Harry Potter and the Magic of Perspective

by DeetsViBre

Perspective changes everything. When Harry is forced to look at events in his life from a new perspective, he decides that he would be better off making his own choices. He creates his own side to the war with the help of some new and old friends. *Background relationships*

25. Help, Risk and Pack

A/N- I have a lot of explaining to do… hehe. Continue to read for Excuses!

I know I was gone for a long time and I'm sorry. I never stopped writing, I just slowed down and decided to write ahead a bit. My work got (and is currently) very busy so things got a bit behind.

If you are one of my readers that keeps up with my Authors Notes then you are aware that about a year ago I moved due to a roof cave in and that my new place was great! Well now I am going to be moving again because my landlord is being foreclosed on… so there will continue to be delays intermittently throughout this story, but the next few chapters should go smoothly.

My roommates and I have not found a new place to live and as of this weekend are technically squatting. We still pay our landlord but the bank wants us out so they can finish the foreclosure. So that's fun…

I do already have another chapter lined up, the one after that is half done and this one is super long! Yes, I am bribing you for forgiveness with more pages! ALSO A SMALL TIME JUMP!

Sorry for errors in advance, let me know when you find them, I only had a chance to read this over once.

WARNING- Implied Abuse

So stay tuned for more crazy life adventures with Deets!

The Links to the High Res Version of the cover pictures is in my Profile, along with an ongoing update on how many pages I have written and how many I have posted.

NO PAIRINGS RIGHT NOW, this is a Harry and Draco friendship story. It might change later and even the friendship part takes a long time to get to.

NO CHARACTER BASHING, maybe a little for Dumbledore but nothing too bad.

Summary- This is a story about people, feelings and corruption. This is most definitely a story about magic. Because there is a lot more to the world of magic than just silly wand waving. When Harry decides to start making choices independent from Dumbledore's influence he discovers a much more than he expected. Perspective changes everything. It can also make things weird.

Disclaimer- I own nothing in this story that is from the Harry Potter Universe. It is all owned by J.K. Rowling. Anything original in this story that may be similar to another work is coincidence and not intentional.

Harry Potter and the Magic of Perspective

Or (A.K.A)

Verum Inhereditas

Chapter 25

Help, Risk and Pack

---

Harry pretended to sleep, he hoped that if he pretended hard enough he might actually fall back to sleep. The morning sun was pouring into his room and slipping through his eyelids. He scrunched up his face, turned over, and threw the blankets over his head to block out the light. He was still at Grimmauld Place, it was Saturday so there wasn't much harm in him staying a bit longer.

A sharp tap interrupted Harry's pretend sleep, he ignored it…

Another tap, followed by a flurry of taps and scratches.

"Fawkes, stop!" Harry groaned.

The tapping continued.

"Fawkes!" Harry groaned louder.

A warm weight and the soft prick of talons announced the Phoenix as he landed on Harry's side. The scratching and tapping was becoming louder, Harry removed the blankets from his face and looked up at the red bird.

"That's not you…" He mumbled.

Fawkes tipped his head and warbled lightly in response.

Harry's eyes met the bird's black bead eyes, and for a moment the image of a letter flickered in his mind… odd.

If it's not Fawkes then it must be an owl Harry concluded, that's why he thought of a letter.

Harry rolled over to look at his window, the phoenix on him walked along with his roll. Sure enough there was an owl at his window, it was an odd looking, long owl…

"Dudley!" Harry threw himself from the bed, ignoring Fawkes' insulted squawk as he fluttered away.

He whipped the window open allowing the tall bird into the room. It had a muggle envelope in its beak as it ran in a circle around the floor. Harry tried to grab the spry little thing but it was too excited, it ran left, right and in figure eights, faster than any owl Harry had ever seen.

After a few minutes of trying he gave up and sat on his bed to wait for the owl to calm down. After another few circuits around the room the owl slowed down and came to a stop and Harry's feet.

"`Ello, Archimedes," Harry greeted as he bent down to take the letter.

The tall owl hooted happily and began to explore the room.

The envelope was blank and sealed tight, Harry turned it over in his hands a few times to make sure there was nothing written on it. When he was assured it was blank he ripped it open and unfolded a short letter.

I am SO sorry I didn't write for so long, I spent most of the time working on Aunt Marge so I could come stay with you for the winter break. Guess what? I won! Although she did demand the compensation you offered, sorry. My break starts December 14th which is a Saturday, I plan to pack on that day and arrive on Sunday if that's OK. Send me all the details, I just realized I don't even know where your house is.

Dudley

Harry couldn't stop the huge smile that took over his face even if he wanted to. He had thought Dudley was angry with him and had lied last time they met, but he wasn't, he was coming to stay! His cousin's break started a week before Hogwarts break, the last day of classes for Harry was Friday the 20th. He was sure is would be OK, Remus could keep an eye on Dudley.

He leapt from his bed towards his desk, his every movement was filled his excitement. He grabbed some blank parchment and scribbled out a reply. He told Dudley that Sunday was excellent and that his house was hidden, all he needed to do was get a ride to number 11 Grimmauld Place.

Harry reached for a smaller piece of parchment and wrote Number 12 Grimmauld Place on it, he folded it up and sealed it with wax. On the main letter he explained that Dudley should only open the sealed paper when he was between numbers 11 and 13. Then he folded the papers together and sealed them shut.

He knew it was a risk sending the address out like this but he didn't think anyone would be looking for Archimedes, just this once it would be OK. He took safety measure and warded the letter as well of course. When he was finished he tied to letter to the tall owl and sent him back to his master.

Things were looking up, the day started with good news and Harry didn't plan to let the mood drop. He began his morning rituals with a hop in his step.

---

Harry entered the kitchen, he approached the table and spotted a ready pot of tea.

The other occupants in the room looked up at his arrival, Remus and Severus were reading the paper while Draco ate a light breakfast.

"Morning all," Harry was chipper as he sat down to pour his tea.

Snape stared blankly over the top of his sagging paper.

"Why are you so happy? Have you forgotten the grim prophecy that hangs over us all?" He drawled in a grouchy tone.

Harry shrugged in response, "I think I have come to full capacity. I don't want to be worried anymore, we all have a lot of big problems weighing on us."

He glanced around the table as he listed the problems, "Vows, Oaths, Marks, and Curses…what's one more prophecy on top of the one we already have?"

When no one seemed amused Harry decided to move on.

"Plus I got good news."

"What sort of good news?" Remus asked gently.

Harry grinned like a fool, "My cousin coming to stay for winter hols."

Draco's groan didn't go unnoticed but Harry chose to ignore it.

"Well as long as you are glad about it." Remus chose the neutral path.

Severus didn't respond at all, he simply snapped his paper so that it covered his face from view.

Harry sighed, everyone seemed very stressed out. He wasn't sure if it was healthy that he was not worried, maybe something short circuited in his mind, but he was fine with it. He snapped up the last of the toast from the plate in the middle of the table.

Draco shot him a glare and Harry smirked back.

Before a fight could break out the floo came to life and spit out two very excited brothers.

"ARE YOU READY?!" One twin bellowed while still being ejected from the fireplace.

Harry saw Draco's shoulders sag slightly.

"Dragon, let's be off!" The other twin held out his arm as if to escort a lady.

Draco sighed and ignored the red heads.

The first twin approached as held out his arm as well, "Dragoon, away we shall go!" he announced dramatically.

Draco took a bite of his last piece of toast while staring straight ahead and ignoring the twins.

Without a response the twin resorted to calling out for Draco repeatedly, back and forth.

"Drigin?"

"Drake?"

"Drakey?"

"Drigoon?"

"Ickle-Drake-On?"

"Puff the magic Dra-"

Severus slammed the paper he was trying to read onto the table. "FOR the love of MERLIN will you two SHUT UP! You cannot even enter my property without me present, so you must wait."

There was dead silence, then a soft sound… it started quietly and began to grow in volume. Harry looked over at Draco and was shocked to see him trying to smother laughter.

Another sound from the other side of the table caught Harry's attention, he looked to find Remus also holding back a smile.

Draco and Remus caught each other's eyes, the muscles in their jaws twitched and the last of their control snapped, and both began to laugh without restraint.

The twins looked between the two, thoroughly confused.

One leaned near the other, "I think those two have been stuck in this house together for too long."

Severus let out a suffering sigh and dropped his paper onto the table. With one swift movement he grabbed his tea and downed the last of it while standing up. He moved to the fireplace and turned sharply causing his robes to swirl gracefully, then at the last moment he halted their movement with a snap of his arms to his sides.

"Well, come on."

After the loud scuffle of the twins and Draco collecting themselves and their materials they scurried after their professor. After a little fuss all four of them were on their way to Spinners end to test the new Portkeys.

Harry smiled, maybe his good mood was rubbing off on everyone. He glanced at Remus who smiled back.

"What are your plans for today?"

Remus looked thoughtful, "Hermione had some idea she wanted to run by me."

"Oh? What kind of ideas?"

---

The bitter bite of the wind threatened snow as it ripple surface of the cold grey lake. Harry welcomed the idea of snow, when the white fluff falls the air always seemed a little warmer. He wonder if it really did become warmer and resolved to ask Hermione, she would know.

When the wind settled the lake would still and become reminiscent of cement car park after rain, the only thing breaking the illusion was the bright sun reflecting off the water. Harry threw a stone into the water and watched the concrete ripple, he wonder if the giant squid got annoyed with kid throwing rocks. The breast was probably dormant right now, so it probably didn't matter.

The grey scenery was fitting and oddly beautiful considering the current state of Harry's life. There was a possible spy and murderer loose in the school, many of Harry's closest friends were tied up in a dangerous vow's or plots and he was planning to kill a man that was once a mentor, plus he was keeping that secret from many people that trusted him. On top of it all, somewhere in the distance Voldemort was planning… something. It was almost comical how underwhelming the Dark Lord was compared to everything else, he almost didn't feel real.

Maybe he should have found it odd that all his dread and worry slipped away, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He was relieved to be unburdened of angst and simply attributed it to his training, or possibly just burning out. He logically knew the events unfolding around him were serious and possibly dangerous but it was as if his mind ran out of energy to care, it placed a frosted glass wall around his problems. He knew they were there but he also understood that he couldn't do anything about it at that moment, he would handle what he had to, when he had to. Until then he would calmly plan. Maybe the new prophecy was his breaking point and whatever snapped in his mind was meant to be snapped for his sanity.

Harry reclined on the large rock by the lake, he took a deep breath of crisp air and felt it clear his mind even more. His warm cloak draped around him, fluttering in the light wind. He wondered if Hermione and Remus were coming up with any good ideas, he knew he should have stayed when Hermione arrived to go over her plans with Moony. The box of materials used to make the marauders map was a tempting hook, but ultimately he decided to leave them alone.

Harry had seen a slight glitter of disappointment in Remus' eye as he walked to the fireplace, but he didn't want to risk his new emotional freedom by having a bunch of reminders of what he lost shoved in his face. He didn't want to dwell on Sirius or his dad, not when he was feeling the first bit of peace since the summer.

Distant crunching of frosted grass let Harry know someone was approaching him. Embracing his new mind set, he didn't bother looking to see who it was, and he continued to gaze out into the open lake. It was unlikely someone who meant him harm would open attack him… unlikely.

When the footfalls halted and Harry waited for whoever it was to speak. The silence dragged, without even touching the person Harry could feel their magic tangling in emotional turmoil. His control of his ability was becoming more and more refined but it was rare that someone was projecting so much he didn't need contact to feel it.

Guilt began to creep into Harry's mind for making the person squirm, he was about to turn to them when a folded piece of heavy parchment landed on his lap. He grabbed it without thought and flipped it open, he was so intent on the paper he only half registered that the person was running away.

His eyes skimmed the first line of elegant script and his heart froze. This was it, this was "what" and now was the "When" of something he had to do.

Harry threw himself from the rock and sprinted after his target. He was only mildly surprised by who he was chasing. His heart jumped with excitement over this chance to make things right, he would begin this on his own, but this time he would ultimately figure it out with help.

He reached out, his fingers splayed as he neared his target. With a final half run half leap he grabbed his prays arm and swung them around to face him.

Harry panted, his breath misted from his mouth and he was unable to speak. He looked into the wild, dark eyes across from him, they were filled with panic and fear.

Fresh tears slid down worn, red tracks. They had been crying for a while, the dark eyes were rimmed with swollen skin and red irritation…

Harry felt all his excitement slide away, this wasn't right, this was a product of war.

He let his gift flow out in response to the tangle magic in front of him, and he soothed it without thinking. His own ball of anxiety melted when the eyes he was looking into relaxed. The fear was redirected to the letter in his hand but the panic was lessened and replaced with shame.

"It was a mistake…" Her voice cracked.

Harry remained quiet, anything he could say might cause her to clam up.

Understand of what she had just done fell onto her shoulders and they sagged, the knowledge that she couldn't undo it cemented on her face.

"I was out of options… without…" Her voice became high as she fought for composure, her entire body was shaking with terror and adrenalin beneath Harry's hand. For a moment he felt the heady sensation of power over someone else, but it was quickly washed away by empathy.

She pulled her arm from his grip and closed the distance between them. When her small hands curled in his robes Harry expected violence and anger, but instead she simple rested her forehead against his chest, unable to look him in the face. Her body quaked harder from restrained tears and possibly broken pride.

Her grip tightened and she whispered, in a raspy cry worn voice.

"Help."

Harry felt the word resonate through his body like a gong signaling him to go, to start something new.

"I will, Pansy."

She looked up at him with wide bloodshot eyes, it was obvious she didn't expect to get a positive answer. Harry was shocked that she literally risked her life on the hope that he would help her, and didn't go to Dumbledore instead. Severus's subtle hints to the Slytherins must have paid off.

Harry gently gripped her shoulders and moved her back to a respectable distance.

"Follow me," He instructed.

It was a cold Saturday, there was no one outside to see their interaction, and Harry expected the path to the seventh floor would also be empty, most students would be relaxing in their dorms. He was proven correct when they both arrived at the blank wall hiding the safe room without encountering single soul.

Harry began to pace in front of the wall, calling the room he wanted to surface. The Method only had meaning when it was making a difference, he only had meaning when he impacted those around him. He wouldn't go down like Sirius, he wouldn't make mistakes that wiped his purpose away, and he didn't want to exist without mattering, and he definitely didn't want to bring hope only to not fulfill it. He loved Sirius but he didn't want to share his fate.

Harry stopped walking when the wooden door appeared. He looked back at Pansy's nervous face and smiled reassuringly.

Saving this one person, this was making his existence matter.

He opened the door and felt her follow him into the small room. He watched her examine the dim surrounding, the small fireplace, old table, and when her eyes landed on the green candle, a light of recognition sparked on her face.

Harry didn't comment on her reaction. He grabbed a scrap of old notebook paper on the table and scribbled out a note. He watched surprise flicker in Pansy expression when he showed proper use of the floo candle.

They waited somewhat awkwardly for the response.

With a flair of green the same paper popped out of the candle with a scribbled response. Harry chuckled at the answer he received, there was only one person in the kitchen.

He shook his head at the ridiculousness of the situation as he wrote the safe house address.

"Sorry, but you have to go first."

Harry handed Pansy the address and gestured to the pot of floo powder.

She looked hesitant for a moment, and then her face hardened with resolve. Although she still had tear tracks and red eyes, there was something very inspiring and strong about her at that moment. She was walking away from everything she knew, of her own volition to take a more difficult path. Maybe it was just to save her own skin, or maybe it was because she wanted to do the right thing, it didn't really matter.

The courage it took for her to even approach Harry was commendable, no… it was impressive.

Harry smiled softly, he hoped he looked calming and accepting as Pansy walked into the fireplace.

After one final deep inhale she threw her powder into the fireplace and yelled her destination.

The vibrant green flames swept the girl away to her new life, and at the same time the flames added her to the list of what was Harry's to protect.

He took a moment to collect himself and then followed after his new potential member.

---

Harry stumbled from the fireplace into a slightly awkward moment.

Luna was the sole occupant of the kitchen, she sat at the far head of the table. Her head was high and her face proud. She looked more connected to reality than Harry had ever seen her.

Her small hands delicately held a tea cup that looked like half a Fabergé egg with thee small legs on the bottom. The scent of her special tea permeated the room.

Pansy stood at the other end of the table looking smaller than Harry had ever seen the proud girl.

"What's going on?" He asked.

Luna turned her attention to him and her face morphed into her normal airy smile.

"Oh, nothing," Her wispy voice was laced with innocence.

Harry could feel the magic in the room and in the two people before him quivering with tension.

"…OK," Harry slowly removed Pansy's letter from his robe and handed it to Luna.

Pansy looked like she wanted to protest but kept her mouth shut.

Luna scanned the letter and nodded.

"This won't do at all," She whispered, then she held the letter out to an empty space in the room.

"What is…" Pansy began, but Harry cut her off with a pointed look.

Luna nodded again, "Yes, Doggy is beginning to understand. He just needed time."

Harry felt his heart swell, it always hurt that Sirius was against his decision to let Slytherins in the Method. Even if it was only a whisper of the man left clinging to a girl whose aura reached to the realm of death, it still meant something to Harry.

"I'm glad," It was all he could think to say, but Luna's smile assured him it was enough.

"I will go fetch Hermione and Remus, they are in Remus' office." She gracefully swept from the room.

Harry turned to the confused and slightly scared Pansy.

"What did she say to you?"

Pansy wringed her hands and kept her eyes on the table, "She told me that if I brought any misfortune to you or anyone else in this house, she would punish me. Normally she wouldn't scare me, but something is different…"

Harry was not very surprised by the statement, everyone in the Method was very protective of each other, and even Draco who pretended not to like anyone was obviously attached to the twins and Remus. With no solid knowledge of who the "Dark Seed" in the prophecy was, everyone was on guard.

Harry nervously rubbed his hair, "Yeah, we are a protective bunch…" he said lamely. He ignored the second half of her statement entirely.

The sound of people walking down the hallways interrupted any response, a moment later the kitchen door swung open to admit Luna, followed by Hermione and Remus.

"Pansy!" Hermione sounded surprised, Luna must not have told them why they were being requested.

Hermione bustled over to the other girl, "Are you OK? You look terrible!"

She fussed while herding Pansy into a chair.

Remus looked at Harry for an explanation, he was trying hard to keep accusation from his eyes.

Harry pointed to the letter on the table, Remus read it quickly.

"Oh my. This is happening sooner than Severus predicted."

Harry began making tea for Pansy who was dead silent, she looked like she was waiting for judgment to fall on her.

"I brought her here so we could figure out what to do, together." Harry handed Pansy her tea.

Remus smiled, his eyes proud in a way Harry loved to see, "It was the right thing to do Harry, Severus should be back soon."

Pansy seemed to relax more when she heard Severus would be one of the people deciding her fate

Harry didn't know what to say, he took his seat and made his tea instead. Maybe all his angst falling away was what he needed to think clearly in tight situations. Maybe… he wasn't as brave as he thought before. His mind began to wind up turmoil like thread on spool, his previous Zen like calm was being wrapped in the strings of his rising anxiety.

The whisper of wings sent a wave of calm through the room as Fawkes landed on Harry's shoulder. A single note washed away his fears and restored his new mind set.

Pansy gasped at the bird's entrance, then her eyes narrowed in a calculating way. Harry was slightly uncomfortable with the predatory gleam she was apprising him with, but her measurement of him was cut short by the floo flaring to life.

Severus came first without even a lag in his stride, followed closely by the twins who seemed to be talking in depth about the experiment. Last was Draco, he was looking down at his robes and brushing nonexistent soot from them.

The sound of porcelain meeting wood proceeded the warm tea that flowed across the table. Harry lifted his elbows to avoid soggy sleeves and righted the luckily unbroken cup. Pansy was unaware of anything Harry was doing, she stared wide eyed at Draco as if he were a ghost.

Draco's attention, along with everyone else's was pulled to the sound of the cup meeting the table.

"Pansy?" He sounded hopeful and worried.

Tears that Harry thought had run out rolled down worn tracks at the sound of her own name. Pansy threw herself from her seat and closed the distance in only a moment. She flung her arms around her friend's neck, her momentum stopped by the collision with his body.

Draco managed to stay on his feet through his surprise, and after only a second he wrapped his arms around Pansy. The relief on his face was so stark that it shocked Harry, and for a moment he was looking at himself and Hermione. He wondered how Draco hid the deep worry he must have had for Pansy, how he kept going while she was trapped.

Some small understanding of Draco snapped into place in Harry's mind, they were different. Where Harry would have charged in to save Hermione, Draco let Pansy make the right choice on her own, he didn't try to force her into safety she might not have wanted. He offered an option through Severus, then he let her save herself, and he waited patiently.

Suddenly Harry didn't feel very brave, not compared to that.

Pansy pulled back from the hug, her face was dry and determined.

"How did you escape your father? Last time I saw you, you were sick and he came to take you! I thought… you." She trailed off, unable to say that she thought he had died or was going to be killed, instead she changed the topic.

"Did Severus tell you to go to Potter for safety as well? You were braver than me to leave your family so early…" Pansy's eyes dropped, it wasn't obvious if she was ashamed of waiting so long or sad that she left her family, maybe both.

Draco's cheeks reddened and he looked off to the side, the twins chuckled in the background while they exaggerated trying to cover their amusement.

"Well… I wasn't even conscious when I was brought here, Severus did it to save me from my sickness."

Draco's entire face became pink as he admitted the truth and his eyes studied the brick wall to his right.

Pansy looked up at his chin with confusion, "What?" she muttered.

Draco managed to look down at her, he smiled softly while holding her eyes with his.

"You are the brave one…"

Pansy took a sharp breath.

"I was brought here for my own protection. I was being possessed by the Dark Lord." He added.

"Is that why you were sick?" The hands she still had on his arms tightened.

"No, I was sick because the Dark Lord never helped me find an anchor." Draco sounded unconcerned, as if he was purposely trying to make light of his near death.

Pansy's hands clenched, the fabric between her fingers became sharp with folds. Her jaw twitched as if to speak but all her words tried to come out at once, the sound was pure anger.

After a few seconds of Draco rubbing his hands up and down her arms she seemed to calm enough to speak.

"That bastard," She hissed from her tight mouth.

"Well put." One of the twins agreed.

"Hear! Hear!" The other added.

A snort of laughter was the twins reward, and it was surprisingly from Hermione. She covered her smile with a hand as her shoulders shook with mirth. Harry smiled, and slowly everyone in the room was chuckling or at least smirking.

"Why don't we have tea in the blue room and I will explain what we do from here." Hermione offered.

Pansy nodded, she looked as if she just noticed that she was surrounded by her previous enemies. She reluctantly pulled away from Draco, her source of comfort.

Hermione noticed her hesitation, "Why don't you join us Draco, I am sure the twins can report on the experiment."

Pansy visibly sagged in relief as Draco put his arm around her shoulders and began to lead her out of the kitchen.

Severus waved his wand to prepare tea to being with him.

"You are going to want this." Remus held out Pansy's letter to Snape.

He nodded as he plucked it from the wolf's fingers and left with a tray floating behind.

---

Harry took a seat at the large kitchen table, he suddenly felt very tired. He was still mostly free of stress but he felt a bit worn from all the emotions of the last couple of hours.

Remus and the twins joined him at the table while Luna moved around making more tea. She seemed a bit stiff and Harry wondered if she was still wary about Pansy. She placed a new tray of tea within reach of everyone, and in front of Harry she put a bottle of Fire Whiskey.

Harry looked up at her in surprise, but she simply smiled.

Remus gave the bottle a dark look but said nothing.

Harry made his tea and spiked it lightly, then he handed to bottle off to the twins and it made its way around the table, even Remus took a bit.

"So, how did the Portkey test go?" Harry took a sip of tea and let it warm him.

"Perfectly! Of course that's expected with Fred and me." George boasted.

"Yeah, WE keyed the new portkey in and Draco went through the wards with minimal magical drain. Even less than the prototype Severus used at Hogwarts." Fred puffed up proudly.

Harry smiled, "That's great, and Now Draco can go in and get his mother confidently."

Fawkes chirped his agreement from the place on Harry's shoulder where he had settled down. Everyone sipped their spiked tea, each seemed to want to bring something up but wasn't willing yet. Harry had an idea what the topic was.

"So… Pansy." He began lamely.

Remus looked down into his tea sadly, "I just wish more like her would come to us."

Fred and George looked at each other with confusion, and Fred spoke up.

"What caused her to come here?"

Harry replayed the moment Pansy approached him, he grasped at every detail before they could dissolve like salt in the rain. Her sacrifice was not small, and he would see that she had a place with his people.

"She got a letter from her father, she was told that over winter break she would be marked." His tone held the seriousness of the situation.

"The letter told us, all the Death Eater children would be marked before the year is over." Remus explained gravely.

"Can we trust her?" George asked earnestly.

Harry nodded, "She approached me directly, Trust her like any other member. Once she signs the contract it won't matter anyway."

The twins nodded, they would do as he asked, even if they didn't trust her. Maybe it was better that they didn't, in the case that he was wrong then someone will be watching their backs.

---

"What are they doing in there?" Pansy was obviously irritated, she was at the kitchen table and held a full cup of tea that was becoming cold. She was much calmer than this morning when she was brought to the house but a new development was making her nervous.

Draco was trying to keep her calm, but he was secretly irritated he was being left out. He understood Harry's hesitation to leave Pansy alone but Draco wished he didn't have to be the one to watch her.

The entire Method was gathered for a meeting about an hour ago. They accepted Pansy with varying degrees of enthusiasm, although Ron took it surprising well in Draco's opinion.

After a short meeting in which it was voted that Pansy would be given the option to sign the contract, everyone left for the blue drawing room to do experiments with Ron's magical sight and the ability of the crystal to pull on curse magic.

Draco was left to explain that if she choose not to sign the blood contract she would never be let out of the house… ever. Her response was not what he expected.

"Well of course I'm going to sign it." She snipped.

"Listen Pansy, you have… wait… what?" Draco had been prepared to argue with her and was cut short.

She huffed and crossed her arms like she had done since she was a child.

"This place may seem like a house of riff raff, but in the short time I have been here I have seen it for what it really is."

This time Draco crossed his arms and waited for her to explain.

"This is the winning side of a three way war. This house if filled with power. The Dark Lord is strong and his followers are all without their curse, but he kills his loyal and many aren't… bright. On the other side is an old man who is unable to change his ways and pushed away his most powerful tool."

She gestured around to indicate where the "tool" had gone.

"Now there is this third side of the war, it is being led by the most powerful thing the light side had, and boy is he powerful."

Draco felt a shiver go down his spine when Pansy described Harry as powerful. He always knew Potter was strong, but he hadn't really seen how strong he had grown. He was to close.

Pansy continued talking, unaware of Draco's revelation.

"Have you felt the magic rolling off of him sometimes? When I first approached him he soothed my core magic with a single touch. I don't think he knows that I know what he did, but it was impressive. Almost Dark Lord level manipulation."

Draco sat up straight, "But…"

Pansy waved him off with her hand, "Oh, I know Potter won't go dark. No phoenix would stay with someone who was truly evil, but Harry is defiantly not light either. He is simply powerful, he somehow had his curse removed and I bet he's going to figure out how to do it for others."

Draco swayed in his seat. He had been in this house for months and only picked up a fraction of what she had figured out. He believed he had joined the new light side or something, he wanted his generation to make the decisions when the time came and he over looked the tilt of many of the group's members. Somehow Harry's manipulation of entire rooms of people didn't seem bad…

Maybe it was because Harry wouldn't twist a person's magic into dark like Voldemort would, the fact that he sooths other magic made it seem OK, but in reality is was very similar to manipulation. The difference was Harry cared for his people and wanted what was right, so it was really bad?

"Don't think too hard on it, Potter's not bad, he's like the leader of the gray or something. From what I see he doesn't expect people to be what they're not. Severus is still as Slytherin as always and Potter seems to accept that." Pansy was oddly calm on the topic of simply joining Harry Potter to lead a war for independence.

"Actually they seem to get along… really well…" She gave Draco an expectant look, waiting for an explanation.

Draco felt a little calmer, "Severus and Harry don't just accept each other; Severus was Harry's occlumency teacher, he has a place in Harry's mind."

"Ooooooh," Pansy leaned forward, her eye were bright with interest, as if this was a great piece of gossip in the girls bathroom. Under her outward expression Draco could tell she was equipping herself with all the information she could, she never did anything by halves and wanted to truly be in the Method.

"Yup, and the meeting they're having now it to plan how Harry can safely reproduce removing Ron's curse." Draco smirked at the end of his drawling tone.

"I knew it!" Pansy clapped her hands together, "All I have to do is work my way up the ranks and I can turn this group into a powerhouse."

Draco laughed, Pansy never changed. She saw everything as an opportunity to gain rank.

"What so funny?"

Draco calmed his chuckles, "There is no rank here, gain their trust and they will listen to your opinions."

Pansy looked honestly confused, "No ranks?"

"None," Draco made his tone serious to drive the point home.

"So how do I know if I have their trust?" Pansy still needed a goal, it was her way Draco concluded.

"Keep an eye on the Wolf, when he treats you like pack, you're in," Draco offered.

---

Everything around him was a wash of feelings, like a hurricane they whipped around with no regard to his presence. Magic was everywhere and his own was stretched to the limit from his body. He reached out for anything that he could recognizes and tried to hold it like a butterfly in his caged fingers, secure but not so tight that he crushed it.

The crystal in his hand was pulling his magic like it did with Ron, but this time Harry reined it in so he didn't touch anyone's magic until he was ready.

"You are very close, when you're ready you can touch her with the crystal." Ron's calm tone helped keep Harry's panic in check.

It had been weeks since Pansy was brought to the Safe House and inducted into the Method. It was December 14th, the Saturday before Dudley was due to arrive. Since the first meeting about using the crystal to help remove curses they had trained almost every night, even Hermione sacrificed her school work for this.

Now was the day they were going to test out their new technique, and their first subject was Luna.

It was strangely easy to get to the safe house more often without anyone noticing, Dumbledore had been as quiet as Voldemort. He seemed oddly distracted by something and that was fine with Harry considering their last meeting almost killed him. Since that fateful night, Dumbledore hadn't call Harry for anymore private meetings. Severus thought that it was just a pause so that Dumbledore could regroup and that after winter break the meetings would resume. Now Harry was employing the wait and see strategy.

"OK, I'm ready," Harry whispered.

He could feel every member of the Method take in breath as one when he spoke, they collectively held it in for silence as he moved the crystal to touch the skin between Luna's clavicles.

He felt his magic jolt from his body and the room's breath was released only too be carried away on the breeze that kicked up. It cycled around Harry and Luna and it was chilled by the reality of what they were doing and the magic that laced its every movement.

"Oh, wow" Ron's shuttering tone was pulled into the slow cyclone. What he was seeing with his gifts sight must have been amazing.

Harry was is control this time, the magic flowing around was his own surface magic being dispelled as he used his core magic to control the crystal, its magic hovered on the surface of Luna's skin, waiting to be let loose to do its job.

"Let it out slowly, Harry." Ron instructed.

Harry complied, He lessened his hold on his magic and felt the crystals power seep into Luna. He could feel it straining to surge forward as is had with Ron, it pulled on Harry's core with all its might but he was stronger.

Harry allowed the wild magic to make its ways slowly through Luna's body as it tried to reach the curse on her core. The process was slow and drained Harry of his own magic in his effort to keep his friend safe.

"Stop," Ron commanded.

Harry risked a glance at Ron, his eyes were wide and fixed on something Harry couldn't see happening in Luna.

"You are about to touch the curse, you know what to do?" Ron asked, he was being very serious and it made Harry more nervous.

"Everything will be fine," Luna assured everyone, she smiled faintly as if she was both excited but scared of being too hopeful.

Harry took a deep breath, this was it.

He let the crystals magic touch Luna's curse. Even though he couldn't see what was happening he could feel the pull of magic become suddenly powerful, almost beyond his control. The magic covered the curse and attempted to rip it away violently like it had with Ron.

Harry used every ounce of his ability to keep the magic from pulling the curse from Luna's core. After many test and trials it was concluded that the magic of the crystal needed to fully surround the curse magic and then become one with it before it was pulled away. This way it would gently slide off the person's core, but the crystal magic was wild and simply wanted to take the curse magic. Harry discovered he could somewhat control or sooth the crystals magic with his own ability, he needed to keep it inside the cursed person until it completely fused with the curse.

Harry couldn't feel when it was time to pull the magic out, if he did it to soon he might kill the person, if he waited too long he would simply make the curse stronger and the crystal magic might stay in the host. Luckily Ron could see when the time was right, and could tell Harry where to push the magic and where to pull back.

Beads of sweat formed on Harrys forehead, the effort it took for him to perform this task was greater than he expected, but he refused to fail. They had only done small scale tests, allowed him to touch cursed people with the crystal and prove he could control it, they had no choice but to go into this half blind. Luna insisted that Harry try and that she be the test subject.

Harry's control wavered for only a moment and Luna cried out in pain as her curse was tugged on violently.

"We should stop," Hermione was pale with worry.

"NO," Both Harry and Ron snapped.

Harry pushed more of his own core magic into Luna to regain control. They continued to wroks, Harry struggling while Ron yell out direction.

Then it happened, something unexpected. Harry felt his magic also begin to become one with the curse. It was sinking into it like water into a sponge. Harry looked at Ron, he met blue eyes briefly and knew Ron saw it happening, but they kept quiet, this had to work.

When Harry had done this to Ron, it wasn't just core damage that hurt his friend, it was the curse magic. When it was freed from the core it ran wild through Ron and mixed with his surface magic, the reaction almost killed Ron because he had no anchor.

What was happening right now was going to save Luna a lot of pain, and probably hurt like no tomorrow for Harry.

"Almost there…" Ron warned.

Harry braced himself, this was going to suck.

"NOW!" Ron yelled.

Harry used every bit of his will to pull the magic back to himself. Some of it went back to the crystal, a mixture of all three magic's, his, curse and crystal but the rest flooded into his body.

Ron's eyes widened as he watched, "A link is formed between them, and the crystal."

Luna opened her eyes she had kept closed the entire time.

"That felt odd, but much less painful than I expected."

She touched her chest, "I feel lighter."

A collective sigh of relief followed her statement.

Hermione sprung from the couch to hug Luna, she turned to Harry with words of congratulation on her lips but came up short.

"Harry?" She crawled across the floor to her friend, he was doubled over and heaving his breaths.

Hermione grabbed his shoulder to shake him but swiftly regretted it when a shock of magic ran through her so strong it knocked her back and she collided with the couch. Ginny ran to her while everyone else's attention turned to Harry.

Severus and Remus pushed through the small crowd to get to their charge.

"DON'T touch him!" Hermione yelled as she pulled herself to sitting with help from Ginny.

Suddenly she was in front of Ron grabbing his robes, "What happened?!"

Tears were hanging on her lashes as she pleaded for an explanation.

Ron looked to the floor, away from her pained gaze.

"His magic became one with the other magic's during the process," He admitted.

Hermione shook him, "Why didn't you say something?"

She continued to shake him when he didn't answer but simply looked at his pained friend with sad eyes.

A pale hand gripped Hermione's forearm and ceased her violence, she slowly dropped Ron's robes and looked up at Severus.

He looked into her brown eyes and spoke honestly, "This is not your fault, and we all agreed to try."

A smaller pale hand landed on her shoulder, "It is more my fault than anyone's." Luna's airy voice was quite solid as she spoke.

Hermione looked at Harry, he was still curled over clutching his Anchor and the Stopper while emitting small sounds of pain and effort.

"Why isn't anyone doing anything?" She sounded defeated.

Severus moved his hand from her arm to her shoulder, "You know as well as I that there is nothing we can do, he must control this. I should have seen this possibility, his magic's natural desire to calm others magic is what allows him to control the curse magic in the crystal but there is always a chance when magic mingle that they will fuse."

Everyone looked back at Harry as he struggled almost silently.

"Why didn't he stop… "Hermione looked at Ron, "Why didn't you say something?"

"He was right not to say anything."

All eyes went back to Severus, "Harry felt it happening, and knew that if he stopped right then it would endanger Luna. He was much more comfortable endangering himself. Isn't that right Ronald?"

Ron nodded shallowly under the scrutinizing gaze of his fellows, "When he looked at me I knew what he wanted…" He confirmed.

Harry's breathing became ragged with his effort to control the still semi wild magic, the room was silent for a moment and only filled with his breaths.

"He will be OK?" One of the twins asked.

Remus stood and smiled in his way that calmed those around him, "If what Ron saw is correct, as long as Harry has his Anchor there is not much danger, it is just painful…"

He looked to Severus for help.

"Yes," Severus jumped in, slightly less reassuring than Remus. "When Harry pulled the magic back it went to his core, he is simply converting it to surface magic to be dispelled."

As if on cue Harry screamed, a sound almost inhuman, and he slammed his hands to the floor with his anchor between the ground and his palms. A burst of magic flooded into the ground so forcefully that the entire house shook as if it were an earth quake.

Then it was over. The air crackled with residual magic and Harry sat up and panted in air as if he held his breath the entire time.

Pansy smiled in the back of the room where she watched, she leaned closer the Draco and whispered, "He's becoming more powerful faster than I thought possible."

Draco ignored his friend's words and moved closer to Harry, and was the first to speak.

"Are you OK?"

Harry slowly turned and looked at Draco with half lidded eyes and a goofy smile.

"I think I need a nap."

With a thump Harry hit the floor face first.

---

Late Saturday night after everyone else had gone back to Hogwarts or retired to their rooms, Severus sat alone in the kitchen.

The bottle of fire whisky Luna had left out was half empty, a tumbler of melting ice and liquor sat before the quiet man. It was a rare moment, Severus had his sleeves rolled back and his mark exposed, and he stared at it with fury in his eyes that even Harry had never seen.

Severus went over the events from earlier that day in his mind many times. He had not lied when he said that magic sometimes fused, but it was uncommon. He suspected that it was not just Harry's abilities alone that caused the reaction with the curse magic, but also the magic from the Crystal. The small jewel held power that wished to grow, that wanted to consume other power but did not have the capacity to hold it. It was also linked to Harry, which gave Harry moderate control over everything the Crystal absorbed and almost all of it went back to the boy to deal with… But there was so much potential in that power.

Severus narrowed his eyes on the Dark Mark, How could he ask Harry risk so much for the plan slowly forming in his mind?

Snape snorted and reached for his drink with his unmarked arm, the boy would jump to help no matter the risk involved… that was the problem. Severus knew Harry would say yes.

He raised his glass to his lips and took a long drag of cold burning liquid.

The sound of someone entering the kitchen from the stairs behind him went unnoticed until Remus was seated across from him pouring his own glass of whisky. The Wolf was glancing at the revealed Mark every few moments, he had never seen one so close without being in danger.

Severus moved his arm to the space between them as he placed his glass down, the mark was face up. Remus looked nervous and surprised that Severus was openly showing his shame.

"I think he can do it…" He said vaguely.

Remus looked up from studying the Mark, into Severus's Dark serious eyes.

"Wha…?"

Severus refrained from snorting at the Wolfs unarticulated response, he possibly had too much to drink…

"Harry," Severus elaborated, "He could maybe… remove the Dark Mark."

Remus sat ram rod, "What?!"

"With the abilities he displayed and that Crystal, he might be able to remove it." Severus sounded both excited and terrified, the alcohol was making him express more than he intended.

Remus knocked back his drink and poured another.

"We know what the side effect will be, after removing two curses both people have magic linking their core to Harry's and we don't even know what the consequences of that will be. We are simply assuming it will be better than keeping the curse."

Severus gripped his tumbler with both hands and leaned forward until his head was almost touching the rim.

"I know…" He admitted.

Remus put his hand on Severus's shoulder from across the table.

"I know you don't want to risk Harry."

Snape's head bobbed in a nod... He was far too drunk.

Remus slid his hand up Severus' neck and into his hair for a moment.

"But there's really no stopping that boy."

---

Harry awoke Sunday morning while the sun was still on the horizon, he felt very refreshed despite the magical drain from yesterday. As he stretched in bed he remember, Dudley was coming today. A surge of excitement ran through him and urged him from his bed. After washing and dressing, he practically stumbled down the stairs into the kitchen, it was still hours until his cousin would come and experience part of the magical world for the first time, but Harry wanted everything to be ready.

Upon entering the kitchen he found Severus and Remus at the table nursing cups of coffee rather than tea, and very strong coffee from the smell of it. Harry greeted them and got unenthusiastic replies, it seemed like a good idea to let the two men alone for now, so Harry left through the door that would lead to the Blue room.

He was so full of energy that he jogged down the hall to his destination, when he arrived he found Ginny and Hermione having lessons with Pansy in order to catch her up with the rest of the orders training. Even after weeks of Pansy being in the house and a part of the Method, all three girls were still a bit tense around each other, and Pansy was tense with everyone but Draco.

Harry noticed that they were practicing some of the more dangerous offensive spells that were in the Black library that used magic directly from a person's core which made them much more dependent on will than words and wands.

It had been a while since he had brushed up on his training so Harry decided to join.

"Hey guys!" He greeted with a wide smile.

Hermione returned the smile, "Harry! Come explain this spell for Pansy, I am having trouble getting it across."

Ginny made a face of frustration as if to imply that it was Pansy fault and not Hermione's.

Harry joined the circle they had formed and threw the red head a look that warned her to not start anything, she responded with a nob and visibly tried to smooth her face out.

"Well," Harry began, "It's similar to the Patronus, which is the closest magic to core spells that is common today."

Pansy put her hands on her hips, "I have never produced a Patronus before."

She looked slightly embarrassed to admit it.

"I think we should start there then, the Patronus charm is considered one of the hardest spells because it is one of the only ones that is still used that utilizes core magic. It uses the little bit that leaks from everyone's curse and then wand movements and incantations were used to fill in the rest, But if you are curse free you can be a bit more lax on the wand movements."

Harry looked to Hermione to pick up the lesson for him, he could see she was bursting to explain more and he didn't mind handing off.

Hermione caught his glance and smiled, "Yes, the Patronus is far easier for someone with full access to their core. I know you had your curse remove by your family on your sixteenth birthday but had little training so far besides your anchor, so this is a good place to start."

Pansy looked at her ring which was her anchor and nodded, "OK, how do I start?"

Harry felt his energy well up and couldn't contain his smile when she agreed to start with the Patronus charm. He could feel his magic flowing into the room to calm everyone's energy but didn't bother to stop it, he was too excited to care. If Severus were here might get a lecture about control and not affecting other with his magic without permission, but he didn't care right now.

He got a look from Pansy that told him she knew what he was doing but shrugged it off when she didn't say anything, he wanted everyone to get along, plus Ginny looked far more relaxed.

Harry clapped his hands together, "OK, let's get started! I want Pansy up to speed fast because Severus mentioned that we might start dueling over break."

---

Two hours later Pansy was producing an impressive amount of glowing mist that was taking an avian like shape. Harry had to remind himself that we was on thirteen when he learned the Patronus charm, and that he was still under the curse, otherwise he would be jealous of how quickly the Slytherin girl was progressing.

During their training the other young members of the Method trickled into the blue room and joined the practice. Glowing, silvery animals were romping through the room in all directions, including Draco's sleek red fox and Neville's proud lion.

Harry expected Pansy to be frustrated by the demonstration of everyone else's successful Patronus', but instead she looked determined to catch up.

The door creaked open just enough for Remus to slip into the room. He approached Harry with his usual warm smile.

Harry glanced at Pansy to see if she was uncomfortable with the werewolf's presence, he had not had a chance to see them interact much in the weeks that followed her arrival.

He was surprised to see Pansy was completely fine, more than fine actually. She seemed to pay rapt attention to Remus as he approached and greeted him politely.

"Hello, Professor."

Remus turned his smile on her, "I have told you Pansy, no need to call me professor anymore. Remus is fine."

Pansy nodded and looked at her feet.

"Hey, Moony," Harry gave his own crooked smile. Pansy's eyes flickered up at the nickname.

"Hey, Pup," Remus returned, his smile grew when Harry made a face like he always did when being referred to as a pup.

"I just popped in to let you know an Inner Order meeting was called, so Severus and I have to go for a bit," He explained while glancing at the twins, they looked putout about not being invited because they weren't "Inner Circle".

Harry was slightly surprised, it had been weeks since Dumbledore called the Order. Ever since the fateful meeting in his office, when Harry could have died the old man had been holed up in his tower.

Remus responded to the obvious surprise, "We are slightly concerned about the purpose of this meeting, so I think it would be wise to keep the Method members here until we get back."

Harry nodded, it would be easier to have an impromptu meeting if everyone was still in the safe house. He was about to verbally agree with Remus when he felt an intense gaze on his direction. Harry glanced around and spotted Draco looking at them. The blond seemed to be mostly glancing between Remus and Pansy.

Harry ignored that odd occurrence for a moment.

"OK, I will let everyone know they should stay here until you get back. Dudley is arriving in a couple of hours, so things might get a bit crazy."

Remus sighed in an exaggerated manner, "When are things not crazy, we will just have to adjust." He left with a wave to the practicing members and shut the door behind himself.

Harry turned to the training members, all of which were already paying attention since Remus entered. He made eye contact with Draco who looked off to the side and then scanned the small crowd before speaking.

"For those of you who were not close enough to ease drop," Harry paused for the light laughter following his comment.

"Remus and Severus have been called to an order meeting." The hush that followed his announcement was piercing, it sharply contracted with the din that proceeded it. Harry knew that everyone understood the implication of an Order meeting, Dumbledore was on the move, which meant that Voldemort may also be moving.

After a moment of letting the news sink in he spoke again, "I am requesting that everyone stay in the safe house until their return because we will be having a meeting immediately."

Everyone began muttering to each other, except the twins who were speaking loudly about what the Order could be doing and suggesting crazy things, such as world domination.

Harry turned back to Pansy and continued their training.

---

Two hours later Harry called an end to training to everyone's relief, but without training most people weren't sure what to do with the remaining time until Remus and Severs returned. Many of the members didn't spend time in the safe house unless there was a meeting or training.

Neville and Ginny looked at each other hoping the other had an idea. They looked slightly uncomfortable and were glancing and Pansy nervously and even at Draco sometimes. Harry had never considered that some members were still wary of Draco. He knew that Pansy was still untrusted by many but he thought that Draco was completely integrated because of the twins. Heck, even Ron was getting along better with him and admitted that he was trustworthy.

Ever since Ron discovered his new eyesight he has been cataloging what different core abilities look like and knot magic was one of the most complex and interesting, so he was forced to spend time with Draco.

People began pairing off and forming small groups to entertain themselves while they waited.

Neville and Ginny moved to a corner of the room and continued to glance at the Slytherin's and whisper. Harry sighed and wandered over to Luna who was alone on the other side of the room from everyone else. She was holding a silver cup with yellow butterfly's on it. Harry could tell from the smell that her tea was just regular tea now, and that made his heart feel lighter.

"Hey, Luna." Harry took a seat by her side on the small couch.

"Hello, Harry." Luna sipped her tea, it had become her trade mark, always having an overly decorative tea cup from the Black collection. Harry was glad she still used those cups.

"You look like you could use some quiet," She commented in an offhanded way.

Harry felt himself relax, Luna could always tell when he was unsettled and never bothered him about why. Even if he still felt more relaxed than he had in a long time, less like he had to do something or the world would end and more willing to accept that he couldn't control everything, he still need quiet from time to time. A couple of weeks ago he brought up his change in emotion with Severus, and it was concluded that he was reaching a breaking point so his magic self-soothed to regulate his emotions before he went over the edge. Severus warned him that it was similar to self-medicating and that he should use this time to take it easy, because if something big happened he might not be able to self-regulate anymore.

"Yeah, maybe," Harry admitted as he glanced over at Ginny and Neville.

"Ronald is your key to harmony," Luna sounded far away as she spoke.

Harry looked at her, she was staring off to the side and her eyes were focused on something Harry couldn't see. He stopped wondering where she pulled the information she dispensed from and just accepted that she was normally right. He just had to figure out the exact meaning of her message.

"Luna," Harry called her attention away from… whatever she was looking at and waited until she was focused on him.

"How are you doing? I mean with your gift… I mean… is it still getting better?" He knew it had only been a day since she had her curse removed but he still worried he did something wrong.

Luna smiled wistfully, "Every moment that passes." She reached up to her neck and grabbed the bottle cap she wore as a necklace.

Harry felt his shoulders relax, before they tried to remove Luna's curse she asked him to be the one to pick items from her things to be her anchor. When he had seen the bottle cap necklace in the box of items she brought him, he was sure it would be her anchor.

"I'm glad, ummm… what's it like?" Harry felt as if he were prying into a very personal matter but he was so curious.

Luna didn't seem phased at all by the question, she put a finger to her chin in thought.

"It's like… being able to breath for the first time. It comes very naturally and I can control how much I see. Before it was like being near the Vale all the time, there were voices and images all screaming at once, now I can step back and only feel what I want. Every minute that passes allows be to move more freely within my ability."

Luna spoke clearly as she always did when she was referring directly to her gift, it was something that Harry notice a while ago. She spoke airily when she was more encompassed by her ability.

"You know…"

The ringing tone of her voice caught Harry's attention, she looked him right in the eyes, and she wasn't looking through him as she usually did.

"You save me, you and the Method saved my life. Not only that… but you all gave me a place to live, a reason. Because of you, I have friends."

For the first time Harry saw Luna embarrassed, she looked away again and he didn't try to make her look back. He simply accepted her words.

"I am Happy you're here, Luna."

They sat together in silence and watched the other member's mill around the room. They stayed in their small groups for the most part. Neville and Ginny were still in the corner, the twins were in a deep conversation with Draco by the fireplace, while Pansy was at his side taking shelter in his presence. Ron and Hermione were on the couch with papers spread out in front of them.

Ron looked up from the papers and glanced around the room. When he spotted who he was looking for he waved his arms and called out.

"Malfoy, come look at this," Ron was louder that necessary for the size of the room. His volume drew the attention of everyone else.

Neville and Ginny watched closely as Draco walked over to the pair on the couch and took a seat on the floor on the opposite side of the table. All three of them began talking at once and pointing to various things the others couldn't see. Draco pulled out some rope and began to demonstrate some knot magic for Ron. Hermione smile and said something that was apparently funny because all three began to laugh.

Neville and Ginny put their heads together and whispered while watching the trio.

Harry bumped his shoulder lightly into Luna's, "Looks like you were right, again." Who would have thought a muggleborn, a Weasley and a Malfoy would be laughing together and not at each other's throats."

She made a sound of agreement, her eyes were far away which indicated she was using her gift in some way.

Harry knew he was practically talking to himself when Luna was like this but he didn't mind. After a few seconds Luna's eyes cleared of fog and she looked at him.

"Doggy thinks that this is a sign of the world ending, I think he's being over dramatic."

Harry laughed, it sounded like something Sirius would say. He wondered if Luna would be able to talk to his godfather whenever she wanted once she had full control of her gift. He wanted to ask but was too scared of the answer, part of him desperately wanted more than the random messages from Luna but another part wanted to put his godfather to rest.

"Hey Luna, Sirius knows I love and miss him right?"

She looked at him sadly.

"Yes."

Her answer was simple but filled with emotion, it made Harry feel like warm water was filling his chest. Luna was never able to control what or who she saw before, but now she was getting more control by the minute.

"Why doesn't he show himself to me if he's a ghost?" Harry had been wondering this for a while.

"He not a ghost," She answered bluntly.

The confusion on his face was clear so she elaborated, and Harry was reminded of why she was in Ravenclaw.

"Ghost are rare, they are imprints of a magical persons core. They have all the person's memories and emotions, they also have the ability to retain new information. Some think the core magic imprint binds the person's soul to earth, so there is little difference between who they were and what they are now besides being incorporeal. It was a truly violent and traumatizing event that imprinted them and they can never move on. True earth bound ghost are even more rare now because of the curse which is why there has only been one in Hogwarts since the curse was enacted."

"Myrtle," Harry muttered.

Luna nodded and paused to collect her thoughts, her eyes fogged over as she consulted with… something, Harry couldn't see.

"My ability lets me communicate with spirits. Spirits of those who died come to the realm of the living because they have something they left behind, but they are not trapped here. They come to watch over the people still alive but also return to the beyond the vale from time to time, but they don't truly go to the afterlife more like an in between place. Once the people they are missing have joined them or the situation they left behind is resolve, they move on permanently. Sometimes they are quiet and peaceful like Doggy, but others leave the afterlife because of regret and are just torturing themselves. In the end all Spirits move on or go crazy."

Harry thought about what he just learned, "So he can't show himself because his spirit doesn't have magic on this plain to have a ghost or talk?"

Luna smiled, "exactly, He also doesn't stay for very long, just checks in on you."

Harry felt his the warmth he had for Sirius grow a little, it was nice to know he was being checked on by his godfather.

"So if he's only going to this in between place, does that mean he can't see my parents?" Harry felt a pit in his stomach.

"Yes, Doggy can only see other spirits in the in-Between, he won't see your parents until he moves on."

Luna saw the worry on Harry's face and added to her explanation, "But don't worry, he will move on. He already plans to when he's sure you're going to be OK."

Harry nodded and decided to change the direction of the topic, he didn't want to talk about feeling guilty that Sirius was still here.

"You said Spirits of those who died, are there other types?" He asked.

Luna raised her arm and poked Harry right in the sternum, "the ones in the living. All living things have a spirit. I thought my gift was to talk to the dead who were vising us, but I can hear whispers from anything that has a spirit, which clears a lot of things up for me."

Harry felt a shock of fear, "you can hear my spirit?"

Luna laughed, it was like the clear tone of a bell.

"I don't often hear the spirits of living people, they don't reach out to speak because the person can speak for it, unlike many spirits that yell at me like I'm deaf. But I haven't had much time to practice my gift, so I'm not sure. Maybe if…"

Luna trailed off and looked into the distance in the manner she always did when listening to the spirits.

"Your cousin is here."

Harry jumped to his feet the moment her words registered and he dashed for the door. His sudden movement caught the room's attention, they all followed him with Hermione, Ron and Draco in the lead.

Harry climbed the rarely unused stairway in the corridor that led to the ground floor. This floor held the main dining room and many sitting rooms, along with a conservatory that currently held no living plants, and a study. No one came to this floor often, not since the order left and the front door fell out of use, also Harry didn't like the big dining room, and when he wanted to be in a study he used the one in the secret passage in the library. He was considering letting Neville use the conservatory so they could grow potions ingredients.

Harry looked through the tall thin window next to the door, everyone else crowded around him and the window on the other side. They watched as a black sedan pulled up and parked the side of the street between numbers 11 and 13. The driver's side door opened and revealed a large grotesque woman who was wearing very fine clothes, Harry felt himself sneer in a perfect imitation of Severus. The ugly cow probably bought those new clothes with the promised bribe he sent her.

Dudley got out of the car looking thinner than he did over the summer, luckily he was still pretty muscular and not malnourished. Marge smiled in a disgustingly smug way as she pointed out the house numbers and laughed in her nephews face.

Harry was glad he couldn't hear them or he might have lost his temper and blown the dumb bitch up again. His hand gripped the molding under the window, and he felt his entire body begin to shake. He wished he could open the door and call out to his cousin, but the only way he would be seen or heard is if he left the wards, which he couldn't do. He hoped his letter explained what to do well enough.

Dudley began to unload his luggage from the boot, there were more bags than Harry expected. His cousin drudged through the task of unloading, he looked tired and his hair was not shinny like it normally was, but instead it was lank against his forehead.

As if to reflect the boy's mood the overcast sky began to release its rain in a light drizzle. Marge's face distorted so horribly as she screeched that Harry though he could hear it through the wards, even though that was thoroughly impossible.

Their Aunt rushed to the boot of the car and grabbed the last bag, a duffel bag and threw it at Dudley, then she quickly got back in the car and peeled off. The force of the bag was too much for the tired boy, he hit the ground hard and laid there for a moment with his duffel on top, as the rain got heavier.

The look on Dudley's face struck a deep cord with Harry, because he had seen that same face in the mirror every day when living with his Aunt and Uncle. If he didn't forgive Dudley before, he certainly did now, because it was clear that he defiantly understood what Harry went through all those years.

The shaking in Harry's body intensified and he wanted to rip the door open and run through the wards, a soft and warm hand on his shoulder sapped much of the anger from him. It was something that only Hermione could do, through a single touch she expressed that she understood but it was not a good idea to do whatever stupid stunt was running through his mind.

He looked back into her brown eyes and nodded, then he looked at the rest of his friends. He expected some of them to be angry at Dudley because of their past, or some of them to jeer at the Muggle. But they were all hushed and they sadly, or at least politely, watched the scene unfold.

Harry turned back to the window in time to see Dudley begin to pull himself up from the ground. He looked down the street in either direction, then he looked at number 11 and 13. From his pocket he pulled the letter Harry had sent and slid the smaller sealed paper from inside.

With a fortifying breath that always preceded Dudley dealing with magic, he broke the seal. At first he flinched like he expect something to happen, after a moment of nothing he unfolded the paper and looked confused when all he saw was an address that didn't exist.

When he looked up from the paper he stumbled back with wide eyes, his foot met the edge of the curb and he fell back onto his bum while still watching a house appear from where there was nothing. Harry could remember the when he saw that sight himself and imagined it was the most magic Dudley had ever witnessed once.

Dudley continued to sit on the wet pavement, breathing hard and clutching his chest. Harry felt a renewed temptation to open the door and leave the wards to retrieve his cousin, who seemed too shocked to pull himself together. Eventually Dudley did manage to recover from his surprise enough to get to his feet, and with a great amount of hesitation he began to walk towards the safe house.

Harry grabbed the door handle and took a deep breath, with a decisive movement he swung the door open. Dudley was a few steps away from the wards and couldn't see Harry standing in the door frame yet, but as soon as he crossed the line of protection Harry suddenly appeared on the open doorway.

"Harry!" Dudley yelled in both surprise and happiness, "Where did you come from?"

Harry couldn't help but enjoy Dudley's wonderment at the magical things that were just normal to himself now.

"There are protective wards that hide activity up to about the middle of the walk way, so until you crossed the protection the door looks closed and the house seems abandoned."

Dudley looked up at the rest of the house and let out a small gasp. After reading the address on the paper Dudley saw what Harry had seen when he first arrived at Grimmauld Place, after crossing the wards he was seeing the house in all its glory with Harry as its owner.

Harry opened the door wider and stepped to the side.

"Come in!" He prompted.

Dudley peeked in the doorway, everyone in the entry way was looking back at him curiously. Harry saw his cousin hesitate when he noticed all the people gathered.

Harry tried to relax and seem inviting to counteract all the people.

"Come on, they don't bite." He encouraged.

Dudley entered the house slowly while looking around at everyone with slight distrust in his eyes.

"It's not biting I'm worried about," he stage whispered.

His eyes landed on Fred and George.

"Well maybe a little worried about biting," he amended in obvious reference to the twins.

They both gave toothy smile back while Draco chuckled besides them.

The entry way became silent and everyone began to shift on their feet awkwardly.

"Ummmm… let me show you your room." Harry grabbed Dudley by his arm and dragged him to the stairs.

Dudley staggered behind him with only his duffel bag over his shoulder, "Wait my things!"

Without thinking Harry pulled his wand and waved it behind himself without pausing, the luggage responded instantly and floated quickly to catch up with its owner.

Dudley was obviously impressed, even if a bit nervous about the magic, "Whoa! You didn't even use words!"

Harry ignored the complement as they arrived at the room he had prepared. He was slightly embarrassed because he had worked so hard all year to be able to cast simple spells wordlessly, and this was the first time he used the skill casually.

Dudley looked around the room with his mouth slightly open. Harry had chosen one of the larger rooms with an exaggerated bay window that contained a cushioned seat. The room had rich tapestries and warm wood floors, the color pallet was mostly deeps golds with some dark browns.

"It's amazing!" Dudley breathed.

Harry didn't know what to say, he watched as his cousin continued to explore the room in silence. Even though they had formed a friendship over the summer and Dudley didn't blame him for his parent's fates, Harry still felt sort of awkward. They didn't really know each other that well outside of the many years of antagonizing each other. He felt like she should use the time they had this break to get to know the real Dudley.

Harry's thoughts paused as he remembered someone else he had a similar situation with. Since Draco joined the Method Harry hadn't really spent much time with him. They had a few short conversations and acted civilly, but Draco spent much of his time with the twins or Remus, and lately Pansy or Ron. Harry decided he needed to make sure he knew what was going on with all the members of Method, starting with Draco… and Dudley.

Harry felt a jolt of panic, he had completely forgotten about Dudley and the Method. Could Muggle sign blood contracts? Or did he have to try and keep his cousin away from all vulnerable information?

"Harry?'

Dudley's voice brought Harry back to the present.

"Uh, Yeah?"

Dudley shuffled his feet, "Are there any adults in this house or is it just kids our age?"

Harry chuckled, he wasn't sure what was funny, the fact that Dudley thought to ask about supervision or the fact that he thought of them all as kids.

"There are two, one lives here and the other comes and goes. They are both out right now though," Harry explained as he watched his cousin unpack. He felt like now was a good time to try and explain about the Method, but he didn't want to give away too much.

"Umm, Dud. Just so you know, this isn't just a house I stay in on break… it's like a base I guess. For a group… I don't know how to explain it."

Dudley put another shirt in his dresser and then leaned against the top.

"This is a secret organization dedicated to destroying Voldy- whats-his-face, but also to undermine that headmaster of yours, right?"

Harry was stunned and he was sure it was all over his face, "How?"

Dudley laughed as he began unpacking again.

"Mum gave me the short version of what happened to your parents after you told me about the wards this summer, she said you were important somehow. Then when you needed to sneak away from that old crazy guy, and later told me you had a secret house, I kinda put two and two together. The security on this place it a bit over the top for everyday use I imagine."

He put another shirt away as Harry absorbed what he was hearing. Dudley once again showed he was observant and smart, he was really underestimated. Harry was about to comment on how impressed he was when a bright light shot through the wall causing Dudley to yelp and stumble back. Harry didn't react as the light stopped and revealed itself to be an otter. The glowing creature looked up at Harry and spoke with Hermione's voice.

"They're back from the meeting," It said and then faded away.

Harry perked up at the news, He could ask Severus and Moony about the blood contract and Dudley. He looked over at said boy who was pulling himself off the floor.

"Come on, the adults are back." Harry waved Dudley to follow as he left the room.

"That otter thing was like the dear thing, from when you saved me from the Dementors!" Dudley gaped as he rushed after Harry.

"Yeah it was the same thing, it can be used to communicate and looks like a different animal for everyone."

Dudley match stride next to Harry.

"Cool," He said while trying to act casual about it.

He wasn't very good at hiding how truly amazed and interested he sounded. It warmed Harry that his cousin was taking in the magical world as something amazing to behold (if a bit nervously), rather than something to be jealous or scared of. He was walking a different path than his mother and hopefully he will have a better life for it.

"Yeah, it is cool isn't it?" Harry said wistfully with a pleased smile.

Both boys entered the kitchen at the same time, everyone was gathered around the table with Remus and Severus by the fire place.

"We should get this meeting started…" Severus began upon seeing Harry but be trailed off when his eyes landed on Dudley.

Harry clapped his hand on his cousin's shoulder, "This is Dudley, we were expecting him remember?"

Severus stared for a moment longer, "Right…" he drawled.

Remus approached the obviously overwhelmed boy and put out his hand.

"Hello, I'm Remus," he offered with his trademarked warm and gentile smile.

Dudley looked more at ease with someone welcoming him rather that gawking at him like everyone else, Harry assumed it was because most of them had never met a muggle. As for Severus, he just disliked new people…

Remus' show of manners snapped Hermione out of her peer pressure induced silence. She approached Dudley as he finished shaking hands with Remus and offered her own hand in greeting.

"Hello, I'm Hermione."

Dudley took her hand, "Hi, Dudley."

He didn't seem to know what else to say.

The awkward greetings were cut off by Severus' snapping tone.

"We should start the meeting."

He stalked to the front of the table and Harry followed.

"What about Dudley?" He asked.

Severus glared over at topic of the question, he looked as if he was about to snap again until understanding flashed in his eyes. Harry assumed he was in a bad moon from the Order meeting, not that those mood impacted Harry anymore, which sometime made Snape more irritable.

"He is not able to be bound by the blood contract, if that is what you were thinking. He is a muggle and has no core to be bound by." Severus' tone was more even as he responded.

"Then how to we make sure he keeps all this to himself?" Harry tried not to say it to loud.

Severus' let out a suffering sigh, as if Harry's lack of knowledge was painful to him.

"He is a muggle, we will simply bind him with a spell."

The sheer confusion on Harry's face caused Snape to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration. He turned to the room as a whole and got everyone's attention.

"It seems we have a new member today, but this member is unable to sign the contract due to his muggle status."

Severus' announcement caused everyone to look at Dudley who shied away.

Hermione spoke up with clear understanding of the situation, "He can't enter any bonds or oaths without a magical core!"

Severus' nodded his head in her direction, "Yes, but he can be bound by a spell, with his permission of course."

Everyone waited for Dudley's response. He looked to Harry who smiled encouragingly.

"I… yes. I want… am OK being bound by a spell. I…" He looked over at his cousin again.

"I want to be a part of this."

Harry wondered at the wording of that last statement. Maybe Dudley wanted someplace to belong now that his parents were gone, and maybe his school life was not going well, if you add that with his aunt abandoning him… maybe Dudley was feeling lost.

"Very well." Severus accepted.

Before he could move on to casting the spell another question rang out.

"I thought you couldn't bind someone into silence, only enter oaths, like an unbreakable vow." Pansy spoke up with a hint of her old snooty tone.

"Yeah, and why can't he give a vow? Even squibs can do that," One twin added on.

Severus sighed again, a longer sigh than before, and dove into a fast spoken explanation.

"Apparently I need to give a lesson. In short, a squib has a magical core and can willingly enter blood contracts and vows, they are able to sustain the vow with their own magic and bind their core to contracts. You cannot bind a squib or a witch or wizard into silence against their will because you would have to sustain the spell yourself while their magic fought it. The process would drain you over time. With a muggle there is no fighting, so it will use some of your magic but it will not drain you faster than your core replenishes."

Severus turned back to Dudley wish sharp movements and a snap of his robes.

"Now, if I may begin…" He raised his wand.

"Wait… if squibs have a core and can do some types of core magic, why can't they cast even one wand spell?" Hermione's question, although valid, was poorly time.

Severus let his wand arm fall to his side, Harry could tell by the look on his face that he was counting backwards in his head. When he was slightly calmer he turned to Hermione and answered.

"Squibs did not exist before the curse, at least not according to any records. Now let me finish this spell before we move on." He spoke between his teeth.

Harry watched as Hermione had to cover her mouth with both hands to stop herself from asking more questions. Harry also wanted to know about how the curse is apparently the reason squibs exist, but he also valued his life to much to interrupt Snape again. Rather than put his life on the line, he simply watched as the man cast the binding spell on a profusely sweating and nervous Dudley.

It was a short spell that sparkled silver and settled on Dudley and seeped into his skin.

Severus glanced at Ron who had been watching with a keen eyes. Ron nodded his approval, indicating that the spell took hold as expected. Magic like this was not often used on muggles, it was comforting that they had someone that could verify if it worked.

"That was it?" Dudley asked as Severus lowered his wand.

"That was it," Harry confirmed as he got up from his chair.

He clasped his cousin's shoulder, "Not too bad, right?"

Dudley nodded and smiled in relief, "Right."

Severus turned to face the room with a snap of his robe that grabbed everyone's attention.

"Now, if I can begin this meeting…"

"Whataboutthesquibs?" Hermione's question burst from her with incredible speed like sick she just couldn't keep down.

Remus shot to his feet when Severus' face darken to a dangerous extent.

"I would be happy to explain," Remus cut off whatever terrible insult was about to tumble from Snape's lips.

"You see," Remus began while he gently pulled Severus back by his shoulder and stepped between him and the students.

"Most old families keep records, as you know. Any family that existed before the curse who had records we can access, doesn't seem to have any squibs recorded. After the curse suddenly the records show squibs being born."

A much calmer Severus stepped around Remus to finish answering the question.

"Other than records, anyone with relation to a pure blood family would have heard the stories about the unfortunate existence of squibs."

Pansy stood from her seat next to Draco and everyone's attention was drawn to her.

"When I was young, my parents told me that before the curse there were just stronger and weaker magical people, but no squibs." She sat down quickly with slightly flushed cheeks, this was the first time she had spoken up with the entire Method in the room.

Severus nodded, "Some think that Squibs are the weaker magical people, and because their core is weaker it does not leak enough through the curse to have sufficient surface magic. Others believe that some people had an adverse reaction to the curse magic and core strength has nothing to do with it, much like potions allergies."

Harry looked around at the shocked faces in the room. The Weasley's were not the type of pureblood family that would pass those stories down, so every head of red hair sat above a surprised face that mirrored his own feelings.

Then he saw Dudley, his head was tipped down to hide most of his face, and what Harry could see was obvious sadness. Glossy blue eyes peered up and caught Harry looking.

"So my mum was a witch? She could have gone to your school and been happy with her sister… if this curse thing didn't exist?"

Harry opened his mouth to answer but his throat tightened with grief for all the possible futures he could have known if the curse didn't exist. He was also afraid he would spew inappropriate theories about Petunia not marrying Vernon if she had been a witch.

He simply nodded.

Determination settled onto Dudley's face, and Harry understood that his cousin was in for the long haul. At the root of everyone's problems was the corruption deeply seeded in the wizarding world.

Severus took the extended moment of silence as his cue to begin the meeting before more questions were thrown at him.

"Well, if I may, I would like to speak about the topic we gathered here for. Dumbledore called an order meeting for the first time since the incident with Ronald and Harry."

Severus' smooth voice washed over the room as he explained in great detail the proceedings of the meeting. Harry had trouble focusing on the individual words his mentor was speaking as the dark walls of the underground kitchen flickered in the low candle light.

He caught the basic gist of what happened in the Order meeting, Dumbledore seemed to call everyone together to make it look as if he was doing something. When in reality he was simply shuffling his feet because there was no leads with Voldemort so quiet.

The only important information that came from the meeting was the fact that Dumbledore was still looking for Hocrux's. Many of the members were sent to seemingly random places to collect information that is meaningless to anyone who is not in the loop, but Severus and Remus saw it for what it was. Albus was desperate and spreading out the Order to search any lead, this was his equivalent to flailing aimlessly in the dark.

The pit of Harry's stomach rolled in reflex at the thought of a desperate Dumbledore. As manipulative as the man may be, he was the best at being a step ahead. Harry wondered how the fight against Voldemort would evolve after the old man's imminent demise. His stomach lurched, he didn't like to think about what was to come. He knew Dumbledore was not going to survive the curse on his arm, and he understood that Severus had to kill him to save himself and Draco… Hell, Dumbledore asked him to do it. He just couldn't imagine what he was going to feel when the moment came. Even knowing all the manipulations Dumbledore imposed in Harry's life, he still had feelings deep down from when he was a scared eleven year old boy, feelings of Dumbledore being a savior, a mentor and something like a grandfather.

Harry knew he should shed those feelings, but it wasn't easy. He could ignore them with his anger as he screwed Dumbledore over every which way, but ending his life was a different matter.

He pulled his mind away from the depressing topic, he learned recently that mulling over a problem with no solution did nothing but make him more worried, and worrying was not a viable solution. Instead he switch to contemplating if he should spend some of his copious amounts of money on battle gear for Severus' upcoming dueling lessons.

The meeting drew to a close and Harry was brought back to reality as people began to gather around him and his cousin to introduce themselves. He pushed his worries down and watched as Dudley smiled and chatted with witches and wizards. Harry allowed his new calm to take hold, and let the warmth of the scene before him wash over his mind.

---

A single candle continued to burn in the center of the kitchen table. The dark room as constricted down to a small bubble of flickering light, everything outside the illumination was stark blackness. Everyone with classes in the morning had retired to bed early. Draco sat alone at the table, waiting for the people that only pretended to leave for bed.

It didn't take long for the kitchen door to creak open, Draco could only hear it, as it was beyond his orb of light.

Severus melted into view from the darkness, completely silent. His dark robes made him appear as part of the blackness that surrounded them, like a void monster of some type. From within the flickering sphere it seemed a possibility as it gave the impression that they were floating in the empty ether of space.

Severus took a seat opposite Draco, he steepled his fingers as he placed his elbows on the table. Slowly the door creaked open again, and the light was filled with people who had unintentionally become the inner circle of the method.

Draco glanced at Hermione and then his eyes slid over Luna, Harry and Remus. He knew Harry hated this, the intermittent secret meetings they held ever since the Unbreakable Vow came to light. They never did tell the rest of the Method about the vow because they were unsure if they were willing to do what had to be done.

The parallel between the Method, the Death Eaters and the Order that this inner circle created was not lost on Draco. From the bitter expression on Harry's face it was obvious he saw the similarity as well, he made his distaste for this situation clear but adapted surprisingly quickly to this new world of secrecy.

On the other hand Draco reveled in this world of privileged information, especially because he was on the inside. Harry may have held it against the headmaster when he withheld knowledge, but Draco understood the old man's reasoning, even if he made some literally, fatal mistakes by keeping to many secrets from his golden boy. There was a delicate strategy to the headmaster's actions that Draco could respect from a distance.

Harry's speedy integration into this new structure of the Method led Draco to believe that their leader was coming to understand the importance of restricted information flow. The member that probably caused Harry to accept their new inner circle was Ron, the red heads temper was legendary, and no one wanted to do damage control if he found out about their plans to kill Dumbledore. He would probably become the first person to test the strength of the blood contract when he attempted to defect.

Hermione let a large file thud to the table, the sound called Draco's thoughts back to the present. The file folder was similar to the binder that held the general Methods notes, but this one was black with a silver bird on the front that looked suspiciously like a phoenix. This folder was also much thinner than the one used in the larger meetings.

Hermione flipped to the most currently notes.

"First order of business," She began.

She didn't get much father, a bright flash of fire lit the room and then died out, leaving only Fawkes behind. He settled on the Harry's shoulder, causing the boy to look much less bitter.

Hermione cleared her throat and continued as if she had never been interrupted by a large fire bird.

"Have we pinned down a definite date for the Death Eater invasion?" She looked to Severus as she spoke.

"We are close, the vanishing cabinet is almost completed. Once I have it repaired I shall report to the Dark Lord that Draco fixed it and he will set the date." His deep voice was flat.

Hermione made a note in her papers with a grim expression.

"We will need to make sure we have trained members in all the open areas of Hogwarts to protect nearby students just in case our plan fails." She made another note to herself.

"The plan will not fail, I am fulfilling my vow by letting the Death Eaters into the school, but they will not get any farther then the come and go room." Severus growled.

Draco was very aware that Snape didn't want to be responsible for letting killers into a school of children, but he was grateful that the man was taking the vow seriously and keeping them both alive. He reached down to his bag on the floor and pulled out his notebook, he flipped to a page with many sketches of rope patterns.

"I have the rope wards planned, so when they come out of the cabinet they won't be able to go back in."

He pointed to one complicated drawing, then he flipped to the next page with an even more complex patter.

"And this one will keep them from getting out of the Room of Requirement."

Hermione made more notes and then looked at Harry.

"Any contact with Dumbledore?"

Harry shook his head no, "Severus seems to think that Dumbledore will contact me after holiday break and act as if nothing happened."

"He is rather predictable," Severus drawled.

Hermione made a quick scribble.

"And what about the magical connection you formed with the people that you removed the curse from? Anything new to report? Any changes?"

Harry put his hand over the round Gem that hung from his neck.

"No change, I can still feel the connection between myself and the crystal, and also the connection it has with Ron and Luna."

He glanced at Luna as he explained, slightly embarrassed.

"Like I can tell that Ron's asleep right now."

Hermione, was jotting down more notes and spoke without looking up, "We will be explaining the details of the bond to everyone soon since Ron can see it now, we just want to keep everyone calm when you explain."

Harry looked irritated at the prospect of keeping more secrets but agreed, "I hope it's very soon, I want to remove everyone's curse, but I won't invade people's privacy unknowingly."

Hermione did look up at this strong statement, she smiled warmly. Harry's show of moral integrity filling her eyes with inspiration.

"I know you wouldn't do that," She stated firmly as fact.

Draco admired the loyalty and faith between Harry and Hermione, but he also couldn't help but want to make vomiting motions when they got all… sappy.

"Well!" Draco said dramatically while stretching his arms above his head, interrupting the moment.

"I think it's about time we went to sleep."

Draco looked around the table for confirmation, almost everyone was agreeing and yawning as they stood up, but Remus was looking at Severus in an odd way that caught Draco's attention. He watched as the wolf leaned over and whispered something into Severus' ear and heard slightly louder "no" that the darker man hissed back.

Remus reached out and touched Severus' forearm while whispering again, Severus pulled back and hissed something about "risk" and then left.

Draco wanted to ask what they were quietly arguing about, but he had figured out from months living in this house that sometimes it was best to stay out of it. He learned through experience that some members of the Method had connections and bonds with other members that weren't easy for everyone to accept or relate too. He filed many of the relationships away as he observed them, but he never presumed to understand them. He would never try to interpret Harry and Severus' bond, just as he knew that Harry respected the reasons why Draco and Remus got along so much better now.

Draco stood from the table as the tense situation between the older men continued to brew, and decided he should go to the blue room. He wasn't tired and had no reason to sleep since he had no obligations in the morning. He pulled the book he left on the coffee table to himself and began to read.

A half an hour after he opened his book Draco closed it. He had read the same page over and over but had not retained any information. Wanting a cup of tea the blond rolled off the couch in a lazy manner he would never display in front of anyone.

Severus had classes early and would be needing to sleep, so the kitchen should be empty by now.

Draco crept down the clean hall like a cat, quietly, just in case his teachers were still arguing. He leaned up to the door and listened but it was silent. With a paranoid slowness he pushed the kitchen door open, when he wasn't snapped at by Severus' deep voice he assumed the cost was clear.

The stone floor let his sock covered feet be silent as he walked past the table to the counter with the tea pot.

"You should be sleeping," A strained voice floated from behind.

Draco whipped around while letting out a small yell that was higher in register then he was comfortable with. Remus was sitting at the kitchen table with a smirk on his face and Draco huffed in irritation.

"Get a kick out of scaring people twenty year your junior?" Draco drawled the best he could with his heart still trying to escape his chest.

Remus' smirk grew, "Make me a cup, would you?"

The strained tone was still present in the man's voice, and on closer expression Draco notice the normally easy smirk was rather forced. He chose not to comment on his observations and simply turned back to preparing tea for them both.

"You were the only one that noticed myself and Severus arguing."

The wolf's blunt statement blew up Draco's plan to stay out of it. Without turning around or looking away from the tea he responded.

"Yeah, everyone else was too concerned with going to bed."

Remus' warm laugh filled the air, "Not only that, but you are always watching Draco."

Draco could feel the wolf's unnaturally amber eyes on his back as the word reached his ears.

"I know you are always watching, because I am also watching," Remus' tone was soft and not at all threatening.

Draco turned back around with the tray of tea, "Oh, are you?" He played dumb.

Ramus's leaned forward to take his cup as Draco sat down.

"Yes, and I noticed something in common between people who are always watching, like you, myself, Harry, and…" He hesitated before saying, "Severus."

While pouring his own tea, Draco waited in silence for Remus to reveal the commonality he claimed to find.

"Acceptance."

The word struck deep, Draco's hand shook and some of his tea missed the cup.

Acceptance, was not something that he had experienced often. He was raised to run a rich and powerful family, not to make friends. He ruled Slytherin, but was he ever accepted before the Method?

He remembered a dark underground room, lavished with rich green and silver draperies and lit by a single fireplace. He wasn't alone, there was another person across the sitting area, and her face was half shrouded in the shadows so he couldn't see her expression besides the small frown on her lips.

Her voice echoed in the stone room despite the cloth wall covers, "do you ever wonder what our lives would be like if we had a choice about becoming Death Eaters?"

For the first time in many years, he answered a question without considering the consequences, and without agonizing about what the 'correct' answer was for the situation or if his answer would get back to the wrong person.

"I do…"

"Me too…" She responded.

Draco looked at the Wolf across the table, the memory still floating in the back of his mind. Remus had him told stories of his days at Hogwarts with his first friends. Draco could imagine how liberating it must have been to have people who knew his secret, just like that moment was liberating for himself. The first time he admitted he might not want to follow the Dark Lord.

It was the first time someone accepted him without him having to pretend to be someone else.

Remus' dry voice pulled on Draco's mind, "Even though we have all found a small measure of acceptance, people like us are always wary of rejection, always watching for it and planning how to avoid it."

"I am not trying to avoid rejection! I am planning!" Draco stood suddenly, the wolf always seemed to rile him up.

"Planning what? How to act, what to say, and what you can hold over others? You watch, to know more about a situation than others, but why?" Remus sat calmly and asked his questions like a classroom lecture. His attitude only served to irritate Draco further.

The flustered blond took a deep breath, he needed to calm down and take back ground in the conversation.

"I plan, so that I can stay on top."

"Why must you be on top?" Remus shot back.

Draco felt his cheeks flush as he struggled for an answer, "Because… because…"

Remus leaned back in his chair and took a relaxed pose that reflected the ease in which he was juggling the conversation. "Because at the top no one can reject you. At the top you don't need people to like you as long as you have leverage on them."

"No!" Draco slammed his hands onto the table, "It's because I am meant to be on top!"

"Is that what your father told you?" Remus' response was quick.

"SHUT UP! You don't know anything! My father… he…he…" Draco felt the anger wash away as no adequate words to defend his father came to mind.

He slowly sat back on his chair, "My father loves me," Was the only truth he could produce.

"I don't doubt that he does," Remus' voice was like a healing balm, the wolf's wild magic felt like understanding.

The hard wood of the table bit into Draco's elbows and he let his head fall into his hands. He loved his father, even if he was wrong.

"How do you always do this?" he asked while pressing his palms into his eyes. Over his time in this house Remus had pounced on Draco with topics like this many times.

Remus chuckled, it was warm.

"I understand the need for approval."

Draco looked up into the man's gold eyes, simply having those eyes meant rejection… Remus really did understand, and it was presumptuous to think he wouldn't. Life as a werewolf put him in a similar situation as someone who grew up with Death Eaters.

Draco was very suddenly tired, "What does any of this have to do with Severus? What were you two bickering about?" He asked wearily, Very aware that this conversation was just as much about Severus as if was about Draco for the wolf.

Remus sipped his cooling tea, "It's not my place to tell you about Severus' business, but I will tell you the general idea. He is someone who had found the acceptance he needed when he was young. It saved him, then shortly after the same acceptance turned to rejection. I was trying to persuade him to do something, but his fear of rejection was stopping him and he was making excuses. His excuses have stopped the progress of many… endeavors."

Draco wondered who it was they had to thank for making Severus the man they knew today, but he knew Remus would never tell him. He could conclude that since Remus knew about it, that it probably happened during Snape's Hogwarts years.

"I'm tired," Draco stated without any pure blood etiquette.

He stood and turned to leave, barely catching Remus nodding in response. When he reached the stairs he stopped and spoke without turning.

"Thank you." He meant it, these nightly conversations helped him understand himself a little better.

"People like us, we have to stick together."

Draco imagined Remus lifting his cup as he spoke.

The walk to his room was consumed with pondering those parting words. People like them… it was a descriptor that blanketed almost the entire Method, in some way or another they were all outliers looking for some place they fit.

Draco was sure that he wasn't the only confused member that found themselves having tea with Remus and talking. It reinforced a dynamic that he had figured out early, becoming a trusted member of Phoenix Method wasn't just a matter of getting Harry Potter's approval. You also needed the acceptance of Remus.

It was Harry's organization,

But it was the wolf's pack.

---

"There are two main types of computers. The first are PCs, or persona computers. Personal computers know your name, and things about your life, and are casual and friendly. Sometimes they're overly personal and you end up having to say, "This is all too much. Back off, computer." The second type of computer is the house cat. These are ambulant robotic quadrupeds used by the Secret Police to monitor our domestic behavior and try to understand why people like to stroke robots and talk in high voices to them."

~Night Vale

A/N- I have probably spent more of my life looking at some type of computer than anything else… I'm not sure how I feel about that. In the end though it makes sense that google knows so much about me, but sometimes I think that my phone and my computer talk about me behind my back… and Facebook is one nosy piece of software. It's always bothering google until its gets my photos from my phones and asking me if I want to post them. On the other hand googles not that much better, like an OCD friend following me, always organizing my pictures by locations and trying to force me to name the album what IT wants… computers am I right? And don't even get me started on my cats!

Once again please check out the Welcome to Night Vale Podcast, where all the quotes I use before my authors notes are from!