A/n: Thanks for all the reviews! To clarify some, yes, I did underplay the Cruciatus Curse, but for several reasons: 1.) Harry didn't have enough hate to make a big affect, like a Death Eater would. 2.) Malfoy probably wouldn't have been as surprised and unnerved by it, because, in this story at least, he's probably been subjected to it before, and, even if it did hurt, would Malfoy really let Harry know he'd gotten to him? Probably not. And lastly, I was in a hurry! But thanks for noticing that, anyway, it makes me feel special that people are reading. Okay, on with the chapter!

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Chapter 21:

As soon as the small group of people had gotten over the shock of Harry lashing out the way he had, they found themselves walking out of the Room of Requirements, away from Hogwarts, and into the Shrieking Shack, which had nearly as many protecting charms on it as the Dursley's house and 12 Grimmauld Place, so they could work on apparating.

As they made their way to the Whomping Willow, Ginny and Lenore giggled together while Calista, Evelyn, and Lupin talked. Draco and Harry walked behind everything, not being at odds, but still not being their friendliest.

"So, Potter," began Malfoy, not looking at Harry. "Was that your first Unforgivable?" Harry looked at him.

"Actually, I did it once last year on Bellatrix Lestrange. After… you know."

Draco looked up, his honest eyes reflecting everything, not showing any emotions. "Sorry about what I said earlier. I didn't realize, well… Sorry. Bet Bella didn't see that coming, eh?"

"Bella?" asked Harry flatly. "You call that evil pathetic excuse of a person Bella?"

"Actually, Aunt Bella," said Draco passively, slicking back his pale hair. "She is my mother's sister, after all… but I can't stand her at all, really. She is awful. Tried to make me a Death Eater in fourth year."

"Fourth year?" asked Harry incredulously. "That's ridiculous! Fourteen, are you serious?" Draco nodded.

"Yep. The youngest Death Eater ever recruited was Bella, actually. Grandfather arranged her marriage with Rudolphus, who was nine years older than her. When she was a second year, he wanted to marry; he was twenty-one. So they were married, and Bella was recruited as a Death Eater. You-Know-Who says he thinks of her as a daughter." Malfoy grimaced.

"You mean she had an arranged marriage?" asked Harry unbelievably. "What about her sisters, your mom and Tonks' mom?"

"My Mum had an arranged marriage to my dad," admitted Draco. "I think she wanted to say no, but she saw how Andromeda was disowned after running away with that Mud-blood, and she agreed to the marriage. Is Tonks what they named their daughter?" finished Malfoy, smirking.

"Wow," said Harry. "And no, Tonks' real name is Nymphadora, actually." Malfoy grimaced.

"Even worse." Harry rolled his eyes.

"You know, Malfoy?" Harry said, "People might like you better if you didn't criticize everything about everyone."

"You know, Potter?" said Malfoy, "People might like you better if you could control your emotions."

"Whatever."

"Whatever." The seven people soon reached the Whomping Willow.

"Pro- Remus, how are we going to get in?" asked Harry. Ginny, Lenore, and Draco looked at Harry skeptically, but Evelyn, Calista, and Lupin obviously understood. Calista grinned.

"Sirius and I used to go to the Shrieking Shack every few nights to snog. No need to worry, Harry. He talked me into becoming an Animagus." Calista grinned radiantly, remembering times at school with her best friends. "I hope I can still do this…" she said wearily.

Evelyn grinned. "You can do it, Calli." She then turned to Harry. "I used to come down here, too, but I never could learn… too hard. We had to get Peter to freeze the tree." Evelyn's grin then faded.

"Who'd you come here with?" asked Harry slyly. Evelyn's eyes darted to Lupin and they both blushed.

"Oh, nobody…" she said, smiling. Harry, Calista, Draco, Ginny, and Lenore all snorted. Then Calista began to change into a small leopard, and she darted through the swaying branches and touched the knob of the tree. It froze.

"Whoa," said Ginny, Lenore, and Draco at the same time.

"I never knew the Whomping Willow could do that," breathed Draco.

"And, if you don't tell anyone, nobody else will find out," said Evelyn as she descended into the passageway.

"Wicked," whispered Lenore, who'd been trying desperately to use as many British phrases and words as possible. She thought it was hilarious. Lenore then followed Evelyn and Calista into the hole. Draco quickly followed Lenore, and Lupin followed him, leaving Ginny and Harry in the rear.

They walked through the empty tunnel for a few minutes until they reached the Shrieking Shack, which looked dusty and forgotten. Lupin lit his wand and crept through the hallway until they came to an open room that once may have been pleasant. There was an old fireplace, and a dusty sofa and a table, which had on it a letter. Harry picked it up interestedly as everyone else took their seats.

Prongs-

It's true. But what if it's a set-up? Wormtail's been acting really strange lately. Anyway, I thought I'd let you know. Shit. An owl's here, from Li- Oh God, Prongs… I'm coming.

"What is this?" asked Harry as he showed the letter to Lupin. Remus took the letter from Harry's hands and read it. His face then paled, and he threw it into the fire. "What?" asked Harry urgently.

Lupin sighed. "That was a letter to your Dad."

"Yeah," said Harry. "I guessed that." The others in the room looked at Harry and Lupin curiously.

"Sorry," said Lupin in a strangled voice. "I thinks Sirius was writing that the day your parents were murdered."

"What?" asked Harry. "Oh, Merlin… wow. So it's been here fifteen years?"

Lupin nodded thoughtfully. "We've been finding a lot of things lately that were preserved for fifteen years…" he tried joking, looking at Evelyn sadly. She smiled despondently.

"Yeah…" she said, looking into Lupin's eyes with longing and regret. Lupin looked at her the same way.

"I thought you were seeing my cousin?" asked Draco loudly, ruining the moment.

"Yeah…" said Lupin distantly, turning his head. Evelyn looked at the floor, Calista bit her lip helplessly, and Ginny gave Malfoy a dirty look as Lenore elbowed him.

"Okay," said Lupin briskly. "Now, for Apparating. Please don't tell many people you're learning, it's imperative that people can't find out yet. Understood?" The four teenagers nodded. Lupin smiled.

Now, basically, what you do is concentrate hard on the place you want to appear at. You need to have seen this place, however, to be able to apparate there. You then think the words 'abeo orior.' And then, if all goes well, you should apparate. It's an extremely difficult spell to provide the power for, but once you do it several times, you should get the hang of it. Now, let's split up. Lenore, you go with Calista, Ginny, go with Evelyn, and I suppose I'll take Harry and Draco-"

"I'll take Draco," said a voice suddenly from the corner of the room. Snape.

"Oh, Severus," said Lupin, "This is a surprise-"

"I suppose it is," said Snape airily. "I've decided to help early before group Occlumency. There's nothing better to do-"

"How nice to grace us with your presence," said Evelyn sarcastically. "We can manage on our own, though."

"Well then, Miss O'Cafferey… I won't offer my help, then."

"Good," began Evelyn hotly before Lupin cut her off.

"No, Severus, please stay. We could use the help."

"We don't need Snivelly to-"

"Ev, come on. Forget the old school grudges. Calm down."

"BUT HE KISSED LILY!" screamed Evelyn, getting angrier and angrier.

"Ev, we were just in second year-" began Calista.

"WHO CARES! She told him to get lost! If James hadn't come-"

"Evelyn! If James hadn't come, she wouldn't have hated him for six years-"

"UGH!" yelled Evelyn. "I'm leaving!" With that, she stormed out of the room, tore down the hallway, and into the passageway.

Lupin rolled his eyes, muttering. "I'd better go after her. Calista, Severus, would you two please help them-" He then ran after Evelyn. Harry was reminded of immature, fighting, school children.

There was a slightly amused silence after Evelyn and Lupin had left.

"Don't mind them," said Calista finally, twirling a finger through her raven locks of hair. "Evelyn holds grudges, Sni- I mean, Severus."

"I can see," remarked Snape icily. He then took Draco and Ginny and began teaching them the spell while Calista took Harry and Lenore. The spell was immensely difficult, and none of the teenagers had managed it by the end of the lesson. After the hour, Calista made her way back to the castle, while Snape decided to do the Occlumency lesson in the Shack.

Poor Ginny was frightened to no end by Snape. He began the lesson by throwing the legilimens curse on Harry. Harry hadn't practiced in a while and struggled a bit at first. Looming visions of the Department of Mysteries clouded his head. He was nearly crying with the strain of blocking the curse. It bore pitilessly into Harry's mind, and all Harry saw was Sirius falling into the veil, performing the Cruciatus curse on Bellatrix… Finally Harry emptied his mind.

"Hmm," said Snape. "Acceptable, I suppose. You're not trying hard enough."

"Yes, I am," said Harry angrily.

"You think that, Potter, with your arrogant beliefs," snarled Snape. "We'll see who was right when Voldemort throws Legilimens curse at you… then we'll see who's right." Harry rolled his eyes in frustration, still shaking and shuddering from the horrible memories.

"Now," said Snape, "Next will be Weasley." Ginny threw Harry a panicked look. Harry tried to look encouraging but failed miserably. Ginny shook as she stood up precariously.

"Okay," said Snape hurriedly. "I throw the curse at you, you empty your mind of all emotion. Legilimens," he hissed before Ginny could brace herself. A horrible, iced look came into Ginny's eyes and her face paled. She didn't utter a word, though, she just became increasingly paler, and she wasn't breathing.

"Stop," said Harry suddenly. Snape looked at Harry, eyebrows arched.

"Professor, please, STOP! She isn't breathing!" Harry ran over to Ginny and caught her as she collapsed, looking as if she'd been petrified. Snape lifted the curse, looking concerned. Ginny passed out.

"Weasley, get up," Snape said loudly, his voice wavering. He looked at Harry coldly.

"What did she see, Professor?" he asked anxiously.

Snape looked at Harry oddly. "God, Potter, for Merlin's sake… you must have been blind… How did you not see the hell she went through?"

"When?" asked Harry, alarmed.

"In the Chamber of Secrets," Snape whispered. "This can't be good for her… those memories make her want to die. That's why she stopped breathing."

"What will we do?" asked Harry worriedly. Ginny's eyes suddenly opened. She began crying uncontrollably.

"Potter," said Snape, "You'd better take her to the Castle. She needs rest and perhaps a calming draught… But you need an escort… you all do, actually. Fine. Come on. Draco and Miss Felkes, you two may come to my office in forty-five minutes. I have to take Weasley to the nurse. Come on, everyone." With that, he stood up and walked out of the room. Harry looked at Draco and Lenore, who both shrugged. Ginny was sobbing on Harry's shoulder, tuned out of the world for the moment.

"Ginny," whispered Harry. "Are you all right? Ginny? Can you hear me?" Ginny just began sobbing harder for a moment until she abruptly stopped, limply holding onto Harry for support.

"Come on, you guys," said Lenore. "Harry, you should probably carry her," she said, referring to Ginny. She then turned with Draco and began walking after Snape. Harry lifted Ginny into his arms.

"Harry," she whispered. "Don't leave me… Harry, I saw… I saw…"

"What did you see, Ginny?" asked Harry urgently.

"I saw… her, and him. She looked proud of Tom, and he… he…" Ginny then passed out. Harry d