But Justin was at class the next day. Harry eyed him nervously for a long time, deciding whether or not to tell him. But in the end, the decision was quite obvious. Harry didn't tell him because- as Uncle Vernon had told him- dreams are fake and anybody who believes in them is dense and wont get anywhere in life.

His thoughts were on the contest Sprout was holding. The group of people who got their qwalshes (pumpkin like plants) the largest wouldn't have to take the final that year. Harry was almost excited. Everybody was. Justin was sitting on his stool with the widest grin on his face. Justin was great at Herbology, almost as good as Neville.

Class ended and everybody walked away from the greenhouses chattering about the contest.

"Wont it be great, Harry?" Neville asked. "If we win the contest- no final! I won't even have to study!"

Harry looked at the ecstatic look on his plump friend's face. He looked like a happy child. Harry gave him a rare smile. "Yeah, I hope we win."

Hermione tugged on Ron's robes and pointed to Harry. "He's cracking!" She said. "Look, he's smiling!"

"Amazing." Ron said sarcastically. "He's smiled before this."

"Not in a while!" Hermione persisted.

"I suppose…." Ron said. "But really, it's not that special."

"Sick in the mud." Hermione teased.

"Bookworm!"

"Troll!" Hermione said.

"Bush!"

They giggled. When they had stopped Hermione and Ron watched as Parvati sauntered up to Harry.

"Hi Harry." She said.

Harry swirled around. "Oh, hi Parvati. How are you?"

"Good, and you?"

"Eh, could be better."

"That's too bad." Parvati said and latched elbows with him. "I hope it gets better for you."

"That's nice to say." Harry said. "Thank you. What did you do this summer?"

"Oh, I visited my Aunt in Romania but that's about it." She said. "What did YOU do this summer, Harry?"

"Nothing. I'm still with my Aunt and Uncle in the summer. I'm their personal slave, I swear."

Parvati giggled. "Tell me more about it."

"Okay." Harry said. "And my cousin, (his name is Dudley) he just keeps getting fatter and fatter…they have to go to the store twice a week to get him clothes that fit."

They both giggled and then Hermione realized that Harry was FLIRTING. For some reason it seemed odd to her that Harry should be participating in such a sport. As one of her best friends she had always thought of him- to put it bluntly- non-sexual. Especially last year. He hadn't been handsome, just okay and skinny and short. But now that he had grown up (literally) a little and his voice wasn't so high and his hair wasn't so- EVERYWHERE, he was handsome.

"Hermione, you're staring at Harry." Ron commented a little angrily.

"I know." Hermione said and averted her stare to the castle ahead. "All girls do at some point…"

Ron made a noise in his throat. "That's rather-"

"Just like all boys look at Lavender." Hermione said. Ron shut his mouth. Hermione looked back over at Harry. "Just look at him."

"Why?" Ron said. "I see Harry all the time."

"Yes, but he's flirting like his life depended on it!" Hermione said with a laugh. Harry was playing with Parvati's hair now, pretending like he was braiding it.

Ron half glared at Harry. "And it's working too. Just look at Parvati!"

"Lavender's jealous." Hermione commented. "Perhaps Neville will flirt with her now."

~* ~* ~* ~*


Sirius,
You wanted to know about weird stuff around the castle didn't you? Well, I'm telling you whether you want me too or not. The new DADA teacher is making me nervous. I can't explain why. It isn't fear, I know that. But the guy won't leave my alone. He asks nosy questions, keeps me after class 'just to chat about things' and always picks on me in class. Not the way Snape picks on me. Like he wants to know every single thing about me. And you know my past with DADA teachers. His name is Gregory Krikor. All the teachers seem to like him and all the students too. But I don't trust him. I caught him looking- staring- at me during dinner last week. Just staring. I mean for the WHOLE dinner. He even missed his mouth with his fork once. Do you know anything about a Gregory Krikor?

Harry Potter







Sirius folded the letter and put it in his dirty robe's breast pocket, and transformed back into a dog. Hogsmeade was just as he left it. He recognized the townspeople as he trotted through the village. The little children ran up to him and pet him and ran away before their mothers could scold them.

Sirius pressed on up the mountain. Hogwarts was getting nearer and nearer. So were Harry and Dumbledore and this… this TEACHER that Harry had been talking about. Sirius didn't like the sounds of him so far. He would do some of his own investigating though.

He scratched on the front doors and eventually they opened up for him. He walked through the deserted halls. The students were at dinner most likely. Sirius walked up the stairs.

Sirius turned a corner.

"Siri- SNUFFLES?" Somebody said loudly. It was Ron Weasley. Sirius barked and walked over to him. "What are you doing here? You'll -you'll get caught!"

Sirius shook his head as best a dog could.

"C'mon." Ron said. "Maybe Harry'll cheer up when he sees you."

Sirius suddenly wished that dogs could talk so he could ask Ron what he meant. But of course they cant so Sirius just followed Ron into the common room.

"Ron, why are you grinning like an ape?" Hermione asked. "What are you hiding?"

"Harry." Ron said grandly. "Let me introduce you to…man's best friend!" Sirius barked and rushed forward to Harry.

His face split into the first real smile they had seen in a while. His voice cracked as he said, "Snuffles what are you doing here?"

Harry found the letter he had written to Sirius earlier that month being thrown at him. Harry reread it.

"Oh. Right. You're going to see what you think about him?"

Sirius nodded. He nudged his head against Harry's knee and trotted off.

"Where are you going?" Harry asked hotly.

Sirius barked something that sounded amazingly like "Dumbledore".

~* ~* ~* ~*

Sirius waited patiently out side of Dumbledore's door. He could hear the conversation from inside. It sounded almost like an argument.

"Professor Krikor, please calm yourself, the boy is fine. You should have known there would be a student that wouldn't like you."

"Yes, but him? You would think we would get a long perfectly. I mean we do have all the same hobbies, he's the best at all the subjects I was the best at. Why does he hate me?"

"He doesn't hate you." Dumbledore said. "Hate is a rather strong word. He barely knows you."

"Well he acts like he hates me, Albus. It's getting on my nerves. And he talks back and he's just nasty. And I thought, from all the articles that I read about him I would find a short, skinny cowardly boy who cries a lot."

"Funny how the press lies." Dumbledore said. "Harry is a fine boy, and he never has cried. Or I haven't seen him. And I've seen him do a lot of deathly things."

"Like what?"

"Fell of a broom once. Dementors drained him."

"Wow."

Sirius was sick of waiting. He barked loudly and waited.

"That sounds familiar." Dumbledore said. Suddenly the door was open. The headmaster looked mildly surprised. "Ah Snuffles. Come in, come in. Professor Krikor and I are almost done." Sirius did just that.

The man, Krikor swiveled around in his chair to see what it was. Sirius looked up into the bright blue eyes and cocked his head to the side…he seemed familiar.

Krikor suddenly made a choking noise and his eyes widened. "I think I'll leave now." He said quickly. "Thank you for seeing me, Sir."

"Goodbye Greg." Dumbledore sighed as Krikor left the room. Sirius transformed as soon as he left.

"Who is he and how do I know him?" Sirius asked.

Dumbledore chuckled. He had figured Sirius would be around to make sure everything in the castle was in order. He had planned what he was going to do too. Sirius would thank him later. "His names is Gregory Krikor and I'm not to sure how you know him, Sirius."

"Are you sure?" Sirius asked.

"Quite."

"Oh." Sirius said. "It's just- this is going to sound odd- his eyes look so familiar to me."

Dumbledore shrugged. "I really don't know what to tell you."

Sirius sighed. "Alright. I believe you. I just thought I'd let you know that I was here."

"And you are welcome to stay." Dumbledore said. "In form of a dog, of course. You'd scare he students if you weren't."

"I know." Sirius said. "I suppose I'll leave now."

"Good day to you then, Sirius."

"Good day." Sirius transformed and walked out of the office.
~* ~* ~* ~*


Somebody shook Harry awake early the next morning. Harry grumbled something about sleeping peacefully and sat up. Ron was in front of him and he looked rather pale.

"What is it?" He asked. "What is so important that you would wake me up on a Saturday?"

"Th- the dark mark." Ron said.

"What?" Harry said. "What about it?"

"Fired over the greenhouses." Ron continued shakily.

The color drained from Harry's face. "Who died?"

"Justin." Ron said. "Justin's been killed."

"No!" Harry said in a whisper. "You're joking me, right?"

Ron shook his head.

"The school is meeting in about a half an hour in the Great Hall." Seamus said. "I'm sorry Harry. I knew he was your friend."

Harry stood up and got dressed shakily. It was all Harry's fault. He hadn't warned Justin about the Greenhouses. And now he was dead, dead, dead.

~* ~* ~* ~*


"I regret to inform you that a student has been taken away from us last night." Dumbledore said. "Justin Finch-Fletchley was killed in the Greenhouses. He was a good friend, an excellent student and very nice all around. He will be missed sorely."

There was an awful lot of sniffing coming from the Hufflepuff table.

"A mass will be held in honor of him tomorrow and anybody is welcome to come." Dumbledore said. He paused for a minute. "Now I'd like to reiterate the importance of the no wandering after hours rule. We do not want anybody hurt in this castle or on it's grounds so now it is even more important that you keep to the rule. Anybody caught outside their dorms after nine o'clock will be excused from all further Quidditch matches and Hogsmeade trips. Aurors will monitor Quidditch matches and teachers will be overseeing the practices. Is this all quite clear?"

Everybody murmured his or her replies.

"You are dismissed to your Saturday then." Dumbledore said.

~* ~* ~* ~*

Harry did not attend the service for Justin. He felt too guilty. Instead he stayed in the dorms with the curtains pulled around his bed. Nobody, not even Sirius dared to go see if he was okay. He had heard about Harry's recent development of a terrible temper and Sirius wanted to keep himself in one piece if it was possible.

Nobody bothered him either when he didn't emerge from his bed the next morning. Harry missed all his classes that day.

Hermione and Ron walked up the stairs to the dorm room together.

"Harry?" Hermione asked.

There was no reply.

"Harry are you okay?" Ron asked.

There was no reply again.

"We- we brought your homework." Hermione said. "You missed a lot today."

"McGonagall'll probably be up here later to ask why you weren't there." Ron said. "You'd probably get yourself terminally sick pretty soon or you'll be in a lot of trouble."

No sounds came from the bed.

Hermione sighed. "Harry, say something."

Nothing.

"I'm sick of this." Ron said finally. He ripped open the curtains. The bed was neatly made and empty.

Hermione made a noise in her throat. "Well I suppose we should find him now…"

They left the dorm room and began asking around.

"No, I haven't seen him in- two days." Neville told them. Everybody else said the same thing.

"Where could he hide?" Hermione said.

"Well, Hogwarts is a big place." Ron commented.

"Showers maybe?" Hermione said. "I mean, he has to take one every once in a while to smell that good."

Ron punched her shoulder lightly. "If I didn't know any better I would think that you had a-"

"I DO NOT have a crush on him." Hermione said.

"Well then why do you say things like that?"

"To annoy you." Hermione said. "And he DOES smell good."

Ron shook his head and walked over to the Boy's Shower Room. He was halfway into the door when he stopped and turned around.

"Aren't you coming Hermione?"

"That's a BOYS shower room." Hermione said stupidly. "I'm a girl."

"Yes, Hermione." Ron said. "Now can you tell me what color the sky is?"

"Shut up Ron." Hermione said. "It's just- what if somebody's in there?"

Ron smirked at her. "Afraid you might like it?"

Hermione blushed madly, socked him hard on the shoulder and followed him in.

"Harry are you in here?" Hermione called. Her voice bounced off the walls.

There was a muffled cry. A hand poked out of a shower stall and grabbed a towel.

"Why is there a girl in here?" Came Neville's voice from behind the door.

"Don't sweat it, Nev." Hermione said. "We aren't looking. But have you seen Harry?"

"You already asked me that." He said. The door opened and Neville stepped out fully clothed with wet hair. "I still haven't seen him."

"Right sorry." Ron said. Neville left the shower room. "I guess he isn't in here then."

"I guess not…." Hermione said faintly. "Look at that."

"Look at what?" Ron asked.

Hermione pointed to a shower stall that had its door open. The person who had been there last had forgotten their shampoo.

"That." Hermione said. Ron scoffed.

"Oh gee." He said. "Shampoo! Never seen that before!"

"No, not that. Look at the floor." Hermione said. Ron looked down.

On the floor, near the drain was a small puddle of blood. Next to it was a broken pink razor. The head of the razor was lying a good four inches away from the rest of it.

Hermione looked at Ron's face. "What is it?" She asked.

"The shampoo." Ron said faintly.

"Why are you talking about the shampoo? Look at the blood!"

"The shampoo- it's- it's-" Ron faltered. "It's Harry's shampoo."

~* ~* ~* ~*


"Maybe it was just a shaving accident!" Hermione said quickly. "It could happen!"

Ron shook his head. "There's a charm that you can use instead of a razor."

"What is it?"

Ron stared at her. "Are you mad? Now is not the time to swap charms!"

Hermione seemed to come out of a daze. "You're right. But I mean there is a possibility that the shampoo isn't Harry's. There are a lot of boys in Gryffindor."

Ron half glared at her. "How many guys do you know that use Pantene Pro-V Smooth and Sleek Shampoo?"

~* ~* ~* ~*