Harry Potter and his whole world belong to JK Rowling. I am borrowing a few characters from her.

Dancing Purple Bears and Polka Dots

Voldemort smiled menacingly at Harry as he stepped to the floor. Harry was staring at him, his jaw slack. Ron and Hermione both let out a shout and were on their feet, wands out, at Harry's side in an instant. Voldemort's smile widened, his mouth opened and high-pitched laughter filled the room.

Seamus and Dean had grabbed Parvati and Lavender and had ushered them to the other side of the room. Harry barely noted that both girls were screaming at the top of their lungs. Neville quickly jumped up to join Harry, Ron and Hermione.

Remus had gone white when Voldemort had materialized, but he quickly got his wits together and rushed to join Harry. He seized Harry's shoulder.

"Harry, it's only a Boggart! Remember the spell!"

Harry's mind was blank. He raised his wand and said the first thing that came to his mind.

"Expelliarmus!" Voldemort's wand flew out of his hand, but he only laughed as another replaced it. Harry nearly dropped his own wand.

"Harry, you're panicking! Don't panic. You know how to deal with a Boggart. Come on!" Remus was yelling in his ear. Hermione, Ron and Neville had backed away. Their original panic had faded, and now they stood back to watch.

Harry felt his panic fading, and remembered the spell for Boggarts. He raised his wand, but before he could say the words, Boggart Voldemort also raised his wand. His grin widened, his red eyes flashing.

Harry wondered briefly if Boggarts could speak. He'd never heard one before.

"Avada Kedavra!" The spell issued from the Boggart Voldemort's wand. Harry gasped as the rush of green headed his way.

"Get down!" Remus yelled, grabbing Harry and shoving him to the floor. Harry knocked his head against the leg of Remus' desk as they hit the floor. He felt his hair move as the Killing Curse soared over their heads. Remus jumped up.

"Riddikulus!" he cried. Boggart Voldemort exploded into a thousand wispy pieces.

Harry could feel everyone's eyes on him. Remus turned slowly, his breath coming in gasps. He looked at Harry, who could feel a flush rising on his face.

"Are you okay?" Remus asked quietly. Harry nodded, climbing to his feet. He found he couldn't look at anybody. He closed his eyes for a moment.

"Harry?" Hermione spoke quietly, right in his ear. He shook his head.

"Harry, it's alright, mate," Ron said, also near him. He realised that they had him by the arms.

"What are you doing?" he asked, pulling his arms out of their grip. He looked up to realise that Remus was right in front of him.

"You passed out, Harry. I think when I knocked you over, you hit your head. See? Your forehead is bleeding." He held up a cloth that had blood on it. Harry blinked.

"Why did my Boggart take the form of Voldemort?"

Around them, he heard people gasp. He looked around. Parvati and Lavender were in tears. Dean and Seamus were trying to comfort them, while Neville had his arm around Hermione's shoulder. She was white and her hands seemed to be shaking. She gave Harry a watery smile. Ron still had his hand on Harry's elbow. Harry realised he was sitting on the floor, leaning against Remus' desk.

"Because you're more afraid of him than you are of Dementors," Remus answered mildly. He still held the cloth to Harry's forehead. Harry realised this and took hold of the cloth himself. Remus sighed and straightened. "I'm sorry, Harry, I should have realised that."

"When he did Avada Kedavra…" Harry started.

"I don't know, Harry," Remus answered, again seeming as though he could read Harry's mind. "I don't know if it would have even hurt you at all. It didn't do any damage the wall where it hit, but it still might have hurt you." Remus shrugged. "Lucky we didn't get the chance to find out."

Harry still felt embarrassed. He glanced around and was happy to see that everyone else had finally stopped staring at him. He looked at Remus, who leaned forward.

"Why did I freeze?" Harry asked quietly. Ron and Remus both looked at him sharply.

"Because you weren't expecting You-Know-Who to materialise, Harry," Ron answered sharply. Remus nodded in agreement.

"You were expecting a Dementor, not Voldemort. And especially not Voldemort like that." Remus paused. "That's how he came back, isn't it? In that cauldron."

It wasn't really a question, but Harry nodded anyway. He was embarrassed about how he had frozen, especially since he had faced Voldemort before. And won.

"Maybe it was just the shock of seeing him inside Hogwarts," Harry said softly, mainly to himself.

"Could be, Harry," Remus agreed. "Listen, I think we'll end the class here today."
Harry shook his head. "No, Professor, there's still a half hour left and you wanted to show the Patronus Charm."
Remus smiled. "I wanted you to show it. Do you think you still can?"
Harry smiled back. "Sure I can. We just can't use the Boggart, apparently."
Remus chuckled. Ron helped Harry to his feet and the class seated themselves once more.

Harry stood in front of them shakily, his wand raised. He thought of the day that Voldemort would finally be defeated.

"Expecto Patronum!"

Prongs erupted from the tip of his wand and galloped around the room. Remus smiled as he looked at Harry, pride shining in his grey eyes.

*

Harry looked around the Gryffindor table and wondered how many people knew that he'd frozen when his Boggart had become Voldemort. Ron told him not to worry about it, as the rest of the class had panicked as much as Harry had. Even Lavender and Parvati had told him not to worry, that they would have frozen as well. This made Harry feel a tiny bit better.

Ginny was angrily filling them in on her Potions lessons. Apparently Snape had spent the whole class breathing down her neck, and had made her so flustered that she'd melted her cauldron. Ron had grinned happily and told her that she could have his.

Harry grinned at Ginny. She looked ready to spit fire.

"You know why he's doing it, don't you?" she spat at him. He nodded.

"Because you were made Captain. He wants to have an excuse to give you detention so you can't run tryouts."

Ginny growled as she reached for her juice. She swore loudly when she knocked it over.

"Ginny!" Hermione admonished her. There was slight amusement in her eyes as she cleaned up Ginny's mess with a wave of her wand.

Harry glanced up at the staff table. Remus was talking with Professor Flitwick. He was laughing at something Flitwick had said.

He hadn't been at all upset when Harry had mentioned to him that Hermione felt it might not be safe for him to sit with them. He had merely smiled and agreed. He said that he had thought that himself after he'd left the table that morning. Harry still felt a little bad, but Remus told him not to worry about it, that he should have thought of that.

Harry's thoughts came back to the Gryffindor table, where Ginny was still ranting under her breath about Snape. He grinned at his steak and kidney pie. Ginny's temper was really quite amazing.

"Harry Potter."

Ginny stopped talking midrant. Harry looked up at the other three, then all around him. Who was that?

"Harry Potter."

"The mirror, you git," Ginny hissed.

"Oh. Right," Harry said, feeling foolish. He grabbed his bag from under the table and pulled the mirror out of it. Glancing around, making sure nobody was looking, he flipped it over and smiled at Sirius.

"Took you bloody long enough," Sirius said with a grin.

"It took me a minute to find it," Harry said.

Ron snorted. "More like it took you a minute to realise who was talking."
Sirius chuckled. Harry thought he looked very tired. He opened his mouth to ask when Sirius interrupted him.

"How was your first day?"

"Not bad," Harry answered. "We had double Charms and double Defence Against the Dark Arts. Remus had me show my Patronus Charm for everyone."

Hermione smiled down at Sirius. "He even found a Boggart for Harry to show us with because the Boggart used to show up as a Dementor for Harry."
Harry and Ron both glared at Hermione. She looked at them questioningly.

"Used to?" Sirius picked up on that right away. "What did it turn into this time?"

"Big mouth," Ron muttered. Hermione flushed and clapped a hand over her mouth, only just realizing what she had said.

"It turned into Voldemort," Harry answered. Sirius groaned.

"I should have figured." His hand came up and rubbed his chin. He sighed softly.

"It's alright, Sirius," Harry said quickly. Sirius smiled at him.

"How'd you cut yourself?" he asked softly.

"I did that," Remus answered from behind them. He leaned over Harry.

"Oh really nice, Moony."

"When Lord Voldemort is using an Unforgivable on one of my students, I'm going to move them, and if they happen to get a bump on their head, then so be it. Even if the Voldemort that's doing it is only a Boggart."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Unforgivable?"

"It was Voldemort," Hermione said, somewhat impatiently. "Of course he was using an Unforgivable. Plus it was a Voldemort from Harry's mind, so of course he would be using that Unforgivable."

Sirius swore. "He used Avada Kedavra." It wasn't a question.

Harry nodded. "But I'm alright, Sirius. Like we said, we thought the Boggart would become a Dementor. I kind of…froze when it became Voldemort."

"Stop saying that, Harry." Remus was angry. "Anyone would have. I did too."

Sirius shook his head. "It's understandable, Harry. Don't be too hard on yourself."

Harry grinned. "You know, we've talked more now than we did when you were…around."

Sirius smiled too. "I know."

Harry barely noticed as the plates around them went clean. Remus said goodnight and headed to his room. Harry stood, still speaking with Sirius and moved toward the Gryffindor common room.

*

Harry smiled as he walked into the Great Hall the next morning. He was in a fantastic mood today. He'd spoken to Sirius for hours the night before.

Even the prospect of Potions didn't dampened his good mood.

Even the prospect of Potions without Ron.

Snape only took students who'd gotten an Outstanding on the OWLs for Advanced Potions. Ron had only gotten an Exceeds Expectations.

Harry sat down, swiping his damp hair out of his eyes. He hadn't really bothered to dry his hair after the shower, as it did its own thing anyway. He helped himself to some cornflakes.

"You're happy this morning," Ginny commented with a smile.

"That I am," he replied with a grin. Ron grinned back at him, and Hermione actually looked up from her Arithmancy text book.

"What's up, Harry?" she asked.

"Nothing, really," he answered honestly. "I just had a good talk with Sirius last night and today I'm happy."

Hermione opened her mouth to respond as the morning post arrived. Owls swooped in the windows and around the Great Hall, searching for the person who they had post for. Harry was surprised when a package landed on the table in front of him. He looked up and saw that Ron, Hermione and Ginny all had one as well.

He glanced up at the Head Table and saw, to his surprise, that Remus had received the same package.

With some trepidation Ron picked up his package. The look of surprise and suspicion on his face changed to one of amusement when he read the card on top.

"They're from Fred and George," he said with a laugh. Harry grabbed his and opened it quickly.

His eyes widened as several obviously enchanted fireworks fell out of the brown paper. He looked inside the package and found several brightly coloured candies as well.

Ron had a huge grin on his face. He had also received fireworks and candies. Ginny and Hermione as well. Hermione had picked up a candy and was looking at it in wonder.

"These better not be those Skiving Snackbox things," she muttered.

Ginny laughed and popped one in her mouth. Harry and Ron stared as her hair turned white and freckled and her face turned scarlet. Her eyes widened as she looked at herself, and Harry noticed that the whites of her eyes had turned brown and that her irises were white.

"Creepy!" Ron exclaimed, staring at Ginny. Ginny burst out laughing.

"Hey, Colin, want a candy?" she asked with a grin. Colin laughed and shook his head.

"I wonder how long that spell lasts," Hermione said quietly, her eyes sparkling with laughter.

Harry had to laugh as people around them noticed Ginny. Several paused in the act of raising forks to their mouth to stare. A few minutes later, Ginny's freckled hair started to drain back into her face and her hair slowly turned red again.

"Oh, I have got to try one of those," Hermione said with a laugh. Ron and Harry stared as she opened one and popped it into her mouth. There wasn't a huge difference as her hair and skin changed colours. Harry chuckled at her brown and white eyes. "They actually taste good too!" she exclaimed.

Harry and Ron each unwrapped one of their candies. Harry watched Ron pop one in his mouth and turn red before he popped his own.

It felt as though all the blood were draining out of his head, only to be replaced a second later. A whooshing sounded in his ears as he felt his skin colour and his hair colour switch.

"These taste like butterbeer!" he said.

Ron, Hermione and Ginny stared at him a moment before bursting into laughter.

"I think Harry's transformation is the best of the bunch!" Seamus said, laughing as well.

Harry looked down at his hands. He gasped. They were jet black. He held up the mirror with the broomsticks all over it. His hair was a pale flesh colour and the whites of his eyes were a vivid green. His face was jet black.

"Cool!" he said with a laugh. He liked the fact that you couldn't see his scar the best.

"What on earth is going on here?" a voice snapped above them. Harry looked up at Professor McGonagall. Her eyes widened as she looked at him, a smile threatening to creep across her face.

"Candies from Ron's brothers, Professor," Hermione answered. She lowered her voice conspiratorially. "We think there might be an enchantment on them."
McGonagall snorted. "Indeed. Well, carry on."

Harry looked at the Head Table and found both Remus and Professor Dumbledore looking at them. Both of them seemed to be highly amused.

"It suits yeh, Harry," Hagrid called. Harry grinned.

"Divination," Ginny was saying with a sigh. "I can't wait until I can drop it."

Ron laughed and swirled his tea leaves. "Let's see," he said with a mystical whisper. "What do the leaves say for today?" He made a production of draining his cup and then picking it up again. "'Die, Ron, die.' and a load of other soggy brown rubbish."

Harry laughed.

"It doesn't say 'Die Ron die', you git," Hermione said with a laugh. She grabbed Ron's cup from him. "It says 'Ron, you are a silly prat!'"

Ginny laughed too, grinning across at Harry. They all started gathering up their books and bags.

As they exited the Great Hall, Harry turned to tell Ginny to have fun in Divination. Ron, who had been saying something in Hermione's direction, crashed into him. Ron's package of fireworks fell from on top of his books.

People screamed as the loud bangs started echoing through the Entrance Hall. Ron and Harry both dove out of the way of the fireworks. Hermione burst out laughing as she stared at the fireworks. Ginny was already rolling with mirth.

Dumbledore, McGonagall, Flitwick and Remus all came charging into the Entrance Hall, wands drawn. They stopped in surprise at the sight before them.

Fred and George had apparently been improving their fireworks. Last year it had been Catherine Wheels and fireworks that spelled out curse words. This year, it was 12 purple bears. They had lined up and broken into a spirited rendition of the Can-Can. They were singing loudly, but each sang a different song. It was a wild cacophony of noise.

Swooping around them were 12 polka dotted vultures. They were flying in a circle, and every couple seconds they would stop, do a complicated dance step, and begin swooping around again.

It was truly an amazing sight.

Ron was clinging to Harry's arm, trying to stay on his feet, he was laughing so hard. Harry caught sight of Dumbledore's shocked face as Ron collapsed with mirth. Harry couldn't help but laugh harder at the teachers' surprise. Remus was shaking with suppressed laughter and McGonagall had a thin smile on her face. Flitwick looked unsure of whether to laugh or not.

Dumbledore had tears running down his face, he was laughing so hard.

"Ah, those two. We will miss them around here," he said, chuckling.

***