How is This My Life 2

by FMPtrumpets

Harry and the group continue with the reading of Harry's life, and boy is it a year! The adults aren't sure who they want to strangle first, Harry for getting into situations like this, or the adults that let it happen! So much for Sirius wanting a nice, quiet year...

14. Polyjuice Potion

It's been longer then I initially planned, I kind of got the muse for Treehouse and could not focus on anything else until it was done. I'm back to everything else, though!

Those from the past with an older self. Everybody else.

Parselmouth

Sign language/telepathy

Sadly neither Harry Potter, nor any of his friends and companions belong to me. I really wish it were different, but it is not and likely never will be.

---

"The fact that you weren't taken to the Headmasters office before this is frankly amazing." Hermione commented.

Harry snorted. "I'm better at not getting caught then they are." He gave the Twins a pointed look.

"Hey!" They protested.

"Let's keep reading." Remus said, tense. He wanted to know what Albus Dumbledore had to say. If that old man even thought of accusing Harry for any of this...

"Two more chapters, and then we can break for lunch." Molly announced as Filius made sure the charm was working.

Chapter twelve: the Polyjuice Potion

"Ah, this should be interesting." Severus said silkily. He'd been wondering when the plan would be enacted.

"Oh, boy." Ron and Harry muttered while Hermione turned pink.

"This should be interesting." Sirius commented. First, though, they had to get through Harry's visit with the Headmaster's office.

(They stepped off... him there, alone.)

"Wow." Sirius was amazed. "You showed him a lot more trust then you ever did me." He commented.

"You were a terror whose lack of trust to not prank the Headmasters office was well earned." Minerva said dryly.

"Easter. '75." Remus deadpanned, glaring at his best friend.

Harry decided he didn't want to know when McGonagall and Flitwick looked like they might burst out laughing and Albus actually growled. Even Severus looked like he was hiding a smile, so it must have been good.

Sirius smirked and said, "I'll tell you later," to the Twins when he saw the look on their faces.

"Why do I suddenly fear for the rest of our time here?" Arabella asked her godfather. He patted her on the back, similar fears running through his head.

(Harry looked around... the most interesting.)

"Why thank you." Albus smiled, happy with that description.

"Interesting is one way to put it." Sirius muttered. Pranking the Headmaster's office had been the jewel of his Hogwarts career, but all those devices had made it difficult because he'd had to make sure his prank didn't interfere with their magic or break them. It been a good challenge, though.

(If he hadn't been... to look around it.)

"As curious as his mother." Severus muttered. Luckily he knew that Albus wouldn't have minded if Harry did poke around, as long as he didn't break anything or start going through the Headmaster's desk. Well, he probably wouldn't have minded even if something was broken.

"You joined her most of the time in her explorations." Minerva reminded him with a raised eyebrow. He looked away, remembering those days.

(It was a large and... little puffs of smoke.)

"What are those for?" Dudley asked, curious. Everyone else who had never been to the Headmaster's office were equally curious and amazed.

"Oh, for this or that." Albus said vaguely. "Some are alarms tied to the wards of Hogwarts, some are merely curious baubles I've collected over the years." He didn't mention the ones that he had tied to Harry's life-force and the wards around Privet Drive, and especially not the ones tied to Tom Riddle's life-force which was what told him the man was still alive.

He ignored the looks he got from Minerva, Severus, Sirius, and Remus. They knew he was holding back and were not happy about it.

(The walls were... gently in their frames.)

"Doubtful." Harry muttered. Albus hid a smile. They did like to eavesdrop.

"I highly doubt that they ever actually sleep." Sirius agreed, rolling his eyes. He was fairly certain that Albus Dumbledore used them to spy on the rest of the world. They had portraits in all the major places, one of them even had a portrait in Grimmauld Place, home of one of the Darkest families in history. He knew about it because his mother once spent an hour screaming at and cursing the portrait for not being able to spy on the Headmaster for her (the magic of Hogwarts prevented him from doing so).

(There was also... tried it on again?)

"Hat isn't going to give you the answers you're looking for, I'm afraid." Minerva shook her head. The Hat's job was to Sort students, it did it's job and that was that.

"In fact, if you are not careful, you might just find yourself Resorted." Severus added. It had happened before when somebody put the Hat on just because, and they ended up Resorted instead. The Hat was tricky sometimes, especially if you happened to have been one of the ones that protested its original choice for you.

"Oh, that would have been just what I needed." Harry muttered with a grimace. Being Resorted into Slytherin right when people were avoiding him for being the Heir of Slytherin? That would have been wonderful.

"You might not have survived the lynch mob." Hermione shuddered at the thought. Ron glanced at Harry in concern, but didn't say anything else.

(Just to see... the right House-)

"He put you exactly where you needed to be, even if it wasn't his first choice. If he truly thought you completely unsuited for Gryffindor, he would have put you somewhere else. Maybe even in Slytherin despite your wishes on the matter." Sirius said, sighing. Yes, the person's choice was taken into account, but only to a point. (Although it still raised the question of how Pettigrew was in Gryffindor.)

"Houses have nothing to do with bloodline." Minerva repeated herself, mentally beating herself up for not noticing how Harry was handling all this during the walk to the Headmasters office.

(He walked quietly... time he'd put it on.)

"Well, you hadn't really grown much in that time." Poppy muttered, scowling at the thought. She'd made some progress during the year, and he had improved slightly, but much of that progress was reversed in the few weeks he was back at his relatives.

Normally, eating well for the first time would trigger that growth spurt after a few months. But that process was slowed by constantly using magic like students did, and then the summer was for replenishing and resting. That didn't happen for Harry.

"I was still smaller then most of the First Years!" Harry complained.

Ron snorted. "Mate, that was true until after third year." He muttered.

(Harry stared at the... you- I wanted to ask-")

"So polite to a piece of fabric." Sirius muttered to Remus, who smirked.

"Don't forget your rudeness almost got you Resorted." Remus reminded him, earning a glare.

"I'm sure it's no bother, Mr. Potter." Minerva said briskly, ignoring the whispered argument the two Marauders were now having. "He merely sits there all year and helps Fawkes plan pranks on the Headmaster." She glanced at the old man slyly, and was pleased by the pained look that crossed his face at the reminder of those two working together.

("You've been wondering... done well in Slytherin-")

"I think you would have done equally well in all the Houses." Hermione decided. "But that hat wasn't thinking when it tried to put the Half-Blooded Boy-Who-Lived in Slytherin."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Draco asked, frowning at her. He'd thought they were making progress.

"How many students in Slytherin have a parent who was a Death Eater? I know there are probably a few of them in Gryffindor, too, but there are more of them in Slytherin and if Harry were in Slytherin with them, that gives them plenty more opportunity to hurt him. I'm sure you have all sorts of ways that you can make something seem accidental." She sighed.

"... Good point." Draco sat back, not looking at her. How many conversations had he overheard cursing Harry Potter's name? And how many wished that they had him in the Snake Pit with them?

(Harry's stomach plummeted... shelf, feeling sick.)

"If you were in Slytherin, there would be nothing wrong with that." Sirius said quietly.

Harry gave him a tight, grimacing smile.

("You're wrong," he... him wheel around.)

"Oh, what now?" Remus groaned, thinking that this couldn't be good.

"It wasn't actually anything bad." Harry shrugged.

(He wasn't alone after all.)

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Moody roared, glaring at Harry and making almost everyone jump out of their seats in shock. One minute he was impressing Mad-eye with something, and the next he was completely oblivious and pulling the most rookie of mistakes?

What was wrong with this kid?

"You need to pay more attention, pup." Sirius agreed with his mentor, grimacing. If this was anywhere but Dumbledore's office, Harry could have been seriously hurt or killed.

(Standing on a... a half-plucked turkey.)

Albus let out a small chuckle. "I would not let Fawkes become aware of such a description. He is rather vain and caring of his appearance." He advised.

"He might just try to flame you." Minerva advised with a small smirk towards Severus, who turned a faint red.

"How was I supposed to know?" He complained softly, to a few laughs.

"Sounds like a Burning day." Remus muttered to Sirius, relieved. Sirius nodded in agreement.

(Harry stared at... balefully back,)

"Ah, yes, he hates people seeing him near burning days." Albus grimaced.

"He sounds worse then Hedwig." Harry joked. Hedwig barked angrily and glared just as balefully. "Sorry, Hedwig." He grimaced, looking appropriately apologetic. She fluffed her feathers imperiously and looked away.

"Burning day?" Harry asked, trying to get his owl's attention off his older self.

"Phoenixes go through cycles of death and rebirth. He will 'burn up' before being reborn from his own ashes." Albus happily shared what he knew of his feathered companion.

(making its gagging... fell out of its tail.)

"Oh, he's Burning now." Albus said in surprise. Fawkes usually tried to avoid that when anybody else was in the office. He was actually at his most vulnerable during a Burning. Either he really liked Harry or he just couldn't hold it off any longer.

"How often does he need to Burn?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Once a year on average, barring extenuating circumstances." Albus informed her cheerfully.

Harry pursed his lips and thought that swallowing a Killing Curse certainly counted as that.

(Harry was just thinking... burst into flames.)

"Oh, I bet you panicked." Remus chuckled a bit.

"Wouldn't you?" Harry demanded.

"Definitely." Neville said. At least, he would have if he didn't know Fawkes was a Phoenix, especially considering everything else that was going on.

(Harry yelled in shock... of water somewhere)

That got a few laughs.

"I don't think that would work." Charlie said, amused.

"He was on fire!" Harry exclaimed. "What else was I going to do?" Water was supposed to put out fire, so that was what he looked for.

"He has a point there." Neville muttered to Luna with a grin, earning a pillow to the face from a pouting Harry.

(but couldn't see... of ash on the floor.)

"Ok, I think I would be freaking out too about this point." Dudley commented.

"Thank you!" Harry pointed to him, glancing at the rest of them triumphantly.

(The office door... looking very somber.)

"Don't tell me he thinks you did it, too!" Sirius groaned, looking done with it all.

"No, he didn't." Harry assured his godfather. Although the Headmaster could have been a little more vocal about it to the rest of the students.

"The Headmaster visited the Infirmary before returning to his office to speak with Mr. Potter." Minerva explained why he most likely looked like that.

("Professor," Harry gasped... Dumbledore smiled.)

"Not a reaction I would have expected either after telling somebody his bird just caught on fire." Charlie snorted.

"Tell me about it. I thought he was crazy!" Harry shook his head.

"He is crazy." Most of the adults said at once. Albus pouted at them with an amused and mischievous twinkle in his eye.

("About time, too,"... ashes. Watch him...")

"You are so lucky." Charlie almost whined. "First you lot get to see a dragon hatch, and then you see a Burning. How are you always in the right place like this?" He demanded of Harry. While he'd seen a dragon hatch before, he did work on a reserve after all, it was rare even for them.

"My luck is so bad otherwise, I gotta have something to offset it." Harry snorted bitterly.

"That's true." Ron and Hermione agreed. That was very true.

(Harry looked down... as the old one.)

That got a few more chuckles. "Again, do not let Fawkes hear you say that."

"It won't take him long to grow again. The older they are, the less time they actually spend as a chick. He'll be back to normal in what, two, three weeks?" Charlie asked Albus.

"Two weeks." He confirmed.

"Good thing, too." Harry muttered.

("It's a shame... a Burning Day,")

"It truly is." Albus agreed with his book-self. Fawkes was truly magnificent to look at. His presence could have also eased the conversation that was about to come, he suspected.

(said Dumbledore, seating... highly faithful pets.")

"Calling a Phoenix a pet. What are you thinking?" Charlie grumbled with a glare towards Dumbledore. Phoenixes were much more then that. Much, much more.

"Why do I get the feeling he's telling Harry all this for a reason?" Sirius asked Remus quietly. It didn't feel like Harry was being told all this just to teach him about Phoenixes. Remus shrugged and shook his head. He didn't know, but for now he was more inclined to think it was just Sirius being paranoid.

Nobody noticed Harry rubbing his arm when the healing tears were brought up.

(In the shock of... penetrating, light-blue stare.)

Everybody else in the room seemed to have forgotten what Harry was there for, too.

"If you try to accuse him, I swear-" Sirius was cut off before he could continue to threaten the Headmaster.

"He didn't, I'm fine." Harry assured him quietly. Although he honestly couldn't have told you that at the time, Albus Dumbledore was a hard man to read.

(Before Dumbledore... swinging from his hand.)

"Weren't you just looking for Dumbledore? Haven't you already spoken to him?" Neville asked.

"I was jus' leavin' his office when I heard wha' happened." Hagrid explained. And naturally he'd turned right around to speak with the Headmaster again.

Everyone else was just amused by the picture that description painted in their minds.

("It wasn' Harry, Professor Dumbledore!")

"Thank you, Hagrid." Sirius and Remus chimed in, grateful for the half-giant's reaction to all this after Minerva's behavior towards Harry.

"Not a problem. I knew Harry didn' do it." Hagrid said firmly. And he would always believe that. Harry may do what was needed with this war, but he didn't have the heart to hurt anybody undeservingly.

(said Hagrid urgently... had time, sir-")

"Nice defense."

"Very sensible, too." Sirius and Remus said with small grins on their faces. They were just glad that somebody was defending their pup/cub.

"At least somebody is defending him." Hermione grumbled with a small glare at Professor McGonagall, her favorite teacher. She hadn't known that McGonagall could have stopped the rumors cold before they ever started gaining ground and did nothing. Minerva hung her head in shame.

(Dumbledore tried to... feathers everywhere.)

"That would have been a sight." Arthur muttered, stifling his amusement despite the current situation in the books.

"Oh, it was." Harry said, amused too. Now that this was behind him, he could actually see the humor in this.

("- it can't've bin... Magic if I have to-")

"Wow. You hate the Ministry." Remus said in shock, realizing for the first time just how much Hagrid liked Harry. Hagrid shrugged, face red. Harry blinked at him in shock.

"Unfortunately, the Ministry wouldn't listen to anything you had to say." Minerva said sadly. Not only was he expelled as a third year, therefore not completing his OWLs, he was also half-giant. They would never listen to him. Besides that, the Ministry thought Hagrid was the one behind the attacks.

("Hagrid, I-"

"- yeh've got... attacked those people.")

"Thankfully." Sirius and Remus muttered together.

"Now if only he had said something along those lines to the rest of the students." Hermione commented dryly, making Ron snort in agreement.

"Hmm..." Albus hummed, frowning while Minerva winced.

("Oh," said Hagrid... then, Headmaster.")

"Awkward." Bill muttered to Charlie, who snorted.

"Thank you for your support, Hagrid." Remus said again.

The other teachers chuckled at this, wishing they'd known about it at the time.

(And he stomped out looking embarrassed.)

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about, you came to somebodies defense." Charlie grinned at his half-giant friend.

"Maybe." Hagrid shrugged, face as red as it had been that day.

("You don't think... off his desk.)

Hagrid turned red. "Sorry 'bout that." He muttered, but was waved off with a chuckle.

"Quite alright, Hagrid, quite alright."

("No, Harry, I don't,"... "Anything at all.")

Sirius sighed. "You didn't tell him anything, did you?" He asked, knowing by now that his pup had a big problem with trusting authority figures with anything.

The fact that the adults weren't visibly doing anything in this situation, or even trying to quell rumors, clearly wouldn't have helped that.

Harry pursed his lips, but didn't say anything. Sirius and Remus shared a look while Ron and Hermione stared at nothing.

(Harry didn't know... with Salazar Slytherin...)

"Were you performing Legilimency on him?" Remus demanded, glaring suspiciously at the Headmaster, who looked back warily.

"I don't think so." Harry said slowly, thinking back. "From what I remember, it didn't feel like Legilimency." He assured the werewolf. He'd been Legilimized enough times since this meeting to know it when he felt it, and Severus was already trying to correct his abysmal teaching during fifth year, he'd already started his younger self on learning it properly without the damage done to him.

"The Headmaster would have been more subtle than I or the Dark Lord were, Mr. Potter." Severus drawled, frowning. Especially at that time when Harry wasn't constantly exposed to the skill like he was in fifth year and after.

"You better not have been." Sirius added his own glare. Dumbledore didn't say anything, he knew it was likely that he was.

"If he was, why didn't he do anything to stop us?" Hermione signed, frowning in concern.

"Good question." Harry's look said it all. If the Headmaster really was, then that was just another nail. They would probably never know for sure, though.

("No," said Harry... into real panic.)

"You know, simply speaking with the students could have curbed much of that." Luna said, gazing at her teachers in disappointment.

The four Heads of House glanced at each other, ashamed that not one of them thought to address the situation with the students.

(Curiously, it was... worry people most.)

"Not Justin?" Dudley asked, surprised.

"Of course not. Ghosts are already dead. There isn't much that can affect them, outside of extremely Dark or Black magic." Sirius said grimly. He could guess from this situation, however, that a Basilisk gaze seemed to be on that very short list.

"So what exactly is happening that can also affect a ghost." Dudley realized the students' new fears.

"Exactly." Neville said.

(What could possibly... home for Christmas.)

"It was rather empty that year." Minerva sighed, but supposed that she couldn't be sad about children spending time with their families. Only those who absolutely needed the library for projects or couldn't go home for some reason had stayed. Like Draco with his parents not even being in the country.

"Thankfully." Severus muttered. He'd been able to get some real work done that break without having to worry too much about what the students might have been getting up to.

Although maybe he should have worried a little more, he thought, glancing at the Trio.

("At this rate, we'll... it's going to be.")

"It actually was a good holiday." Harry shrugged. Despite everything with the Polyjuice and all that, of course.

It had been quiet, for one thing, and empty. No more hissing and spitting in the halls, no more being avoided and looked at as if he might attack at any moment... The few that were left over the holidays were mostly older students making use of the library, so they weren't about to bother him.

Ron and Hermione shot him sympathetic looks, but didn't say anything.

"I doubt that it was really just the six of you." Remus scoffed, hiding his concern over the looks on Ron and Hermione's faces.

"Of course. But there were only twenty other students, and they were all fifth and seventh years except for Fred and George." Percy answered. As a prefect, he'd had the list of students who stayed so he could help keep an eye out for them.

(Crabbe and Goyle... the holidays, too.)

"They were ordered to, they actually wanted to go home." Draco supplied. They were supposed to stay by his side, so when he stayed, they had to stay too.

"Their parents didn't want them home, where it was safe?" Hermione demanded.

"As far as any Pureblood in our parents' circles was concerned, we were perfectly safe as we were Purebloods. It was only the Muggleborn that were in danger, according to them." Draco reminded her with a sigh. "Remember, Slytherin was the most populated House over break that year." Despite being spooked by what happened to Nick, they were still confident in their blood protecting them.

(But Harry was glad... hissing as he passed.)

"Oh, my goodness." Minerva muttered to herself, disgusted. "Where were we?" She asked Pomona next to her. She'd known, of course, that the students thought Harry was the culprit, even entertained the idea herself (briefly), how had she missed that this was going on?

"Not paying enough attention, clearly." Pomona was just as disgusted that they let this happen.

(Fred and George... this very funny.)

"FRED! GEORGE!" Molly snapped, glaring.

Fred winced. "Not funny, per se, just..." He trailed off and looked to his twin, who licked his lips while he tried to decide how to put it.

"We thought the idea of Harry being the one behind the attacks was ridiculous. So, we made sure everyone else knew it, too." They ridiculed and made fun of the notion that Harry could be attacking anyone, hoping others would get the hint. There were some students that caught on and started thinking, but fear had reigned supreme that year.

"That is not the point!" Molly exclaimed. "This is hardly a joking matter! And how do you think Harry must have felt?!"

"It was fine." Harry cut in. "I liked that they felt it was so ridiculous." Molly gave him an incredulous look, but Arthur stopped her from saying anything else.

(They went out... coming through...")

"Oh, fo-" Molly started.

"Mrs. Weasley, I appreciated that they went out of their way like that." Harry repeated, knowing that she was gearing up to go after the twins again.

Percy pursed his lips, still disapproving, but he supposed that it had actually helped to take some of the negative attention off Harry.

(Percy was deeply... he said coldly.)

"It wasn't!" Percy reiterated.

"I know it wasn't."

"That's what made it so depressingly hilarious." The Twins said with scowls.

("Oh, get out of... said George, chortling.)

"It was a little large for a cup of tea." Harry muttered, watching Ginny shudder.

Maybe a few barrels would have been enough to satisfy it.

(Ginny didn't find it amusing, either.)

Bill shot her another look, but didn't say anything else.

His suspicions about how she was involved this year were still whirling through his head.

"Ginny?" Ron asked her quietly, nudging her.

"I was starting to suspect that it was me. And the way they were treating it just..." She cut herself off and shook her head.

("Oh, don't," she... when they met.)

"Garlic? What, did you think he'd become a vampire or a 'wolf?" Remus snorted, rolling his eyes at the two boys.

"Not really." The Twins shrugged.

"It was just our way of saying how ridiculous it was."

"And if your antics made you a target?" Charlie demanded of his younger brothers. The Twins blinked at him.

"Better us then some..."

"... little firstie or second year." They said.

Everyone was now staring at the Twins like they'd never seen them before. Arthur had pride shining in his eyes, while Molly had terror and pride competing in her expression.

(Harry didn't mind... heir was quite ludicrous.)

Fred and George turned and bowed at Harry while Molly huffed.

(But their antics... said Ron knowingly.)

"No, because they were making a mockery of the House of Slytherin." Draco deadpanned. Not to mention the line of Slytherin.

("You know how... his dirty work.")

"Not quite." Draco sighed, shaking his head.

How on earth did these Gryffindors manage to tie their shoes in the morning? And it was truly a mystery how they managed to hide so much from the rest of the school.

"You jump to conclusions a lot." Moody frowned at him. "NEVER jump to conclusions just because you don't like somebody!" He growled suddenly.

("Not for long," said... any day now.")

"You'll be getting something out of him at least." Severus said with a glare at Draco. He would have thought the boy would have noticed that his two shadows were behaving strangely.

He had a feeling he knew now the cause of Lucius' rants about how they knew where to find his vault under the drawing room. He'd barely been able to keep the Ministry from confiscating everything they found, including the Family Grimoire.

Draco turned pink, but didn't say anything. He hadn't found the courage to confess to his father when he heard what happened, but it looked like his godfather was starting to put the pieces together.

(At last the term... of Gryffindor Tower,)

"You were the only ones there? Not even any fifth or seventh years?" Sirius asked, surprised.

"Nope, everyone else was too scared or they had families to home to." Neville said.

"The Ravenclaws and Slytherins were the biggest groups to stay that break." Harry supplied. The Snakes thought they were safe from the Heir, so they had no reason to go home because of it, while the Eagles weren't about to let something as silly as attacks on students get in the way of their access to the library.

(which meant they... Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.)

"How are you paying for these little trips?" Sirius asked suddenly, finding it very odd that the often money-strapped Weasley family could afford to travel internationally two years in a row, especially with the fines Arthur must have gotten from the car earlier in the year.

"I helped pay for the Port-key, and they stayed with me while they were there." Bill supplied.

"So did I when they came to visit me." Charlie said.

Sirius nodded once in understanding. "Then why didn't the others go, too?" He asked.

"Percy said he had to support the teachers, and it's his sixth year so he wanted to use the library. The others just said they didn't want to make us pay for them." Bill gave his younger siblings a dark look. He'd looked forward to seeing them, and then they said they would stay at the school.

The four younger ones were unrepentant.

(Percy, who disapproved... childish behavior,)

"What else is new?" The four younger Weasley's asked.

And to think, Percy used to be fun to play with, before he went and 'grew up'.

(didn't spend much... this troubled time.)

"You spent more time wandering in out-of-the-way locations of the castle then you did helping us." Minerva said, amused. She knew what he'd been up to, she'd been shocked to find that Percy was capable of behaving like a normal teenager.

"Oh? What's this?" Bill asked, curious now and amused. Didn't Fred and George say that Percy had gotten a girlfriend this year? Arthur looked just as interested in this new information.

Percy turned pink, and promptly Silenced Fred and George

(Christmas morning dawned... for them both.)

"Whatever happened to letting people sleep in on Christmas?" Sirius asked, almost whining.

"Really? Really?" Remus demanded, glaring. "You don't get to ask that."

"What did I do?" Sirius asked, playing innocent.

"Break, fourth year. We were at the Potters, this one decided to wake everybody up at two in the morning with blaring horns, flashing lights, and water everywhere. Didn't Mrs. Potter make you pink for the rest of the break? With sparkles and glitter?" Remus asked the last question just as innocently as Sirius had a moment ago.

Sirius grumbled while everyone else laughed, especially Severus Snape.

"Tell me you have pictures of that." He almost begged Remus, not that he would admit to doing such a thing.

"I can give you a copy of my memories." Remus offered with a shark-like grin, much to Sirius' despair.

("Wake up," she said... against the light.)

"Does that ever seem to stop her?" Harry asked curiously.

"Well, it did that time in fifth year." Ron snorted while Neville turned bright, bright red.

"I sense a story here." Sirius said, amused as he saw Hermione turn just as bright red as Neville.

"Lets just say she saw more then she wanted to and that was the last time she came barging into a boys room without knocking." Harry said, trying not to laugh. Most of the group either laughed too or winced in sympathy, for either Neville or Hermione.

"Oh, dear." Molly murmured, amused despite herself. The same thing had happened to her dorm mate, who had spent an entire week (after recovering from the embarrassment) sharing what she'd seen and making sure all the girls knew what the poor boy was lacking, at least in her opinion.

("Merry Christmas to... potion. It's ready.")

"Why?" Severus asked, eyes narrowed. At this stage in the brewing, that would only decrease it's potency further.

Hermione pinked, but said nothing.

(Harry sat up, suddenly... of Ron's four-poster.)

"I wonder what he thought of all this." Remus muttered quietly to Sirius.

Sirius snorted. "Does it matter?" He didn't care what the Rat may have thought. Remus thought about it for a moment before shrugging.

("If we're going... speaking to me again?")

"Wait, what? Did you do something else to make her mad, or..." Sirius asked.

Harry flushed almost red enough to pass for a Weasley. "This was from the flying car incident." He muttered to loud laughter. Hedwig hooted imperiously and looked around the room.

"She can hold a grudge, can't she?" Charlie wondered out loud, smirking.

"Oh, you have no idea." Ron informed his brother.

(She nibbled his ear... the summer vacation, too.)

"Well that's friendly." Sirius snorted before glaring at the Muggles in question.

"It was worded very politely, actually." Harry shrugged. Politely for them when speaking to him, anyway.

"Why did they bother to send anything at all, and how did Hedwig know they had something for you?" Remus asked, confused.

"My Hedwig was just awesome like that." Harry said sadly, looking fondly at the owl in the room. "And they had to keep up appearances, so they sent something." Harry shrugged. He didn't even use the toothpick, he'd tossed it in the general direction of the trash-can and forgot about it.

Petunia sniffed, not knowing or caring how the bird knew. All she knew was that the Freaky bird showed up almost as soon as she had that package together to send off. She was going to send it in the mail, knowing that the Freaks had ways of getting it from the post and sending it on to where it needed to be. (There was a squib or Muggleborn working in every post office of a major city, and a room hidden from Muggles with a few owls).

(The rest of Harry's... fire before eating;)

Everyone chuckled while Hagrid turned red behind his beard. They were all more then aware of Hagrid's cooking attempts.

"It was very good otherwise." Harry assured his large friend. And it was, once you could eat it without your mouth being glued shut.

(Ron had given... eagle-feather quill.)

"Nice." Sirius commented.

"I think I still have that somewhere." Harry muttered. Hermione just smiled slightly.

(Harry opened the... large plum cake.)

"Which was delicious as always." Harry said with a grin.

"Your welcome, dear." Molly smiled back.

(He read her card... Whomping Willow),)

"It was still in the Forest?" Sirius asked, surprised.

"To this day." Harry confirmed.

"Does it still run?" Remus asked, blinking.

"Last I saw it." Ron shrugged.

Everyone turned to Arthur. "What in Merlin's name did you do to that car?" Sirius asked, amazed. The more they heard about it, the more he wanted to study it.

Arthur blinked in surprise. "Er- I... don't know." He glanced at his oldest son, who was trying not to laugh.

"Maybe when this is over we can go looking for it." He promised his father. That car sounded like something he would love to study, assuming that it was still intact and working after so many years in the Forbidden Forest.

Nobody mentioned anything about Harry's guilt, thinking that in this case it was actually slightly warranted.

(and the bout of... dinner at Hogwarts.)

"I don't think it's possible to not enjoy a Feast at Hogwarts." Harry commented.

"It is when it's a Muggle holiday, and a Muggle-style feast." Draco countered. "I would have preferred to celebrate Yule." He didn't mention that the Slytherin's had their own Yule celebration in secret, he didn't want to risk the Headmaster going back and putting a stop to it.

"We will not celebrate those at Hogwarts, I will not have any of that in my school." Dumbledore said firmly, frowning. Draco just sneered at him.

(The Great Hall looked magnificent.)

"As always." Pomona said, smiling at Hagrid and Filius, who were in charge of decorating.

"Thank you." Filius bowed slightly, accepting the compliment while Hagrid turned red.

(Not only were there... dry, from the ceiling.)

"That sounds amazing." Hermione sighed, wishing she could see it for herself, but she comforted herself with the knowledge that she could see it this coming Christmas, depending on when they put the decorations up.

(Dumbledore led... favorite carols,)

"Yet another Muggle tradition taking over." Draco said in disgust.

"Those songs were not Muggle." Hermione protested. Muggle's did not sing carols including Hippogriffs, after all.

"Adapted for wizards and with magical things included, maybe, but they are Muggle songs." Draco waved off her attempts to protest. It was yet another of Albus Dumbledore's attempts to make Muggleborn feel welcome while completely throwing wizarding tradition to the side.

(Hagrid booming more... were sniggering at.)

Bill shot them an exasperated look. "Don't you two think that messing with the badge is getting just a little old?" He demanded. "You always say that you never repeat a joke, and yet you keep messing with Percy's badge, or prefect status."

The Twins glanced at each other, ashamed of themselves, both as pranksters and as brothers.

"Sorry, Percy." They muttered.

(Harry didn't even... from the Slytherin table.)

Draco grimaced. "Sorry, Mrs. Weasley." He muttered, not too sure how she was going to react to that. Her sons certainly didn't like it, if their glares were anything to judge by.

And, like he'd thought earlier, he was actually jealous of them for their mother being willing to make something for them like that.

(With a bit of... of Christmas pudding)

"Well, Ron's third helping. I barely finished my first." Harry admitted. He would have been sick if he tried to eat half as much as Ron did on a regular basis.

"Understandable." Sirius muttered.

"How can you eat so much and still be so thin?" Neville asked, amazed.

"I stopped questioning it years ago." Poppy sighed, shaking her head.

(when Hermione ushered... you're changing into,")

"Shouldn't you have already gotten that taken care of?" Ginny asked, surprising her brothers as she'd been very quiet during this book so far.

"Yeah, this is after dinner, so most everyone would already be back in their common rooms." Neville echoed, confused.

"I wanted it to be kept as closely timed as possible, that way there would be less chance of them running into us or showing up at a bad time." Hermione said after a moment.

"There's still the small matter of how you are going to find them to take their hair. They're probably already in the common room, especially if Draco is at the school with them, they follow him everywhere." Bill pointed out.

Draco coughed. "They like food almost as much as Ron does." He informed the rest of the room.

"Which means that if Ron was still eating, they probably were, too." Charlie realized.

"I left the Great Hall earlier." Draco confirmed.

"Forget I said anything." Neville said after a moment.

(said Hermione matter... tell them anything.)

"I wouldn't call them best friends." Draco made a face at the thought. "Just because they followed me everywhere, does not make that true." He was closer to Blaise and Theo then he was to Crabbe and Goyle.

"Well, you were always with them, we never saw you with anybody else." Hermione shrugged.

"Gryffindors." Draco muttered, shaking his head. Just because somebody shadowed you everywhere, did not make them friends. Did he and those two talk a lot? Sure. Did they know a lot about each other? Sure. It came from constantly being in each other's company. Once in the common room, however, they had their own friends just like he had his. It just happened that they were the only three of their year to stay in Slytherin.

(And we also need... we're interrogating him.)

"How are you planning on doing that?" Moody asked, curiously.

"Sleeping potion." She answered promptly. The adults glanced at each other, thinking that there was no way this was going to go how she expected it to.

("I've got it all... plump chocolate cakes.)

Severus and Draco closed their eyes, realizing immediately what must have happened.

"There is no way that those two are going to eat anything you give them." Percy said, shaking his head.

"Those two will eat anything in front of them." Draco shook his head. It was a good thing they never found the kitchens, or there would have been no food for everybody else.

("I've filled these... in a broom closet.")

"That explains that." Severus said dryly. When he saw everyone's curious looks, he sighed. "Draco came to tell me that they were behaving oddly, and left for the Hospital Wing, but had yet to return even though it was for a simple stomach-ache. I found them locked in a closet near the entrance hall." And, naturally, his first thought had been that somebody from one of the other houses had targeted them for being Slytherin.

Harry and Ron shared a look.

"You weren't more concerned?" Arthur asked, blinking.

"It was not the first, nor was it the last, time they had to go to Poppy for their stomachs." He said dryly. They ate anything and everything, especially anything sweet. Ron at least knew what was good for him, courtesy of his mother, and had Hermione there to drag him away from the table when she was done waiting for him to finish. Nobody was inclined to do the same with Crabbe and Goyle.

"They did calm down with that this year." Draco said quietly, to which he nodded in agreement. He had noticed that.

(Harry and Ron looked... go seriously wrong-")

"Indeed."

"I can count at least ten ways alone that can go wrong." Moody added.

"Well, it was the only plan we had!" Hermione defended herself, turning red.

(But Hermione had a... sometimes had.)

"It was terrifying." The boys said in unison, making her at least crack a smile.

"Where do you think I learned it?" She asked pompously, nose in the air.

Severus rolled his eyes at Minerva's proud smile.

("The potion will be... Malfoy, don't you?")

"Of course we did! But this plan was sounding more and more insane the more we learned about it!" Harry defended himself. They went with it, though. Because like he said, it was the only plan they had.

Hermione sighed. "The more I hear it, and in hindsight, this plan was very insane." She admitted, pinking up a bit again.

("Oh, all right, all... trying to strangle me!)

"Miss Bulstrode has a cat. That could be cat hair." Severus commented dryly, sharing a look with Poppy.

"That explains that." She muttered while Hermione turned red.

"I uh-" She cleared her throat. "I realized that." Her response earned a few concerned glances, but nobody said anything yet.

"Besides, Millie went home for break." Draco said, confused about why she thought impersonating Millie would work.

"And there are at least a dozen cats in Gryffindor tower." Percy added. That hair could have been from any number of them, too.

"It was a good plan." Moody muttered. Clearly she hadn't thought it out well enough. Except for the part about who she was impersonating, it was a good plan.

(And she's gone... to come back.")

"That wouldn't have worked." Draco shook his head.

"Why not?" Hermione asked, defensive.

"Because I knew for a fact that Millie and her family were visiting relatives in Spain and she promised to show pictures." Draco informed her with a raised eyebrow. "She was very excited, it was all she would talk about for weeks, she hadn't seen her grandparents in almost two years."

The Trio looked at each other before Hermione let her head hang in despair.

"Probably a good thing that wasn't human hair." Ron muttered to Harry. At least it was able to be reversed. He didn't want to know what the older Slytherins, and Snape, would have done had they been discovered that night. Harry nodded in agreement.

(When Hermione had... could go wrong?")

"At that time? No. Now?" Harry shuddered.

"Hey, it worked out, didn't it?" Fred and George protested.

"I still say that was a stupid way of doing it." Harry retorted, rolling his eyes.

"Do we want to know?" Minerva asked, looking between the three boys.

"No." All three of them said with innocent smiles on their faces.

(But to Harry's... as Hermione had said.)

Hermione smirked smugly.

"They actually ate them? Are you sure they're in Slytherin?" Charlie asked in disbelief. He would have thought that two Slytherin's would be more cautious, especially second years who had already spent a year living in a castle with Fred and George Weasley.

"We've wondered that a few times." Draco admitted. "They are plenty ambitious, though." Just not very cunning half the time.

(They lurked in a... helpings of trifle.)

"It was disgusting." Severus sneered. He'd actually gone back to his lab after watching them down their second helping, trying not to be sick.

"Try sitting next to them." Draco muttered. It was part of why he'd left earlier rather then stay and wait for them.

Hermione and Harry shared a pointed look before directing it at Ron, who could be the same way sometimes with his food.

(Harry had perched... of the banisters.)

"No way are they going to fall for this, they have no way of knowing where those came from or what might be in them!" Bill protested immediately.

"Nobody ever said they weren't idiots." Harry muttered under his breath.

(When they spotted... and grabbed them.)

"You have got to be joking." Bill deadpanned.

"I'm surprised Crabbe shared." Draco muttered to Severus, who snorted, waving off the surprised looks he got.

"You would think that two Slytherins would be more cautious." Charlie muttered.

"Oh, the possibilities if we had known about this..." Fred thought to George, who agreed whole-heartedly.

(Grinning stupidly... their large mouths.)

Severus shook his head in despair while the Gryffindor's were shocked.

"How have we never pranked them before?" Fred asked, stupefied.

"They're usually with Malfoy." George said.

"I wish I could say that this was anything new." Draco sighed.

"I can't believe this part of the plan is going so smoothly." Moody muttered.

(For a moment, both... backward onto the floor.)

"I do hope you thought of cushioning charms." Severus raised an eyebrow, already knowing from the mild concussion both boys sustained that they didn't.

It was the concussion that made him think the two were attacked, and not even bother scanning for potions in their systems.

Harry and Ron looked at each other while Hermione sighed. Maybe she should have gone with them to get the hairs after all, she knew the cushioning charm after all, because of her habit of learning spells that she considered to be useful ahead of time.

(By far the hardest... across the hall.)

"You didn't think to levitate them?" Percy asked dryly. Something was niggling at the back of his head about this night, but he could not think of what it might be.

Ron and Harry looked at each other before groaning.

"I almost threw my back out trying to lift him! Why didn't we think of that?" Ron moaned.

"I told you not to lift with your back." Harry snorted. Then he sighed. "Normally you're the one reminding me that we have magic." He shook his head while everyone else laughed and Hermione rolled her eyes.

(Once they were... and Goyle-size feet.)

"I would have also taken their outer-robes." Moody commented.

"The Gryffindor robes or Weasley sweaters will kind of give you away." Sirius agreed.

"I transfigured some robes to look like what they were wearing." Hermione shrugged. It was lucky that the two were wearing their school uniform cloaks, and not something else. They didn't have to wear their uniform during break, after all.

"At least somebody here thinks ahead." Moody muttered. Now if only she had thought ahead when deciding who to impersonate.

(Then, still stunned... Myrtle's bathroom.)

"Harry!" Fred and George wailed suddenly.

"I thought you knew better!"

"If you want to not look suspicious,"

"Then don't do anything to draw attention!" The two scolded Harry with a scowl. They ignored Ron, knowing that he never showed the same propensity for mischief that Harry did. Sirius and Remus gave him the same disappointed scowl that the Twins were currently giving him.

Harry grimaced. "I know, I got caught up in the moment." He explained.

(They could hardly... stirring the cauldron.)

"That is why ventilation is important." Severus scolded sternly. "You could have made yourselves severely sick breathing that in."

"They're lucky they got out of this venture as unscathed as they did." Poppy commented with a groan.

"Unscathed? Hermione spent a month in the Hospital Wing!" Ron protested.

"Yes, and considering the unsanitary and unsafe conditions you were in as you brewed a potion as complicated and easy to get wrong as that one is, you can be lucky that's the worst that happened." Severus snapped, glaring at the Trio.

Ron shrank back while Hermione hid behind him a little.

(Pulling their robes... bubbling, glutinous potion.)

Severus hummed. "That sounds correct, although possibly a little thicker then it should be." He said doubtfully, trying to base it off the bare description from a twelve year old who did not know enough about potions.

"That wouldn't affect the quality, would it?" Sirius asked, somewhat anxious. He was worried after hearing she spent time in the Hospital Wing after this venture.

"The transformation will not last as long as it should, but I believe they managed to avoid any errors that would result in it becoming poison." Severus said after a moment. That last comment was, of course, based solely on the fact that none of them were in the Hospital Wing for poisoning. Instead, Hermione was in for a botched human-animal transformation that he now knew for a fact to be Polyjuice based, and not Transfiguration or Animagus training.

(Three glass tumblers... Moste Potente Potions.)

"You still had that?" Percy asked in surprise. "There is a two day check-out period on books from the Restricted Section before they have to be returned to the library."

"I copied the page. It copied it exactly, including the splotches on it." Hermione shrugged. She'd returned the book as soon as she had the page copied, which was good because she'd gotten a few more splotches on the parchment she was using.

("It looks like the... back into ourselves.")

"Not quite an hour." Severus muttered.

Hermione sighed, "Yes, we know. The potency was affected and it will not last as long as it should." She was getting tired of his constant comments to that effect. He just raised a pointed eyebrow, making her duck her head, surprised by her outburst.

("Now what?" Ron... each of the glasses.)

Severus grimaced. "No need to be so wasteful with it." He groused.

Hermione looked up, confused.

"You only need one swallow, you could have saved the rest of it." He rolled his eyes, not sure why he was advocating that they keep Polyjuice, but knowing that he hated to see potions wasted like that.

"That would have been so useful." Harry muttered after a moment.

"I still can't believe you're doing this." Molly muttered, shaking her head in disbelief.

(Then, her hand... sort of yellow.)

"That hair was not human." Severus intoned grimly.

"How can you tell from just that?" Harry asked, blinking.

"Because a human hair would have made it turn some shade of brown or gold. The more gold the color, the more... pure of heart the person is said to be." Severus said. "Animal hairs make it turn all shades of different colors."

"Is there a certain color assigned to an animal?" Hermione asked. She'd never read about this.

"Felines are usually a yellowish-orange color. Equines some shade of green. Canines are a mix of different colors, and so on." He stated. He wasn't going to sit here and go over every single color that different species could turn, they would be here for weeks before they got back to reading.

("Urgh- essence of... tastes disgusting.")

"It is one of the most foul things I have ever tasted." Harry said with a face. "Including Skele-Gro."

Remus raised an eyebrow. "I bet Wolfsbane tastes worse." He countered. He didn't know what Polyjuice tasted like, as a werewolf he couldn't take it, just like nobody could ever Polyjuice as him.

"Not taking that bet." Harry said. The only way he could try Wolfsbane were if he was bitten. He did not want to go that far just to compare tastes. Remus smirked briefly.

("Add yours, then,"... murky brown.)

Everybody grimaced. "What was that you said about the color reflecting their purity or whatever?" Remus asked in disgust.

"Well, they were the Carrows' best students this year when learning the Unforgivables." Draco said before Severus could say anything.

"They'll need to be kept an eye on." Minerva declared after a moment, and added it to her parchment.

"Now, I'm sure they can be properly guided." Dumbledore cut in. "They are still just children, after all."

Minerva glared. "That may be, but they will need to be kept an eye on in any case so we can properly guide them." She was not going to ignore this and just hope that they grew to be productive members of society instead of criminals.

("Hang on," said Harry... Bulstrode's no pixie.")

"That and we could barely fit in there at our normal sizes." Harry shuddered. The other two nodded in agreement.

("Good thinking," said...

"One- two- three-")

Everyone in the room sat at the edge of their seats, wanting to hear that everything went right, that there was nothing wrong with the potion.

Those who had never taken it before were curious to know what it was like.

"Never again." Ron muttered with a shudder. Twice was enough for him, thank you very much.

(Pinching his nose... two large gulps.)

"You said we only needed one mouthful?" Harry asked Severus, just to check.

"Yes." He confirmed, amused.

All three of them hung their heads.

(It tasted like overcooked cabbage.)

"I think that's an understatement of just how bad it was." Ron shuddered.

Harry shrugged. He probably had a different idea of what tasted bad then Ron did, courtesy of living with the Dursleys.

(Immediately, his insides... swallowed live snakes-)

People shuddered at the thought, but nobody interrupted, wanting to hear the entire thing.

(doubled up, he wondered... four sizes too small-)

"Maybe you should have removed your own robes before taking the potion." Sirius suggested, holding Harry's arm tightly.

"A very apt description, Mr. Potter." Severus said, grimacing in memory.

"I am never taking Polyjuice." Ron said, eyes wide. He had been thinking about how much fun this could be, but now he was thinking that it wouldn't be worth it.

"Good idea." Ron muttered, wishing he'd been that smart when he was younger.

(As suddenly as it... in the end toilet.)

"That ghost needs a hobby." Bill commented.

Harry grimaced. "She has one." He informed the room. "You should find out in my fourth year." He explained at their curious looks.

He would let them hear it for themselves and be appropriately disgusted with her peeping-tom tendencies.

"How can a ghost have a hobby?" Dudley asked his older self quietly. Dudley just shrugged, not sure.

(With difficulty, he... from his mouth.)

"Whoa, I bet that was strange." Dudley commented.

"Oh, like you would not believe." Harry said.

"I hate Polyjuice." Ron shuddered.

("Yeah," came the... ear, so did Goyle.)

"Talk about freaky." Arabella shuddered.

"It was creepy." Harry deadpanned.

(Ron's door opened... long, gorilla arms.)

"That is the point of Polyjuice." Severus pointed out. "However, you will still get caught if you cannot copy their mannerisms." He wondered how well they did if Draco couldn't tell the difference between these two and two boys that he spent most of his time with outside the common room.

("This is unbelievable,"... someone to follow...")

There was the sound of palms being slapped against foreheads.

"You didn't even bother to scout your location?" Fred and George asked in unison, staring at Ron and Harry like they had never seen the pair before.

"You had a month while the potion brewed to find that out." Charlie added, staring at them.

"How are you expecting to find somebody to follow this late at night?" Neville asked doubtfully.

"Wait a minute..." Percy muttered, eyeing them suspiciously, the niggling thought becoming more and more persistent and clear.

"We know, we have disgraced ourselves with how unprepared we were." Harry said, hanging his head under his godfather and uncle's incredulous stares. Ron nodded beside him while Hermione rolled her eyes at their dramatics.

Although, she was kicking herself for not thinking of any of this.

(Ron, who had... see Goyle thinking.")

"He can think!" Draco defended his guard. "He just doesn't choose to most of the time."

Otherwise, yes it was strange to see him thinking.

(He banged on... "C'mon, we need to go-")

"Oh, dear. Is she alright?" Molly asked, suddenly worried. Hermione hadn't answered when Harry asked if everybody was alright.

"Fine." Hermione said with a tight smile. "Just, it was definitely not human hair, as the color indicated.

Poppy said nothing, just sat there with pursed lips.

(A high-pitched... go on without me.")

"Oh, no. Are you alright?" Molly fussed, concerned. She knew the hair Hermione had used wasn't human, but surely nothing too bad would happen because of that?

"Nothing Madam Pomfrey couldn't fix." Hermione said with a weak smile.

"It's a good thing she didn't go along, though. You three would have been caught in an instant." Sirius said, glancing at Hermione in concern. Ron and Harry grimaced in agreement.

("Hermione, we... to know it's you-")

"You don't have time to argue." Remus muttered, not wanting the potion to wear off in the middle of the Slytherin Common Room.

"I know you wanted to check on me, but you really didn't." Hermione said to her boys, quietly. They grimaced, but didn't say anything else.

("No- really- I don't... asks him a question.")

"Sadly, that is true." Draco muttered again. Like he'd said earlier, neither of them were stupid. They just didn't act like it.

"Just how much attention do you pay them?" Minerva muttered to herself, shaking her head.

("Hermione, are you... had already passed.)

"Get going." Most everybody muttered at once, even those who wished that they weren't doing this.

But they would all prefer that they get it over with and not be caught in the middle of Slytherin territory.

("We'll meet you...

"Yeah, that's better...")

"Do you watch us or something?" Draco asked, slightly disturbed by how Harry knew something like that. Although how he walked would have been a dead giveaway that something was off. Not that he paid any attention to all the other signs.

"Like you don't watch us?" Harry retorted. "There's a lot that I know about you and your shadows." Harry reminded him.

"... Good point." Draco admitted after a moment. He could probably describe the Trio's mannerisms just as well as Harry could describe his and his two shadows.

(They went down the... was nobody around.)

"The biggest flaw in your plan, and why you needed to have scouted the area beforehand." Neville muttered, shaking his head.

"How did you find it if nobody was around?" Charlie asked. He had no doubt that they'd gotten in, their comments told him that much. The question now was how.

"We found somebody." Harry grinned while Draco sank down in his seat, an action that only Severus and his younger self noticed.

("Any ideas?" muttered... from the entrance.)

"That's good timing." Bill said, surprised.

Percy blinked and a look of realization started to creep across his face as it reddened. Harry frowned, tilting his head to the side and not answering Bill or the other's agreement.

("Excuse me," said... our common room.")

"You're impersonating second years. That's the best you could come up with?" Arabella demanded, incredulous.

"Maybe if you were impersonating first years and it was earlier in the year..." Bill trailed off, shaking his head.

"Ok, that probably wasn't the best excuse." Ron muttered, face bright red.

"Any Slytherin would have known something was up right away." Draco scoffed, now knowing that this girl wasn't a Slytherin because he never heard any jokes or anything like that towards the two for this.

("I beg your... I'm a Ravenclaw.")

"Then why was she in the Slytherin dungeons?" Bill asked, missing Percy's bright red face or the look of realization on Harry's face as he turned to the third oldest Weasley brother.

"Using the potion lab for a project?" Charlie suggested.

"At that time of night?"

"She is a Ravenclaw."

(She walked away... back at them.)

"Well that was rude. She could have at least pointed them in the right direction." Hermione huffed. All the upper years knew at least that much about the three common rooms, except for Gryffindor of course.

"She thought they were Slytherins, of course she wasn't going to help them." Draco sneered. Honestly, she knew full well how Slytherins were viewed, was she really that clueless? Hermione stared at him, slightly shocked. Hermione bit her lip, thinking that that wasn't right.

"She's right to be suspicious, though. What person doesn't at least recognize someone from their own house on sight?" Remus pointed out.

"What kind of second year forgets how to get to their own Common Room?" Sirius added.

(Harry and Ron hurried... as they had hoped.)

"It never is." Hermione sighed.

"It wouldn't be half as much fun if it were." Ron said sarcastically.

"It wouldn't be my life if it was." Harry said instead.

The three shared a smile while everyone else blinked.

(The labyrinthine... time they had left.)

"You really should have figured out where to go ahead of time." Bill sighed, getting worried now. They already had less time because of mistakes made when brewing the potion, now they were using up even more valuable time just wandering around.

"I do hope you don't go down the wrong hall." Minerva fretted slightly. There were things in the depths of Hogwarts that were better off not being found by students.

Harry and Ron glanced at each other.

(After a quarter of... movement ahead.)

"Oh, please be a student." Pomona said quietly, on the edge of her seat.

("Ha!" said Ron... of them now!")

"Don't assume." Moody growled. "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" It could be anything or anyone, after all.

(The figure was... it was Percy.)

"What were you doing down there?" Bill asked his brother in surprise.

"What a minute..." Fred started slowly.

"The Ravenclaw girl."

"Wasn't your girlfriend, Penelope, a Ravenclaw?" They turned to their brother, who was bright red.

"Oh?" Nearly all the Weasley's homed in on the third eldest, all wanting to know, too. Arthur had to stifle his laughter in his wife's shoulder while she tried to look disapproving. (She also couldn't say too much about it because she and Arthur had done the same thing.)

Minerva had to hide her mouth or everybody would have seen the huge grin on her face at the current teasing going on.

("What're you doing... Crabbe, isn't it?")

"You knew his name?" Draco asked, surprised.

"I was a Prefect." Percy shrugged, trying to ignore the looks he was still getting from his family. He took his job seriously.

("Wh- oh, yeah,"... corridors these days.")

"And yet, that's exactly where you are." Charlie pointed out, laughter in his voice.

The red deepened on Percy's face. "I didn't think that anything would be stupid enough to target a Prefect." He muttered. He'd been just as arrogant and sure of his safety as the other Purebloods had been, just for a different reason.

("You are," Ron... to attack me.")

"That's the same argument that the Purebloods were making about why they were safe!" Charlie exclaimed, staring at his brother and momentarily forgetting to tease.

"That argument only works if the one controlling the Basilisk knows that you are a Pureblood or a Prefect!" Bill agreed, shaking his head in disappointment with his brother.

Percy winced. "Yes, I realized that." He said quietly. It hadn't been until Penny was attacked that he got his head out of the clouds and realized that nobody was safe, no matter their heritage or status within the school.

(A voice suddenly... pleased to see him.)

Draco scoffed. "Don't get used to it, Potter." He muttered.

Harry smirked, but didn't say anything while others chuckled or called teasing remarks.

("There you are," he... all this time?)

"Have they stayed late like that often?" Poppy frowned, not remembering right now. She usually had to eat quickly so she could return to her Wing to either care for somebody or be there if she was needed. That was when she was lucky enough to be able to get away. More often than not she had to eat at her desk.

"For the Feasts, yeah." Draco aborted a shrug, remembering who was sitting beside him. Her frown deepened.

(I've been looking... really funny.")

Ron shifted and clenched his hands as he remembered just what it was that was so 'funny'.

"Oh, boy." Harry muttered, not able to look at Draco right now.

"What's wrong?" Arthur asked.

"Keep reading." Harry said after a moment, wondering if he was going to need to take wands away again. He hadn't needed to since the beginning of these books, really.

(Malfoy glanced witheringly... Weasley?" he sneered.)

"Yes, Percy." The Twins were suddenly reminded of earlier.

"What were you doing down there?"

"With your girlfriend, no less?" They grinned and made a few suggestive motions out of their mother's sight.

"None of your business!" Percy was back to being red.

(Percy looked outraged... like your attitude!")

"What was there to like about it?" Ron snorted sourly, still thinking about that article.

"Sorry, I deserved that." Draco said quietly, knowing that the coming conversation wasn't going to be good. He winced just thinking about how they were going to react to some of the things he'd said.

(Malfoy sneered and... himself just in time.)

"I think I would have dragged you to Madam Pomfrey to be checked out." Percy said, raising an eyebrow.

"I know I would have." Draco agreed.

"You apologize too much." Ron frowned at Harry.

(He and Ron hurried... "That Peter Weasley-")

Percy sighed, but didn't say anything. Nobody ever seemed to get his name right.

To this day his boss still sometimes called him 'Weatherby'.

("Percy," Ron corrected... heir single-handed.")

"Oh, we know who he was hoping to catch." Fred grinned.

"And it had nothing to do with the Heir."

"Alright, you two. Come on." Bill shook his head, even though he felt like laughing himself. But he knew that if he didn't rein them in, they would go overboard.

(He gave a short... excited looks.)

Severus sighed. "Remind me to speak with your supervisors in the Auror department when the time comes, to never let you two go undercover." He shook his head. And here he thought Potter was better then that.

It seemed like whenever he was around Ron and Hermione, his subtlety and sneaking skills went out the window before being trampled by a herd of wild Hippogriffs.

Harry sighed, disappointed with himself for how blatant he was being. He was better than that, he knew he was!

(Malfoy paused by... he said to Harry.)

"Uh oh."

"Oh, don't worry." Draco sighed, waving off everyone's concern. "I didn't expect him to remember it." Even with all the passwords having a theme, Goyle could be worse then he'd heard Neville was with passwords.

("Er-" said Harry.

"Oh, yeah- pure-blood!")

Somebody snorted. "Real original, guys."

"Who set that?" George wondered out loud. He'd wondered about that before, but hadn't had a chance to ask. Most of the Slytherins passwords had something to do with Pureblood, blood-purity, superiority, etc. Once you knew that, they were easy to guess.

"They're randomly selected." Draco said.

"I think that was the password at some point in my fifth year." Sirius muttered, glancing at Remus, who looked at him in exasperation.

"Of all the things for you to remember after all these years and Azkaban, and it's the Slytherin passwords from when we were in school?" He deadpanned. He'd spent some time with Sirius and Poppy over the break testing his memory and recall. There was a lot that he'd forgotten but the time away from that prison was helping him. Sirius thought for a moment, and shrugged.

"Unbelievable." Remus shook his head while everyone else laughed.

(said Malfoy, not... Ron followed him.)

A few people sat up and leaned forward in curiosity. It was very rare for a member of another House to visit the other common rooms, even those who had siblings in other Houses. Even the teachers never had cause to visit any common room but their own except in extreme emergencies, which was rare.

The Draco's, Severus, and Moody shared a look and hoped that nobody would say anything.

(The Slytherin common... in high-backed chairs.)

"Sounds a little dark and gloomy." Bill commented. "Not as cozy as the tower." He declared, and shot an apologetic look at the Slytherins.

"It's certainly quieter." Severus muttered. He'd heard about some of the noise that came out of the Tower from Minerva, he'd always wondered how they ever got any studying done. (This was before he knew about the Maze.)

"That's still our home." Draco glared slightly. "What the book didn't describe yet, and I don't know if it will, is that we're under the lake. One of the walls is all made of glass, we can spend all day watching the fish or the Giant Squid." He came by sometimes and just hung around the window.

Harry and Ron nodded in agreement. Harry had thought it was cool at the time, but hadn't really been too focused on the common room itself, mostly just on getting answers.

("Wait here," said... just sent it to me-")

"I thought your father was out of the country." Minerva said.

"He sent it from there, it just took a while to arrive." Draco said after a moment, doubtful.

"They were gone." Severus confirmed. He didn't say that Lucius caught wind of what was happening with Arthur and came back briefly just to stir up trouble with the Weasley Patriarch.

(Wondering what... to look at home.)

Draco hung his head after a moment.

"Either they are better actors than I thought, or you are being incredibly unobservant." Severus drawled, narrowing his eyes at his godson.

"I like to think we acted very well." Harry pointed out, and promptly turned the Twins several shades of flashing neon colors when they laughed.

(Malfoy came back... newspaper clipping.)

"Oh, this can't be good." Bill muttered, wondering if he wanted to know what the then-Draco Malfoy found amusing in a newspaper. Especially with how he was always going after Ron and Harry.

"It wasn't." Harry said stiffly, all laughter gone from his face from watching the Twins reactions to suddenly being colorful.

Draco swallowed and looked away.

(He thrust it under... handed it to Harry.)

Severus glanced at Draco, who shook his head. He hadn't noticed that Crabbe wasn't able to get into the fun of things like usual. Crabbe would have found this to be highly amusing, as would Goyle.

Ron and Harry, on the other hand, hadn't found it amusing at all. And it showed.

(It had been clipped...:

Inquiry at the Ministry of Magic)

"Oh." Arthur breathed, sitting back. "I know what this is about." He said grimly, and glanced at Draco. He refused to answer his sons' questioning looks.

Bill and Charlie glanced at each other, concerned.

(Arthur Weasley, Head... family ghoul on them.)

Everyone was silent while the article was read.

"Fifty Galleons?" Bill asked in disbelief. "You never said anything about that!" He protested to his parents. "And how could you come to Egypt when you had a fine like that?"

"We managed." Molly said tiredly. "The trip was paid for before the fine was issued, so it was alright. If we'd known it was coming, we might have canceled the trip, of course, but..." She shrugged helplessly. Arthur had managed to arrange it so that most of his pay went towards the fine for the next several weeks, and several things that needed done around the house went undone as there was no money, but they managed like they always did. It was easier since all the children were in Hogwarts, it was much cheaper to feed two people then it was to feed seven, or even three after all. Especially when one took her boys voracious appetites into consideration.

Arthur didn't say anything, instead sat there holding his wife's hand.

There was silence for a moment while Bill and Charlie looked at each other and held a silent conversation, and Harry looked down guiltily at the fine.

"Would you have really set the ghoul on the reporters?" Neville finally asked, curious and wanting to break some of the tension in the room. The Twins themselves were too tense and clearly not in the mood, so he would do it just this once.

He got some scattered laughter. "I would have if I knew how to get it out of the attic!" She gave a small smile and laugh. She was still a little confused on how they got the thing to agree to move into Ron's room instead.

("Well?" said Malfoy... think it's funny?")

"Not even remotely." Bill muttered.

"Except for the part with the ghoul." Charlie commented.

"They have to stay in character, though." Sirius reminded the room. People like Crabbe and Goyle would find it funny, sadly he and James might have, too.

("Ha, ha," said Harry bleakly.)

"You didn't notice anything based off that?" Severus asked blankly.

Draco grimaced. "I don't think I was paying them any attention at all that night." He tried to explain.

"We are going to have to work on your awareness." Severus directed at Draco, who nodded his agreement, embarrassed.

Whether he was embarrassed for himself or his older self, he wasn't quite sure.

("Arthur Weasley loves... said Malfoy scornfully.)

"Hey, now!" There were a few protests as to snap your wand was a very serious thing. It was not something done lightly, and only done in the gravest of circumstances, usually in the preservation of the Statute of Secrecy. No sane wizard would even contemplate purposely snapping their own wand.

That was why it was the main threat when an underage student was repeatedly cited for underage magic at home or in front of Muggles. The severity of the incident determined if you just got a warning or if they went straight to a hearing before it was snapped, as clearly you could not be trusted with keeping magic a secret from the Muggles.

Draco winced. "That was out of line. Personally, I find some of the things they have created fascinating as well... Keep in mind, for the rest of this conversation, that the three of us were not the only ones in the common room, and some of the older students were not ones that I wanted to draw bad attention from." He said, knowing that he'd said some things that were way out of line during this conversation. Some of it he really had meant at the time.

He'd been a little brat.

("You'd never know... contorted with fury.)

"Watch it, remember where you are..." Fred cautioned, not wanting his little brother to get caught here.

"Yeah, I got that." Ron grimaced.

("What's up with you, Crabbe?" snapped Malfoy.)

"Crabbe knew better then to direct such an expression at me." Draco shrugged and grinned slightly when he felt the forceful tap on his shoulder a moment later.

"Do I want to know..." Harry asked, hesitant.

"No." Severus and both Draco's said at the same time. Lucius had made sure they knew their place, and it had not been pretty.

("Stomachache," Ron grunted.)

"Nice quick thinking!" Sirius praised, nodding. Especially since it fit with Draco assuming they had been in the Great Hall eating.

("Well, go up to... said Malfoy, snickering.)

"Mr. Malfoy!" Both Minerva and Poppy snapped at once, glaring while Severus turned his own formidable glare on his godson while the younger one made a squeaking noise he would forever deny and sank down in his seat.

"Young man!" Molly cried, incensed, at the same time while there were outcries from everyone else in the room.

Draco turned bright red and wouldn't look at anybody. "That was uncalled for and- I apologize." He said sincerely, even though he wouldn't meet anyone's gaze.

There were a few more glares directed at him.

"I admire your restraint, pup." Sirius muttered to Harry. If that were him, he didn't think he would be able to refrain from cursing the little brat for a comment like that.

"If we weren't in the middle of the Slytherin common room, I might not have been so restrained." Harry said with a tight smile, holding Hermione's hand tightly. He and Ron had neglected to tell her specifics of the conversation with Malfoy.

("You know, I'm... went on thoughtfully.)

"Wait, what?" Arabella asked, shocked. "None of this was in the newspaper?" She asked the teachers.

"Albus didn't want to panic parents. There would have been a mass exodus of parents withdrawing their students, and if enough students were withdrawn, Hogwarts would have been forced to close. We installed safety measures and guidelines for the students to follow, but we hoped to figure it out before anybody else was attacked." Minerva explained.

"You were more worried about keeping the school open then finding out what was attacking students?" Vernon questioned, a disgusted look on his face. Some of the group blinked at him, surprised that he said anything at all. "See, Pet? Only a freak would be more worried for his job then the children under his care." He sneered. This wasn't the first comment like this from either of them, but the others had been said quietly enough that none of the wizards heard, as they were tired of gaining new body parts every time they opened their mouth or something happened in the Freaky books.

"As much as I hate saying this..." Harry grumbled. "He's right." He said grudgingly. Sirius and Remus snarled, but they agreed, too.

Minerva looked down, ashamed. When they put it that way... Filius and Pomona looked at each other, they hadn't been part of those conversations between Severus, Minerva, and Albus. All they knew was what had been decided to keep the students safe.

("I suppose Dumbledore's... happened to this place.)

"Yes, Lucius has never kept that opinion quiet." Albus sighed while his teachers glanced at each other.

Some days, especially after a staff meeting where all their suggestions for improving their students' educations were shot down or ignored, they agreed with Lucius Malfoy. Just look at all the clubs and classes he canceled claiming there was no need for them. Look at the budget constraints they had to work under! Although some of that could be laid at the Board's feet, they didn't know how much the Ministry and Board supplemented after the tuition was processed for the year.

"Everything I do is for the safety and good of the Wizarding World." Dumbledore continued, frowning at his professors when he caught the looks exchanged.

(He loves Muggle-borns... that Creevey in.")

"Hey, now. He may have been a little creepy sometimes, but he's a good kid!" Harry defended Colin, like he couldn't do at the time.

Draco made a quiet, non-committal noise.

(Malfoy started taking... shoes, please, Potter?")

"Accurate sounding, but I agree. Very cruelly done." Percy said with a scowl towards Draco. The book perfectly mimicked how Draco had said it.

"He didn't always sound like that!" Harry protested.

"Yeah, he kind of did." Ron muttered. "He got better!" He defended himself, not wanting to earn colored skin or strange new body parts.

(He dropped his hands...with you two?")

"You two are so bad at this!" Arthur moaned.

"They are never working undercover." Moody muttered, shaking his head.

"When he says something that he expects you to laugh about, you need to actually laugh." Sirius shook his head.

"We know, our performance was terrible." Harry groused.

"How did you not notice?" Severus asked Draco dryly.

(Far too late, Harry... slow on the uptake.)

"Not that slow." Draco muttered quietly, not wanting to draw attention to himself.

"They can be sometimes." Draco muttered himself.

"Not always!"

("Saint Potter, the... proper wizard feeling,)

"Hard to have 'feeling' when I know nothing about it." Harry muttered.

"I thought you would have known about it. We were always told that you had the best of tutors." Draco said. "I mean, Harry Potter, The Boy-Who-Lived not knowing anything about our world! The idea was ludicrous!" And yet, that was the reality of it.

Dumbledore got more glares and sighed as he realized that he was going to be relegated to the 'not-well-liked' table for a while yet.

"Yeah, I'm sure it was." Harry said sourly. Sirius squeezed his shoulder, knowing that his ignorance was being fixed. "I would have been friends with Hermione either way, though!" Harry said suddenly, remembering what else Draco had said.

(or he wouldn't go...Slytherin's heir!")

"Slytherin lived a thousand years ago. I'm fairly certain that almost everyone in this room can claim to be descended." Sirius shrugged. "The Black family is, and everyone here is related to the Blacks in some way."

Harry through his grandmother, Arthur and his children through Arthur's mother, and he was sure that Molly had a grandparent, too. He wasn't sure how the rest were related, but he was sure they were somehow.

(Harry and Ron... it was him-)

"Oh come on!" Draco burst out, forgetting to keep his head down and not draw attention. "Why would I say something like that where anyone can hear?" He demanded. Knowing the other students in the room, he didn't want to know the lengths they would go to exploit him because of it.

"He has a point there." Hermione said after a moment.

"Gryffindors." All the Slytherins in the room said under their breath, almost at the exact same moment. The non-Slytherins blinked and moved away a few feet.

(but then-

"I wish... could help them.")

"Why would you want to help somebody in killing a bunch of students, especially at twelve years old." Remus demanded.

Draco was silent for a few minutes. "I thought that it would have made my father proud. Everything I said or did was to make my father proud, or in trying to be more like him. My father would have truly relished in the idea of Muggleborn dying, or in all the fear that this was causing." He finally said just as the book was about to continue.

"Your father isn't exactly someone to emulate." Sirius snorted sourly. There was a reason his parents approved of the marriage contract with the Malfoy's, after all, despite them being French.

"Back then? He was to me." Draco said quietly. The Dark Lord's return had opened his eyes, in more ways than one.

(Ron's jaw dropped... who's behind it all...")

"Good, you're finally working that mind." Moody said in approval. He'd been really disappointed with how they were handling this questioning so far.

("You know I haven't... too much about it.)

"And yet here you are, telling everything you know about it." Neville muttered, still sore about the earlier comments, not that he'd said anything at the time.

"This was public information, all one had to do was read old copies of the newspaper." Draco pointed out. Lucius hadn't shared any of what his wife may have told him about the Chamber from her access to the Black library, if he even bothered to ask her.

Of course, if he had, he might have not even done it since the risk to his son and heir would have been too great.

The Trio looked at each other before all face-palming in unison. Why hadn't they even thought to check old newspapers for everything on the last time?

"And, they may not have gotten the answers they were there for, but they are getting some information." Neville pointed out, feeling like it needed to be said. "So this whole thing isn't ending up a complete waste of time."

(But I know one... a Mudblood died.)

"So free with the use of that word, Draco." Severus said silkily, glaring at his godson, who knew full well how much he hated that word.

Draco winced again. "Sorry, Uncle Severus." He muttered, sinking down in his seat.

Ginny turned even more pale, if that was possible.

(So I bet it's a... he said with relish.)

"Sorry, Hermione." Draco said, wincing. "I didn't actually- I was still mad over you beating me out in grades all the time." He tried to explain. Everyone else was giving him sharp or disbelieving looks.

Hermione pursed her lips. She now understood why Harry and Ron glossed over specifics of their conversation with Draco, and just told her the general information he provided.

(Ron was clenching... Ron punched Malfoy,)

"A bit? I would say more than a bit." Arthur mumbled. Molly gave both her husband and youngest son a sharp look, not wanting them to be fighting anybody.

"He would have deserved it." Rom grumbled.

(Harry shot him a... time was caught?")

"Good questions. Way to keep on point." Moody nodded in approval.

"Just don't be too blunt and give yourselves away." Sirius muttered. Not like they hadn't already almost given themselves away at least a dozen times by now, of course.

"Oh, how much time do they have left?" Molly fretted quietly. They were talking a lot, they had already wasted most of their time just trying to find the Slytherin common room...

("Oh, yeah... whoever... still in Azkaban.")

Hagrid shuddered. "Thankfully not." He muttered.

"Did they try to put you-" Harry asked, hesitant. He knew that Hagrid had been in there during this year, but would they really have put him in Azkaban as a third year?

"No. Dippet wouldn't let 'hem." Hagrid shook his giant head. Those who didn't already know how he was expelled stared at him in shock. "And Albus gave me the job at 'Ogwarts."

"Hagrid has my full confidence." Albus said, seeing the shock on the others' faces.

("Azkaban?" said Harry, puzzled.)

"When in doubt in a situation like this, say nothing." Moody growled. "Do not announce your ignorance!" A Pureblood like Goyle would know what Azkaban was, even if Goyle didn't have family there. Anybody raised in the Wizarding World knew what Azkaban was.

"Sorry." Harry sighed. "I don't know what came over me during this whole thing!" He exclaimed, frustrated with his own performance. Like he said earlier, when he was with Ron or Hermione it was like everything he knew about blending in or being sneaky went out the window.

("Azkaban- the wizard... be going backward.")

"Ok, how in Merlin's name have you not realized that something is wrong with those two yet?" Bill finally demanded. He'd expected Draco to question the two of them after Harry asked what Azkaban was, but he just assumed they were being slower than usual.

Draco was bright red. "I just though it was an off night for them, they have them sometimes!" He defended himself. Everyone else was too busy laughing at him or gaping in disbelief. "Come on, I was twelve!" He whined a bit.

(He shifted restlessly... the Mudblood filth,)

Severus growled. "I believe another conversation with your mother is in order." He muttered. He had tried to work with Narcissa to limit the influence Lucius had on her son, but she didn't always succeed or care.

Oh, she loved her son and spoiled him rotten at times, but she was raised a Black, and for the most part agreed with some of Lucius taught Draco.

At that comment, Draco was somewhat forgiven, as he was clearly just a little boy who looked up to his father and was just following his father's example as he had all his life so far.

(but not to get... manor last week?")

Arthur sighed. "We didn't find much during that first raid." He shook his head in disappointment.

All that raid had gotten him was more derision and scorn directed his way from Lucius Malfoy, which was, he thought, the reason Lucius took time to return from whatever he was doing outside of the country to give an interview. Well, after taking care of the raid. He hadn't even meant to time it for when they would be gone, it just happened that way since they had no travel papers filed for that month or Port-key issued.

(Harry tried to force... drawing-room floor-")

Moody sat up suddenly, staring intently at Draco while Draco flinched back in shock. "Oh, really?" Moody practically purred with this information, looking like Christmas and his birthday had both just come early.

Draco grimaced. "Yeah, we keep most of our valuables there. Not all of it is Dark or banned!" He said suddenly. "We barely kept them from taking our Grimoire last time when the Ministry found our vault." Not to mention all the other valuables down there. If it weren't for their lawyers making sure the goons took what was illegal and left everything else, the vault would have been cleaned out without care.

Moody hummed and eyed Draco before transferring his gaze to the younger of the two. "I'll keep sticky fingers away." He promised before leaning back, satisfied and scribbling away.

"So, wait. You're not going to admit to something like being the Heir of Slytherin where anybody can hear, but you're going to reveal something like that where anybody can hear?" Percy asked pointedly, raising an eyebrow. Draco turned red after his statement sank in while everyone else laughed.

("Ho!" said Ron... was turning red.)

"Oh no."

"Get out, get out, get out..."

"Hurry up!"

Ron and Harry glanced at each other and rolled their eyes at the others' antics.

(His nose was also... he must be, too.)

"Hurry up, hurry up."

"It was less then an hour, I think."

"I bet that was strange to see." Dudley commented to his younger self.

(They both jumped... stomach," Ron grunted,)

"Good excuse, now just get out before they notice anything."

(and without further... the stone wall,)

"Please tell me you at least realized something was wrong this time." Dudley deadpanned.

"That was too fast and suspicious."

"I thought it was odd, but it wasn't the first time they over-ate and had to rush to the Hospital Wing like that." Draco sighed.

(and dashed up... noticed anything.)

"You got lucky, apparently he was blind that night." Severus said, glaring at his godson for being so unobservant and giving away such information about his family.

(Harry could feel his... Crabbe and Goyle.)

"They were already awake?" Hermione asked, slightly alarmed. What if they had managed to get out? They would have ruined the whole plan and gotten the boys caught!

"Yes, it was a simple potion, wasn't it?" Severus asked, narrowing his eyes as he parroted her own words back to her.

"Well, yes, but they should have stayed asleep for at least another hour." She didn't understand. They should have been asleep for at least three hours, it had barely been two by this point, surely?

"Did you take the size of your victims into account when you dosed the cupcakes?" He asked, eyebrow raised.

She blinked a few times, then gasped. "Oh, no I didn't. The potion wore off quicker then it should have because I dosed it for an average sized person of our age, but they are much larger, which means they should have gotten a larger dose to be sure the potion would be as effective." She reasoned out. Severus nodded in approval before turning to the Trio.

"The three of you better not be thinking of emulating your older selves." He warned them, getting quick agreements.

(Leaving their shoes... Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.)

"How many times did you almost slip down the steps?" Fred snorted.

"A few." Ron rubbed his elbow where he'd banged it on the banister.

"Socks and marble don't mix very well." Harry agreed, rubbing his knees.

("Well, it wasn't a... door behind them.)

"At least they waited until they were in the bathroom until they talked." Moody muttered.

"I can't believe they actually did it." Sirius mumbled to Remus.

"They made it back safely. They're alright." Remus tried to assure Sirius, hoping that Harry could be reassured that he could come to them for help.

"And now I know where you got the information about the secret room." Arthur snorted.

"Wha-" Ron started, he'd sent it anonymously (Harry's idea) so that nobody could come after them for the Polyjuice and being in the Slytherin Common Room.

"You really think I don't know my own son's handwriting and writing patterns?" Arthur asked dryly. Or recognize a Hogwarts owl when he sees one. Molly even cracked a smile under the disapproving frown she'd worn the entire time. Ron turned bright red while Harry looked at him in exasperation.

("I know we still... back to normal.)

"Oh, thank goodness." Molly relaxed some at hearing that, as it meant the potion was at least brewed correctly.

Everyone else slumped over in relief that it was over, too.

(He put his glasses... of Hermione's stall.)

All the relief was gone as everyone remembered that Hermione was supposed to have gone to the common room, too.

"Oh, dear. Are you still in there?" Molly fussed, worried. Hermione nodded with a sigh.

("Hermione, come out... Hermione squeaked.)

"Oh dear." Molly said again, and the rest waited to hear what was wrong.

It had to be bad if she was still in the bathroom stall, right?

Hermione didn't want to tell anyone that she'd spent the time the boys were gone looking at herself in the mirror in horror and frantically going through all her notes and research about Polyjuice to figure out what happened and how to reverse it. Myrtle had not helped. Once she heard the boys outside in the hall, she'd locked herself back in the stall.

(Harry and Ron... looking so happy.)

"Oh, this can't be good. Anytime somebody who is normally gloomy is happy, is never good." Sirius said, shaking his head.

"Especially at the expense of somebody else." Remus agreed.

"Especially when it's Myrtle." Bill sighed. "She revels in other people's suffering." He revealed at the teachers confused expressions.

("Ooooh, wait till you see," she said. "It's awful-")

All of the adults frowned.

"I don't think I like her very much." Sirius announced.

"Were you alright, Hermione?" Remus asked, concerned.

"Nothing Madam Pomfrey couldn't fix." Hermione sighed.

(They heard the... over her head.)

"Oh, this isn't good." Ollivander muttered.

("What's up?" said... nose or something?")

"If you two didn't retain features, then she won't have." Poppy denied. "A cat's hair, however..."

"Oh, no." Molly muttered, dread filling her as she realized what must have happened.

(Hermione let her robes fall and Ron backed into the sink.)

By this point, everyone was leaning forward except Poppy and the Trio.

Hermione just sighed and looked down in shame. She should have been more careful.

(Her face was covered... through her hair.)

"Oh. If this were a Transfiguration it would be easy to reverse, but a potion..." Minerva bit her lip and glanced at Severus. She'd known the girl was in the hospital wing for a while, but she hadn't really bothered to look into it any further than that. She'd been too busy trying to catch up on some of her work before the new term began.

"It was reversible, but no it was not as easily done had it been a spell." Severus sighed. This was why he cautioned his godson to be so careful and drilled safety into his head! Not that Draco or the other Slytherins seemed to have listened...

"Was the fur just on your face, or..." Fred asked, grinning a little. If it hadn't been reversed, he would be more concerned. But clearly she was fine.

Hermione turned bright, bright red and hid her face in her hands for a moment. "No, it was not just on my face." She said steadily, highly embarrassed.

"Fred! George! Don't you dare tease her over this!" Molly said sharply, not sure exactly which Twin had spoken, so she was covering both of them just in case. Fred and George scowled, knowing what she was doing.

("It was c-cat hair!"... m-must have a cat!)

"Or it could have been one of the cats in the Tower." Neville pointed out, reminding the room that Millicent wasn't the only one who had a cat.

Hermione sighed. "I know, I should have been more careful." She'd just been so desperate for this to work, and to find out who was behind the attacks, she hadn't stopped to think. Sirius reached over and patted her on the shoulder.

(And the p-potion... said Myrtle happily.)

"Can I Exorcize that ghost?" Remus asked conversationally. "Really." He looked at the other teachers. He didn't know why that struck such a cord with him, but it did for some reason.

Severus looked at him and privately thought that if this had happened to him, the Marauders would have raced to tease him about it first. Remus saw those thoughts on his face and looked down, ashamed.

"I'm not too happy with Myrtle, either." Minerva said with a frown.

("It's okay, Hermione,"... too many questions...")

"Well of course not, if I didn't then I would never get anybody to come to me!" She huffed. Teenagers, honestly.

"But if the teachers knew that things like this were happening..." Molly started to protest. This was the thing with the dragon all over again.

"It is my job to heal them, not to get them in trouble. I cannot heal them if they don't trust me to come to me." Poppy almost snapped, having had this conversation with some of the teachers or parents before. She'd seen a lot of things from her students, and the only times she said anything about it (or at least her suspicions about what the students were doing) to another member of the staff were when the rest of the school or students could be endangered by it.

(It took a long... you've got a tail!")

"That's the chapter." Neville said after a moment, being the one to get up and check the book after a few moments.

"I really don't think I like that ghost." Sirius said, frowning in distaste.

"Agreed." Most of the people in the room said at once.

Draco hummed. "She can be unpleasant, but she can also be a good listener." He glanced at Harry and looked away again while Harry pursed his lips, both remembering the bathroom incident the year before.

"You were able to reverse it, though?" Molly checked with Poppy again.

"Yes, I was able to reverse it." Poppy sighed, exasperated with having to repeat herself.

"Alright then, in that case, we will read one more, and then get lunch." Molly reminded the room, to her sons relief.

Chapter thirteen: the Very Secret Diary