A/N: Again, I'd like to thank everyone who is reviewing! You all feel like my team of editors and your comments/suggestions definitely help with my writing. After all, this is all a learning process. So, thank you all, and thanks to everyone who is continuing to read my fic. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Draco was completely and utterly mad. That much was evident. But, to what extent did his madness reach? Hermione wondered. She had taken a cold shower after she left the Prefects' bathroom, and now she was tossing and turning in her bed unable to sleep. She was moving so much that Crookshanks had decided her desk chair would be a comfier place to sleep. Oh, how she envied the simplicity of her cat's life. Hermione longed to be able to stay curled up in a bed all day. But, instead, she was a witch, and she had to deal with rumors, friendship turmoil, and a positively pesky little bugger of a ferret. Hermione was finding it difficult to try and understand him, and at this point she was not certain she even wanted to. Ugh, one thing was certain, she would have to avoid him, and the Prefects bathroom, at all costs.

-x-

Harry was having a great evening. Auror training had let out early, and, not to anyone's surprise, he was excelling skill-wise and advancing at an incredible pace. Even, Ron was doing pretty well, although, Harry had not seen much of him as of late. He knew he had promised Hermione that he would give his freckled friend some time to calm, but how long would this have to take? Exhausted, Harry had skipped out on drinks at the Pub with his fellow trainees that night, hoping to relax and wind down for the evening. Maybe, he would use the time to pen a few letters to Hogwarts, floo call Molly and Arthur... and, possibly even ask to speak to Ron; his mind was not made up yet, and of course, he was in no rush to come to a decision.

As Harry entered 12 Grimmauld Place, his senses were immediately assaulted by the delicious scent of steak and kidney pie. His senses rendered useless by the onslaught of tasty food, Harry made his way to the kitchen, and found Kreacher hard at work, as per usual.

"Kreacher made your favorite," the aging house-elf said, upon Harry's entry.

"Thank you, Kreacher. This is exactly what I needed tonight," came Harry's reply as he pulled out a chair and took a seat at the table. Harry was thankful that Kreacher had insisted on leaving Hogwarts to help out Harry for his duration at the house, wanting to make sure that the "saviour of the Wizarding World and defeater of the Dark Lord" was well-fed and that all his needs were met. Kreacher's presence also helped Harry to not feel as lonely as he would have, had the house been completely empty. Harry watched as Kreacher scampered down from his stool, where he was stirring batter for some kind of dessert, to bring Harry his plate of food, a handful of envelopes, and a goblet of butterbeer.

"Thank you, Kreacher," Harry smiled. He pushed the letters aside for later and began to dig in. After three more servings of steak and kidney pie, two slices of rhubarb pie, and a hundred more "thank you's" directed to Kreacher, Harry made his way to his bedchamber and decided to open the letters.

The first was a cordial invitation from Hogwarts to attend the first event in 'The Battle of the Heads' on Halloween. Of course, Harry did not even think twice. Immediately, he checked off the box that meant he planned to attend, and watched as the RSVP portion of the invite turned into a little paper airplane and whizzed out of sight.

The next letter was his first progress report from his Auror training; he had very high marks and a ton of congratulatory comments from the different instructors. It would not be too much longer until he was officially certified, and that excited him. Suddenly, he remembered how Dudley's rubbish marks were always posted on the fridge, and just for the heck of it, Harry grabbed a thumb tack and pinned his report to the wall above his bed.

Still beaming from his bit of good news, Harry looked over the last envelope that peaked his curiosity as it did not have a return address. Harry ran a few detection charms over it, and when they all appeared negative, he opened the letter. The script was tiny and thin, and it was certainly unfamiliar.

HARRY,

REGARD THIS WITH THE UTMOST URGENCY.

YOU MUST TAKE CONTROL OF THE TURMOIL OCCURRING AT HOGWARTS.

YOUR BEST FRIEND IS DATING A FERRET & YOUR GIRLFRIEND IS KISSING A SNAKE.

IT MIGHT NOT BE TOO LATE FOR YOU TO TALK SOME SENSE INTO THEM.

SORRY YOU HAD TO FIND OUT THIS WAY, BUT I HAD TO TAKE MATTERS INTO MY OWN HANDS.

DO NOT TRY TO CONTACT ME BACK.

HOPEFULLY THIS WILL BE THE ONLY TIME I HAVE TO WRITE TO YOU.

xx

Harry stared at the letter for a while before reading it again, and then again. Once, he had it ingrained in his memory, he placed it aside and laid on his bed, his thoughts spinning. He knew it was very ridiculous to just believe some childish anonymous letter that was clearly trying to stir up trouble. Yet, something about it did not settle with him- well, besides the obvious. The thing about Hermione and a ferret, which went without saying that is was clearly referencing Malfoy, could not be easily disputed. There was definitely some truth in that, Harry had witnessed something of that nature when he went to visit. So, what about this thing with Ginny? And the snake? Obviously, another Slytherin. Harry felt uneasy about all of this because Ginny had been acting weird around him. And back to this letter writer, he must be at least a little friendly with them seeing as they addressed him as 'Harry' and not 'Potter.' Somewhere in the distance, Harry felt like Ron was laughing at him, saying, 'I told ya so. I said it, I said to you something's not right at Hogwarts! Now, look what's happened, they've all gone barmy, and I told ya so.' Harry decided not to pen any letters to Hogwarts, and did not bother with any floo calls. Instead, he curled up in bed and felt like a lonely ten year old again that was sleeping in a cupboard under the stairs.