Disclaimer: I don't own any characters.

A/N: Since we don't really know a lot about Apparating, I sort of going to take the liberty to invent. If you think I'm way off or if you have any ideas feel free to tell me. The only thing I wonder about is: do you need your wand to Apparate? I don't think you do, so that's how I'm going to portray it in this story. If anyone has any theories I would love to hear them.

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Last Time

"No. I can't do this again," she was about to open the door when he came up from behind her and grabbed her arm.

"Not until you let me explain," he said dangerously.

Without warning, Phoebe levitated five feet in the air and kicked Snape in the head with all her might.

He flew backwards into his desk, almost knocking it over.

"Don't touch me," she growled in a low voice.

He looked up in time to see her leave the room and slam the door shut behind her. He could feel a trickle of blood falling down the back of his head.

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Chapter 25

The subtle rays of moonlight shone dimly through the window at the end of the fifth floor corridor giving a ghostly illumination to the already paled person huddled up against it.

Sitting on the sill with her knees bent, arms wrapped around them, she sobbed quietly into her own chest.

The memories came flooding back like a tidal wave. Every lie that she had ever heard from him, all of the little signs that should have sent up a red flag were digging at her heart like claws without mercy.

And now...him.

He had done the same. He had lied to her. He had betrayed the one thing that she could never forgive...her trust.

Trust was the one thing that she did not give easily. But once she was willing to give it, she gave it all, along with her heart. The heart that he had now broken completely.

She had been so sure that he was different, that he was good, despite what everyone was telling her. Everyone said he was evil, yet she paid no mind. The situation was so uncannily familiar, it hit so close to home...how could it not hurt?

She felt, rather than heard, someone sit next to her on the window.

With every fiber of her being she prayed that it wasn't him. She didn't know what she would do if it was. Part of her was convinced that she would kill him, but the other part was sure she would burst into even more tears.

She felt a comforting hand rub her back. The feeling was so warm, so soft that she looked up.

Tears still flowing freely, her eyes connected with the soft blue eyes of the Headmaster, that at the moment were filled with concern and understanding.

Her heart was screaming at her to ask for answers but words failed her, so she put her head back down and continued to sob quietly.

"Severus is a good man," Dumbledore began quietly, barely above a whisper.

She flinched slightly when she heard his name. Even though it was barely a whisper it sounded like someone had yelled it through the hall and it now echoed bitterly in her head.

"We have all done things in our past that we would most like to forget and he is no exception. He is, however, a changed man. He is fighting for the same cause that you and your sisters have fought for so long."

"H-he lied," she choked out quietly. "He didn't have to lie."

"I am in no way condoning his handling of the situation. I agree it would have been better for him to have been straight forward with you, but we all make mistakes. We hide the truth to protect the ones we care so much for. We are blinded by our feelings. I think it is safe to assume he cares deeply for you. Something, I can assure you, he has not felt in many years."

She finally looked up and met his eyes. "Y-you...trust him?" It almost sounded like an accusation.

"With my life," he answered steadily.

"But he was -"

"Yes, he was. Remember, we all have a dark side. Part of being good is knowing what is wrong and having the will to resist it. But I dare say...one does not always succeed," he finished, looking at her knowingly. "Exactly how long were you Queen of the Underworld for?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

She made a small sound that was somewhere between a cough and a chuckle and looked at Dumbledore in surprise. "About a week."

He looked at her seriously, eyes boring into hers yet, not in an intrusive manner. They were more curious. Then he looked away seemingly satisfied.

"Let him explain. You deserve to know the truth. Now, off to bed before you catch a cold. After all, a new term begins tomorrow. You'll want to be ready for class," he said, familiar twinkle in his eye.

Phoebe walked silently up to her room. She didn't have the energy to talk about what had happened so she decided to take Dumbledore's advice and she tried to get some sleep.

Unfortunately for her, her dreams wouldn't let her.

Piper and Paige heard Phoebe come in late the night before and decided it would be better to leave her alone...for now.

They now had to worry about what they would teach to their class. Needless to say, they had been somewhat busy over the vacation.

When they entered the Great Hall, it was a buzz with post-holiday gossip. They immediately saw that Snape was not at the staff table and wondered what could have happened last night.

Knowing that they couldn't come up with a decent lesson in just a few minutes and knowing that they had to talk to Phoebe, they posted a letter on their classroom door saying that class was cancelled due to "family reasons" and headed back to their room.

Phoebe wandered blindly downstairs and made herself a cup of coffee. Though not being an expert coffee-maker like Piper, she promptly spit it out as soon as she took a sip.

She wasn't sure whether she could blame her coffee-making skills entirely, the bitter taste in her mouth just wasn't going away.

She heard the door of the living room click shut and saw Piper and Paige come into the kitchen hesitantly.

"We come in peace," said Piper hands raised.

They sat around the table in an awkward silence until Phoebe spoke up. "Aren't you guys supposed to be in class right now?" Her voice was shaky and raspy.

"We cancelled it," said Paige looking at Phoebe carefully. "Look, I'm sor -"

"Don't be," said Phoebe cutting her off. "You were right...again."

"We didn't want to be," said Paige softly.

"Didn't you?"

"Of course not," said Piper.

"But there's more to it," said Phoebe suddenly.

"What do you mean?" asked Paige.

With some difficulty, Phoebe began to tell them everything that had gone on the night before. From Snape to Dumbledore, they listened quietly until she had finished.

"So...Dumbledore knew?" asked Paige trying to understand.

"He trusts him. I guess we should too, but...it's just hard, you know. It brings back so many Cole memories," Phoebe explained.

"That's understandable," said Piper. "But if Dumbledore trusts him, then maybe you should give him another chance to explain."

"What am I supposed to say? Sorry for kicking you in the head?"

"That would be a start," Paige shrugged, smiling.

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Most of the students shrugged off the note on the door of the DADA homework figuring that the sisters must be sick or just didn't feel like teaching that morning. Someone even suggested that they were hung over from the holidays.

Harry, always fearing the worst, immediately thought something was wrong.

"I'm sure they're fine," Hermione tried to convince him.

"Well, I'll feel a lot better if I see them for myself."

They began walking the now familiar route to the girls' home when they ran into someone they would rather avoid.

"Going somewhere?" he drawled.

It seemed like the odd sort of truce they had during the holidays would now be coming to the end.

Hermione, however, wasn't ready for that to happen. She was getting quite used to not fighting with Malfoy every second of everyday and figured if they kept being civil with him he just might return the gesture.

"Yes, actually. We're going to make sure the sisters are alright. Didn't you see the note on the classroom door?"

"No. Blaise told me class was cancelled. Is something wrong with them?" he asked voice unconcerned, but nothing could hide the small flicker of fear in his eyes.

"We don't know yet. That's what we're going to find out," said Harry, also noting the flash of concern on Draco's face. "Want to come?"

Ron looked at Harry in disbelief but Hermione smiled to show her approval.

Draco shot Harry a suspicious look. "When are you going to start trusting us, Malfoy?" Harry asked impatiently.

"When hell freezes over," he said in a would be cheery voice and started walking in the same direction that the Trio had been going in.

They got to the front door and knocked tentatively. Paige answered.

"We saw the note on the door and we just wanted to make sure that everything was okay," explained Harry.

Paige gave a quick glance over her shoulder. "Thanks for coming by but everything's fine. Don't worry. You guys should probably get ready for your next class. Oh and don't forget, your first Apparating lesson is tomorrow night after dinner. See you later," she gave them a small wave and shut the door.

As the door closed, Harry saw Phoebe walking into the living room. From what he could see, she looked very sad.

The rest of the day went by without much incident. Their classes seemed to be more boring than usual, but it was the mounting anticipation of their first Apparating lesson that made everything else seem so mundane in comparison. Even Hermione was itching to get to the common room and start reading that book Harry had gotten her for Christmas.

When the time had finally come for their last class to be finished and dinner was done, they all rushed to the common room where Hermione practically read them half the book out loud. They actually found it quite interesting.

"It says here that Apparating works differently for each individual witch or wizard," Hermione commented.

"Then how are they going to teach us if each one of us will do it a different way?" asked Ron.

"Maybe there's a list of the different ways?" questioned Harry, looking back at Hermione.

She scanned the page, brow furrowed. "Some wizards choose to imagine themselves turning into the wind or air and that helps them visualize where they will end up. It is important to visualize your whole self being transported. The less you are concentrating the greater chance you will have to splinch yourself," she said reading.

"Well that's comforting," said Harry.

"Hang on. Listen to this. Some wizards have actually concentrated so hard that a hidden talent presents itself. In fact, it is actually quite common for most witches and wizards to discover whether or not they are Animagi while they are first learning to Apparate. I guess the two must be closely related."

"Wicked! You mean one of us might find out we're an Animagus?" said Ron excitedly. "Harry, what do you think I'd turn into?"

"I don't know. What do you think I'd be?"

"No idea."

The two looked at Hermione. "Honestly, don't you two know anything? People who are Animagi don't get to choose what animal they become. It's a reflection of their personalities. I think Harry would be a lion; brave and noble, but a bit stubborn at times. Ron, you would be a," she stopped to think for a moment, "a bull."

Ron looked outraged. "A bull! Is that the best you could come up with?"

"Well, with your temper what else do you think I would have chosen?" she said briskly.

"You know, she does have a point, mate," said Harry, stifling back a laugh.

"What do you think I would be?" asked Hermione.

A fire-breathing dragon came to Ron's mind first but he knew better than to say that out loud. "Obviously you would be an owl," he said in a great mockery of her earlier tone. "I hear they have really big brains."

She couldn't help but laugh.

They all expected the day to go by very slow. Every class dragging and seeming hours longer than what it really was.

However, the exact opposite was true. They would get in a class and after what felt like mere minutes they were getting up and packing to leave and go to the next class. It was as if some one had put the day on fast forward.

Before they knew it, it was dinner time. They ate quietly, too excited to talk. Once they were finished they walked out of the Great Hall and up to the empty Muggle Studies classroom closely followed by Draco.

There they were met by Remus and Piper, who were sitting and talking quietly in front of the desk.

As soon as Remus saw them walk in he had them all stand in front of the desk.

"Now, as you will all know, no one can Apparate or Disapparate on Hogwarts grounds. That is why the Headmaster has kindly prepared us a portkey that will take us to a small cottage called Breyer's Inn in a nearby town just outside of Hogsmeade. It is scheduled to take us to this same cottage every Tuesday at eight o'clock, so you should arrive here no later than five minutes of eight. Then we will return to Hogwarts by floo powder. " At this, Piper gave a small snort of disapproval.

He finished and they nodded in understanding. He opened the desk drawer and pulled out an old and battered looking quill.

"Everyone touching it. Good. In three, two, one..."

The number one was barely out of his mouth when they all felt the familiar tug behind their navel.

In a blur of light they were taken to Breyer's Inn. They landed in the living room.

The fire was blazing and it was nice and warm inside. Remus set the quill carefully inside a pocket in his robe and set the robe on an old desk near the window.

"Tonight's lesson, being the first, will be in large part about visualizing. Since Apparating comes different to every witch and wizard you need to explore and see what makes you feel comfortable. Apparating is wandless magic and is therefore difficult to learn when first starting out, but I promise that once you master it, it will come as easily to you as breathing. Even though the technique may be different for each person, the same fundamental rules apply. Remember always to concentrate on your entire body, and remember to always visualize your destination. It is very helpful if you know the exact coordinates that you are trying to reach. People rarely make it to their intended location by guessing. I want you all to stand up. I know this may seem a little odd at first, but I want you each to pick a spot in the room and literally picture yourself disappearing and appearing in your intended spot. Close your eyes for a few minutes and just visualize."

Needless to say, everyone but Hermione felt extremely stupid just standing there with their eyes closed.

Draco decided to concentrate on what a handy skill Apparating would be if he ever got into a sticky situation. He also wanted to see the look on Hermione's face should he be the one to learn first. He was determined to beat her.

He closed his eyes but could still see the room clearly in his mind. He imagined that he was outside of his body looking at himself. Then he saw himself disappear and appear next to Piper who was sitting in an old arm chair a few feet away. He did this a few times in his mind going back and forth.

He was concentrating so hard, he didn't realize that Remus was calling his name. It was only when he felt a hand grasp his shoulder that he opened his eyes.

They had been clamped shut so tightly, it took them a while to refocus. Once they did, however, he was shocked to see where he was.

He was no longer standing next to Hermione and facing his two professors. He was, in fact, standing right next to Piper's chair and staring at Harry, Ron and Hermione's shocked faces.

It was priceless.

"Draco, I have to say that was extraordinary. I don't think I've ever seen anyone pick up Apparating so quickly. Well done," said Remus beaming.

Once Draco's own shock had worn off, he felt more and more satisfied.

"No one ever said it would be so simple," he drawled, running his hand through his hair.

This didn't quite have the effect he had thought. Far from looking annoyed at him, everyone took a collective gasp that all but emptied the oxygen from the room.

"What?" he said quite defensively.

"Draco, let me see your hand," said Remus, quietly.

"Why, what's wrong with -"

But his own question was answered when he looked down at his right hand. It was no longer white and smooth. It was the exact opposite. It was as black as the night and seemed hairless. His fingernails looked far from human. They were long, round and thin much like a cat's.

He looked at his other hand and it was fine, normal. His right hand however, felt leathery and rough.

"You have nothing to worry about, Draco," Remus began with the smallest trace of a smile on his face.

"Do you think this is funny? How can I not worry when my hand is bloody black!"

Piper got up from the chair and put a reassuring arm around the visibly shaken blonde teen's shoulders.

"He was going to change, wasn't he?" asked Hermione, in a small but awed voice.

Remus nodded.

"Change? What do you mean change? Into what?" he asked desperately looking around. He felt as though everyone knew a big secret and they were deliberately not telling him.

"Congratulations, Draco. It seems that you...are an Animagus."