A/N: Chapter six. Enjoy and review. This is my second project but if I see enough support the 6k chapters of my other story might get toned down a little so I have more time to focus on this. It's all up to you, my lovely readers.

/~/

The first meeting for the study group went well; better than Harry expected. Draco and him had met up in the library a couple days before and ironed out a time to meet and what they'd be focusing on. They both figured a Friday night was the best time to hold the session; no class the next day and a couple hours of free time to end the academic week meant that it was pretty much the perfect time.

They also figured just getting to know one another was the best thing to do for a first group session. It'd be sort of stupid to just jump right in without learning about the other students.

The library was where the group would meet, and Harry could only hope it would work out. Sitting at the table, he was starting to have some second thoughts about how easy this whole inter-house relations would be to achieve.

The study group was a rag-tag moshpit of robes stylized in house color, and the tension was thick enough to cut with a knife. That said, preconceived notions seemed to be attached to both groups in attendance, who were staring at each other warily, (except for Luna,Tracey, and Hermoine.)

Each group sat on one side of the circular table, like a plague had divided them as sick and dirty.

Which meant it was up to Draco to do the talking.

Which actually meant it was up to Harry to do the talking. He knew Draco wasn't as subtle as he claimed, yet he loved to attempt coercion. It was idiotic, but then again sometimes so was Draco.

"So." Harry started, breaking the awkward silence. "I'm glad we could all get together for this first meeting. I know there's a lot of different houses here but I think we all came into the group knowing that; I've met all of you and like you individually and trust you." Harry said, gaining steam. "So let's just get along and learn from each other." The Potter in disguise said with a grin.

"Sounds like a plan, Flamel." Draco said, lazily leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed, Harry could always count on Draco to have his back.

"I guess we'll start with introductions." Harry said, looking at Draco to start.

"I'm Draco Malfoy, son of Lucius Malfoy." Draco said nonchalantly. Draco's eyes darted from person to person in the group when he mentioned his father's name, seeing if he got a reaction out of anyone. Neville was the only one to react, he couldn't keep a look of distaste that crossed his features at the mention of Lucius.

Draco let out a small smirk at Neville's discomfort, like a shark circling its prey. "Draco, be nice."

Neville didn't need to have to deal with Draco. Especially when he was in a vindictive mood. Harry loved his friend like he was his brother, but Draco pushing people's buttons was like second nature.

Daphne spoke up, thankfully moving on from the topic of Neville's discomfort. "I'm Daphne Greengrass." She said simply, and then glared at everyone who was looking at her, which was a little weird considering she was introducing herself.

Harry just nodded and looked at the chipper brunette smiling widely at him.

"Hi, James! Hello everyone! I'm Tracy Davis." She chirped, smiling at each of the students at the table. "I'm really excited to be working with all of you, and I know we're all going to be best friends." Tracey said assuredly, like there wasn't a doubt in the world that it would happen.

"I'm Pansy Parkison, and Draco is mine." The brunette sent a glare out to the rest of the females in the room.

There was an awkward silence in the air after her declaration and Luna cut in, "Young love, oh Pansy! And you sound wonderful Tracy. You're right, too! Once we're the best of friends we'll have a grand time!" Luna said dreamily, falling quiet for a few moments.

The whole table was staring at her and she just smiled back happily for at least a minute. "Oh! I almost forgot to introduce myself, how silly of me. All the nargles that were in your head must have come to me, James." Luna said.

"Luna." James said in amusement, shaking his head at the silly Lovegood. The blonde in question only shrugged and smiled at James, "That is my name, and now I am introduced." Harry sighed deeply and put his face in his hands, that damned girl and her games. "Thank you Luna. Neville, want to go next?"

"Yeah, I'll go. Hey everyone, my name is Neville Longbottom. Nice to meet you all." Neville said awkwardly. He just didn't like speaking with the whole group's attention on him.

"My name is Hermione Granger. I'm sure this group will be quite beneficial to all of us. I'm excited to expand our knowledge together." Hermione cut in after Neville, using big words.

Harry just nodded at each of them and cleared his throat, "Guess that leaves me. Hello, my name is James Flamel. I'm sort of the de-facto leader of this study group, according to Draco, so I guess I'll give you all a rundown on what we hope to do this year." Harry started, moving towards the paper syllabus he and Draco had constructed a few days prior.

Harry handed out a paper to each person at the table, "Starting at the top. This group aims to have the first year's spells and curriculum mastered in the first semester, afte-"

Hermione interjected loudly, brown eyes boring holes at Harry, "And how do you plan for us to be finished with the entire first year in the first six months. I admit, it sounds appealing but also entirely unreasonable." Hermione commented.

"My father's had me training for a long time, and I'll tell you all the exact details of how after we're done with the syllabus, but for now just trust me when I say I'm capable enough to teach you all the material, if you even need the help. All we're doing is just walking while they want us to simply crawl." Harry reasoned, appealing to Hermione's logic.

Hermione wasn't satisfied, "Why can't you just tell us now? Especially since we're already on the topic, it only makes sense."

"I guess I can." Harry relented, "This material we will be learning will not only be schoolwork, but spells to protect ourselves as well. We don't really know what's out in the world that could do us harm so we'll be learning some dangerous spells. At the bottom of the form, there's a blank space where you sign. This is an enchanted paper, just so you all know. If someone reveals information about what we're learning in this club, besides schoolwork, I will know who did it. Really it's just safety precautions to keep what we speak about in the club in the club. This form is in no way binding, but it does have slight compulsory charms to make sure you don't accidentally say something. I stress that it's slight, if you intentionally want to say something, the compulsion will allow you too." Harry said, looking nervously around the group.

It wasn't normal to request magical contracts for study groups, especially with new friends.

The blonde girl was the one who spoke up after his explanation, "I wouldn't be opposed to signing it but I'll be taking a copy to send to my family. They'll make sure the only charms on it are the ones you've mentioned." Daphne said, showing her Slytherin nature.

"Very reasonable." Harry said, and nodded. Daphne got a curious glint in her eye, "You didn't answer Hermione's question, though. What will we be learning that would need such precautions? Something dark?"

"Nothing of the sort. And most magic is neither dark nor light, the intent behind it is. I can't get too into specifics yet, but this contract would range for the entirety of our schooling years, or if you wanted to leave the group for any reason. Secrecy is needed, some of the magic we'll learn later will be Flamel family magic. I'm sure you understand why my father would want to keep it held tightly to his chest. He's doing us a service just by letting us use and learn the techniques." Harry said, speaking more to the purebloods in the room who would possibly know at least some information on the Flamel's potent magic.

Hermione still looked unsure, although the rest of the group consented to sign it after Daphne's family had inspected the letter she was going to send home.

"I'll talk with her after about it."

"Now that topic is done with, after we've finished the first year's curriculum we'll come back together after Christmas Break and just see if we've fallen off any or anything like that. Any questions?" Harry asked, making eye contact with each member of the group.

"What will we be doing today, James?" Luna chirped.

"Today? Oh, right. Today we'll be reviewing the course material we've covered so far and just see who knows what so far." Harry explained.

And that is what they did. Hermoine was a wealth of knowledge, but seemed to lack on the practical side. Nothing that a little practice couldn't fix, certainly. Most of the others had around the same basic knowledge, Draco included.

Harry was only a little disappointed with the Malfoy, since they'd taken lessons together for the past few years. Draco knew more than he let on, or he should at least.

Regardless of why Draco was lacking, Harry was the only one above the first year level overall.

"Now that we have the introductions done and the overview completed, we're going to play a game called round robin!" James exclaimed.

"What's that?" Draco asked. "Did you forget about the meeting where we went over this? Draco… Sometimes…." Harry said in exasperation, shaking his head. "Well don't be a righteous prick! Just tell everyone." Draco snapped.

"Hehe." Harry laughed, "Round robin. Ok, for this game to work you need to pair up with someone, so do it now. I'll go with Neville." Harry said.

The rest of the group got together; Luna and Hermione paired up, Tracey and Daphne went together, and Pansy practically tackled Draco. "Ok, perfect. Now go find someone in a different group so your partner isn't someone you're super familiar with." Harry directed.

"But whyyy?" Pansy whined from above Draco.

"Because it looks like Draco's lungs are being crushed." Hermione cut in, gesturing to the young Malfoy's face turning purple.

"You back off!" Pansy snapped. Hermione's brown eyes widened in hurt before she turned away, avoiding eye contact.

"Pansy, I do think you're killing him though." Tracey added.

"Really? I don't want to hurt him." Pansy said, oblivious to Draco's eyes rolling to the back of head.

"Well then get off!" Daphne griped.

Pansy shrugged and stood up. Draco stayed unconscious. "A kiss to wake up the sleeping beauty, how romantic!" Pansy squealed, Draco jumped up like he'd been struck by lightning, "WHOA, I'M AWAKE!"

Hermione bore holes into his head, "Malfoy, be quiet in the library. No one likes a distraction when they want to learn."

"I'm awake." Draco said softly, looking from Pansy to Hermione and to the door; judging his chances of escape versus being attacked.

The group settled down and picked new partners: Harry was with Hermoine, Luna and Tracey paired up with big smiles, Daphne and Draco were together, and Pansy grudgingly went with Neville. Once grouped up, they all turned to look at Harry expectantly.

"We're just getting to know some more people in the group. At the end of each session we'll rotate to a different person, that way we'll all talk to each other! Spread out and find your own table to talk at." Harry explained.

With his piece said Harry turned to Hermoine. "Hey Hermoine, I'm glad you decided to come to the group."

"I'm glad you invited me. It seems the members you've picked all have their own quirks." Hermione pointed out.

Harry laughed, "Yeah I guess you're right. Neville has his toad, Draco is a git, and Luna is just something else entirely. I don't know the others enough to say, but I'm guessing they're all pretty crazy too."

"I have no quirk, just so you know." Hermione vouched.

"Not even all the books you read? Most people would say that's definitely a quirk." Hermione just laughed, her brown eyes twinkling with mirth, "We already established that learning is amazing on the boat. If it's a quirk, then it's both of ours."

"You're exactly right Hermione."

The silence stretched between them for a few minutes, but it was comfortable-like speaking with an old friend.

"James, have yo-." Hermoine started before she cut herself off, "Nevermind."

"It's alright Hermione, what'd you need to ask?" Hermione just shook her head, her frizzy hair bouncing, "It's really nothing James, I'm fine."

"I didn't ask if you were ok so I'm guessing your not. You can talk to me, Hermione. You'll find I'm a person who has a hard time judging others." Harry assured.

"James. I'm fine." Hermione snapped, ending that particular conversation.

Harry just nodded, "Ok, sorry for prying. But know that if thing's aren't fine," Hermione raised an eyebrow, "I'll be here to talk and listen." Harry said, offering the olive branch.

"I'll take that into consideration." Hermione said briskly.

/~/

Saturday morning, Neville and Harry trudged to the great hall in search of some good breakfast and mail, "Do you have any plans for later today Neville?" Harry questioned.

"No I don't. Figured I'd just hang out in the common room and maybe study a little bit. What about you?"

"I'll be training tonight if you're interested in going with me." Harry offered.

"I'd like to do that, what time do you usually train?"

"It depends but tonight we'll leave the dormitory as soon as everyone is asleep."

"We're sneaking out?" Neville questioned, looking around the corridor somewhat frantically. "Relax, Neville. I've been doing this since we got here and I haven't been caught once. You can trust me on this one. Will you?"

"Yeah… I can do that for you. I trust you James."

Harry just smiled at Neville and they arrived at the great hall. It was almost packed to the brim like it was at the feasts every night.

"Something going on?" Neville questioned.

"I think it's mail day." Harry replied.

The two of them moved towards the Gryffindor table and picked two open seats next to the red headed twins.

"James." One brother said. "Neville." The other brother chirped. "It's a fine morning for a prank, is it not? Now we can't say how we know something is going to happen, confidentiality, ya know; but just look towards the head table." Both brothers chorused at the same time.

"Ok... "

Snape's food exploded in his face. The hall fell silent, everyone knew who did it but they were having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that Fred and George actually pranked Snape. Lunatics.

The black haired Professor stood up angrily, his glare drilling holes into the twins. "GEORGE AND FRED WEASLEY."

"Yes Professor Snape? Do you need something… Something other than a napkin." The brothers chorused, and the hall burst out in laughter at their witty comeback. Slytherin was the only house not amused, although to Harry it looked like Draco was having a hard time holding in his laughter.

"100 points from Gryffindor." Snake spat, effectively shutting up the house of the red and gold causing the other houses to transcend from giggles and snickers to laughing so hard they cried.

Albus interjected, raising a hand to silence the hall. When no one paid the wizened man any attention, he projected his voice using magic, "I'm afraid we will need to investigate before we needlessly assign blame, Professor Snape. While the Weasley brothers have pranked before, the saying goes innocent until proven guilty. I must stand by it." Albus' voice boomed across the hall.

"But Headmaster! You know just as well as I that they did it! They need to be punished!" Snape objected.

"And my point still stands, Severus. Innocent until proven guilty. If evidence comes to light that Fred and George Weasley did in fact prank you, they will face punishment. You have my word."

Severus huffed and sent a final glare to the twins. "This isn't over." Snape called out before storming out the Great Hall, robes billowing in his wake. The hall remained silent for a few minutes, basically until Snape was out of hearing range.

"Fred. George… If I knew who pranked Snape I'd say it was very well done and ask this person how they did it." James commented idly, grabbing some eggs from the platter directly in front of him.

"If we knew who it was we'd say it's a trade secret."

"Figures."

Harry took a bite of egg and winced. It wasn't bad, really, but it just wasn't exactly how he liked it. Toppy's eggs were better than what they whipped up at Hogwarts. That little elf was practically a crackhead but boy did he know how to cook. It was the little things that made him miss home, Harry decided.

The plates of food vanished and the red-head from his year made his displeasure known, "Hey, I wasn't finished eating! I'd only started on the plate! What a wast-"

The windows opened with a bang effectively shutting Ron up and drzwing the students attention like moths to flame. Owls poured in by the hundreds, hooting loudly. Letters were clenched in their talons, and the owl that Harry had used to send his mail home had two letters; one was sealed in a familiar envelope while the other was colored angry red.

"A howler? What'd I do?" Harry muttered quietly.

But the owl only dropped the white envelope onto the table in front of Harry. Most owls had cleared out by this point, only dropping the news and well-wishes from family still at home before leaving.

The owl had a mission, evidently.

It circled above the Headmaster like a raven would to a carcass and dropped the red letter where it fell into wrinkly waiting hands. "It seems someone disapproves of something they think I've done." The Headmaster said to nobody in particular, the Great Hall was quiet while the student body watched. "I think this is something that needs to be opened in my quarters, don't you agree my wonderful Professor McGonagall?" Albus questioned.

McGonagall nodded in agreement, "Yes Headm-"

Something said by either Albus or Minerva caused the howler to tear itself out of the envelope.

"ALBUS DUMBLEDORE! HOW DARE YOU! WHEN MY CHILD IS SICK, YOU MAIL HOME. YOU DON'T PERFORM LEGICEMENY TO MAKE SURE. I AM APPALLED AT YOUR ACTIONS. AND KNOWING YOU LIKE I DO, YOU'VE ALREADY MADE EXCUSES FOR YOUR ACTIONS! YOU NEVER WOULD HAVE GUESSED IT'D BE FROM US BECAUSE YOU THOUGHT WE'D BE OKAY WITH ATTEMPTED MIND RAPE!" Perenelle screamed. Only heavy breathing could be heard from the howler, "Albus. How could you? We were the closest of friends and what you tried to do to our son is unforgivable. You will never go near James again, or there will be punishment, Albus." Perenelle rasped, her throat going raw from shouting.

The message finished and the paper tore itself into shreds. The wide-eyed students were frozen in shock. In other words, they had no clue what the fuck just happened.

The silence was broken by one of the red-headed twins, "James… I think I'm in love! That was a spectacular prank."

The other Weasley jumped in, "Hey Fred."

"Hey George."

"We don't see kids with this type of pranking potential everyday, do we Fred?"

"That's right George. This is a rarity here. Are you thinking what I'm thinking George?"

"I think I am Fred."

The two brothers' full attention turned to Harry, "Be our apprentice young James!" They said in unison.

"Uh... That wasn't a prank." Harry replied.

"Wasn't a prank…. But… Why?" George questioned in disbelief.

"It's not my fault he attacked my mind. I didn't even tell my Mom that he did anything, I wasn't sure how to say so." Harry admitted.

"I'll be damned, Fred."

"You and me both." George agreed.

"The offer is off the table then. Pull off a couple pranks like what happened to Snape tonight and you'll get your offer back." Fred said.

"Good enough for me then." Harry said.

"The Headmaster actually used legilimency on you?" Neville questioned.

"Yeah, he did. I didn't think someone with his status would be willing to do something like that. Shocked me a lot."

"You're not the only one. My gran praises Dumbledore like he's the second Merlin. To think that he'd do something like that, it's sounds sort of crazy to be honest." Neville admitted.

"I'm the one who he used legilimency on and it's still hard for me to believe. Could be why something like this hasn't come up before, it just gets washed away." Harry supplied.

"I hope not but..." Neville paused, looking internally conflicted, "I won't lie and say it's easy to believe but I'm willing to put my trust in you James."

"Even if the school starts hating me for this, hypothetically?" Harry asked.

"Don't see why not. I don't really have many friends at school and I've already found my best friend. Thank you James. I know you don't care about getting thanks but it means a lot to me to know you have my back. So I'll have yours too." Neville said, cheeks turning red at his admission.

"Thanks Neville. You're a good friend."

"You too James."

/~/

Later that same Saturday, the Headmaster at Hogwarts thought about the events of the day with a lemon drop being sucked between his teeth.

While losing the support of Nicolas and Perenelle was a terrible blow, the real blow was losing the chance to draw Voldemort out in the open with the Philosopher's Stone. Albus had his suspicions, but no real proof.

Politics was a game where mistakes had to be learned from. Albus would learn from this mistake and never underestimate the Flamels again. The newest edition of The Daily Prophet wouldn't be beneficial to his plans either, but it wouldn't topple everything he'd built, nor the plans he'd set in motion.

Loyalty; the one trait found in man Dumbledore valued higher than all others-besides love. Some witches and wizards fueled by dark ambition would look to seize this opportunity and gain power but Albus had faith in the light; the allies he'd made, the bonds he'd forged, they would not disappear while he was still Mugwump, and they would not disappear so long his legend was sung in the same peaceful tune he put forth daily through actions.

Regardless of the repercussions that could come socially, new plans would have to be structured. With the Flamels on the playing board, things were going to get more interesting.

For now though, Dumbledore was content to play the role of a grandfatherly headmaster. Staying away from James would be no real concern. Albus would wait some months before inviting the young scion back into his office. The perfect opportunity would eventually present itself.

Once the opportunity was presented, the first thing Albus would delve into was the friendship between the young Flamel and Malfoy. As Albus thought, questions arose that he should have asked himself the first night a Flamel was listed on the school roster.T he Flamels were renowned recluses, so why were James and Draco such good friends already? And how did Nicolas and Perenelle even acquire James? Especially when they were incapable through natural means...

Things were not all as they seemed, but Albus was masterful at keeping a watchful eye under a virtuous twinkle. The answers would show themselves, eventually.

/~/

The sky was black and the boys in the dormitory were finally asleep. "Hey Nev, you awake?" Harry whispered to his snoring friend who was still very asleep.

"Nev?"

More snores.

"Neville!" Harry sighed, "Don't tell me I didn't try the nice way...Your Gran's here Neville."

"WHAT!" Neville shouted.

"Shhhhhhh." Harry ordered, pointing towards the still sleeping roommates.

"What are you doing? I'm trying to sleep" Neville bemoaned. "Training, remember?" Harry reminded.

"Oh ya... Give me a sec and I'll be ready."

It took much longer than a second. Ten minutes later they were sneaking out the door under the illusion Harry had weaved. "This is pretty advanced stuff Harry." Neville commented. "Thanks. I've been able to do this spell for a pretty long time, my longest spell actually."

"How old were you when you figured it out."

"Ehhh… I was probably 6? I think?"

"Impressive."

The walk to the forest was peaceful and Neville didn't seem to mind until they had reached the edge of the glade, darkness pouring out to the grounds of Hogwarts.

"I'm not so sure about this James." Neville said. Harry shook his head in exasperation, "Don't worry about it Nev. Remember what you said, trust me. I've got a spot in here I go to and it's pretty safe."

"This is the forbidden forest, aurors can get killed in here."

"Really?"

"Really." Neville deadpanned

"Good thing I'm not an auror then! Let's go! You have to take risks sometimes Neville to get the rewards."

Neville still looked unsure, "Look at it like this Neville. I'm strong enough to whoop anything in here, I'm sure of it. You will too, but we have to train first. And to train, we need to go into the forest."

"This doesn't seem like a good idea, but I did say that I would trust you." Neville relented.

"WHOO! Let's go then."

"You are way too excited about this." Neville muttered.

"Of course I am! My best friend is going to be training with me, what's not to be excited about?" Neville smiled, "That's true."

They reached the clearing in the forest with no instructions or attacks, just like the previous nights when Harry had trained.

As soon as they had reached the clearing, Harry knew something was wrong. The aura in the air felt different, before, the clearing was the light at the end of the tunnel, the eye of a storm. An oasis of peace. But now, the eye had moved, and the storm was here.

"This doesn't feel right." Neville commented.

Neville's eyes were constantly moving and scanning the forest for a threat. "You're right Nev. Let's just head back, we can do this thing somewhere else." Neville nodded so fast it looked like his neck broke, "Yeah good idea."

The fates weren't on their side, however.

"Neville Longbottom, and James...Flamel. Neither of you will ever leave this place." A voice called out from behind them.

They both whipped around and the figure standing in front of them was something out of a nightmare.

A dementor stood before them, a black tattered cloak whipping behind the figure. The hood was pulled over the dementor's face, ready to suck a soul. Fresh blood was dripping from his fingers to the ground.

Drip. The blood goes.

Drip. The blood goes.

"No… Wait... The hands are human. And it talked..."

"What do you want?" Harry called out.

"You… Harry Potter."

/~/

A/N: Nice little cliffhanger. Hope you all enjoy the update.

I appreciate the support you've all been showing, much love❤️