-CHAPTER THIRTEEN-

Pectoris Laniatus Verum

The day after the Celebrational Ball was a time of great excitement, not only because it was the last day of classes before winter break, but also because it marked the first day a Gryffindor ever sat at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall.

Many people (meaning the Slytherins) were pleased with the events that had occurred. They all went about as if they had known the entire time. Others (mostly Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws) went about not caring and excepting it was none of their business. Unfortunately, Harry and a vast majority of the Gryffindors were not some of them.

He and Ron sat at the Gryffindor table glaring spitefully, and waited for the opportunity to make eye contact with either Skye or Malfoy where they could glare even more. If looks could kill, they would both be already buried six feet under. But it was no use.

The two seemed content with talking to each other and the Slytherins surrounding them. Harry did take the time to look away from them, simply to note that only two students out of the entire Slytherin table were not pleased, to say the least. Pansy sat gloomily at the end of the table closests to the Entrance Hall, prodding her porridge. Sitting across from Pansy was Jin, and although her back was turned to him, Harry could tell she was positively livid.

Harry's eyes darted back to Malfoy, who was whispering something into Skye's ear. She smiled, and replied. She seemed so happy, sitting with the Slytherins that up until the day before, she had hated. She smiled, but it was not the same. Somehow, in the course of one night it had changed. It was no longer warm and infectious; it had become a cold, firm self-assured smile. Much like Malfoy's own. Harry hated it with every bone in his body. He hated Skye. He hated Malfoy.

Never in Harry's entire life had he ever felt so bitter and enraged. He felt as if someone had minupulated him, and taken advantage of him entirely. He had not slept much the night before, tossing and turning unable to go to sleep. He heard them in his mind, whispering and making fun of him in the dark.

Harry was so intent on watching them, he did not even realice when the mail came until Alexa was handing Ron (who had stopped glaring) a copy of Teen Witch Weekly from across the table. On it was a two-page spread with seperate pictures of Harry, Skye, Amy and Malfoy.

HOGWARTS' FAVOURITE COUPLE CALLS IT A DRAW

It seems the Wizarding world's favourite teen couple has split, leaving no rock unturned, Writes Daily Prophet intern Maggie Moonshine. The World-renowned The-Boy-Who-Lived, Harry Potter and his girlfriend Skye Dumbledore put an end to their four-month relationship.

You may remember earlier this year when TWW reported on the blooming romance of the two-orphaned teens that seemed to have found happiness together. It was TWW who was the first to report on the relationship, and it is with great sorrow we are the first to report its' dissasemblement.

Sources say it was Dumbledore who ended the correlation, tired of their juvenile romance and wanted something more. While other sources squeal it was in fact Potter, who had fallen for Dumbledore's best friend; a muggle born named Amy Elddir.

Whichever way it happened, it became obvious last night that the pair had a bitter ending. Students and visitors attending the Celebrational Ball (performed by the sensational hit band, The Weird Sisters) caught a glimpse of how horrid the break up was. When Dumbledore entered with her date, it was none other than Potter's rival Draco Malfoy.

Potter was livid, and shortly after he and Dumbledore were heard in the Great Entrance Hall argueing. Although sources won't disclose the nature of the conversation, a few students were reached for comments.

"She's obviously just trying to get Harry riled up," Says fifth year Pansy Parkinson. "Everyone knows she's bitter about him choosing Amy over her,"

No one knows for sure how the relationship came to an end, but not matter TWW wishes both Potter and Dumbledore the best.

Harry stared at the parchment dumbfounded, as if all the thoughts in his head had spilled out through his ears. He thought nothing. He saw nothing except for the parchment, and even it seemed as if it was not really there. He felt...

The numbness began to spread through his body again, and following quickly behind it was the tingling feeling, pricking at his fingertips.

But then, like before a voice called out to him. Slowly his mind returned to reality, and he heard the voice once more.

"Harry,"

Harry turned his head to the side, just enough to see who had spoken to him. It was Amy, whose burgundy eyes watched him quizzically. In that instant they seemed to glimmer with intrigue and opacity, something he had never seen so clearly before.

He let out a sigh and looked down at his full plate. He needed to look away. It did not really matter where, just as along as he looked away."I'm fine,"

"That's what you keep on saying,"

Harry frowned and pretended to be suddenly interested with his bacon. He made a show taking a bite. It tasted bitter and cold. Just like he felt inside. His brow creased deeper in thought completely unaware that he appeared even more angry.

Ron spoke first, his tone was barely audible but there was no mistaking it, "Give it over Amy. Just let him be batey,"

"But Ron-"

"You know how Harry's feeling. We all do. And I hate that lombard Malfoy just as much as Harry. And Skye, well, she's gone for a Burton. And if Harry's anything like I know he is, right now I reckon' it's not looking too bright for Skye. Don't bust his knackers about it,"

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry watched her lips part as if to interject. But then as if a thought struck her mind and she closed them. Slowly she nodded and then turned her attention to her own plate. And so they sat in an awkward silence, each of them prodding their breakfast until the bell sounded.


"Harry, could I talk to you for a moment?" Asked Hermoine quietly, after looking around the Defence Against Dark Arts classroom. Everyone sat in their seats chatting about one thing or another casually waiting for the class to begin.

For the last day of classes before holiday break Hermoine seemed overly anxious, which was quite unlike her. Usually she was much more... Disappointed. But there was something weird about her that day, and looking back on it Harry was never quite sure how he had missed it. Because in reality, she had been like that for quite a few weeks. Her wavy brown hair was utterly bushy and untidy, even for Hermoine. Her skin was paler than usual, and her dark brown eyes seemed to literally project shame.

"Err... Sure Hermoine," Harry replied, he shrugged to Amy, Ron and Alexa as he walked by them, then followed her out of the classroom. Outside a few students were still making their way to class but Hermoine did not seem to notice. She took a deep breath and then began,

"There's something I need to tell you,"

"Err... Alright," Harry replied not entirely sure what to say.

"And I know I should've told you when it first happened but I-I don't know-I guess I was afraid I didn't understand and-And I didn't want to tell anyone, in case I was wrong-You know me, I hate it when I'm wrong.

"And I think part of me thought you wouldn't believe me. I mean, you were so infatuated with her and Amy I-I was- I don't know... Jealous I suppose. All summer I looked forward to it being just us. You know, you, Ron and I. Like it's always been.

"But when we came back everything started to change. Now instead of just us, there was Alexa, Amy and Skye. And then-It was like I wasn't even there. Ron fancies Alexa, I know that. I can accept that. But when I found out you fancied Amy and Skye-I don't know-I just got so upset.

"And when I saw them, I couldn't believe it. I wanted to tell you. I wanted you to know what she had done. I was on my way to tell you-but then I remembered how much you liked her and-I-I was afraid you would just think I was making up a bunch of rubbish because I was jealous.

"And I was-Jealous I mean. So I didn't tell you, or anyone. Not Ron, not even Dumbledore! I felt so guilty not telling you but- But I thought that the consequences were far worse than anything I might feel,"

Harry watched as the tears that had been welling up in her eyes trickled down her cheeks. "But I was wrong. I felt so horrible I couldn't sleep. My marks even started falling because I couldn't concentrate. And then when you told me you were going to the ball with Amy I thought everything would be all right,

"I never expected them to go to the ball together. And I-I'm just so sorry Harry. I wish I had just told you when I first saw them together-I know I should've said something. Please forgive me Harry,"

Harry blinked at her as everything she had said, registered in his mind. She had known. Hermoine, one of his best friends in the entire world, had known and she had not told him. She had seen Skye and Malfoy together, and she had not told him. He stared at her, absolutely gob stopped. Only one thing echoed in his mind.

Hermoine had known.

He should have felt angry. Or numb. Which ever it was, Harry did not care. Anything would have been better than the grief and sadness he felt when he looked into Hermoine's eyes. She had not told him... And she felt terrible about it. He imagined how he might feel if he had kept a secret like that from Ron or Hermoine, or even Amy.

Suddenly, before he even realized it he hugged. Holding her against him, he could feel her warm breath and tears soak his tie. It was amazing she only came up to his shoulders, considering he was one of the shorter boys of their year that Hermoine. Not quite sure what to do, Harry ran his hand through her brown curls trying his best to calm her.

"Shhh. Hermoine, it's alright. I forgive you," He said softly, but loud enough to be heard over her sobs. For a moment time seemed to stand still, to preoccupied with Hermoine's emotions to deal with his own. But the moment was shattered when he heard a menacing voice from down the hall.

"Isn't that cute Draco? The mudblood's got the shoulder of famous Potter to cry on,"

Harry turned, Malfoy stood next to Skye with his arm wrapped casually around her waist. He felt Hermoine pull herself away, and watched out of the corner of his eye as she quickly wiped her tears away from her face.

"What a lovely article that'll make," Malfoy drawled venomously, grinning.

"Sod off Malfoy, you spoiled git" Said Hermoine trying to regain her composure.

"Watch your tongue Granger," Said Skye sharply.

"Or what?" Hermoine said challengingly.

"Or you'll come to regret it,"

"Those are strong words coming from a Slytherin's tart,"

Harry goggled at Hermoine for an instant, and Malfoy withdrew his wand from his robes. "Take that back you gob-shite Mudblood,"

Harry watched as Hermoine swallowed nervously, but her gaze remained confident. Harry slowly reached for his wand, but he stopped when Skye spoke.

"Come now Draco, if Granger has only got enough wit to call me names, it's obvious she's not worth the trouble," She smiled over confidently as she brought his hand down. Malfoy's dark eyes cut to Harry glaringly as they strode past them and into the classroom.

Harry's gaze fell onto something he had not seen before, but immediately realized Skye had. Moody stood at the top the stairwell in the classroom, watching them with a look of curiosity on his scarred face. Harry titled his head as a gesture to Hermoine. Her cheeks burned a shade of crimson as they walked back into the classroom while Moody called the role.

"As part of your OWLS examinations you must be able to identify certain uncommon but dangerous curses,"  Harry watched as Moody's magical eye swerved past Malfoy and casually he added.  "Malfoy, I realize you might be eager to display your effection for Dumbledore but kindly remove your hand from her.  This is a classroom, not the astrology tower,

"One of these is the Pectoris Laniatus Verum curse. Does anyone know what that is?" Moody's magical eye searched the room as he spoke and kept the other on the students. "Granger?"

"Pectoris Laniatus Verum curse is a method of forcing the victim to speak the truth while the centre structure of their circulatory system, is slowly torn apart. Once the curse has been initiated, it cannot be stopped resulting in the death of the victim," Said Hermoine quoting one of her texts, word for word.

"Good work Granger," Said Moody gruffly, then continued. "The Pectoris Laniatus Verum is very powerful and ancient curse. It was last used during the time of the Hogwarts founders, but it's counted among one of the Unforgivables because of it's result,

"Very few can fight it. It takes a very powerful Dark wizard to perform it. And the more powerful the caster, the harder it is to fight. There is no defence against it. There is no antidote,"

Harry felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up on end as Moody's magical eye landed on him and in a grim tone his finished,

"It always ends in death,"

The Potions class was brutal. Deep down in the dark, cold depths of Hogwarts was not where any student wanted to spend their last class before holiday break. Unless of course, they were Slytherin. And in that case, they would be having a good old time.

Harry's enlarging solution was a murky shade of beige. He glanced back at the parchment where he had written down the ingrediants as to not forget them. It was barely impossible to concentrate with Snape breathing down his neck.

After explaining that the class were to work in small groups to create a successful shrinking solution Snape had gestured to a long table at the front of the class. On the table were hundreds of different ingredients from which they had to pick from. Of course, being the 'slimy biased git' (As Ron had often called him) all of the components they might actually need, were on the Slytherin's side of the table.

The class progressed as he sauntered around the dungeon slowly he made tsk-ing noise with his tongue to Gryffindors, and nodded helpfully to his Slytherins. He had even gone as far as to stop Crabbe and Goyle from adding Gillyweed to their solution. Even Neville knew Gillyweed was not used in a shrinking solution.

Poor Neville, even Harry was feeling particularly sorry for him that day. Not to mention Seamus and Dean, who were working with him. His hands shook, and he kept on knocking things over Snape so much as glanced at him. He had even accidentally spilt some leach juice all over the front of his robes.

But Neville's group was not the only one having troubles. Hermoine was arguing in a hushed tone with Ron about whether or not to add more chopped daisy roots. He had promptly ended the disagreement (And also disgusted Hermoine) by saying "I bet Malfoy's going to pocket some of that potion. He'll probably use it later on his-"

"RON!" Hermoine said rather loudly, her eyes nearly popping out of her head.

That had been the end of that discussion.

Harry chuckled quietly, then scratched his head nonchalantly. He could not seem to remember how large of a caterpillar slice needed to be added. He gazed over at a few other tables, just to make sure.

The only person who did not seem to be having any trouble was Malfoy. He stood beside his cauldron speaking quietly to Skye. Sometimes she would laugh softly or smile, then continue to add the ingredients to the potion. It seemed Malfoy had finally found someone smart enough to boss around.

Snape's dark eyes caught Harry's gaze, and raising one eyebrow he spoke. "Seeing as the Gryffindors seem to be finished, I'll mark theirs first," Several Gryffindors groaned unhappily. It was no use trying to argue with Snape, and they all knew it. Several Slytherins snickered quietly as they continued to add more ingredients to their potions.

Harry watched as Snape's eyes darted around the dungeon, deciding which Gryffindor would be the most fun to embarrass. Snape grinned slyly to himself after spotting Neville, who was desperately trying to add the ingredients to his potion.

"Longbottom,"

"Yea-Yes Professor Snape, sir?" "Your potion is clearly not complete. Five points from Gryffindor,"

"But that's not fair," Hermoine whispered as she leaned over to Harry. "Granted Neville's not even half way. Crabbe and Goyle aren't nearly as close to getting the potion right, let alone finishing it,"

Snape's head jerked swiftly, his dark hair whipping around him. Stepping forward through the smoke he squinted at their bubbling pallid yellow potion. "Granger, I take it your speaking out of turn to mean your potion is ready?"

"Yes," Hermoine nodded.

"Well then," Snape snarled. "Let's test it shall we? Weasley, take a ladle full of the solution and pour it on Granger's hand,"

Ron looked to Hermoine, who although looking worried nodded. Harry watched nervously as Ron picked up the ladle and slowly dipped it into the cauldron. Hermoine brought out her hand carefully as to not touch the steam, and took a deep breath. The potion looked a little too yellow for Harry's liking, but there was nothing he could do about it now.

Ron glanced once more at Hermoine, and then slowly poured it on to the top of her hand. The Gryffindors watched fearfully while the Slytherins watched expectantly. Slowly but surely, Hermoine hand began to swell. At first, only her thumb seemed to grow, then the rest of her fingers until they had each plumped up a considerable amount. Hermoine's eyes widened at the sight of her fingers that were slowly each turning into the size of a plum. Her hand stretched to such a massive size, it reminded Harry of Hagrid. If it had been on someone else (preferably a Slytherin) he would have found the situation funny.

Several Gryffindors clapped proudly clearly loving the look on Snape's face. It seemed as if he was disappointed and yet, disgusted at the same time. And then, to everyone's surprise he smiled.

"Five points from Gryffindor,"

"Five points?!" A few Gryffindors echoed discontentedly. Others glared at Snape as he prowled past them to the front of the class room. Malfoy smiled appreciatively at Snape as he walked by.

"But Professor!" Alexa protested. "They got the potion right didn't they? Hermoine's hand is three times bigger than what it usually is!"

"That's only partially correct Shermwood," Said Snape placidly and then looked to Hermoine, whose hand was still growing. "The increasement of Granger's hand was only intended to be one size larger, rather than three. Obviously, they did not add enough daisy roots. Now, onto the next assignment-Yes Granger?"

"Professor, may I please have a shrinking solution?"

Snape's eyebrows rose and with an sour but obviously pleased look he replied, "I don't have a shrinking solution. You'll have to see Madame Pomfrey at the end of class,"

Harry gawked at Snape for a moment not believing what Snape had said. Was he really so bitter he would make a Gryffindor with a giant sized hand sit patiently until the end of class? Of course he was, Harry realized. It was Snape.

"As I was saying, the next assignment will be a Polyjuice potion. If you do not know what it is by now, I suggest you return to third year potions," Snape added snarkily once seeing the confused look on Neville's face. "A Polyjuice potion, Longbottom, is long and complicated. You might want to take the 'F' now, and save me the trouble,"

Neville hung his head and mumbled something inaudibly but Harry could still see he blushed profusely. "Over the course of one month you will be brewing the potion, using special components that are usually not at your disposal. And when the potion is complete, you will exchange a single strand of your hair with your partner. For one hour, you will take on the appearance of your partner and likewise.

"It is difficult to brew properly and as such I don't expect many of you to achieve a perfect potion," Snape narrowed his beady dark eyes at the Gryffindors through the smoke of the cauldrons. "Others," His expression changed, almost to a smile as he gestured to the Slytherins. "Will have no difficulty,"

Instintively Harry edged closer to Ron and Hermoine as they began to clean up their mess. Hermoine grabbed at the vile of leech juice blindly and almost broke it in her massive hand. They had made a Polyjuice Potion in their second year, in the abandoned girls bathroom, in front of Moaning Myrtle no less. Harry was pretty sure they could handle making it in a classroom.

But noticing Harry's movement towards his friends Snape's eyes glimmered excitedly. "Not so fast Potter. I was not finished. Although you may be eager to start the potion, I have taken the liberty of pairing you off into groups of two,"

Harry's heart sank as Snape began to list off the groups. Among them were a few Harry knew Snape must have taking great pleasure in creating.

"Dumbledore and Elddir,"

"Chang and Shermwood,"

"Crabbe and Granger,"

"Goyle and Weasley,"

When Snape finally came to the bottom of the list, Harry was forced to come to terms with the realization of who he was to be paired with.

"Malfoy and Potter,"

Harry quickly glanced over to Malfoy who seemed equally unhappy with the pairing if not more so. (Which Harry highly doubted.) Malfoy's dark gaze met his and they sat for a moment, neither doing so much as breath. Malfoy's pale skin seemed to have taken on a shade of grey amongst the smoke from the cauldrons and his bleached coloured hair seemed to have lost a considerable amount of its sleaky shine. Briefly the thought crossed Harry's mind that in little more than a month he would be wearing those features.

Only briefly though.