Just a note: later in this chapter, Parvati and Lavender are talking to
Harry/Ron/Hermione, and they all seem like very close friends. I am
completely sure that people will think that this is out of character,
because they're not close friends in the book. But rest assured, there are
parts in the book where they are perfectly friendly with each other, as
with Ron and Hermione, and I was getting really, really, bored of Harry
only having two friends.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What do you mean, you've found him?" Harry asked. He didn't like the sound of that.
"I mean we've found him. Well, it's not like we know where he's living, but we do know that he's in England. He's doing something with a few old Death Eaters that are in Azkaban."
Harry nodded. He knew that the Death Eaters in Azkaban could not escape again; they had all had their wands broken, and there were heavily armed wizards guarding them. The new Azkaban guarding system was much stronger then the Dementors. There were many men posted outside of cells, but, as Harry knew from his work at the Ministry, there were also many men hidden under invisibility cloaks and spells. If anyone escaped from their cell, they would be caught.
"That's not the worst part." Said Sirius, looking grave. "There's a new generation of Death Eaters. Children of Death Eaters, close friends of those children, and any others that are interested."
Harry shrugged. "But what can they do? Voldemort can't come back, you and Dumbledore both said he couldn't."
Sirius shook his head. "No, he can't. but he still has power, has a hold on people, after he's gone. Last time, sixteen years ago, when the world thought he was dead, some of the Death Eaters thought so too. But they still believed in him, they still did things inn his name. And that's what they're doing now, as far as we know."
Harry nodded. "So it is the Slytherins!"
Sirius shook his head again. "You cannot make the assumptions that every Slytherin is a Death Eater. You must do some research. The only students that the order is making sure to keep an eye on are Lucius Malfoy's son, and his two friends, sons of Crabbe and Goyle."
Harry sighed. "Of course they would be."
"About Wormtail," said Sirius, "we know that he is not the leader. He is taking orders from someone. It's not one of the Death Eaters in Azkaban, that is for sure. It must be one of the new generation. I don't know who, though."
Harry narrowed his eyes. "Draco Malfoy."
"Probably." Sirius said. "We should go. It's going to get dark soon, it's dangerous in the forest then, for both of us."
Harry nodded, and gave Sirius a hug. "I'll talk to you later." He said.
"Fly above the trees, okay? We're going different directions now, and I don't want you to get hurt."
"What about you?" Harry demanded.
"I'll be fine. Most of the animals here know me, they let me pass through, as long as I don't stay and chat. I know where I'm going."
Harry nodded. "Bye Sirius."
Sirius smiled. "Bye, Harry."
Harry turned back into a phoenix and flew high above the trees. He could just see the castle in the distance.
He landed at the front door and changed back. He walked inside, and sat down at the Gryffindor table.
"Where on earth were you?" Hermione hissed.
"Yeah, mate, we were worried, and Hermione yelled at me for leaving!" Ron whispered. "I'll tell you guys later." Harry whispered back. "And you really don't need to worry. I can handle myself."
After dinner, Dumbledore stood up. "Boys and girls," he said, and everyone looked at the head table. "As I'm sure you all know, next Friday is February 14th, or Valentine's Day. Now, Hogwarts does not usually hold Valentines as a special occasion, but we have decided that this year we will hold a ball." Heads turned in the hall, and the sound of whispering rose. Dumbledore smiled. "The ball will take place on Valentine's day. I hope you all enjoy it."
The entire hall was whispering now. Harry sat perfectly still. He didn't want to have to go to a ball, especially not on Valentine's day. Everyone else would be with dates, with girlfriends and boyfriends. He didn't want to be the only person there by himself.
"Harry, who are you going to bring?" Ron asked.
Harry jolted out of his thoughts. "I don't know. I wasn't planning on taking anyone."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Harry, you're Head Boy, Captain of a winning Quiddich team, and you saved the world. Basically every girl in the school would want to go with you."
Harry shrugged. "I don't really know many of them. I don't have any desire to go out with them."
Ron punched him. "Harry, this could very well be your last Hogwarts ball!"
Harry sighed. "So? It's what, my second? Third? It's not like I enjoy them so much."
He knew he was being silly, but he really didn't know any girls he wanted to go with. had it been even six months earlier, he would have known exactly who he wanted to take. Two months ago, he would have wanted to take Cho, even though she wouldn't come (if she had still been at Hogwarts). Now, he would rather be out playing Quiddich, or just hanging out with his friends.
The next few days passed slowly and painfully, mostly because Hermione was right. He had at least three girls ask him to the ball. He didn't know who any of them were, so he said no. He also had girls who tried to get him to ask them: they would say hello to him in the hall, offer to study with him, or ask him to walk them to class. Parvati Patil found this immensely funny, as she had gone to the ball in fourth year with him, and he had ignored her.
She and Ron actually had something in common: they were both making fun of Harry for it. every time Ron was with Harry and they passed Parvati, the two of them would pretend to be fighting over Harry. It bothered Harry at first, which helped make those days painful, but then he noticed the reactions of the girls around him, and he too found it immensely funny. Hermione didn't.
"Oh, Harry, will you come to the dance with me?" Parvati asked, fluttering her eyelashes.
"Oh no, Parvati, Harry's going with me!" Lavender giggled. Ron acted like a body guard for Harry. Hermione thought they were being very rude to the poor girls who actually wanted to go to the ball with Harry.
"C'mon, Hermione, they deserve it."
"What do you mean, 'poor girls?'" Harry asked Hermione. He turned to Ron. "And what do you mean, 'they deserve it?' What am I, a punishment?"
Parvati laughed. "That's exactly it! A horrible punishment, complete agony."
Harry couldn't help but smile, though he tried to look miffed.
Dean, Seamus, and Neville walked up. "Doesn't work, Harry. You can play a damn good game of Quiddich, and you can save the world, but you sure as hell can't act." Dean laughed.
Harry sighed. "I guess."
He enjoyed those days, the few leading up to the dance.
The day of the ball, Harry sat on his bed, reading, when Ron walked in.
"I never thought about it, Ron. Who are you going with?"
Ron turned red. "hmm." He mumbled.
Harry sat up, grinning. He had figured it out, but he was having fun tormenting Ron. "Pardon?"
"Hermione." Ron said a little louder, turning towards his bed, hoping that Harry couldn't see him blush.
Harry laughed. "Am I allowed to tell her you're embarrassed about that?"
Ron turned around. "Don't you dare. . ." but he stopped when he saw Harry grinning. "You shouldn't make fun of me for this."
Harry shrugged. "Why not? You made fun of me for my date. Or, lack there of."
Ron nodded. "I guess."
Almost an hour later, Harry decided it was time to get dressed. He threw on his bottle green robes, and looked in the mirror. His hair was a mess. He shrugged. It wasn't like he was trying to impress anyone.
Ron, on the other hand, was going slightly crazy. Harry was just glad Fred and George had taken his advice and bought Ron new dress robes. He was straightening them every few moments, and looking in the mirror, fixing his hair.
Harry stood up, dragging him away. "Ron. Hermione isn't going to care. It's not like she doesn't know what you look like every day."
"Fine." Ron sighed, taking one last look in the mirror, and heading downstairs.
Harry put on his shoes, trying to decide if he was even going to go downstairs to the Great Hall. Maybe he'd be happy staying in the common room by himself. He decided that Ron and Hermione would get mad if he didn't show up (though deep down, he really didn't think they'd notice), so he went down. He ran into Parvati and Lavender in the common room.
"Hello, Harry, going to the Great Hall?" Lavender asked.
Harry nodded. "Hey, Lavender, Parvati."
Dean and Ginny met up with them at that moment, and they all walked down to the Great Hall together.
"So who did you take?" Parvati asked.
Harry looked at her, puzzled. "To what?"
Lavender rolled her eyes. "To the ball, Harry."
He blushed. "Oh, right. No one."
Her eyes grew wide. "Really? No one?"
He nodded.
"Okay, Dean, Ginny, Lavender, pay up." Parvati put out her hand. Grumbling, the three of them each put a five sickles into her hand.
Harry stared at them. "What was that about?"
"We bet to see who you would take to the ball." Said Ginny, "Parvati bet on nobody. She didn't think you would accept any one's invitations."
Harry looked at Parvati. She was grinning at him. He frowned. "That's harsh."
She shrugged. "It's a gamblers world."
Everyone laughed. They were at the Great Hall. They walked into the room, and they all gasped, except Harry, who had, in fact, helped decorate.
It wasn't like Professor Lockhart had decorated in their second year; this was tasteful. Instead of being covered with massive hearts and things, so thick that one could not see across the tables, there were subtle decorations: red tablecloths, heart shaped lamps, and a valentine's banner over the door, where one could only see it if one was inside, looking at the door.
They sat down at a table. The four great tables were gone, replaced with smaller, round tables for about ten. It was obvious that students were not meant to sit with their houses, in case they had dates out of house.
The Gryffindors sat together anyway. Ron and Hermione were already sitting at the table, as well as Neville and Seamus. Neither of them had dates either, Harry noted.
Harry enjoyed the dinner part of the evening. With Hermione not bolting down her food to rush to the library, Parvati and Ron no longer making fun of him, and the cheery atmosphere of the room, Harry was quite happy staying in his seat. He was glad he had decided to come. He didn't want to miss the food.
After everyone had finished their meal, they moved out to the Entrance Hall, so that the Great Hall could be cleaned up and prepared for the dance.
In anticipation of the dance, everyone had split up into their couples. And it turned out Seamus and Dean did have dates, they just hadn't eaten with them, leaving Harry to talk to Parvati and Lavender.
"This is going to be fun!" Lavender squealed. Parvati nodded, and Harry shrugged.
"What about you two, don't you girls have dates?" Harry asked.
Parvati shook her head. "No one asked me, and there was no one I wanted to ask."
Harry rolled his eyes. "How come when a girl does it, no one cares, but when a guy does it, he gets made fun of."
Lavender punched him. "It's not because you're a boy, it's because you're you."
Harry was slightly confused.
"Because you're Harry Potter." Parvati sighed. Harry nodded, not really caring what they meant. They doors to the Great Hall opened, and they walked back in.
The tables were gone, but there were still red, heart shaped lamps over the candles, bathing the room in soft pink light.
Parvati and Lavender giggled when they walked in. Harry sighed and sat down in one of the chairs on the edge of the room. Looking back at the dance later, he didn't think he left the chair in the first two hours. In fact, he thought he might have even fallen asleep at one point, but he wasn't sure. Hermione and Ron came to talk to him for a few minutes, and Lavender and Parvati sat with him between dances with various boys.
Harry was pretty sure he was glad he didn't have a date. He didn't want to have to deal with dancing. Near to the end of the dance, he went outside for some fresh air. The good thing about it being the middle of February was that although it was a fairly warm February, very few couples dared to go outside to kiss.
Harry walked around the small courtyard, thinking. Not about anything in particular, just wherever his brain took him.
He walked around until he couldn't feel his fingers, and walked back inside. The dance was over, and everyone was walking back up to their common rooms.
* * * * *
Weeks passed by, and Ron and Hermione seemed to forget that they had vowed Harry would never go anywhere alone. In fact, he was finding himself alone increasingly often. It didn't bother him too much. He had spent his entire life alone, and it wasn't like Ron and Hermione were avoiding him, so he could still share jokes with Ron.
School got harder. Much harder. As difficult as he had thought school to be before Christmas, it was nothing compared to the time afterward. Harry was constantly studying. He would be doing homework at lunchtime and before classes started in the morning. Teachers were pouring on the work, making it increasingly difficult to get back into Quiddich practices, which started at the end of February.
Quiddich practice was Harry's only time for relaxation. He didn't have to think about dates, spells, or potions. Just flying and catching the ball.
He was expecting to be stressed with making his team better, but he was hard pressed to find obvious mistakes people were making.
"Saqua!" He called, "you're getting cocky again! Keep your eyes on your goal, otherwise, you're not going to have anything to be cocky about!"
"Dent, watch where you're going! I don't want to send anyone to the infirmary!"
He scanned the pitch. Once Saqua and Dent fixed their mistakes, there wasn't much left for Harry to correct.
Harry looked at the horizon every day, hoping for more from Sirius. Nothing came. He decided that he needed to do something. And he needed to tell Hermione and Ron about it first.
That night, he dragged them away from their studying to tell them what had happened with Sirius.
"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Hermione demanded.
Harry shrugged. "I forgot. Everyone got so excited when Dumbledore announced the ball."
They nodded. "So what do we do?" Hermione asked quietly.
Harry put his head down on the table. "I don't know." He lifted his head. "I'm going to go into Slytherin."
Ron snorted. "And how do you expect to do that?"
Harry smiled. "I take the cloak with me to breakfast tomorrow, and follow some unsuspecting first year back to their common room. I listen to what their password is, and then I go in whenever I want, still under the cloak."
Hermione frowned and shook her head. "Absolutely not."
Harry blinked. "Why?"
She sighed. "Harry, that is possibly the stupidest plan either of you have ever come up with. You will be caught, you know that. And then you will get in trouble with Snape, and you can't afford that, this close to exams. And," She added, before Harry could argue that exams weren't important right now, "it's not like Malfoy will be talking about it right out. There are Slytherins who would tell. This is an underground operation, obviously. I think what would work better is to follow Malfoy. If you see him go towards the Owlry, follow him, and maybe you can intercept the owl."
Harry nodded. "I guess that could work."
From then on, someone was always watching Malfoy. They knew that there were no windows in the dungeons, so they didn't need to worry about him sending a letter from there. One of them would follow him after class. If he went to the library, they would go to the library, and study. When he left, they would leave too, often putting on the invisibility cloak, so he wouldn't notice them.
Finally, one day in mid March, Malfoy went to the Owlry. He went alone, which was lucky for Harry, who happened to be on watch then. He didn't watch the owl, he just turned and walked quickly back to the dungeon, as if he didn't want anyone to see him. Harry put his things in the corner, and changed into a phoenix. A moment later, he caught up with the owl. For some reason, he coaxed it to the ground, where he took it's letter. He opened it.
Dear Mother, it started. He didn't stop there, just in case.
Dear Mother,
I hope you and father are alright. I will get Potter for this, I promise. I want you out of Azkaban, any way I can get you out. I'm getting help from an old 'friend,' like I told you before. I will come and visit you as soon as school ends.
-Draco
Harry grinned. Perfect, he thought. This was exactly what they needed. There was only one problem. He couldn't take it to Dumbledore or the Ministry, because they would get mad at him for stealing someone's mail.
It was worthless.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Potter4prez: All of your questions will be answered in time, don't worry. . . I don't like not writing cliff hangers because I find the end is always so blah.
Wuzup13579: that is so true. But you still need it.
Xavier II: It wasn't that she took advantage of his help, it was that he was getting paid for it, and he was her co-worker, he was being paid to help her.
Indigal: You'll just have to wait, now won't you? And besides, I answer that at the beginning of this chapter.
Happy reading!
-unolimbo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What do you mean, you've found him?" Harry asked. He didn't like the sound of that.
"I mean we've found him. Well, it's not like we know where he's living, but we do know that he's in England. He's doing something with a few old Death Eaters that are in Azkaban."
Harry nodded. He knew that the Death Eaters in Azkaban could not escape again; they had all had their wands broken, and there were heavily armed wizards guarding them. The new Azkaban guarding system was much stronger then the Dementors. There were many men posted outside of cells, but, as Harry knew from his work at the Ministry, there were also many men hidden under invisibility cloaks and spells. If anyone escaped from their cell, they would be caught.
"That's not the worst part." Said Sirius, looking grave. "There's a new generation of Death Eaters. Children of Death Eaters, close friends of those children, and any others that are interested."
Harry shrugged. "But what can they do? Voldemort can't come back, you and Dumbledore both said he couldn't."
Sirius shook his head. "No, he can't. but he still has power, has a hold on people, after he's gone. Last time, sixteen years ago, when the world thought he was dead, some of the Death Eaters thought so too. But they still believed in him, they still did things inn his name. And that's what they're doing now, as far as we know."
Harry nodded. "So it is the Slytherins!"
Sirius shook his head again. "You cannot make the assumptions that every Slytherin is a Death Eater. You must do some research. The only students that the order is making sure to keep an eye on are Lucius Malfoy's son, and his two friends, sons of Crabbe and Goyle."
Harry sighed. "Of course they would be."
"About Wormtail," said Sirius, "we know that he is not the leader. He is taking orders from someone. It's not one of the Death Eaters in Azkaban, that is for sure. It must be one of the new generation. I don't know who, though."
Harry narrowed his eyes. "Draco Malfoy."
"Probably." Sirius said. "We should go. It's going to get dark soon, it's dangerous in the forest then, for both of us."
Harry nodded, and gave Sirius a hug. "I'll talk to you later." He said.
"Fly above the trees, okay? We're going different directions now, and I don't want you to get hurt."
"What about you?" Harry demanded.
"I'll be fine. Most of the animals here know me, they let me pass through, as long as I don't stay and chat. I know where I'm going."
Harry nodded. "Bye Sirius."
Sirius smiled. "Bye, Harry."
Harry turned back into a phoenix and flew high above the trees. He could just see the castle in the distance.
He landed at the front door and changed back. He walked inside, and sat down at the Gryffindor table.
"Where on earth were you?" Hermione hissed.
"Yeah, mate, we were worried, and Hermione yelled at me for leaving!" Ron whispered. "I'll tell you guys later." Harry whispered back. "And you really don't need to worry. I can handle myself."
After dinner, Dumbledore stood up. "Boys and girls," he said, and everyone looked at the head table. "As I'm sure you all know, next Friday is February 14th, or Valentine's Day. Now, Hogwarts does not usually hold Valentines as a special occasion, but we have decided that this year we will hold a ball." Heads turned in the hall, and the sound of whispering rose. Dumbledore smiled. "The ball will take place on Valentine's day. I hope you all enjoy it."
The entire hall was whispering now. Harry sat perfectly still. He didn't want to have to go to a ball, especially not on Valentine's day. Everyone else would be with dates, with girlfriends and boyfriends. He didn't want to be the only person there by himself.
"Harry, who are you going to bring?" Ron asked.
Harry jolted out of his thoughts. "I don't know. I wasn't planning on taking anyone."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Harry, you're Head Boy, Captain of a winning Quiddich team, and you saved the world. Basically every girl in the school would want to go with you."
Harry shrugged. "I don't really know many of them. I don't have any desire to go out with them."
Ron punched him. "Harry, this could very well be your last Hogwarts ball!"
Harry sighed. "So? It's what, my second? Third? It's not like I enjoy them so much."
He knew he was being silly, but he really didn't know any girls he wanted to go with. had it been even six months earlier, he would have known exactly who he wanted to take. Two months ago, he would have wanted to take Cho, even though she wouldn't come (if she had still been at Hogwarts). Now, he would rather be out playing Quiddich, or just hanging out with his friends.
The next few days passed slowly and painfully, mostly because Hermione was right. He had at least three girls ask him to the ball. He didn't know who any of them were, so he said no. He also had girls who tried to get him to ask them: they would say hello to him in the hall, offer to study with him, or ask him to walk them to class. Parvati Patil found this immensely funny, as she had gone to the ball in fourth year with him, and he had ignored her.
She and Ron actually had something in common: they were both making fun of Harry for it. every time Ron was with Harry and they passed Parvati, the two of them would pretend to be fighting over Harry. It bothered Harry at first, which helped make those days painful, but then he noticed the reactions of the girls around him, and he too found it immensely funny. Hermione didn't.
"Oh, Harry, will you come to the dance with me?" Parvati asked, fluttering her eyelashes.
"Oh no, Parvati, Harry's going with me!" Lavender giggled. Ron acted like a body guard for Harry. Hermione thought they were being very rude to the poor girls who actually wanted to go to the ball with Harry.
"C'mon, Hermione, they deserve it."
"What do you mean, 'poor girls?'" Harry asked Hermione. He turned to Ron. "And what do you mean, 'they deserve it?' What am I, a punishment?"
Parvati laughed. "That's exactly it! A horrible punishment, complete agony."
Harry couldn't help but smile, though he tried to look miffed.
Dean, Seamus, and Neville walked up. "Doesn't work, Harry. You can play a damn good game of Quiddich, and you can save the world, but you sure as hell can't act." Dean laughed.
Harry sighed. "I guess."
He enjoyed those days, the few leading up to the dance.
The day of the ball, Harry sat on his bed, reading, when Ron walked in.
"I never thought about it, Ron. Who are you going with?"
Ron turned red. "hmm." He mumbled.
Harry sat up, grinning. He had figured it out, but he was having fun tormenting Ron. "Pardon?"
"Hermione." Ron said a little louder, turning towards his bed, hoping that Harry couldn't see him blush.
Harry laughed. "Am I allowed to tell her you're embarrassed about that?"
Ron turned around. "Don't you dare. . ." but he stopped when he saw Harry grinning. "You shouldn't make fun of me for this."
Harry shrugged. "Why not? You made fun of me for my date. Or, lack there of."
Ron nodded. "I guess."
Almost an hour later, Harry decided it was time to get dressed. He threw on his bottle green robes, and looked in the mirror. His hair was a mess. He shrugged. It wasn't like he was trying to impress anyone.
Ron, on the other hand, was going slightly crazy. Harry was just glad Fred and George had taken his advice and bought Ron new dress robes. He was straightening them every few moments, and looking in the mirror, fixing his hair.
Harry stood up, dragging him away. "Ron. Hermione isn't going to care. It's not like she doesn't know what you look like every day."
"Fine." Ron sighed, taking one last look in the mirror, and heading downstairs.
Harry put on his shoes, trying to decide if he was even going to go downstairs to the Great Hall. Maybe he'd be happy staying in the common room by himself. He decided that Ron and Hermione would get mad if he didn't show up (though deep down, he really didn't think they'd notice), so he went down. He ran into Parvati and Lavender in the common room.
"Hello, Harry, going to the Great Hall?" Lavender asked.
Harry nodded. "Hey, Lavender, Parvati."
Dean and Ginny met up with them at that moment, and they all walked down to the Great Hall together.
"So who did you take?" Parvati asked.
Harry looked at her, puzzled. "To what?"
Lavender rolled her eyes. "To the ball, Harry."
He blushed. "Oh, right. No one."
Her eyes grew wide. "Really? No one?"
He nodded.
"Okay, Dean, Ginny, Lavender, pay up." Parvati put out her hand. Grumbling, the three of them each put a five sickles into her hand.
Harry stared at them. "What was that about?"
"We bet to see who you would take to the ball." Said Ginny, "Parvati bet on nobody. She didn't think you would accept any one's invitations."
Harry looked at Parvati. She was grinning at him. He frowned. "That's harsh."
She shrugged. "It's a gamblers world."
Everyone laughed. They were at the Great Hall. They walked into the room, and they all gasped, except Harry, who had, in fact, helped decorate.
It wasn't like Professor Lockhart had decorated in their second year; this was tasteful. Instead of being covered with massive hearts and things, so thick that one could not see across the tables, there were subtle decorations: red tablecloths, heart shaped lamps, and a valentine's banner over the door, where one could only see it if one was inside, looking at the door.
They sat down at a table. The four great tables were gone, replaced with smaller, round tables for about ten. It was obvious that students were not meant to sit with their houses, in case they had dates out of house.
The Gryffindors sat together anyway. Ron and Hermione were already sitting at the table, as well as Neville and Seamus. Neither of them had dates either, Harry noted.
Harry enjoyed the dinner part of the evening. With Hermione not bolting down her food to rush to the library, Parvati and Ron no longer making fun of him, and the cheery atmosphere of the room, Harry was quite happy staying in his seat. He was glad he had decided to come. He didn't want to miss the food.
After everyone had finished their meal, they moved out to the Entrance Hall, so that the Great Hall could be cleaned up and prepared for the dance.
In anticipation of the dance, everyone had split up into their couples. And it turned out Seamus and Dean did have dates, they just hadn't eaten with them, leaving Harry to talk to Parvati and Lavender.
"This is going to be fun!" Lavender squealed. Parvati nodded, and Harry shrugged.
"What about you two, don't you girls have dates?" Harry asked.
Parvati shook her head. "No one asked me, and there was no one I wanted to ask."
Harry rolled his eyes. "How come when a girl does it, no one cares, but when a guy does it, he gets made fun of."
Lavender punched him. "It's not because you're a boy, it's because you're you."
Harry was slightly confused.
"Because you're Harry Potter." Parvati sighed. Harry nodded, not really caring what they meant. They doors to the Great Hall opened, and they walked back in.
The tables were gone, but there were still red, heart shaped lamps over the candles, bathing the room in soft pink light.
Parvati and Lavender giggled when they walked in. Harry sighed and sat down in one of the chairs on the edge of the room. Looking back at the dance later, he didn't think he left the chair in the first two hours. In fact, he thought he might have even fallen asleep at one point, but he wasn't sure. Hermione and Ron came to talk to him for a few minutes, and Lavender and Parvati sat with him between dances with various boys.
Harry was pretty sure he was glad he didn't have a date. He didn't want to have to deal with dancing. Near to the end of the dance, he went outside for some fresh air. The good thing about it being the middle of February was that although it was a fairly warm February, very few couples dared to go outside to kiss.
Harry walked around the small courtyard, thinking. Not about anything in particular, just wherever his brain took him.
He walked around until he couldn't feel his fingers, and walked back inside. The dance was over, and everyone was walking back up to their common rooms.
* * * * *
Weeks passed by, and Ron and Hermione seemed to forget that they had vowed Harry would never go anywhere alone. In fact, he was finding himself alone increasingly often. It didn't bother him too much. He had spent his entire life alone, and it wasn't like Ron and Hermione were avoiding him, so he could still share jokes with Ron.
School got harder. Much harder. As difficult as he had thought school to be before Christmas, it was nothing compared to the time afterward. Harry was constantly studying. He would be doing homework at lunchtime and before classes started in the morning. Teachers were pouring on the work, making it increasingly difficult to get back into Quiddich practices, which started at the end of February.
Quiddich practice was Harry's only time for relaxation. He didn't have to think about dates, spells, or potions. Just flying and catching the ball.
He was expecting to be stressed with making his team better, but he was hard pressed to find obvious mistakes people were making.
"Saqua!" He called, "you're getting cocky again! Keep your eyes on your goal, otherwise, you're not going to have anything to be cocky about!"
"Dent, watch where you're going! I don't want to send anyone to the infirmary!"
He scanned the pitch. Once Saqua and Dent fixed their mistakes, there wasn't much left for Harry to correct.
Harry looked at the horizon every day, hoping for more from Sirius. Nothing came. He decided that he needed to do something. And he needed to tell Hermione and Ron about it first.
That night, he dragged them away from their studying to tell them what had happened with Sirius.
"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Hermione demanded.
Harry shrugged. "I forgot. Everyone got so excited when Dumbledore announced the ball."
They nodded. "So what do we do?" Hermione asked quietly.
Harry put his head down on the table. "I don't know." He lifted his head. "I'm going to go into Slytherin."
Ron snorted. "And how do you expect to do that?"
Harry smiled. "I take the cloak with me to breakfast tomorrow, and follow some unsuspecting first year back to their common room. I listen to what their password is, and then I go in whenever I want, still under the cloak."
Hermione frowned and shook her head. "Absolutely not."
Harry blinked. "Why?"
She sighed. "Harry, that is possibly the stupidest plan either of you have ever come up with. You will be caught, you know that. And then you will get in trouble with Snape, and you can't afford that, this close to exams. And," She added, before Harry could argue that exams weren't important right now, "it's not like Malfoy will be talking about it right out. There are Slytherins who would tell. This is an underground operation, obviously. I think what would work better is to follow Malfoy. If you see him go towards the Owlry, follow him, and maybe you can intercept the owl."
Harry nodded. "I guess that could work."
From then on, someone was always watching Malfoy. They knew that there were no windows in the dungeons, so they didn't need to worry about him sending a letter from there. One of them would follow him after class. If he went to the library, they would go to the library, and study. When he left, they would leave too, often putting on the invisibility cloak, so he wouldn't notice them.
Finally, one day in mid March, Malfoy went to the Owlry. He went alone, which was lucky for Harry, who happened to be on watch then. He didn't watch the owl, he just turned and walked quickly back to the dungeon, as if he didn't want anyone to see him. Harry put his things in the corner, and changed into a phoenix. A moment later, he caught up with the owl. For some reason, he coaxed it to the ground, where he took it's letter. He opened it.
Dear Mother, it started. He didn't stop there, just in case.
Dear Mother,
I hope you and father are alright. I will get Potter for this, I promise. I want you out of Azkaban, any way I can get you out. I'm getting help from an old 'friend,' like I told you before. I will come and visit you as soon as school ends.
-Draco
Harry grinned. Perfect, he thought. This was exactly what they needed. There was only one problem. He couldn't take it to Dumbledore or the Ministry, because they would get mad at him for stealing someone's mail.
It was worthless.
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Potter4prez: All of your questions will be answered in time, don't worry. . . I don't like not writing cliff hangers because I find the end is always so blah.
Wuzup13579: that is so true. But you still need it.
Xavier II: It wasn't that she took advantage of his help, it was that he was getting paid for it, and he was her co-worker, he was being paid to help her.
Indigal: You'll just have to wait, now won't you? And besides, I answer that at the beginning of this chapter.
Happy reading!
-unolimbo