Time and Again

Author's Note: Thanks everyone for all the reviews! This is officially the story with the most reviews out of all my stories now. Sorry if I missed replying to you last chapter. I got interrupted and forgot who I'd already sent replies to.

Mixed reactions to Slughorn's death, which was good. I was worried everyone was going to say it was ridiculous. Frankly I thought it was more ridiculous that with Harry missing, the poison would still have gone to Ron. I could have perhaps saved Slughorn, but I thought it was too neat.

And here's where this story starts to earn its rating, launching from a tidbit from a couple of chapters ago that I'm not sure anyone caught because they didn't mention it in a review.

Chapter 12 - Luck

April 1945

The rest of March passed frightfully quickly when Harry stopped to think about it. He'd spent every waking moment with Tom, oblivious to the stares and comments of the other students. He did notice, however, Headmaster Dippet's knowing expression and took care to avoid it at mealtimes.

Harry began sharing more of his secrets, unwittingly. If Tom was his boyfriend, they should share experiences like those he'd had with Ron and Hermione, minus all the drama. They sat in the kitchens together, where Harry taught Tom the right way to get the house elves to do anything for you, and one time Harry even showed Tom the secret passage into Honeydukes' cellar. When Harry actually thought about it, it was a really stupid thing to do because while he and the twins would be likely to sneak out for harmless reasons- buying sweets or pranking supplies- Tom would sneak out for bloodbaths and murdering supplies.

Harry couldn't take it back, but the guilt lay heavily on him, causing him to become irritable. He couldn't keep himself away from Tom, but at times he couldn't stand to be near him, either. At least, reasoned Harry, the more time he spent with Tom the less likely the Slytherin was to get up to mischief.

Harry hadn't, however, shown Tom the Room of Requirement. That was too magical. He wanted to keep that his secret, the ace up his sleeve for times when he couldn't stand Tom. It was the place that connected him to Ron and Hermione. Though his letters were infrequent and probably not detailed enough, they were his only link to the future. To his real friends. His real home. His real time.

It was no surprise, really, that the pair soon had another argument. It was as though every thought they'd put to the side came back to haunt them. Harry was only surprised that it happened the way it did.

"When I finish Hogwarts I want you to come with me," said Tom. "There isn't really much point in you staying here. They aren't going to give you your NEWTs when they don't know how you've gone on your OWLs."

Harry wasn't sure how to respond to that. It was wrong on so many levels. "Who says they won't let me take them? There isn't much point in letting me stay now if they don't."

"But you don't need to take them," said Tom.

"Why? Because you're going to provide for me and let you be my trophy husband?" Harry would never let Tom do that. Not even if he agreed with whatever way he earned his money.

"What?" Tom was confused. "I'm not talking about marriage."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better? I won't be your kept man."

"You already know what I'm going to become. You won't want for anything."

"If you think I'm going to stick around while you torture people to death you've got another thing coming."

"What?" said Tom again. Harry hadn't known he could be so ineloquent.

"I mean," said Harry. "I'm going to find a way to get back to where I belong. And NEWTs will help me accomplish that." Harry knew he had to make it back somehow. He thought he would have heard of himself in a history book if that happened. He'd just begun to accept that whatever he did here had already happened in his time.

"So you're just going to leave me here?"

"Like you said," said Harry. "I know what's going to happen and I've never heard of myself before."

"You can't just leave." Tom's eyes flashed red.

"You don't want me to go home, is that it?"

"I want you to stay here with me. I thought you would want to stay with me."

"I don't belong here,' said Harry. "This isn't right."

"Well maybe in the future you do leave. Maybe that's why I turn out as evil as you think I am."

"Are you blackmailing me?" Harry was incredulous. It was emotional blackmail.

"All I know is that since you've been here everything has started revolving around you. I hadn't even thought about alll the plans I'd made for after Hogwarts. It's all you."

Harry thawed a little. That was exactly how he felt about Tom. "I'm sorry," said Harry. "I thought you'd realised this wasn't permanent. I didn't think you'd care."

"Care about you? Of course I do."

"You have a funny way of showing it. I can never tell if you like me for me or just because I'm from the future and can tell you things more clearly than a Seer."

"Because I'm just a machine, right?" said Tom, anticipating Harry's words. "I don't have any feelings."

"Of course you have feelings," said Harry. "Just... not good ones."

Riddle took a deep breath. "You've never come out and said anything about how you're feeling, either. You didn't tell me you didn't think you'd be here permanently. It's like you've been stringing me along. If you weren't so frigid I'd think you were using me."

Harry baulked. "You think I'm frigid? I didn't realise you were such a slut."

"I've had to make every first move between us," said Tom. "And you've been uncomfortable with all of them."

"Is that supposed to be my fault? Because I don't throw myself at you like every whore in this school?"

"I don't expect you to be like them. I wouldn't want you if you did. But I do expect you to act like you want to be with me."

"Have you ever heard the saying 'Actions speak louder than words'?"

"So you don't want to be with me?"

"I'm saying that it's difficult for me to get my head around you and time and dark magic. And besides that, has it never occurred to you that you're my first boyfriend? My first real relationship, actually."

Tom was visibly surprised.

Harry felt like crying, but thought that was acting too much like a girl. "You really do think I'm a slut," he said.

Tom quickly pulled Harry into a hug. Harry let him. "I should have asked more about you and less about the future. I forgot that a relationship isn't all about me."

Harry collapsed into Tom, a few silent tears escaping him. Tom was being a person. A person whom Harry was going to have difficulty leaving. The pressure of the whole situation got to him and he sobbed on Tom's shoulder. For his part, Tom held Harry and didn't ask any more questions.

x x x

Things were almost too easy between Harry and Tom after that. They started really talking. A lot. And then there was the making out. They had only gotten to hands under shirts because Harry wasn't comfortable taking that any farther. He was still a virgin and part of him still really wanted to hold onto that, even though Tom wasn't going to be

That one point did almost sway Harry. Who would he lose his virginity to if he waited until he got back home? It certainly wouldn't be happening any time soon. He'd have to mourn losing Tom first. And after that... would he lose his virginity to someone who wasn't his boyfriend? Slut around like Tom thought he had been?

Harry didn't like thinking about the future. It was a future without Tom. A future filled with Voldemort and violence. And his friends, he missed his friends. He wanted to go back, and he hated the idea of leaving Tom behind but there was nothing else for it.

Over the course of the month they managed to accumulate a few of what Harry privately thought of as their spots. One of them was the floor of Greenhouse Six. The pair of them would sit underneath a canopy of singing vine. Since it was spring, it was only just getting into its groove, singing quietly. By the time summer came around it would be singing louder than a Fwooper, and cause similar effects in anyone listening to it.

Harry had just finished telling the story of how he, Ron and Hermione had become friends. He'd decided to call them Rudolph and Henrietta, and amused himself imagining Ron and Hermione's faces when he told them.

"There are some things you can't help coming out as friends after," said Harry. "Facing down a mountain troll is one of them."

"And that was first year?" said Tom, seeming mildly impressed. Harry did enjoy surprising Tom.

"Yeah," said Harry. On the other hand, Tom probably had much lower standards for Harry than he did for himself.

"In my first year," said Tom. "I went into the Forbidden Forest for the first time and was mauled by a unicorn."

His one sentence story had a wealth of meaning for Harry. He was happy that Tom was telling him a story where he wasn't some great hero. Though Harry sensed that there was more to the story, he was glad Tom had told it. It did, however, remind Harry of his own first journey into the Forbidden Forest- when he and Draco Malfoy had come across Voldemort drinking from a unicorn. Harry wondered if perhaps Voldemort's apathy toward unicorns stemmed from this incident... or if he'd attempted the same as a first year.

"I ran into a unicorn my first time in the forest, too," was all Harry said.

Tom looked out of the greenhouse at the sky. Then he looked at Harry. "Do you want to go there?" he asked with a glint in his eye.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Into the Forest?"

"You're not scared, are you?" asked Tom.

Scared, wasn't the right word for it. Apprehensive, perhaps. "What for?" asked Harry. How long did centaurs live? What if he ran into someone he knew? The centaurs seemed as though they wouldn't be fooled by Harry's scarring. They'd still know it was him. On the other hand, there was no way Aragog could have built up a particularly large family yet.

"Just for fun," said Tom.

The idea of Tom Marvolo Riddle doing anything just for fun amused Harry, so he went along with it. "Sure," he said. "Let's do it."

They walked hand in hand down to the Forest's edge, unseen by anyone else. It looked the same as ever, though there was no Whomping Willow of course, and no passage to the Shrieking Shack because there was no Shrieking Shack, either. When they'd sneaked out to Hogsmeade, Harry was amused to see that the shack was actually somebody's very well-kept home. It was too picturesque and Harry couldn't imagine a werewolf running rampant in it unchecked. He imagined a stern witch would have hit it with a cauldron before it got that far.

The sunlight filtered through the forest's canopy casting a weak glow across everything. It added a rather attractive glow to Tom's complexion. If they weren't in the forest and therefore likely to be attacked at any moment, Harry would have pulled Tom over for a quick snog.

Tom caught him staring and smirked. They paused, and Tom pushed Harry up against the nearest tree, kissing the life out of him.

Harry broke away after a moment. "Do you really want to be mauled by another unicorn?" asked Harry.

Tom shrugged, a laid back smile on his face. He took Harry's hand and they continued their walk through the forest. "Oh look," said Tom, dropping Harry's hand and bending down beside a plant. "Asphodel."

All Harry could see was a plant that grew like rosemary with yellow-green berries. He could dimly remember Snape's voice echoing in his head. Of course Tom would fixate upon a potions ingredient. "Draught of the Living Death?" Harry could remember that being the first of his failed potions back in his Hogwarts with his Slughorn. It had been almost perfect, thanks to the Prince's book, before Malfoy had distracted him.

"The roots are used in that potion," said Tom. He seemed to be bending to dig it up. "It's not native to Britain. I'm surprised it's growing so well here."

That was all well and good, thought Harry. But it was kind of boring. He hadn't pegged Tom for being a herbologist, not even after he'd told the long story of the singing creeper they sat beneath. "You're not actually, stocking up are you?" asked Harry at Tom conjured a small trowel and a few potions vials.

Tom looked at Harry. "Do you know how rare this plant is? I can't even begin to describe the potency differences that occur between dry and fresh. If I don't pick it now I might not get my hands on any of the fresh stuff any time soon." He seemed mesmerised by the plant's promise. Harry rolled his eyes. If he'd wanted to get involved with Snape he would have stayed back in his own time.

"You're not actually going to make Draught of Living Death, are you?" asked Harry. If the fresh stuff was more potent would that mean you could actually kill someone? That was the sort of thing Voldemort would want to test.

Tom looked up at Harry, blinking. "Strictly for educational purposes, of course."

"Of course," Harry agreed. If Tom wanted to get rid of someone he'd just kill them. No need to fuss about with a potion that only gave the appearance of death. "But that's a sixth year potion. I thought you'd be above it."

"There's always more to be learnt," said Tom. He slid the bottles of ingredients he'd collected into his robe pockets. He was still holding something in his hand and popped some into his mouth. "And the fruits taste pretty good too." Tom handed a couple to Harry.

Harry eyed them cautiously, but Tom had eaten them, so they couldn't really be poisonous. He almost spat them out immediately. They did not taste very good. They were exceedingly bitter. He rinsed his mouth out with a little conjured water. The taste was still there.

Tom laughed. "I happen to like them."

Harry shook his head. "That's disgusting. How could you eat those?"

"Delicacies are wasted on you," said Tom. He leaned forward and kissed Harry deeply, his tongue licking the flavour out of the crevices of Harry's mouth. Harry only tasted Tom, glad to be rid of the fruit. They pulled away panting and as always Tom recovered first. "Let's go back," he said, wrapping an arm across Harry's shoulders. Harry thought his suggestion was more to do with his gathered potions ingredients than anything else, but he wasn't complaining.

As they made their way back to the castle, Harry couldn't help but think this was the first good experience he'd ever had in the Forbidden Forest.

x x x

Harry and Tom were in the midst of one of their usual long snog sessions. As always, Tom seemed to want to push it farther, and as always Harry refused to take it anywhere close to having their clothes removed.

Tom couldn't take it any more and he pulled back forcefully, yanking Harry out of his comfortable lust gaze.

"Is something wrong?" asked Harry.

"I should be asking you that," said Tom. "Why don't you want to sleep with me?"

"I do," said Harry quickly, not wanting Tom to get too upset.

"Liar," said Tom, eyes flashing red.

Harry continued. "It's too soon."

"Too soon? Why?"

"Well," said Harry, unsure how to continue. "Because it will be my first time, for one."

Tom rolled his eyes. "I know that."

"How could you know that?" Harry's eyes narrowed.

"Well you did say this was your first real relationship and that you weren't a slut. I chose to believe you."

"What about you, then?" said Harry. "Are you a virgin?"

Tom let out a laugh. "Really?" It was as though virginity was something unsentimental that was best removed as quickly as possible. Harry didn't think like that. He didn't really see the point if there weren't some deeper connection than the carnal.

Harry was unprepared for the rush of jealousy that overtook him. "Who?" he asked before he stopped to wonder why he should care. Tom was older than he was. Voldemort had probably slept with a tonne of men and women, if only to emotionally abuse them. He couldn't be that good looking and not use his looks for seduction.

"A few older Slytherins," said Tom. "You wouldn't know them."

And there was more than one. Of course. Actually, the fact that Harry wouldn't be able to confront these people made Harry suspicious. "I think you're lying."

Tom's eyes flashed in anger, then he became artificially calm. "Only to spare your feelings," he said. "You needn't be ashamed by your own lack of prowess."

The insult almost made Harry want to jump him right then and there, but Harry refrained. "Well they say it's like riding a broom," he said. "And I had that down in my first lesson. By the end of it I was on the Quidditch team."

"You'll find," said Tom. "That the two experiences are very different."

"I will find out one day," said Harry. "But not today."

"Why not?" asked Tom, an almost petulant tone to his voice. Petulant, but dangerous. Like a child with her hand on a bomb's trigger.

"We just can't," said Harry. He couldn't work out how to tell Tom that he didn't want to lose his virginity in the past. That it would be like leaving part of himself behind. How could he say it without being too sentimental? That was the problem with his relationship with Tom. He was forever trying not to get too attached. Even as he fell he couldn't help trying to hang on and slow his descent. It wasn't even about whether or not Tom was evil anymore (because it was so easy to forget that for a moment), only about time and its consequences.

"Am I not good enough for you?" Tom's anger was steadily increasing. Tom had too much pride. "Because of my condition?"

Harry hadn't even thought about what Tom had told him when he'd pretended he was his grandson. "This isn't about you."

"Isn't it? You're refusing to sleep with ME." There was too much emphasis on that last word. Tom was starting to creep over the edge. An edge Harry hadn't seen him near except as Voldemort.

"I'm refusing to sleep with anyone," said Harry.

"Liar," said Tom, filling with rage.

Harry's own anger was solidifying, so much that he didn't care about Tom being angry anymore. "I can't believe you just said that. I thought we were over this."

"Well it's true, isn't it? You are a liar. You're incapable of speaking the truth."

"Because I'm stuck here in the past! I don't want to screw things up."

"It's because you don't trust me," said Tom.

And it was true, Harry didn't trust him. He trusted Tom to be charming and handsome and evil. There was no way that Tom could prove to Harry that he wasn't. "Because you're Tom Marvolo Riddle. You're fucking Lord Voldemort!"

"But you won't," said Tom, cold-blooded. "You won't fuck Lord Voldemort."

Harry's anger faded in the face of that truth. He couldn't sleep with Tom because he would never sleep with Voldemort.

"Am I so repulsive to you?" asked Tom.

"No," said Harry immediately.

"Then prove it," said Tom, coming closer to Harry, unbuttoning his shirt so that Harry could see his marble pale chest, and the glint of the ouroboros pendent that was a promise.

Harry's two sides fought against each other violently. He almost gave up and gave in- almost succumbed. But he didn't. "I shouldn't have to."

Tom raged, and Harry clutched his wand, ready to defend himself. "You won't have sex with me because you think I'm impotent."

Tom was too self-absorbed. Harry couldn't even argue with him when he was like this. "If you're going to be like this, I'm leaving," he said, walking away. Tom didn't even make a move to stop him.

x x x

Harry was up in his dorm sitting on his bed pretending to study. Abe and Mihail were downstairs in the common room and Etienne was studying on his own bed. Instead, Harry was thinking about Tom and their most recent argument. It was unsettling leaving an argument behind, but Tom wasn't behaving rationally. You can't argue with a crazy person. It made sense to set it aside for a moment. But Harry was resisting the urge to go looking for Tom and apologising even though he hadn't done anything wrong. He didn't want to be in an argument. Harry sighed.

Etienne looked at Harry pityingly and Harry tried to pretend it was because he couldn't find a homework answer. "Where is snailwort most likely to be found?"

"Arid sections of the Western United States of America. Best picked at dawn," said Etienne mechanically.

Harry wrote that down, even though he suspected he was meant to know more about it than that.

There was a knock on the door and then it opened. To Harry's surprise it wasn't one of his roommates or another Gryffindor, but instead Tom. Harry brightened immediately. Tom must have calmed down if he was seeking Harry out like this.

"Excuse me," said Tom to Etienne politely. "Do you mind leaving us alone?" He used his most charming smile on Etienne.

The French boy didn't fall for it. He looked at Harry for a hint.

"Please, Etienne," said Harry. "We really need to talk."

Etienne conceded. "I'll be in the library," he said, gathering his things and leaving.

Harry swept his books into his trunk and shut it, as Tom shut and locked the door behind Etienne. When Harry looked up, Tom was no longer smiling.

He frowned at Harry. "I'll show you who's impotent." He uncorked a potions vial and downed the red liquid.

"What was that?" Harry asked nervously.

Tom didn't answer the question. A sinister smile crept onto his face and he stepped toward Harry on the bed, divesting himself of his outer robe. He slid his shoes off and joined Harry on the bed. "Hello Evan," he said silkily.

"Hello Tom," said Harry. "Why are you here?"

"I thought it was obvious, Evan," he said, loosening his Slytherin tie.

Tom leaned forward and kissed Harry. Harry found himself lying on his back at Tom's mercy. Though he told himself that he shouldn't let Tom so close until they'd resolved their earlier disagreement, Harry was quickly forgetting what they'd argued about and losing himself in the sensations.

Somehow Tom had gotten Harry's shirt off and was working on his trousers. Harry thought it really was rather too warm for those and he helped by lifting his hips off the bed. His fingertips found the buttons of Tom's shirt, but Tom pushed Harry's hand lower, to the button on Tom's trousers. Dimly, Harry thought that was fair enough. His own pants were off. Then Harry's hand slid beneath Tom's underpants and he was holding Tom's very large, very long, length.

Harry drew back quickly and remembered. In all their make out sessions, Harry had never once felt Tom gain an erection. He'd never asked or been offended, figuring it was the result of whatever it was that had caused him to be unable to have children. Yet Tom was hard now, and Harry guessed it was the effect of the potion. Perhaps he should have mentioned it, maybe then they wouldn't be here now.

Harry scooted back from Tom, drawing up his knees. "No. We're not doing this now."

The words, of course, enraged Tom. Harry expected Tom to fume and yell. He did not expect Tom to forcefully pull his legs away from his chest and kneel on them, immobilising him. He did not expect Tom to grab his wrists (again!) and leave him defenceless. "Tom!" he protested again.

Tom bit down on one of Harry's nipples. "I said I was going to show you," he said, sounding sort of detached.

Harry was terrified and furious, reminded of Voldemort's rebirth when he'd been held hostage in a graveyard. He struggled against Tom but the other boy seemed super-human. Harry couldn't budge an inch. He never should have trusted Tom. Shouldn't have fallen for him. Shouldn't have let him get this close. Should have listened to Etienne. And now, thought Harry, his eyes not drifting from the sight of Tom's engorged dick. Now Tom was going to rape him. He was going to rip his virginity from him.

No, thought Harry. He wasn't going to let Voldemort win. He never had before and he wasn't about to start now.

At the moment Tom seemed more focused on foreplay, thankfully. Harry forced himself to calm down. Tom couldn't know how terrified his was. It wouldn't work if he did. As Tom sucked on one of his nipples, Harry moaned. "Oh, Tom..." He gasped for breath, made his voice too breathy and husky. He could do this. He just had to ignore the pain in his legs and his wrists. If he did it almost felt good. He moaned some more for good measure, struggling toward instead of against Tom. "Yes! Tom!"

Tom smirked, releasing Harry's wrists. Actually, it was more than a smirk. He was smiling. "I knew you'd see it my way."

Harry didn't stop to think what that meant and continued with his show. "Oh! Yes! Mmm..." He made sure Tom's eyes were away from his hand as he slid it beneath his pillow. With the other he drew Tom in for a kiss. And then he felt familiar holly beneath his fingertips and brought it out, still kissing Tom. At the last second he disengaged. "Stupefy."

Tom's dead weight fell against him all at once, and it took all of Harry's remaining strength to roll him off. Harry turned his back on him and hugged his pillow to himself. He cried, the pillow absorbing everything.

x X X x

April 1997

It was scary how easily everyone recovered from Slughorn's death. Hermione guessed that that was what war did to you. Desensitised. Security measures were tightened. Students were banned from receiving anything that wasn't a piece of paper. The grounds were off limits unless chaperoned by a teacher. They thought about cancelling Quidditch, too, but instead made it mandatory for all students to attend. They didn't want anyone unsupervised (or at least unaccompanied) at any time. Hermione thought it was all too little too late.

Outside of Hogwarts, Voldemort seemed to have claimed credit for the murder, though no Dark Mark had been cast. He stepped up his raids on Muggle towns, keen on exposing magic to them and generally terrorising the British populace. Whatever Voldemort's next big strike was going to be, it was definitely coming soon. Ron wasn't so sure that whatever it was wouldn't be the end of the war. He only hoped Harry would be back before then, regardless of what Dumbledore thought. Ron knew something would be up before the school year was over.

Dumbledore, in his infinite wisdom, hadn't given up on educating Hermione and Ron on the life and times of Tom Riddle. He had, of course, had to give up any hope of the two of them wheedling the memory out of Slughorn. The man was gone and so was the memory. But even Hermione couldn't help pitying him when she saw how tired he looked, how worn and haggard. How hopeless. Hermione knew he was waiting for Harry to return just as they were. In the meantime all he could do was try to get rid of as many of Voldemort's horcruxes as he could.

Hermione was a little disgruntled to find they'd be entering a house elf's memory, but its importance was soon clear. "The cup," she said once the were all out. "And Slytherin's locket." It was the first time they were seeing Riddle post-Harry. He looked as dead and hopeless as Dumbledore did, though he hid it better behind his youth and charm.

"I believe they are now horcruxes," said Dumbledore.

That was two more to look for. That left only two more unaccounted.

"What do you think his last two are?" asked Hermione.

"As you just saw," said Dumbledore. "He obtained two Hogwarts founders' artefacts, what he deemed worthy receptacles for pieces of his soul. It seems likely that his last two would also once belong to the founders."

"Surely nothing else still exists," said Ron. "It's amazing he found two, even if the locket should have been passed to him in the beginning."

"On the contrary," said Dumbledore. "Harry has of course mentioned Gryffindor's sword."

"There's no way that's a horcrux."

"Quite right. So it seems more likely that Voldemort used something of Ravenclaw's and something else entirely." Dumbledore explained his theory about his last horcrux and Harry's death, and what he thought it was now.

Hermione and Ron shivered. What if Voldemort had succeeded in killing Harry so long ago? They wouldn't be here to have this conversation. They'd probably never be friends.

"Now," said Dumbledore. "As you will see in this next memory, Voldemort made a return to Hogwarts ten years later for reasons unknown."

The three of them dove into the memory.

"Do you think there might be one in Hogwarts?" asked Hermione.

"If there is," said Dumbledore. "It is well hidden. "I think it more likely he wanted to collect something to use."

Hermione and Ron mulled that over.

"I think," said Dumbledore. "That this is all that can be gleaned of the matter of Tom Riddle's evolution into Voldemort. We needn't view memories of the atrocities he committed to know that they affected his soul."

x x x

On the twenty-first of April, Aragog died. Hagrid sent Hermione and Ron a rather distressed message, but they both agreed that they couldn't sneak out to see Hagrid. They did, however, stop by to see him for a moment before they had to leave for their apparition test.

The school had thought about cancelling the test altogether, but apparition was a useful skill to have and it was better that they be licensed. There were several Ministry personnel available for supervision as well as most of the teachers who would have been taking the sixth years at the time. The rest remained with those who were too young, the way Harry would have been.

Absently Ron wondered if Harry was learning how to apparate as well. Harry hadn't mentioned anything in his letters, though he and Hermione hadn't received one in some time. Then again, Harry was meant to be hiding the fact that he had his wand at all, so he probably wasn't participating.

Ron imagined that if Harry were here where he was supposed to be, they both would have struggled with the spell. Hermione had managed it too easily. On this day, Ron had only managed to apparate twice. Only once had he landed in the right place. It didn't help that extra apparition lessons had been cancelled after Slughorn's death. Ron had been looking forward to the extra help.

The exams took place in the Ministry's Hogsmeade office, a shabby, little-used place. Everyone was to wait outside the testing room and one by one the students went in determined and came out with grins or disappointed looks. Surprisingly, the Patil twins showed up, having not been seen by anyone since March.

"Actually," Ron overheard Parvati telling Lavender. "Being at home we've been allowed to practise a lot more than at Hogwarts."

Lavender, Ron knew, hadn't yet been able to apparate successfully. She looked like she was about to erupt in jealousy. In an attempt to make Parvati the same Lavender spoke at length about how lovely her dorm room was now that she and Hermione had extra space, how lessons were more private and about what Professor Trelawney had confided in her.

Since they were being called in alphabetical order, it was soon Lavender's turn to enter the examination room. She entered with her head held eye and exited ten minutes later looking rather dejected. Parvati tried to comfort her but it was useless. The worst part was that having now failed, she still had to wait around for everyone else to finish as they would travel in a group to the castle. However, she was in good company when Seamus came out.

Hermione passed of course, exiting the room with a self-satisfied smile on her face. Ron hugged and kissed her in congratulations, though he was still concerned about his own test. Dean went in and came out with a frown that turned out to be a tease. He'd passed. And then it was Ron's turn. The last face he saw before he went in was Snape's strangely comforting familiar frown.

Once Ron was inside, he was surprised to see how many examiners were in the room. No one who came out had spoken about what went on in the room, knowing it wasn't exactly fair. It was probably a good idea, though, because he was bound to splinch himself. They explained that he had to apparate without splinching three times, in increasing distances, and if he failed once the test was over. He'd heard it before as Hermione was quite determined to know everything about the format of the test before showing up.

The three distances were: within the room, to a room downstairs, and one outside in Hogsmeade. Actually, the one downstairs was of most concern to Ron because he'd never seen it before. Before each of the first two jumps, he forgot about the three Ds and instead focused on how disgusted with him Snape would look if he failed. After all, he'd been getting quite good at the rest of the non-verbal spells he'd tried.

The first was fine. On the second Ron wobbled a little, but they accepted it. On the third, Ron visualised the landing and apparated right in front of the waiting examiner. Ron was elated. The examiner smiled at him and marked Ron's name with his wand. "Congratulations. You passed." Having passed, he was allowed to apparate back to the exam room, and exit with a big grin on his face.

x x x

When Ron and Hermione got back to the castle after the apparition test, Neville was waiting for them. The common rooms and dorms remained the only places students could be unsupervised in.

"How did it go?" he asked.

Ron grinned. "I passed!"

Neville was secretly glad that he wasn't old enough to take the exam yet. He didn't think he was ready yet. He needed the extra three months. "Congratulations," he said, pleased for his friend.

"I did too," said Hermione. "But Seamus didn't, so you'd best not mention it to him."

Neville nodded. He knew what that felt like.

Then there was a surprise entry into the Gryffindor common room.

"Katie!" exclaimed Ron with excitement. Half of him was pleased, glad that she was healthy, and back so that he didn't have to deal with Dean and Ginny anymore. The other half of him was less so, reminded that now he didn't have to deal with the rest of the team either as his reign as Quidditch captain was over.

"How's our team?" Katie asked Ron, after an initial rush of quick greetings, back slaps and hugs.

"Won one. Lost one. We're going to beat Ravenclaw by 170 to win the cup."

Katie grinned. "You've done such a great job."

"Well we had a good team."

"Yeah," said Katie. "And it seems like a good captain, too. I don't know who I would have picked to replace me as Chaser. I'm glad you did it."

"Well," said Ron, a little red with her praise. "You picked Fyle. He's not bad."

"Too bad I didn't get to see him play," said Katie. "But I've been thinking- there wasn't much else to do in my hospital bed- as much as I want to play Quidditch, you've captained a good team. I don't think I should shake things up too much."

"You're not quitting the team, are you?" said Ron.

"No!" said Katie. "Gosh, I've only got one more game in my Hogwarts life, I wouldn't miss it for anything. That's not what I meant. I never really wanted to be captain and I think you've proven yourself. I think you should stay captain."

"Oh," said Ron, surprised. No one had ever picked him for anything when there had ever been another option. No one but Harry, that was. He really admired Katie and to have her telling him he made a better captain was incredible. "I can't," he said.

"I'm not taking no for an answer," said Katie with a shake of her head. "You have to."

"But," said Ron. "i know the rest of the team's just been waiting for you to get back. They won't have me when they can have you."

"Oh give it up," said Katie. "Anyone with a problem can answer to me. It's not like I was meant to be captain either."

This was beyond anything Ron had ever thought possible, and Ron wondered if he'd somehow accidentally taken Felix Felicis. He turned to Hermione. "Did you hear what I just heard?"

"Yes," Hermione grinned in a way that made Ron's heart spin. "You're going to be captain for real!"

Ron's grin matched his girlfriend's. The victory was still a little hollow since Harry wasn't around, but Ron thought he might just have gotten lucky after all.

x X X x

A/N: So... what do you reckon? Next chapter in a week or so, again.