Chapters 36 – 40

The next day was New Year's Day, which was filled with activities.

Early morning, Nagini was in the first floor parlour watching TV. Voldemort was not very happy about it, but because it was New Years, he didn't let his anger show. He cast some spells on the TV, allowing the pictures to come alive, allowing Harry and Nagini to see, hear, smell, taste, even feel what was shown on TV.

The results were satisfactory; at least, even Voldemort gave some comments about the show they were watching, "This is so stupid!" "How could he do this to her?!" Even the House-Elves found many excuses to come to the parlour and steal a couple of glances at the TV.

After, Nagini became even more demanding; she demanded a rollercoaster in the garden. Of course Voldemort wouldn't agree, but Nagini began to roll around on the floor like a little spoilt child. Think about it, a twelve meters long snake rolling around on the floor! What a creepy sight! Harry felt all his hair on his body stood up. Voldemort endured it for about ten minutes and gave up. By the end of the day, a rollercoaster was in the garden.

The rest of the holidays were spent in peace and quiet at Voldemort Manor. Harry would spend his days with Nagini, riding the rollercoaster and watching TV. After the talk on New Years Eve, Voldemort and Harry became even closer.

At the end of the holidays, Harry happily returned to Hogwarts to find Snape. Snape was in the Room of Requirements with all of his attention staring at a cauldron. The first thing Harry noticed was his greasy long hair.

"Merlin! Severus, when was the last time you took a shower?!" Harry shouted.

Snape was very unhappy with Harry's shouting; he gave Harry a dirty look and then slowly added three porcupine quills to the wine-red liquid, stirred, then added the powdered root of asphodel. "Shut up! Wait till I'm finished!"

When Snape was brewing potions, he won't care who it was that disturbed him. Harry had a feeling that even if it was Voldemort who disturbed him, Snape would scold at him like a little child until he would be too ashamed to lift his head.

Harry patiently waited until Snape finished his perfect potion. He observed while Snape poured the new batch of potion into a crystal bottle and put it beside the other eleven crystal bottles.

"When are you planning on sending them to Lupin?"

Snape gave a look that showed he had been thinking hard about something, but still didn't know the answer, "I don't know how to sign the note."

"Make one up." Harry rolled his eyes.

Snape hesitated for a while. "What do you think about 'The Half-Blood Prince'? My mother's maiden name was Prince."

"It's perfect! Double meaning." Harry agreed.

After receiving Harry's agreement, Snape picked up a quill with his left hand and began to draft a letter. But for Snape, who was so used to being cold all the time didn't know how to describe his feelings to Remus. After the tenth time Harry rejected his letter, he could only let Harry write the letter for him.

When they returned to their dorm to take a shower, they stopped by the owlery and mailed the two packages to the Gryffindor Tower for Remus.

One bottle of 100 ml made five portions, which was enough for a month for Remus. Which meant, for the next year, Remus didn't need to worry about his transformation problems.

When Remus received the packages, he was in his dorm room, alone. Two owls flew in from the window and dropped the two packages in front of him. Remus, confused, opened the folded swan shaped note, which was glued to the top of the box.

Dear Remus Lupin,

You have a little hairy problem, correct? This potion can help you solve that problem. Starting from four days before the full moon, once a day, 20 ml each time, you will be relieved from the urge of biting, allowing you to sleep quietly in your room.

Yours truly,

The Half-Blood Prince

P.S. Remember to heat the potion before taking it.

Remus felt like he had just been struck by lightning, he was too surprised to think, his mind was blank. Who was the Half-Blood Prince? How did he know about his secret? Why did he send him potions? There was no hope for werewolves; at least at the present, there were no potions to control those animal urges after transformation. Otherwise the person that discovered that potion would for sure be awarded an Order of Merlin, First Class, to thank him/her for the contributions to the Magical World.

Remus was very doubtful about what was said on the note, at the same time, he couldn't help himself to reach for those two packages. The package was wrapped in layers of thick leather, to make sure what was contained inside the wooden boxes stayed perfect. There was nothing on the leather or the wooden boxes, so Remus couldn't find any clue as to who the sender of the package was. He opened the wooden boxes with shaking hands; in each box was six dark green crystal bottles, with an expensive stone on each silver stopper. The printing on the bottle told Remus that the liquid inside was exactly 100 ml.

"Remus, who mailed you potions?" James, who just finished Quidditch practice, came back with Sirius and Peter.

As if seeing his saviour, Remus picked up the parchment and handed it to them.

Sirius was so furious he was jumping up and down even before he finished the letter. "It's a trap! It must be a trap! There's no potion to relieve pain during a werewolf's transformation, everyone knows this!" Suddenly, he realized something, "It must be Harry Potter, he did this. He knows about our secret. He's playing with us with this potion."

James picked up a bottle and observed it. "From the bottles, it does seem like it came from Slytherin, what a waste of money. I don't doubt that the Harry Potter right now has enough money to play these tedious games. But, Sirius, I don't agree that this is a trap. According to the letter, one bottle is enough for one month, twelve bottles meant a year. If that person's goal is to play with us, or to force Remus out of Hogwarts, he didn't have to mail so many at once, two or three bottles would be enough. I don't think Slytherins have much patience to make this many potions just for some game. They rather put their time to things that would show more value, such as, sex."

"Maybe they changed this time, you know that that Harry Potter is not a traditional Slytherin." Sirius still didn't believe what James said.

James smiled lightly, but didn't answer Sirius, instead, he turned to Remus, "We can go to Headmaster Dumbledore; have him ask Professor Slughorn to test these potions, see if what was said on the letter was the truth. If it's not, then we could just throw those potions away and also find out who's playing with you. Once I find out who's playing with you, he's dead! But if it's true, then this is good news for you, Remus."

This suggestion was agreed by all. They found Professor McGonagall and told her what happened. Immediately, Professor McGonagall took them to Dumbledore's office.

After hearing what happened from Remus, Dumbledore picked up a bottle and looked at it, then he opened it and sniffed it. In the end, he said, "Aha, at least we know the name of this potion." He turned the stopper to show the name Wolfsbane printed on the bottom.

"Seems like we need Professor Slughorn here, it is his specialty. Hopefully he could finger out the true use for these twelve bottles of potions as soon as possible. We don't have much time left before 'four days before the full-moon'."

On the morning of four days before the full-moon, after a double potions class, Professor Slughorn returned the twelve bottles of Wolfsbane potion to Remus. With a huge grin on his face, he said, "Seems like you have a good friend somewhere, Mr. Lupin, a genius good friend. This Wolfsbane potion could control all your animal instincts during the full more, allowing you to sleep peacefully after you transform. This is the best solution we have now to lower the threat of werewolves to its lowest point. I'm afraid it's going to be the only solution in a very long time, if this genius potions master would be willing to publish this recipe. Genius idea, genius combination! I really would like to meet this Half-Blood Prince in person, see for myself what kind of person could invent this great potion!" He clapped Remus on the shoulder, "You're really luck, Mr. Lupin, other people aren't so lucky."

By the end, Remus couldn't even hear a single word Slughorn was saying, he could only think about that he didn't have to worry about his transformation for the next year!

"Then, who is this Half-Blood Prince?" Peter was still curious, but the four couldn't think of anything as to who the Half-Blood Prince was.

Because of Slughorn's swank attitude, all of Hogwarts' professors found out what happened very quickly. At first, Voldemort didn't pay too much attention to this, but after hearing some of the potion's ingredient combinations, which he remembered vaguely from somewhere else, some ideas began to form in his head.

Snape was called into Voldemort's office.

"Professor Voldemort, you called for me?"

"Sit, Severus." Said Voldemort, "I want to ask you something. Did you make the Wolfsbane Potion?"

Snape trembled, but pretended to be calm. "No…no…"

Seeing the fear in his eyes, Voldemort smiled, "Children are growing up, they like to do things by themselves now. Don't worry, Severus, I won't punish you because of this. You always know what is the right thing to do."

Snape asked carefully, "You…you're not angry?"

Voldemort waved his hand gratifyingly, "What's there to be angry about. I know you didn't do anything to anger anyone, what should I be angry about then."

Seeing that Voldemort really wasn't angry, Snape relaxed and collapsed on the chair.

"But Severus, since I allowed you to help that werewolf, you need to do something for me." Voldemort continued.

Immediately, Snape sat up straight, "Professor, your wish is my command."

"I want the Wolfsbane Potion's recipe." Voldemort ordered.

Snape frowned, this wasn't anything easy. "Professor, it's not that I won't give it to you, but…I didn't invent this recipe, Harry gave it to me. I can't tell you without his permission."

Something flashed in Voldemort's eyes. Harry invented the Wolfsbane Potion; this was really shocking. Harry could think of such a genius idea, no wonder he was a descendent of Salazar Slytherin. Voldemort really wanted to know what other treasures were hidden in that pretty little head. But this way, things became a little bit more complicated.

"You don't need to worry about that, I'll tell Harry."

"Professor, I trust Harry would be willing to tell you himself." Snape valued promises the most; he wouldn't, without Harry permission, give the recipe to a third person.

Voldemort took out his wand and pointed it threateningly at Snape's forehead. "Severus, you don't want to force me to use Legilimens on you, do you? You're pathetic Occlumency wouldn't stand my invasion." He squinted his eyes. "So, I suggest you tell me the recipe and I'll explain everything to Harry."

Understanding that he couldn't keep any secrets against Voldemort, Snape gave up. He was Voldemort's loyal servant, and he believed that what was Harry's, of course, was Voldemort's. Voldemort was going to have Harry no matter what; all of Slytherins knew that, only Harry himself was clueless.

Satisfied, Voldemort wrote down the recipe and mailed it off with an owl. "Let's go, Severus, I'll explain it to Harry."

Harry looked at Voldemort with a calculating look, not believing what the man was saying at all. "You're saying that you're going to mass produce the Wolfsbane Potion and sell them to all werewolves?"

"Yes." Voldemort smiled, he ran his fingers through Harry's smooth hair and couldn't help himself, but placed a soft kissed. "The number of werewolves in this world could be many or little, depending on how you see it. But a big part of them doesn't want to kill and bit after transformation each month. Selling this potion could make a huge profit."

Harry didn't doubt this one bit, only if that was Voldemort's only intent with the potion.

"You could've just come to me, why did you need to get it from Severus? You even threatened him."

Voldemort answered with a straight face, "I believed you won't agree to let me use the Wolfsbane Potion to make money. But I also believed that your uncle had the responsibility to see that all your results produced value."

"I didn't know you were such a businessman." Harry mocked.

"It's not too late to find out now." Voldemort smiled fakely.

"How much are you planning on selling it for?" Harry gave up the thought of trying to mock Voldemort; he didn't know what to say to that person's thick face.

"100 ml for 50 Galleons, very fair."

Damned fair! 100 ml cost at most 10 Galleons to make, this bastard increased it by four times! And this was for only a month!

"Isn't the price a bit high?"

Voldemort shook his finger lightly, "Not at all high. The Wolfsbane Potion contained many hard to find ingredients, and the steps to making the potion are very complicated. If I lower the price anymore, it'll be better to just publish the recipe on the Daily Prophet."

"You're not worried that I'll publish it myself?" Harry bit his teeth.

Voldemort let out a bunch of numbers. "With each bottle of the Wolfsbane Potion sold, Severus would receive a 3% commission, which is 0.15 Galleons; 100 bottles sold, Severus would receive 15 Galleons; 10,000 bottles sold, that would be 1,500 Galleons. The more Wolfsbane Potions sold, the more commission Severus would receive. Harry, you wouldn't want to harm Severus's income, would you?"

Bastard! Using Severus against him! Harry stared angrily at Voldemort, as if wanting to drill twenty some holes in his body with.

"You're not going to purposely create more werewolves just to sell more Wolfsbane Potion, are you?" Harry, once again, gave in to Voldemort.

"Harry, you're insulting me as a person." Voldemort stared at him.

"I'm sorry." Harry apologized, but inside, he was thinking of something else, at least Voldemort didn't think he was insutling his intelligence.

"It's alright, I know you didn't mean it." Voldemort hugged Harry to show that he understood. Right now, the number of werewolves was more than enough.

After Voldemort left, Snape asked Harry, "Is Professor Voldemort thinking about using the Wolfsbane Potion to control those werewolves that won't follow him?"

Harry sneered, "What I want to know is that when he is going to use those werewolves that he controlled with the Wolfsbane Potion." Then he grabbed a parchment and quill, "Severus, hurry and write a letter, tell Lupin that you're going to provide all of his Wolfsbane Potion for free forever, don't let him buy it from the outside. Voldemort can control any werewolf he want, but not Remus Lupin!"

*****

Remus received another letter from the Half-Blood Prince.

Dear Remus Lupin,

The recipe was forced from me, from now on, the Wolfsbane Potion would be sold at a very high price to the public. Don't buy it from the outside, no matter what, I'll provide it for free to you forever.

Love,

The Half-Blood Prince

Sirius let out a whistle, "Our little Remus has a very talented secret admirer."

"No I don't, Sirius!" Remus cried out. But his face was bright red; this Half-Blood Prince, whom he never met, but was always thinking of, already won his good graces.

*****

The days after passed by quietly and peacefully. On Valentine's Day, Harry received cards and presents that covered the entire Slytherin Table, which greatly exceeded Sirius, who had been the most popular person on that day for the past few years.

In the Quidditch match after, Gryffindor beat Slytherin once again, James caught the Golden Snitch, 300 to 150.

During the Easter Weekend, Harry returned to Voldemort Manor. He once again enjoyed the long-time no see television, rollercoaster, and Muggle London, although he was also heavily burdened with homework. During the entire weekend, Voldemort was very busy, leaving early in the morning and coming back late at night. Although this was the case, Voldemort still made enough time in his schedule to spend time with Harry and help him with homework and tutored him in Magic.

After the Easter Weekend, students returned to Hogwarts, the amount of homework they received caused them to constantly complain to each other. But that only lasted for a few hours and disappeared, a batch of pamphlets, leaflets and notices concerning various wizarding careers appeared in the common room, along with a notice informing them of an upcoming meeting with the Head of House.

Very different from the restless and nervousness that formed in the former Gryffindor common room, the current Slytherin common room was very quiet, which was the same as usual. Conversations regarding careers always went as follows:

"My father said that I need to work for the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. It is a very important department."

"My grandfather told me that controlling Gringotts is a must, so when I'm working at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, I need to try and infatuate those greedy little Goblins."

"Severus, what do you want to do?" Harry waved the Wizarding Bank Industry Pamphlet in his hand.

Snape rolled his eyes and sneered, "Don't know. Maybe I won't get a job, Merlin Knows how much money the Wolfsbane Potion is making me." For awhile, he was hugely opposed to accepting this money, but Harry forced him to accept it.

Harry threw away the pamphlet, bored. "A man needs a good job, it sounds good to the outside. How about being a potions master at Voldy's potions company." He suggested uncaringly.

Snape seriously considered for awhile, "No, I'm leaning more towards becoming the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor after Professor Voldemort leaves." He had a feeling, this day won't be too far away.

"That's good too." Harry agreed.

"The Muggle Liaison Office. You're career choice." Lucius put a bright pink and orange leaflet on the table. "I think you should change to a better choice, Professor Voldemort has the power to put you in a more powerful position."

Harry smiled, "Lucius, what are you going to do after graduation?"

Lucius smiled with confidence, "Department of Magical Law Enforcement, I should be an Assistant Head at the beginning. My goal is the Wizengamot."

"I believe in you." Harry gave a huge smiled which showing his teeth.

"So I decided to mark a clear line between myself and the Ministry of Magic." After Lucius let, Harry told Snape, "I'm going to walk the middle line."

Snape, who was reading the St. Mungo's Healer pamphlet, raised the pamphlet in confusion and understanding.

*****

"St. Mungo's Healer?" Voldemort was very surprised at Harry's decision. "This is a very demanding and tiring job, I rather you still choose the Muggle Liaison Office."

"I decided, Voldy." Harry said lightly

"Harry, please reconsider…"

"Professor Voldemort, I'm sitting here because you can give me some career advice, if you can't do this, then I think I need to resort to asking other Head of House who could help me." Harry interrupted impatiently.

"…" Voldemort didn't know what to say. After spending time with each other for half a year, he was already used to Harry's stubbornness; once decided, no one could make him change his mind, not even Voldemort.

"Fine, I'll tell you about St. Mungo's Healer. It requires five NEWTs, with at least an E in each of them. The five are Potions, Herbology, Transfiguration, Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts. But don't think this is all." Voldemort returned to his professor attitude, saying things clearly and quickly. "It also has many other hidden requirements. Usually, Potions and Herbology requires an O, Transfiguration, Charms, and Defence Against the Dark Arts also requires an O, but they are put behind Potions and Herbology. Sometimes, one recruiter feels that one O is enough, while another recruiter requires two Os. Which meant, in the five NEWTs, at least one must be an O, however, usually two Os are required. Because healers not only heal a patient's body, but also a patient's mind, so in order to become a Healer at St. Mungo's, you need at least an A on all of the rest of your NEWTs, other than those five subjects, at least two other subjects must be an E. Of course, in order to achieve those NEWTs, you need to be able to test in those subjects, which meant getting into those NEWT classes. My Defence Against the Dark Arts class requires an E in OWLs; Potions, Herbology, Transfiguration and Charms also require an E. Professor Kettleburn's Care of Magical Creatures requires an O on the OWLs, Professor Binns' History of Magic only requires an A, Professor Chate requires an O for Astronomy, Professor Pier requires an E for Muggle Studies." Voldemort paused, then continued, "Which meant, in order for you, for sure, to become a St. Mungo's Healer, you need to obtain five Es and an A on your OWLs, and two Os and five Es on your NEWTs."

Harry shrugged his shoulders, "I understand." He had a hard task ahead of him.

In the beginning of May, the Quidditch Season ended, Gryffindor, with three wins, won the Quidditch Cup for the forth time. Harry's face was as dark as Voldemort's. He had an urge to replace Lucius as the seeker; he couldn't stand the dirty and challenging look James Potter was giving Slytherins while kissing the Quidditch Cup.

Because of OWLs, the black market between students was flourishing, which was exactly as Harry experienced it before; even the Slytherins were involved. Because Slytherins all came from wealthy families, many people brought aids to concentration, mental agility and wakefulness. Many people also suggested them to Harry to buy, "Great results!" Harry just smiled. He didn't forget what happened when Hermione told everyone the truth – dried Doxy droppings. Good thing was that Voldemort and Snape already gave him enough potions, the results were also much better than those from the black market.

The first Sunday in June, the examiners for OWLs arrived at Hogwarts. Harry recognized Professor Marchbanks and Professor Tofty, who tested Harry in the future. Harry had very fond memories of those two professors.

That night, Harry couldn't help himself but visit Voldemort. In Voldemort's private quarters, on the double couch, Voldemort held Harry tightly in his arms and told him about his experience with OWLs. "Don't be nervous, you just have to do what you usually do, Harry. You're abilities already past the OWLs level, don't worry. I'm sure you'll get nine Os."

Monday morning, Harry felt nervous. He knew he already tested for OWLs once, didn't he? He shouldn't feel nervous anymore. But who made it a rule that he shouldn't be nervous for the second time? Who? Who? Damnit! Knowing and doing it were two different things!

Good thing was that the exams went successfully, Harry even did very well on the subject that he was most worried about, History of Magic; in the practical exam of Astronomy, Harry finished his star-chart in half the time. Harry decided that he would thank Voldemort after his exams finish for taking the time to tutor him for half a year. Of course, what made Harry the happiest was that Snape's worst memory didn't happen. After that incursion in Hogsmeade, the Marauders kept far away from Harry and Snape.

Harry's last exam was Defence Against the Dark Arts practical, this was the subject he had the most confidence to receive an O in. Coincidence, his examiner was still Professor Tofty. Counter-jinxes and defensive spells, Harry flew through them. Professor Tofty was also smiling and nodding at Harry's performance.

However, Lily was not so lucky. Her examiner was a well-dressed noble-like wizard; his hair was made perfectly, showing that its master was a serious wizard. This wasn't the worst, what was the worst was that this examiner didn't like Muggles. Lily came into the room later than Harry, when Professor Nabbandy saw her, he drew a long face and said loudly, "What's the point of testing a Muggle for OWLs!" This caused everyone in the room to turn and look at him and Lily. Lily paused in shock, but immediately returned to normal and let out a sweet smile. Professor Tofty sighed quietly, "What a sweet girl."

But Lily's nightmare just started. Professor Nabbandy wasn't satisfied with any of her performance; in the end, even Lily lost confidence in herself.

"Now, dear Miss Muggle, what are you going to do when faced with this?" Nabbandy lifted his wand. Behind Lily, a tall and skinny figure wrapped in a black cloak appeared, its face was hidden in the hood, a skeleton hand made its way towards Lily. The entire room felt like it was covered in ice.

Professor Tofty was shocked and angered at the same time, "Nabbandy, how could you do this!" He grabbed his wand to save Lily, but some one else beat him to it.

"Expecto patronum!" Harry shouted out of reflect, no need to think of any happy memory; a Patronus based on happiness was not a perfect Patronus.

Silver mist erupted from the tip of Harry's wand forming a gigantic poisonous snake, it lifted its humongous head to show its sharp poisonous teeth. It stood proudly and protectively in front of Lily, who already dropped to the floor out of fear.

The Dementor retreated and disappeared, the silver snake also slowly turned into silver mist and disappeared.

The room was completely silent. Harry was over shocked, his Patronus changed from a stag to a snake?! He remembered the time when Tonks's Patronus changed, that was when she fell in love with Remus. But Harry wasn't in love, he only wanted to quietly live his life and achieve the goal he had had ever since he came to this time period, so how could his Patronus change? He wasn't planning on asking Voldemort about this. The Patronus was his deepest secret, he didn't want to share it with Voldemort.

Although Harry was filled with unanswered questions, he didn't forget the poor Lily. He helped her to her feet, unsurprisingly, she body with ice cold and she was shaking. Harry summoned some chocolate and handed them to Lily. "Eat them and you'll feel better." Lily took the chocolate silently and tried to eat them. "Think of happy thoughts, Lily. Dementors are afraid of happiness. Don't be scared, even those things have weaknesses."

Lily lifted her head, there was a thin layer of wetness in her eyes.

Applause sounded, everyone was clapping. Professor Tofty, in his old voice, praised Harry, "A perfect Patronus, actions fit for a noble gentleman, Harry Potter. Very good!"

Professor Nabbandy had a huge smile on his face, his voice was gentle, like a grandfather, "No wonder a descendent of Salazar Slytherin, such magical powers!"

"Thank you, Professor Nabbandy." Harry showed respect to him. Seemed that this serious professor liked him very much, maybe he could do something with this likeness. "I'm very honoured. If the noble you could kindly consider giving this lady another chance, you will discover she also has very powerful magic."

Nabbandy felt very comfortable with Harry's praise and words, "Miss Evans, Mr. Harry Potter has spoken for you. Very well, I'll give you another chance."

"You're too kind." Harry added another praise.

As the exam finished, the entire school found out about this incident. Girls raced towards Lily, demanding her to tell them what happened. "Did Harry Potter really produce a Patronus? A real Patronus?" "Did he really help you up? And give you chocolate? And told you it was ok?" After hearing Lily say yes to all that, the girls sighed together, "Lily, how much I wished I was you!"

*****

"The hero saved the princess. Would it be that the princess falls in love with the hero that follows in this story? Who would have thought that dementors made the strongest Amortentia." Snape sneered.

"Shut up, Severus! You've been making fun of me for the entire afternoon!" Harry was really getting angry at this.

Snape was not the least bit afraid of Harry's killing stare, he continued slowly, "You had the nerve to do it, then you should've been prepared for people to talk about it. My version of the story is the simplest and least graphic. Do you want to hear the long and graphic version? The latest news coming from Hufflepuff, which I quite enjoyed; you were described as a sex addict, countless poor girls were sacrificed under your evilness. Who said all Hufflepuffs were stupid? I think they have quite an imagination."

"Oh, Severus, please!" Harry was moaning in the couch.

Finally, Snape became serious, "Then let's talk about something more serious. How are you going to explain it to Professor Voldemort?"

*****

At 10:05 that night, Harry was carrying a tray and standing outside of Voldemort's private quarters. The snake that was coiled on the door lazily looked at him, then looked down, uninterested. {Boring, another human speaker.}

{To tell you the truth, you're quite demanding. Parselmouths are very rare.} Said Harry.

The snake looked at him in surprise; although it wanted to talk more, it opened the door. {Fine, Parselmouths don't need to say the password.}

Seeing Harry walk in, Voldemort put down the book in his hands, Twentieth Century Dark Wizard Encyclopaedia, and smiled, "Do you need something? I thought all students were celebrating right now."

Harry put down the tray in front of Voldemort, and said uncertainly, "Your snack." His eyes were looking at everywhere but Voldemort.

The color was a bit off, but it should be edible, though Voldemort. "Did you make it?" For sure the House-Elves could make it much better.

Harry's face went all red, his voice was as low as a fly's, "Yes, I promise it is edible…I think…" His voice was so low that Voldemort could barely hear him.

In truth, even if Voldemort would die of food poisoning from eating this, he would still finish this food without a second thought, not to mention that Harry's food was far from being poison. Voldemort made Harry very happy by finishing all the food. But in reality, Harry made way too much food; Voldemort was a very powerful magical wizard, not a very powerful magical pig.

Harry felt very happy, even though he didn't know why he was feeling happy. "I was going to buy you a present, to thank you for tutoring me, but then I thought that making it myself meant more. "Harry said shyly, "I didn't know how to cook with magic, so I asked the House-Elves to teach me."

"Having the thought is more than enough." Voldemort was trying to cut down on words, he ate too much that he didn't really feel like speaking. "Don't go too close to the kitchen, its too dangerous there."

"I'm fine." After a few seconds of silence, Harry observed Voldemort's facial expression out of the corner of his eyes; he was feeling very uncertain, "You're not angry, are you?"

Voldemort didn't say anything; he looked at the boy in front of him with a mysterious stare.

"I didn't mean to have anything to do with her, anyone would have helped her under those situations. She's very talented, just because she came from a Muggle family doesn't mean that she should lose the chance to have a fair exam." Harry saw Voldemort's mysterious look, he felt his heart racing, "You're not really going to transfer me, are you?" Voldemort wouldn't let him leave the Magical World, but Harry wasn't sure if Voldemort wouldn't force him out of Hogwarts.

This was the main point of tonight's conversation. Professor Nabbandy already spoken to Voldemort about what had happened. He couldn't stop praising Harry's respectful attitude towards elders, his true gentlemen nature towards ladies, and his great magical powers, which greatly exceeded others of his age. Of course, Voldemort was very glad that a well respected elder was fond of Harry, but at the same time, he was worried about Harry's feelings towards Lily Evans.

At the beginning of the school year, the two of them enjoyed talking with each other; the looks they were giving each other at breakfast in November; and today's 'hero save the princess'. Although the two of them didn't have any contact with each other, Voldemort couldn't help but wonder if Harry had fallen in love with Lily Evans. If Harry didn't come to him today, he would have went to find Harry tomorrow. Yes, if Harry did fall in love with Lily, he would transfer Harry immediately, to Karkaroff's Durmstrang, and cut off all connections between Harry and Hogwarts. He must make sure that the person that wins Harry's heart was himself.

"Harry, it's very common to fall in love with a girl, for a fifteen year old boy." Voldemort very sneakily probed for the answer by pretending to support Harry.

Instantly, as if someone pinched his butt, Harry jumped up. "My feelings towards Lily aren't the disgusting things you're thinking about! I only wanted to be her friend!" How come even Voldemort thought he had fall in love with Lily? This was too disappointing.

"Friend?" Voldemort extended his voice and repeated Harry's answer, "There's no friendship between a man and a woman, only love."

"I could also say that the only thing that could happen between a man and a man is sleeping together, Professor Voldemort, who enjoys playing with students." Harry was too angry, he couldn't help it but fight back by bringing up the game that Voldemort already stopped playing since last Halloween.

How could Harry fall in love with his mother! That would be insulting Lily. What Voldemort said also insulted the pure friendship he had with Hermione.

Voldemort arched his eyebrow, but relaxed his breath. It was true, Harry's feelings towards Lily Evans was only friendship, not love. The insulted and anger at what was being said look on Harry's face could not be mistaken for embarrassment or anger at being found out his deepest secret.

"Fine, I apologize." Voldemort, feeling very happy, raised the white flag. "Considering your status, Harry, I hope you choose your love carefully; even if you won't choose a pureblood, at least choose a half-blood."

Harry relaxed and sighed, at least he won't have to transfer to another school.

"As for Lily Evans, she is a pretty girl, if you want to continue your friendship with her…" Voldemort paused, but was surprised at Harry's quick rejection, "No, I don't need to become any closer to her."

"Hum?" Voldemort let out a questioning sound. "I thought you really wanted to be her friend."

"I have my considerations." Harry looked down, he did want to become friends with Lily, really, really wanted to, but reality won't allow him. "Our current relationship is just fine."

Voldemort was very happy with Harry's fast decision and decided not to further this conversation. Thinking of something, his face darkened and took out two sets of Quidditch tickets and said, "These are two sets of Quidditch tickets, you take it, Severus asked me to buy them for him. These will allow him to all the games played in England this summer at the Quidditch World Cup. One set is for him and one is for Remus Lupin. You tell him, I spent quite a bit of time finding out James Potter and Sirius Black's seats for him."

Harry agreed, while trying to hold in his laughter. Suddenly, he had an idea, "Can I also give Lily a ticket? She won't be able to buy tickets. I won't let her know who send it to her."

Voldemort frowned a little, "I'll try; a ticket to the finals on August 15th, VIP, next to Severus. I'm assuming that you won't have any objections to Severus taking care of her, do you?"

Harry shook his head.

*****

The next morning, when an owl delivered the Quidditch World Cup ticket set to Remus, he almost cried. His family wasn't wealthy like James's, who could buy the whole ticket set, so he only brought tickets to a couple of matches that had England playing; for the other matches, he could only stay home and listen to the radio. The Half-Blood Prince gave him a huge surprise, not only was it the World Cup ticket set, but the seat was right next to James's.

"This Half-Blood Prince is really good to you, Remus, you should marry him." Sirius began to joke with Remus.

"Yes, yes, this is what you look which finding a husband." James joined in.

Lupin's face was flush red, he deathly stared at his two friends, but couldn't say a word.

Peter muttered disappointingly, "I won't be able to watch any matches……"

*****

Harry also received a packaged.

Dear Harry Potter,

I don't know how to expresses my gratitude in words. You saved me from the dementor, then spoke for me to Professor Nabbandy, allowing me the opportunity to pass the Defence Against the Dark Arts OWL. I can't thank you enough with just words. I handmade two little gifts for you, hope you like it.

Yours Truly,

Lily Evans

The packaged contained two items which clearly came from girl, one was a quill bag made from green feather-shaped plants and the other was an ink bottle holder made from unicorn fur.

*****

An owl flew from the Slytherin table to the Gryffindor table, which caused some disruptions. Surprising, Lily received a response from Harry. Wasn't he afraid that Professor Voldemort would be angry? She unsurely stole a glance at the High Table, Voldemort looked normal.

Dear Lily Evans,

I really like the quill bag, I also like the ink bottle holder, both of them are very pretty. You don't need to thank me for yesterday, anyone would have done the same thing.

Yours Truly,

Harry Potter

It was the commonest type of letter.

*****

James Potter left the table in anger. But his terrible mood was lifted a few days later. At the end of the school year, Gryffindor won the House Cup with 489 points, while Slytherin was last. "Slytherin is worst." He sneered.

Harry pretended not to hear. Next year, Slytherin won't lose again, because he would become the Seeker for the Slytherin Quidditch Team.

*****

The summer after his fifth year was the best summer Harry had ever had; the Quidditch World Cup started on July 9th, Harry and Voldemort watched all the matches in their VIP Box.

July 31st was the day that England made it to the top sixteen, which was also Harry's sixteenth birthday, it was also the day that the OWL results were mailed to the students. When the owl came in the afternoon, Harry was too nervous that he was afraid of opening the envelope, which caused a great and long laughter from Voldemort and Nagini. But without question Harry received nine Os.

That night was Harry's birthday party. Voldemort didn't invite any outsiders; only Snape received an invitation. Snape arrived on time for the party, he, Voldemort and Nagini together gave Harry his happiest birthday ever. They sung the birthday song together, blew out the candles together, and together ate the three-layer strawberry cake.

After, they opened the presents; Voldemort gave him a silver silk robe with two rows of buttons made out of light golden pearls, the collar had tiny pearls forming a snake. Nagini's present was a golden snitch; she already received news that Harry would become Slytherin's new Seeker next year. Snape's present was a self-made cologne, lightly scented, very fit for a young man.

Then the two boys began to unwrapped the presents sent from the Death Eaters and had a race of who could unwrap the most presents the fastest.