Chapter 51
The Study Group, Part 2


Author's Note: Many apologies for the long delay. This chapter was hell to write! Took forever, and the Study group portion still isn't done! Without further ado, enjoy!


{Monday May 30th 1994)

(Harry)

"What the bloody hell is Malfoy doing here?!" Ron said, jumping to his feet at the sight of Draco.

"Ronald Billius Weasley!" Mrs. Weasley scolded, "You will watch your language and be polite to our guests! And sit back down this instant!"

Ron slouched back into his chair, though he was still staring at Draco rather murderously.

"It is Draco Black now, Ron," Draco said; Ron flinched when he heard his first name instead of last as Draco used to call him by, "I'll let that one go in case you were too slow to get the memo." Draco cringed as Sirius glared at him. "Sorry. I am here simply because starting in September I will be returning to Hogwarts -"

Ron groaned, though he immediately went silent when his mother glared at him.

" – and I have no wish to be a third year when I return," Draco said. "Unfortunately that means I must take the exams just like the rest of you do. I am here because they -" he pointed to Remus, Tonks and Sirius, "- offered to help me achieve that."

"Which is exactly what we're going to do," Remus said, "Our first objective is to discuss our schedule for the upcoming weeks."

"Well, sit down everyone," Mrs. Weasley said, "Would any of you like a spot of breakfast?"

"All of us have already eaten, Molly," Sirius said, "We've figured we're intruding enough already -"

"Nonsense, you're guests!" Mrs. Weasley said, "You should feel welcome here. Sirius, are you staying?"

"Only for a little while to make sure things go as planned," Sirius said.

Harry had caught Sirius' momentary glare towards Draco, though he wasn't sure if anyone else noticed it. Mrs. Weasley waved her wand and four chairs appeared near the table. A sudden whooshing sound emerged from the living room, and Mrs. Weasley walked out of the kitchen. She returned a few moments later followed by Luna Lovegood, toting her large bright knapsack on her back.

"Oh, hello everyone!" Luna said, brightly, "I didn't expect the kitchen to be so full!"

Everyone greeted her at once.

"Have you eaten, Luna?" Mrs. Weasley asked, as she conjured up another chair..

"Oh, yes," Luna said, "Daddy always fixes the best breakfast."

"Well, great," Mrs. Weasley said, "You've arrived right on time. We were just about to go over the schedule for the study group."

Luna smiled as she sat down next to Draco. She looked at him for a moment, sizing him up.

"Congratulations," she said simply, then smiled and looked at everyone.

Draco's cheeks grew quite red, and he turned his attention elsewhere away from Luna.

Er... why did she congratulate him? Harry asked Ginny.

She must have seen something through her Aura Reading. We'll have to ask her later.

Harry's reply was cut off by Percy walking into the kitchen. If he was surprised by the fact that Draco was there, he did not voice it. Instead he apologized profusely for his apparent tardiness and sat down."All right," Remus said, "As I understand it, your end-of-term packets won't be arriving till Wednesday. Everyone here, other than Fred, George and Percy, will only be taking written exams. Before the unfortunate events that took place, all of the Hogwarts Professors were planning on having written and practical exams. Fortunately or unfortunately, as some may see it, this exact thing has been done before at Hogwarts."

"I had all but forgotten about that," Sirius said, nodding.

"During mine and Sirius' second year at Hogwarts," Remus continued, "the Great War was just beginning to take form. Everyone was scared for the students, and we were forced to leave Hogwarts a couple weeks before term ended. This wasn't planned, and we hadn't taken our exams yet, so we had to take them at home. Much similar to what you are experiencing now. Hermione, you don't have to raise your hand yet. Yes?"

Hermione blushed and glared at Ron, Harry, Ginny and the twins, all of whom had snickered.

"So that is why the Professors seemed so calm about it," she said, as she lowered her hand, "Most of them had experienced it before."

"Indeed, Miss Granger," Remus said. "So as I said, most of you will only have to study for your written exams."

"Will this affect their futures as students and beyond?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Fortunately not," Remus said, "They might be doing more practical lessons at the very beginning next year when most of the Professors are usually assigning what we usually call 'reminder quizzes.' It is what happened to Sirius and I as students. Okay, lets narrow down the subjects. Defense, Transfiguration, Charms, Herbology, Potions and Astronomy are, of course, your common classes. And everyone has Care of Magical Creatures as well, yes?"

Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione nodded. Fred, George and Percy did as well.

"Ancient Runes and Arithmancy?" Remus asked.

Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and Percy raised their hands. Unexpectedly, so did Luna.

"I'll be taking them next year," Luna said, smiling, "And Care of Magical Creatures."

"If you have some extra time, perhaps you can join in," Remus said; he then motioned to himself, Tonks and Sirius, "Unfortunately, none of us took Ancient Runes or Arithmancy when we were at Hogwarts."

"I thought you would have jumped at the chance to take those, Professor," Hermione said to Remus.

"I was much too focused on other stuff," Remus said, shrugging.

"What he is trying to say is James and myself talked him out of it," Sirius said, grinning.

"Professor, I will be able to help them," Percy said, smiling, "And perhaps Bill will be able too as well, if he gets the chance."

"That is a good idea," Mrs. Weasley said.

"So that just leaves Divination," Remus said.

Ron raised his hand, and not-so unexpectedly, so did Draco. Ron glared at him.

"I would have taken it if I stayed at Hogwarts," Draco said, "As well as Care of Magical Creatures."

"Fortunately, for both of you," Sirius said, "Divination isn't exactly much of a bother when it comes to written exams. If you paid attention in class, Ron, you should be able to pass it easily. It is the practical that could fail you, and you won't have to do that."

"Brilliant," Hermione said, "You can help Draco with that, Ron."

Ron scowled silently and didn't reply.

"Now for your main classes," Remus said, "Defense, of course, I will be able to help with. Transfiguration and Charms as well. Astronomy..."

Sirius smiled. "I was a whiz at Astronomy. Regrettably it is one of the only things my good-for-nothing parents taught me that I soaked in."

"Potions and Herbology, on the other hand," Remus said, "As you could probably guess, not my best subjects."

Sirius and Tonks nodded in agreement; Harry thought this was rather surprising given the fact they were both Aurors.

"I'll be able to help there," Mrs. Weasley, "Potions was one of my best classes. And I am no Pomona Sprout, but Herbology is a strong suit."

"Er..." Harry said, "Isn't Potions mostly a practical class? I mean, sure, half of it is written, but the important half is brewing the potions."

"Exactly!" Sirius said, "Should be an easy exam to pass then. No potions to bug... mess up."

"Same goes for Herbology as well," Mrs. Weasley said, "You'll have to resort on using your textbooks for that."

"With that settled," Remus said, "Shall we put together a schedule? Fred, George and Percy, your OWLs and NEWTs begin the third week of June. It is probably best for you to work on any lagging homework you might have straight away and take the rest of the time to revise."

Percy agreed enthusiastically. Fred and George nodded soberly, though Harry knew they weren't exactly about to put their full focus on it, when they were trying to work on their joke shop material.

"Luna, since you are not in the same year as most of the group here," Remus said, "Your assignments and exams are going to be different of course. So when the third years are on break from their studies or studying up for their extra-curricular classes, we'll focus on your exams. Makes sense?"

"Yes, sir," Luna said.

"Good," Remus said, then turned to the current third years, "As for the five of you, including you, Draco. I think we'll go through the same class schedules you had when you were actually in class. That way, you can quickly get back into the swing of things, and it will make it much easier. Draco, since you are only going to be focusing on the final exams, I want you to start reading through each book, cramming for the exams and writing notes down. You can do this, while your classmates are working on their final projects and homework, and then hopefully once they're ready for exam revisions, you'll be caught up."

Draco nodded silently.

With their schedule plans in mind, everyone was ready. Defense was the first subject of the day, so it was decided that after breakfast, Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Draco would remain in the kitchen with Remus, while Luna and Tonks would end up in the sitting room to work on her second year studies and revisions.

"Percy, Fred, George," Mrs. Weasley said, "I'll expect it is going to be quite loud in here, so how about the three of you work in your rooms? The quicker you finish up your homework, the sooner you'll be able to study for your exams."

Fred and George only nodded and continued with their breakfast.

"I best be off," Sirius said, "Draco, I'll be back to take you home later."

Draco shrugged and nodded silently.

"Auror Black?" Percy said, "May I talk to you before you leave? In private?"

"Sure," Sirius said.

Percy followed Sirius out of the house, leaving everyone else including Mrs. Weasley in silent wonder as they continued with their breakfast. Percy returned a few minutes later, with a happy yet determined smile on his face, though he didn't say anything while he ate his breakfast.


(Ron)

Two hours later, after Defense revisions, Ron and Draco were sitting in the living room, Ron on the couch, while Draco was seated in Mr. Weasley's favorite rocking chair. Ron was shuffling through a sheaf of parchment, while Draco was skimming through Ron's Divination book. Harry, Ginny and Hermione were in the kitchen working on Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. From what Hermione had said earlier, Ron thought they were probably working on trying to figure out their magical cores.

Draco emitted a noise of disbelief, making Ron look up from his notes.

"What's wrong with you, Mal – Black?" Ron quickly corrected himself.

"Tea leaves?" Draco said, "They're expecting you to predict your future by looking at the bottom of a tea cup?"

Ron did his best to hold back a smirk. "It is actually rather simple if you know what you're doing. Professor Trelawney said I was actually rather good at it."

"Yeah, well, Trelawney has a record of being mental, doesn't she?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ron held back a snort. While he did agree with Draco, he wasn't about to voice it.

"Why did you pick Divination if you don't like its instructor?" he asked.

Draco shrugged. "Arithmancy and Ancient Runes seemed pretty complicated, and I wasn't about to pick Muggle Studies. Divination and Magical Creatures were the only two other classes left to pick."

Ron raised his eyebrows in surprise. He and Draco seemed to have the same mind-set on the same subjects.

"Divination is fairly easy once you figure it out," Ron said, "Most of the time, I've discovered the easiest way to go is to make things up."

Draco raised one eyebrow, then after a moment nodded. Ron sighed and looked across the sitting room toward the kitchen. His mother was turned away from him, so he decided to do what he was wanting to do since Draco's arrival.

"Look, Draco," he said in a low voice, "I'm going to be honest with you. I don't like you."

"Rather obvious, that," Draco said.

Ron ignored that. "Hermione thinks we should trust you. She seems to think you've changed for the better. I, on the other hand, remember how she reacted after you called her that name. You knowwhat I mean. It'll take a lot from you for me to trust you. I don't care about your family issues. I don't care if this incident of yours affected you. I also remember how the Sorting Hat only took a second to place you in Slytherin. The hat takes in to account what it sees your future is like before you even know it. If the hat sees a future for you by putting you in that house, how do you think you're supposed to convince me you've changed for the better?"

Draco stared at Ron for a moment. Then: "You're right about one thing."

"What is that?" Ron asked.

"Divination must be rubbish," Draco said, "Since you can't see a future where I am different than what you pictured me as then. I have changed a lot since that day I sat on the stool to be Sorted. Those days I was Draco Malfoy, Lucius' Malfoy's heir. I am Draco Black now. In time, you'll come to see exactly what that means."

"We'll see," Ron said, simply because he didn't know how else to respond to that.


(Ginny)

That evening, Hermione and Luna had both opted to stay over for the evening so they could be up early and at the Burrow the following morning in case the Hogwarts packets had arrived. So the three girls, including Ginny were all sleeping in Ginny's bedroom; Hermione and Luna each had their own cot.

The first day of the study group had gone okay. They had been able to do a few bits of homework for some of their classes, such as defense. Transfiguration and Charms. Arithmancy hadn't gone as planned. Percy was busy with his own work, so he couldn't give Ginny, Harry and Hermione tips on their magical core homework. Bill offered to help but informed them he would not be available until that weekend. In the end it was decided Arithmancy could wait, because even Hermione said she was having some difficulty.

"Luna?" Ginny said, "You awake?"

In the darkness of her bedroom, a conversation with Harry earlier that day concerning Luna came to her mind.

"Yes, Ginny, I am," Luna said.

"I was curious about something," Ginny said. "Earlier today... well... you congratulated Draco. Why?"

"Something good happened to him," Luna said.

"Well, yeah," Hermione's voice pierced the darkness, "He was rescued."

"It isn't just that," Luna said.

"Then... what?" Ginny asked.

"I'm not sure he'd like it if I told you," Luna said, "It was quite private."

"Is it... dangerous?" Hermione asked.

"Oh no," Luna said, "Nothing like that. I am very happy for him."

I know you're listening, Harry, Ginny said, smirking mentally.

Interesting conversation. Couldn't help it.

What do you think?

She says whatever it is isn't dangerous. What do you think?

As odd as she is, I'd trust her with my life.

Yeah, I agree. Still this is Draco we're talking about.

"I wonder what it'd be like to be married at fourteen," Luna suddenly said into the darkness.

Luna, on the other hand, now seems to be talking about you.

Two different timelines and her knack for change of subject still impresses me.


(Harry)

Saturday, June 4th

The first week of June had ended and it was just as busy as everyone expected it would be. The packets had arrived Tuesday morning – Luna and Hermione's packets had come as well. Inside were sheafs of parchment, complete with lists of assignments for each class, as well as practice exams. The real exams would arrive by owl post in two weeks.

It was decided that assignments would be done first, due to the fact that there would probably be questions on the exams from the assignments. The study group spent many hours a day in the kitchen or sitting room, with books, their packets and assignments, rolls of parchment, quills and vats of ink. It was like another day at Hogwarts, except less students, and they were all stuck in one or two rooms. Remus, Tonks and Mrs. Weasley helped the third years and Luna with their work if they had questions or problems. Fred, George and Percy spent most of the days in their room doing their assignments or cramming.

The only time the group split up, was when they had separate classes to work on. When Draco and Ron split off to work on Divination stuff, Harry would notice that Ron always came back either grumpy or silent or both. Harry knew Ron didn't approve of Draco, and hated the fact that the boy was in the Burrow for many hours during the week. However, he did hear Ron and Draco talking at times in the sitting room, as he, Ginny and Hermione were working on Arithmancy or Ancient Runes. Their conversations didn't seem heated, almost pleasant, but Ron never brought any of it up.

Draco was an enigma in his own way. Harry couldn't figure him out. Harry didn't know if it was because their were almost always adults present while Draco was in the same room as the rest of the study group, but Draco was always pleasant. Harry remembered that day at the end of second year, when Draco said he wanted to be on neutral stance with Harry and Ginny, not friends, but not enemies or such. It seemed Draco was still sticking to that promise. Draco never talked to anyone outside of the study group, and it was always school business.

However, there was something else Harry noticed about Draco as well. Luna seemed to have particular interest in him. It definitely didn't seem like a romantic gesture of some kind. She seemed to behave around him the same way she did with Harry or Ginny – like the Bonded couple, Luna seemed to think Draco was already destined for someone else. However, her interest was elsewhere, though she didn't say anything to her friends about it. Draco, however, tried to avoid Luna. And not just Luna, either. Whenever he was around one of the girls, or Tonks or Mrs. Weasley, he would act strange. Once or twice, Harry even noticed the boy would flinch as if expecting to be hit or something. When Harry brought it up with Ginny, she said she had noticed it as well.

Yes, Draco Black was definitely an enigma.

On Saturday, the Burrow was less empty than it had been the previous week. Luna was spending time with her father. Draco's fourteenth birthday would be on Sunday, so he was celebrating the weekend with his mother, Aunt and Uncle. Remus and Tonks were also not present, and Harry guessed they were having a romantic weekend since they had been so busy with the study group.

Hermione had sent a letter to her parents, stating she would stay at the Burrow on Saturday. Bill would be at the house all day, and Sirius would be there, which meant Harry, Ginny and Hermione could get some help with their magical core work from Bill, and Sirius could help with the Astronomy work they were having issues with. The group had spent Thursday night watching the stars on working on their charts, preparing for their Astronomy exam – Sirius could help them with the more difficult questions.

Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione were in the middle of breakfast, when they heard a tapping noise on the window above the sink. Mrs. Weasley opened the window, and the owl flew in.

"I recognize her," Ginny said, "That's Augusta Longbottom's owl. Neville wrote us!"

Harry untied the scroll of parchment from the owl's leg, and unrolled it. He set in the middle of the table so he and his friends could read it:

Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Luna,

I am sorry I haven't written back to you all week. I've been quite busy this week, ever since my packet from Hogwarts arrived.

Thanks for your offer of inviting me to the Burrow to be a part of your study group. Professors Lupin and Tonks are probably very helpful. Unfortunately, I must decline. Grandmother hired a couple of tutors for me, and they are quite well-rounded in all of my subjects, including Divination!

I will probably be quite busy all summer. Harry, Ginny, I don't know if I'll be able to come to your birthday parties. We'll see what is going on. Hope you will have a fun summer, and I'll see you on the Hogwarts Express in September.

Your friend,
Neville

Harry reread the letter, as his friends finished it. When the four friends were done, they looked at each other with the same expressions: sadness and confusion.

"He has his own tutors?" Hermione asked, "Who could be a better choice than two Professors – former or not?"

"He said one of them knows a lot about Divination," Ron said, "Must be better than Trelawney. Probably will ace the exam cause of it."

"The whole letter seems awfully straightforward," Hermione said, as she looked at the parchment again, "He was only answering our questions and telling us he'd be busy all summer."

"Sounds like he's avoiding us," Ron said, frowning.

"It isn't us he's avoiding, not really," Harry said, "At least he wrote to us to tell us what is going on. However, he didn't say anything about Daphne. Or how he is coping."

"Maybe he isn't," Ginny said, frowning.

"Give him time, dears," Mrs. Weasley said, "Grieving takes time. He'll talk about Daphne when he wants to."

The four friends went silent, looking at each other, all with sad expressions on their face.

"Suppose we should send this to Luna," Ginny said, indicating the letter.

"She'll be here on Monday," Hermione said, "It can wait."

"Probably best," Harry said, nodding, "She was really looking forward to seeing him again. She won't be happy about this."

Ron was the first to return to eating his breakfast, which made everyone else resume. However, the conversation was less chipper than it was before Neville's letter arrived. An audible pop echoed through the house, and Sirius arrived at the open door a couple minutes later, looking a lot more chipper than the kids around the table.

"Good morning, Sirius!" Mrs. Weasley said, letting him into the house, "You're here early."

"You seem happy, Sirius," Harry said, "Did you find Malfoy?"

"Nope," Sirius said, grinning, "Even better!"

"What could be better?" Hermione asked, "He's out there, who knows where!"

Sirius reached into his robes, and pulled out a large brown envelope.

"The Quidditch World Cup is officially in England this summer," Sirius said, "And as my wife is the Minister, she gets an automatic ticket to the final match of the cup. And..."

He opened the envelope, and emptied it into the middle of the table. Numerous slips of parchment fell out.

"Harry, Hermione, Weasleys," Sirius said, "You're all invited as well! We're going to the final match of the Quidditch World Cup!"


Decided to end the chapter there. Unfortunately this means there will be one more chapter of the Study Group chapters. Originally, this was going to be a very long chapter, but I decided to split it up once again.

This chapter took me FOREVER to write. I kind of regret these study group chapters, because I have to get through them to get to the chapters I want to write!

Hope you liked this chapter anyway. There was some important stuff, and not just filler.