Disclaimer: Anything recognisable belongs to J.K. Rowling

fhippogriff: Hi! Thanks for the review. H and D didn't run into many people in the paintings just because I thought it would be a hassle at time when I was writing it, so if the teachers did ask many paintings, they wouldn't have seen them. I suppose the reason none of the people they did meet in the paintings recognised Harry and Draco is that most of them aren't really up to date with what's going on in the real world, apart from the one's like the Fat Lady and the portraits in Dumbledore's office. (Or maybe its cos they were drunk :) ...) Good point about the portraits reporting to Dumbledore's though... I hadn't thought about that. I think for the purposes of this story, the paintings might report on the general going ons of the castle, but not about any particular students. If they met H and D, they would just assume they were from some painting, not the real world.

Befread: I would be, eh! Thanks for the review.

Nocturnal Smile: Hey! Glad you're liking it so far. I haven't decided yet if it's possible to get into the paintings by leaning on them, like the way they got out, but I'm leaning towards not. They got in through a special painting that isn't like all the others; Slytherin made it specifically so you could walk through it, and since no one else knows it's a doorway, no one else has ever gotten in. The people in the paintings can't get out because after all, they are just paintings. H and D are actual people who belong in the real world, which is why they could get out the way they did.

Kaeim: Thanks, I'm updating right now!

Leosands: Happy you like it, thanks for reviewing : )

Jensindenial3516: Thanks, here it is!

hplotretc: Thanks for reviewing. Reviews are what keep me going :) I intend to keep updating fairly quickly, but when uni starts back i might slow down a bit. Of course, i'm pretty slack with uni work, so there is a strong chance that won't happen. :)

.oOo.11.oOo.

Thirty Points Apiece

The next day, Harry walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast. He sat, noticing that many students were commenting on the loss of points from both Gryffindor and Slytherin. He cringed, shooting an apologetic look at his housemates as he explained to Hermione and is dormitory buddies.

"I've got detention for a week, too." He left out the part about being banned from Quidditch, as he thought Ron might choke on his breakfast. It was entirely too harsh a punishment, he thought, for disappearing for a day.



Harry couldn't wait for his first class of Ancient Runes. The only problem was that he had to wait all day, runes being the very last class. First up, he had Transfiguration, and they were moving on to another topic that Harry was quite interested in – Human to animal transfigurations. This was mostly a theoretical subject as past students had been horribly deformed by spells gone wrong when practicing with partners. The topic also covered animagi, which was the part Harry was most interested in. He had forgotten all about the book he had found in the chamber and made a point of reminding himself to look at it.

"This is a particularly trying subject," said McGonagall. "I do not want anyone transfiguring noses into beaks or skin into scales as a practical joke. We shall only be practicing one at a time so that I can monitor all spells attempted. This topic will only run for a few weeks before we move on to the next topic. What we learn this year will of course be a precursor to more complicated transfigurations in your seventh year." She gave the class a stern look, her lips pursed, before lecturing them on the theory behind minor changes to facial structure.

oOo

After Transfiguration, Harry and Hermione left for potions, arriving with others from transfiguration to find the door locked and the rest of the class waiting outside. Harry, Hermione and Seamus joined Terry and Hannah, leaning against the damp dungeon wall. The class had already grown smaller. Apparently, Snape had been less then pleased with Millicent's performance in the class and they were now one Slytherin down.

Suddenly he heard a jeering voice to his right.

"No, that's not what it is! And you in NEWT levels, too! I must say, the standards in this school have certainly dropped since I was here, but then again, I Serenius Mobrey was a talented student."

Harry turned to see Goyle and Pansy conversing with the picture of the student brewer, when he remembered that he now knew what the potion was. Grinning victoriously, he moved over with the rest of the class, who were observing the guessing game between the Slytherins and the brewer. He exchanged a look with Malfoy, who scowled at him, obviously still upset about being banned from Quidditch.

Harry pushed to the front of the small crowd just as Malfoy got there. Malfoy said in a smug tone, "So, Mobrey, might I have a guess at what the potion might be?"

Mobrey eyed Malfoy appraisingly, then grinned cheerfully. "I suppose, but the odds of you getting it are slim to none, I'd say. The last person to guess what I've been brewing was your own Potions Master."

"What did he guess?" asked Hannah.

"Shrinking Solution."

"Is that what it is now?" asked Terry.



"Of course not! I began a new brew once the answer had been guessed. Why would I make the same thing twice? How utterly ridiculous!"

"So you've been brewing the same potion for what, twenty years or something? Isn't that kind of ridiculous?" retorted Terry

Mobrey stuck his nose in the air. "I do other things with my time. Besides, if I kept changing it then no one would ever get it, would they?" The young man focussed on Malfoy. "Now, young chap, what was your guess?"

Malfoy threw a glance at Harry and smirked. "What do you think, Potter? An Everlasting Elixir perhaps?" Harry was surprised Malfoy was letting him in on it, but pleased.

"I think you might be right there, Malfoy," he replied in a musing kind of voice, as though thinking it over. "Perhaps some kind of aging potion?"

"Hmm... yes, the one that strengthens with time."

Then they both turned to the brewer and said together; "Grapman's Solution?"

Serenius Mobrey's eyes were wide, a comical expression of shock on his young, boyish face. "How...how?" he stuttered as Harry and Malfoy chuckled lightly.

"You couldn't possibly have known that!" he huffed.

"How did you know, Harry?" asked Hermione.

"I think we'd all like to know that," supplied Pansy, directing this at Malfoy who was looking atrociously smug, and replied with a shrug.

"Well," sneered a cool voice from behind them. "It appears I have actually taught you something this year after all. Congratulations Draco, Mr. Potter. Thirty points apiece."

Harry stared open mouthed at the Potions Master. Snape had just awarded him points?

"Oh, close your mouth, Potter. I've no interest in learning what you had for breakfast." He turned away to unlock the classroom door. "It is tradition that whoever guesses the potion Mr. Mobrey is brewing gets sixty points for his or her house. Seeing as you guessed between you, it's thirty each."

"Well, it only took over fifteen years for someone to guess. Not bad in my opinion," said Mobrey haughtily, as though offended that someone had guessed. Suddenly a look of boyish enthusiasm and trickery crossed his face and he gave them all a brilliant smile.

The class watched as he performed an 'Evanesco' on the contents of the cauldron. "Let's see how long it takes you all this time." With that, he turned to the table behind him and started chopping ingredients, looking suspiciously over his shoulder and edging closer to shield the table from view.

Members of the class rolled their eyes before congratulating either Harry or Malfoy and going in to the classroom.



Harry moved closer to the painting, straining to see the dark blackboard. Beside him, Malfoy was doing the same. He could just make out dusty white smears on the board where his and Malfoy's names had been, the only sign left of their trip into the world of paintings. Mobrey must have rubbed them out at some stage, for there was now a list of Potions ingredients listed on the board. "Next time, we'll have to leave our mark on something not so easy to destroy."

His only response was a disbelieving snort from Malfoy as he stalked into the classroom.

oOo

At lunch Seamus was relaying to the other Gryffindors how Harry had guessed the potion.

"Good on ya, mate!" said Ron.

"Yeah well, at least I've earned back half the points I lost yesterday."

"Don't worry about it. McGonagall's a sour old woman and Snape's always had it in for you. You didn't deserve to get all those points taken off if you ask me." His other friends nodded their heads in agreement, though Hermione scowled at Ron's characterisation of their head of house who was, generally a very fair and friendly teacher.

"We'll win it all back in Quidditch points, anyway," said Ron. Harry was about to tell them that he had been banned from Quidditch indefinitely, but he was saved from doing so by the bell for class. Feeling somewhat relieved, Harry trudged off to herbology with Neville, Seamus and Dean.

Walking to the greenhouse, Harry was reminded of the gift from Neville. "By the way Nev, thanks for the plant. I can always count on you for something different."

"Have you named it yet, Harry? Plants flourish and perform better with emotional care you know."

"Well, I was thinking that Ron or Seamus would be quite fitting, but it might get a bit confusing."

Neville chortled, and Harry chuckled, but Dean and Seamus just looked on with confusion on their faces.

"I guess I'll have to think about it a bit more."

oOo

After herbology, a spare, lunch and another spare, it was finally time for his first ancient runes lesson. Harry had been hoping he would be in Hermione's class, but unfortunately she had Care of Magical Creatures in this timeslot. Ancient Runes was an obscure subject, but it was reasonably popular because it could be used in many fields from healing to spell making. Because of this, there were two classes so that anyone with a clash could still do it. This also had the added benefit of making the class reasonably small.

He arrived at the class to find he was one of the first there, and took a seat at the back to watch the other students arrive. He wondered if Malfoy was in this class. It wasn't as if they were friends, but at least he would know someone. Eventually, everyone arrived. Malfoy was indeed in the class, 

along with Blaise Zabini. The class was mostly made up of Ravenclaws however, and no Hufflepuffs. Harry himself was the only Gryffindor, probably because most of the Gryffindors in his year had elected to do Care of Magical Creatures.

Professor Babbling was a scholarly-looking middle aged witch with shoulder length brown hair and a kind, round face. "Since we have a new student in the class, I will be giving a brief overview of what we'll be doing this year before we continue on with the new topic." She turned to the board and wrote as she spoke. "We will be starting this term with intermediate interpreting of the basic Futhark Alphabet. This will of course continue as we focus on particular subjects throughout the year. The second topic will cover logograms. After a few weeks we will look at the Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs before moving on to a very basic look at different versions of the runic alphabet. These include Gothic Runes, Anglo-Saxon Futhork, Medieval Futhork, etcetera. Following that, we will discuss the fields in which runes are useful to us today. Though their use has largely died out, those who still know them are found to be more powerful in their protection spells, more successful in their healing, more correct in their divination. The list goes on, but no matter what you choose as your career, whether it be spellmaker, medi-wizard, potions master, auror or artist, you will find a use for ancient runes. The final topic will be again studying intermediate interpreting, with a research project of your own where you will find and decipher a large piece of text. I would hope all of you have Spellman's Syllabary by now. Mr. Potter, you will have to buy these books or you will find it very difficult to get on in this class. Some sort of rune dictionary is always helpful, and the recommended text for this year is Advanced Rune Translation."

Harry thoroughly enjoyed the class. He understood a little from his reading over the holidays, but he still had a lot of catching up to do. Even so, he was highly interested in the topic, and because of this he found it was easy to pay attention and pick things up.

oOo

This term, Harry had Occlumency lesson on Monday and Thursday nights, and Saturday mornings. He had Quidditch practices on Saturday afternoons. He was not looking forward to telling his team he had been banned, but he knew they had to start training up their reserve seeker a bit more in case McGonagall made him miss the first match.

Ginny was of course the reserve seeker, and their reserve chaser to take her place would be Seamus. He told Seamus that night that he would be playing in Gryffindor's first match if his ban wasn't lifted.

"I can't believe McGonagall banned you! She loves to win! Bit of a harsh punishment I reckon, taking points, detentions and banning you from Quidditch."

That then reminded Harry that he was nearly late for his first detention and he trudged down to McGonagall's office, wondering what was in store for him. He knocked on the door and heard her call out. "Enter!"

He pushed open the door and walked over to stand in front of the professor's desk. "I'm here for detention, professor."

"Good. Mr. Malfoy will be joining us shortly and you will be writing lines for this evening."



Harry didn't think that was so bad and he took a seat, pulling quill and parchment from his bag.

That night, he spent an hour writing 'I will not leave school grounds without permission' before McGonagall mercifully let them go.

oOo

Wednesday morning as Harry was sitting quietly eating, Hermione let out a noise of anger.

"What is it?" asked Harry. She shoved the paper at Harry, and Ron leaned over his shoulder to read it too. The headline read 'Lucius Malfoy Released from Azkaban' and below that, in slightly smaller writing, 'By Order of the Minister.'

Harry straightened the paper angrily, as Ron read part of the article out loud.

"Lucius Malfoy has been cleared of all charges filed against him. The Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge declared Mr. Malfoy free after reviewing the facts of the case in a trial last Monday evening. Mr. Malfoy was cleared of being a Death Eater in the first rising of You-Know-Who after claiming to have been under the effects of the Imperius Curse. As to being found at the Ministry of Magic when it came to light that You-Know-Who had in fact returned, Mr. Malfoy was cleared of any wrongdoing. His defence lawyer commented to the press briefly: "Mr. Malfoy is a senior Ministry employee. The Ministry is his place of work, and he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Can we really punish a man for putting in a night at the office?"
Mr. Malfoy has been offered a public apology and a generous amount in compensation for his time in Azkaban.

The Daily Prophet would like to apologise to Mr. Malfoy on behalf of the wizarding public, and declare also that any statement previously made by this office were not the personal opinion of this publication or its writers."

"What a load of shite! Wrong place at the wrong time, my arse!" yelled Ron, and several of their housemates nodded in agreement.

Harry looked over to the Slytherin side of the room and scowled. Malfoy was smirking, a smug look on his pale, aristocratic face. "We won't be able to shut Malfoy up now," he said, and the others turned to look as well.

Harry perused the rest of the paper. There had been a small Death Eater attack, but no one had been killed, just damage to property.

Harry left breakfast in a particularly foul mood and went straight to the chamber. Wednesday was a free day for him, so he wasn't missing any classes and none of his friends would notice that he wasn't around either. He was sorely tempted to go and get his book back from Snape's quarters now, even if Malfoy might be blamed, but he didn't want to risk Malfoy blabbing about the Chamber just to spite him.



Instead, he took out a book on Ancient Runes from a shelf in the library and, feeling a little rebellious, a book on the Dark Arts which he put aside for when he had completed his homework.

After runes and charms essays were completed, he took a look at the book. It was medium sized, leather-bound like most of the books in the library and the gilded title read 'Dark Arts and their Defence.' It turned out to be an interesting and informative read. It didn't have much history behind any of the spells, but it listed curses and their respective counter-curses one by one. Surely there was no harm in reading a book like this if it was for defence? He wrote down a few spells and their counters before attempting to practice some of them. The article about Malfoy that morning had reminded him of the fight at the Ministry, and he wondered if he could find the cutting curse that Dolohov had used. He hadn't heard it, but the effects were quite easy to remember. It seemed to have been a favourite of the Death Eaters, and he wanted to make sure he knew the correct counter-spell or shield for next time.

He spent a while searching, writing down a few possibilities before he decided it was time for lunch.

He apparated to the kitchens and back, again noticing the slight draining feel. It wasn't nearly as bad as when he had collapsed, but it made him feel a little uneasy. He didn't think the pendant was dangerous, not sucking a little bit of his life energy every time he used it or anything, but it was disconcerting that he didn't know precisely how it worked. The only thing he could think of was that it took a fair bit of magic to make it work because it had to overcome the apparition wards that surrounded Hogwarts. While in Hogwarts, it could supplement his magic with that of the castle's, but when he was outside of the castle, it used up all his magical energy, and so he had collapsed until his levels had been replenished.

It seemed a feasible enough explanation, and as long as it wasn't hurting him, he was happy to continue using it.

oOo

That night, Harry had one of his worst dreams yet. Now that everyone was really starting to believe that Voldemort had returned, the man apparently saw no reason to keep people in the dark, and was outdoing himself famously in the 'torment and kill' department.

On this particular night, Harry watched through the eyes of Voldemort's large snake, Nagini, as his Death Eaters performed the Cruciatus on a muggle family. The smell of blood caught his senses as his tongue flicked the air, and he slowly slithered forward, seeing the terror in the eyes of the three children and their parents. He struck suddenly, clamping powerful jaws around the neck and shoulder of the father, sinking his fangs deep into the man's body. He struck again and again, ripping the man's flesh and drawing blood with each bite. The man fell limp and his screams died as his poison did its job, and Harry woke screaming in pain when Voldemort pulled his mind from the body of the snake.

Harry slapped a hand to his head, trembling with the pain and his breath ragged. His dorm mates were all awake, Ron beside his bed. "Harry mate, you alright?"



"Nightmare," he grunted. "Sorry to wake you guys up."

Ron leaned closer and said quietly, "vision?"

Harry shrugged. "Same as usual. Don't worry about it." He sat up as Ron went back to his bed, still cast concerned glances at Harry.

There was no way he was going back to sleep after that and as soon as Ron had pulled his curtains, Harry stood and went down to the common room. He couldn't remember if he had cleared his mind before trying to sleep. He thought not, given the intensity of the vision, even though it had become a routine for him. Harry tried to banish the bloody images from his mind, but they were emblazoned across his eyeballs, and he could see them whether he had his eyes open or closed.

He whiled away the hours till dawn staring blankly into the fire and desperately trying to stay awake. He was tired, but he knew that if he went back to sleep there would be no respite there.

oOo

Thankfully he had a short day, only charms and potions before lunch, and he spent the morning looking forward to lunch when he could get some sleep. He feigned through charms and did atrociously in potions, earning a severe glare and an insult from Snape, but he couldn't wait to get out of there. As soon as Snape has evanescoed his potion and he had cleaned up his work station, he fled the dungeon and made his way to Gryffindor Tower.

He threw his books down and collapsed on the bed, but sleep was not to come. From the common room he could hear shrieks and giggles from the younger students, and he sighed exasperatedly before storming down the stairs and out the portrait hole. He went straight to the chamber, only realising when he was standing in the library that he should have just used the pendant.

He headed straight to the room of requirement, and there instantly appeared the most enormous and luxurious bed Harry had ever laid eyes on. It was a huge wooden thing, beautifully carved, and the sheets were crisp and white. He collapsed into it, pulling all the blankets over him, and fell asleep instantly.

...

When Harry woke the sun was just setting, and he apparated to a corridor that was frequently deserted before walking the rest of the way to the Great Hall.

"Hey Harry, how were classes?"

Harry gave an indifferent wave of his hand as he reached for a jug of pumpkin juice. "Oh, you know, they were alright. I made a mess in potions, but who doesn't every now and then, eh?"

Neville grinned. "I know it better than anyone, I reckon."

Harry returned the grin and tucked in to his meal.



oOo

After dinner, Harry left for detention with Snape. He found Snape in his office and knocked tentatively.

"Come in," came Snape's imperious tone.

Harry took a seat in front of the desk without waiting for an invitation. Snape scowled but didn't say anything, continuing to write whatever he was writing.

After a minute he finished and looked up at Harry.

"What are Malfoy and I going to be doing sir?"

"Mr. Malfoy has been given the night off from detention. You and I will be having an Occlumency lesson. I trust you have not forgotten what little you learned last term?"

"No sir."

"Have you been clearing your mind each night as I said to do?"

"Yes. It doesn't seem to be working though."

Snape frowned, resting his fingertips together thoughtfully. "How do you mean?"

"I've been having more dreams than ever."

"Is that perhaps the reason for your abysmal performance in class this morning?"

"Well I wasn't exactly feeling up to par," said Harry, getting a little annoyed.

Snape tisked, annoying Harry further, and Snape smirked as if realising that his attitude was irking Harry. "No need to be so snarky, Mr. Potter."

Harry snorted. You can talk.

"We shall begin, then. Stand up, wand out. Same as usual, I will penetrate your mind and you will... attempt to expel me, by any means necessary."

Harry stood and prepared himself, and suddenly there were images rolling across his vision. He was at dinner, chatting with Neville... joking with him on the way to Herbology... he was sinking his fangs into a bloodied body that screamed and jerked...

Harry found himself on the floor, bile rising in his throat at the memory of his last dream.

"I take it that is one of your more recent visions?"

Harry nodded, gulping fresh air as he got to his feet. "Last night."



"Well, your performance tonight is woefully lacking, I can tell that already. We shall end it here and see how you do on Saturday morning. Do not be late."

"But sir, we only had one try..."

"Potter, you are clearly not up for it tonight and unless you want to be scrubbing cauldrons, I would suggest you leave now."

Harry sighed, though he was relieved to be going. He took one last look at Snape before he shut the door behind him. The potions master was turning to the fireplace, throwing floo powder into the glowing flames.

'Probably going to have a lovely little chat with the headmaster about my woefully lacking performance' thought Harry sarcastically.

oOo

Hi guys : )

For anyone wondering if Harry's going to get a girlfriend, i haven't really decided yet. To be quite honest, I get bored by reading romances, so I don't think I'd be particularly good at writing anything like that, but let me know what you think... if there's an overwhelming amount of people that want some mush, i could probably be persuaded to write some.

Of course, that means you'll have to review...