Disclaimer: NOT Blonde, Not rich, not living in Britain, initials are not JKR therefore don't own. Love the characters and the setting so I am just playing, I get nothing but the reviews my readers give me. Authorship shared with Darkshadowedrose. Beta read by Alix33.

A/N: Sorry my muse went on a round the world trip, wish she'd have taken me with her but no. RL has been interesting. This one sadly is kinda short. But hopefully as fourth year gets going they will get longer.

Trust is a Relative Thing

by Silverfawkes

Chapter 49

Harry woke the next morning when a Hogwarts elf brought him his necklace. That piece of idiocy, forgetting his necklace, could have cost him dear. Thankfully this time his slip hadn't cost him anything. Thanking the house elf he donned the necklace.

The last months of school went by Harry focused on just day-to-day living: his lessons, quidditch, time with his friends, trying to find the time, the courage and the opportunities to chat up Cho Chang. Before he knew it it was the end of the year and he was taking exams. School was finished for Harry and his friends but they would be at the the school until NEWTS Testing finished in three days.

At his final occlumency meeting with Professor Snape he successfully blocked the professor from even entering his mindscape.

"Very good, Mr. Potter."

"Thank you, Professor."

"Have you given any more thought to learning the subtleties of the art?"

"I have thought about it, but I have decided against it. I have no need to be tricky about occlumency. My mind is my own and no other may enter, for me that is all I need."

Professor Snape nodded his acceptance. He wasn't particularly surprised. Harry did have an almost Gryffindor attitude at times. Deception wasn't a large part of his make-up, unlike many of Severus' snakes. Control on the other hand, especially self-control, made it clear why he had been sorted snake. Harry had an almost obsessive need for control. Snape wasn't sure whether he looked forward to the clashes that would come when the Headmaster decided to maneuver Harry around like a chess piece, or if he feared them. He supposed only time would tell.

He supposed Lily would be proud of Harry. He was maintaining his high placement in his year, but sometimes Severus felt that she would be slightly disappointed. Harry while perfectly charming when he wanted to be, lacked the warmth of personality that had made Lily the wonderful person she was. Harry lacked the joy and delight in everyday life that had so characterized his mother. Severus was certain that this would make Lily sad. Harry was cynical and distrustful especially with adults, this too would have disappointed Lily. This year was the first year that Harry didn't seem to be looking forward to the return to his family. Instead as the return home approached, he grew tenser and more irritable.

"Is everything alright, Mr. Potter? I have noticed that you lack your usual enthusiasm for returning home this year."

Harry gave a slight grimace. He really didn't want to return to Privet Drive. He had spent the many months at school coming to the conclusion that he wished to be around people who wished to be near him, not around people who merely tolerated and used him to their own ends, which unfortunately was most the people he knew.

He didn't like living the pretense of "family" with his aunt and uncle, but this summer he would once again be forced to. At least with Dudley and Rose it would not be pretense. He would probably try to spend as much time as he could at the dojo this summer because at least the liking and the respect from Sensei was real. He hoped that someday he would live his life for real, not just the pretense that everything was as it should be; the pretense that most the people around him actually gave a damn. His friends cared but they lacked the experience to understand where Harry was emotionally, with the possible exceptions of Neville and Luna.

Last summer he had seen that his hopes for genuine affection from Petunia would always be dashed, that the small tokens of affection she gave were more to keep him biddable to her plans and to make sure no one could accuse her of neglecting her duty to him. She had done it so well, that routing his trustee board had been child's play for her. Not that his trustees were really doing anything more than trying to enhance their own reputations by association.

Harry supposed Petunia had definitely done her job. He knew well enough how to care for himself and was accomplished at most things that would be expected of him. This summer's education would see to the rest of the social and practical sides; which left him wondering what he was supposed to do now. How many almost fourteen year-olds could say they were ready to care for themselves the way an adult did? He knew that he lacked experience and if he were to care for himself completely now he would make mistakes, but good judgement would only come with time and making mistakes. Politically and magically he had a couple more years before he had to be ready, but he already knew his career would be managing his investments and developing his art.

Belatedly Harry realized he should give some answer to the Professor. "I'm just not looking forward to the plans my aunt has made for the summer."

At an arched eyebrow from his head of house, he continued, "Dance lessons."

Severus Snape smirked at that. It didn't surprise him that Petunia thought the boy should know how to dance given her own love of dance. "I see. Well, learning social niceties never killed anyone. Try and make the best of it." His gut told him there was more to it than Harry said, but he knew the odds of getting it out of the boy were not in his favor. "If there's nothing else, you may go."

"Yes, sir." Harry left the office.

The next day found Harry in the Great Hall playing what would be the last chess match of the year with Ron. Since neither boy had a reason to hurry they were both taking their time considering what moves they wished to make. As they played they talked about their exams.

"So, Potter, were your exams what you expected?"

"Yes. What about yours?"

"All but my divination one, Trelawney spoke in this really strange and kind of creepy voice and said something about the servant escaping to his master, who would come back greater and more terrible than before. Then a moment later her voice goes back to normal and she had no clue she'd said anything. Weird, huh?"

"Definitely."

"She's probably been hitting the sherry a little hard and uses all that incense in her classroom to hide it."

"Possibly. She has made a certified prediction though."

"Really?" His eyes lit up as he captured Harry's queen.

"Yes." Harry moved his pawn to Ron's back row. "My queen, please."

Ron frowned as he started re-planing for the now changed board.

"Harry!" Neville came running up.

"Yeah, Nev? Do you need something?" Harry asked not even looking up.

"Have you guys seen Hannah? We're supposed to meet for a picnic, but I was helping Professor Sprout put dragon dung on the plants in greenhouse three and lost track of time. Then I had to clean myself up . So I'm even later, and now I can't find her-"

"Relax, Nev." After glancing around Harry pulled out his map. He whispered, "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good," and touched it with his wand. "Show me Hannah Abbott." The map swiftly moved its focus to a place on the shore of the lake.

Neville gave a relieved, "Thanks," and scurried towards the Great Hall doors.

"What's that?" Ron asked Harry looking at the map.

"Something my dad and his friends made. A map of the whole school, it also shows where everyone is. They used to to get around for pranks. I used it a lot my first year just to get around, but now not so much."

"Can I see?"

"Sure, just don't let the twins know about it. I shudder to think of the uses they would put it to."

"Whoa." Ron looked at the map and the way it showed the corridors and even secret passages. Then he found himself and Harry in the Great Hall and snickered. "It's not very accurate is it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's listing another bloke. His name is right here with us and there's no one here but you and I."

Harry's eyebrows came together. He looked at the map. There he and Ron were in the Great Hall but a third name was listed, Peter Pettigrew. Harry gasped.

"Ron? I don't suppose you have a pet rat on you?" He asked pulling his wand.

"Scabbers? Did Neville tell you about him? I keep him on me all the time now. Granger's cat would kill him otherwise. He's old and has been pretty frail." Ron reached into his pocket and pulled out his pet. He almost fainted when his rat suddenly transformed in to a rheumy-eyed, short, pudgy wizard with yellow teeth and greasy thinning hair who grabbed him and held him at wand point. Using Ron's own body as a shield between himself and Harry.

"Pettigrew." Harry hissed, black hatred coloring every syllable.

"Hello, Harry."

"Let Ron go." Harry growled with a terrifying menace.

"Can't he's my ticket out of here, I'm afraid. You raise the alarm and poor Ron here will die. What a shame that would be. But if you give me your wizard's oath that you'll sit here quiet like for an hour. I'll swear to release him once I'm out of the Hogwarts boundaries, who knows maybe I'll even allow him to bring that map back to you."

"You helped kill my parents and I'm supposed to just sit here."

"Unless you want the death of your friend here on your conscience, yes."

Ron was terrified. He and Potter weren't exactly friends and Potter had been known to be aggressive when provoked. Ron remembered him beating up Lockheart in Flourish and Blott's before the start of second year. That was just for putting him in the spotlight; helping to kill his parents? He was dead, maybe both of them were.

"I'm supposed to trust the word of a slimy, back-stabbing, Death Eater?"

"Here now, don't take that tone with me. I changed your nappies."

"And sold out my parents and me to Voldemort. Thank you so much by the way for the disturbing image of you seeing me naked as a baby . Why my parents ever trusted someone like you... Tell you what, we both walk out of here to the Hogwarts gates. I keep my map and once we reach the gates, you let Ron go. On account of he's taken such good care of you over the years. If you're fast enough you get away, if not ...well, I would imagine Padfoot will celebrate."

"What's the incentive for me to do that?"

"Because otherwise we take our chances here and now, and Ron gets whatever he gets. Because I bet if a commotion starts in here, help will get here before you can get away. Actually that sounds rather appealing, The debt you owe me for what you did, is substantial, I look forward to you paying it."

"You drive a hard bargain, Harry. Alright let's go." Pettigrew nervously pulled a shaking Ron to his feet. He carefully kept his left arm wrapped around Ron's throat, forcing him to act as a shield. There was something about Harry that reminded Peter of Lily on the warpath. Getting out of here was a very good idea, if Harry was half as able as his parents he could possibly beat Peter despite being only half trained. When they reached the gates of the school, Pettigrew carefully backed up to the gates keeping Ron, who was crying, struggling to breathe, and trying hard not to panic, between himself and Harry.

"Far enough, Wormtail, let Ron go."

"No, I think not. Who knows when a hostage might be useful."

Harry had half anticipated this possibility. Peter had broken a heavy sweat half hauling Ron with him the tenth of a Mile from the Great Hall to the gates. An inert Ron would be impossible for the other wizard to manage. "Stupetfy!" Harry aimed at Ron. The other boy dropped just shy of the Hogwarts apparition ward. Harry aimed a second stunner at Pettigrew.

Peter, realizing he had lost his shield, scrambled back and sent a bone shattering hex at Harry, even as he nimbly dodged the stunner Harry sent in his direction. He apparated away while Harry dodged the vicious spell.

Harry managed to avoid most of the hex but his left foot got caught by the bottom edge. He fell over. "Bloody, buggering, fuck!" Harry found himself fighting nausea as the pain from his foot had him almost blacking out. He lay on the ground and breathed slowly in and out through his mouth until the worst of it subsided. He thought about calling Hedwig but didn't want to out her as a phoenix to everyone; then looked over at Ron.

"Enervate."

Ronald Weasley was astonished when he woke up to see a blue sky lightly dotted with clouds. He swiftly sat up and looked around. He was still at school, when Pettigrew had said what he did about hostages. Ron's life flashed before his eyes and he had visions of his life ending in some Death Eater's dungeon. But somehow Potter had stopped the Death Eater that used to be his rat from taking him. Potter lay on the ground a short distance from him, and was almost chalk white. "Potter?"

"Thank God that worked." Harry said through clenched teeth.

"You're hurt aren't you?"

"You could say that."

"How can I help you?"

"My left foot is hurt. If you come to my left side, then help me get vertical. I'll use you like a crutch and we should be able to get to the infirmary. Pomfrey should be able to fix me up."

Fifteen minutes later they entered the infirmary. Harry's left arm lay across Ron's shoulder, and Ron's arm was around his waist.

Harry was sheet white as he placed himself on the closest bed.

Madame Pomfrey bustled in. "Have you boys been fighting?" She asked after taking in their disheveled appearance. "Who's hurt and where?"

"My left foot." Harry gritted out.

"And you, dear?" She asked Ron.

"My neck and throat hurt a little, and I've got a couple scrapes. But you should look after Potter first. He's hurt more."

"I'll be the judge of that. Throats are much more important than feet." With that Madame Pomfrey waved her wand towards Ron's neck.

At that moment McGonagall came in dragging two first years one Slytherin and one Gryffindor by the ears both were sporting black eyes and bloody noses. "Poppy! Oh you're already in here. Mr. Weasley?" Her voice held a note of concern. "Mr. Potter?" This time it held a carefully concealed disdain. "Don't tell me you two boys were fighting. What is it with the Gryffindors and Slytherins today? Fine Detention both of you!"

"But-" Ron protested.

Poppy moved to check the younger boys.

Harry, whose throbbing pain climbed another notch, could no longer hold back a groan. Waves of returning nausea were beginning to overwhelm his ability to focus despite pain.

Poppy reminded of his presence, turned back to him and waved her wand over his foot. "Oh my goodness! Which of you boys was so stupid as to use that bone shattering hex?"

Minerva straightened, "Which bone shattering hex?"

"It wasn't us! Honest!" Ron protested sharply. "It was a bloke named Petter Pettigrew!"

"Pettigrew?" both women questioned.

"Yeah. We were in the Great Hall playing chess..." He trailed off realizing Harry probably wouldn't want him to mention the map.

Harry groaned again.

Poppy grimaced as the full results of her diagnostic spell came back. "Well, that tears it. Mr. Potter with the hex that hit your foot I'm afraid I'll have to vanish and re-grow the bones. You're in for a most uncomfortable night, and I'm afraid you'll miss the end of the year feast."

"Whatever. Can you give me something for the pain?

"I'm afraid not, it would interfere with the skelegrow but once I vanish the bones there should be a bit of relief for you."

"Do it then."

Minerva meanwhile realized if Pettigrew were still in the castle he might be a danger to the students so she summoned Albus and, because Potter was a Slytherin, Severus to the infirmary so they could get some answers. "Hold your explanation for the Headmaster, Mr. Weasley."

As Harry's pain reduced he started to follow what Ron had said. When the Headmaster and his head of house arrived he took control of the explanation. "We were playing chess. Neville came in looking for Hannah. I figured we could speed his search by looking at my family heirloom." Harry knew that both Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape knew it existed, if not what all it did, ever since the Draco fiasco the year before. "We found her and Nev left. Ron wanted to get a better look. It showed Pettigrew as being near us in the Great Hall. I knew Pettigrew was a rat animagus so I asked Ron if he had a pet rat."

"I pulled out Scabbers, and the next thing I know there's a wizard holding me at wandpoint and threatening to kill me!"

"Why didn't you summon a teacher, Mr. Potter?" Snape asked.

"It was happening too quickly, and I didn't wish to put any more students at risk."

"Then what happened?" Asked the Headmaster.

"Pettigrew and I dickered terms of Ron's release and Pettigrew's opportunity for escape for a couple of minutes. Then we left the castle heading to the gates. I figured Pettigrew wouldn't honor the terms so when we were close to the ward boundaries. I told Pettigrew it was far enough. That it was time to release Ron. He planned to keep his hostage. I stunned Ron. Traded spells with Pettigrew. He got away after sending the bone shattering hex my way. I almost dodged it completely, but it caught my foot. Then I woke Ron and we came here. I hope that detention you planned for Ron and I is cancelled now, Professor McGonagall."

She blushed slightly, then nodded.

Albus on the other hand wondered. He suspected the boy housed a fragment of Voldemort's soul. From Harry's phrasing, was orchestrating the escape of his parents' betrayer the first sign of him losing a battle for his own soul? "Mr. Potter may I request a viewing of your memory of the event?" Albus wanted to know exactly what had happened and what had been said. "It would be completely voluntary of course."

Harry gave the Headmaster an evaluating look. It didn't take much to see the Headmaster was asking himself the "is Harry dark" question. "Fine, how do I do it?"

Snape stepped forward. "Bring the memory to the forefront of your mind in as much detail as you can then place your wand to your temple, imagine the thread of your memory attaching to your wand them pull the wand away." He knew it would be child's play for Harry since he was an occlumens.

Harry brought the memory forward but deliberately skipped over details of the map. Starting it from when Ron remarked the map wasn't very accurate. Figuring he could claim family magics obscuring the details of the family heirloom. Dumbledore didn't need to know how it worked, so for the purpose of the memory the map would appear merely as parchment. A moment later he pulled his wand away.

Professor Snape handed him a vial. Harry put the memory into it. The Headmaster and the teachers gathered themselves up and left for the Headmaster's office. Leaving Poppy to deal with the the boys.

Poppy gave Harry his dose of Skelegrow.

He barely resisted the urge to spew it and the meager contents of his stomach back out.

Once Poppy was sure he'd successfully swallowed it and it would stay down, she went to deal with the two younger boys and their broken noses.

In the headmaster's office, the teachers waited while the Headmaster got out his pensieve. "Do you believe his story, Severus?"

"He has no reason to lie, Minerva."

"We'll see soon enough."

"It's ready." The Headmaster said. They entered the pensieve.

Severus noticed that the memory was clear and sharp except the parchment in Harry's hands. He couldn't help but smirk at the petulant expression on the Headmaster's face when the parchment proved too fuzzy to examine. He would have to give Potter points for cleverness and skill there.

There was no question it was Pettigrew. Minerva and Severus both quickly realized Harry had probably made the best decisions possible in the Great Hall and on the grounds. His actions had prevented any other students from getting hurt by keeping Pettigrew focused on Harry. His decision to take the hostage out of the equation before Pettigrew got to the wards was not something that would have occurred to either of them, but it was effective.

Albus meanwhile was horrified. The hope for the wizarding world and he fired a spell at a non-combatant. He didn't turn to Albus or any other adult and he threatened Pettigrew! If he was willing to do that to a friend and playmate what did that mean for the wizarding world when Voldemort managed to return.

As they exited the pensieve, Albus said, "Thoughts?"

"Well, five points to Potter for original solutions." Severus said.

"But he shot a spell at Mr. Weasley! They are supposed to be friends." Albus protested.

"Yes, and in doing so he prevented Mr. Weasley from being kidnapped by a Death Eater. It isn't a solution that would have occurred to me, but given Mr. Potter's level of knowledge it was a correct choice. Five points to Slytherin, and pass on my thanks to Mr. Potter for helping a classmate." Minerva stated.

"Albus, let's cut to the chase." Snape said. "I don't believe you are putting things in the proper perspective. You and I both know what fate has decreed for Potter. You want him to be a willing pawn in your chess match with the Dark Lord."

"It's for the greater good of the wizarding world that he not question wiser heads than his own. If what I believe is true, he may have to sacrifice himself for the well-being of the magical world. It would be so much easier if he were a Gryffindor, member's of that house have an intrinsic grasp of doing the right thing and acting courageously for the good of all, rather than just thinking of themselves."

"Well, Potter is a Slytherin. Thinking ahead is a large part of his make-up and I doubt that he will ever blithely plunge into any plan someone else comes up with. He will always find a way to twist things and make his own, as he did his first year. I strongly urge you to not make plans for him without his input. To do so may very well have ...unfortunate consequences."

"All hope isn't lost, Albus, Harry may not be a lion, but he isn't without honor. I find it hopeful that he put the safety of the students ahead of revenge on his parents' betrayer. He was confronted with a dangerous situation and once again he rose to the challenge and came through it mostly intact. Now if we could just have a highly competent defense teacher next year..." Minerva drawled.

"I'm trying to persuade Alastor to come."

Severus got an alarmed look, but even he could not deny the suggested teacher's competence. "I see. At least Potter will be too young to participate in next year's madness."

"Indeed. Although I do find myself wondering if he would rise to the challenge."

"Albus. Don't you dare!" McGonagall scolded.

"I wouldn't dream of it, my dear." Albus said.

"See that you don't. I doubt many of my snakes will consider risking themselves but there are one or two from the poorer families that might consider it. My snakes are ambitious but not stupid. I very much doubt that Potter would, the money is pocket change to him and he is not very fond of the fame he already has. I shall get to enjoy a quiet year next year."

"I wish I could say the same." Minerva frowned.

"What about the obscured family heirloom? How do we know this memory isn't manufactured?" Albus asked.

"Mr. Potter is an organized student. It's possible, even probable, he's an occlumens, and he hid that and that alone from us for whatever reason. It's also possible the family heirloom may have magics on it that keep all but the heir and his chosen companions from seeing it properly. With the exception of the heirloom the memory is clear and sharp so the odds of it being manufactured are slim. I think we need to focus on the larger issues. How do we prevent such things from happening in the future?" Snape asserted.

The rest of their discussion centered on that topic, and Professor Snape returned the memory to its vial to be returned to Harry.

The next day, the train carried the students back to their families. Harry and the Slytherin Quidditch team had made plans to attend the Quidditch World Cup together a couple months before, so they discussed their plans further. They celebrated winning the Hogwarts Quidditch cup and Flint's appointment to the Ballycastle Bats reserves as a chaser. Flint had also gotten a part-time job with the Cleansweep Broom Company as an apprentice broom maker.

Cassandra met Harry at Platform nine and three quarters with a satchel of papers. The plans to go to Nic and Nell's had fallen through. But the Flamels had sent him four tickets for three of the Wimbledon semi-finals games and the four for two of the finals. All of them were mid to late afternoon not morning matches. Once Wimbledon was over he would be spending one afternoon a week with Neville supplementing his dance classes in the muggle world with the dances and etiquette of the magical world. Three afternoons would be spent at Potter Place studying family magic. Dance camp was every morning Monday through Thursday. Lady Augusta had decided that Neville would also be attending. The other days Harry figured was how he would fit in working at the dojo and time to do homework and paint . His summer was lined out. Cassandra had even made him a duplicate of the schedule to share with Aunt Petunia.

"Here you go. Busy summer for you."

"When isn't it?"

"Harry, I've made most the arrangements for the World Cup. I already got the tickets you told me to and by buying a large block of them I got a small discount. I might suggest that you take your Godfather and Remus Lupin with you. You're fairly good at staying out of the limelight but having two additional adults along for some security might be a good plan, and Sirius really wants to spend time with you, even if it means being around several Slytherins."

"You're right. Arrange it."

Cassandra smiled, "Already done. Subject to your approval, I've got a tent that can house twenty four, four rooms that each have a dorm style bathroom and house six. It also has a large comfortable common room with several seating arrangements and a long central table. A campsite not far from the stadium. A portkey also for twenty leaving from the entrance to Diagon Alley a day and a half before, and eighteen tickets for the game, not top box but still good seats. Zinna is lined up to cook and I was just waiting for your approval to send instructions. Are you sure Madame Bones agreed to chaperone the girls of the cadre?"

"Yes. The choice was between her and Augusta. It wasn't hard. Susan asked her and Madame Bones agreed. She did say it was likely that at times she'd get pulled away for work, so adding two more adults in the form of Sirius and Remus is also good. It will reassure the parents that we aren't being a bunch of wild teens. Draco Malfoy and Warrington will be with their families for most of the event but they will probably have tea with us before the game. I approve your arrangements.

"Tell Zinnia to make sure that the tea before the game is extra impressive, and generous. She'll be feeding multiple teenage boys. I give her permission to have leftovers for a change."

"Okay, Potter Place tonight. First thing in the morning, we meet with Jack about your clothes. You've obviously been growing."

"Yes, I have."

"Tomorrow afternoon I escort you back to Privet Drive. Instructions or questions?"

"How goes the fight for access to Slytherin's books?"

"Dumbledore has been successful so far in stalling. But the court deadline is in two days, and Mr. Ogden says that there's no way Dumbledore can win. Especially considering you'd be within your rights to claim all of the contents of the Chamber find rather than share them with Hogwarts.

"I did get a look at the spell to transfer family magics. It was in the Black family library. It's nasty, but short and simple enough. It isn't hard to believe he would have done it that night. In terms of powers it grants you: parseltongue, obviously, an affinity for some pretty complex wards, and an affinity for healing magic. While Tom might use the warding, I very much doubt he uses the healing."

"Well, I don't know. There's a saying in the muggle world: Don't anger your healer because they know better than anyone how to take you apart. I wouldn't put it past him to bastardize some of those healing spells for that purpose."

"Fair point. Ready to go?"

"Yep. Let's blow this joint. Potter Place."