The next afternoon, Harry and Ginny made their way to the Headmaster's office. They had a plan in place, and all parties had agreed to it- though on Severus' part, 'agree' might be a little bit of a strong word.

The plan was to be that Ginny would go and visit Sirius and Remus, apparently alone, though Harry would accompany her undercover of his way, Harry could observe until he was comfortable and get used to how Sirius was without feeling like he was putting himself at risk. Dumbledore himself had given them permission to carry out their plan that afternoon instead of studying.

Severus, who had cautiously stepped into the role of uncle or godfather to Harry, had at first been extremely against this idea. But he finally realized that this was something Harry needed to do and that he could keep himself safe.

Dumbledore handed Harry a piece of parchment bearing the address of the house, which Ginny had explained was under the Fedelius Charm. The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix can be found at 12 Grimauld Place, it read. Harry readied his wards, making sure that only Ginny would be able to see him, then stepped into the fire with Ginny, holding tightly to her hand.

"12 Grimauld Place," she said, and a moment later the two of them were stepping out of the grate into the kitchen of a very…interesting-looking house.

As they wandered through, Harry noticed the hallways were dark and dusty, and there was a collection of what looked to be heads of dead house elves on a shelf on the wall. Harry shuddered. This place was creepy.

"Sirius?" Ginny called quietly. "Remus?"

"Up here, Firebug," Harry heard Sirius' voice call out from a sitting room upstairs. Suddenly, a painting of an old woman began shrieking. Harry didn't understand everything she was saying, but it sounded like she was using every terrible phrase she could think of…to describe Ginny.

Harry knew he was not meant to even be there, but he couldn't help it. His power lashed outward, and before he knew it, the painting had completely disappeared. Ginny looked around at him, her eyes wide.

"What did you do?" she hissed. Harry shrugged coolly. He wasn't going to let that old hag insult Ginny. Not if he could help it. Ginny took off quickly up the stairs, hoping to head off the older wizards before they noticed anything suspicious. Luckily, it seemed they were still waiting in the sitting room.

Sirius was bent over a piece of parchment at a writing desk, and Remus was setting aside a book when they entered. Sirius grinned, getting up from his seat to happily pull Ginny into a one-armed hug. Harry tensed, but it seemed his discomfort was unwarrented.

"Hey there, Firebug," Sirius beamed at her. "How's it going? You getting along alright with those extra lessons?"

Harry was astonished. The difference in this man from their last encounter was almost as stark as night and day. This must be what he was like on his good days, Harry reasoned.

"Hello, Ginny," Remus added from the sofa. "Glad you could come."

Harry noticed that Remus looked more ill than the last time too. Either Sirius had been a handful all that time, or Remus was coming down with something. Evidently, Ginny noticed this, too.

"Hello, Remus," she smiled, though looking him over with concern. Harry's heart swelled to see her like that. She was incredible, he thought. "Are you feeling alright?"

Remus waved her off. "Just my furry little problem acting up again," he said, though he winced thinking about it. "The full moon is in a couple days, and then I should be right as rain. Thanks for asking, though, Ginny."

"Sit! Sit," Sirius commanded, gesturing to a chair before handing Ginny a cup of tea. They chatted normally about lessons, how things were going, friends, and finally, Harry. Harry, who knew this was bound to happen at some point, mentally braced himself.

"How…how is Harry doing?" Sirius asked, somewhat anxiously. Ginny took a sip of her tea before answering.

"Harry is doing alright," she answered. "He and I set up a couple of our friends to try and get them together yesterday," she grinned, and Sirius grinned back. Remus smiled a little nostalgically.

"Remember when we did that to Lily and James?" Sirius asked. Remus nodded. Harry leaned forward from where he stood in the corner, eager to hear. "Lily was furious! We locked them in a broom cupboard in hopes the she would confess her feelings to him. She'd been way more friendly to him than in the past, so we thought it was a given. Plus, Alice told us…accidentally. Prongs, of course, had been confessing to Lily repeatedly since third year, so there were no problems there…until Lils thought James had been in on the whole thing." Sirius looked over at Remus. "Moony, in hindsight, we probably should have confiscated their wands. She hexed him up and down before he was able to convince her he'd had nothing to do with it."

Harry, who had been smirking at the tale, let his jaw drop when his mind put the names 'Moony' and 'Prongs' together. His father and his friends had made Ginny's miraculous map? Really? That was an extraordinary piece of magic!

"Well, it wasn't nearly that amazing," Ginny said, continuing the conversation. "We just arranged for our two best friends to be alone in the common room together for an extended period of time. They each have a huge crush on the other, but neither will admit it. But Harry told me that it seems to be going relatively well. Hermione apparently blushed redder than my hair when she saw the note Dray left for her this morning."

Sirius, who'd been drinking his tea, choked slightly. "The young Malfoy boy?"

"Sirius," Remus said warningly. "Harry trusts him. That should be good enough for us."

Ginny nodded. "Dray is really a good guy," she insisted. "He was just extremely misguided for most of his life. But he knows better now." She looked down at her hands uneasily, then seemed to decide something. "You-Know-Who killed his mother, Sirius. Dray's never going to follow him now."

Sirius looked stunned. "Cissy was killed? When?" Harry raised an eyebrow curiously. It sounded like Sirius was very familiar with Draco's mother.

"Apparently just before the summer," Ginny answered. "Dumbledore took him in at Hogwarts." The redhead surveyed the older man carefully. He looked like he couldn't quite get his head around it. "I'm so sorry, Sirius,"

Sirius shook his head sadly. "That's what happens. You-Know-Who spares no one, not even his own followers."

Ginny nodded. "Dray has had a hard go of it. But he's much better now than when we first came to Hogwarts. He's really smart, and his sense of humor is more sarcastic than even the twins'. And his prejudice against Muggles and muggleborns is all but gone, thanks to Harry and Hermione. I think you'd really like your little cousin, Sirius, if you gave him a chance."

Sirius pondered this. "Perhaps you're right, Firebug," he said at last. "He is my little cousin, after all. Can he really be alright, though? He is a Slytherin…"

Ginny looked at him sternly. "Sirius, would you still be saying that if Harry was put in Slytherin?"

"Wha-?"

"Because I think it's only fair to warn you that Harry and Dray are like two peas in a pod," she continued. "Those two could have been brothers, the way they act, and you'd never know the difference. Except by looks, of course. There's a very real chance the Hat will put him in Slytherin."

Sirius was at a loss for words. Remus spoke up instead.

"Of course we would still love Harry if he was a Slytherin," he said firmly. "He's still the only son of our best friend, which makes him family, no matter what house he's in."

Harry's heart leapt happily at Remus' sure statement. He had family- a true family, not just the Dursley's. Between Remus, Severus, the Weasley's, and his four friends, he had the best family ever! Now…he still had yet to decide if Sirius was family…or not.

It was clear that Sirius had some old grudges that ran deep, particularly against Slytherins, just like Ronald had. However, he liked seeing the older man interact with Ginny; he showed his affectionate side with her, almost as if Ginny were his own daughter.

Harry was startled for a moment when all of a sudden, Sirius disappeared and a shaggy black dog appeared in his place, jumping up into Ginny's lap and nuzzling her affectionately. Harry's eyes widened. What kind of magic was this? Wait…didn't Ginny say Pettigrew was a wizard who could turn into an animal at will? Maybe Sirius was one, too. And…did that mean Remus and James were, as well? Harry would have to ask Ginny later.

After a while of Ginny playing fetch with the black dog, she finally bid her goodbyes.

"Thanks for having us- me," she said, hoping no one had noticed her slip.

"Ginny," Sirius said as he turned back into himself, fixing her with a big-eyed puppy stare, "Do you think you could-?"

"No, Sirius," she said firmly. "I know you want to see Harry, but I made the mistake last time of pushing him when he wasn't ready. If you want this to work out, you need to let Harry be comfortable enough to come to you." With that, she turned and made her exit.

Harry followed her carefully back to the fireplace after the two men had waved to her and sent her back off toward the kitchen, Remus following to see her out.

"Harry's here, isn't he, Ginny?" he whispered as they descended the stairs. Harry's eyes widened, as did Ginny's.

"How did you know?"

Remus shrugged lazily. "The portrait disappeared," he pointed to the now-empty wall, "Dumbledore told us his power level was quite something. Thanks for that, Harry, that old hag was driving me crazy!" Remus added, glancing at the stairwell to Harry's right. "Then the slip at the end, and the fact that you kept looking to one particular spot while we were visiting even though no one was there."

Ginny looked a little ashamed. "Yeah, he's here. He wants to give Sirius a chance, but he needs a little more time to observe." Remus nodded.

"I understand. He's welcome to come over invisible as often as he likes until he's ready to come as himself." Ginny hugged the tired-looking man, then Harry took her hand and they disappeared back through the green flames.

"So you're telling me my dad was an…Animagus?" Harry asked Ginny as they walked back to the common room, trying to look calm about this. Inwardly, he was doing a victory dance. His father had been able to turn into a stag! That was insanely cool! Maybe one day, once he was caught up on Transfiguration and theory, he would attempt to learn this discipline. For now, however, as much as he really wanted to, he would leave it alone. He had enough on his plate.

Ginny grinned at Harry's enthusiasm, even more amused when he thought of something else. "Wait. Werewolves are real, too?" She giggled. He grimaced. "What am I saying, of course they are. Dragons, elves, goblins, werewolves…what's next? Vampires? Unicorns? Giants? Centaurs? Fairies?"

Ginny fought to keep a straight face. "Well, actually…" He raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously?"

She nodded, grinning. "They're all real. Just…Muggles don't know that anymore." Her expression became more serious. "At one time they did, but then they became afraid of magic and started hunting down witches and wizards. After that, wizards became the primary protectors of all magical creatures, keeping them hidden from the Muggles."

They turned a corner as Ginny continued. "Anyway, Remus isn't dangerous when he's not transformed. And when he does transform, he takes this potion that allows him to keep his human mind so he doesn't hurt anyone. Wolfsbane Potion is a blessing for him, he says. When he first came to Hogwarts, they hadn't invented it yet. The transformation was terribly painful, and being isolated caused him to hurt himself. Sirius, your dad, and Wormtail became Animagi to help him through the full moons." Harry was quiet as he processed this.

"I like Remus," he said finally. "He seems like a good man. I really appreciate that he's letting me take this at my own pace. I'm not worried about him being dangerous. It's not like he can help it- he has an illness, and anything he does during that illness isn't his fault."

Ginny smiled. She was glad Harry was not about to turn on Remus for being a werewolf- not that she'd thought he would. Remus was hesitant about sharing, not sure if Harry would be afraid of him, but evidently this would not be a problem.

They entered the common room to find only Neville sitting there, brow furrowed as he worked on what looked to be an essay of some sort. Quietly so as not to disturb their Hufflepuff friend, Harry and Ginny took a sofa, pulling out books as they went. Harry casually threw an arm around Ginny's shoulders. Ginny smiled. This was progress. He didn't even hesitate this time. It was then she noticed that Harry seemed off in his own world, his eyes fixed on Neville.

"Ginny?"

"Hmm?"

"How did you and Hermione become friends with Neville?" he asked curiously in a low voice. "I mean, you're all from different houses. Logically, you wouldn't spend a lot of time together in class. I mean, Hermione might, since same year, and didn't you say Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws get paired for class quite often? So, is that what happened? Hermione became friends with him first?"

Ginny's brow furrowed. "Sort of. Hermione knew Neville from class, but not well, I don't think until about midway through their fourth year, my third."

"What are you guys going on about?" Neville asked, looking up from his essay.

"How you became friends with me and Hermione," Ginny answered. To Harry's surprise, Neville's face darkened.

"It was when our defense teacher was cursed in fourth year," he said. "It was terrifying. But…after that I had friends, so I guess some good came from it."

Neville was in the hallway, shaking and sweaty. The lesson on the Unforgiveable Curses had been brutal for him. The way that spider twitched and shrieked…that's just what happened to his parents. His parents who were now completely out of their minds due to the pain they'd experienced. At the hands of a group of Death Eaters.

He shuddered at the thought. Professor Moody was insane! The worst part was, the grizzled old man seemed to…enjoy causing pain to that harmless spider, a tiny creature who couldn't hurt the man even if it wanted to. But Moody…he just…grinned, as the creature squirmed in agony. And grinned as Neville, himself, squirmed in emotional pain and shock watching the display. Finally, he could take no more, fleeing from the room.

He didn't even notice the bell rang, signaling the end of class, until a girl came up beside him, looking at him in concern. "Neville?" she asked. He looked up to see it was that Ravenclaw girl, Hermione he thought her name was. She was studying his face, her brow furrowed. "Are you alright?" He nodded, not saying a word.

Suddenly, a clumping sound rang through the corridor. They looked around to find Professor Moody limping towards them. Neville stared at the man, wide-eyed.

"Come on, Longbottom," he said gruffly, steering the boy back towards his office, muttering something about a cup of tea. Neville looked back at Hermione, his face full of fear, as he was led away.

Ginny had just finished class and was making her way down a hallway toward lunch, when suddenly Hermione grabbed her, looking very serious.

"Ginny, I need your help," she said in a low, intense voice. "Something is going on; something bad. I want you to run as fast as you can and get McGonagall and bring her to Moody's office." Ginny opened her mouth, but Hermione shook her head frantically. "I don't have time to explain!" she pleaded, pulling out her wand and squaring her shoulders. "Please! Just go!"

Ginny, realizing that something really bad must be going on to get her best friend so worked up, turned and fled as fast as she could down several flights of stairs until she came to McGonagall's office. She burst in, not bothering to knock, to find not only McGonagall, but Snape as well.

"Professor, come quick, it's an emergency!" She cried. The two professors were instantly on their feet, wands drawn and following her swiftly from the room.

"What happened Miss Weasley?" McGonagall asked as they ran. Ginny shook her head.

"I don't know, only that Hermione sent me to find you. She said something about Professor Moody and that there wasn't time to explain." She saw McGonagall exchange a dark look with Snape, who nodded to the Deputy Head, scowling, before sending off a silvery doe down the corridor in front of them. In no time, they were stopped outside the office in question. The door was locked, but they could hear voices from inside.

"Weasley, stand back," Snape ordered softly. "And keep your wand out." A moment later there was a BOOM! and the door was blasted clean off its hinges to reveal the room beyond. Professor Moody, smirking evilly, had his wand trained on Hermione, who was panting on the floor clutching her leg. Neville was tied to a chair with thick ropes. A duel ensued, but the old man, skilled though he was, was no match for McGonagall and Snape together.

In a matter of moments, Moody was on the floor, looking dazed, bound in thick ropes like Neville was. Ginny, seeing it was all over, tiptoed over to stand just inside the room, helping Hermione to her feet. She noted that her friend stood awkwardly, and that her ankle seemed broken as Hermione wasn't putting weight on it and it was turned at an odd angle. It was then that Dumbledore swept through the door, his eyes flashing and his person radiating with magic.

"Headmaster, this man was attempting to injure our students," McGonagall explained shortly. Dumbledore studied the man for a moment.

"Severus, do you have any Veritaserum?" he asked. Snape produced a small vial from somewhere, which he handed to the Headmaster. The man struggled, but ultimately drank the potion. Ginny could see his eyes go unfocused.

"What is your name?" Dumbledore asked.

"Barty Crouch Jr." the man said dully. McGonagall gasped.

"Where is the real Alastor Moody?" Dumbledore continued.

"Inside the trunk," Moody/Crouch answered. Ginny looked around to see a large trunk with seven keyholes. That must be it.

"Where are the keys?"

"In my jacket pocket." Snape relieved the imposter of the keys and quickly began trying to recover the missing Auror.

"Why are you here?" Dumbledore asked.

"To recruit for the Dark Lord," Moody/Crouch said. "And to kill Neville Longbottom." Neville let out a shocked squeak of fear and dismay.

"Why kill Neville?"

"He escaped when we tortured his family. And if he dies, then the Longbottom name will vanish and the Crouches will take their place on the Wizengamot. I will have power to serve the Dark Lord politically." Dumbledore looked at the man with something akin to disgust.

"Where is Voldemort?"

"I don't know," the man said.

"Has he fully returned to power?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"A dark ritual we did during the last full moon. The Dark Lord is back. And you are all doomed," the man said with an insane cackle, his skin bubbling and shifting. Ginny looked away as the man's fake eyeball popped out and his wooden leg fell to the floor. Polyjuice Potion, she guessed. It really was gruesome to witness. When the transformation was done, the man sitting before them in ropes was much younger, with straw-like blond hair. Dumbledore looked at the man in distaste, before turning to his Deputy.

"Minerva, would you please escort the students to the Hospital Wing?" he said calmly. "They will be in need of a Calming Draught and a good night's sleep. Severus, please guard the prisoner. I will contact the Minister at once. It seems one of his convicts has escaped."

McGonagall nodded. Ginny immediately stepped forward to support her best friend while McGonagall floated Neville along in front of her. He had, evidently, passed out at some point from the shock.

Harry's eyes were wide as he listened to them tell their tale. He could hardly believe such a thing happened in a school.

"What happened to Crouch?" he asked. Ginny grimaced.

"He'd evidently escaped from Azkaban somehow. The Minister brought the dementors with him…and performed the Dementor's kiss on the guy immediately. He had his soul sucked out," she explained, seeing Harry's confusion, which quickly turned to horror. "Not dead, but really no longer living. It's a terrible way to go, if you ask me."

"So Dumbledore told the Minister what happened, but Crouch couldn't provide a testimony because he was worse than dead…so what did the Minister do?" Harry asked finally, beginning to put the pieces together. Neville and Ginny shared a dark look.

"Remember that Umbridge woman we told you about? The one with the throat-clearing that Fred and George threw fireworks at during exams?" Harry nodded. "The Minister didn't want to believe You-Know-Who was back, so he stirred things up to make it look like Dumbledore was just making trouble for the Ministry. Not many would listen when Dumbledore tried to warn them about You-Know-Who," Ginny said.

"And then he sent Umbridge to make sure Dumbledore wasn't creating a student army or something," Neville added. "Fudge was afraid Dumbledore was trying to overthrow him. He wasn't, but she was a right old tyrant anyway. We weren't even allowed to use spells in class! Not sure how any of us passed our OWL's."

"How'd you get rid of her?" Harry wondered aloud. Ginny smirked.

"Fred and George's fireworks chased her into the forest where she ran afoul of the centaurs," she said. "I think she made the mistake of calling them, 'a bunch of filthy halfbreeds,' if I remember correctly. Needless to say, it all went downhill from there."

Harry put his head in his hands. "So…your first year was that diary thing-" Ginny shuddered. "Second was Pettigrew, third was this imposter professor, and fourth was that Umbridge woman?" He looked up at her, a slight smirk mixed with his confusion. "Damn, Ginny. It's like someone was waiting for you to start school just to unleash hell upon you! Really! Did you, like, anger the gods or something?"

Ginny grinned. "It was Fred and George. It has to be. I would never do something like that," she said. Harry laughed, though Neville was scowling.

"Glad you two are taking this so well," he grumped. Ginny quickly jumped in.

"We know it's serious, Nev," she said soothingly. "But if we don't laugh about it, we'd probably lose our minds." Neville seemed to accept this, because his expression smoothed, and he just shook his head fondly at his friends before returning to his essay.

Meanwhile, Draco and Hermione were trying out their new recipe for Boils Cure Potion in Professor Snape's lab. They worked together in sync, Hermione keeping a careful eye on the cauldron while Draco prepared and measured the ingredients. Despite this, the silence between them was stiff and awkward.

Hermione, having found Draco's note and the flower that morning, had made a point of avoiding the blond. Draco, seeing he'd made her uncomfortable, had tried to tease her about it in hopes of smoothing things over as soon as they entered their workspace for their lesson. However, apparently this was the wrong thing to do, because Hermione had exploded on the Slytherin, who in turn, had snapped back…and now here they were- attempting to brew a potion with as little contact between them as possible.

Draco, beneath his cold Slytherin mask, was fuming. She didn't need to get so snippy. That girl. Honestly. She was infuriating! She liked him, she just didn't want to admit. Her pride was getting in the way; how come she had to be so damn stubborn?

"Pass me the silver ladle," he heard her say shortly. He handed her the instrument in silence before going back to his brooding as he powdered his snake fangs a little more violently than necessary.

Now that he thought on it, he knew getting her to be with him was a long shot. He'd been terrible to her. He didn't deserve her. His anger faded as he realized this- he'd done all that, and then had the audacity to think she should like him? Like that? He deflated. Wow. He'd really messed up. He chanced a glance at the Ravenclaw girl, who was stirring the cauldron, counting to herself under her breath. He wished he'd just let her be- she might've come around eventually on her own. But now…

His faced his work again, pounding the fangs harder than was probably necessary. He wanted her back, back to being friends like they'd been before he'd ruined everything. He should probably apologize.

Malfoy's don't apologize, the thought floated through his head before he could stop it. He glared into the mortar thoughtfully. That had been one of his mantras for years. Malfoy's were always right; there was no need to lower oneself to the level of admitting you were wrong. It made you just like the rest of commoners. But…it also made you a jerk. Someone who had no real friends. Someone who was lonely and consequently only took joy from other's suffering.

You don't have to be what you were anymore, Uncle Severus's words followed this through his mind. You are strong; strong enough to admit when you have gone down the wrong path and choose a different one. Draco's face hardened, his silver eyes flashing in determination. He would be different. He looked up at the girl next to him, who was still steadfastly ignoring him.

'Moine?" he asked. She didn't look at him, keeping her eyes firmly on the orange liquid in the cauldron instead. "Hermione?" She still didn't respond. He sighed. He probably deserved this, he decided. "I just…I'm sorry." The brunette froze. "I…I should have just let you alone. You don't have to like me, or if you do, you don't have to tell me. I just…think you're amazing. But I understand if it's not mutual. There's a lot of history between us. It's hard to get past that."

Hermione turned to look at him, and he thought he could see something flicker in her brown eyes, though he wasn't sure what it was. Suddenly, she smiled, studying his face. "I'm sorry, too, Dray. I just…haven't had anyone pay me much attention that way before." His eyes widened. How could that be? He'd heard rumors about her dating this or that Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, or even Weasley. Though it was plain to see the redhead wizard wasn't near good enough for her. Draco scowled. He was lazy, entitled, and disrespectful, and this girl was sweet and brilliant and-

"It's a little scary, being noticed," she continued, snapping the blond out of his thoughts. "It means that someone is watching, with the potential to notice things about you that you didn't want to be noticed. But I…I think you're pretty amazing too, you know? You've overcome a lot to get to where you are. And…you just…get me." He could hardly believe what he was hearing. He gave her a small smirk.

"Is that…a confession, 'Mione?" he teased. She blushed, but smiled mischievously.

"Maybe," she said coyly, before turning suddenly business-like. "Now, let's finish this potion before Professor Snape scolds us for wasting his ingredients." Draco grinned.

"As you wish, Milady," he said, borrowing a phrase from Harry that he'd heard him use with Ginny a few times. Hermione laughed.

"You know that's from a movie, right?"

"Really? A Muggle moving picture? What's it about?"