I own nothing, J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, and anything else that even remotely looks far too creative for me to just make up! Don't say I didn't warn you alright!

Yes, I am aware of a discrepancy in my story regarding Trent's age. In chapter….9 I think, I say he's really 46, but is a 33 year old in a 65 year olds body. This doesn't fit in with the whole '25 year maximum' thing, so I shall try to explain it (better get a drink, this could take a while!).

Trent really is 46 ('born' in August 1950, and my story takes place in 1996-97). In chapter 9, he hadn't had his birthday yet so he's still 45. He also had used the Spirit Room for 21 years at that time, so that's takes his age up to 66. He spent, I think I said, 10 years in a coma, so he's back to 56 (I'm working on the principle that you wouldn't age much if you're in a coma. I wouldn't have any idea if this is true, nor do I really want to find out!).

So take the 21 years from 56 and you're left with someone in their mid-thirties (so he's 35, not 33. It's not that critical, trust me). Also the fact you hardly age inside the room, would make it look like he's around Remus' age anyway.

I also hope you got what I was trying to say about the 'guardian' passing on all the knowledge to the one they choose. Sorry if it was a little deep, but I did try to explain it as best I could.

Hope that straightens out some questions you may have had about that little piece of info, on with the next chapter!

Chapter 23 – An Unlikely Compromise

Harry and Trent had arrived back at an empty Burrow. Harry remembered that this was because everyone else was at Grimmauld Place. The two of them apparated near houses number eleven and thirteen, Trent bade him farewell and apparated back to Hogwarts before Harry thought about number twelve. The house squeezed in between the other two, and Harry quickly made his way inside.

No one else was up yet, and Harry guessed this was because it was only seven in the morning. Harry helped himself to some breakfast and had just settled down to eat his cereal and toast when Remus came stumbling into the kitchen.

"Morning H…Ha…Harry" he yawned.

"Rough night, Remus?" Harry laughed.

He glared at Harry before answering,

"You could say that. It was full moon last night. Despite Trent's cure, I still feel extremely tired the morning after" he yawned again, despite Harry's chuckles.

"Plus we had an Order meeting. Professors Flitwick and Vector have decided to join. So it was basically an introductory meeting."

"I see. Hey Remus, could you do me a favour please?"

"Sure, what is it, Harry?"

"Could I have the other mirror that Sirius gave you?"

Remus arched one of his eyebrows before replying "why? What do you need it for?"

"I'd like to give it to Dumbledore. I think it would be good if he and I had a direct link between us. That way I can tell him of any visions I have straight away. And I want to thank him again for the pensieve."

Remus stifled a yawn and looked thoughtful for a while before nodding.

"Ok Harry, that's not a bad idea to tell you the truth. It's up in my room. I'll go and get it later for you."

"Thanks Remus."

Remus then asked Harry how his training had went. Harry told him of the last three visits. How Trent taught him to drive, and about apparating like the house elves do. Remus was stunned when Harry said his power level was nineteen million. He was also impressed when Harry had told him about his improvement in wandless magic.

By that time, everyone else had come down for breakfast, and Harry's friends immediately accosted him. He gave them a little demonstration by lifting his empty cereal bowl in the air before gently bringing it back down to the table. Hermione and Remus looked the most amazed, but everyone else was too busy asking Harry to do something else. He told them that he didn't know how to do anything else yet, and that he wasn't that far advanced. Harry eventually made his way up to his and Ron's room where he unloaded his trunks and other items.

True to his word, Remus came by later that day and gave Harry the other mirror. Harry thanked him again, before putting it with its partner. He turned his attention back to Sirius' books. He only had four more books to read, and he still hadn't found anything about correctly identifying anyone's magical signature.

The break from school ended far too quickly, and it was time for the students and Remus to head back to Hogwarts. Harry had only managed to finish one extra book, and it didn't have anything useful in it. He threw everything in the trunks, and then shrunk everything so he could carry them around more easily. The train ride back was uneventful, and before long, everyone had settled back into the school routine.

The first thing Harry did when he got back was visit Hagrid. Hermione and Ron had come with him and they had quite a long chat about how things had been going for each other. Hagrid told them how Grawp had been killed by the centaurs that night when Sirius had died. Harry and Hermione both apologised profusely for it, but Hagrid didn't blame them.

Hagrid had said how it might have been a blessing, as Grawp didn't seem to grasp the concepts of behaviour like he himself had. Harry pointed out that this was because Hagrid had grown up around people, and was therefore used to their behaviour.

Harry and his friends had found out that Hagrid had not been sent by Dumbledore to try and get more giants to join in the fight against Voldemort. Hagrid had told them that he hadn't been asked to, so he just stayed around Hogwarts for the summer. He listened in rapt silence as Harry had told him of some of the things he'd learnt during his training in the Spirit Room.

The three of them bade Hagrid goodbye, and Harry had felt glad that he'd talked to the man who had rescued him from the Dursley's and told of him being a wizard some six years before. Harry knew he had a lot to thank Hagrid for, and doubted he'd be able to pay him back.

The Apparition classes had nearly finished, with Trent allowing the students to apparate short distances to get a feel for it. Harry and his friends felt it had been useful, and they couldn't wait until they were seventeen so they could take the test to be able to apparate legally.

Harry was in the common room doing another essay for potions. This one was on the Wolfsbane Potion, which Snape had decided to get the class to start brewing next week. He was in the middle of describing its effects on the werewolf, when his mind drifted to Remus, and then to the conversation he'd had with Peter.

It had been just over two months since Harry's visit. He was mulling over the outline of a plan that had taken a clearer shape since that night. Specifically when Peter, under the influence of Veritaserum, said he was sorry for betraying Harry's parents.

Ron and Hermione were becoming concerned that Harry was bottling things up inside him. But Harry shrugged off those suggestions by saying he was really worried about Voldemort now that he'd managed to break his followers out of Azkaban and had some time to come up with a new plan of attack.

It wasn't far from the truth. He was concerned about it, but it wasn't at the very forefront of his mind. Harry still had another vial of both Veritaserum and its antidote. He decided to use them to find out if Peter knew of Voldemort's whereabouts. He would then proceed to see what Peter was willing to do to repay Harry for not letting Sirius and Remus kill him at the end of Harry's third year.

That was where the plan ended. Harry couldn't think of anything to do if he managed to get anything useful out of Peter. His thoughts strayed to him being able to sense people's auras. He'd read in several of Sirius' old Dark Arts books that there were several ways to do so, but Harry hadn't yet found anything that looked like what he needed.

Those books that did have information on how to sense a person's magical aura, mainly focussed on when being in duelling situations. What Harry needed was to correctly identify Voldemort's aura. Then be able to home in on it to find out exactly where he was. Harry needed some idea of where to start his search. And for that, Harry needed Peter's help.

Harry also now had both of Sirius' mirrors. He remembered asking Remus for the other one over Christmas. How he explained to Remus that it would be useful for both he and Dumbledore to have them in case he had any more visions. Remus had agreed with him and given Harry his mirror to give to Dumbledore.

The trouble was that the more Harry thought about it, the more he felt it would be better if he gave one of the mirrors to Peter. He'd have to be able to make sure that no one else could find it. Otherwise Remus would know he'd been visiting Peter, and Harry would be in serious trouble.

Harry also had to see if Peter was willing to work with him. Peter had managed to keep Harry's visit quiet, but Harry knew that it was only due to Dumbledore's insistence and hadn't given Peter a dose of Veritaserum yet. Harry thought that Snape might have enjoyed torturing Peter more than getting the truth out of him anyway. He decided to pay Peter a visit tomorrow night and see what he could come up with before going to sleep after once again raising his mental shields to prevent Voldemort trying anything like last year.

Remus sat down at the staff table, thinking about what Peter had said last night about being sorry for what he'd done to James and Lily. He was lost in his thoughts before Trent shook him back to reality.

"What, Trent" Remus snapped.

Trent looked taken aback "jeez Remus, don't bite my head off or anything…"

"If I'd wanted to bite your head off, it'd be gone" Remus growled.

"Fine, I was going to ask why you're still sitting there when breakfast finished ten minutes ago, and you have to help me teach a class in a further twenty minutes. But if you're going to act like a git, then fine. I'll just leave you alone for a while."

Remus sighed, "it's nothing, Trent. I'm just a little worked up about something that happened last night."

Trent sat back down and waited for Remus to continue.

"I had a chat with Peter, and he told me that he was sorry about what he'd done."

"And you believe him?"

"Merlin, no! He said that Voldemort forced James and Lily's location from him, and he had no clue what he was getting himself into."

"Let me guess. Dumbledore's not letting you use Veritaserum to see if he's telling the truth."

Remus nodded, and Trent added "are you going to tell Harry? He'll want to know."

"Yeah, great idea. I can see it now. 'Hi Harry, how are you? Did you know that Peter's here at Hogwarts and he's sorry for killing your parents?' I'm sure he'll be thrilled to hear it."

Trent just shook his head, "sarcasm doesn't suit you, Remus. I think you underestimate Harry. He's more than capable of making his own mind up about it."

Remus sighed "you might be right. I'll tell him tomorrow after class."

Trent nodded then stood up and looked at Remus.

"Well? Are you coming or not? We've got seventh years to teach."

Remus nodded before getting up himself. The two of them then walked out of the Hall.

Harry finished dinner and waited for Ron to go on his Prefect patrol before taking out the Marauder's map again to check if it was safe for him to visit Peter. Thankfully, no one was around, and Harry grabbed the map and his invisibility cloak, before deciding to try out the new apparition technique Trent had taught him.

Harry closed his eyes and focused on the wards surrounding Hogwarts. He could feel the swirling energies that prevented normal apparition and realised for the first time exactly how well Hogwarts was protected. Harry felt his energy changing to match that of the wards. He then concentrated on the room where Peter was being held.

The next moment, Harry heard a gasp, and his eyes shot open. He saw Peter staring at him.

"How...that…that's impossible! They say no one can apparate on Hogwarts grounds!"

Harry smiled. "Obviously, they are idiots then" he replied, before looking Peter squarely in the eye.

"I want to know. What lengths would you go to, to repay your debt to me Peter?"

Peter stood in silence for a while before answering,

"I don't know, Harry. I've never owed anyone a life debt before."

"Have you told Remus how terrible you felt after betraying them?"

Peter looked at his feet before nodding "I did. I told him last night. I don't think he believed me though."

Harry understood. Remus could be nearly as stubborn as Ron when he wanted to be. But he was confused why this hadn't been included in the Daily Prophet article. He asked Peter, who told him that they hadn't asked him. Veritaserum only allows you to answer questions truthfully. As they only asked him if he'd betrayed Lily and James, the fact he'd been forced to didn't come into the equation.

Harry nodded in understanding before explaining his plan.

"Alright then, don't worry about Remus. I have a little deal for you"

Peter snapped his head up at the mention of the word 'deal'.

Harry continued "do you know if they're planning on moving you anytime soon?"

Peter looked thoughtful before saying "no, I don't think so. No one's said anything that I could hear. Why? What have you got in mind?"

Harry pulled out Sirius' mirror and Peter's eyes widened in recognition

"Is that…"

"Yes, it's one of the mirrors Sirius and my Dad used to use when they were in separate detentions. Stand back, I'm going to try to see if I can loosen a few of those floor bricks so you can hide it there."

Peter moved to the back of his cell and watched as Harry slowly managed to free some of the bricks from their bindings. Peter removed four bricks before carefully placing the mirror in the newly created hole.

Harry then asked Peter for the bricks. He proceeded to shrink them in depth, so as not to alert anyone that they were loose. Harry also lightened them, so to not damage the mirror in any way, before giving them back to Peter who placed the bricks carefully on top of the mirror.

"Why are you doing this, Harry? Surely you must hate me for what I've done?"

"I do. I don't think I'll ever truly forgive you. But at least I know you didn't give them up freely. And I want to know the person my Dad considered to be his friend. Besides, I'm not doing this for fun, Peter. I want something from you."

Peter grimaced "I was afraid of that. I don't have anything to give you, Harry."

"I want to know all of Voldemort's hideouts. Well, all the ones you know of anyway."

Peter looked stunned before answering "what? I haven't told the others, so what makes you think I'll tell you?"

Harry withdrew a vial from his robes. "Because they didn't have this. If you don't tell me, I'll make you take it again. But this time, I don't have the antidote."

Harry knew this was a lie, but hoped Peter didn't call his bluff. He wasn't disappointed.

"Ok, fine. I'll tell you. But he keeps moving around, so I won't be able to tell you which one he's currently using. And I'll only tell you if you promise to help me get out of here."

Harry thought over this for a while before answering "That's fine. I expected something like that anyway. As long as you don't go back to serving Voldemort."

Peter agreed, and then listed twenty-three places (including Malfoy Manor and Riddle Manor) which Harry copied down on a piece of parchment. After that, Harry outlined his plan thus far. To say that Peter was surprised would be an understatement. Peter thought Harry was joking at first when he told him that he was intending on going after him. But he quickly changed his tune when Harry asked him for any ideas into sensing Voldemort's energy signal. Peter didn't know that it was even possible to do that, and Harry cursed before dropping the matter.

Harry got up and was about to go when Peter stopped him.

"Harry, why did you give me Sirius' mirror? It doesn't do anything by itself."

"No, but it will with this" and Harry withdrew the other mirror. The very one Sirius had given him the Christmas before he died.

"This way, I don't have to risk being caught down here. I have my ways of knowing when you're not being guarded. I put an additional charm on both mirrors. You'll hear a faint buzz coming from it. Let me show you"

He held up his mirror and spoke Peter's name clearly. The lightened bricks that Peter and Harry had hidden the other mirror beneath started to vibrate, and a low buzzing noise could be heard.

Peter was impressed "you've really thought this through, haven't you."

Harry ran his hand through his messy black hair "well, yeah. Anyway, I'd better be going. I'll talk to you later. Bye Peter."

With that, Harry once again concentrated on the Hogwarts wards and apparated back to his dorm.