as she fought against Luna's calm rationale. "We were too worried that not everyone would be frozen in fear. That some heroic bystander would end up killing me while we were putting on the show. Or that if people realized I wasn't really him then it would just make things worse than before we'd tried…"

Luna nodded and asked in a barely there voice, "And have any of those reasons been changed or altered?"

"No," Dora responded just as softly.

Luna sighed and moved to sit beside Dora. She gently bumped the metamorph's shoulder with her own. "Then I suggest you drop the idea instead of letting it fester. There are other ways to go about things, Dora. If you still wish to follow through I will not stop you and I will not warn the others. However," Luna said in a voice suddenly far sterner than her usual airy tone, "I feel compelled to warn you that you should have taken this measure prior to initiating a relationship with Harry and a friendship with me. Should you get yourself killed as it stands now, I can guarantee that either him, Hermione or I will end up raising you from the dead just so that we can kill you ourselves for doing that to us."

Dora smiled and patted Luna's knee. "Understood. I'll let it go and we can figure out something else to give us a bit of an edge. Thanks, Luna."

"You're welcome." Luna shifted back and suddenly her bright smile appeared as if a switch had been flipped in the girl's head. "Now, have you noticed that Neville has filled out lately? Yum!"

Dora was so preoccupied with her conversation with Luna that she ended up sleepwalking through most of the rest of the day. Before she even realized it she was stretched back out on the couch of the Room of Requirement staring at the fire. It was a cozy little configuration. She'd dubbed it the Cuddle Room though Harry insisted on calling it the Comfort Room. Which really wasn't all that much better truth be told, but the poor boy was somewhat sheltered. She'd wait a few weeks before telling him what 'comfort women' were.

Normally after a long day she'd just wind up relaxing up in the Gryffindor Tower though tonight was expected to be…difficult. Harry was having his first lesson with Snape today. She knew that he'd gotten good enough with Occlumency that he'd be able to make the bat work for it, but Harry was unlikely to be able to shut him out fully. He'd almost certainly need to wind down after that so she'd arranged a rendezvous in the Room for when his lesson finished.

Luna had had a field day when she'd wrangled that information out of Dora. Hermione had been supportive though the faint ghosting in her smile left her true feelings on the matter known to the observant. "Don't worry, Hermione," Dora murmured to the empty room. "When he leaves me after the truth is out I'll have set the groundwork for you. You'll get him in the end." The upcoming Legilimency lesson was just the first step. Until then, she'd continue to enjoy the perks of being with Harry Freaking Potter. Even if he was too darn noble to take full advantage of her own perks…

Dora shook her head trying to dislodge the inspirations flashing through her head. This was not a Sexy Time evening; this was a Fix What Snape Breaks evening.

"Speak of the devil," she murmured as the door to the Room opened and a thoroughly disheveled Harry stalked through slamming the door shut behind him. His hair was even wilder than normal, his eyes blazed, his glasses were bent, his lip curled, his fists were clenched hard enough to pierce skin and his jaw was shut so tight Dora worried she'd have to heal several cracked teeth.

"That greasy haired, arrogant, spiteful, unfair, Death Eater bastard! Fuck!" he snarled pacing in front of the couch a thin trail of blood oozing between his fingers and dripping to the floor as he moved.

Dora swallowed the quip she'd prepared and instead just stood and stepped into his path while shifting her height until she was slightly taller than him. As he came close, she wrapped her arms around him and gently pulled his head down to rest against her chest. Harry muttered something she couldn't understand and pressed against her pulling his arms together behind her. In less than ten seconds she felt her shirt start to cling to her chest as he started to cry. "Shh, I'm here, luv. I'm here," she murmured threading her hand through his hair and rubbing circles on his back with the other. "He can't hurt you and you never have to go back down there again. I heard there's another good potions master in the country too. I'm sure we could try bribing him to give you some private lessons so we can skip Snape encounters entirely."

A muffled barked laugh echoed through her as he just squeezed tighter. With a quick glance over her shoulder Dora walked them back until they were sitting down on the couch with Harry still clinging to her. It took another ten minutes before he was composed enough to lift his head and turn to stare into the fire resolutely wiping his face off. "A right sight I must look. Hero of the Wizarding World. Boy Who Lived. Slayer of the Basilisk. Banisher of Dementors. And here I am blubbering away like a child."

"You forgot the most important one: Harry Potter," Dora said softly. She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Harry, Occlumency is an intimate art. It's never pleasant for anyone when an enemy is rooting around in your innermost secrets. Besides, you've seen me bawling my eyes out before so fair's fair. And I'm pretty sure I win this one because I was in a nightshift and knickers and freezing my arse and feet off in the middle of the astronomy tower. You are nice and cozy in front of a fire fully clothed."

One corner of Harry's mouth lifted in a small approximation of a smile. "That is true. Do you always only sleep in a shift and knickers by the way?"

"At Hogwarts? Yes. At home? Nope. Usually just knickers." She relished the deep crimson blush that spread over his cheeks. "Unless it's really hot, then I sleep in nothing." Against all odds, the blush deepened further. Dora wondered idly if there was any blood left in the rest of his body.

"You're distracting me on purpose," he accused weakly.

"Yup," she said popping the word. Smirking she punched his shoulder and wiggled her eyebrows. "Doesn't mean I'm lying though."

Harry finally laughed and shook his head sending the warm feeling of accomplishment through her. Freud eat your heart out. She was just as good a psychologist as him and she hadn't had to pay anything for it! "You are impossible woman! Do you want to know what happened?"

"Only if you're comfortable talking about it."

"I'm not. So I'm going to show you instead."

Dora could only blink at him. "Say what?"

Harry turned to look at her fully with an ironic grin on his face. "Considering the recent subject matter I was supposed to be 'learning' I would feel that my meaning is obvious."

Dora rolled her eyes and playfully slapped the back of his head. "Git. Alright, you sure you want to do it this way, Harry?"

He nodded. "Talking about it would just make me angry again. This way is better. Plus your mind feels…I don't know warm I guess? It's hard to explain."

"I get it," she said pulling his head around enough that she could kiss his lips. She didn't hold the kiss long, but it was enough to get her meaning across. "Yours feels the same." She took up her wand and pointed it towards him. "Ready? Okay, Legilimens."

Dora felt her consciousness surge forward and her brief glimpse of Harry's fortress walls left her grimacing. It looked like a war had taken place in his mind; the strong battlements were pockmarked with holes, burns and gouges. Thankfully even as she watched, part of the tower repaired itself with the bricks scattered on the ground below flowing up to fill in one of the larger craters. She didn't have to stare at the castle for long as the front gates swung wide open and she felt herself fall through into the memory lying beyond.

"Hello, Professor. Your note said we were starting tonight?" Harry asked as he walked into the classroom. He was careful to maintain a neutral tone and expression. If Snape could remain professional than he would respond the same.

"You would not be here otherwise, Potter. I have better things to do with my time than tutor a child who cannot even tell me the importance of stirring his potion clockwise instead of counter-clockwise."

Harry ground his teeth. That had been a legitimate question that the book didn't answer beyond 'don't mix it up'. He wasn't here to argue about potions though. He was here to try and get some techniques he could bring back to work on with Dora. "Why did we have to wait three weeks into the new term, Professor? I thought this was supposed to be important?" Important enough to make him wait it seemed. Harry wondered if it was Snape that decided that or if it was Dumbledore?

"Arrogant as always, Potter! Some of us have important commitments and duties that cannot be avoided or ignored," Snape said scowling.

"Apparently being a lapdog for two masters is difficult then. My apologies. Perhaps we should just start then." He knew he was going to pay for that one, but the greasy haired bastard didn't seem particularly interested in playing nice.

"As you wish," Snape snarled. In an instant he had whipped out his wand and shouted, "Legilimens!"

The first assault was relatively undirected and similar in fashion to Dora's initial training. Harry shored up his mental Hogwarts framework and bunkered down through the storm. A few eons later, and both student and professor were back in the potions classroom.

Harry cast a triumphant smirk to Snape who merely deepened his scowl in response. "Apparently you are so close-minded that you naturally resist mental intrusion. It seems I will have to tear you down before I can teach a boy such as yourself the delicate art of Occlumency."

'Naturally close-minded?!' Harry ground his teeth. He'd put in dozens of hours of hard work to get to where he was!

This second intrusion was less of a blunt shove and more of a determined battering ram slamming into his walls again and again. Harry fought back this time. He launched his active defenses and trusted the castle walls to reinforce his primary mental boundary layer. The magic of his defenses took the form of the castle's suits of armor leaping out of the windows and stabbing towards the intruder with spears and swords or lashing out with arrows of magic.

The pitched battle ended as abruptly as it began and Harry found himself breathing heavily as he collapsed back against the desk behind him. Snape was not much better. He'd fallen backwards and knocked over several of the potion vials on the shelf behind him before he managed to regain his own equilibrium.

Snape's characteristic scowl morphed into something altogether spiteful and malevolent. "You foolish little man. You have gone behind the Headmaster's back and sought secret training! You risk everything for your pride!"

Harry sneered right back at Snape and pushed off the desk to stand tall. "Firstly, if you people were really so worried about me learning this you wouldn't have kept putting it off for over a month since telling me 'it's of the utmost importance, my boy'! Secondly, it's hardly a secret that I've been getting training, Professor Snape. I spoke with Sirius about this long before Dumbledore ever even considered it! Dora has been tutoring me since the beginning and anyone who cared to actually ask me about it I've told immediately! It's not my fault if you and the other teachers are so far removed from the students that you don't even hear gossip anymore. I'm pretty sure half the bloody castle knows I'm getting this training!"

Snape didn't let a little thing like 'facts' get in the way of his hatred and prejudice. "She has obviously been a highly substandard teacher if your defenses are so pathetic."

Harry's lips curled into a snarl. "Bullshite! Your hand is still cradling your head from the pain of fighting against my defenses and you've yet to get a single glimpse of my memories. If you're half as good as the Headmaster seems to think you are, than Dora is flat out outstanding!"

"As arrogant as your father before you! Legilimens!" Snape shouted.

The man seemed to hold nothing back this time as Harry felt his mental walls come under attack and creak under the pressure. He groaned and felt something crack; a brick fell out of place in the framework and Snape was in. Harry felt him pull immediately for the memory of the Dementors, but Harry refused to let the hateful potions master win. Marshalling all of his magic and willpower, Harry thrust it towards Snape's presence.

With an almighty roar, Harry felt the magic of the spell backfire and he traveled the current following it through until he was standing in the middle of a corridor in Hogwarts. This section was familiar to him and as Harry turned he gaped at the portrait of the Fat Lady. He was in the hall outside of the Gryffindor Tower's entrance. And he wasn't alone.

A young Snape was standing there scowling up at the portrait and shouting. "Just tell her I'm here you stupid piece of lard! I need to speak with – Lily!"

"Severus." Harry felt his heart skip several beats as his mother walked out of the portrait hole. Her face was set in a stern mask and her wand was tapping against her leg. "I believe I made it clear that if you can't be civil with my friends than we don't have anything further to talk about."

"I am your friend as well!" Snape shouted as he rounded on her. "I was your friend long before those arrogant fools!"

"Sevy I told you – "

"Who told you you were a witch?! Who consoled you when Petunia turned on you? Who showed you how to fight back against the bigots? Who warned you when the Slytherins would be coming after you? I have been there for you longer than any of them! How can you choose them over me?!" By the end of his tirade Snape was practically spitting.

Lily's face had grown more and more cold as he spoke. Finally when he stopped for breath her reply could have frozen the Black Lake. "Are you finished, Severus? Good. Yes we were friends. Were. You were the one to abandon me first, Severus. Yes, you warned me of the Slytherins attempt to rape me. Do you remember why you knew about that to begin with? Because you were in their group for long enough that they trusted you. Because you'd helped to arrange it for a different 'uppity mudblood who refused to acknowledge her place'."

"I never participated in that! I – "

"BE QUIET, SEVERUS!" Lily shouted. Her scream echoed off the corridor walls. "You knew it was going to happen and you did nothing. That is as good as being a member of the rape. And if that wasn't enough, you antagonize James and Sirius at every turn. They stopped harassing you after third year and have only ever retaliated since then. Marly and I made certain of it. You egg them on and then run to the professors when they get riled enough to actually do something. You have mounted a personal pogrom against Remus."

"He tried to kill me! Both him and Sirius and – " Severus cut off abruptly as Lily slapped his face.

"I said shut it! You know as well as I do that Remus is perfectly safe now thanks to the new Wolfsbane solution. You also know that you are as much at fault for following Sirius as he is." Lily scowled and her wand sparked. "You both knew he was leading you into danger and you both share the responsibility of that near fiasco. Stop blaming others for your own problems, Severus."

"Lily, please," he pleaded.

"Stop stalking me, Severus. We are no longer friends. If you ever truly change back into the boy I once knew seek me out then," Lily turned and pulled the portrait back open. "Until then, I want nothing to do with you."

The door had started to swing closed before Snape reacted. Spittle flew from his mouth as he shouted behind her. "Fine! Run back to your little pureblood prince you idiotic mudblood! I'll become strong enough to show you his true colors one day and I'll prove just how wrong you are to trust him over me! James Potter will fall and I will show you the truth Lily Evans!"

With a jerk and a shove Harry found himself launched backwards. He flipped over the desk and landed on the floor with a crunch, breaking his glasses and bruising his temple. He slowly levered himself to his feet and glared at the Potions Master slumped on his desk.

"Get out, Potter," Snape said softly. "Get out and don't come back."

"I feel it's best if we never speak to each other from now on Professor Snape. I will come to class and that's it. I'll find another option for potions lessons beyond this year if I need it."

"Yes, you will."

Dora felt the world spin and with a gasp she fell back into her body and collapsed against the couch seat. "Holy hell. Merlin…no wonder you're upset."

"Yeah." Harry sighed and sat back leaning his head against her shoulder. "He did love her in his own way. I could feel that much. How he could treat her like that despite feeling like he did…I hate him. I hate him and I…"

"I get it, Harry. I get it." Dora squeezed his hand and joined him in staring at the fire. This night was going to be a lot longer than she'd even remotely suspected.

AN: Much thanks to RhysThornbery for his beta assistance on this.

This chapter is out quickly thanks to having a ton of time yesterday and today to knock it out. Next one will probably take two weeks or so to materialize.

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Mad-Eye's Rules For Successfully Reaching Retirement:

Rule Number 51: Try not to lie to yourself.

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Fic Recommendation: "Heart and Soul" by Sillimaure. This is a Harry/Fleur/Hermione fic and is very long. It's also complete! At times the story gets a bit too telly rather than showy but overall it's very good. The basic premise is that Sirius worries about Dumbledore not getting Harry off during his trial prior to Fifth Year and he makes a call to an old friend. A hop skip and a jump later and Harry and Fleur are entered into a marriage contract to save him from being expelled while Hermione's feelings are eventually recognized and she's brought in as well.