Harry sat still beneath a random tree. He'd sat below so many of them, he really hadn't distinguished between any of them in years. He sat looking over the lake, a place where so much had happened for him. He'd first defeated dementors on it's bank, then failed and passed the second test in it's murky waters. Merpeople surfaces occasionally, all of them waving slightly to him. He sighed and waved back. Apparently Piper had put in a good word for him.

Since they'd met in Hargrid cabin, the two had become easy friends. Though Piper still stayed to herself in the castle, when he saw her the two would speak. Ron had asked Harry to put a good word in for him, though Harry could only imagine Piper's reaction.

He looked over the water, his mind wandering to the final battle. He knew it would happen soon- all his encounters with the Dark Lord had occurred near the end of term. Piper's prophesy warned him against planning a celebration of his eighteenth birthday, leaving a small window in which he could strike. Harry had practiced hard- blocking spells, attacks, and anything else that could possibly help. He'd even begun practicing the spell crucio and the Unforgivable Curse, though only on insects. He'd kept this very private, not wanting anyone to know he had learned that bit of Dark Magic. Anyone, of course, expect Piper.

Hermione would flip and Ron would second guess him, but Piper knew the threat ahead. She told him she'd prayed everyday since having the prophesy that it wouldn't come to pass, but he'd always smile and say, "At least I take Voldemort down with me."

She never laughed.

He watched her surface, her thick braid flying about her head as she gasped for air. Her spell only lasted an hour, and she'd stayed too long during this visit. Her cheeks began to turn pink as the cold air hit her, and she smiled and waved when she saw Harry.

He stood and walked to the shore, holding a towel out to her as she treaded water to get to him.

"Thanks," she said, taking the towel and wrapping it around her slight form. Harry noticed she'd lost weight recently, and he made a note to enquire about it once she was dressed.

Harry returned to his seat as Piper hurried behind another tree to dress. She returned moments later with a bag over her shoulder and a brush between her teeth. Her fingers were untwining her braid as she walked.

"Classes go good?" she asked, sitting down beside him. She pulled the last few strands apart and began to brush the long, wet locks.

"Yes," said Harry, leaning back against the tree trunk.

She looked at him, quizzingly. "You mean nothing happened? No Snape trouble or Malfoy tauntings?"

Harry shrugged. "Boring day."

"Did you even go to class today?"

Harry shook his head, then sat up straight again, laughing, as Piper threw her hair brush at him. "Hey! That thing's deadly!"

Piper was not smiling. "Why didn't you go to class?" She retrieved her wand from her bag and pointed it's tip at her scalp. "Asciugare." Her hair began to lighten at it magically dried.

"I don't know," said Harry, sighing as he head made contact with the tree trunk once more. When she said nothing, he opened his eyes to see her staring at him, waiting patiently for him to elaborate. "It's so pointless."

"Pointless? Harry, you've only got a few months of school left. Why stop working now?"

"Because it doesn't matter if I finish or not." He watched realization come to her.

"But still...you could learn something that could help you..."

"Like what? What's the point of writing endless essays about random creatures or events in the past? Why make a potion to cure backache or learn how to defend against a Laxamite? For that matter, why even study for the N.E.W.T.S.?"

Piper didn't have an answer for him, so she said nothing. Harry normally boasted when he managed to prove Piper wrong in anything, but found he couldn't this time. He looked back over the water as another merperson surfaced, then disappeared

Piper finally spoke. "What about your friends?"

"What about them?"

"If you give up your studies, they'll be curious about why. Will you tell them that you're going to die in the next few months? That you're just going to sit around until the Dark Lord kills you?"

"He won't kill me," said Harry, confidently. "I see where you're going with this. I can't tell Ron and Hermione about your prophesy..."

"They'd flip."

"Exactly."

"Uncle reminded me again this morning that this is just my first prophesy, and that I could be wrong..."

"It was Trelawney's first one, too." Harry sighed. "Regardless, even if I do survive, once Voldemort is gone there's nothing left for me."

"Huh? What're you saying?"

Harry ran a hand through his hair, and Piper noticed it was shaking. "I mean...once Voldemort's gone, what's left for me? I'd''ve fulfilled my purpose in the magical world. I did my job, is all. Nothing left to train for or protect me from." He sighed.

Piper watched his expression change, as he slowly filled with anger. "Everyone would say, 'Good job there, Harry' and that'd be it."

"Sounds selfish to me."

Harry turned to look at her. Her arms were cross in irritation. "Come one, Harry. You want to die in battle so that people won't praise you?"

"No, I should die in battle so people will only have to remember me instead of having to put up with me. There's nothing after Voldemort. My relatives won't have me, Ron and Hermione will have eachother, and Dumbledore will have Hogwarts. Sirius is gone and I won't burden the Weasley's."

"Hmmm." Piper thought for a moment, then said, "The one thing about Magical school for Muggle born kids is that they don't have a Muggle education in case the magical thing doesn't work out."

"Sound's generalized."

"So, you don't want to be bothered after you've defeated the dark lord." Piper smiled as his expression changed and he moved towards her. She lifted her hand. "I know, that's too generalized." She shook her wand, wrapped it up in her hair, making a messy bun on the back of her head. "I don't know what to tell you, Harry."

"I'm glad you're not one to give advice." He added when he saw her hurt expression. "Ron and Hermione would go on about how there's always hope and I shouldn't think like this. I would have just pushed them away and been angry. It's nice for someone to just agree with me for once."

Piper smiled, the first smile of the conversation. "Well, you could always come with me if you somehow defeat Voldemort."

"Where're you going?"

"Like you, once he's gone, I've got nothing left to do. It's hard to be an auror, and there's not much call for them in the States. I'm thinking of going to college somewhere."

"College? Why?"

"Well, it'd be something to do, for one." She shrugged. "Then I could work in the muggle or magical world, whichever suits my fancy."

Harry considered this, looking at the sunset in progress on the other end of the lake. Piper remained silent, admiring the sky along with him.

"How're you going to go to college without a muggle background?" asked Harry after a few minutes. "No grades school or such...how are you going to catch up?"

"There are certain spells that will help, but mostly I'll just study my butt off the summer before." She smiled. "It's not a fool-proof plan, but at least it's a plan."

Harry nodded. They didn't speak again until the sun was gone. Piper began to gather her things and Harry stood to wait. He mumble "Lumos," and walked with her to the castle. They began to part ways at the stairs, but Piper took Harry's forearm and prevented him from walking one.

"Go to class tomorrow, will you?" she asked, kissing him softly on the cheek. She waited for him to nod, then hurried away as a group of Gryfandor's descended the stair for dinner. Hermione and Ron were among them.

"Harry!" said Hermione, dropping Ron's hand and hurrying to him. "Where have you been all afternoon! We were worried."

"Yeah, mate. Had to partner with Neville in Potion's today." Ron glance over his shoulder, then added, "Don't do that to me again, ok? He's hopeless."

Harry laughed, saying, "Sorry, lost track of time at the lake. Won't happen again."

Harry sat in his four posted bed, looking over the Marauder's Map. He saw that most people were shown in their beds, but some had ventured out into the common room for late night studying. He watched as Dumbledore paced in his office, no doubt over recent accounts that Voldemort was nearing Hogwarts. Piper had heard talk at Hogsmeade the weekend before, and shared the news quickly with her uncle and Harry.

Tonight he searched for a certain name, finally finding it in the stables that sheltered the carrages that transported the students from the train station to Hogwarts and back at the beginning and end of the school year. She was running about quickly, her name becoming slightly blurred in the map's attempts to keep up with her. Harry smiled and tapped the map light, mumbled "Mischief managed," and shoved it into his pocket. He took the invisability cloak from his trunk and made to leaved rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"Just a stroll," lied Harry, inching towards the door.

"I'll come with you," said Ron, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. "I can't sleep anyway."

Harry wanted to rebuke the offer, but decided against it. He didn't want Ron to be suspicious, and no excuse would persuade Ron to stay behind.

"Grab a sweater, then," said Harry, running his fingers through his hair. "I'm going outside."

Ron grabbed a sweater without questioning, followed Harry down the stairs and out the portrait hole.

Piper heard Harry coming, turned and saw the slight ruffle of his invisibility cloak. She focused and saw that Harry was not alone.

"Shouldn't you two be in bed?" she asked, shooting her basketball towards the makeshift goal nailed to the back wall of the shed. Harry removed the cloak and smiled innocently, grabbing the ball as if passed smoothly through the white net. His friend, though, remained rooted to the spot.

"I could say the same for you," said Harry, passing her the ball and waiting for the rebound. When it came, he passed it to her again.

"You know me...can't find a spare moment for anything anymore." She smiled at Harry's friend. "Ron, right?"

He nodded.

She returned her attention to shooting. After several infallible shots, she stopped and wiped sweat from her brow with the sleeve of her sweatshirt. Harry read the word, saying, "Will you go to that university?"

Piper looked down at her shirt, shook her head. "Nope. Tennessee is a bit too orange for me." She looked back at Ron. "Oh, you don't know me, do you?"

"Dumbledore's niece," said Ron, simply.

"That's me," said Piper, unsure of what to do with Harry's gawking friend. She returned her attention to Harry, saying, "Come to play some one-on-one?"

"You know better than that," said Harry, laughing. "I couldn't hit a jump shot if my life depended on it."

Ron still stood rooted to the spot, watching as Piper sank yet another jumpshot without touching the makeshift net. Finally his voice came back to him. "I wish we had those kind of spells in Quidditch."

Piper froze, her ball bouncing free and nearly out the door into the cold night. Harry pointed his wand at it, mumbling, "Accio ball." The ball zoomed to him, nearly knocking him flat with it's speed.

"I don't use magic in basketball," Piper said, softly. She hurried where her sweatshirt was waiting. She pulled it over her head, eager to be gone.

"He didn't mean anything, Pipe," said Harry, appearing at her side with the ball. "Don't leave yet." He held the ball out to her.

She sighed, wiping sweat from her forehead. He looked over at Ron, who had yet to move. "Let's go to the kitchens. It's warmer there."

Harry nodded, walking back over to Ron. "We can all fit beneath here."

Ron snapped to attention as Piper stood beside him. Harry draped the cloak over them, and slowly they made their way back to the castle.

"You never told me you two were close."

Harry lifted his head from his pillow, looking at the bed next to his as Ron, who was still sitting straight up in bed.

"What are you talking about?"

"You told me you and Piper Dumbledore had met and settled your differences. You never told me you were close friends."

"It never came up, I guess."

"Is she the reason you missed class last week?"

Harry sat up at this. He wanted to explain everything to Ron, wanted his best friend's opinion about Piper's prophesy, wanted him to understand. As he took the breath to begin to explain, he stopped himself. No...better to leave Ron in the dark, avoid the shock and anger of it all.

"I skipped just cause. It had nothing to do with her."

Ron didn't look convinced. "Is she the reason you come in so late from Quiditch practice? The other's are showered and gone to bed before you role in. Do you meet her then?"

"I have, but not..."

"What's going on, Harry? Didn't we decide earlier this year we couldn't trust her?"

"She's not the girl we thought she was." He pushed his glasses further up his nose.

"What aren't you telling me, mate?" Ron swung his feet over the side of his bed and joined Harry on his bed. "You never used to keep things from me, or Hermione. Are we leaving you out in some way? Cause we don't mean to..."

"No, no, it's nothing like that." Harry forced a smile. "I'm happy for you and Hermione. You've never left me out. No, nothing like that." He elbowed Ron playfully. "Admit it, sometimes you two want me gone so you can have time together..."

Ron smiled, his old friend finally returning. "Well, now that you mention it..."

A pillow collided with Ron's head, and the two had to force their laughter down so as to let the other boys in the room sleep. Harry finally settled that he would tell Ron only enough that he was satisfied.

"I told you about how Piper and I met," he started, waiting for Ron to nod. When he did, Harry continued, "She doesn't like to talk to many of the students. She doesn't want to be too well known about the school, since there's Death Eater's kids in the school."

"If she wanted to hide, Dumbledore shouldn't have introduced her at the Feast," said Ron.

"Granted, but I think he was so thrilled she'd gotten to the castle safely he just wasn't thinking. Anyway, I only see her after practice or if I happen across her in the halls. She's really nice, Ron. I wish you and Hermione could get to know her better, but she won't have it."

Ron shrugged. "Hermione can't stand her. She says she's lurring you away fro mthe castle, or something."

"That's odd. Hermione's more clever than that." Harry shrugged. "I'll have to repeat all this to her tomorrow, I suppose."

"Nope, tell me now." Hermione appeared at the doorway, Crookshanks in her arms.

"Jeez, Hermione! You scared me senseless."

Hermione walked into the room, took a seat next to Ron on Harry's bed. Ron's arm instinctively went about her shoulders, but she didn't seem to notice. Harry suppressed a laugh, knowing how much they cared for each other and how neither knew how to show it.

"Harry, I don't despise her. I just worry about you and..."

"You don't have to worry about me where Piper's concerned," said Harry, petting Crookshanks absently. "She's with us to the end, so you can start trusting her right now."

Hermione nodded, forcing back tears. "I just...I didn't mean..."

"I know, and it's ok."

The three friends talked the rest of the night, moving from Piper to Voldemort to their plans after school. Harry smiled and followed the conversation, though he had made no plans for after Hogwarts.