Parseltongue

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They managed to get about two hours worth of lessons in (those hours with Dudley were spent figuring out what he already knew and where they should start) before Sirius, Ginny, and Bill came to get their respective charges for bed. It had been decided that Hermione would stay with Luna and Ginny with Ollivander, while the Draco's would stay in Severus's room and Ron would stay in Charlie's room with Percy and Neville. They would continue reading in the morning.

When everyone woke up, they could smell breakfast, and it smelled like heaven.

The Weasley boys (and girl), all frowned slightly. As good as that smelled, it didn't smell like anything their mother had ever made. Ron turned to look at Harry with a silent question (Hermione got them up), and Harry nodded slowly in answer, while Sirius and Remus were looking around their room in confusion, wondering where Harry was. Both Dudleys grinned, looking forward to breakfast, they could smell that Harry had made their favorite, and it wasn't often they got it, especially since Harry left for Hogwarts. Their mother didn't often have the ingredients in the house for Harry to make it.

Having the same thing every morning, no matter how much Dudley liked it, was the one thing she ever told him 'no' about. Oddly enough, it was also probably the healthiest thing he would ever willingly eat when he was younger.

Sure enough, when everyone made it to the kitchen/dining room, they saw Harry pulling several breakfast casseroles out of the oven. Harry shook his head and went to help carry them to the table, along with Molly when she finally shook herself out of her shock.

The table was already full, bowls of scrambled eggs, plates of bacon (being carefully watched by Hedwig) and the casserole dishes being carefully set out. There were also bowls of cut up fruit; strawberries, blueberries, and cantaloupe. The only fruits Dudley would ever consider willingly eating. They were the only ones he liked, so he could safely say they were his favorites.

When everyone started filling their plates, Harry made sure Hedwig had her own plate of bacon and that she knew not to touch the other plates, then started to slowly, at Sirius prompting, fill his own. The six Dursleys dug in, with the boys thanking Harry (Dudley had to remind Dudley), but everyone else looked at the casserole curiously.

"Harry, what is this?" Arthur finally asked curiously. Molly had never made anything like it, it didn't look like any kind of wizarding fare.

"It's breakfast casserole." Harry said, taking some himself. He may have made it before, but he was never allowed to eat any of it.

When the wizards still looked confused, he rolled his eyes. They really needed to get out into the Muggle world now and then. "I found it in one of the cooking magazines Aunt Petunia made me read when I was younger. It's shredded potato, cheddar cheese, ham, egg, and I added wild rice into the mix. Then you bake it."

"There's also some milk in it." Harry added as he started eating his. He nodded in approval, he could see why Dudley liked it so much.

"Well, yeah, I was just mentioning the main ingredients." Harry told his younger self dryly. Harry just shrugged.

Severus looked thoughtful when he started eating. He paused and pointed his fork at Harry. "Tonight, we are starting potions lessons. I expect you in my lab as soon as we are done reading." And he went back to his breakfast. Clearly, he gave up on Harry without even giving him a chance. With the proper grounding in the subject, the boy could potentially rival himself in the lab. And now that he knew Harry never read the intro books, it made his average performance in class that much more impressive.

Harry looked at him shyly and said, "Yes, sir." before he ducked his head to focus on his food.

"Harry, when did you get up this morning?" Sirius finally asked his godson.

Harry looked slightly confused when he answered, "Same time I always do, 5:30. Aunt and Uncle like their breakfast to be on the table when they get up. Except for Dudley's birthdays, or if we have guests over... they sometimes let me sleep in then so they can get his presents out without me getting in the way." What was so odd about when he got up?

"Well, you don't have to anymore. You can sleep as long as you want, well, when your not at school." He amended. "At school you need to be up in time for breakfast and class. And you don't need to cook for us." Sirius said firmly. For a moment there, he'd been afraid the Silencing Charm he'd had around his bed hadn't held and he'd woken the kid up with his nightmares. It was bad enough he'd woken Moony up. But Moony was used to waking up to Sirius' nightmares.

Harry blinked at him, and he mentally sighed. This was obviously a topic that would need to be revisited several times before Harry started to fully understand. From what he could tell, the kid knew that the way the Dursley's treated him was wrong, but at the same time, it was the only thing he knew.

Once everyone ate, with many compliments to the chef, they all moved back to the reading room, where Professor Flitwick set the book back up with the reading charm, making sure he started on the correct page. After a moment, he also shielded it so Harry couldn't change the voices around again.

Harry scoffed when he noticed, "Professor, a joke is only good once." He informed the tiny Charms Master. Flitwick raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. The other pranksters nodded in agreement with Harry, while Molly narrowed her eyes at her boys.

(Chapter nine, the Midnight Duel)

"Harry James Potter!" Molly screeched. "You..."

"MOLLY/MOM!" Arthur, Bill, Sirius, and Remus all snapped, while Harry looked at her with wide eyes. She just yelled at him. She never yelled at him before. What just happened?

"While I don't agree with Molly going after you for it, I still hope you didn't do it. Wandering the castle at night is one thing, dueling other students is another." Remus said quietly to him. Harry grimaced at him.

"Don't worry, there was no duel." He said. Remus narrowed his eyes, but didn't say anything else. He knew that Harry had been wandering, and there was probably a duel planned, but it didn't happen for some reason or other.

(Harry had never believed... he met Draco Malfoy.)

Draco flinched. From what he'd heard, Dudley used to be pretty bad. Harry lived with him, he had just met Draco that week and he already thought Draco was worse than his cousin at that age (his cousin had obviously grown up since). "I made a very bad impression, didn't I?" He asked his godfather quietly.

"You did what you thought your father would do, instead of what I taught you to do when meeting new people." Severus said just as quietly. "But, maybe some of the fault is mine, I didn't keep a close enough eye on you at school, and I wasn't around when you were growing up as much as either of us wanted."

Draco looked at Severus, startled, "No, you told me how to act if I wanted real friends, instead of followers, and I didn't follow your advice." Severus quirked a small smile at his godson, but didn't say anything else.

(Still, first year Gryffindors only... up with Malfoy much.)

"Well, theoretically. Somehow, he always seems to find us in the hallways, and he's always coming over in the Great Hall for something or other." Hermione said reasonably.

Harry couldn't tell if she was teasing Draco, just pointing out the facts, or insinuating something. And if she was insinuating something, he couldn't figure out what it could be.

Draco turned red knowing she was right, he did go a little out of his way to find them sometimes. Mostly, as they got older, to find reason to taunt them some more, but when they were younger it was still with hopes of friendship. Those hopes died quickly.

(Or at least, they didn't... that made them all groan.)

"Is it...?" Sirius started, but didn't finish it yet. He looked hopefully excited.

(Flying lessons would be... would be learning together.)

"It is!" Sirius crowed. "I get to hear all about you learning to fly! If you can handle a beauty like that," he said, jerking his thumb to the corner where Harry's Firebolt hung on the rack that appeared after he was done polishing some of the scuff marks out, "at your age, then you have to be a natural!"

Harry grinned at him, "You know, Siri, while we're here, you could actually teach mini me how to fly." Harry reminded his godfather.

Sirius looked like he might actually pass out from joy, while Harry looked excited at the idea too.

Remus grinned at his friends good mood, before he turned to ask, "Why on earth are Gryffindors and Slytherins always paired up in the most dangerous classes? I get that they're still young and not likely to cause as much damage, but when they get older..."

There was no answer from Dumbledore, the one who set the schedule. Just when the silence started to last long enough for the charm on the book to keep reading, he answered. "It is my hope, that by making them study together, the rivalry would hopefully abate."

Everyone stared at each other incredulously. "Albus, the classes have been like this for years, and it has not happened. Maybe it's time to try a different approach." Minerva said gently. Albus looked at her for a second before he nodded shortly.

("Typical," said Harry darkly... broomstick in front of Malfoy.")

"That is not at all what happened." Ron said with a giant grin on his face.

"I wish I was there to actually see it, it sounded amazing." Neville said. He had heard about it when he got up the next morning after the incident with the Cerberus, needless to say, Harry had not shared details when he stopped by the Hospital Wing before Neville was released to return his Remembrall. Draco winced, he lied to his godfather about how exactly this happened, too. Although, his godfather had already called him out on that not long after the incident (having heard the real story in the halls), it was still a painful reminder.

Although, the fact that Harry was worried about making a fool of himself in front of him specifically, was both pleasing and troubling.

(He had been looking... more than anything else.)

"I used to watch the birds around Privet Drive and wish I could just fly away like they could whenever trouble came too close." Harry said wistfully, he glanced at his broom, longing in his eyes. It had been a while since he flew...

"How about we go for a spin later tonight?" Charlie asked with a grin on his face.

"Yeah, I'm sure these rooms could provide a space big enough, we could have a game!" Ron said, he hadn't flown in a while, either.

Both red-heads were satisfied when Harry lit up, agreeing enthusiastically.

"While you guys have your game, me and the kiddo can have our lesson after dinner. That way, Severus will have you in the lab I'm sure he's already created, before dinner. Not that I'm really expecting to have to show you much..." Sirius said thoughtfully to Harry. "I expect you could probably fly circles around professionals the first time you got on a broom." Sirius said to Harry, who shrugged with a grin.

Sirius nodded, satisfied with the plans while he pulled Harry into his side. He was already considering what broom he should have the Room give him for Harry's first time, that the kid could remember, anyway.

("You don't know that... bet that's all talk.")

Ron, Harry, and Hermione shared a grin when they remembered how Madam Hooch corrected Draco's grip.

Although, the boys both knew that grips were not necessarily universal on a broom, but rather what worked best and was most comfortable for you as an individual. It had still been fun watching him be told he'd been doing it wrong after listening to him brag all week.

(Malfoy certainly did talk about flying a lot.)

"Along with all the other boys." Hermione said dryly, looking pointedly at Ron, who didn't even have the grace to look sheepish.

"But, 'Mione... QUIDDITCH!" He exclaimed.

While most of the boys nodded in agreement, including Charlie and the twins, the adults all laughed or rolled their eyes.

Harry just grinned.

Quidditch (sports in general, actually), was just one thing Hermione would never understand. Didn't seem to want to, either. She'd never been very athletic.

(He complained loudly about... the House Quidditch teams.)

"Its not so much as first years not being allowed. Its mostly the fact that most first years have never even ridden a broom until they get to Hogwarts." Hermione started. "That, coupled with the rule against first years bringing their own brooms to school with them. I'm sure that if a first year actually tried out, and was good enough, they would get the position just like any other year." She finished with a shrug. Draco blinked at her.

"You don't count, Harry. Since you never actually tried out." Neville pointed out when he saw Harry opening his mouth. Harry's mouth shut with a very audible 'click', making a few people chuckle.

"Just so, Ms. Granger. Try not to spread that around though, I'm sure Poppy sees enough Quidditch injuries without adding a bunch of first years trying out for the teams when they can't even fly decently." Minerva said, glancing between the two Hermione's. Both of the girls nodded and said, "Yes, ma'am."

(and told long, boastful... escaping Muggles in helicopters.)

"Do you even know what a helicopter is?" Hermione asked, amused. She hadn't heard about any of this.

"Yes?" Draco asked more than stated. "Its a Muggle flying machine. The one with the blades at the top that spin really fast. I still don't know how its possible though." He finished with a shrug, trying to avoid his godfather's piercing stare.

Severus sighed quietly before he turned to Draco. "Don't let your father see the Muggle magazines, and try not to leave them at my place." He muttered just loud enough for the boy to hear. He had wondered where that magazine came from, it had the latest models of helicopters and planes. Unfortunately, Lucius saw it and had a fit. He actually forbade Severus from seeing Draco for several months, even cancelling the potions harvesting trip he'd been planning with the boy. You would have thought that Severus had just been revealed as a spy (and traitor to the Dark Lord), not that he was in possession of a Muggle magazine. It wasn't even his magazine, now he knew it to be Draco's.

(He wasn't the only one... countryside on his broomstick.)

"That was the most believable story we were told." Hermione muttered.

"Yeah, most of the wizard raised had some pretty wild stories." Harry said with a grin, staring at Ron out of the corner of his eye. Neville looked vaguely amused, he was pretty much the only wizard-raised boy who didn't have some wild story.

(Even Ron)

Ron turned red in embarrassment before he blanched when he remembered just what he said, and he glanced fearfully at his brother.

(would tell anyone who'd... on Charlie's old broom.)

Charlie's eyes widened. Hermione didn't notice that, nor did she notice how both Rons was glancing fearfully at his older brother, who was slowly turning red with anger, while his other siblings looked warily between the two brothers.

"Do you even know what a hang glider is?" She'd been surprised enough that Draco knew what helicopters were, although she would have to get him some books later on that went into the mechanics of it.

"What were you doing on my broom?" Charlie asked dangerously, before Ron could get a chance to answer Hermione (he did have a slight idea what it was, thank you very much).

Ron gulped and sunk into the couch, "Uh, it was just the once?" He tried while his younger self nodded frantically in agreement, but knew that Charlie was very protective of his broom, he had worked hard to earn the money for it, a decent broom, after all. Even going so far as to get a Muggle job in the village nearby, and then taking his earnings from that to Gringotts to exchange it for Galleons.

"Just the..." Charlie sputtered for a moment while his parents exchanged looks behind everyone's backs. "You know how hard I worked to earn enough money for that broom, I specifically said when I brought it home, that nobody else was to even touch it! That wasn't a family broom, that was MY broom!" Molly got up and gently pulled him out of his seat and steered him out of the room, still ranting about disobedient little brothers who had no respect for another's belongings, or another's wishes regarding their belongings.

The majority of the room, especially Draco and Severus, were staring, slightly wide-eyed, at the door where Charlie and Molly had disappeared through.

Arthur cleared his throat after a moment, while the rest of the Weasley's stared at the youngest boy with raised eyebrows. "Ron, you knew Charlie's broom was off limits." He scolded lightly, both boys were still trying to hide in the couch cushions. "Let's just continue reading." He suggested tiredly.

(Everyone from wizarding families... big argument with Dean Thomas,)

"I remember that," Neville said fondly. "I honestly thought he was going to kill you." Everyone else looked startled.

"Yeah... it was a good thing the Head Boy broke it up when he did..." Harry said in agreement.

"What exactly did Ron say?" Hermione asked, curious. This was something else she hadn't heard, which was shocking considering this was Hogwarts they were talking about. Gryffindor Tower in particular. If the school thought the Hogwarts grapevine was good, that was nothing on how the gossip flew around the Tower.

"He bad-mouthed soccer."

Hermione's jaw dropped in shock and horror. She may not like sports much, but even she followed soccer, to a point. She'd never be as fanatic about it as others (Dean Thomas) were. She turned to face Ron. Then, abruptly, she turned to face her younger self, who was also staring at the red-head in shock, and the two shared a determined nod before turning their gazes on the youngest redhead in the room.

They had a lot of work to do. The red-heads survival might depend on their success.

(who shared their dormitory... no one was allowed to fly.)

Hermione's head hit the cushion behind her. "Ronald," She began, in her 'I've told you this a thousand times' voice, "Muggles CAN'T fly. It's not that they aren't allowed to fly, it's that they CAN'T. Because to fly like that, requires magic. Which is something that MUGGLES DON'T HAVE." She said forcefully.

Harry stifled his grin, no matter how often he and Hermione reminded him, he always seemed to forget that the things he grew up with, magic and brooms and whatnot, required you to have magic. And that you couldn't use them if you didn't have magic... Muggles didn't even know magic existed, so how on earth were they supposed to have all this stuff that required magic?

Ron just turned red while his brothers snickered.

(Harry had caught Ron... to make the players move.)

Hermione face-palmed and ran her hand down her face, exasperated, but she didn't say anything this time.

(Neville had never been on... with both feet on the ground.)

"Sorry, mate." Harry said, wincing.

Neville shrugged. "Nah, don't worry about it. It's true, after all. I was pretty clumsy back then."

Hermione cocked her head at him. "Yeah... you have really grown into yourself, haven't you?" She asked fondly, making Neville turn bright red.

(Hermione Granger was almost... book- not that she hadn't tried.)

"Ugh, she was even driving the older years insane, as if none of us knew how to fly! She had to be rescued from quoting Quidditch Through the Ages to Oliver." Fred said seriously. Hermione turned bright red when he said how she was driving everyone crazy.

Harry's eyes widened and he reached out and grabbed her arm, squeezing it to reassure himself that she was here, safe. And far, far away from an Oliver Wood on a Quidditch rant.

"Woah, that's one of the worst mistakes you can make." Neville said, eyes wide and jaw dropped.

The Quidditch players who played under the former captain nodded seriously. They remembered well the amount of times they got to class late or spent hours sitting in the locker room early in the morning, just listening to Oliver talk about Quidditch plays, or point differences, or various strategies he wanted them to use the next day during the game.

"Why is that so bad?" Hermione asked, she hadn't seen any of it happening, she was usually too into her book to pay attention to the boys.

"It would be the equivalent of when Ron was bad mouthing soccer. Only, instead of an argument..." Harry said, trailing off when her eyes widened in realization and horror. She would have been treated to hours upon hours of Oliver Wood ranting about Quidditch, going on about how she didn't know (how could she not know?!), telling her every single intricate detail about the rules and how a game generally went, along with every single game statistic to ever exist.

Minerva listened to all this, slightly worried. Had she given Oliver a little too much free rein as Captain? Maybe she should have kept a better eye on the boy. She included it in the list for her younger self to take care of.

(At breakfast on Thursday she... called Quidditch Through the Ages.)

Sirius groaned and turned to his younger godson. "Don't listen to any of that. The tips in that book are next to worthless. Besides, flying isn't something you can't be told, it has to be shown." He said cheerfully, still excited over the chance to go flying with his godson. The boy nodded his understanding, although his eyes held some confusion, while Hermione groaned and hid her face behind her hands and her hair.

It may have calmed down over the years, but it was still nice and bushy.

Harry and Ron laughed and wrapped their arms around her from where they sat sandwiching her between them.

(Neville was hanging on to... by the arrival of the mail.)

Hermione turned red in embarrassment, although this time she also looked a little hurt. Harry and Ron just squeezed her tighter and leaned over to whisper in her ear while the book continued.

Sirius bit his lip slightly, before glancing at Neville. "You know... if you would relax, and stop thinking so much about it... you will find flying to be so much more enjoyable, and much less nerve-racking." He said gently.

"Not to mention, you will have less chance of falling off, since you won't be so tense." Remus added, somewhat sheepishly. It had taken a while for James and Sirius to get that same information into his thick skull. He'd been like Neville, and he was terrified. Sirius and James hadn't let him stay that way for long, though.

(Harry hadn't had a single letter since Hagrid's note,)

Remus frowned. "I sent at least two letters after you got to school." He turned to Harry. "You never got either of them?" Harry shook his head. He sat back and frowned, before he looked at Dumbledore suspiciously.

(something that Malfoy had been quick to notice, of course.)

"And there it is again." Hermione muttered.

Severus tilted his head to the side. "You know, they have a point. You have spent an unusual amount of time watching Mr. Potter over the years." He said quietly to his godson with a raised eyebrow. Draco just turned red and didn't answer. Severus sighed softly.

(Malfoy's eagle owl was... seemed to be full of white smoke.)

"Huh." Sirius said. "Your mother had one of those. She said it was both very helpful, and at the same time extremely unhelpful."

"Tell me about it." Neville grumbled. "It would be so much better if it could tell you what you've forgotten too!" He exclaimed. He then sat back and started grumbling about 'stupid, unhelpful balls'. Although, he was pleased to hear that his mother had one, too.

"You remembered eventually, though." Harry said, trying to comfort his friend. Neville just gave him a dark look and went back to his grumbling.

("It's a Remembrall!" he explained... had suddenly glowed scarlet,)

"Don't worry, Alice's Remembrall was always red." Remus reassured Neville, who beamed at hearing this information about his mother. His gran never really talked about her much... She never really talked about either of his parents much, it was too painful. Occasionally, she would mention something when she thought Neville wasn't living up to her expectations about them, but that was about it.

("... you've forgotten something...")

"Now if only it would tell you what you've forgotten..." Neville grumbled some more.

"Why don't you try and do something about that?" Harry asked him. "I'm sure the Twins would be able to help you out if you want, they're good at inventing stuff." He pointed out.

Neville stared at Harry and blinked for a moment. "Harry... you're a genius!" He finally burst out. The next anybody knew, he had a Remembrall in his hand and there was a piece of parchment on the table in front of him. Fred and George glanced at each other before they got up to sit nearby so he could ask them whatever questions he needed without disturbing the rest of the group.

(Neville was trying to remember... the Remembrall out of his hand.)

"Why were you passing the Gryffindor table? The Gryffindor and Slytherin tables are on opposite sides of the room, that way the other two houses serve as a barrier." Ginny asked.

Again, Draco turned red, but refused to answer, causing his godfather to look at him in concern. Draco turned red, too. He had a feeling he knew, but he wasn't saying anything, either.

(Harry and Ron jumped to... a reason to fight Malfoy,)

Both boys ignored the stern looks they got for that. In their opinion, it was highly justified, Malfoy just would not leave them alone! No matter where they went, it seemed he was always there, he was always taunting, always picking. They had been getting sick and tired of it, so yes. They had been waiting for an opportunity to make him back off.

If the teachers didn't like it, then tough.

(but Professor McGonagall, who... school, was there in a flash.)

"Aw man, couldn't you have waited?" Sirius whined a bit and pouted. Although, he knew that he was partially, James could take some of the blame as well, to blame for her fast response time.

"No, I could not have." Minerva said, eyeing Sirius sternly. "And I was already watching, after all, Mr. Malfoy had no reason that I could see to be over there." She said with a small shrug.

("What's going on?"

"Malfoy's... back on the table.

"Just looking.")

Minerva treated him to a look. "I have heard that excuse too often to believe that, Mr. Malfoy." She said with a raised eyebrow, causing him to look somewhat sheepish. Sirius shifted, slightly uncomfortable, and avoided looking at Severus, who glared at him. Remus just sighed.

(he said, and he sloped... and Goyle behind him.)

"Like always." Harry, Ron, and Hermione said together.

"Is there ever a time when they aren't behind you?" Neville asked Draco.

He sighed and shook his head. "The only time they aren't is when I'm in the bathroom, or I leave them in the kitchens for a while." He considered for a moment. "Or when I'm home, but... that's home. So, I don't think it really counts."

Ginny made a face. "Do you have any privacy?" She asked. He shook his head. Now all the Weasley's made a face. Coming from such a big family, in such a small house, they all knew just how valuable just a little privacy can be, they all had their own little spot somewhere on the property that was their space for just this purpose. If they needed to get away, they went there for a little time to themselves.

(At three-thirty that afternoon... for their first flying lesson.)

Sirius sat forward in his seat, now that the good part of the chapter was here. This was what he'd been waiting for since the chapter started, it certainly took long enough for the book to get this far. Remus shook his head at his pack-mates enthusiasm.

It was good to have the old, pre-Azkaban Sirius back. Even if it was mostly an act for his godson.

(It was a clear, breezy day, and... swaying darkly in the distance.)

"Whoa." Ginny muttered. "This book is very descriptive. Whoever wrote it in the future is very good at writing." She said, and a few others nodded in agreement. They hadn't noticed that earlier in the book, probably because there was so much other stuff going on that they were paying more attention to.

(The Slytherins were already... in neat lines on the ground.)

"Those things stopped being brooms years ago." All the Weasley's and Harry muttered. And it was true, those things weren't brooms anymore, they were death-traps. Draco nodded in agreement.

(Harry had heard Fred and... always flew slightly to the left.)

"They should have been replaced years ago." Most of the students muttered, glaring slightly at their teachers.

"We know." The four Heads of House all said in unison. "Madam Hooch has tried to order new brooms for years," Minerva continued.

"Every year he denies her request, stating an insufficient budget." Pomona said, gesturing to Dumbledore, who looked absolutely unconcerned.

"So, we went to the Board of Governors, they cleared up some money specifically for new brooms, and none of us know where that money actually went." Filius finished.

"All of us staff have tried to put aside some of our own budgets, but that money usually disappears somewhere else too." Severus finished. The Twins looked at the teachers in slight awe.

"... We will be having a long discussion about this later." Sirius said to Dumbledore, bewildered and a little angry. He would control himself, since his godson was in the room, and not yell at the Headmaster when the younger children were in earshot. They didn't need that image of their Headmaster before school even started. He could control himself sometimes.

"Something I've been wondering for years, is why none of the really rich parents whose families have gone to Hogwarts for generations, and now have children there, don't do something about it and donate some new brooms. If Malfoy Sr can donate brooms just for Slytherin team, then why can't they donate some decent brooms for the school?" Harry asked suddenly.

Sirius snorted. "Where do you think the current school brooms came from?" He asked.

"Huh?"

"The current school brooms were donated in our fifth year by one Charlus Potter. He got tired of reading reports during Governor meetings about students going to the Hospital Wing because the brooms were old and unsafe." Remus explained, and Harry blinked at him.

"Why don't any of the current Board members do that?" Fred asked his brother, who shrugged. He honestly had no words.

"I think it's time for another donation from the Potter family." Harry muttered.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Actually, I think it's the Black families turn." He said simply, bought and donated by Harry's grandfather or not, he didn't want him riding those old things. They sounded very unsafe. The teachers looked at him gratefully, and Poppy looked like she might burst into tears of joy.

(Their teacher, Madam Hooch... yellow eyes like a hawk.)

"She's been there forever." Everybody jumped when they heard Charlie's voice. He and Molly had come in while everyone was listening to the explanation about where the current brooms came from, and stayed by the door.

Everyone could see that Charlie was much calmer, although Ron still shrunk back when he got a dark look in his direction.

("Well, what are you all... stuck out at odd angles.)

Sirius grimaced. "Oh, yes. Definitely getting the school new brooms." He muttered, and started looking through the catalogue that appeared. He wanted to familiarize himself with what models they'd come out with since he'd gone to prison. That way, when Moody got him out, he would already have something in mind, and he could make the donation first thing, well... first thing after getting Harry away from his awful relatives.

Obviously he couldn't get Nimbus 2000's (unfortunately). Not for a bunch of first years to learn on, but it did need to be a good model.

He was definitely getting one for Harry, though. He was pretty sure the kid could handle it just fine.

("Stick out your right... the front, "and said 'Up!'")

Sirius' head snapped up and he set the catalogue aside for a bit so he could focus more on hearing about his godson's first time (that he would remember, anyway) on a broom. Remus noticed and chuckled.

("UP!" everyone shouted.

Harry's broom jumped into his hand at once,)

Sirius cheered. "That means he's made for being in the air!" He grinned. Harry grinned too, it was good to see his dogfather in a good mood like this.

(but it was one of the few... tell when you were afraid,)

"Well," Filius started. "When brooms are made, the makers cast a series of intent-based charms through the entire process, and intent-based runes are carved on the inside of the wood itself, so... Yes, I suppose, in a sense, they can tell when you are afraid. Seeing as they operate based on their riders intent to the best of their capability." He explained.

Both Hermione's looked excited by the new information, but Harry and Pomona stopped them before they could start firing off a million and one questions, they appreciated the girls love for knowledge, but there were times where they just needed to be patient and wait before asking their questions.

And when they were in the middle of the reading, was probably not the best time to start firing off questions, they could wait until they were done for the day, just like Hermione told Arthur to do for all the Muggle things that were in the books.

Although, she wasn't the only one that looked interested, although all the Quidditch nuts in the room already knew that information, of course they did, they were Quidditch nuts!

(thought Harry; there was a... to keep his feet on the ground.)

Hermione winced. "Yeah, me too." She actually looked a little green at the thought of flying right now. She really did NOT like heights.

(Madam Hooch then showed... been doing it wrong for years.)

"Which is completely wrong, there is no right or wrong grip on a broom, it's whatever is comfortable for you." Draco grumbled. The Weasley's nodded in agreement. Severus hid a smile and patted him consolingly on the back. Draco shot him a glare, but there was no heat behind it.

"She tries to teach a uniform grip to the first years, mostly to make it easier for the Muggleborns who haven't yet developed their seats. Over time, obviously, they will develop something that is more comfortable for them, but she provides a good starting base. I don't know why she would say you'd been doing it wrong for years, though." Pomona explained.

("Now, when I blow my...

"Come back, boy!" she shouted,)

"She kind of sounded like my old recess monitor when we were younger. She'd just yell, and never do anything." Harry said with a shrug.

Dudley laughed and nodded his agreement, while Remus tilted his head before saying that he remembered her, "To be honest, she kind of creeped me out a little, she would never leave me alone. Always asking me to take her out to dinner sometime, she never took no for an answer, she showed up at my apartment once... " He shuddered. Sirius patted him consolingly on the back.

(but Neville was rising straight... bottle- twelve feet- twenty feet.)

"That's not supposed to happen."

"No matter how hard you kicked off before you were supposed to." Sirius and Remus both said, their eyes wide.

Minerva's eyes were wide, too. She knew Neville got hurt, and she knew those brooms weren't the safest, but she didn't know this happened! All she knew was that Neville had fallen off and the broom left for the Forest.

(Harry saw his scared white... sideways off the broom and-)

A few people winced, knowing what was about to happen. Luna and Ginny both grabbed one of Neville's hands, squeezing them in comfort.

(WHAM- a thud and... on the grass in a heap.)

Nearly everyone in the room winced, and Molly eyed Neville like she was about to go over and start fussing, but thankfully, Arthur kept ahold of her.

"Were you alright?" The Quidditch players that weren't there asked in unison, eyeing Neville in concern.

He grimaced, but nodded. "Just broke my wrist. Nothing Madam Pomfrey couldn't handle." He said with a brief smile.

"I imagine this didn't help your fear of flying..." Sirius said with a wry grin. Neville smiled sheepishly and shook his head.

(His broomstick was still... forbidden forest and out of sight.)

"What is with enchanted items like that and disappearing into the forest?" Ron muttered to the other two. Everyone looked over to follow their conversation.

Harry shrugged while Hermione looked thoughtful. "Maybe... maybe it's because of all the ambient magic in the forest? It's an ancient place, it's close to a school practically oozing magical energy from all the students over the years, and the land Hogwarts and the forest sits on is right over some crisscrossing ley-lines." She said.

When Ron looked at her odd for knowing about the ley-lines, she huffed. "It's in Hogwarts, A History. And, I talked to Godric. The Founders connected the Ward Stone to the ley-lines under the school. That way, all the Wards would need over the centuries would be occasional maintenance. They wouldn't need to be constantly powered, of course, in order for them to not drain the ley-lines dry, Godric said that Rowena Ravenclaw managed to fix it so that the wards ALSO got some of their power from the magical excess coming from all the students. However because of the sheer amount of students over the centuries, added to the ley-line, not all of that excess actually goes into the wards."

"Which is why I've always said that the castle is sentient." Harry piped up, reminding his two friends of ongoing theory. A theory that Hermione had, for years, dismissed as being impossible. She blinked at him, then flushed slightly as she realized that she had just proved Harry's point.

"Right, so... anyway. All that magic in the air, in the ground, in the trees themselves... for an enchanted object like out-of-control brooms and enchanted cars, the forest must seem like paradise." She finished.

"An excellent theory, Miss Granger, one that I'm sure you will enjoy researching once we are done with the reading." Dumbledore said, slightly impressed. To be honest, he really hadn't been expecting the girl to be this smart, she was Muggleborn, after all, and Muggleborn didn't usually show such knowledge about the magical world. Ever. No matter how books they read, but then again... maybe they were just reading the wrong books. He got a thoughtful look on his face, completely missing the looks some of the others were giving him, like they weren't quite sure how to react to his assessment of her theory. Maybe he should go back and talk to Godric again... it had been a while. And perhaps call a meeting with the ghosts and older portraits... see if Godric knew anything about if the other three had portraits as well. Get a historian in there to write a, perhaps more accurate an unbiased version of events, and perhaps a new class wouldn't be remiss, either. One that focused completely on the history of the school, instead of wizards on a whole...

He thought back to the editions of Hogwarts, A History that some of the others had been given, and mentally asked the room for his own. He figured he might as well take advantage of that unique feature of this wonderful room, especially since these books were something that not even he owned, nor were they all even in the Headmaster's library, despite the fact that it had been added to for centuries by every Headmaster in the history of Hogwarts. He glanced towards the letter Severus was writing to his younger self and grimaced. Perhaps if he could also bring some rare ingredients back with him as well...

Yes, those might make a good peace offering. He would take care of that later though, in private.

(Madam Hooch was bending over Neville, her face as white as his.)

"I had to give her a Calming Draught after that, for a moment there, she honestly thought the fall had killed Neville, and then she was so relieved to find him with nothing more severe than a broken wrist..." Poppy explained.

Sirius winced and started going through the catalogue again. This time he started marking a few that looked like they might be good options for a bunch of first years to ride on. He also marked a few that would be good to be set aside just for students to use on the Quidditch pitch. Either for official games if something happened to their broom, or just a quick pick-up game if they didn't have their broom at school with them. He knew that most students didn't bother bringing their own broom with them unless they were on the team. Less chance of something happening to it, that way. Brooms could be expensive, after all.

("Broken wrist," Harry heard... say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear.")

"Did she just leave a bunch of eleven year olds outside with brooms and instructions to NOT use them?" Filius asked blankly.

"Forget their age, she just left a group of eleven year old GRYFFINDOR and SLYTHERIN students outside with no supervision." Severus corrected, his blinking eyes the only sign of shock.

"That's just asking for trouble." Pomona said, while Minerva sighed. Maybe she should have let the students explain what happened, after all, instead of brushing them off like she did. Of course, it wouldn't have changed her decision of putting Harry on the team, but she would at the very least have known if somebody needed punished, she probably let somebody get away with starting all the trouble in the first place. But, when she got outside, Harry was the only one in the air.

"I'm sure the students behaved." Albus said placatingly.

The teachers all looked at him blankly. "Albus... I think you've spent too much time up in that office of yours, and not nearly enough time with the students." Minerva said. The old man seemed to have forgotten how children and teenagers could be sometimes.

(Neville, his face tear-streaked... who had her arm around him.)

"Wait, was something wrong with your leg, too?" Harry asked in concern. He hadn't really noticed the hobble the first time.

Neville nodded his head. "Sprained my ankle." A few people winced, that wasn't pleasant.

(No sooner were they out of earshot than Malfoy burst into laughter.)

Nearly all the Lions in the room shot Draco a dirty look while Severus shot both his godsons a warning look, they knew full well that he would not tolerate bullying behavior of any kind. Reading this now though... he had to wonder just how much his godson had gotten away with over the years. The Draco in question sank back into his seat and shot Neville an apologetic look.

Neville himself shrunk down in himself a little before he seemed to catch himself and sent a glare of his own until he saw the apology in his eyes, which he accepted with narrowed eyes.

("Did you see his face, the great lump?"

The other Slytherins joined in.)

Severus' look darkened. "And they wonder why the rest of the school labels them as such." He muttered, then added it to his letter, making sure that younger him knew to keep a better eye out. Oh, he made sure his Snakes knew how he expected them to behave, but it appeared that when he wasn't around, they went and did the exact opposite.

("Shut up, Malfoy," snapped Parvati Patil...like fat little crybabies, Parvati.")

"Wait a minute, those two hate each other. So... why are they on a first name basis?" Hermione asked, tilting her head to the side.

"The Patils father is the ambassador from Magical India. So, they have to go to a lot of Ministry and social functions, they don't just stick with the Light or Dark families, either. As a foreign official, he has to go to them all as a neutral party. The Patil twins would have had to go along to a lot of them, so they already knew pretty much all the purebloods at school before they got there." Neville said before Draco could even open his mouth to answer.

Draco nodded. "Parvati and Pansy used to be pretty close, actually... when we were younger. They got into a huge fight at the Parkinson's summer ball just before Hogwarts started, though. Hated each other ever since." He added.

("Look!" said Malfoy, darting... talking to watch.

Malfoy smiled nastily.)

Severus's eyes narrowed. "You better not be thinking of doing anything... unSlytherin-like." He whispered softly in his godsons ear. Draco went pale.

("I think I'll leave it somewhere... find- how about- up a tree?")

Severus sighed and pinched his nose. Honestly... he tormented Harry Potter all those years for being just like his father, where at this moment in the book, his own godson was behaving more like James Potter than Harry Potter ever did.

Draco got a few more looks for this, but nobody said anything.

They wanted to see what Harry would do about the situation.

("Give it here!" Harry yelled, but... been lying, he could fly well.)

Both Draco's puffed up, of course they could fly well. They were Malfoy's, they'd been flying all their lives. When they were younger, and their mother had finally relented that they were old enough to not fall and die (it took, much, much convincing), their father hired a professional Quidditch player on the Irish team to come out and teach him.

So, of course he could fly well.

"Not nearly as good as our Harry, though." Ron remarked to the rest of the Gryffindor's who'd ever seen Harry fly or play. They nodded in agreement. Draco gave them a sulky glare. Although he would forever deny the sulky bit.

"Hey, Bill, remember that one time when we were trying to teach Ron how to fly?" Charlie suddenly asked his older brother, out of nowhere. Ron's eyes went wide and he turned bright red.

"Oh, yeah... wasn't he hovering for only a few seconds when...?" Ron was suddenly standing behind them, with his hands covering their mouths, glaring. His face was a bright red that really couldn't have been healthy, and he was breathing a little hard, probably because of the effort involved in getting behind his brothers to stop them from doing their duty as older brothers. And that, was to embarrass the younger siblings.

Both men raised their hands in a surrender position, and when Ron slowly lifted his hands away, they had the biggest smirks on their faces. Draco was a little disappointed. He wanted to hear what was so embarrassing, and at the same time he was jealous. He suddenly wished he had an older sibling that could teach him things.

Having lessons from a famous Quidditch player was good and all, but at the same time...

(Hovering level with the topmost... it, Potter!"

Harry grabbed his broom.)

Sirius perked up, they were about to hear of his pups first time on a broom, he could tell. Oh, yes, it would get him in trouble if one of the other kids told a teacher, or a teacher overheard, or even if a teacher saw... but at the same time he was doing it to help a friend.

Maybe not the stance that others would want him to take, as a responsible adult (yeah right), but he knew that his pup would never think of getting an adults help first, before he tried to just fix it himself.

("No!" shouted Hermione Granger... you'll get us all into trouble.")

"Hermione, the only way the rest of you will get in trouble is if you go up there in the air with him." Charlie pointed out. Even Percy looked surprised at this point of view Hermione had.

She pinked up. "When I was at primary school, my teacher worked based on a policy of, if one of them is guilty, ALL of them are guilty, because all of them should have stopped the one and didn't." She explained quietly. A few of the people gave her funny looks, although a couple of the teachers looked like one mystery had been solved.

They had always wondered why she seemed to be of the opinion sometimes that if one person got into trouble, they all would. Of course, that had gotten better since her and the boys became practically inseparable, but... she had her moments where that attitude would come back.

Pomona pulled Hermione's attention to her from where they were sharing a couch and whispered, "That's also not the best way to make your peers like having you around. If you want to begin making friends, I would start with not spouting rules all the time, and relax a little." She gave the younger girl a smile. Hermione had told her the night before that she didn't really have any friends growing up, because none of the other kids wanted to be near her. They always called her a teacher's pet, because she did well on her work, (so well that she was actually advanced a grade and would have been again if it weren't for her Hogwarts letter coming and the fact that her parents hadn't wanted her to be totally cut off from kids her age) and obeyed all the rules, making sure the others knew that they were to do the same.

Hermione looked confused about something, "But aren't rules important? They are there for a reason."

"Yes, they are. However... and, as a teacher, I probably shouldn't be saying this, mind, but I have found that rules aren't concrete. There will always be circumstances that make breaking a rule necessary. Also, it's not called your teenage years if a few rules aren't broken, it's part of growing up. Yes, you shouldn't just let them get away with just doing whatever they want, but at the same time, you aren't their mother, or a teacher. It's not your job to reinforce the rules, obey them, yes. When necessary, remind others that the rule is there, sure. But not to be their boss. It can be a balancing act."

(Harry ignored her.)

"You do that a lot." Hermione muttered beside him. He gave her a crooked grin that he knew she just couldn't really stay mad at, and she scowled, before relenting.

(Blood was pounding in his ears... this was easy, this was wonderful.)

"You have always looked more at ease and happier in the air." Hermione murmured. Harry grinned, then glanced at his Firebolt in longing. He couldn't wait until that pick-up game tonight.

(He pulled his broomstick up... midair. Malfoy looked stunned.)

"I wasn't really expecting you to be able to follow me." Said Malfoy said with a small shrug. Harry snorted, but didn't say anything.

("Give it here," Harry called, "or I'll knock you off that broom!")

"I wouldn't have really knocked him off!" Harry said hastily, throwing his hands up in surrender, when people turned stern eyes and glares (Severus) his way. "Maybe if we were a lot closer to the ground... give him a bruise at worse. That height could have killed him." That seemed to placate some people, although Severus continued to give him a somewhat dark look.

And if either of the Draco's were uncomfortable with how tight his grip on their knees was, they didn't say anything.

("Oh, yeah?" said Malfoy, trying to sneer, but looking worried.)

"I couldn't decide if you were serious or not about actually trying to knock me off." Draco said with a shrug. Severus grip on his knee tightened, if it was possible.

(Harry knew, somehow, what to do.)

"It's instinct." Sirius said in awed realization.

"You know how rare it is to find an instinctual flyer." Charlie asked the room. A few of them nodded in agreement. It was very rare.

"Huh?" Harry asked, sounding very confused about what they were talking about.

"Flying for you is instinct. It's rare for that to happen, really. People in general are meant to stay on the ground." Hermione said. "Or, maybe it's not actually all that rare, it's just not mentioned." She added with a shrug.

"There is a recent theory in the Transfiguration community, that instinctual flyers would have a bird animagus. Unfortunately, nobodies been able to really test that theory, as Ms. Granger said, it's not really mentioned. Plus, those that are known to be instinctual flyers, aren't interested in being an Animagus, or they physically don't have the ability to be one." Minerva said, looking interested.

"Another theory is that they have creature blood in their family tree. One of the ones capable of flight, of course. Of course, anymore nobody's going to admit to having creature blood in their family, so there's no way to really prove that, either." Remus pointed out.

(He leaned forward and grasped... people below were clapping.)

"It was very impressive, especially since that was his first time even touching a broom. Well," Ron glanced at Sirius and Remus and thought about the torn picture they found in Sirius's bedroom at Grimmauld Place. "That he remembered, anyway."

"I was so shocked by him coming towards me that I barely remembered to move." Draco mumbled. He didn't want to admit to being terr- shocked. Yes, he was shocked. Severus squeezed his knee again.

("No Crabbe and Goyle up here to save your neck, Malfoy," Harry called.)

Draco sighed and whined. "It's not my fault! They won't leave me alone, their fathers ordered them to follow everywhere!" He huffed. "It doesn't help any that my father likes to threaten theirs that if they don't behave themselves, they will be turned in for being Death Eaters." He grumbled. Honestly, when they were younger, it was less annoying. Back then it was kind of cool to have bodyguards like that. But... it got old really fast as they older.

A few people snickered, not even bothering in the least to look sympathetic.

(The same thought seemed to have struck Malfoy.)

Draco looked uncomfortable for a moment before he wiped his face clear of emotion and simply looked away instead. At that moment, the thought that he was without his bodyguards and high in the air with somebody that was very good on a broom who had just threatened to knock him off of it... It hadn't been a good thought. Of course, now he would have been celebrating the fact that they weren't there.

("Catch it if you can, then!"... streaked back toward the ground.)

Minerva's eyes widened while Severus looked warningly at his godson. He already knew all about this one, he'd gotten told one story by Draco, and then overheard the real story from the rest of the Slytherin's when they were talking about it in the Common Room.

"That's willful property damage of another student! How dare you!" She said, shocked. "You're lucky we're not in school right now, Mr. Malfoy, or it would be points and several detentions, and YOU would have been paying for a new one for Mr. Longbottom had it broken." She said, threateningly. It was lucky she already knew it hadn't been broken. She'd seen the thing in Harry's hand afterward afterall. Draco's eyes widened, and he looked to his godfather for help.

"Do not worry, Minerva, I already handled the punishment for this incident." He said softly. She pursed her lips and watched him for a moment, before she nodded her understanding, and turned back to the book.

(Harry saw, as though in slow motion,)

"Slow motion, huh? That's about how the very best of Seekers say it is when they see the Snitch." Charlie muttered, looking excited for some reason. He wanted to hear about this. If the kid pulled this off... he couldn't wait until the game they had planned for tonight. He wanted to play against this kid.

(the ball rise up in the... was gathering speed in a steep dive,)

By this point, everyone except for those that were there and saw it and Molly, were on the edge of their seats, wanting to hear this. Sirius was holding and lightly shaking Harry's shoulders in his excitement, while Harry snickered at the discomfort on his younger self's face. Molly, however, was too sure and terrified that they were about to hear about Harry crashing and breaking his neck. Arthur was having to restrain her from going over and coddling the boy.

Charlie, in particular, was on the edge of his seat, and practically vibrating with excitement. It was one thing to watch the boy, who had years of experience flying, outfly a dragon. Hearing about him going into a dive like this, while on a broken down old school broom, chasing something, when it was his first time touching a broom, was something else.

(racing the ball- wind whistled... clutched safely in his fist.)

While everyone else in the room cheered and congratulated Harry on a safe landing and superb flying, Charlie's mouth dropped open in disbelief. If he had pulled up just a few seconds sooner, and if he hadn't been chasing something, that would have been a perfect Wronski Feint. On his first time on a broom.

He looked at Harry in awe, even while his mother practically collapsed in relief that Harry was alright, and muttered threats under her breath about how the boy had better be grateful he didn't get hurt, and that she didn't know about this happening back then. She thought she was going to have a heart-attack just listening to this.

"No wonder..."

"... you got put on the team." Fred and George said, looking at him in awe. Charlie nodded his agreement with them, still staring at Harry in awe. He doubted if he could have done that at that age, even though he'd been flying practically all his life.

Sirius simply pulled his boys into side hugs, and squeezed. Harry smiled from his position, and Harry tried not to show too much shock (despite the care and affection Sirius had been showing him the past few days).

Harry cocked his head to the side and reached for his sketchbook, he wanted to see if he could draw that scene.

("HARRY POTTER!")

Everyone who ever had her as a teacher, flinched instinctively. She, of course, noticed, and smirked smugly. Oh, yes. Even years later, all her students new not to cross her.

(His heart sank faster than he'd just dived.)

"And he dived pretty fast." Fred muttered to his twin.

"Especially considering he was on an old school broom." George said in agreement.

"Of course, it's nothing compared to what I can do with my Firebolt." Harry said with a smirk, making everybody cast longing glances at the mentioned broom, sitting proudly on its stand by the wall.

Ron suddenly got an idea, he would wait until later though to do it.

(Professor McGonagall was running... might have broken you neck-")

Sirius winced. "Oh, you terrified her, pup. When she can hardly get a sentence out, she's usually either so angry she can't think, or she was terrified for your safety." He said quietly. Harry winced too, and sent her a sheepish grin.

Which she gave him a stern look for before her face softened. When she got out there, it had been all she could do not to bundle him off straight to Poppy.

("It wasn't his fault, Professor-"... Mr. Weasley. Potter, follow me, now.")

"Maybe you should listen to the students more... instead of just dismissing them." Pomona murmured into Minerva's ear, low enough so the students didn't hear her. Minerva sighed wearily and nodded her agreement.

Just thinking of all the times Harry had come to her for something and she just dismissed him... she had to wonder if Sirius wouldn't have survived the Ministry fiasco if Harry had felt like he could come to her or another teacher with problems. Not to mention everything else that happened over the years.

How many times over the years did he or his friends bring their concerns to either her or, even more rare, to another teacher? Only to be dismissed? Only to be told that nothing was wrong, to keep their heads down, that so and so was trusted... only for the teachers to be proven wrong every single time. Something was wrong, keeping their heads down wasn't working because they were being targeted specifically, that person was NOT to be trusted... So many times, Harry gave the adults around him a chance, only for them to be proven unreliable.

(Harry caught sight of... triumphant faces as he left,)

"We thought he was about to be expelled," Draco shrugged. "At the time, it was the best thing that could have happened." When everyone shot him dirty looks, he just shrugged. He wasn't going to go into further detail, especially since a large bit of those details involved Slytherin House politics. Severus was the only one who looked like he agreed.

(walking numbly in Professor McGonagall's... to be expelled, he just knew it.)

Ron and Hermione sighed and shared a long-suffering look. "Here we go again." Ron muttered to Hermione. She nodded.

"What do you mean, Mr. Weasley?" Minerva asked briskly. She was slightly unnerved that her favorite student was having a slight panic attack like this and she hadn't even noticed.

"When Harry gets in trouble, you can't give him time to stew about what the possible punishment is going to be. He will automatically jump to the the worst scenario. I think one time..." She glanced at Ron to make sure she was getting it right. "He was waiting in the dorm to hear back about what his punishment would be, for something that he hadn't even done, by the way, it was Cormac McGlaggen who did it," She said frostily, glaring slightly at Minerva. "And he kept on going on and on about how he was going to be handed over to Professor Snape and boiled alive before being used as potion ingredients." She finished.

When everybody blinked and looked horrified, Ron shrugged. "He has a vivid imagination when it comes to punishments. I'm pretty sure his mind conjures up stuff his uncle threatened to do to him at some point, and then makes it worse by adding the whole, 'wizards have wands and can do more damage than a Muggle can', thing." He said with a sigh.

When everyone turned to Harry, both of them just shrugged and turned to see the book, hoping they could just continue reading.

Both Severus and Minerva added that into their letters, to never. Never. Let Harry Potter stew over punishments.

(He wanted to say something to... hadn't even lasted two weeks.)

Ron and Hermione sighed and both whacked him on the back of the head without saying anything.

"Hey!" He yelped. "This was years ago!" They both gave him unimpressed stares. They were fully aware that this was years ago, that wasn't going to stop them from making their displeasure of his negative thoughts known.

(He'd be packing his bags in... turned up on the doorstep?)

"Probably kick me to the curb." Harry hissed brightly. Honestly, if he'd actually been expelled, and they actually kicked him out, that would probably be the best thing to ever happen to him. Yeah, he'd then have to figure out how to survive on the streets until he figured something else out, but at the same time he could always go to Gringotts and get some money out of his trust vault.

The only good thing about that whole situation would be getting away from the Dursleys.

"If they don't kick you out..." Harry hissed back, worried. He had a different thought, if the Dursleys let him stay after getting kicked out... they wouldn't have to worry anymore about what the wizards would do if/when Harry started school and abuse was discovered. Uncle Vernon might finally make good on his threats.

Harry glanced at him and grimaced, yeah, he'd had that thought too. Multiple times.

"I don't know what you two are hissing about over here, but stop it. Your not going to be expelled." Sirius said, looking between his boys in concern. He lied though, he knew what they were saying. He knew what they were saying everytime they started speaking Parseltongue. The Blacks were married into the Slytherin line at some point early in post-Hogwarts history, one of the younger sons or daughters (which meant they weren't in line for the Lordship), and they picked up a handy little skill from it. He knew what they were saying every time they spoke in the snake tongue.

He didn't say anything though, that was a carefully guarded family secret, especially since Voldemort rose to power. They didn't feel like being the sole subject of a witch hunt, regardless of their family wealth and influence. Personally, he'd always hated it, it was from his family, so he hated it, and therefore never really used it unless it was to have a conversation with James without others hearing them. Besides, he was surrounded by the light, people that put the fear of Parselmouth's in the wizarding community in the first place. And, his mother was bitter enough that he, Regulus, and James were the only Parselmouths of their generation, while Dorea was the only one of hers.

He would mention it to the boys later on, in private.

He wasn't sure if Moony even knew that both he and James had both been Parselmouth's. He narrowed his eyes and glanced at Albus... he might need to have that conversation with Harry sooner rather than later. He could only guess why he hadn't told Harry about it in the future. Maybe he assumed the boy had known. Who knew what Albus had told the boy when his abilities came out into the open.

He probably took it as further proof of Harry being a Horcrux. Despite the fact that abilities couldn't just be transferred like that.

(Up the front steps, up the... didn't say a word to him.)

Ron and Hermione flinched. That was the worst way you could handle Harry when he was in trouble, or thought he was, anyway.

(She wrenched open doors... trotting miserably behind her.)

Minerva winced. She should have looked down and said something to reassure him. Especially since she wasn't actually punishing him.

(Maybe she was taking him... grounds carrying Hagrid's bag.)

Hagrid laughed. "I'd love ter have yeh, 'Arry, bu' I don' think tha'll happen." He informed his young friend. Harry just grinned up at him and started drawing the picture of Mrs. Norris for Filch. He got a separate roll of parchment so he could keep track of what pictures he wanted to do what with.

Obviously, all of them would be going in a book to give the younger him, but a couple would be copied and given to someone else.

Minerva looked stunned, and a little guilty, she had no idea all this was going through her students head, and she was somewhat the cause of it... Although, this boy did have quite the overactive imagination.

(Professor McGonagall stopped... I borrow Wood for a moment?")

Charlie sat up slightly. Wood? Wasn't that the last name of the Gryffindor Keeper? He remembered mentioning to McGonagall his last year, shortly after the last game of the season, that the kid would make a good captain, if an over-enthusiastic one. Was this going where he thought it was going?

Remus had a pretty good idea was happening. He remembered Wood from when he taught there, and he'd heard the rumors about Harry somehow getting on the Gryffindor team his first year. But... did he seriously get on the team by disobeying a direct order from a teacher? He wasn't sure whether to be stern and disapproving, or very, very proud.

Sirius was just confused, was this 'Wood' a new disciplinary measure of some kind?

Everyone else was smirking or grinning while Harry hid his own growing smirk behind his drawing pad.

"She must have been excited if she interrupted another class for this." Fred muttered to George. His twin nodded.

(Wood? thought Harry, bewildered;... was going to use on him?)

"I should hope not." Sirius exclaimed, watching the teachers warily.

Minerva sighed, still feeling bad for scaring the poor boy, but said that, no. She wasn't going to cane him. She didn't do that.

(But Wood turned out to be... Flitwick's class looking confused.)

"He was probably trying to figure out what he did to get into trouble." Fred snorted.

"Or, trying to remember if he forgot to do something, again, because he was busy getting stuff around for practices to start." George said, somewhat mutinously, because Oliver was a taskmaster of the worst kind sometimes.

("Follow me, you two," said Professor... Wood looking curiously at Harry.)

"It was actually kind of refreshing. He didn't look amazed at meeting the Boy-Who-Lived, he was only curious about what I was doing there and what it had to do with him." Harry said happily. A few people grinned at his happiness, while a few others scowled that such a simple thing as somebody not staring was so novel.

("In here."

Professor McGonagall pointed... rude words on the blackboard.)

Sirius and Remus both chuckled, while Severus turned bright red. Minerva glared at the two Marauders.

"And who taught him those?" She asked them icily.

They stopped chuckling and their eyes widened at her tone and they both pointed to Severus and said, "He did!"

Her eyes narrowed further, and she started to hiss, much like her animagus, "Severus never did any such..." She trailed off when she actually glanced in Severus' direction, to see his face red in embarrassment. "Severus?" She asked, shocked. Everyone else was, too.

Finally, he spoke. "It was Lily's idea." Was his only defense. "I just... made sure it was carried out and we didn't get caught..." He muttered, suddenly feeling like he was eleven years old again. Everyone was staring at him in shock, and he couldn't stop the small smile that came to his face, to further shock. There had been many times, many pranks, and many more tricks played by himself and Lily, that they ended up setting up so that the Marauders took the blame.

The best part, whenever the four tried to protest (the knew it was Severus and Lily, most of the time, it only got them into further trouble. For one, lying to a teacher. For another, trying to blame other students for their trouble-making. The two of them made sure they had solid alibi's, every time.

("Out, Peeves!" she barked... and he swooped out cursing.)

"Now, THOSE we taught him some." Sirius and Remus said together, pointing between themselves. Minerva pursed her lips, but didn't say anything. She was still reeling over the news that her star pupil, wasn't so innocent after all.

(Professor McGonagall slammed... I've found you a Seeker.")

"Wait." There was a beat of silence as people turned to watch Sirius, who had frozen. After a moment, a wide grin stretched across his face. The next moment, Harry was being hugged practically to death. "I'm so proud," Sirius exclaimed. He finally sat back and grabbed both boys in another side hug.

The Heads of House were watching Minerva. "What?" She finally asked them.

"Really, Minerva, not even giving him a punishment for the fact he was flying without supervision after being told to keep his feet on the ground?" Severus asked her. "You just went straight for the rewarding of bad behavior."

She blushed. She hadn't even thought about punishing him for flying in the first place, she was just thinking about his skill in the air and how desperately the Gryffindor team needed that kind of talent on it. Otherwise it would have been an enormous waste of talent.

Molly blinked at Minerva a few times, her expression looking something like somebody had kicked her puppy. Like she couldn't believe Minerva had betrayed her like this.

(Wood's expression changed from puzzlement to delight.)

"Oh, I bet." Fred said, seriously.

"We didn't find a single person who could play Seeker during the try-outs."

"It was very frustrating for everyone."

"Seriously, out of all the people who showed up,"

"You would think that at least one of them..."

"...would be able to catch a single ball that we threw for them." The twins said, and they did look frustrated just thinking about it.

("Are you serious, Professor?")

Harry chuckled. "He looked like he got hit with a Bludger and was still trying to figure out what happened." He informed with a grin.

("Absolutely," said Professor McGonagall... time on a broomstick, Potter?")

"That I remembered, anyway." Harry said cheerfully. Thinking back to the torn picture he found of him on a little toy broomstick.

Sirius was thinking along the same lines. "Oh, that toy broom I got you for your first birthday drove Lily insane." He chuckled. "See, she developed sort of a routine, she would let you ride it, then send you to bed. Only, when it was time for you to go to bed, you didn't want to. So, she would be trying to put it away for bedtime, and you would keep summoning it right back to keep playing with it." He said with a grin. "You've always been good at summoning things... shiny things being the most popular when you were younger." Both Harry's were beet red by this point, and all the women thought hearing about a baby Harry was just adorable.

(Harry nodded silently. He didn't... Weasley couldn't have done it.")

"No, no I could not have." Charlie breathed, still in awe. He knew the kid was a natural in the air, but, damn!

Harry grinned cheekily at him, and he scowled back, but there was no heat to it.

(Wood was now looking as... Potter?" he asked excitedly.)

"Nope!" Harry said, popping the 'p' cheerfully, and happily watching all the other Quidditch nuts in the room squirm with their displeasure at hearing such a thing from his mouth.

("Wood's captain of the Gryffindor team," Professor McGonagall explained.)

"Finally." A few people muttered, they'd honestly been waiting for Harry to finally snap and ask what was going on, but it seemed his head had still been focusing on whether or not he was expelled. But, now it seemed Minerva was going to actually explain a little bit.

("He's just the build for... or a Cleansweep Seven, I'd say.")

"And, of course you got the Nimbus." Severus muttered, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. The Nimbus just happened to be the faster of the two brooms, but both were equally suited for Seeking. Minerva smirked at him. Like she would put her star Seeker on anything less than the very best. Besides, it also counted as a late birthday present... for ten birthdays worth.

Remus wasn't the only one who'd sent birthday and Christmas presents that the boy hadn't even received.

("I shall speak to Professor Dumbledore... Flattened in that last match by Slytherin,)

Severus smirked. "And what a glorious flattening it was." He sighed in remembrance. Minerva scowled while everyone else, especially the younger crowd that he taught, stared at him in shock.

Which made sense, he was acting human around them for a change, and not like how he normally would, like the Dungeon Bat.

(I couldn't looked Severus Snape in the face for weeks...")

Severus smirked smugly while her scowl deepened and Pomona and Filius rolled their eyes at each other, and Albus' eyes twinkled at them.

Honestly, the two of them could be the best of friends one minute, or as much as Severus had 'friends', the next they were practically mortal enemies as soon as anyone mentioned Slytherin, Gryffindor, and Quidditch in the same context. It was both annoying and endearing.

(Professor McGonagall peered sternly... my mind about punishing you.")

"Oh, that explains it." Fred and George said, blinking in realization.

"Explains what?" Minerva asked, looking away from her silent stand-off with Severus.

"Why Harrikins here was always the hardest worker during practice." The Twins said.

"He probably thought you would change your mind and expel him anyway if you didn't think he was working hard enough." Hermione said with a sigh. A few others sighed in exasperation, but didn't say anything. Many of them were just starting to realize that Harry was a very negative thinker, he tended to jump straight to the worse case scenario.

Nobody could see it much of Harry's face behind his drawing pad, beyond that it was suddenly very red.

Sirius sighed and shook his head, bumping Harry with his shoulder. He was rewarded with a quick grin flashed in his direction from behind the book, and he figured that would have to be it for now.

(Then she suddenly smiled... Quidditch player himself.")

"Hmmm..." Remus started, rubbing his chin in thought. "Which would he be more proud of..." He wondered.

"Him getting on the team as a first year..." Sirius picked up the train of thought, leaning back and laying his arm around Harry's shoulders.

"Or the fact that he got on the team instead of being punished like he should have been..." Remus finished, throwing a stern look at Harry, who threw up his hands and gestured to Minerva, as if to say, 'don't blame me, she's the one who did it!'

The Marauder's looked at each other. "Both!" They finally declared, and ignored how some were laughing, and the way Minerva was trying (and failing) to look sternly disapproving.

After a moment, when the laughter died down, Sirius looked at the ceiling and said, "But, yes. James was a very good Quidditch player. I'll have to show you some memories sometime... of both your parents." He said quietly to both boys sitting beside him. Earning big, hopeful puppy dog eyes.

("You're joking.")

"What?"

"I think this is when I went to dinner and told Ron." Harry said.

"Ah."

(It was dinnertime. Harry... but he'd forgotten all about it.)

"Oh, that's attractive." Ginny muttered with a grimace. She didn't say anything else, though. She knew her brother's table manners were almost non-existent. Molly sighed. No matter how hard she tried, or what she tried, Ron's brain just seemed to stop working as soon as food was placed in front of him.

Oh, he knew his manners, and how to behave. It was more a matter of getting him to actually do it.

Nobody noticed or cared about the looks of disgust on the Petunia's faces.

("Seeker?" he said. "But... player in about-"

"-a century,")

A few people whistled appreciatively. Both that Harry already knew that off the top of his head (Those that knew him, figured Oliver probably told him), and at the long time.

(said Harry, shoveling pie... excitement of the afternoon.)

"I would be too." A few of the Weasley boys said with a sigh and a glance towards the kitchen.

"You boys are always hungry!" Molly said, shaking her head fondly. She didn't mind, she loved being able to feed her family. Loved cooking for them.

("Wood told me."

Ron was so... just sat and gaped at Harry.)

"You had food in your mouth, by the way." Harry informed his best friend casually, as if they were discussing the weather.

"Oh, really? Sorry about that." For some reason, they got an eye roll from Hermione and strange looks from everyone else.

("I start training next week,"... Wood wants to keep it a secret.")

"Which means the whole school probably knew about it within five minutes. Or less." Pretty much everybody said at once.

"Yeah, pretty much." Harry said with a sigh.

"We were stopped by at least..."

"... ten different people on our way to the..."

"... Great Hall for dinner to be..."

"... asked about it, Wood finally found us just before we got there." The Twins said. Wood had been quite put out when they told him that everybody already knew, especially since he'd wanted to give his team the good news himself, which he couldn't do because the team already knew before he could tell them.

(Fred and George Weasley now... on the team too- Beaters.")

Fred and George high-fived each other, and Harry grinned, thinking of all the times the two of them specifically targeted Malfoy. Almost de-broomed him quite a few times during games. They were remarkably skilled at targeting one person with one ball, while still making sure the other ball was doing the work of two to make up the difference.

Draco scowled at the twins, those two were just as much of a menace towards the other teams chances of winning as Harry was on a broom. Honestly, it was only outside intervention that kept the Gryffindor team from being the champions the entire time Harry was at school, and he was just talking about those three. That's not even counting the amazingly skilled and coordinated Chasers and the Keeper. Getting the Quaffle past Oliver Wood was considered to be the biggest achievement in Hogwarts Chasing history.

Of course, you usually had to get the Quaffle away from the Gryffindor girls first.

("I tell you, we're going... for sure this year," said Fred.)

Fred groaned and dropped his face in his hands. "Freddy, I think you jinxed us." George said, accusingly. In answer, Fred started 'sobbing' into his shoulder, prompting his more caring twin to start 'comforting' him.

Harry looked down, guiltily. It was his fault they had lost that first year, if he hadn't been in the Hospital Wing after going after that stupid stone... then he wouldn't have let his teammates down like that.

George noticed his guilt and got his Twins attention. "Harry. Stop." They said, glaring slightly. Said boy looked up, startled.

"The only one to blame for us losing..."

"...that game is Oliver."

"For not having taken the time..."

"... to train a reserve Seeker." The twins said, still glaring slightly as they tried to get their point across. And, really, it was beyond stupid, for them not to have a reserve. For any of the positions, not just Seeker. Stuff happened, sometimes players weren't able to play a game. It was why the Gryffindor House was so zealous about guarding their team in the couple of weeks leading up to a game. Especially when it was against Slytherin.

Harry just stared at them, stunned.

Glancing at each other, they nodded before asking to be excused for a moment. When they were alone, they disguised their voices and set about making their Howler. Yelling at Oliver Wood through the parchment about not having a reserve string. They then calmly spelled it so it wouldn't accidentally go off while they were still here, and walked back out. When they got back to their seats, George calmly slipped it into the folder they had set aside with parchments (lists and letters) that would go back with Ron. Then Fred pulled the parchment he'd been using to plan out a new product (what he wanted it to do, they would work on actually making it later when they stopped for the night) and got back to work.

Luckily, the rest of the room had been busy discussing the Hogwarts Quidditch cup and the book hadn't resumed.

("We haven't won since Charlie left,)

Minerva scowled at the reminder, and ignored Severus's smirk.

(but this year's team is going to be brilliant... new secret passageway out of the school.")

"Oh?" Severus asked, interested. He poised his quill to write down the location and to make a note to have this passage noted and monitored.

All those who used the passageways over the years for one reason or another glared at him, knowing what he was thinking.

Dudley tilted his head. With all the talk they'd been doing about security measures and all that, wouldn't a passageway in and out be a risk to that security? Although, he supposed if they weren't even known about anymore...

("Bet it's that one behind... in our first week. See you.")

Severus blinked. He never would have thought of anything being behind that statue. He didn't pay it anymore attention, though, and noted it down as a route for students to be going places they shouldn't be.

Sirius looked at the Twins in interest. First week, huh? It had taken the Marauder's a couple of weeks to find that one. Of course, this was before it was the four of them. At that point, it had just been himself and James.. Remus and Peter didn't really start hanging out with them until later, and that was mostly by virtue of being roommates at first. Eventually, the four were inseparable.

The Twins were horrified at the realization that all the teachers were about to learn of the passageways, cutting them off from going into Hogsmeade or disappearing to Diagon Alley if they needed to for prank or party supplies. The House-elves could only supply so much after all.

Harry was watching Severus warily, and looked to the rest of the room like he was debating something. Finally, he sighed. "You know, as much as I don't want to give the teachers anymore ammunition against us," He gestured between himself, the Twins, and the Marauders. "At the same time... those passageways do need to be monitored against anybody coming in who shouldn't be, because I have no doubt that Pettigrew told Voldemort about them. They should also be maintained, because they make good potential escape routes." He was honestly torn. Tell the teachers, and cut off a way for pranksters to get in and out to acquire things for the student body when it wasn't a Hogsmeade weekend, or stay silent and leave the school open to people who could potentially harm the students.

Albus noticed his internal battle and turned thoughtful. He shared the same concerns. On the one hand, let the children continue to be children in a safe manner where nobody was being hurt, or let people in who shouldn't be there. That being said, he couldn't collapse them, because like Harry said, they also make good escape routes if the students ever needed one and the route to the Entrance Hall was cut off. "Perhaps I could set up a ward on the outside entrance of these passages that keeps those not belonging to Hogwarts out..." He said thoughtfully. He started writing down ideas and underlined the note to speak to Godric. Several times. He was quite ashamed that there was so much he didn't know about his school. Not even he knew there was anything behind that statue.

Severus frowned, annoyed at the Headmasters suggestion. That didn't do anything for making sure the students stayed out of them.

(Fred and George had hardly... flanked by Crabbe and Goyle.)

Ginny frowned. Then she smirked mischievously. "You know, Malfoy, keep it up or people are going to start talking." She said suggestively. Draco frowned, but then turned bright red and started (he would forever deny it) sputtering at the insinuation, as did Harry. Most of the guys started laughing at the new teasing material they were just given. Naturally, the younger ones didn't get it, and nobody was going to enlighten them.

Molly was shocked, she'd never heard her little girl talk like that. "Ginevra!" She exclaimed. Ginny just shrugged it off and grinned while Luna giggled.

Finally, Draco managed to find his voice and turned on his godfather when he noticed that even Severus was smirking in amusement.

Because, what nobody else knew, was that there had indeed been rumors running rampant in the House of Snakes. Simple teasing, of course. Everyone knew Draco Malfoy was betrothed to the youngest Greengrass girl and her father would kill him if he even thought about looking somewhere else. He honestly hadn't expected a Lion to say something though.

("Having a last meal, Potter?)

"Nope!" Harry chirped happily. Draco twitched slightly, but didn't look at him.

(When are you getting the train back to the Muggles?")

"Never." Harry said with a smile. Ignoring said Muggles sneers and silent taunts. (Somebody silenced them when they noticed that the Dursleys were about to say something.)

Draco turned a little red, but otherwise didn't react. After Ginny's comment, he seemed determined to not even look at Harry Potter, which only added amusement for Severus.

("You're a lot braver now that... you want. Wizard's duel.)

"Draconis Lucius Malfoy!" Severus exclaimed, shocked and angry that his godson just said that. He knew full well that wizard's duels were not something to take lightly like this, and yet, here he was. Challenging Harry Potter to one. He looked around at the room full of people who had no business knowing his and his godsons business. "We will discuss this later." He promised both boys named Draco. Draco was sunk down in his seat, while Draco himself seemed shocked that his older self would go this far.

(Wands only- no contact... wizard's duel before, I suppose?")

"No, actually, I hadn't." Harry said, somewhat cheerfully, but the look he shot Ron said it all. Nobody else noticed the look, though. He had not been happy about being volunteered to fight somebody.

("Of course he has," said... his second, who's yours?")

"Ronald, you did NOT just accept a duel on behalf of somebody else." His mother said, incredulously. She could have sworn she taught him better than this.

"Especially when you knew that the person you just accepted for, has no idea of the wizarding world, and doesn't even know what a wizard's duel is." His father was equally shocked.

Harry bit his lip, then asked. "Just how bad could it have been?" He asked resigned, not even sure if he wanted to know the answer.

"If you had lost the duel, then the entire Potter estate could have gone to the House Malfoy. No exceptions." Severus said, his eyes wide. He had been angry enough that Draco would even suggest having a duel, but for the Weasley boy to just accept for him?! "And vice-versa."

"When you say ENTIRE estate..."

"Money, heirlooms, properties, businesses, seats on the Wizengamot and the Board... All of it would have belonged to the Malfoy's." Moody said gruffly, his fake eye fixed on the oldest Malfoy in the room. "Even your trust vault, despite the fact that that is not part of the estate as a whole."

"And, since I was in Azkaban at the time and you were named my heir, the Black estate would have been in jeopardy of going to House Malfoy as well." Sirius said, slightly shocked.

Harry's eyes were wide. "But... if one of the duelers didn't even show up, would that have meant anything...?" He asked.

Severus slowly shook his head, slightly relieved, because if one of the two boys hadn't shown up, then it meant that one of them hadn't lost their entire family fortune plus some to the other, without even realizing it.

Possibly.

"It depends, in most cases, not showing up could be seen as forfeit, and the winners spoils would then go to the party that won by default. There are always exceptions to that, extenuating circumstances leading to one of the parties not being able to make it... Thankfully, with Mr. Weasley accepting on your behalf, then you and your estate should be safe no matter what happens during the duel, or lack of a duel." He swallowed. However, with Ron accepting on Harry's behalf, it would have meant the entire Weasley estate, such as it is, would have been on the line instead. And the Weasley's had already lost their estate to the Malfoy family, with just the Burrow to their name.

He decided not to mention that, he was fairly certain the Weasley parents and oldest sibling would make the possible consequences perfectly clear to the youngest male Weasley.

The Weasley parents finally got themselves under control. They turned on both Rons in the room. "We will be discussing this in more depth later, young man." They said in unison to the older Ron, but made sure the younger one knew that he would be there for this discussion.

(Malfoy looked at Crabbe and Goyle, sizing them up.)

"Wait, you're picking which one of them to be your second, based on their physical presence?" Sirius asked, confused. When Draco nodded, he shook his head and continued. "Shouldn't you be picking them based on their magical capability?" He asked.

Severus snorted. "The younger Crabbe and Goyle are even worse than their fathers. No brain, and barely any magic ability to speak of. They just barely scrape enough passing grades between the two of them so they can come back to school every year."

Sirius blinked at him in horror. "There is somebody out there worse than..." He trailed off. Severus nodded grimly, and Sirius sat back, looking like the world had just imploded around him.

"See, this is why marrying your cousins or siblings is bad." Hermione said to Draco primly. He blinked at her, then considered the Muggle science book he had in his and Severus' room. He made a mental note to read it as soon as he possible.

("Crabbe," he said. "Midnight... room; that's always unlocked.")

Severus narrowed his eyes. "That's going to change." He announced, and started adding to his letter and list of things to do... again. That trophy room wouldn't stay unlocked at night for long, not if he had anything to say about the matter. Honestly, it wouldn't take long for a teacher to stop by around curfew, and lock the dumb door.

A few of the kids made noises of dismay, only to be glared into submission by their teachers.

(When Malfoy had gone, Ron...

"What is a wizard's duel?")

Heads thumped into the back of the couch and groans were heard throughout the room. Ron looked around sheepishly.

(said Harry. "And what do... die," said Ron casually,)

"Lovely, Ron. Just lovely." Hermione and Ginny said, they looked at each other, surprised, before they grinned. Ron scowled at the girls.

"Ronald..." His mother said sternly. She was still in shock over the fact that he just accepted a duel for somebody else, and then to be so casual about one of the boys dying! Ron went white and lost his scowl when he heard his mother.

(getting started at last on... you know, with real wizards.)

"What are you, a Muggle waving a stick around?" The twins asked their younger brother, with strange looks on their faces.

"I meant, fully trained wizards." Ron muttered. Hermione glared at the twins, telling them with her eyes to back off and leave him alone already. They wisely backed off.

"And deaths are usually avoided if it can be helped. Of course, accidents happen sometimes, but one of the main rules of a wizards duel is nothing fatal." Filius said with a frown. Maybe he should teach the younger kids some dueling while they were here. Maybe some basic spells... they would be starting Hogwarts this coming year after all. And all pureblood children came to school knowing basic protection spells already. Well, except for the Weasley's.

(The most you and Malfoy'll be... he expected you to refuse, anyway.")

"I would have refused." Harry said bluntly. "I had nothing to prove, and I didn't even know what he was talking about." Ron colored bright red while Molly groaned in frustration.

"And I assure you, I would have been throwing more than sparks out." Draco said, somewhat offended. Honestly, did the Weasley's not have a full pre-Hogwarts education AT ALL? The etiquette lessons and stuff he could understand there being no need for or the money to put into tutors, and there were a lot of them for Mrs. Weasley to teach by herself, but not even basic protection spells?

("And what if I wave my... punch him on the nose,")

"That would result in an automatic forfeit on the part of whoever threw away their wand." Filius said while most of the adults groaned.

"Wait, what?" Ron asked, startled.

Filius sighed and muttered about how they really needed a proper dueling club. "General dueling etiquette and rules, the duel usually goes until one of the duelers is either unconscious, or disarmed. Meaning they no longer have their wand in hand. Whether they are the ones to throw it away, or if their opponent disarmed them, the moment the wand leaves their hand, the duel is over and their opponent wins." He explained. Oh, yes. He would definitely be teaching the younger kids some dueling while they were here.

"Oh..." Ron said. "Sorry, mate." He said to Harry, who just shrugged. It wasn't like he was planning on getting into any duels anytime soon.

(Ron suggested. "Excuse me."... peace in this place?" said Ron.)

"Rude." Ginny said, staring at her brother.

"We'd just been interrupted by Malfoy, and then not even five seconds later, we were interrupted by somebody else who had been annoying us recently!" Ron said in defense. "No offense to you two." He added as an afterthought after Harry jabbed him in the ribs.

Pomona was looking at Hermione somewhat suspiciously. After all, the girl was quite the stickler for rules back then, and for trying to get others to follow them. And here she was, moments after Draco Malfoy left their side after discussing quite a bit of rule-breaking later that night.

(Hermione ignored him and spoke... what you and Malfoy were saying -")

"That's also rude." Fred said with a sage nod. Hermione turned red.

A few who had been around her back then, looked at her suspiciously. They just knew that she was going to try and tell Harry what to do.

("Bet you could," Ron muttered... be. It's really very selfish of you.")

"First, I'm not the one who was making plans. You were yelling at the wrong person." Harry drawled, sounding a lot like Severus in that moment. "Second, I am so glad we worked that out of you." He said, gratefully.

Hermione turned even more red and mumbled something against Ron's shoulder when she shoved her face into it. Nobody else caught, but whatever it was made Harry and Ron laugh fondly.

("And it's really none of your business," said Harry.)

Pomona sighed, "It really wasn't, dear." She said gently to both girls.

("Good-bye," said Ron.)

"Although, the way you said it was rude, too." Remus reprimanded lightly. Ron and Harry grinned at Hermione sheepishly a little bit, but she just grinned.

"How on earth did the three of you become friends?" Ginny wondered. Because, honestly. Right now, all they were was Hermione reprimanding for everything, butting into their private conversations, and otherwise making a nuisance of herself. With the boys retaliating rudely. Instead of answering, Harry and Ron both looked at Sirius and Molly respectively and laughed nervously.

Honestly, Harry never even told his Sirius about the troll. He didn't really tell Sirius anything about his first two years of school... although Sirius probably heard some of it from Professor McGonagall or Remus. Snape probably threw in some comments, too.

The boys attitude towards Ginny's question didn't reassure anybody who didn't already know. Minerva and Severus both glanced at each other and sighed.

(All the same, it wasn't what you'd... from the hospital wing).)

"Why?" Poppy asked, concerned. "I released you shortly after dinner." She informed the room. Neville turned red, but didn't say anything.

Harry sighed. He had a feeling Neville had either just gotten lost, or took a different way to avoid some older boys who would have started teasing, and then gotten lost. Either, that, or he holed up somewhere nearby waiting for the other boys to leave, and then went on his way, only to realize he didn't remember the password. Neville back then had absolutely no confidence.

(Ron had spent all evening giving... remember how to block them.")

"Couldn't remember?" Molly repeated. "What was there to remember, I hadn't taught you Shield Charms, so where would you remember them from?" She asked her son, suspiciously.

Bill and Charlie cleared their throats. "We taught all of them some basic shield charms when we were home the Christmas before they were due to go to Hogwarts. Figured it would be best if they were able to defend themselves right from the beginning, instead of waiting for them to get that far in class." Bill informed his mother, in a tone of voice that told her that they were not sorry and didn't care what she thought about it.

She was not happy. "You boys know full well it against the law to be doing magic when your underage, not to mention before Hogwarts, even!" She yelled at her oldest boys. "If the Ministry had caught them..."

"One, that wouldn't have happened because they didn't even have their own wands, yet. Therefore, no Trace." Bill interrupted.

"And, we were in a wizarding household. Even if they did have the Trace already, it wouldn't have picked up anything from them because there is so much magic already around. Not to mention you, dad, and us doing magic of our own all the time." Charlie continued.

"Gotta love loopholes." Arthur and Percy both muttered while Molly stared at her two boys in shock.

"Wait," Hermione muttered as her brain turned over something Charlie had just said. "If your in a Magical household, the Trace is irrelevant?" The purebloods nodded. "But that's so unfair! That means that Pureblood's are able to practice over the holidays, while us Muggleborns have to wait until we get back to school to try and catch up! Not to mention, what if something happens, and we need to use magic, then we just get in trouble over protecting ourselves!" She was gearing up for a full rant when Harry and Ron both slapped their hands over her mouth. She was right, it was unfair, but...

"The world isn't fair, girl." Severus sneered. "Stop complaining every time something happens that you don't like." It was giving him a headache. How on earth did the Weasley's and Harry survive seven years of this?

(There was a very good chance... another school rule today.)

"Yes, well, pushing your luck seems to be a specialty of yours." Severus half-heartedly sneered. Harry had the nerve to give him a big, cheeky grin.

(On the other hand, Malfoys sneering... face-to-face. He couldn't miss it.)

Sirius gave his godson a raised eyebrow. Harry sighed. "I thought, if I could beat him, he would leave me alone already." He said quietly. Sirius sighed, but said nothing. After all, compared to what he did at school sometimes, this was very mild.

("Half-past eleven," Ron muttered at last, "we'd better go."

They pulled on their bathrobes,)

"You should have at least worn everyday clothes." Remus scolded. Harry turned red. He hadn't even thought of it, he'd been too nervous for the upcoming duel. The other teachers looked at Remus, betrayed. That wasn't what he should have been scolding about!

Sometimes, they forgot that he himself was once a part of a notorious group of pranksters and mischief makers.

(picked up their wands, and... a pink bathrobe and a frown.)

"Did you just stay up all night so you could stop them from leaving? When it's really none of your business?" Ginny asked, incredulous. The others were surprised, too. Hermione nodded, her face red. Ron put an arm around her and glared at everyone to back off.

"You know," Minerva muttered to the other teachers. "I remember seeing them get together and thinking that she would be a good influence on them. Now, I know that they've all corrupted each other." They nodded in agreement.

("You!" said Ron furiously. "Go back... a prefect, he'd put a stop to this.")

"Whoa, interfering much?" Ginny asked the other girl incredulously, raised eyebrow and everything. The teachers were looking at her in shock, they didn't remember seeing this kind of behavior before. In fact, several of them could not remember ever seeing a student act this way.

Severus seemed to snap out of it first, "If you were going to come to anybody about it, it should have been one of us." He said, glowering at the girl. He knew that he never heard anything about a duel that was supposed to happen this night, if he had he would have stopped it then and there. Wizard's duels were not to be taken lightly, after all. The other teachers nodded in agreement while Hermione turned red.

"Even so." Fred started.

"That doesn't change the fact,"

"That this isn't any of her business."

"And if she's trying to make friends,"

"This is not how you do it." The Twins finished together.

Everyone Bill's age or younger nodded in complete agreement with everything they said, even Percy. Even he wasn't this bad, and his older brothers had informed him many times over the time they were all in school together (brief, though it was), that he needed to back off or nobody would even remotely like him.

(Harry couldn't believe anyone could be so interfering.)

"Thank you." Ginny said, nodding sagely. Hermione turned red again.

("Come on," he said to Ron. He... and climbed through the hole.)

Severus hissed, before he added to his parchment. Maybe adding spells to the entrances so students couldn't leave before a certain time... no, then they wouldn't be able to go find a teacher or take a fellow student to the Hospital Wing during the night if they needed to. Students were able to move in cases of emergency much quicker than portraits could sometimes, after all.

Maybe put an intent based ward... so the student could still get out in case of emergency, but not just to go gallivanting about the castle at night however they pleased... he couldn't believe he hadn't thought of this years ago.

There were cried of dismay from the younger generation (and two of his generation) when they saw him writing, and guessed what it was.

(Hermione wasn't going to give up that easily.)

"Of course she wasn't." Ginny muttered.

Fred and George blinked. Then looked at the Trio, sitting on the couch. Then blinked again, then started thinking about everything the Trio had gotten up to at school. "You know, George, I think those boys have been a bad influence on our little Hermione."

"I like to think we all have been, Freddy."

Fred sighed, "Pity they weren't able to completely work it out of her system." His brother sighed and nodded mournfully alongside him, both thinking of her fifth year when they were trying to test their product. They had checked in the rule book, and there had been nothing in there about them advertising for testers, and then testing on them. Especially since the product had already been tested on themselves and deemed safe for human consumption. So much research time, lost, because they were trying to avoid her just so they didn't have to hear it.

(She followed Ron through the... at them like an angry goose.)

"I was not!" Hermione exclaimed, lightly slapping Harry on the arm.

"You kind of did, right then, 'Mione." Ron said, sheepishly, leaning away from her to avoid the same treatment. She was about to say something, when...

"You do sound like that, sometimes." Neville piped up. He'd been quiet recently, more content to listen until he came up or something needed to be said, much like he always did at Hogwarts. Well, before he ended up thrust into a leadership position of the students resistance movement.

Hermione shot him a betrayed look, but he just shrugged apologetically.

("Don't you care about Gryffindor, do... for knowing about Switching Spells."

"Go away.")

"No doubt." All the pranksters muttered. So many pranks had had to be abandoned because of people like her doing this exact thing and interfering at a very bad time. Even Harry had had that happen a few times, mostly the few times where one of his dorm mates couldn't sleep that night and happened to be up when he was about to leave to set things up.

Sirius, Remus, and the Twins hadn't really had that problem, since their dorm mates were partners in crime. The other two marauders and Lee Jordan.

("All right, but I warned you... home tomorrow, you're so -")

"Whoa." A few people muttered.

(But what they were, they... herself facing an empty painting.)

ALL the Gryffindors, because, lets face it, they have all been out at night when they were supposed to be at some point groaned.

"I hate it when that happens."

"Why can't she just stay put?"

"Honestly, she knows that somebody is out there, they opened the portrait, so why?"

"It's worse when she goes wandering in the middle of the day, and you need to get in to get stuff for the next class."

"It really sucks when your caught, just because she wasn't there. Otherwise, you wouldn't be caught!"

Every non-Gryffindor in the room stared at them with wide eyes and couldn't help but be grateful for the fact that their Common Room guardians weren't portraits who could just get up and leave. Although, they couldn't help but wish that their house common areas were more interesting like the Gryffindor's was.

Seriously, they had their own maze with classrooms and exercise rooms just for them, plus a portrait who made things interesting, and they had their Founders portrait hidden away somewhere in that maze of theirs. How unfair was that? It made them determined to go to Hogwarts and try and see if their own House actually had anything hidden away that was just for them, but had faded out of history. Unlike the Gryffindor's areas, which still seemed to be widely used and loved.

Although, this actually explained why Minerva would let her Lions get away with not having the proper materials in class, or for being late, whenever two little words were uttered. 'Fat Lady.' That was all they had to say, and they would be let off without any questions, points off, detention, nothing. It seemed that this was an ongoing problem, if even Dumbledore was grumbling about her leaving.

(The Fat Lady had gone on a nighttime visit)

"Hmm," Harry said, "She was probably going to visit her friend, Violet in that room off the Great Hall. Those two are always together." He muttered, and all the Gryffindor's made a face. They didn't like Violet. All the strange passwords the Fat Lady came up with, actually seemed to come from her. And she came up with some strange ones.

(and Hermione was locked out of Gryffindor tower.)

A few Gryffindor's made sympathetic noises or got up to pat her on the back or shoulder. Even if they didn't exactly think that she had any business being out there, no matter how noble her intentions seemed to be, they had all been in that position, they knew what it was like.

("Now what am I going to do?" she asked shrilly.)

"Keep it down, for starters." Harry, the Twins, Sirius, and Remus all said at once.

Harry continued. "It's very easy to avoid being caught, if you don't panic and don't make noise."

"Also, if you know the patrol routes and schedule." The Twins said while Sirius and Remus nodded in agreement. All the teachers glared at the five of them.

("That's your problem," said Ron... when Hermione caught up with them.)

"Well," Sirius started, with a grimace. "Not like she can just sit outside and wait for the Fat Lady to show up again. Who knows how long that could take."

"Besides, she's less likely to get seen outside the Common Room and rat you out if she's with you, anyway." Remus added with a shrug. The teachers looked at him, betrayed, again.

Nobody seemed to notice that Draco was shrinking in on himself more and more, the further into the chapter they got and the closer they got to learning that he'd sent Filch after them instead of going himself. Normally, he would have been patting himself on the back about how Slytherin it had been about it. But... now that he'd grown up and knew a bit more about Wizards Duels... And Uncle Sev already wasn't happy that he challenged Potter in the first place.

("I'm coming with you," she said.

"You are not.")

"Nowhere else for her to go." The Twins, Harry, Sirius, and Remus (the Five) all said in unison, scaring several people.

("D'you think I'm going to... you, and you can back me up.")

"Whoa." Nearly all the Weasley's said, looking at Hermione with wide eyes. The teachers were starting to look at her like she was some new, undiscovered species that hadn't been identified yet.

"Bossy and demanding much?" The Twins asked, still staring at her.

Hermione shrank back into her seat, bright red. It took Ron and Harry both putting their arms around her and glaring at the rest of the room to get them to stop staring.

("You've got some nerve -" said Ron loudly.)

"Keep it down!" All the pranksters called, exasperated. Honestly, some people didn't appreciate that the art of not getting caught started with not making noise and attracting attention! Ron turned red. He learned, eventually.

("Shut up, both of you!" said Harry sharply. "I heard something.")

"At least I was quiet about it." Harry grumbled.

"Aw, look, their first quarrel as they Trio." Neville said, teasingly.

Harry groaned, "Nev, buddy, please don't encourage them." He said dryly. Ron and Hermione stuck their tongues out at the others.

(It was a sort of snuffling.

"Mrs. Norris?")

"She doesn't snuffle." The Five said absently, four of them trying to figure out what was making this noise.

(breathed Ron, squinting through the dark.

It wasn't Mrs. Norris. It was Neville.)

"What?"

(He was curled up on the floor... awake as they crept nearer.)

"Were you out there all night?!" Minerva asked. She was shocked, why hadn't a Prefect or one of the Ghosts found him and brought him to her, or, even better, let him into the Tower?! Neville nodded sheepishly.

("Thank goodness you found me! I've been out here for hours,)

"Hours." Minerva said faintly. The Prefect rounds would have started, and ended hours ago. Why did one of them not help the boy out? And there had to have been somebody coming to bed from the Maze sometime during those hours, why did none of them help?! Not to mention the Ghosts patrol the halls all night, even after the Prefects and teachers went to bed.

She scowled and started furiously adding to her letter. Clearly, some of the Prefects were not doing their jobs properly.

(I couldn't remember the new password to get in to bed.")

Neville sighed. "I'm never going to remember that dumb password." He groused. His year mates chuckled at him a little.

"That's alright, your mother could never remember them either." Remus said, slightly amused.

"Really?" Neville asked, excited to learn something about his parents that wasn't about how great and amazing they were. Why was it, that after something happened and a person was no longer there, that suddenly, they had no faults, and were absolutely perfect in every way? He wished that his grandmother would tell him about their faults, it would make them seem more like real people, and not some story characters. Despite the fact that they were still in St. Mungoes and he visited every Christmas and birthday, could touch them and hold their hands.

"Really." Remus said sadly. "It was so bad, that in our third year, Lily brought her some Muggle memory games and exercises to try and help her to remember stuff."

"Really?" Now Harry asked, he hadn't known that. He knew his mother and Alice Longbottom were friends, how could they not be, they castrated Dedalus Diggle together when he was supposed to be babysitting him and Neville, but he didn't really hear much about his mother. Severus had yet to sit him and Dudley down and tell them what he knew. Hopefully, they would be able to force Petunia to go over what Severus didn't know. Sirius and Remus told him about her, too, but most of their stories were solely based on after his parents got together.

Remus chuckled again. "Yes."

("Keep your voice down, Neville. The... Pomfrey mended it in about a minute.")

"And then kept me there for a few hours to let my ankle heal up so I could walk normally again." Neville said with a shrug.

("Good - well, look, Neville, we've... Baron's been past twice already.")

"Wha- and he didn't stop to see if you were alright, or to bring you to somebody who could let you into the Tower? Are you-" She broke off into mutters and kept furiously writing. She couldn't believe this, if she had known that one of her Lions ended up sleeping outside the Common Room for most of the night, in the cold hallways... If she found out that the Baron didn't help just because the student was a Gryffindor... She was going to find some way of forcing him to move on if was the last thing she did. She didn't care if he was one of the oldest Ghosts in the castle and friends with Salazar Slytherin himself.

When Neville and a few others looked confused, Severus decided to explain. "The Ghosts have their own responsibilities to the school, no matter that they are Ghosts. One of those responsibilities is making sure that students aren't lost, and that students are in their dorms or Common Rooms at night, where they are supposed to be. They take up the Prefects and teacher patrol rounds after about ten, so the Prefects and teachers can get some sleep for classes the next day." He said. "The fact that the Baron did not assist you..." He scowled and started adding to his own letter.

(Ron looked at his watch and... told us about, and used it on you.")

"I love that curse." Ginny said happily. All those who were in the DA or Gryffindor tower with her at some point subtly moved away from her. She was terrifying with that curse. Molly frowned at the thought of her baby using spells like that.

Although, she mused, every young girl needed to know a good curse or two to keep unwanted boys away from them. Some boys just didn't understand that 'no means NO'.

(Hermione opened her mouth, perhaps... use the Curse of the Bogies,)

Hermione turned red, and everyone laughed. That was exactly what she was going to do. Even before they became friends and started hanging out together, Harry already knew her.

(but Harry hissed at her to be... up a staircase to the third floor)

"Wait a minute, UP a staircase? Shouldn't that be down? I thought the Gryffindor Common Room was up in one of the Towers." Draco said, confused.

Harry shrugged. "Yeah, well, to get to the Trophy Room from the Common Room the normal way, you have to go down a couple of flights of stairs to reach another staircase, then go up again to reach another staircase, then go down a few more, then up one more to reach the third floor. That's why Gryffindor's tend to know the castle better than anyone, because we tend the ignore the normal routes and take whatever shortcuts or secret passageways we find. Since the normal routes are so long and winding, and confusing. We kind of have to know the castle if we expect to get anywhere in a timely manner." He said.

"Which makes more sense if you look at this way." Remus began. "Godric Gryffindor was known for his battle prowess, for being a Battle Mage. And, if the castle were ever attacked, Gryffindor's students were the ones expected to respond to the alarms first. In order for that to happen, they had to know the castle inside and out in order to get there in time. So, Gryffindor deliberately made the path to his students living area long and confusing to force his students to explore."

"I take it his portrait told you that, too?" Draco asked, jealous that they had their Founder's portrait. They all nodded. Every Gryffindor, without fail for centuries, had asked Godric why, why did he make the route so confusing and long.

"That was his explanation, anyway. Personally, I think he was just being a sadistic jerk when he did it." Sirius said with a shrug. The other Lions nodded in agreement with that, too.

(and tiptoed toward the trophy room.

Malfoy and Crabbe weren't there yet.)

Severus eyes narrowed and he took in his godson's form, shrunk down into the couch. Either Draco was waiting to ambush, therefore completely dishonoring his family, or he didn't even show up, completely dishonoring his family.

(The crystal trophy cases glimmered... silver and gold in the darkness.)

"You know what I don't get?" Hermione suddenly asked. "Why don't students who win something, get to take it home with them? Why does it just sit in a room at Hogwarts gathering dust instead of being displayed on their fireplace mantel, or in their bedroom. I mean, nobody ever goes in there unless its to clean or, ah, well." She shrugged, glancing at the teachers. "This way, it seems more like a pat on the back, good job, and they don't even really have much to show for it."

"They are kept in the trophy room so other students can see their achievements." Dumbledore said with a frown, although he had to admit she did have something of a point. But, trophy's and the like were magically made, with certain enchantments woven in to make sure they couldn't be tampered with and altered, thereby stealing the recognition. It would be too expensive to make each and every student a trophy who won something.

Hermione shrugged. "Then, make one for the student to take home, and write down the achievement in a book, or use the Gemino spell to make a copy of the trophy to place in there. But, I know that for Muggleborn parents, they would like to have something of their child's school years other than reports about our grades. Especially those Muggleborn who play Quidditch. Although, Muggleborns would need to have their's charmed or something so it will say something else to anyone who doesn't know about magic..." She trailed off in thought, and started writing it down.

Dumbledore leaned back in his seat, and watched her for a moment. The idea had merit...

(They edged along the walls, keeping... he's chickened out," Ron whispered.)

Severus frowned, and glanced at his godson, inwardly gaping at what he was hearing. Draco was raised better than this, he was raised knowing exactly what a wizards duel entailed. And for him to not show up... it was the height of dishonor. He was very lucky that Harry and Ron hadn't spread word of this incident throughout the school. He might not have been able to protect him from the other Snakes, and then there would be the consequences when Lucius found out...

(Then a noise in the next room... someone speak -and it wasn't Malfoy.)

Severus's eyes went wide as he suddenly realized what Draco must have done. Oh, this was so much worse than Draco just skipping out. This was so much worse.

"It is actions like this that puts Slytherin in such a bad light with the rest of the school." He hissed quietly in his ear.

("Sniff around, my sweet, they might be lurking in a corner.")

Filius was livid. How dare that boy completely disregard all etiquette and teachings he had ever learned about formal duels! He turned to the younger Malfoy, "You, young man, are going to report to me after dinner, and we will... review your dueling lessons that I know you had growing up." He said, softly and dangerously. Draco nodded his head rapidly, satisfied he turned to the older one, "I can't believe that I am hearing of such a cowardly act from you, Mr. Malfoy." Draco gulped. After that, he turned back and stared at the book while everyone else stared at him, in awe and slight fear.

They'd never seen the half goblin so angry before...

(It was Filch speaking to Mrs. Norris.)

"That's not good." Remus muttered while the twins started to moan in grief about the 'poor ickle firsties fate'.

"Code Black, code Black, code Black!" Sirius started calling until Remus rolled his eyes and slapped him upside the head, prompting the man to pout at him.

"What's code Black?" Harry asked, ignoring the twins.

To everyone's surprise, Remus turned bright red while Sirius started cackling. "It's nothing, don't worry about it." When he still refused to say anything, even silencing Sirius several times when he went to say it for him, they finally kept reading. The younger kids were disappointed, but decided to corner Sirius about it later. He seemed willing to tell them. Their hopes were dashed when Remus leaned over to Sirius before the book continued, and hissed with a glare. "Say anything, and I will tell them all about that time with Lily and the dog collar."

Sirius paled, but turned to the kids, "Sorry kids, but it isn't something you want to know." And refused to say anything else.

(Horror-struck, Harry waved madly... the door, away from Filch's voice.)

A few people sat forward in anticipation, waiting to see if they made it out or not, even if the teachers continued to hold onto their stern and disapproving expressions.

(Neville's robes had barely... Filch enter the trophy room.)

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. They were safe, and home-free now. The rest of the Five, however, remained on the edge of their seats. They weren't safe until they were back in their beds. Then, and only then were they truly safe. There was so much that could still go wrong between now and when they were in bed.

("They're in here somewhere," they... long gallery full of suits of armor.)

"So far so good." Sirius muttered, and suddenly facepalmed. Now that he'd said that, something was going to go wrong.

"Sirius!" Several people groaned, he grinned sheepishly.

(They could hear Filch getting... out a frightened squeak)

"Uh oh." The Twins muttered while the Marauders sighed in defeat.

"He panicked." Sirius muttered, planting his head into the couch behind him. Neville huffed, he did not squeak! But then turned red when he remembered what happened next.

(and broke into a run -he tripped... right into a suit of armor.)

Sirius and Remus flinched. They and James had long since decided that the suits of armor main function wasn't defense. No, it was to be there for students just trying to have a bit of fun, mind, to trip over and get caught. There were many times when they nearly got caught because Peter just wasn't paying attention and ran into a suit of armor.

(The clanging and crashing were enough to wake the whole castle.)

"Oh." Percy and the Twins both said.

"We were wondering what that was." The Twins continued while Neville turned bright red.

("RUN!" Harry yelled,)

"Oh, you shouldn't have yelled. He would have blamed it on Peeves if he hadn't heard your voice." Remus said with a grimace.

Harry nodded mournfully. Filch had been watching him closely for a couple of weeks following this, making him put several good pranks on hold, especially when he learned one night that Filch was camped outside the Common Room, waiting for someone (most likely him) to leave to go cause some mayhem. He certainly learned.

And, everyone was back on the edge of their seats, waiting to see if they made it back safely.

(and the four of them sprinted... around the doorpost and galloped)

"Another horse reference." Ginny muttered, thinking of the one from the opening feast. She got a couple of strange looks.

(down one corridor then another... was miles from the trophy room.)

"That's good, now don't stop moving. Filch knows the castle better than almost anyone." Sirius urged, not wanting his godson to get caught, since he clearly hadn't gotten caught this year yet. No need to break that track record.

("I think we've lost him," Harry... wall and wiping his forehead.)

Harry grimaced. "Just a few weeks without being chased, and your already out of shape." He accused. "What happens when you go back to the Dursleys the next summer and he catches you because you were out of shape?" He demanded. Harry grimaced, honestly, he hadn't thought of that...

"Well, I guess it's a good thing he mostly left me alone that next summer." Harry said sheepishly. Harry narrowed his eyes at his older self, but decided that he would find out later once they finished this book. In the meantime, he decided while they were here that he was going to stay in shape. He spent too long running just to lose all that just because he could do magic now.

Sirius narrowed his eyes at his boys, but didn't say anything.

(Neville was bent double, wheezing and spluttering.)

Harry grimaced. That usually only made it worse. You never bend over to catch your breath, he'd found that out the hard way.

(I - told -you," Hermione gasped... chest, "I - told - you.")

"That... is not the time." Sirius, Remus, and the Weasley twins all said, while everybody else looked at her like she suddenly sprouted antlers... again. She turned bright red.

("We've got to get back... Ron, "quickly as possible.")

"And hope that the Fat Lady is back." Ginny muttered, which made the four Gryffindor's that were out that night grimace. They were more concerned at that moment with at least being in their territory. They would have that way at least been able to claim they were in the Maze late... except of course for the fact that three of them were still dressed for bed. Although, at the same time, as long as the other three kept their mouths shut, Harry would have been able to claim that they'd already been ready for bed when they remembered an assignment due the next day and went to the Maze to finish it real quick.

("Malfoy tricked you," Hermione said... must have tipped him off.")

Filius growled at the reminder. There was Slytherin cunning, and then there was sheer stupidity. This- this was sheer stupidity.

"Again, so not the time." Sirius muttered again, becoming interested in what Harry had started to draw now. A picture of a three-headed dog. Why was he drawing a Cerberus? When on earth did he meet a Cerberus to be able to draw it in such detail? The more he saw, the more he thought that Harry might be so much happier being an artist for a living, and not an Auror. As it was mentioned several times now, people wanted him to be. Well, unless this was just a hobby, of course.

(Harry thought she was... wasn't going to tell her that.)

A huff was heard followed by the sound of an arm being smacked, everyone else just rolled their eyes as the book continued.

("Let's go."

It wasn't going... front of them.

It was Peeves.)

"Oh, tough luck little firsties." Fred said with a grimace, speaking to the book.

"Yeah, none of you have the needed experience to deal with him yet." Remus winced. Harry sighed, but nodded in agreement, he hadn't quite figured out how to deal with the Poltergeist yet by this point. It didn't take him much long, though.

It never took anybody long to figure out how to handle Peeves. Although most people took the route of threatening him with the Baron.

(He caught sight of them and... - please - you'll get us thrown out.")

Sirius tutted while the Twins pretended to be wounded by the inexperience. "Harry, Harry, Harry," Harry suffered from a momentary flashback of a blond wizard with teeth that glittered too much, "That is just guaranteed to make him do something that your not going to like." Sirius chided, looking like a stern parent, although the twitching of his lips gave him away. Harry pouted.

"Aw, come on, it's only like, the second week of school! This is the first time running into him at night, I'd managed to avoid him before that!" Harry said, actually proud of that.

"Ah, well, then, I suppose I can let it go this time. However, I expect to see better performance out of you, young man, so you better be taking notes." He said sternly to Harry. The teachers called out discouragement, the last thing the school needed was for Sirius Black to encourage Harry Potter. The boy got into enough mischief as it was without it.

"Sirius Black! You will not encourage this kind of behavior! This is why..." Whatever else Molly was going to say was cut off by a pale Arthur as he Silenced her rant. He just knew that she was going to say something, and Harry was not going to be happy, if the sudden glare on his face was anything to go by.

Dumbledore stared at them and suddenly felt like hiding under his desk for the next seven years. Maybe he could use that to get Sirius' custody revoked...? That he didn't want his school to be torn down...? It was worth a try. Although, sadly he didn't think it would work.

(Peeves cackled.

"Wandering around... don't give us away, Peeves, please.")

"No amount of saying 'please' will work on him." The twins snorted. Nobody noticed the wicked smirk on Harry's face, since he covered it up with his drawing pad. He had long since cowed Peeves, all it took was a look from him.

("Should tell Filch, I should," said... "It's for your own good, you know.")

Sirius barked a laugh. "He won't tell Filch anything. He might yell, but as long as your not stupid enough to stick around afterward, your safe." He informed the room. The rest of the Five smirked in agreement. The teachers groaned, and looked at the younger kids, before promptly deciding that it was their younger selves problem, they didn't want to deal with it.

("Get out of the way," snapped Ron... BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR")

"Now you want to run, before Filch gets there. Now that Peeves has yelled, he'll know that you got away, and he'll quit for the night." Sirius advised sagely.

Dudley was honestly wondering how on earth none of them were worried about being caught, but the more he listened to their comments, the more he understood that they knew what to do in situations where a ghost is yelling where you were for anybody to come find you. And that thought was very, very strange in his head.

(Ducking under Peeves, they... slammed into a door - and it was locked.)

"Wait a minute, the Charms corridor is on the third floor." Ginny said suddenly, eyes narrowing in thought.

"Yes, and?" Remus asked.

"There's only one door that's locked on the third floor this year, and its forbidden." She said, eyes widening in realization.

"Awesome! We can finally find out some of what's going on!" Sirius said, happy to be getting answers, but also concerned that his godson was about to be in very real danger. And not from Filch.

Percy noticed the Twins disinterest in what was behind the door, "I'm surprised you two aren't saying anything." He said suspiciously.

"Oh, we already know." Fred said dismissively.

"Yeah, although we are curious as to what exactly was going on." George agreed.

"And how, do you already know?" Their mother asked dangerously.

"Keep reading!" They called, they were still not happy with her about the other day.

Nobody seemed to realize how the teachers suddenly went tense, or how Hagrid whispered, 'So that's how they found out.'

("This is it!" Ron moaned, as... done for! This is the end!")

The Twins sighed. "And here we thought Harry was the dramatic one." They moaned.

"Oi!" "Hey!"

A few people laughed at their antics.

(They could hear footsteps, Filch... She grabbed Harry's wand,)

"Hey!" The wizard-raised protested. Even Ron and Neville, they hadn't seen this happening.

Ollivander looked scandalized. "You never just grab somebody else's wand! You also never just hand it over to anybody just because! For one, it is rude to just take it. For another, a person's wand is an extension of themselves. There is a reason why I am constantly arguing with the Ministry about there standard practice for handling criminals wands. If you are allowed to handle another person's wand, it is considered to be a sign of great trust!" He scolded with a stern glare on his face.

Hermione looked surprised, and Hermione was going to say something about that being silly, when Pomona whispered in her ear, "Think of it like this, if you were to disrobe in front of somebody for some reason. You would only do so in front of people you trusted to not take advantage. It is the same thing." Her eyes went wide, and she closed her mouth.

She had a lot to learn about this world, everytime she thought she had it figured out, she was proven wrong.

(tapped the lock, and whispered, 'Alohomora!")

Remus frowned, but didn't say anything.

(The lock clicked and the... their ears against it, listening.)

"Ah, you kids probably should have checked to make sure the room was safe," Sirius said with a grimace. "But, on the other hand, adrenaline was pumping." He shrugged.

("Which way did they go, Peeves?" Filch was saying. "Quick, tell me."

"Say 'please."')

Sirius and Remus snorted. "He won't say anything." They said.

("Don't mess with me, Peeves... in his annoying singsong voice.)

"I hate it when he talks like that." Neville grumbled. Remus nodded in agreement, that voice was awful when you were the next victim.

"You can tell he spends a lot of time with the Baron, though." Severus muttered. As much as Peeves didn't like it, there were times when something was going on, and the Baron literally tied them together so that the Poltergeist was where the Baron could see him at all times, and know he wasn't getting into any trouble. Like for the Triwizard Tournament, Peeves spent a lot of time at the Baron's side. Mostly right around the times for the tasks, and the Yule Ball, but there were times when he started to get out of control and the Baron put the leash back on him.

("All right -please.")

"You would think he would stop falling for it by now."

"I'm starting to think that maybe Filch and Peeves enjoy antagonizing each other." Somebody muttered.

("NOTHING! Ha haaa! Told you... we'll be okay - get off, Neville!")

"What now?" Sirius muttered, frowning.

"You know, you really should be more aware, and pay attention when people are trying to get your attention!" Neville scolded Harry, who put his sketchpad down and held his hands up in surrender, a small grin on his face.

(For Neville had been tugging... sure he'd walked into a nightmare-)

The teasing and light atmosphere from those who were unaware what was coming disappeared. People finally noticed the tension among the teachers.

Sirius swallowed and crushed his boys against his side, not wanting to let go of them while book-Harry was in danger.

(this was too much, on top of... forbidden corridor on the third floor.)

If it were possible, the teachers grew even more tense, making the others start to almost panic.

Sirius tightened his grip on his boys, and Remus shuffled closer to Harry.

Molly was looking at her boys, worried. Her twins had admitted to already knowing what was in there before Harry and Ron found themselves in there, they only looked mildly concerned, but still...

Fred and George were a little more than mildly concerned. They knew how to handle a Cerberus, they had done their research after finding the animal before they ever tried to go down the trapdoor, but their brothers and friends didn't. And, they were trapped between it and Filch. What a lovely combination.

(And now they knew why it... ceiling and floor. It had three heads.)

"A Cerberus." Molly whispered in shock. She turned to the teachers. "What was a Cerberus doing there?! Everyone knows that the only people they don't attack on sight is their owners!" She screeched.

The teachers looked alarmed and immediately pointed at Albus, completely taking the blame off their shoulders.

Albus paled when she turned on him. One thing that you never want to do, is do something that could possibly put any Weasley clan member in danger... and then let Molly Weasley hear about it. "Now, Molly, the door was locked, the students shouldn't have even been there."

"Don't pin this on them! That dog shouldn't even be in that school in the first place!" Remus growled, he was struggling right now to try and keep his wolf under control. All it had heard, was that his cub had been in danger, and this man was the cause. And the wolf was extra-protective with two of Cub in the room with him. Dumbledore paled when he saw the werewolf struggling.

Harry felt like his ribs were about to be crushed from the strong hold Sirius had on him, and his leg was going numb from Remus strong grip. Harry was a little more resigned to Sirius' tight grip, and also enjoying it. Everyone else was fuming, but they also wanted to get this chapter over with so they could hear about them escaping.

"Agreed!" Molly said, this was one of the few times she agreed with Remus about something involving her boys that didn't involve their grades when he taught them for that one year.

"Albus had his reasons." Severus said bitterly. He put all the students in danger with that little trap, letting Voldemort near the students like he had, putting Harry in danger when he knew that Severus had sworn on his magic to protect the boy, and that if he found out he was in danger... The vow he took had not taken kindly to his inaction whenever he found out Harry had been in danger after the fact.

"And they were reasons none of us agreed with." Minerva added when the Weasleys and Neville turned to Severus in disbelief.

"Reasons that I still don't know. Even now, years later." Pomona said, and Filius nodded in agreement with her. They never were told why they were setting up those obstacles for the Stone.

Harry finally had enough and had to get his godfather to loosen his grip before a few ribs really did crack under the pressure. He could feel them creaking even now.

(Three pairs of rolling, mad eyes... in slippery ropes from yellowish fangs.)

Neville shuddered, he'd had nightmares about that for weeks after this. Ginny reached over and pulled him into a hug while Luna hummed under her breath beside him. Molly and Arthur got Ron up and marched him to sit in between them, instead, while Sirius hugged his boys even tighter to him and Remus' grip became tighter on Harry's leg.

"That thing looked hungry." Hermione whispered. She noticed idly that the younger Trio all looked terrified of possibly coming across this thing.

Draco looked disturbed. After all, they wouldn't have been there if he hadn't set Filch after them. Severus was pale. He hadn't known about this. If Harry had gotten hurt and he hadn't known about this... He would have been in for a rough few nights, to say the least. He was the boys protector, he was supposed to know about stuff like this! He also knew just how painful those fangs were in your leg!

Everyone was worried, and sitting on the edge of their seats, wanting to know that they made it out alive. The Dursley's had either fainted or were gaping in shock and horror at what they were hearing, while the Dudley's were in awe of what they were hearing. After all, Cerberus is in Muggle myths, and to think that they really existed...

(It was standing quite still, all... appearance had taken it by surprise,)

"That's a very good assessment of the situation, lad." Moody said, staring at Albus with his magical eye while his real one focused on what he was writing. Albus eyed the parchment in his hand warily. Whatever he was writing, could not be good for him. Sirius and Remus both sounded like wounded animals.

(but it was quickly getting... those thunderous growls meant.)

"It was very loud..." Harry muttered, while everyone flinched after the book imitated the sounds Fluffy was making. Hagrid was pale, he knew that Fluffy was about to attack, that was his job, after all.

Hagrid was the only one he wouldn't attack, because Hagrid was the one who trained him, who owned him. And, because he had orders to attack whoever came in that wasn't Hagrid.

(Harry groped for the doorknob - between Filch and death, he'd take Filch.)

It got a few chuckles out of the tense group, but a few shook their heads or glared fondly. Only Harry would be making snarky remarks in a situation like this. Remus growled, he didn't like his cub making light of the situation.

(They fell backward - Harry slammed... between them and that monster.)

"Don't blame you." Was muttered throughout the room.

(They didn't stop running until they... and their flushed, sweaty faces.)

"Yeah, kind of obvious they weren't in the Maze." Fred said with a grimace.

"I don't know, they could have been in one of the exercise rooms. Or the dueling room." George said with a shrug.

"At, what would it have been by this point, one in the morning?" Percy asked his brothers dryly.

"Sure, its an excellent way to get to sleep on nights when you don't feel the least bit tired." Charlie said cheerfully. He himself made much use of the dueling and exercise rooms when he couldn't sleep. Bill nodded his agreement.

"You have exercise rooms?" Draco asked, that would be so helpful for Quidditch, especially in bad weather! No wonder Gryffindor was so good, they could practice whenever without having to use the field!

"Yeah, Wood would never let us use them during bad weather though, and he did have a point. If we practiced inside all the time, then we wouldn't be able to work well outside." Harry said absently.

"Especially in bad weather." The Twins said. Draco frowned, but admitted their point.

("Never mind that - pig snout... like that locked up in a school?")

"That's what I would like to know." Sirius said, frowning at the staff. Moody was frowning at Albus, wondering what on earth his friend was up to.

"Forget that for a second, what I want to know is why the only thing separating that dog and students is a first year unlocking charm." Remus said, frowning at the staff himself. He was still trying to bring the wolf back under control, it was happier that Cub was now out of danger, but still. The Heads of House froze, and then paled like they hadn't even thought about that.

"Hagrid needs to get in to feed him somehow." Albus said, frowning at Remus as if it should be obvious. "Besides, I warned the students not to go up there. There should be no need to put a stronger lock on the door."

"You warning the students that there was a forbidden corridor is exactly why there should be a stronger lock on the door!" Most of the pranksters all yelled. Honestly, the Twins specifically went up there to check it out BECAUSE it was forbidden. They'd even gone down the trap-door to see what was going on, they'd found the obstacle course pretty fun, if a little easy to be honest, even if the lack of a prize at the end was disappointing. They decided not to mention that with their mother present. Especially since she was already unhappy about them knowing about the Cerberus beforehand.

"Besides, we all know that Hagrid can still use his wand, its in his umbrella..." Harry trailed off, looking thoughtful, then he glanced at Albus' sleeve where the Elder Wand was hidden suspiciously, before he continued. "So, put a stronger lock that students couldn't get around, and teach Hagrid the spell." He concluded, still eyeing the Elder Wand in suspicion.

Severus and Minerva both started to furiously add to their lists, making sure their younger selves knew that if Fluffy was going to be in the school, then they needed to make sure that a first year spell wasn't all it took to open the door. If Hagrid really needed to get in, then he could find somebody to unlock the door for him. Or, better yet, they could not have Fluffy in the school at all! That would be even better. But, sadly, they knew that Albus was stubborn.

(said Ron finally. "If any dog needs exercise, that one does.")

"Yeah, hey. Did that dog ever get out and get some exercise? Because..." Harry asked, and then trailed off.

Hagrid growled, actually growled, while glaring a little at the Headmaster. "I tried to let him out to run at least once a week. Albus wouldn't hear about it." Honestly, he loved the Headmaster. The man had done much for him over the years, and he would always be loyal, but there were a few things the Headmaster did over the years, mostly things regarding his treatment of Harry or some of his animals that he didn't agree with. He actually prided himself on at least being able to keep his disagreements (few that they were) with the Headmaster away from the students eyes. It was probably the only thing he hadn't let slip over the years that he wasn't supposed to.

Everyone looked at Hagrid in shock. They had never seen him even remotely annoyed with the Headmaster before, he always did what Albus asked without question, after all.

(Hermione had got both her... "Didn't you see what it was standing on.")

"I think the boys were a little more occupied with the three heads." Remus said, still trying to calm down before he went crazy on Albus for putting such a dangerous animal near his cub without proper safety measures in place.

Hermione turned red, "I was too scared to look up, so I focused on its feet." She confessed.

"Perfectly understandable." Neville said seriously. Sirius was a little sad that she was scared of the dog, but thought that maybe she would be fine with Padfoot...? He would talk to her later. If she was one of Harry's best friends and most trusted, then he didn't want to make things uncomfortable for her.

("The floor?" Harry suggested... too busy with its heads.")

"Understandable." Severus grimaced. Those heads were hard to keep track of.

"Thank you!" Ron said, pointing to him and then looking at Hermione triumphantly. They'd actually been bickering over that for years. Not seriously, mind, but still. Harry rolled his eyes.

He was just glad Sirius had finally loosened his grip. Molly grumbled darkly and glared at the Headmaster again.

("No, not the floor. It was standing... obviously guarding something.")

The Heads of House groaned and glared at nothing. They could see that adding Hermione's intelligence with the chaotic and curious mind of Harry, wasn't necessarily a good thing.

(She stood up, glaring at them... have been killed - or worse, expelled.)

"Uh, I'm pretty sure that's backwards..." Remus muttered, eyeing Hermione, who turned red. The teachers all blinked. They knew the girl was serious about her schooling, but seriously?

"Besides, they would have gotten away scot-free if Neville hadn't panicked." Fred said, shrugging.

(Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed."

Ron stared after her, his mouth open.)

"You know, I think I actually missed this conversation..." Neville said, tilting his head to the side, trying to think back.

"You were staring into the fire, shaking. I had to practically carry you to bed." Harry informed him. "I just couldn't get your attention."

"Oh." Neville frowned.

("No, we don't mind," he said... about as he climbed back into bed.)

"Uh-oh." The teachers muttered. Harry smiled innocently.

Not that anybody in the room believed that innocent smile.

(The dog was guarding something... vault seven hundred and thirteen was.)

"And there starts the rule breaking and getting into business that doesn't concern students." Severus muttered, glaring at the boy in question, who had the nerve to simply smile at him as if he were an innocent little angel. Severus scowled. The other teachers grumbled about him being too curious for his own good.

"Next chapter!" Ron said a minute later, trying to derail Severus from going on a rant. And keeping the adults from sending them out of the room so they could have a nice, long discussion with the Headmaster.

Chapter ten: Halloween