Disclaimer: The characters and settings, including any sentences taken directly or partly from the books or movies, of Harry Potter are the property of J. K. Rowling, Scholastic Books, Bloomsbury Publishing, AOL Time Link and Warner Brothers. I do not make money from publishing my story.


Harry was once again going through Severus' collection of books when he was suddenly surprised by one in particular. It was a grievously battered copy of Advanced Potion-Making by Libatius Borage, the sixth-year Potion's textbook. Though this copy looked far more tattered than the copy he had borrowed from Severus during the summer.

"I thought you respected books so much!", Harry said to Severus, who was engrossed in another textbook. Careful not to damage it any further Harry took it from the shelf.

"I do", Severus said, sounding a bit offended, though he was likely only making himself sound like that on purpose. "It's why I don't let brats like you take books outside."

"Haha, very funny! You never did give me that book back you know! Now that you mention it, what did you do with it?" Harry has sat himself down next to Severus and was looking weirdly impressed with his new find.

"I returned it to Madam Pince of course", Severus answered indignantly, "after a few months. I had to try and get you into trouble somehow."

"Of course you did", Harry said offhandedly, "That's why she always looked at me with distrust." Fliping through a few pages, Harry quickly noticed the margins were almost complete black with ink, with the number of notes the owner presumably had written down.

"So, what is the story behind this disaster of a book?"

"It was already in that state when I got it, Potter", Severus said somewhat insulted, despite not really wanting to talk about it, he knew the boy would not let it go. "It was my own potion's textbook, when I was at Hogwarts. It was a second-hand when I got it, my mother couldn't afford better."

"I'm sorry for bringing it up."

"It was a long time ago, Harry. Besides, none of it matters now. I've inherited the Prince fortune now, I will not have to worry about having to buy second hand stuff, when they are available new", Severus said, trying to make it sound like a bit of a joke.

"So, Half-blood Prince? That is you right?", Harry asked, "With your last family name and all. It has a nice ring to it."

"Yes, that is the name I used for myself in private", Severus admitted, "It was a name that allowed me to be a perfect Slytherin student, born from proper parents and all."

"Well, I am glad that you still tried to be my mother's handsome prince!", Harry said trying to lighten the mood, "and now you've even found your own damsel in distress. So all of these notes? They are yours too?"

"I had plenty of comments on the accuracy of the protocols in that book", Severus admitted once more, "though perhaps I should not encourage you to defile school books, especially as you are less likely to make as useful comments as I have."

"So, what about these spell?", Harry continued, with a big smile on his face, "they any good?" Severus didn't even respond vocally, but just gave him one look, that said, "Really?"


The weather was becoming steadily colder and wetter, though none of the students would be kept from their Hogsmeade trip, especially since security around the castle had been increased and the next one, might well be cancelled.

Harry, Hermione and Ron too were enjoying some of their spare time in the small village. Like many of their peers they had settled down into the Three Broomsticks. The bitter cold outside had drawn almost everyone indoors, leaving the streets quiet and the few people outside did not linger, but hurried towards their destination.

After their visit to Honeydukes, the trio desperately needed a drink to warm up and thus Madame Rosmerta had quickly brought them their butterbeers. Despite the cold, the atmosphere in the pub was warm and welcoming. Students enjoyed their moment of freedom, while locals were indulging themselves in liquor on their off-day.

"I can't believe you managed to talk yourself out of another of Slughors Slug Club dinners", Hermione said, sipping from her drink.

"What can I say, there isn't an excuse I wouldn't try to use to avoid that vile opportunist", Harry said, ignoring his friends look at the description he used for Professor Slughorn.

"Can you believe that my sister will be dragging along Dean", Ron spoke the name with as disgust as he could muster, while staring at one of the corners of the pub.

"Yes, Ron! I can imagine a girl wanting to take her boyfriend to a dinner party", Hermione said obviously annoyed at how her friend was acting. Harry quickly noticed that the corner, which Ron was maliciously staring at was occupied by the aforementioned couple, who were in fact kissing. Or as Ron would have described it, eating each other's face off.

"You should let them be", Harry said, trying to ease the tension between his friends, "I think he may be good for her."

"Good for her?!", Ron exclaimed suddenly standing up suddenly. Ron angrily put his drink aside and stormed over to the corner table. Both Harry and Hermione tried to grab onto his arm, failing brilliantly as Ron tugged his arm free in rage, giving them an angry look before making his way to the unaware couple.

"Oi!", Ron said loudly. Ginny and Dean broke apart and looked up.

"What?", said Ginny forcefully, knowing fully well where this conversation was heading already, though her tone sadly had attracted attention from the surrounding people too.

"I don't want to see my own sister snogging people in public!" Meanwhile Harry and Hermione had also walked over.

"Well, no one noticed until you came butting in and attracted all the attention." In the meantime, Dean was starting to go a red colour of embarrassment, which Harry fully understood. Though he was taking some sadistic pleasure of watching the boy suffer.

"Er… c'mon Ginny", Dean said, "Let's go back to Hogwarts."

"You go!", Ginny said, "I want a word with my dear brother!" Without question Dean stood up and left, looking as though he was not sorry to depart the scene.

"Right," Ginny said, tossing her long red hair out of her face and glaring at Ron, "let's get this straight once and for all. It is none of your business who I go out with or what I do with them, Ron —"

"Yeah, it is!" said Ron, just as angrily. "D'you think I want people saying my sister's a —"

"A what?" Ginny shouted and drawing her wand, instantly also drawing the undivided attention from the rest of the pub now. "A what, exactly?"

"He doesn't mean anything, Ginny —" said Harry trying to calm both redheads.

"Oh yes he does!" she said, suddenly flaring up at Harry. "Just because he's never snogged anyone in his life, just because the best kiss he's ever had is from our Auntie Muriel —"

"Shut your mouth!" Ron shouted raising his voice, bypassing red and turning maroon.

"No, I will not!" yelled Ginny, beside herself.

It was at this moment that Hermione decided to but in, drawing her wand and spelling both brother and sister silent. "Outside!", Hermione demanded, when neither was moving she cast a stinging-hex and shouted, "Now!"

While Hermione had stayed outside as a mediator between the two, Harry had gone back inside and had started observing the people around him. Many Hogwarts students came to greet him and he had a brief talk with some of them, when suddenly Draco Malfoy caught his eye looking around nervously before walking towards the bathrooms.

Over the summer he had become quite acquainted with the look of a nervous young Malfoy, seeing as the Dark Lord bosomed fear into the young man like nothing else. However, it was something else entirely to see the young Malfoy in such a bad a condition, his hair was somewhat unkempt and there were dark circles under his eyes, nothing like the image the Malfoy heir used to project around Hogwarts.

Harry though decided that it was not a good idea to interfere so publicly in such an affair and waited patiently for the young man to re-emerge from the bathroom, though that didn't happen before Hermione and Ron re-joined him at the table. Losing sight of the bathroom entrance when Ron sat down next to him, Draco Malfoy was pushed to the back of his mind.

"Here, have mine", Harry said, passing on his butterbeer to his friend, "Looks like you need one."

Harry walked over to the bar to order another for himself, before giving Hermione a quick glance. The look she gave him was very clear, she too could use one.

It took some time before Ron calmed down enough to have a pleasant conversation again, but neither Harry nor Hermione thought it a good idea to return to the castle too early and take the chance of running into either Dean or Ginny.

Suddenly the door of the Three Broomsticks opened with a bang and a hysteric shout came from the doorway. "A student's been cursed!" The effect of that sentence was immediate, people stood up and made their way to the exit, including the trio. They managed to squeeze themselves out of the pub fairly quickly and followed the masses once outside. What they found when they arrived at the scene was horrifying.

Katie Bell was thrashing and screaming, apparently unable to recognize any of them, including her friend Leanne who was by her side, clearly besides herself with worry. "Has anyone called for help?", Harry said taking the lead, but his efforts were ignored by all spectators, "Please, anyone." Suddenly Katie Bell's screamed died out and the silence around them was eerie.

"No, please, no!", Leanne said frantically moving her hands over her friends body.

Hermione's instincts kicked in and she started to feel for a pulse. Feeling nothing she looked at Harry and nodded a subtle negative.

"Move her to the castle", Harry demanded and Hermione sprang into action, "Ron go with her and notify McGonagall. The rest of you: LEAVE!"

At first only his friends started moving, but as soon as Harry threatened to hex anyone who stayed behind, the crowd quickly dispersed.

"It's Leanne, right?", Harry said to the girl who had remained behind sobbing on the ground, "Did it just happen all of a sudden, or — ?"

"It was when that package tore," sobbed Leanne, pointing at the now sodden brown-paper package on the ground, which had split open to reveal a greenish glitter. Harry moved closer to observe, when Leanne grabbed his wrist frantically.

"Don't touch it!", she yelled.

Harry subtly used waved his hand to move the packing, revealing an ornate opal necklace, which vaguely reminded him of some jewellery he had seen before in one of the shops in Knockturn Alley.

"I suspect it was cursed and Katie touched it to activate it", Harry said.

"She said it was a surprise for somebody at Hogwarts and she had to deliver it. She looked all funny when she said it. . . . Oh no, oh no, I bet she'd been Imperiused and I didn't realize!", Leanne said, shaking with renewed sobs.

"She didn't say who'd given it to her, Leanne?"

"No . . . she wouldn't tell me . . . and I said she was being stupid and not to take it up to school, but she just wouldn't listen and . . . and then I tried to grab it from her . . . and — and —"

"We'd better get up to school", Harry said, getting Leanne to lean on him to stand up.


Author: I'm sorry this is a bit of a filler chapter, but these scenes are needed to show that despite what happened during the summer, a lot of things are still the same as in canon. Therefore, these scenes are adapted from the original books, but I take no credit from them!