The Twisted Path

by Xetarma

When Minerva McGonagall discovers that Harry Potter's relatives intend to keep him from attending Hogwarts, she takes matters into her own hands. But when Harry comes to Diagon Alley one day early, it sets events into motion that end with him and his friend, Hermione Granger, sorted into Slytherin. Now the two of them must somehow tame the House of the Snakes.

20. The Inter-house Unity Committee

Author's Note:Fixed an issue in vol 19 where I covered Harry writing to Hermione twice.

Chapter 20: The Inter-house Unity Committee

August 31, 1993

"There is nothing we can do," said Harry as Harry, the Grangers, and the Weasleys sat in the common room of the Leaky Cauldron.

"Surely if we report what we saw the DMLE will look into it," said Percy.

"If Amelia Bones tries to look into Sirius Black's innocence she will be fired immediately," said Harry, "Fudge knew that Sirius didn't get a trial 12 years ago. He helped cover it up. So did Dumbledore for that matter."

"I can't believe that Dumbledore would do something like that," said Molly, "There must be a mistake."

"He was the Chief Warlock, Molly," said Arthur, "he would have known if Black never received a trial."

"Honestly, I doubt that Dumbledore actually tried to cover things up," said Hermione, "It's far more likely that Bagnold and Crouch applied some sort of pressure against him."

"It wouldn't have been hard," said Arthur, "an open fight over whether to give Black a trial could have derailed the entire judicial process. As it was, plenty of obvious Death Eaters got off without any punishment. There were simply too many purebloods who would have used Sirius's case as a rallying point to stop the war crimes trials."

"Sounds about right," said Harry, "For all his idealism, Dumbledore can play really loose with the rules if he thinks he's right about something. If he honestly believed that Sirius was guilty…"

"But if Dumbledore believed he was guilty…" started Molly.

"Dumbledore is not infallible," said Ginny, her eyes flashing.

"No, he is not," said Arthur, "What you saw today proves that."

"I'm sorry I brought up Padfoot," said Ron.

"You had no way of knowing," said Harry. "We should have informed Mr. Weasley of our suspicions the moment he arrived."

"Yes, you should have," said Arthur, "but it's too late to do anything about it now."

XXXXX

September 1st, 1993

The Ministry sent cars to pick up Harry and the Weasleys the next day. The Grangers had their own car, so they drove themselves. The journey was uneventful, and soon they were all waving goodbye to Arthur, Molly, Helen and Robert.

As Harry climbed aboard the train, he caught a chance to speak to Percy privately. "Congratulations on making Head Boy," said Harry.

Percy smiled. "I was actually rather fortunate. Apparently, Dumbledore thought my contrition over my failure last year showed 'strong moral fiber.'"

"He's not wrong," said Harry, "Just be careful about jumping to conclusions."

"As if I needed a reminder after what happened with Scabbers," said Percy bitterly.

"Sucking up to the Head Boy Potter?" said George as he passed by.

"Didn't think you were the type!" shouted Fred, who was following his brother closely.

"Don't listen to those morons," said Ginny, "They're just jealous that we're gonna beat them at Quidditch."

Harry, Hermione and Ginny made their way through the train. They soon found Daphne, Blaise and Tracey in a compartment.

"'Bout time you got here," said Blaise.

"Hello everyone," said Luna as she came up behind them.

"Will seven of us fit in here?" asked Hermione as they put their trunks up. Harry, Hermione and Ginny sat down. Harry had to admit they had all grown a little since they had last been here.

"Oh yes," said Luna, who then proceeded to sit down on Harry's lap.

"Luna?" asked Ginny, "Why are you sitting in Harry's lap?"

"Would you rather I sat in your lap?" replied Luna.

"No, I'm good," said Ginny quickly.

"I'm more than happy to let any of my friends sit in my lap," said Harry diplomatically.

"So, what you're saying is that Luna and I should switch places?" demanded Blaise.

Before Harry could quip a reply Luna said, "Sorry, but he's all mine today." She then wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder.

Everyone laughed, though Harry noticed that Hermione's laugh seemed just a bit forced. Ginny on the other hand wasn't fazed at all. Harry suspected that Luna just wanted to snuggle with her friends, and that as Ginny was her roommate, she was probably more aware of this than anyone.

"Oh, my father wanted me to tell you about Sirius Black!" said Daphne, "He never received a trial!"

"We know," said Harry.

"How did you find out?" asked Daphne.

"Sirius told me this summer when I met him," said Harry casually.

Daphne, Blaise and Tracey all gaped at Harry. Luna didn't noticeably react to this news.

"Also, he didn't betray my parents, and the man he was accused of killing was alive," said Harry.

"He was an Animagus," said Ginny, "He was pretending to be my brother's pet rat."

"I always thought something was off about Scabbers," said Luna, "He always tried to stay away from me for some reason."

"You told him you were going to use him as bait to catch a crumple horned snorkack," said Ginny.

"He shouldn't have stared at me while I was changing into my swimming suit," said Luna.

"Eeew," said Harry, "Both you and Ginny? That's just fucked up. He's a full-grown man."

Luna didn't respond to that, but she did seem to cling a bit tighter. Harry wrapped his arms around her back comfortingly.

A few minutes later, the door to the compartment opened up and Ernie MacMillan walked in. "Harry, we have a problem," he said, then started as he saw Luna being embraced in Harry's lap.

"Don't worry about me," said Luna, "Harry's just comforting me because a perverted Animagus was spying on me and Ginny."

"Why don't I get hugs for that?" asked Ginny.

Tracey leaned over and embraced Ginny warmly, "There you go," she said.

Ginny laughed. "Thanks Tracey, though that wasn't exactly what I had in mind."

"I know what she wants!" said Blaise as he joined in what was now a group hug.

"You guys should have been sorted into Hufflepuff," said Ernie.

"Do you guys do group hugs?" asked Daphne.

"Occasionally," joked Ernie.

"That's the sort of information we should know before our sortings," said Blaise.

"But then everyone would want to be a Hufflepuff," remarked Hermione.

"I doubt Malfoy would join a house for group hugs," said Harry.

"Okay everyone who isn't a terrible person," said Hermione.

"Malfoy is what I need to talk about," said Ernie seriously, "He's been recruiting."

"Oh?" said Harry curiously.

"He's been getting older purebloods from other houses to sign on to help him enforce blood purity at Hogwarts," said Ernie, "He's trying to directly counter the things the war council is doing."

Harry narrowed his eyes. It was a smart move. Most of Harry's friends and allies were 3rd year or younger, with the exception of the Weasley Twins and possibly a few others. If Malfoy convinced enough of the purebloods in the upper years to start causing trouble, they might have a serious problem.

"We have to combat this decisively," said Harry, "We need to get official school sanction for our anti-bullying campaign, and we need to recruit older students to help with it."

"Good idea Harry," said Daphne, "We'll turn the whole school against him."

"Did Malfoy approach you?" Harry asked Ernie.

"No, he knew better," said Ernie, "But you'd be surprised at who is considering his proposal. I guess they weren't paying attention to who my friends were. Like I'd sell Justin out like that."

"Some people are just oblivious to what's going on around them," said Luna.

"Sorry to cut this short Luna, but it looks like I need to talk to the rest of the war council," said Harry.

"All right, but you owe me a cuddle," said Luna.

"I look forward to it," he said as he let her go.

"I'll cuddle with you Luna!" said Tracey as she jumped across the seats to embrace Luna as Harry, Hermione and Daphne followed Ernie out of the compartment.

"Blaise, you can let go now," said Ginny.

"Aww…" said Blaise.

The door slid shut behind them. Harry turned to Hermione. "You weren't getting jealous of Luna, were you?"

"Not really," said Hermione.

"She just wanted to sit in your lap herself," said Daphne.

"It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world," Hermione admitted.

Ernie just shook his head. "How do you get all these girls throwing themselves at you Potter?"

Hermione and Daphne just laughed.

XXXXX

It had been a productive day on the Hogwarts express. Harry had managed to talk to Ron, Neville, Seamus and Dean Thomas. All of them had been in favor. Susan, Justin and Hannah had all agreed as well. Padma, Sue Li and Michael Corner had also been approached. They were a bit more cautious, but agreed with the idea in principle. Harry had spent the rest of the train ride hunting down prefects he thought would be amenable to this. Percy and the Head Girl, Penelope Clearwater were both in favor of his idea, as was Cedric Diggory. Harry thought he had a good lineup of support.

Harry, Hermione and Daphne were looking for one last prefect when they opened a door to see who was in the front compartment. A man was sleeping there. He looked rather disheveled.

"Who is that?" asked Daphne.

"Professor R.J. Lupin," said Hermione, pointing to his clearly labeled luggage.

Harry's breath caught. "Moony," he said clearly.

Lupin's eyes opened, and he looked at Harry. "Harry," he said simply.

Harry looked at him for a long time. "You were a friend of my parents," he said finally.

"If you know that name, I'm sure you know that," said Lupin.

"New defense Professor?" Harry asked.

Lupin nodded.

"Good luck," said Daphne, "You'll need it."

Lupin laughed lightly. "And this is?"

"Oh, this is Daphne Greengrass and this is Hermione Granger," said Harry, gesturing to his friends.

"I have wanted to meet you for a long time Harry, but there were complications," said Lupin.

Sirius had told him about Lupin. He had a tendency to let his status as a werewolf rule his life so much that he was afraid to engage with people lest they reject him.

"I understand," said Harry, "It can't be easy dealing with… what you have to deal with," he said vaguely.

Lupin's eyes widened. "Then you know…"

Harry nodded.

Lupin smiled, "Well, I hope I can offer you some guidance Harry. And protection, given what has happened this year."

Harry's face grew very serious. Reaching into his robe he pulled out a newspaper. It had the Hogwarts article from earlier in the summer.

"Here's a question," said Harry, "Do you recognize someone on this cover?" He showed Lupin the picture of the Gryffindors getting ready for the Quidditch match.

Lupin looked over it and shook his head. "I'm sorry, none of those children look familiar."

Harry shook his head. "NOT the children," he said as he pointed at Scabbers, "the rat."

Lupin looked at the picture, then gasped. "Peter! But how did you know?"

Harry leaned in so he could speak softly. "Peter Pettigrew was my parents Secret Keeper. He killed those muggles and framed Sirius. I know. I've seen Peter transformed."

"Sirius?" asked Lupin suddenly.

Harry nodded. "My uncle kicked me out this summer and Sirius found me immediately. We got a bit careless though and the rat managed to escape us."

Lupin was stunned. "Sirius Black is innocent," he said, "My friend is innocent."

"Fudge is trying to cover it up though," said Harry, "Sirius never got a trial. We'll need to deal with this subtly."

"I understand. We need to…" Lupin started to say. They never learned quite what he intended to finish the statement with, as all of a sudden, the train stopped.

"I'll have to have a talk with the driver," said Lupin, as he stood up and made his way toward the engine

Harry sat down, and Hermione and Daphne joined him. Lupin being the Defense professor might be a godsend to him. He really needed someone on his side, and while McGonagall and Flitwick might be sympathetic to him, they ultimately weren't really willing to go up against Dumbledore in any real way. Harry hoped going against Dumbledore wouldn't be necessary, of course, but that was a relationship that was clearly deteriorating.

Harry shivered. Something felt cold. He tried to shrug it off, but saw that Daphne were both feeling it as well. And there was something else, a horrible dark feeling that crowded the edge of his mind.

"Harry," said Daphne, "Something's wrong. I think…"

Suddenly Harry felt a presence, as if some horrible weight had been placed upon him. He stood up and turned to the door of the compartment to see a floating hooded figure opening the door. And his mind seemed to explode as he heard a scream tear through his mind. The terror and horror that he felt was unlike anything he had ever felt before. Harry fell to his knees. He heard sobbing and realized that it was Hermione. She too had fallen to the floor. Scrounging up every piece of his will he grabbed Hermione and dragged her over to the outside wall of the compartment, putting his arms around her protectively. He was vaguely aware of Daphne falling beside them.

The hooded figure started to advance on them, but suddenly a bright light came from behind it. The hooded creature immediately fled, making its way down the train corridor. The dark feeling in Harry's mind fled, and the screaming stopped.

Hermione continued sobbing into Harry's shoulder and Harry pulled her close to him. "T-t-thanks Harry," she said through her tears, "how were you able to think straight at all?"

"I was barely able to do even so little as pull you over here," said Harry, "I thought for a moment I was going to pass out."

"Are you all right?" asked Remus, who had run up to the entrance to the compartment. He gaped at the three teens huddled together by the window.

"That was a dementor," said Daphne shakily, "What the FUCK was a dementor doing on a train full of children?!"

"Checking for Sirius Black I'd guess," said Remus, "Not that I think they'd do any good if he managed to escape once." Remus held pulled out a package from his pocket. It was chocolate off of the trolley.

"Have some chocolate, it'll make you feel better," her said.

Harry reluctantly let go of Hermione and took a piece of chocolate from Remus. As he bit into it, he immediately felt a warmth flow through him. It did indeed make him feel better.

"You should see Madam Pomfrey when we get to Hogwarts," said Remus.

"How did you drive it off?" asked Harry.

"It's called the Patronus charm," said Remus, "You concentrate your good memories into a sort of guardian that drive of the dementors. The dementors feed off of negative emotions, and they bring those feelings out in the people they are around."

"How can the prisoners at Azkaban stand being around those things?" asked Hermione.

"Most can't," admitted Remus, "They have a tendency to go insane."

"That's monstrous," said Harry.

"We'll talk again later," said Lupin, "I suggest you wait to tell Dumbledore about Sirius until tomorrow. After what has happened, you'll need the rest."

Harry, Hermione, and Daphne all returned to the compartment with their friends in it. "Did you see what happened?" asked Tracey.

"Dementors stopped the train," said Daphne as she sat down. She seemed a bit lifeless. Luna got up and sat next to her suddenly hugging the older girl.

Daphne smiled. "Thanks Luna, I could use it."

Harry sat down and Hermione sat in his lap. She wrapped one arm around his neck as he hugged her. "It'll be all right," he whispered in her ear.

Hermione just leaned into his shoulder.

XXXXX

Everything checked out with Madam Pomfrey, so Harry and Hermione managed to make it to the Great Hall just in time for the sorting. Harry had forgotten that Astoria Greengrass was starting Hogwarts this year. Daphne hadn't mentioned Astoria at all, which probably meant they were fighting. Astoria was easily sorted into Slytherin, but she sat by a group of girls that were obviously her friends instead of Daphne.

"Bit of trouble there?" asked Harry.

Daphne rolled her eyes. "She's being a twerp," she said, "She thinks she's going to stay neutral between you and Malfoy."

"Let's see how long that lasts," said Harry.

"Possibly for a while," said Tracey, "Astoria actually likes Malfoy."

"That we can deal with easily enough," said Harry, "Though Astoria might be a bit mad at us for a while."

Dumbledore's announcements followed the sorting. Dumbledore's warning that the dementors would be a more or less permanent feature at Hogwarts until Sirius was captured was unwelcome to say the least. But the announcement that Hagrid was taking over their Care of Magical Creatures classes was more positive. Harry didn't know how good of a teacher he'd be, but Harry figured Hagrid deserved a shot.

Harry had decided to take Remus's advice and he went straight to the Slytherin common room after the welcome feast. He didn't wait around for the first years this year. Ginny and Luna had agreed to keep an eye on them. Harry and Hermione went straight to their room, where they both immediately got dressed for bed. There really wasn't any discussion as Hermione simply climbed into bed next to him. After what had happened, he supposed there was no need to speak about it. Both fell asleep immediately.

XXXXX

September 2nd, 1993

Harry and Hermione were both up bright and early. Most of the first years were already up, including Astoria. Draco was nowhere to be seen yet.

"My name is Harry Potter, for those of you who aren't aware, and this is Hermione Granger," Harry introduced himself.

"Hello Harry," said one of the boys.

"Harry's just trying to recruit us into his faction," said Astoria.

"Of course, I am, you act like that is a bad thing!" said Harry, pretending to be offended, "That doesn't mean I'm not interested in helping you. If anyone has any questions, I'd be glad to help anyone out. We're all in this together."

"Even Malfoy?" asked Astoria.

"Even Malfoy," said Hermione, "It isn't our fault that he seems to think that fighting us is more productive than working with us."

"I'm not choosing sides," said Astoria defiantly.

"Of course you are Astoria," said Harry, "Daphne is your sister. And in Slytherin, blood is important. You refuse to join with her and you might as well join Malfoy, because that's how everyone will see it."

"That isn't fair!" cried Astoria.

"Life isn't fair," said Harry coldly, "ask my parents."

Astoria seemed to deflate in front of Harry hanging her head in shame. He walked up to her and lifted her face so he could look her in the eyes.

"Family will always be important to Slytherin," he said, "But that other stuff? The blood purity garbage? That I am fighting. That I want to make fairer. But we need to be together on this."

Astoria nodded wordlessly.

Hermione smiled at all the first years. "We look forward to being all of your housemates," she said sweetly as she and Harry left for breakfast.

XXXXX

Dumbledore bowed his head. "No wonder you were so insistent I speak with you."

Harry and Hermione had managed to speak to Dumbledore at breakfast. Now they were in hall of portraits just off of the Great Hall, and Harry had just finished telling his story about Sirius Black.

"It really would have helped if you had been in Diagon two days ago Headmaster," said Harry, "Not that I'm saying I handled things perfectly."

Dumbledore waved that off. "I do not expect a thirteen-year-old to deal with such a situation perfectly. I was a bit worried that I would make things worse. We have had a few differences of opinion over the course of your time here. With the ghastly behavior of the Dursleys so fresh in your mind..."

"To be fair, only Vernon insisted I be kicked out," said Harry, "My aunt seemed opposed to the idea."

"Still, I had a long conversation with your aunt and uncle this summer," said Dumbledore, "I do not believe that they constitute a reasonable option for caring for you over the summer anymore."

Harry sighed with relief.

"I will ask that you try and stay with them for a week or so each summer, as it will recharge the protections in place there, but I will not insist that you stay there for an extended period again." said Dumbledore.

"That's rather reasonable," said Harry, "What about Sirius?"

"As you well know, Fudge is adamantly opposed to any information about Sirius' lack of a trial getting out to the general public, especially as there is an election in a year and a half," said Dumbledore, "It is with some shame that I admit I knew Sirius did not receive a trial. In my defense, I thought his guilt was evident."

"That's why we have trials Headmaster," said Hermione.

Dumbledore nodded solemnly. "Quite right Miss Granger. I was playing political games and I allowed a horrible miscarriage of justice. However, that miscarriage has just been made worse. Fudge had the Wizengamot vote to authorize the dementors to hunt for Black. In that bill he buried a provision that effectively terminated Sirius's guardianship rights over Harry."

"If we could prove Sirius's innocence…" started Harry.

"Such a law would in that case be extremely illegal, and unenforceable," confirmed Dumbledore.

"That makes you my guardian, right?" asked Harry.

"Correct my boy," said Dumbledore.

"So, could you sign my Hogsmeade letter?" asked Harry, "I uh, have a copy signed by Sirius Black…"

Dumbledore laughed, "As far as I am concerned, that is still a valid document."

Harry nodded.

"There was one other thing," said Hermione.

"Oh right!" said Harry, "We want to form a new club. It will be a club designed to promote unity between the houses."

There was a twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes, but it was perhaps not entirely friendly. "You wish to lead this club?"

"Well I'd be happy to lead it the first couple of times, but I was planning on having an election for club officers," said Harry, "The Head Boy and Girl as well as several prefects have already agreed to help support it."

"I see no trouble, as long as you can get a staff member to sponsor it, even if they can't always be there."

"Professor Lupin might be game Harry," said Hermione.

"That's right," said Harry, "Maybe we can get him to teach us the Patronus charm."

"It is quite difficult Harry," said Dumbledore.

"All worthwhile things are," said Harry.

XXXXX

September 8th, 1993

The turnout at the first meeting of Harry's new club was well populated by a significant portion of the school. Virtually all of the first, second, and third years had shown up, as well as a significant number of older students. Harry had to estimate nearly half of the school was there, which was why the Great Hall was the only place the club could be held. Draco was there, but no one else from his little coterie. Probably trying to see what was going on. Remus was also there, having quickly agreed to help Harry with the club

"Hello everyone!" said Harry as he applied a simple sonorous charm to himself. Everyone quickly quieted down.

"This club is going to be known as the Inter-house Unity Committee. Our job is to find ways to promote school unity and bring unity to the houses of Hogwarts. As such we will be taking group lessons together. These will be extra-curricular lessons that will be applicable to our lives here at Hogwarts. Next session we will elect club officers, but for the time being I will hand things over to Professor Lupin."

"Hello Everyone!" said Remus, "Tonight I will be trying to teach you the Patronus Charm. Now this is a very difficult spell to cast, so don't be disappointed if you can't do it! Anyone under fifth year I would expect to struggle with this spell. However, even a low powered version might be useful. You see the Patronus Charm is the only spell that repels dementors."

Everyone in the Great Hall began muttering at that proclamation.

Remus quickly went over the wand motion and incantation for the Patronus. "But all of that is secondary. The real power of the Patronus comes from you. You must think of a happy memory to power the Patronus. It has to be a really happy memory. This can be difficult when you are around a dementor. There is no easy way to simulate a dementor's effects in a group this large, so we will all have to make do. Still simply learning to cast the Patronus should be a good first step."

"Now I want you to split into pairs. Try to pick someone who is not in your house. Half of you will cast the spell while your partner encourages you. Then switch."

Harry and Hermione were quickly paired up with Justin and Susan Bones respectively. Harry saw Blaise team up with Seamus, while Daphne had teamed up with Ron Weasley of all people. Tracey flashed an annoyed glance at Daphne and teamed up with Lavender Brown.

Justin tried his hand at the spell first.

"Expecto Patronum!" shouted Justin. Nothing happened.

"Try using the happiest memory you have," said Harry, "I know you can do this."

Justin smiled at Harry. "You bet I can. Expecto Patronum!"

A tiny wisp of magic left Justin's wand. That was decidedly better and Harry gave Justin a big thumbs up.

"Your turn Potter," said Justin.

Harry quickly thought about what memory to use. He decided to use the time Hermione had kissed him.

"Expecto Patronum!" he cast. A long thin white mist came from the end of his wand.

"Very good Harry," said Remus who was passing by, "That's better than most wizards can get on their first try."

By the end of the session Justin was able to get his Patronus to give out a white mist, similar to how Harry's first try had gone. Harry, on the other hand, was able to form that mist into a more solid white light, almost like he had seen Lupin use on the train. Apparently in the final stage the Patronus took the form of an animal, but that was very advanced.

Harry noticed that Hermione was having a problem even getting a wisp of magic to appear. She could get it, but only with difficulty. Susan on the other hand was having no problems getting the mist.

"Just a moment," said Harry to Justin. He walked over to Hermione.

"I used the memory of you kissing me," he whispered. Hermione blushed. But he noticed that the next time she cast the spell she managed to get the mist.

"Can we see a full corporeal Patronus?" asked Daphne over the din. Everyone quieted down. Remus grimaced.

"I suppose," he said reluctantly, "Expecto Patronum!"

A silver wolf leapt from Remus's wand. It leapt around the room as Remus waved his wand to direct it. As it passed Harry, he felt warmth and happiness flood through him.

Yes, that might fight off a dementor.

XXXXX

Later that night, Harry and Hermione had retired to their room. The meeting had been seen as a success. Most students had found the lesson fun and interesting. On their way back Snape had accosted and questioned Harry on just what he was up to, giving control of the club up to other people. Harry had just smiled at him, telling him that he would see.

Hermione was sitting at her desk reading up on the Patronus Charm. She hadn't been able to do her homework beforehand this time.

"Are you coming to bed soon?" Harry asked as he came out from behind the screen having just changed into his sleeping clothes.

"Soon," said Hermione. She'd spent every night since they'd come back to school next to him.

Harry rested one hand on her shoulder warmly. To his surprise, Hermione shuddered at his touch. At first, he thought he'd done something bad but the expression on her face didn't seem angry.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"I'm fine," said Hermione, "Just... dammit, my mum was right."

"Hermione?" asked Harry.

"That feeling, when you touched me just now, it was amazing," she said, "It felt so great. And I wanted to feel it again more than anything. It… it was desire."

Harry almost asked her what she desired, but then stopped himself short. Oh no, he wasn't making this more awkward.

"Harry I'm so thankful for what you've done for me, and I don't really know if I'm ready to be on my own yet, but…" Hermione shook her head sadly, "...I can't sleep next to you anymore, because if I do, soon I'll be sleeping with you. And we're not ready."

Harry sat down on his bed. "I guess I understand," he said. Why did he sound so sad about it? After all he had tried to convince her that she didn't need to do it before.

Hermione sensed that too, and she got up and sat next to him, putting an arm around him. "It doesn't mean we can't still be close to each other. I do want that closeness. But we can't do that anymore."

"I know," said Harry, "I guess that I just sort of was feeling the same way. It felt nice."

"Yeah," reassured Hermione, "it did."

Hermione suddenly grinned mischievously. "And once we get a few years older, who knows, maybe we'll start doing it again."

Harry laughed and put his arm on her shoulder. Suddenly it felt like a far more intimate action than it had before.

XXXXX

The year went by more quickly than any of the previous years, or at least that was how it felt to Harry. The IUC was huge success. At the second meeting they had elected Daphne as club president. Snape had nearly had a fit over this. Harry suspected he was trying to stifle a laugh, but with Snape it was hard to be sure. Harry, of course, trusted Daphne to put an agenda in place that coincided with his ideas, and she hadn't disappointed.

Draco had tried a few stunts, but with the prefects warned and the IUC giving the houses more contact with each other any attempts to sabotage the newfound sense of camaraderie in the school were defeated before they had time to come to fruition. Draco himself had tried to sabotage Hagrid's first Care of Magical Creature lesson on the very first day. Ernie and Seamus had both earned detentions by the rather vigorous method in which they had prevented his mauling by a hippogriff (their method had probably relied a bit too much on punching Malfoy), but at the same time Malfoy received a detention for disregarding Hagrid's clear instructions.

Other incidents were punished severely. Several older purebloods, some from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, were caught trying to bully younger Muggleborns. The prefects (aside from a couple of the Slytherin prefects) universally referred these incidents to the Deputy Headmistress. Very quickly it became clear that Percy was proving to be a better than average Head Boy. That he was often asking for advice from a third year wasn't something anyone was mentioning.

To be fair, Harry's advice to Percy was all on the topic of how to identify good opportunities, and how to identify bad ones. And Harry had to admit, the advice wasn't all his. He'd carefully struck up a correspondence with Horace Slughorn and the man had a great deal to say on the matter. Harry had come to respect Slughorn somewhat. Oh, the man was certainly an opportunist, and he could be a bit of a coward, but Harry knew admitting his failures to three second year students had been difficult for him. And in truth, Harry thought that Slughorn's cowardice was more of an act than actual fear. When push came to shove, he'd put the lives of the students over his own pride, and that was not something everyone would do.

Harry had also formed a friendship with Remus. Remus was able to tell him all sorts of stories about the Marauders. Their most incredible accomplishment had been a map that showed the location of everyone in the castle. Filch had confiscated it long ago however.

With the school less divided than it had been in years, Harry had begun to really focus on his studies. His extra classes were really rough. Care of Magical Creatures didn't appreciably add to his workload, but Runes required a lot of memorization work, and Arithmancy required a lot of maths. Still that worked out well as Harry suddenly found himself invited to Hermione's study group with the Ravenclaws regularly. The fact that he had taken the more difficult classes as well as taking a third class in general had finally put him over the hump in regards to the Ravenclaws seeing him as a serious student. Padma and Sue Li were in the group, as well as Michael Corner and Anthony Goldstein. Plus, Hermione of course. Also, Susan Bones was in the group. Harry had always thought that she was the most sensible of the Hufflepuffs.

Spending time around the Ravenclaws was interesting. They tended to see Gryffindors as stupid, Hufflepuffs as flighty, and Slytherins as sensible but overly interested with politics. Harry thought that thinking of Gryffindors as stupid was a mistake, but all in all it was very revealing.

Harry also spent a lot more time with Justin and Ernie. He had Charms with them this year and they spent a lot of time studying that. But a lot of the time they just spent hanging around as well. Justin was starting to present a problem though. Simply put, he was still angry at Ginny for his petrification.

While Harry understood that Justin had a right to be angry at Ginny, this presented a problem for Harry on two fronts. The first was simple. Harry wanted to add Ginny to the war council. Her knowledge gained through Riddle would be immensely useful. Ginny had already volunteered to let Harry use any knowledge she had of Riddle, so it wasn't like he was taking advantage of her. But Justin's prior presence on the council meant that all the Hufflepuffs would take Ginny's presence personally.

The second problem was that Harry was spending a lot of time with Ginny. More time with her than anyone other than Hermione in fact, if you discounted classes. A lot of this time Ginny was with Luna, who often liked to tag along with Harry at random times, but other times she would just find reasons to be around him alone. At first it was a bit puzzling to Harry. But Daphne had set him straight.

"She's always had a bit of a crush on you," Daphne had told him, "and then you saved her life. Believe me, that can send you head over heels for a guy, at least for a little while."

Harry hadn't quite bought it though. "That's not what she has said to me," he had insisted.

Daphne had laughed in his face. "Harry, it's obvious what path your feelings are taking you on right now. Ginny realizes that she has to make a move now or it might be too late. In fact, she probably thinks she is too late. But until you actually start dating someone, Ginny will be chasing after you."

And so, he had Ginny following him around, not quite stalker-ishly. If it was clear he wanted to be alone she left, and she always left when Justin came around. At the same time, she did seem to have a sixth sense as to when he wanted some company. And the fact was that Harry trusted Ginny. He knew her big secret, and she knew most of his. She was someone he could talk to when Hermione was unavailable. And he quickly discovered that Ginny had no problems letting him talk about his feelings about Hermione. She seemed more intrigued that Harry was struggling with his feelings there than upset. Finally, he asked her about it.

"My dream has always been to be close to you Harry," she had said, "And here I am, one of your closest confidantes. I wouldn't trade that for anything. I'm just not willing to give up on possibly having something a little more just yet."

Harry wasn't sure what to make of it. He did like Ginny, and he did find her to be kind of cute. She wasn't quite old enough for him to really be attracted to her yet, but that would change. The truth was that he was very flattered by the attention. At the same time, it wasn't Ginny that he was thinking about all the time.

Luna had suddenly popped out of her seemingly oblivious shell this year. She had started spending time with most of Harry's friends. She liked following Harry around of course, but she also did so with Daphne and Blaise as well. She also had a tendency to ask people to cuddle with her randomly. Harry supposed that part of it was that she had been without her mother for so long. Her father clearly cared dearly for Luna, but he didn't give her the hugs and kisses that she craved. So, if Luna wanted to spend an evening hugging her friends, Harry had no issues with that. Ginny and Daphne both seemed game as well, though Blaise tended to complain when Luna asked him. He still gave in though. Now that Harry thought about it, Luna could be very manipulative.

Harry spent a lot of time with Ginny, Blaise and Tracey on the Quidditch pitch, practicing. He had to admit that he was being spread a little thin now, and was finding it harder and harder to find time to spend with Blaise and Tracey outside that time. Tracey of course spent most of her time with Daphne and a few other girls that included Hannah Abbott, Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil. That there were friendships between so many Gryffindors and Slytherins was only a good thing to Harry's mind. Case in point, Blaise and Seamus had become good friends. Mostly because they both enjoyed blowing things up and setting them on fire, but still...

Harry, Hermione, Daphne, Blaise and Tracey had put in more work on their occlumency, and Ginny and Luna had started joining them. Ginny of course already knew occlumency, but she managed to pass it off as her having a talent for it. Hermione was a bit suspicious as Ginny was an outgoing person and a talent for occlumency was usually associated with introverted tendencies, but she didn't seem to care enough to make an issue of it. Harry was working on it the hardest, and despite him being fairly sure that his talent for occlumency was minimal he had made the most progress. Daphne and Blaise had also done well. Hermione had made progress, but she was still not quite able to fully shield her mind. Tracey was good at pushing people out, but couldn't shield for her life. Luna was the oddest of all, she seemed to broadcast her thoughts everywhere, but when Harry tried to read them, they were nonsensical. Harry couldn't even guess what that meant.

He and Hermione had decided to investigate whether Peter Pettigrew might have been responsible for him being sorted into Slytherin. It would make sense that Peter might not have wanted him in Gryffindor, though he couldn't think of a reason he would put Ginny in Slytherin, though just because he couldn't think of it didn't mean there wasn't a reason. McGonagall had also made it clear that the sorting hat was already in the Great Hall when the students arrived. There was no way Pettigrew could have altered the hat at the start of term. He might have done so at the end of the previous term, but doing so would have required sneaking into Dumbledore's office. Unhappily, Harry and Hermione had to admit that Pettigrew didn't make a good suspect.

XXXXX

September 25th, 1993

The year's first Hogsmeade trip was a good time for Harry and his friends. Ginny and Luna were too young to go, but Harry, Hermione, Blaise, Daphne and Tracey all had a good time exploring the town.

While doing so, Blaise had tried to solve a dilemma. "How do the Weasley twins always know when people are going to be around. It's like they know where everyone in the school is."

Harry suddenly smiled beatifically. Everyone stared at him strangely.

"You figure something Harry?" asked Tracey.

Harry nodded without losing his grin. "I'll be right back! I have to find the twins."

Harry had no problem finding the twins. They were at Zonko's. "Hey you two," he asked quietly, "I know how you get around the school without getting caught."

Fred laughed. "Oh, do you?"

"Like no one has tried this one on us before," said George.

"We're not going to tell you Harry." said Fred.

Harry smiled. "Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs," he said.

Fred and George's eyes widened and they grabbed Harry by the arms and dragged him out of Zonko's into a nearby alley.

"Where did you learn those names?" asked George.

"Prongs was my father, Padfoot is Sirius Black, and Moony is Professor Lupin." said Harry, "Sirius told me about the Marauder's map."

"That would make Wormtail the rat," said Fred.

"I suppose it did suit him," said George.

"No denying that," said Fred.

The two boys looked at each other, then both sighed. They pulled out a blank piece of parchment.

"I guess this is yours Harry," they said in unison.

"Thanks guys," said Harry, "If you ever need to use it, just ask me. If it's Ginny you're pranking just don't tell her I gave it to you. Your sister knows a mean Bat-Bogey Hex."

"You know how to use it?" asked Fred.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," said Harry as he pocketed the map.

XXXXX

November 6th, 1993

Halloween came and went, and Harry was grateful that nothing had happened this year. The last two years a troll and a basilisk had attacked people on those days. Well Mrs. Norris in the case of the basilisk. She was sort of a person. A terrible person who helped Filch.

And with that all minds were on Quidditch again. Everyone knew that the Gryffindor/Slytherin match was going to be special this year. These two teams were the best that either house had seen in a long time. Harry began to count the days until the match. He knew he was going to be the key to winning.

No one was disappointed, it was the best Quidditch match anyone had seen at Hogwarts in years. Excellent chaser play, both offensively and defensively. The Slytherin chasers weren't quite as skilled as the Gryffindor team, but they played almost as well as a team. Both sets of beaters worked well together, though the Weasleys had the better coordination. Both Keepers played well, but Millie wasn't nearly as good as Oliver Wood.

Still, Gryffindor was only able to maintain a 30-point lead, and any mistakes from them were instantly punished. It was obvious that in another year the Slytherin teams' skills would probably fully mature to be a match for the Gryffindor team, but they were still a bit inexperienced yet.

The entire match's atmosphere was dampened by the rain. This made finding the snitch a nightmare, but Harry finally saw it far above the pitch. Both Harry and Colin ascended in search of it, but the snitch seemed to get lost in the clouds. Suddenly, Harry felt a dark cold presence in his whole body.

He stopped ascending. "Dementors!" he yelled. Colin nodded his understanding. Both wizards pulled out their wands. As Harry swept his arm around, he felt something fly into his sleeve.

No way, he thought.

Suddenly he saw them, a veritable swarm of dementors flying far above the pitch. Descending towards him and Colin. Colin began to tremble.

But Harry had his memory. "Expecto Patronum," he cast as he thought about how he had just beaten Gryffindor in this quidditch match.

A bright light flowed from his wand, beating back the dementors. "Colin, grab my broom!" he said Colin quickly complied. Slowly Harry descended down towards the Quidditch pitch. The Dementors tried to swarm them but Harry carved a path through with his Patronus shield. Coming out of the clouds the pitch came back into view. Everyone seemed to be pointing at Harry. But then they saw the dementors. Screams came from the stands as multiple Patroni were launched by some of the teachers. A Patronus phoenix, cat, wolf and a doe all charged the dementors, driving them off.

Harry flew down to ground level landing on the pitch. Dumbledore, Snape, McGonagall, Remus and Madam Pomfrey all ran to him and Colin. Madam Hooch also flew down.

"Very quick work with that Patronus Harry," said Dumbledore.

"Do we call the match?" asked Madam Hooch.

"No need," said Harry, "As you'll see I had plenty of reason to be happy." He dropped the snitch out of his sleeve into his hand.

Snape smiled thinly, and McGonagall shook her head with a wry smile. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.

As the announcement that Slytherin had just won echoed out, Snape and McGonagall made their way to the sidelines to celebrate and commiserate respectively. Remus had a strange look on his face as he watched Snape walk away.

"His Patronus was a doe," said Remus quietly.

"Professor Snape's?" asked Harry. "What does that mean?"

"I don't know," said Remus, "but your mother's Patronus was also a doe."

Dumbledore looked at Remus sharply.

"I know Snape was friends with my mother when they were younger," said Harry, "Is it possible he never really got over her?"

Remus laughed, "Very possible. Lily Evans was not a girl that people got over easily. Your father certainly didn't. She shot him down so many times…"

Harry turned his head back to Snape. Somehow Harry was sure this was important. He just had to figure out how it all fit together.

Author's Note: People may have noticed (and some of you have mentioned) that Harry is a bit trusting of Sirius. It is pretty reckless, and yeah, that was what I was going for here. Harry (and Hermione) have a tendency to make snap decisions. They are very Gryffindor Slytherins after all. Whether that is a good thing, well, that's the question, isn't it?

Also the thing that has been hanging over this story finally happened. Harry and Hermione have finally realised that they are attracted to each other, and they have figured out that their living situation is going to be a problem.

Some of you may be concerned that Ginny is trying to pursue Harry. Don't be. The next chapter will clarify things.

There are a lot of tropes in fanfiction that I dislike. One in particular I think gets overused. So of course, I am using it, and putting my own spin on it.

Or as Harry is going to say: "What. The. Fuck."