Dawn Dragon: Thank you for reviewing!
Igonia: Thank you for reviewing! Yes, I did consider doing that or just taking the whole story down. However, I thought that might not be fair to the readers and I did promise myself that I'll finish every story I put up. And also the rewriting would probably not take place right now with school and Choice...and even if I start rewriting that'd take a long time as well. So unless you all are willing to wait a few years, I'm putting this version up first. It really is my own fault, though: I should have never put this story up in the first place. I knew it wasn't good...but I didn't expect people to really like it. So now my conscious is kicking in and demanding me to edit it.
Night-Owl123: Thank you for being such a faithful reader.
Lap : Thank you for reviewing, that is high praise indeed. (blushes) This is my crude first attempt and I really am not very personally satisfied with it. But thank you for the encouraging words and this is not a shameless self-plug, but you are welcome to read my other stories, which I found more satisfying.

Warning: A little hint of pre-slash at the end (a rather poorly-done one at that, too! which is the reason why I stared hatefully at the chapter and hesitated about putting it up for so long....it is things like this that makes me realized how much I've improved since then).

Chapter 12:

Tom was awakened by Neville's excited yells; he sat up on his bed, "What is it?"

Neville was holding something small and radiate, "It came to me! It was near my pillow when I woke up! I waited for so long that I thought it might never come!"

Tom stared at his hand and gasped, "The...the horse!" And indeed in Neville's hands was the small silver horse, its green eyes glittering. Tom tried to smile, "Well, you see you shouldn't have worried, the horse wouldn't have showed up for you if you weren't the one."

Neville nodded and smiled, "I need to apologize to Harry now, see you around."

Tom finally found Harry alone at the wall, "Hey, Neville got the horse today."

"Yes, he told me."

"You...didn't happen to hear our conversation last night?"

"What conversation?" Harry asked innocently.

Tom sighed; but before he could go on, Harry spoke again, "Tom, Neville need your encouragement now more than ever. Help him, he need to believe in himself."

"What about you? Do you believe in yourself? I know you possess more of the power..."

"It doesn't matter. Look around you; you see their love for him. They are his countrymen, his subjects, and his soldiers. They'll spill their blood and ride to war with him. They believe in him."

"Harry...who are you really?"

Harry shrugged. "Well, I suppose you'll have to let Thales and Severus know about me, and the Council, too, possibly," he added after a moment of silence.

Tom groaned; he could just imagine the fun of testifying over a group of skeptical old men – or worse, his paranoid father.

Neville called to them a moment later, announcing their departure. He was in a significantly improved mood and even winked at Tom as he and Harry came over. Tom, on the other hand, blushed to Harry's utter amazement.

They rode in urgency and silence, which was much preferable to Harry than the wild talks they had earlier. Soon the walls of Ceres were in sight. Harry thought about Severus and how strange their next encounter would be, and he smiled. He turned to Neville and Tom, "I'll leave you to explain everything to Thales." Then he gave them a very wicked smile with his teeth showing and left them.

The city was much the same as the night he left it, and Harry found Severus's quarter with little effort.

"Severus!" he called at outside so that he didn't need to deal with the soldiers who were looking at him suspiciously.

"What are you doing here?" the older man hissed.

"Well, I've come back to help you," Harry replied brightly, "Neville and Tom are trying to explain things to Thales, meanwhile."

Severus looked at him fixed-eyed, "What are you up to again?" He shook his head and let Harry in.

Harry put down his quill; in front of him was a pile of parchments. He had just drawn a detailed map of the Dark Land as none had ever done before. Looking up at the moon, he decided it must be passing midnight now. He stood up and rolled the map along with strategies the Dark Army was likely to use; he would give them to Neville the next day.

He was just about to blow out the candles when he heard a small knock on the door. Harry opened to door to find Tom. "Oh, do you want to talk to me about something?"

Tom looked uncomfortable, "Oh, I saw your light was on...I didn't disrupt you, did I?"

Harry shook his head; there was something strange about him.

"I, well, I just want to thank you for helping us."

"No need to be grateful," Harry smiled.

Tom smile back, "I shall not bother you further then, good night."

Harry watched as he fled; something must be wrong with the other man. The way he looked at him, it was almost like – Harry blinked – like the people in the market. Harry closed the heavy wooden door absently. He sat down besides his desk and started to organize his parchments.