Harry was sat on his bed surrounded by parchments when Ron eventually found him.
"Oh, hi Ron." Said Harry when he noticed him.
"How's it going Harry?" Asked Ron as he slumped onto his bed next to Harry's.
Ron laughed at the expression of suffering his friend gave him in reply.
"That bad huh?"
Harry laughed, "Well. I should have started all of this earlier, but I was a bit, um, distracted."
Noticing the blush that crept across Harry's cheeks Ron raised an enquiring eyebrow.
"I hope you don't mind Ron, it's just, I spent the afternoon outside with Ginny."
At first Ron tried to stop himself from laughing but soon he was spluttering with mirth. "Of course I don't mind Harry, it's about time you two got to know each other better."
"You mean you're not… Well awkward about it?" Asked Harry looking genuinely shocked.
"No! I wouldn't want you two tip-toeing around each other any more when it's so obvious that you're well… you know!" Said Ron grinning.
"Now you're one to talk!" Said Harry smiling widely. "Tell me… How are things going with Hermione?"
Ron blushed hard but couldn't keep the smile from getting wider. "Alright I suppose." He mumbled.
Harry laughed and decided to wait until later to press for details, perhaps he would ask Ginny what his best friends had been up to.
"Ron, will you help me out with this dumb Trelawny assignment… You know, like old times?"
Ron was obviously relieved by the change in conversation and leapt up immediately to sit next to Harry.
"Of course! What first? Mutilation by rampaging kelpies?"
"Er, Ron… Do kelpies actually rampage?"
"Who cares!"
*~~~*~~~*~~~*
Lucius grabbed a hold of the tree branch sagging against it with all of his weight. He couldn't remember ever having felt so exhausted, weak and trembling.
"It is done as you ordered my master. The dementors have been gathered." He panted with little ease.
"Well done Luciusss, I mussst sssay I am sssurprisssed." Hissed the menacing shadow.
Lucius simply clung more tightly to the branch and flatly refused to chance a glance at the terrifying dark lord.
"Your ssson. Remember my faithful ssservant, we mussst have his obedience."
Lucius closed his eyes tightly against the words that demanded more from him than he thought he could give.
"Of course master, I will obey your will." He replied evasively.
He was surprised by the sudden stranglehold he found himself in.
"Yesss, you will obey… But you mussst alssso sssucceed!" Demanded the snakelike voice from directly behind his ear. "Or elssse you will die."
Then as suddenly as he had been chocked he was released and Lucius realised with a thumping heart that his assailant had disappeared entirely.
"God Draco. If I ever regretted your upbringing before, it was nothing to this."
He chocked huskily to the empty forest. He lifted his eyes and could see the shimmering outline of the Hogwarts lake, still distant on the horizon but suddenly all too near.
Wrapping his cloak in its damaged finery about himself he began the long arduous stumble towards Hogwarts.
*~~~*~~~*~~~*
"Professor Dumbledore. May I have a word with you please?"
The polite enquiry caught Dumbledore's attention immediately, turning around he found himself smiling down at a tiny first year Slytherin.
"Of course Mr Zairne." He replied stooping slightly to bring his face closer to the small boy.
"Would you mind if we went to your office sir?" Asked the boy nervously glancing over his shoulder.
"Indeed. Follow me."
As Dumbledore led the boy towards his office he wondered momentarily what was worrying the young man.
Once they were comfortably seated in the circular office Dumbledore bridged his hands and rested his head on them silently encouraging the boy to speak.
"Sir. I'm worried about Draco Malfoy, I think he's in some sort of trouble and I don't know where he is."
Dumbledore sat back in his chair and carefully masked his surprise. He had not expected this at all.
"What makes you think Mr Malfoy is in trouble?" Asked Dumbledore gently looking piercingly at Larman Zairne.
Larman hesitated slightly before pulling a piece of parchment from the pocket of his robes.
"This." He said Handing the letter to Dumbledore.
The headmaster immediately recognised the elaborate script of Lucius Malfoy and noted also the slight wobble to the normally assured hand. But what took a moment to assuage was the content.
"Thankyou for coming to me with this Mr Zairne, I can assure you that Draco is quite safe where he is and well protected. Does anyone else know about this?"
"No Sir." Said the boy quietly, "I don't talk much to my housemates. Especially not 5th years."
Dumbledore gave the boy a sympathetic glance. "Well. Perhaps it's best if we keep this between us. But aside from that have you heard about the Slytherin gobstones club. I believe that they meet on Thursdays."
"Well, I'm not sure…"
"Let's just say that those of your house with more amicable ambitions tend to enjoy the club." Said Dumbledore smiling slightly.
Larman's face showed that he understood and he nodded as he rose from his seat.
As he opened the door and made to leave Dumbledore called out gently to the boy. "If you ever need to talk, I'm here to listen, and so, believe it of not, is Professor Snape."
A ghost of a smile flickered across Larman's face and he disappeared behind the big wooden door.
"And now," muttered Dumbledore to himself, "what to do with Mr Malfoy."
*~~~*~~~*~~~*
Draco, of course had no idea that he was the subject of the headmaster's deliberations. He was too busy thinking up a new way to prank his tutor. This was decidedly difficult owing to Sirius' extensive history with pranks but Draco was never one to shy from a challenge.
The book he was reading at that moment happened to be about levitation charms, he had begun to wonder about the possibility of levitating water… He had found out to his slight discouragement that levitation of a fluid substance was on the seventh year syllabus. Having read up on the charm in any case Draco had decided that it couldn't hurt to give it a go. So here he was on the lake's edge, sleeves rolled back and wand in hand, preparing to cast the slightly complicated spell.
"Wingardium Leviaqua!" Whispered Draco gently with a small flick of his wrist. He watched the surface of the lake for any reaction and thought he saw a tiny ripple distort the surface but he couldn't be sure if it was a result of the spell or not.
"Wingardium Leviaqua!" He said clearly taking extra care to enunciate the incantation properly, and snapping his wrist up more sharply than before.
He exclaimed in surprise as the water at the surface distinctly pinched upwards for a moment before falling back into the mirror-like surface of the lake.
Deciding that it couldn't hurt to try putting a little more power behind the spell now that he felt he had control over it, Draco drew himself up and took a deep breath.
He was just about to cast the charm when his breath caught in his chest and he almost fell backwards in surprise. There, right across the lake from him stood his father.
*~~~*~~~*~~~*
Remus stretched his back trying to ease what Padfoot called 'spine-crunch', an unfortunate side-affect of his transformations.
"Are you alright Professor Lupin?"
Remus was surprised to recognise Hermione as the speaker.
"Quite alright Miss Granger. What can I do for you?" Remus was certainly curious to know what had brought Hermione here when he'd expected to see her along with Ron glued to Harry's side for at least another month.
"I was just wondering if you'd spoken to Harry yet."
Remus motioned for her to sit down, which Hermione did straight away with a returning smile although worry was evident in her eyes.
"Is something wrong with Harry?" Asked Remus gently.
"Well, no, that's just it. From what we've been told…" (here she looked up with exasperation in her eyes) "he ought to be recovering even now. Certainly not running about and trawling through missed work. Shouldn't he still be resting?"
Remus smile grew slightly at Hermione's observant concern for her friend.
"You are of course quite right Miss Granger. We have all been surprised with the swift nature of Harry's recovery but in this case I think we can be simply thankful that Harry's unusual heritage and circumstance is for once working in his favour."
She seemed to consider this very carefully and Remus allowed her the silence to digest the idea.
"So, this is probably down to the whole Gryffindor heir business and we don't have to worry that he's going to have a disastrous relapse or something." She said softly blushing slightly.
Remus openly grinned.
"No, I think it's safe to say that anything of the sort has been most carefully ruled out by Madam Pomfrey, Harry will be fine."
"Thankyou Professor." Said Hermione standing up.
"Anytime Miss Granger. I'm glad that Harry has you to keep an eye on him, and I know he appreciates it too." Said Remus standing a little stiffly to open the door for her.
"Before I go, I did have something else to ask you." Hermione looked at him timidly. "Have you ever tried um, Muggle painkillers, for after your transformations I mean, it's just, they're actually really good for aches and pains and I thought…" Here she trailed off looking oddly unsure of herself. She was obviously uncomfortable talking to Remus about his 'condition'. But Remus just smiled kindly.
"I have indeed made use of Aspirin and alike in the past, but to be honest I prefer not to rely on drugs after my transformations, it's not too healthy to become too dependent on painkillers, especially not when using them as frequently as this. Thankyou for your concern though Hermione it is true that wizards and witches often overlook the virtues of muggle innovation."
With a reassured nod Hermione left the office feeling grateful that she had at least taken the time to find out.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N
I am SORRY, I always seem to be saying that in these notes, I truly wish I could write these chapters faster, but it's an unfortunate impossibility with my current workload!
Love always to my reviewers new and old…
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