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.

51. Unlikely Allies

Content Warning:

Character Death, Disturbing (implied) Sexual Content.

Chapter 51: Unlikely Allies

August 27th, 1997

Dolores Umbridge was in her element once again.

Oh, things were different of course. Percy had become even more indispensable to Fudge. That would have to be dealt with. Indeed Percy himself needed a comeuppance. Nothing lethal, at least until the Dark Lord took over, the boy had just been serving his minister. Umbridge could admit that she hadn't adapted well once Fudge shifted course, but her rage at Potter and the Greengrass girl had blinded her. Though she wondered if Percy would just sit by when Umbridge went after his sister. He might. If so, perhaps she would hold off on his reckoning.

Also, Fudge no longer listened to any of the Death Eaters. Bryant Greengrass had his ear, but he was the only major pureblood figure to do so. Greengrass was an open opponent of the Dark Lord of course, but Umbridge had detected some frustration from the man. He was clearly a pawn of Potter, and he just as clearly didn't like it. He'd prove useful right up until the Dark Lord took over for real.

The best thing was that Fudge was once again annoyed at Harry Potter. Potter had angered him with his impromptu moralizing right after the attack on Diagon Alley. The fact that Potter was right just made it worse. With even slightly less support for the supremacist cause, the Death Eaters would have withered after the fortunes of the most powerful of them were destroyed.

Potter's ire had leaked into the Prophet however. It was by this point an open secret that Harry owned the Daily Prophet. And with the Prophet calling for reforms, Fudge looked especially bad. Fudge was livid of course.

Umbridge was willing to play second fiddle to Fudge for a little while. He served a purpose. But soon he wouldn't, and then the Dark Lord had promised her that she would be Minister for Magic. And she'd put all the mudbloods in their place.

Oh, but that could wait. Because she had her first meeting with the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. And Snape had assured her, it was going to go well. So long as she stuck to the script.

"Come in, Dolores," said Dumbledore as he welcomed her into his office.

"You've been spending more time here of late," said Dolores.

"A byproduct of my new situation," said Dumbledore, "My focus remains on the downfall of Voldemort."

"Of course," said Dolores smoothly.

"So, what brings you here Dolores," asked Dumbledore.

"I am here to discuss what we are going to do about Harry Potter," said Umbridge, "He embarrassed the minister you know."

Umbridge had to be careful here. Snape informed her that while he had dosed Dumbledore with some potions that would keep him mildly befuddled, his intellect and will were prodigious. On top of that, Snape had been forced to dilute his potions by mixing them in Dumbledore's tea. It wouldn't do to mention what Harry actually said to Fudge. It might be enough to break him out of the potion induced stupor he was currently in. In that case he would almost immediately realize that Snape had played him. It was a delicate balance.

"Potter has become worrisome," admitted Dumbledore.

"Well, maybe we can reign him in a bit," said Umbridge. That was another thing Snape had said. If she so much as hinted that they intended to kill Potter, Dumbledore would unfailingly turn on her.

But she could thread this needle. She had to.

XXXXX

September 1st, 1997

September 1st had come again, and Harry was ready to go to school for the last time. This time, he intended to finish what he had started six years ago. Still, he had to admit, part of him wanted to stay. He felt that he could offer more as part of the war. But surely Voldemort's forces had to be near exhaustion. Harry shook his head. He'd just have to keep an eye out. Until Nagini came out of hiding, Harry had limited options for finishing things off.

One thing he was also worried about was Malfoy. Harry had seen him as the boy had boarded the train. Draco couldn't hurt Harry, but he might be able to hurt people around him. Harry had alerted Headmistress McGonagall of this possibility. Hopefully the fact that Harry wasn't staying in the Slytherin common room anymore would keep things calm.

Hermione was in her element. She'd made up packets for each of the prefects, and had them all labeled and placed on a seat in the prefect's compartment. It was so like her. But it made sense. Harry wondered if Flitwick would think Hermione had overreached her authority. It didn't matter. Overreach or not, the prefects would probably do what they were asked. Those that weren't in the Army respected Harry and Hermione anyway, and those in the Army would obey them in any event.

The prefects filtered in. Harry waved to Daphne and Blaise when they came in. They both gave Harry wry smiles. Before long all the prefects had gathered. The train hadn't even set out yet.

"All right," said Hermione, "as you all can see I gave you labelled packets full of things to go over.

Of course none of them had noticed. It took a few moments for everyone to transfer each packet to the person who was named on it. Hermione looked moderately annoyed, which became worse when the train suddenly lurched into motion.

"So these packets have copies of most of the school rules that will be relevant to you," said Hermione, "Obviously you should memorize those…"

"Not happening," said Blaise, "I'll just ask a teacher if I'm unsure."

"That is also an acceptable way to determine whether behavior is against the rules," said Hermione, giving Blaise the stink eye.

"There's more in the packet though," said Harry, "We wrote out some tips for how to deal with certain situations. One thing we mean to emphasize, blood status shaming or bigotry of any type will be dealt with immediately and harshly."

"Good," said Ginny.

"This is a priority for us," said Hermione, "And we want to make it a priority for prefects from here on out. So the packet has a lot of ways to deal with and diffuse situations, and positive ways to deal with people who express pureblood rhetoric."

"The most important thing is that it doesn't go unchallenged," said Daphne.

"We have a patrol schedule for the train already made up," said Harry, "And Susan? Ernie? We need to speak to you both. We have a special job for you two."

The two Hufflepuffs nodded. Harry waited until all the other prefects had read their assignments and left.

"We aren't on the assignment list," said Ernie.

"I suppose that means you want us to watch Malfoy?" asked Susan.

The Ministry had decided against pressing charges against Malfoy or Snape. Amelia had expressed interest in pursuing charges, but Fudge had refused to allow it to go further, saying that the Wizengamot would never convict on the word of muggles alone. At least Snape had an arrest order out for the killing of Fleur Delacour. But he had disappeared.

Hermione nodded. "Malfoy's dangerous. He's a seventh year, so it has to be a seventh year, but it can't be us. If we start following Malfoy… well he won't react well to that. Same for a Gryffindor or one of the Slytherins. However, he doesn't know whether the two of you were part of the plan that killed his father, so he probably won't react exceptionally violently to you following him."

"If you could provoke him into violence, couldn't you get him kicked out of school?" asked Ernie.

"Possibly," said Harry, "But other people might get hurt. Unfortunately, McGonagall wouldn't even hear of not allowing him back into school, not without charges. But he is dangerous. So keep an eye on him. If he does anything wrong I want to know about it."

"If you catch him trying to recruit Death Eaters, that we can get him thrown out of school for," said Hermione, "But we haven't managed to do it yet."

Ernie and Susan nodded. Draco was skilled enough that he could be a very dangerous opponent, but Harry had confidence in Ernie and Susan. They'd keep Malfoy under wraps.

XXXXX

Upon arriving at school, Harry immediately sought out Bill Weasley. Harry hadn't seen him since Fleur's death; Bill had gone to France for her funeral and Harry hadn't been able to make it. He found Bill just outside the Great Hall.

"Hello Professor Weasley," said Harry, "How are you handling things?"

Bill nodded to Harry. "I'll admit, it's still raw. It isn't real yet, if you understand what I mean. I'll see something and I'll say to myself that I need to tell Fleur, only to remember that she's gone. I've had a lot of support from the rest of the staff though. Mum of course, but Sirius and Pomona have been very helpful as well."

"Well, if you want to talk feel free to speak to me," said Harry.

"That goes for me as well," said Hermione, who had just walked up, "We were both friends with Fleur, so we would be only too glad to help you."

Bill nodded gratefully.

Harry and Hermione made their way into the Great Hall where they saw Sirius at the head table, speaking to McGonagall. Harry waved, and Sirius waved back with a huge smile as Harry walked up to the table.

"So this is what you've been up to?" asked Harry, "Professor Black, what is the world coming to?"

"I asked the same question myself," said McGonagall wryly.

"Hey, I am a very skilled Transfiguration expert," said Sirius, "And I know all the tricks! No students will be pulling the wool over my eyes."

"But will they be getting punished for trying?" asked Harry.

"Of course not!" said Sirius, "Lying to teachers is a Hogwarts tradition!"

"Oh Merlin," said McGonagall, putting her head in her hand.

"I'm kidding, of course," said Sirius, shooting a dirty look at Harry, "I should have known my godson would try to get me into trouble. It is well known that I can't resist making a joke."

Harry had turned to Professor McGonagall. "The train ride was relatively uneventful. But I had Ernie and Susan watching Malfoy. It looks like he's more or less completely become a loner. The only person who seems to be able to spend any time with him is Pansy."

"Do you think this means he is more likely to cause trouble?" asked McGonagall.

"Crabbe and Goyle weren't dependable, losing them wasn't a big loss for Draco " said Harry, "Draco is having a hard time recruiting people."

"I know you want me to expel Malfoy," said McGoangall, "But he has as much right to go to school here as anyone else until I have a legal reason to expel him."

"Just please keep an eye on him," said Harry, "He is very dangerous. He's still angry about the death of his father, and that could drive him to do stupid things. We know he's capable of cold-blooded murder."

McGonagall nodded. "I know you are concerned about the safety of the younger students, Harry, and I have taken some precautions. It's good that you are concerned about this as Head Boy. Just try not to harass Malfoy, please."

"I am staying as far away from Malfoy as my schedule permits," said Harry honestly, "If he goes off on anyone, it'll be me."

The sorting went off without a hitch. It was relatively uneventful, though another muggleborn was sorted into Slytherin, a young boy named Kevin. It was a good sign. Things had changed in the house of the snakes, hopefully forever.

XXXXX

Harry sunk into his bed, exhausted. Being Head Boy was going to be a lot of work. Flitwick had briefed all the prefects on their duties, and then had given more information to Harry and Hermione after all the other prefects had left. Fortunately, Flitwick had approved of Hermione's initiative in coming up with her packets. Flitwick at least was more inclined to take Malfoy seriously, he agreed with them that he was a danger and should have been expelled.

Hermione poked her head into Harry's bedroom. She was in her pajamas.

"You headed to bed?" she asked, "I actually wanted to talk for a second."

"Anytime," said Harry.

Hermione sat down on Harry's bed. "How are you doing? You've been doing an awful lot of comforting me these last few days, but Fleur was your friend too. I didn't mean to be neglectful…"

Harry waved her concern away. "You had your own grief to deal with, Blaise and I have been dealing with my grief separately."

"Well it is good you have had somebody to turn to," said Hermione, "Still, I've been soaking up your affection and not giving anything back. If you want me to, I'd be up for… something tonight."

Harry smiled. "That is a very kind offer," he said, "But it isn't what I need. Still…"

"Still?" inquired Hermione.

"Could you just hold me tonight?" Harry asked, "I just want to be close to someone."

Hermione smiled. "I'd be glad to," she said. She laid down on the bed and let Harry rest his head on her chest.

Harry sighed contentedly. "You make a good pillow," he said.

"You mean my boobs make a good pillow," Hermione teased, but there was no malice in her voice.

"Hmmmm," he murmured in agreement. Within moments he was fast asleep.

XXXXX

September 2nd, 1997

Nott sat in the common room, reading up on his Ancient Runes. It was quite late, and the common room was empty. It was only the second night back, and Nott was beginning to wonder if he could change roommates.

Ginny came into the common room, back from her Prefect rounds. Nott smirked. Her male counterpart had returned almost 45 minutes ago.

Ginny saw his smirk as she glanced at him. "What are you doing up?" she asked suspiciously.

"Malfoy has Pansy over," said Nott, "so I decided to do some studying for a while."

"Oh," said Ginny, "maybe I should do something about that."

"Isn't that a bit hypocritical of you?" asked Nott, "You're 45 minutes late. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that you were with Justin."

"That's none of your business," said Ginny with a blush.

"I never said it was," said Nott, "but that also means that Malfoy and Pansy's tryst is none of your business either."

"Fair enough," said Ginny.

Nott smiled at her admission. It was a rare victory for him with her. He really was telling the truth. He didn't have any designs on Ginny anymore. But that didn't mean he was attracted to just anyone. He honestly didn't know anyone he was interested in right now.

"I, well I wanted to say something last year, but I couldn't find the words," said Nott, "but this summer was terrible. My father seemed to think that what Professor Snape did to you was a joke. All the Death Eaters do. And then he came to our house the day after he killed Fleur. I couldn't even look him in the eye."

"And?" asked Ginny impatiently.

"I just want you to know, Draco might think what happened was a joke, but I think that not only did Snape violate you and Luna, he violated the trust and privacy of every Slytherin by what he did. As Head of Slytherin House he had a duty to protect you and instead he exploited you, and that was a betrayal of all of us."

Nott exhaled sharply. It had felt strangely good to say that.

Ginny stood still for a moment. Then, she gave Nott a nod. It wasn't exactly warm, but it was civil.

"Thanks," said Ginny, "I'll admit that actually bothers me more than anything else. Snape perving on me is creepy on a personal level. But it was the fact that he was our teacher that really made it uncomfortable."

"Well, I'm glad you don't have to deal with that anymore," said Nott.

"If Snape had been coming back to school here he wouldn't have killed Fleur," said Ginny.

"Do not blame yourself for what Snape did," said Nott, "that will always be beyond your control."

"Good point," said Ginny, "I'm going to head for bed. You should do so as well."

Nott nodded. He figured he'd given Malfoy over an hour.

He walked back to his room and knocked. "Come in," he heard Malfoy say.

Nott walked back into his room. Pansy was still there. She was lying in bed next to Malfoy and she was naked. She wasn't exactly covering up either. Nott averted his eyes from her.

"Hey Theo," said Pansy with a laugh.

"You don't have to be shy Theodore," said Malfoy, "Pansy doesn't mind if you look at her, do you Pansy?"

"Uh-uh," confirmed Pansy as she shifted, giving Nott a rather… inappropriate view. He kept looking away. Pansy wasn't completely unattractive, but Nott was very, very not into this. It rather vaguely made him want to vomit actually.

"Actually, if you want to use her, you're welcome to do so. Pansy doesn't mind, do you?" Malfoy was sneering. It was clear that Pansy's father had ordered Pansy to do whatever Malfoy had said.

"Nope," said Pansy in a voice that very much said that she did mind that. The urge to vomit got stronger.

"Thanks, but I'll pass," said Nott, "In fact, I'm out of here."

Nott suppressed a shudder. How had he missed how twisted Malfoy had become? He went over and knocked on the door to Blaise's room. Blaise opened the door groggily.

"I need to move in with you," said Nott.

"Why should I let you move in here?" asked Blaise.

"I cannot take the way Malfoy treats Pansy anymore," said Nott, "He just offered to let me 'use' her."

Blaise shivered at hearing that. "Okay, that's fucked up. And I'm sorry that you had to deal with that," said Blaise, "You can move in."

"The way Malfoy treats her is disgusting," said Nott, "and she can't complain because her father could disown her."

"Fucking Death Eaters," said Blaise vehemently, "they ruin everything."

Nott was starting to agree.

XXXXX

September 4th, 1997

When Harry found out what Nott had seen Malfoy do, he'd immediately reported it to Professor Sinistra. She hadn't been impressed by Harry's concern. Sometimes Harry felt like he was yelling at a brick wall. Couldn't they see? Malfoy was dangerous! Harry felt a pang of guilt about that; Lucius Malfoy's death had almost certainly not helped matters.

Harry wasn't sure Nott had made the right decision in changing rooms. But he had to admit that if Pansy was in danger from Malfoy, Nott probably was as well. Harry suspected that Malfoy was up to something, though hopefully his dysfunctional relationship with Pansy wouldn't enter into it.

In any case, Harry had a meeting with Colin, and he was late. Apparently, Colin had some concerns about the security at Hogwarts. The IUC was apparently very concerned about the fact that there was no easy way to evacuate the school if it came under attack. Which was a topic that Harry had put some thought into.

"The problem is that all we can really do is send people through the Floo," Colin was saying to Hermione as Harry arrived, "But after what happened with Umbridge, some people suspect that the ministry might not be secure."

"Hell, if you give Fudge the wrong idea he can turn on you in an instant," said Harry. It wasn't a rhetorical statement. Fudge had begun to clamor against Harry quietly in the Wizengamot. Percy had made it clear the Umbridge was behind this, and she was working with Dumbledore. This was concerning.

"Voldemort won't attack the school unless he knows the Ministry won't intervene," said Hermione, "which means the Floo would be unsafe to use. At least it normally would be."

"What does that mean?" asked Colin.

"The Ministry only tracks registered Floo destinations," explained Harry, "Which makes sense! Individual Floos in the network don't have the power to just send you wherever you want. They have to connect to the network."

"But Hogwarts has dozens of Floos," said Hermione, "working in concert, they could send you to any fireplace in Britain. Including one that isn't on the grid."

"So if we had a safehouse, we could evacuate to there…" mused Colin.

Harry grinned, "Funny thing, I happen to have an underground base with an unregistered floo. With four of them in fact. They were on the Network, but I had them taken off."

"Won't that expose your home to being discovered?" asked Colin.

Harry shrugged. "Eventually maybe. But it's currently under an anti-apparition ward. No one will find it easily."

"As long as no one leaves the wards area they won't be able to apparate back there later," said Hermione, "as you can only apparate to a place you've already been."

"So the Headmistress has approved this?" asked Colin.

"Not exactly…," admitted Harry.

"You're just going to do it without asking permission, aren't you?" said Colin with a wry smile.

"It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission," said Harry.

"Oh, this is a colossally bad idea," said Colin, "but yeah, I can get the club officers of the IUC to go along with it. Along with everyone in the army… yeah we can make this plan work."

"Hopefully we won't need it," said Hermione.

XXXXX

October 31st, 1997

The note came to Harry on Halloween. That should have warned him that something was wrong. Well, maybe it did. The note was simple.

Harry,

I need help. Draco is starting to scare me. Meet me outside the greenhouses at 1:00 PM. Come alone. We will only have a few minutes before he comes looking for me, so we'll have to be quick.

Pansy

Okay, Harry had to admit that it was suspicious. Yet it could be legitimate. Harry really did believe that Pansy was in danger. Yet it could also be a trap. But if this was a trap by Draco, why wasn't it trying to lure him off school grounds? Harry knew that Draco couldn't hurt him, but that didn't mean he wasn't dangerous. So in the end, Harry decided to go to the meeting, but he asked Hermione and Ginny to tag along under the invisibility cloak. They'd stay a respectful distance away, but would be able to jump in if there was a problem.

As Harry approached Pansy, he immediately knew it was a setup. She was nervous, yes, but her attitude showed her to be scared of Harry, not someone else showing up.

Harry sighed. "Draco, you can step out now," said Harry, "I'm really disappointed Pansy, this was a very feeble trap."

"Not as feeble as you think, Potter," said Draco, appearing out of nowhere and pointing his wand at Harry.

"I can dodge your spells Malfoy," said Harry contemptuously.

"Well, I'll be throwing killing curses," said Malfoy, "and you might notice that behind you the third year Hufflepuffs are all talking to each other."

"Fuck," said Harry as he understood the trap. There weren't many loose rocks or anything he could use to block Malfoy's attacks. He also couldn't dodge, or he risked Malfoy's spells hitting the Hufflepuffs. He hoped Hermione had heard this… otherwise it was going to be nasty.

Draco began hurling killing curses. Harry quickly began intercepting them with small rocks and objects around him, but Draco had chosen his battlefield well. There was precious little to use here. Suddenly, there was a massive sound of earth tearing from behind Harry. He smiled as Hermione summoned a huge wall of earth behind him. On the plus side, it meant Draco couldn't threaten the Hufflepuffs anymore. Unfortunately Hermione and Ginny were also on the other side of that wall. It would take them precious moments to get around it.

Suddenly Draco grabbed Pansy by the back of the neck and put his wand to her head. But Pansy's reaction to this was telling. She was smiling. Draco had anticipated that his plan might fail, and Pansy had agreed to help him escape. But the look in Draco's eyes…

Harry gasped as he suddenly understood what was happening. Draco knew him better than he had thought! He'd always known that it would come to this. This whole charade was so that Pansy wouldn't struggle.

"Draco," said Harry softly and urgently, "You can go. I won't stop you. Just don't hurt her."

"Oh Potter, always trying to be the hero. Even to those who don't really like you," Draco's face was completely contemptuous, "Think Pansy will join you little harem if you can save her from the big bad Malfoy? Not likely."

"I freely admit that if you free Pansy it will be entirely your doing, Malfoy," said Harry, "I'm not going to try to stop you from getting away. Why would I? Just let her go, and I'll let you go. You know I'll keep my word."

"Of course, because you're so honorable," said Draco, "LIKE WHEN YOU KILLED MY FATHER!"

"Pansy didn't kill your father," said Harry trying to hide his fear.

"Like I give a fuck!" screamed Draco, "I just want to hurt you. And nothing will hurt you like failing to save someone. Even if that someone is an enemy."

Pansy's eyes suddenly went wide as she realized this wasn't going the way she had been told it would. "Why aren't you running? The whole plan was to…"

"Depulso!" roared Malfoy, propelling Pansy towards Harry. Harry desperately tried to move her out of the way, but she was still under the power of Malfoy's spell. He merely arrested her movement.

"Confringo!" screamed Malfoy, hurling a blasting curse right at Pansy. Harry heard spells coming in from his right as Ginny and Hermione arrived and tried to move Pansy. But it was too late.

Pansy Parkinson just exploded in front of Harry, showering him with her insides.

"MALFOY!" he screamed incoherently as he ran forward, but Draco was already moving away. A broom had leapt into his hands and he had mounted it, flying away dexterously, dodging the spells that Harry and his friends hurled after him. Within moments, he was gone.

"Keep those Hufflepuffs on the other side of that wall!" Harry roared at Ginny. She nodded at him curtly. She probably didn't like being yelled at, but she knew he wasn't angry at her.

"I'll get McGonagall," said Hermione, "And then I will be right back Harry. Just stay here!" Hermione sprinted towards the castle.

Harry sank to the ground next to Pansy's remains. They were unrecognizable. "Oh, I'm so sorry Pansy, I'm so sorry," he muttered to himself. Once again, he'd failed. And another person had paid the price.

XXXXX

Harry sat on the sofa in the sitting room he shared with Hermione. He had to admit that his memory of how he'd arrived here was a bit fuzzy. He vaguely remembered a trip to the prefects' bath, which made sense as he was no longer covered in blood. He was dressed in a large comfortable robe. He didn't deserve it. This small comfort was too good for him.

He heard the sound of the door closing. He turned his head to see Headmistress McGonagall. She immediately held up a hand to make sure he stayed seated, and sat down in a chair diagonal from him.

"You were right about Draco," said McGonagall, "I had come to see him as a pathetic figure. I didn't quite believe that he was capable of such barbarism. I should have listened to you. You did your job, which was to inform me and your head of house of a threat that you saw. We let you down."

"Professor Sinistra? How is she?" asked Harry.

"Devastated," said McGongall, "but she agrees with me."

"It's my fault," said Harry, "It is my fault that Lucius died. If he hadn't…"

"Lucius Malfoy would certainly have killed you if you had not turned the tables on him," said McGonagall, "While I am not convinced that killing him was wise, it was justified."

"We lured him there," said Harry before he realized what McGonagall had just said, "Wait, how did you know…"

"That you, Miss Granger, and Miss Weasley are the Triumvirate?" McGonagall smiled mysteriously, "well I am the Headmistress of Hogwarts. I have my ways of finding things out."

"Wait, you made Hermione and myself Head Girl and Boy knowing this?" asked Harry.

"Let me be clear, the reason you did what you did was not because you had become hopelessly corrupted, you killed those Death Eaters because no one else was doing what needed to be done," said McGonagall, "Yes, I think it was a mistake, but it was a mistake you made as a child, without any advice from any adults. And what did you do afterwards? Did you continue hunting down and killing Death Eaters in cold blood? No. You took a look at the path this was sending you down and changed course. You understood it to be a mistake and moved forward, trying to do better. And you have. That is the sort of decision making that is perfect for my Head Boy and Girl."

"The truth is, I have not done right by you," admitted McGonagall, "I abandoned you to Slytherin. And I will admit, you rose to the challenge. But I could have done more for you. I knew something was up with Snape ever since he reacted to you and Ginny holding hands in Diagon Alley. And I did nothing."

Harry said nothing. And he remembered. The very first day he'd spent in the magical world. Meeting Hermione. Meeting Ginny. She'd been mortified when she'd learned she'd told Harry his parents had been murdered. And he'd taken her hand. And the first time that Snape saw us, we were holding hands!

To Snape, it must have looked like James Potter and Lily Evans. Holding hands. Could it be…

Harry shook his head. That was not what was bothering him today.

"The truth was that I couldn't believe that Draco would actually harm Pansy," said Harry, "Not until we were standing there. He'd made love to her. I could never do that to someone I'd been that close to. Never."

"Despite the fact that you have Lord Voldemort's memories, you still can't really comprehend evil," said McGonagall with a sad smile, "Oh you can predict every evil thing he will do, but you can't apply his standards to anyone else."

"Kind of sad, huh?" said Harry with a shake of his head, "I'd ask how you knew that, but I already know the answer."

"No Mr. Potter," said McGonagall, "sad is the last thing I would call it. It is a blessing. And so is the fact that you mourn for one of your enemies. I have a question for you. Would you rather kill Draco, or bring him to face justice for his crimes?"

Harry closed his eyes as he realized what McGonagall was saying. "I… wow, even I'm surprised at what I'm thinking now."

"You did everything you could to save Pansy's life," said McGonagall, "and you still want to save Draco's, if possible. So please, do not blame yourself. This is not your responsibility. It was ours. The time may come, and you may have no choice but to kill Draco, or Snape, or Voldemort. But I know this - that I trust that whatever you do, it will be what you think is right. And you will not fail us."

And with that, McGonagall stood and left, leaving Harry to contemplate what he had just heard. Yet somehow, Harry felt as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He hadn't noticed it, but it had been building there ever since the ambush in the Department of Mysteries. And the death of every ally since then had added to it.

But Harry could no longer bear that weight alone. But maybe he shouldn't have to. Maybe, just maybe, he had more allies than he had known.

XXXXX

November 2nd, 1997

Molly Weasley felt uneasy, and not for the first time. Everything about this seemed wrong. Still, she'd discussed things with Mad-Eye and Kinglsley, and they agreed with her. Now they were going to do what they had to do, and to hell with the consequences. Still, it made her sad.

Kingsley was there now, as was Moody. They'd decided to meet at the Hog's Head, as it meant that Aberforth would be there as well. Molly had no doubts as to whose side he would take.

Albus was exactly on time, walking into the room exactly at the time he had said he was going to.

"Good afternoon Molly, Alastor. I haven't seen either of you in some time. And you are looking well today Kingsley."

"We're all fine Albus," said Moody impatiently, "But you've got some explaining to do."

"I've heard a rumour that you're helping Umbridge turn Fudge against Harry," said Kingsley, "I can't quite believe it, but I thought I'd ask you, just in case."

"Harry is becoming dangerous," said Dumbledore, "His single mindedness killed Pansy Parkinson…"

"Who told you that?" demanded Molly.

"Severus," admitted Dumbledore.

"Well, he's wrong," said Molly, "Harry told Malfoy he was free to go. He begged him not to kill her. I don't know if Snape is lying to you or not, but I bet you Draco didn't tell the Death Eaters the truth in any case."

"And that's the problem," said Moody, "You keep taking Snape's word over anyone elses. And he's proven himself untrustworthy, what with his behavior towards the Weasley Girl."

"Weasley Girl?" asked Molly, her tone amused.

"No one here owes your daughter more than I do," said Moody apologetically, "but I was trying to be impersonal."

"Simply put, none of us trust Snape anymore," said Kingsley.

"I do though," said Dumbledore, "and since I am in charge, that is what counts. If you don't like it, you are free to leave the Order."

Molly looked at Moody and Kingsley. They both nodded.

"We were actually elected to speak for the rest of the Order for that exact purpose," said Molly, "We'll all continue working to stop You-Know-Who, and we'll work with you again once you are willing to listen to reason. But until then, well, you and Snape are the Order."

And she walked out, Moody and Kingsley on her heels.

XXXXX

November 8th, 1997

Harry would have liked to say that Pansy's death had cast a pall over the school, but that wouldn't quite be accurate. Pansy hadn't been well liked, the only friend she'd had was Millie. Millie was a mess, and Tracey had asked her if she wanted to reschedule the Quidditch match. But she didn't want to. Quidditch was probably the one thing that could distract her from her grief. Tracey had understood.

In fact, she had been spending a lot of time with the Slytherin Keeper. Harry wondered about that. It was almost like there was some sort of tension between Tracey and Daphne.

Still, for the Slytherins, the Gryffindor match was a solemn occasion. For most of them this would be the last match they ever played against Gryffindor. And all of them were at least unsettled by Pansy's death, though Harry and Millie were by far the most upset.

The game itself was a tough one. Ron's team was working on all cylinders now, and they were a tough team to beat. Still, Ginny was a better Chaser than anyone on the Gryffindor team, while Blaise and Nott were now very clearly the best beaters in the school. They almost were approaching the Weasley twins in their coordination now. And Tracey was an amazing captain.

In the end, it was Harry who won everything. Slytherin was 20 points down when Harry caught the snitch after a brutal chase alongside Colin Creevey. And with that catch he knew that he'd just assured his place in the halls of Slytherin glory.

As the Slytherins celebrated and the Gryffindors bemoaned the results. Harry saw Ron fly over to Tracey. He whispered something in her ear. Suddenly, the two of them were kissing rather passionately in the air. Little cheers and whoops came from the crowd. Harry grinned.

Suddenly, he saw Daphne sitting in the stands. Her expression was like ice.

Oh, I hope this isn't going to be a problem, thought Harry.

XXXXX

November 9th, 1997

The next day Blaise met Harry outside the Great Hall before breakfast.

"Tracey is moving into Millicent's room from now on," said Blaise seriously, "Tracey and Daphne had an awful row last night."

"Dammit, I knew it!" said Harry sadly, "I should have said something to Daphne. She must have opened her mouth about Ron."

"Daphne tried to play the 'friends don't date friends exes' card," agreed Blaise, "Tracey replied that the only reason the Daphne dated Ron first was because Tracey deliberately didn't go after Ron because she gave Daphne precedence due to her social status. Which, Tracey probably did. Tracey feels that this is just the latest way that Daphne has dominated their friendship due to her being a pureblood. Daphne really didn't want to hear that."

"So they aren't speaking to each other?" asked Harry.

"They aren't speaking to each other," confirmed Blaise.

Fantastic, thought Harry, just fucking fantastic.

Author's Note: So I'll admit, I've been piling pain on Harry recently. Every death in the last 3 chapters has been personal to him. Harry has been blaming himself for everything that went wrong. But the truth is that this responsibility should never have been Harry's. Prior to this Harry hadn't really been an adult. McGonagall taking responsibility for not being there for Harry is a big step for him. And of course, now Harry is an adult, so he will be reponsible for the decisions he makes from here on out. That being said, the consequences of some of those earlier failures are going to continue to rebound.

All that being said, I'm done torturing Harry. Now I'm torturing Daphne for the next few chapters. I've known this explosion between Tracey and Daphne was coming for a long time, but what I wasn't certain of was what role it would play in the story. Ultimately the role is minor, but critical. It helps propel the build to the stories final climax. We aren't building to the climax of this story quite yet though. We still have one BIG complication to introduce first.

One last point in reference to Chapter 49 that has been clarified now. One comment asked why they didn't make a bigger deal about the marriage contract to Dumbledore and Molly. Well Dumbledore and Molly were forced into signing the marriage contract. And as I revealed in this chapter, Snape has been giving them diluted doses in their tea. This means the potions' holds have never been very strong, and if Harry had confronted Molly or not stormed out of his conversations with Dumbledore they might have beaten them. Molly actually did break out of her potion haze a long time ago because of the way Harry and Ginny had basically been taunting her, and she knew that what she had done was indefensible, which was why she turned against the idea so easily. Ginny isn't ready to talk about it, and Harry forgave Molly the moment he realized she was acting under duress. Ginny has forgiven her mother too, but it is still very traumatic for her so it isn't just a matter of forgiveness there. Molly and Ginny are going to have issues in their relationship for the rest of their lives, which later chapters are going to touch on.

In fact, that whole plotline was designed to be a reversal of the standard Potions Princess Ginny trope. Instead of Ginny having Molly brew a potion that would be designed to make Harry fall in love with Ginny, a potion is used on Molly to force Ginny and Harry into a marriage contract, destroying any chance they will have a relationship. So no I didn't change anything from my original idea. And if you are looking for a dramatic confrontation between Molly and Ginny, I'm sorry it isn't going to happen. This is a story about people fucking up and learning to deal with the consequnces, not a story were people have big cathartic blow ups.

Ugh, and I meant this one to be short too.

Next time: Fudge makes a play against Harry, Harry kidnaps the entire student body of Hogwarts (or, more correctly, rescues them), and Sirius and Bill go Snape hunting, which has an unexpected outcome.