Disclaimer: Standard, J.K. Rowling owns the universe and the characters that appear in her books. I own my additions to it…yadda yadda yadda. For the full disclaimer (that applies to the whole story not just the first chapter, see chapter one).
Chapter 10: Three Truths Revealed
Harry hadn't said anything, not for the rest of dinner, not until he was completely alone with his dorm mates. Ron, Hermione, Neville, Seamus, Dean, Fred, George and Wesley just let him be. Harry had made a decision, he would tell Hermione, Neville and Ron the prophecy. He now wanted Hermione and Ron to know so that they could help him in any way they could because he knew he would need such help. Now was not time for pride, last years events had proven that. He felt anger rise but unlike before he let it. He knew what it was and he needed to be able to control it instead of letting it control him as he had all the previous year. At least this time he was successful and the anger turned into resolve to never let anything like what happened last year happen again if he could help it.
Harry informed Hermione that he wanted to meet her in the common room before she went up to her room. She had nodded at him and then went up to her room without batting an eye. They were used to sneaking around late at night. They had been doing it since their first year.
After everyone in his dorm had fallen asleep, he woke up Ron and Neville. Ron was hard to wake but after a bit of prodding he woke up with out much of a squeak. Neville on the other hand woke up with a yelp and Harry had to cover his mouth with his hand in order to stop him from screaming. "Neville it's me, I need to talk to you." He said urgently. Neville's obvious fear began to subside and he nodded. Harry removed his hand and then the three of them walked down to the common room where they found Hermione waiting by the fire. The room was devoid of people other than that.
"Ok why the late night meeting?" Ron asked irritably.
"Yeah and why am I here?" Neville asked. Hermione just waited patiently for him to talk.
"Well I need to tell you something, something important." Harry started. "Last year was not exactly the most pleasant experience for any of us. However you may have noticed that I was even more irritable after we got back from the Department of Mysteries then I was before."
"Well we all noticed but we figured that was do to snuffles…" Hermione trailed off after using Sirius' nickname likely out of habit, Harry flinched at it but rather than making him angry as was expected it simply increased his resolve to do what had to be done.
"Well that was only part of it, a big part but only part. After that whole debacle me and Dumbledore had another chat, and he told me a few things that made me incredibly angry…" Harry thought back on that day for a minute. He had remembered it and felt much anger about it but he realized that he had never really thought about it. When he thought about it his anger had been meaningful but hardly justified. It wasn't just do to that either it was everything that had happened that year. Dumbledore was the center of all his rage, mainly because since he never saw the guy he was a convenient target. But really the anger was at himself and at the universe for making his life hell.
After the pause to think he noticed his friends were waiting expectantly. Ron and Neville looked slightly nervous as if they expected him to explode at them. Hermione whom he had had more contact with over the summer and thus had seen he was getting over the previous year was looking more grave. She knew the news was big if it had come from Dumbledore and made him angry.
Harry continued after a few more moments. "He told me something that I should have told you immediately but I wasn't exactly in the best of minds last year." He started pacing nervously, now that he was getting ready to tell them about the prophecy he didn't know where to start. He figured he could start with an explanation for why he had to stay with his aunt and uncle, the complete unadulterated answer. Ron and Neville's nervousness had subsided to intent curiosity and Hermione still waited patiently but expectant as well.
"He told me that the reason I had to stay with my aunt and uncle was because when my mother died to protect me she created a power in my blood my bonds of family that would protect me from Voldemort but only as long as I lived with my aunt and uncle. According to Dumbledore in order for the spell to work they had to accept me as their family and I have to stay with them for at least four weeks out of the year." Hermione got one of her 'duh I should have figured it out' looks and Ron had a look of understanding as well. Neville just waited.
"There's more, he also told me that the reason he hadn't told me all of this before was because he had grown to love me like a son and the reason he hadn't told me about this was because he didn't want to break my innocence and bring me into the world of adults." The three of them looked at him oddly.
Harry was about to finish his story when Fred, George and Wesley stepped off the stairs. Harry knew he had to finish his story before he lost his resolve. He knew he could trust Fred and George, now Wesley on the other hand he was wary about but he doubted he was a Death Eater and for him it was now or never so he decided to take the risk. Fred obviously wanted to say something but Harry waived them over and motioned for them to listen.
"There was one more thing, the most important one and the reason why I woke you up Neville along with Ron and Hermione." Neville looked at him nervously but Harry saw resolve beneath that nervousness the same resolve he had seen in the DA and at the department of mysteries. "Dumbledore told me the prophecy. It was about a boy who was born at the end of July who would kill the dark lord." Their reactions were immediate. Neville's eyes grew big, obviously noticing the significance of that statement. Ron, Fred and George gaped at Harry while Wesley just sat there watching curiously with a questioning expression on his face. Hermione grew stern silently prompting him to finish. So he did, he told them the prophecy, word for word. "…and that's it." He found that instead of being nerve wracking as he had expected that it had been a load off his body and mind to tell someone else that. He realized then that he had needed to inform them of this in order to tell someone beyond simply wanting them to know. No, he corrected himself, he needed them to know. He needed them to know what he had been going through. He, Ron, and Hermione had been through too much to keep such important secrets form each other. He looked around at the others. Fred and George looked totally awake and quite stern, an expression that Harry knew they had but still thought looked wrong on them. He was not used to the Weasley twins not having smiles on their faces. Wesley looked puzzled and gazed at Harry with a look that asked him what this was all about. He found that the gaze did not make him wary as he had initially thought instead it was piercing in a positive way it broke any walls that would have been between them and made him want to tell the boy what he was silently asking. He knew he would eventually. There was no doubt in his mind that this was a friend to keep close, that all of them were.
There was silence for a while after that. They were all obviously thinking about what had been said there. Ron was staring at Harry in silence. It was a compassionate look that made Harry remember what had made him like the boy to begin with; he had been the first person in the wizarding world to truly see Harry and not just "the boy who lived." Hermione had a similar look but there was a bit more thought behind it. There was consideration and implication in her look, but it comforted him that she was thinking about it. He trusted her intellect exquisitely. It had always been an asset from her solving Snape's protection of the Philosopher's stone to helping him talk to Sirius using Umbridge's office the previous year. Oh things had not always gone according to her plans but they had always gotten through them in one piece. Plus above all else she was the reason of the trio. Without her Harry realized he probably would have died long ago.
He looked at Neville now, the one who could very well have ended up in his position of having to slay Voldemort, and could still end up in that position. Harry did not want to consider the idea that Dumbledore could be wrong but Harry could remember plenty of times in the past where he had been. Dumbledore was a great wizard but Harry was no longer sure of the man behind the magic. It was like Ollivander had said to him about Voldemort his first year, "He did great things… terrible, but great." Dumbledore was not the totally honest and good natured man he had always thought him to be. He had a dark side that Harry himself had witnessed. It had been Dumbledore not Voldemort who had said that there were fates worse then death and that he intended for Voldemort to experience them. His thoughts returned to Neville. How would they have been different had it been him who was chosen? It was pointless to dwell on it because it hadn't happened that way. Neville was a good friend though. Ever since their first year he had been the only one who had noticed their shenanigans and had been the only one to stand up against them when they had started to leave the dorm that day they went to retrieve the Philosopher's stone. In some odd fashion that event and leaving Neville petrified on the floor had formed a lasting bond between the four of them that had continued to exist to this day. Admittedly Neville getting the last ten points required too win the house cup that year and that had raised everybody's connection to him. But for them it was more. As much as it was odd to admit it, Neville had been a part of pretty much every significant outing that he, Ron and Hermione had went on that year. And later he became a good friend.
Fred and George's faces still had the uncharacteristic ferocity in them. That more than anything pointed out the gravity of the situation. Harry or Neville had been destined to destroy the dark lord. However, even though seeing that pointed out the seriousness of the situation it also made him happy he had the twins on his side. He knew they were incredibly powerful wizards when they applied themselves. And often even when they didn't. He also knew that even with their trickster tendencies they would be willing to take any spell for a friend if it came down to that. Harry realized that he was no longer just their little brother's best friend or surrogate younger brother, he was their friend. He didn't know why he didn't see this before since they had freely given him the marauders map as well as used their inventions to make sure he could talk to Sirius and simply to cheer him up when he needed it.
However comforting it was to have all of these people now aware of his plight so he didn't have to keep it alone, Harry was still not really uplifted as much as stabilized where he was. He knew that this wasn't something he wanted or something he thought would give him an edge. These people and others like them would be necessary for him to have any chance against Voldemort and his Death Eaters. They were a requirement not an advantage.
The six of them sat there silently for a bit longer before Hermione realized what time it was and rushed off to bed, but not before shooing the boys in that direction of course. Something that comforted Harry rather than annoying him as it often had before. It was normal, and for that he was grateful.
Tired but happy he had gotten all of that off of his chest, Harry slowly walked up the stairs thinking about the new stronger friendships. His eyes widened at what he found in the dorm room when he opened the door. Seamus Finnigan was gently kissing the cheek of a soundly sleeping Dean Thomas with an obvious longing expression on his face. Almost immediately Ron was heard gasping loudly behind him.
A terrified Seamus was instantly pushed off a very shocked and then angry looking Dean. The two friends looked totally different to him then he had seen them in the past. Seamus was staring around at the rest of the group still with a look of shocked terror. Dean's normally cool demeanor had been shattered to show a rage that no one had seen before. It scared Harry to the core. It was the exact change that he had witnessed in himself over his previous year. For the first time he saw what others had seen of him, and it scared him more then he would have liked to admit. Seamus was also different the strong stubborn young man had become a scared child under his friends gaze. He didn't know how the others were reacting but from the stillness of the room he assumed that they were all just as shocked as he was.
Dean spoke first, "What was that about!?" He yelled in Seamus' face. Seamus entire body pulled in on itself at the accusation. His body language told him everything he needed to know. "You FANCY me!? All this time I thought you were my best friend and you FANCIED me!?" Both accusations caused Seamus to cringe and pull in on himself more. It was obvious to Harry what all of this meant. Seamus' expression was not the fear of the accused. It was the fear of being caught red handed. His body language all but proved Dean's assessment correct.
"I can't believe this!" Dean spat at him again while the five boys watched in silence. "And when you took Lavender to the Yule ball what was that? Or all those times we checked out girls together? Were you were just lying to me then?" Seamus continued to cringe with each accusation. Harry wasn't sure what to do. It was obvious to him what was going on but he had no experience whatsoever to deal with such a situation, so he just stared.
Dean then stormed out of the room towards the common room without looking back. Harry noticed a whole bunch of students both older and younger standing in the hallway who had witnessed at least part of that fight. Some looked scared others disgusted. Harry was certain the yelling had woken them up.
Seamus turned to look at his housemate's with the same look of terror. Wesley, Fred and George tried to get the people in the hallway to go back to bed to no effect. It wasn't until Hermione, Lavender and Parvati showed up and Hermione threatened to hand out detentions that people started heading back to their rooms mumbling and grumbling to themselves.
Silence fell over the sixth year Gryffindors again as they all tried to sort out what had just happened. Seamus had noticeably calmed at the appearance of the girls and Ron had seemed to remember himself at their arrival as well. He still looked incredibly uncomfortable however, and kept making sideways glances at Seamus.
Hermione, Lavender, and Parvati had unreadable looks on their faces but seemed to be standing guard more so than anything else. Like they thought that the boys needed to solve this problem themselves but needed some controlling factors to not get out of hand.
"I…" Seamus started. He then began tearing silently.
"What were you thinking!?" Ron said in yet another angry outburst, "KISSING Dean? What on earth would make you want to kiss him?" Seamus' response spoke wonders to Harry as to why. He didn't really understand the feelings but for the first time he saw the feelings for what they were. They simply were, Seamus HADN'T been thinking or he would have never done it. Harry remembered his experience with Cho the previous year under the mistletoe. He probably wouldn't have kissed her if it weren't for it but he also hadn't had five years of built up feelings either. The point was that he wasn't thinking there in fact thought as he would generally experience it was almost actively being pushed out of his mind then.
"I…" Seamus said again, and his expression of defeat said more then any words he could have replaced it with. Ron didn't seem to get it, not that Harry expected him to. Ron could be very dense sometimes and didn't really know what it was like to be different from everyone else, an outcast as it were. Harry understood it well. Even after going to Hogwarts he always felt a little different because of his past.
Harry also had never bought into the whole queer issue. He never had any friends to support it as being bad and his uncle and aunt were not to be trusted to say what is normal since to them normal was so narrow that almost no one fit their definition, including Harry himself. Anything they thought abnormal deserved more thought before a conclusion could be made. He still saw Seamus as Seamus and frankly with everything that was going on with him lately he didn't have time or energy to think of him as anything else.
"I'll just go and talk to Ms. McGonagall about this maybe I can find a new room or something." Seamus looked forlorn and a bit mad as well. But it was inwardly directed anger suddenly Seamus' reluctance to do the occlumency lessons made a lot more sense. He did have a secret that he didn't want to share.
"Don't bother." George said, "People will just have to deal."
Seamus was still reluctant but he stopped and went and sat on his bed. Ron looked a bit frazzled and still a lot uncomfortable. Dean had yet to return. Neville looked a bit uncomfortable as did Fred. Harry didn't really care and it looked like George didn't either. Wesley's expression was mostly unreadable.
Hermione spoke up then "I see everything is ok here but I wouldn't stop worrying though. After all most of Gryffindor knows now and I assume that with how much the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs talk it will be all over school by tomorrow."
Harry had then just realized that Hermione hadn't been surprised at all, like she had already known. Seamus seemed to notice that too. "Huh? How can you be so calm?" Ron was obviously not quite thinking straight considering it was Hermione.
"Well we have known for ages. I figured it out watching Seamus look at Dean in his first few years." Hermione as usual acted as if it was obvious.
"Yeah and I figured it out after the Yule ball. He just didn't really seem that interested in me there." She looked at Seamus, "You kept looking at Dean and a few others longingly while you thought I wasn't paying attention. I had my suspicions then and then I asked Hermione as she always seemed to know these things and she confirmed it for me." Lavender seemed nonplussed as she said this. It really had been apparent to the girls for a long time.
"I was told by Padma who had learned it while studying with Hermione and the topic randomly came up." Parvati said. "I then confirmed it with Hermione and Lavender last year."
Seamus looked stunned. "I was that obvious?"
"Well I wouldn't say that. The whole school obviously didn't know because you'd be having a hard time of that. But I bet a few of the Ravenclaws and the smarter Slytherins know though." Hermione looked at the rest of the room then at a now much more nervous Seamus, "Are you okay?" Her face turned from fact mode to compassion in a split second. Seamus shivered but just nodded.
"He'll be fine." Wesley spoke up then walked over say on Seamus' bed and threw his arm over his shoulder in a friendly gesture that was almost amusing as Seamus was notably taller than him. "I won't let anyone do anything stupid to you." Harry concurred and so he just nodded in Seamus' direction. Seamus nodded back obviously a lot less worried now. He had what he needed, his friends. Harry realized that tonight could be a night of breaking friendships or a night of building them. For him this was more then a simple teenage squabble. It was forming bonds which could and would save his life at some point. He knew it, he didn't really know how but he did.
Ron still looked incredibly uncomfortable, and kept glancing in Seamus' direction nervously. Fred and George were whispering to each other with Fred looking at Seamus much like Ron, it was obvious form their expressions that George was in some way pacifying his brother. Neville looked nervous but kept silent the entire time silently watching everything that was going on. Hermione, Parvati and Lavender left to go back to their dorm rooms after being sure that nothing was going to happen. Seamus was worried about Dean but Harry was certain Dean would come around. After all they had been best friends for the previous five years. Real friendships don't break up over simple squabbles.
After the drama of the evening everyone was happy to fall asleep. Harry was happy to not have any dreams that night. The last thing he needed then was a prophetic dream that he couldn't make heads or tails of.
The next morning was almost the same as every other morning with the new dorm set up a chaotic rush to get everyone together and ready for breakfast on time. The only thing different that made it worse by the fact that only Harry, George and after some coercion from his brother, Fred were willing to shower with Seamus. Dean had gotten in sometime after they had all gone to sleep and he completely ignored Seamus, in fact he completely ignored the rest of the dorm and was the first person out the door to breakfast. Harry and Wesley as usual were thrown around a lot do to their size. But they all managed to get themselves together on time as they had the previous days. All six of the remaining boys started walking towards the great hall for breakfast together, although Ron and Fred reluctantly and Neville was still nervous but didn't falter.
As soon as they were out of their dorm changes in the demeanor of the students were obvious. The few students in the common room that were either skipping or waiting for others to go to breakfast in the common room looked at the sixth year boys with disdain and often immediately started whispering and laughing to themselves as they were leaving. Harry noticed that Seamus would freeze up whenever they got near anyone and then remain that way until they were well out of earshot. The Gryffindor students that they met in the hallway reacted pretty much the same way as well as a few of the Hufflepuffs that were talking with them.
The intensity of the situation was not fully discovered by them until they entered the great hall. As soon as they entered the chatting at the Gryffindor table immediately stopped for a second and then continued in whispers with people glancing at the group every so often. There were a few murmurs at the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables as well. Oddly the Slytherins didn't react at all they didn't really seem to care.
The group took their main spot next to Hermione, but Dean had sat all the way on the end of the table near some rather secretive seventh years that were still whispering and glancing over every so often. Harry was not sure if it was a good thing or not but where Dean normally sat next to Seamus was a very excited looking Dennis Creevy (not that there was ever a time when the Creevy brothers DIDN'T look exited).
"Hello!" He said merrily. It was odd not seeing Colin with him but he was sitting on the a few feet away whispering with another group. This in of itself was odd; Harry had never seen Colin talk any softer than a yell. Dennis on the other hand seemed quite normal. Actually he seemed different then he was when he was with Colin. He seemed to follow his brother around and act like him whenever they were together. But now he noticed a mischievous glint that Colin didn't seem to have. A memory of him saying something about falling into the Lake being Brilliant came to him. The fact that he was a third year addressing sixth years like they were best friends was not lost on him either.
"Hi." Harry responded to the energetic boy.
Dennis looked over at Colin and then lowered his voice. "I heard about what happened last night." He looked up at Seamus. "I just want you to know that you have the third year boy's support. I made sure of that." He then looked at Harry. "Besides hanging out with Colin was getting to be such a bore. His hero worship of you was cute for a while but now it makes him look rather pitiful. My brother has always been easily excitable though and has a tendency to break down if anyone who he really trusts says anything contrary to what he thinks so I play along when I'm with him." Harry was very relieved to hear this. He had thought that Colin had managed to convince his brother of Harry's perfection. When really it had just been Dennis playing along for his brothers benefit. Why he had chosen now he didn't really know but he suspected that it was because Colin wasn't taking the news about Seamus as well as Dennis had.
"Well, I've got to get back to my friends. Oh and Harry see ya tomorrow at the Quidditch tryouts!" Before Harry could respond Dennis had jumped out of his chair and quite hyperactively rushed over to a group of third years where he immediately started chatting quite loudly.
Harry was about to walk over and ask Dennis what he was trying out for but Hermione grabbed his arm and pulled him out alongside the other sixth year Gryffindors muttering about Professor McGonagall having a fit if all her house' students were late to her first transfiguration class.
NEWTs transfiguration took place in the sixth year Auditorium like the Charms and defense against the Dark Arts. Again however the seating arrangement looked completely different. Instead of the single desks or the bleacher like side tables there were two rows of long thin tables all of which had individual chars set up in an organized even fashion. Harry noticed as expected that there were a large number of students in the class however it was not quite as many as in the charms or defense classes. Also as expected the students had already taken their places in the room with the Ravenclaws at the front of the room with an empty spot presumably for the arriving Gryffindors. The Hufflepuffs were behind the empty spot left for the Gryffindors while the Slytherins, it seemed every last sixth year Slytherin was taking the class, were behind the Ravenclaws.
Harry, Hermione, Wesley, Ron and Seamus took the first row. Dean, Fred, George, Parvati, Neville and Lavender took the row behind them. Dean noticeably took the furthest possible seat without sitting next to a Hufflepuff that he could from Seamus. Harry also noticed that Seamus was still getting a lot of stares from random students around the room. Ron and Fred were still noticeably uncomfortable as the stares wandered over the entire Gryffindor section. Harry was incredibly relieved when Professor McGonagall walked into the room and took her place at the front of the class. She took absolutely no notice of Seamus or the stares the other students were giving him. She simply cleared her voice like she always did and started class.
"Now I am not going to baby any of you this is a NEWT level class and I expect you all to act accordingly." Harry was not surprised that these were the first words out of her mouth. After all she was known for being a very stern professor. Although most of the students still liked her because she was at least fair and everyone knew she was a great witch. All the students who had not gotten their stuff ready for class did so immediately. Professor McGonagall said nothing simply waited for everyone to finish to start class. She was obviously in a no nonsense mood and so everyone was ready within moments.
"To day we are not doing anything new because you are just back form a long vacation and must have full ability with the OWL material in order to succeed and NEWT level spells at all. For that reason we are going to go over everything we have done in previous years. I have provided everything you need, work for no more than ten minutes on any one spell but make sure that you complete the spell as intended at least once. Now hurry and get started."
The remainder of the class was hectic and Harry found himself working immensely hard to get all the spells right. He had barely been able to do many of them when they had learned them and now to be forced to do them after a summer of no practice and in only ten minutes was difficult. Harry wasn't doing the worst however, neither was Neville as Harry might have thought. Although with how skilled he seemed with his new wand Harry wasn't surprised in the least bit at this.
Wesley was the one who McGonagall kept picking on despite all his insistence that he was horrible at transfiguration. He was very quickly showing everyone in the room how correct his assessment was. Instead of vanishing the snail as they were supposed to do he ended up multiplying it. If McGonagall hadn't been watching him at the time they would have likely overridden the entire table maybe even the entire Auditorium. He then transfigured his rat from a rat into a mouse instead of a pin cushion. Ron and Hermione were the only people who noticed that there had been any change at all aside from Professor McGonagall herself. He hadn't even noticed until it until Hermione pointed it out. It continued like this with Wesley becoming more and more embarrassed at his total lack of anything in the department of transfiguration. Professor McGonagall wasn't particularly helping as she kept insisting that he should have immense talent in the subject. Why she would assume this was anyone's guess.
At one point she took Wesley's wand from him and handed him hers talking about silly Americans and their unpredictable wands. That proved to be a mistake as he seemed even less able with her wand then with his. She continued to have him use other student's wands (much to their dismay) to little or no effect and eventually she gave up trying other wands handed him his wand back and lectured him about not trying hard enough. Harry had never seen Professor McGonagall concentrate on one student nor react to failure like that. Harry was even more surprised when she flat out refused to let him switch to another NEWT upon asking. She said she would bring out his inner talent if it killed her. Being his head of house and thus the one he would have to go to about switching classes he was out of luck.
Somehow despite her constant attention to Wesley she still managed to critique the other students and attempt at least to make everyone do the majority of the spells correctly. With the exception of the Ravenclaws Neville and Hermione, no one did. However most people had at least managed to get the spells close enough to avoid a lecture and at the end all they got was a short. "I am unimpressed with you all. You all should have been more prepared for this class!" She looked directly at the group of Gryffindors with very stern narrow eyes as she said this. "You will all write me a foot long note about the use and affect of each an every spell that you have learned up to this point! Now off with you!"
"A foot for every spell!?" Ron exclaimed as the Gryffindors left the room. "That's gotta be…" Ron stopped and silently counted them in his head. The fact that he hadn't stopped once they were interrupted said wonders for how much work Professor McGonagall had just assigned.
"Lion feh!" Malfoy's voice was heard as he exited the Auditorium. "With the way you Gryffindors complain I'd say more like kitten. No wonder McGonagall is always such a prude! After having to deal with the likes of you all anyone would be." He then scoffed at them with his normal smirk before saying. "Let's go before Weasel here blows a gasket. After all he may miss the litter box and I wouldn't want to be around to see that." Harry and Hermione grabbed Ron to stop him from pouncing on Malfoy. But with his shear size it took Neville's help to finally keep him in line.
"You can't tell me that had no effect on you whatsoever! He just called us a bunch of kittens!" Ron's body was seething with anger as he stared down at his smaller friends. Harry didn't know how to respond. The truth was it hadn't affected him much. Malfoy had attempted much worse things that kitten that summer in attempts to rile them up.
"Will you grow up!" Hermione said straight into Ron's face. "That wasn't even that bad. Honestly one of these days he is going to say 'hi' and you're going to kill him!"
"Yeah well he'd deserve it!" Ron was still angry and obviously not thinking straight.
"Just, don't do anything stupid." Hermione's tone changed in what was obviously a final attempt to add some reason to Ron's thought process before rushing off towards her next class.
"Maybe he should stop being stupid and mind his own business!" Ron said under his breath before he stomped off towards the common room. Part of Harry wanted to follow him but the better part of him knew that that would not help the situation any. Ron already knew his position and rubbing it in would do nothing to help. This was a problem his friend needed to solve alone.
Everyone there was silent for a bit before Wesley spoke up. "I see what you mean about Malfoy. If all the Slytherins acted like that towards me I would despise them too." He said calmly, as if the entire scene were a part of a movie and had not just actually happened.
"Well I see what Ron is mad about I agree with Harry and Hermione." Padma said, "I don't see how sinking down to that git's level will solve anything." Lavender and Neville nodded in agreement. Seamus obviously wanted to rebuttal this but he had his own things to worry about at the moment and Harry was sure he was surprised that they were hanging out with him at all. He obviously didn't want to make waves in the one group that was still treating him more or less the same. Well besides the Slytherins but that wasn't exactly a good thing. Dean chose that moment to walk out of the room where he had been finishing up a conversation with McGonagall and his complete ignorance of the entire group spoke wonders about Seamus' predicament.
"Honestly I think we should get to the Library to work on our reports." Wesley said with a forlorn look on his face. "I hope you'll all help me with mine as I haven't got the faintest idea what she wants out of a report. I know the technicalities of most of the things we did in there. Well that you did and I failed miserably at. But as for the practicalities or what she taught you I am lost. As you can see she doesn't seem to think that I am serious or something."
Fred walked up to them at that point. "Study! Blasphemy!" he said before grabbing Wesley in a headlock. Wesley was significantly frailer than Fred and so when George walked up after him he was still in the headlock. He hadn't even bothered to resist obviously quite aware that he was at the bigger boy's mercy.
"Hey George, could you tell your brother to let me go before I pass out?" Wesley wheezed through the lock. At that Fred let him go. Wesley immediately stopped wheezing and smiled, "Gets em every time!" He said before promptly standing behind Seamus. Fred laughed before his face formed that mischievous smile as he very obviously started planning his revenge against the smaller boy for ending his fun.
"To the library?" Harry asked the group in general ignoring Fred's shenanigans even though he was quite amused by them.
"Yeah, and don't worry Wes, I'll help you." Seamus said. Apparently he remembered that Wesley was the one to break the tension the night before. He was ever so slowly returning to his more merry self.
Harry only hoped Ron could return to something resembling his friend again. The Ron he remembered was impulsive and prone to anger yes but he hadn't really been violent until more recently. While he generally preferred the more adult Ron he had for a friend now he wished he could convince him that sometimes thought was the better part of valor.
As the group headed down to the library Harry noticed most if not all the people they passed were snickering at them and saying things under their breaths. The group's good mood would have been all but destroyed if it weren't for Wesley and Fred. Fred was trying to grab Wesley again and Wesley was dancing around Seamus merrily keeping the larger boy between them. Seamus seemed happy to take part in this childish game. It was a nice distraction from what was going on around them.
The library was exactly as Harry remembered it. Full of Ravenclaws and other people who were studying and had not time to worry about who was being teased for what. It was a nice refuge considering the morning. They found a place to sit and spent the entire rest of the morning working on their reports.
At one point Ron came in and silently apologized to Harry for his outburst. He then started working on his essays with them.
Lunch was rather mellow that day although Seamus still got stares from quite a few people. Since none of the Gryffindors but Hermione had class that afternoon. They all headed back to the library at Wesley and Parvati's request to finish their assignments, which they all miraculously managed to do before dinner.
Dinner was much like lunch and before he knew it he, Ron, Hermione, and Seamus (who had decided to come to it after all) were walking towards Professor Saren's room for their occlumency lesson.
Harry, having been to only one Psionics class with the professor where they had been taught essentially nothing, had very little idea what to expect from the man. Hermione looked rather intrigued and thoughtful. Ron looked nervous and kept looking at Seamus. Seamus seemed rather nervous but also didn't acknowledge Ron's attention in the slightest.
The room looked essentially the same when they walked into it and Harry was slightly disappointed. The only real difference was that the colored pillows were against the back wall instead of arranged on the floor and that instead of hovering above the floor meditating as he had been before, Professor Saren was standing by a pensieve facing the door.
"Hello, I see you decided to come after all Seamus. Although considering the circumstances you don't have any more reason not to be here. Am I right?" Professor Saren's voice was incredibly calm almost soothing as he said this.
"I suppose not," Seamus started.
Saren then moved his head over the four of them as if gazing at them. "I see that nervousness at recent revelations is a possible issue here but that is essentially irrelevant as nervousness can be just as good as it can be bad. The real question is the question of trust. Do you four all trust each other enough to give each other the possibility of unrestricted access to each other's deepest thoughts?" Saren's voice remained soothing but had a sternness to it that made the question seem very serious. "Because I have considered Dumbledore's request and have come to the conclusion after meeting you that it should be you're decision not his who does what when. I will still instruct you in occlumency. But now is the time to decide whether it will be together or on a one on one basis. I highly recommend that if you do trust each other enough that you do it together. It will be a much better experience and you will not risk having me see into your deepest thoughts as readily." He did not smile, and his voice did not falter the entire time. Harry was certain this could easily be the most important decision he made this entire year.
The others were deep in thought as well. Hermione was seriously considering the options, it was obvious she wanted to be completely sure of her decision. Ron kept nervously looking at Seamus while obviously thinking to himself. Seamus was equally nervous noticing Ron's constant glancing. Harry realized that ha had made his decision. It was up to everyone else now to either agree or not. "I for one would rather do it together. I think it would be better if we could all help each other through this and if we do it together then we will have people who we know are safe to practice with outside of class."
Hermione immediately responded after Harry. "I agree. I trust you enough, and even if I don't now is not the time to worry about it." Harry could see the logic in that, whatever happened it was likely that they would all be forced to trust each other soon because of Voldemort.
"I would like to learn occlumency…" Seamus started, "and I want to learn it with you guys but if you don't want me here…" He trailed off and looked at Ron the only person here yet to respond.
"I would too." He looked at Seamus nervously again. "Yeah, I trust you guys. I won't lie and say I'm not a bit odded out by the whole situation but I don't think it's a matter of trust." Both Ron and Seamus visibly relaxed after that statement.
"I expected as much." Saren said with a quaint smirk. Then his smirk disappeared into a very grave serious expression before he started talking again in a much more serious much less soothing tone. "Then I have something to show you, all four of you. If you were all working apart then this would really only be relevant to Harry. But as it stands it is relevant to you all because it is relevant to him." He then sat down next to the pensieve ob the floor. "Professor Dumbledore also thinks it is more prudent to show more than just one of you this memory. It will hopefully allow the wounds it may cause to heal faster. I will not lie to you and say it is a good memory or that it won't hurt any of you. But since you will be practicing legillimency to use on each other and because it is important to understand what you are defending yourself against, it is important that anything that could truly cause a rift between us get out in the open now so we can deal with it before we start training."
With that he waved his hand over the pensieve and said. "I will not be following you. Watch and you will see why I warned you. It may bring forth some revelations you are not prepared to face." He looked at Harry again. "You must face them or you will never master occlumency nor will you have any chance against what's to come." He then pushed the pensieve towards the now suitably spooked students. Harry decided it was now or never and so dove right into it nose first as he had learned on previous years. He felt the familiar sensation of falling through icy cold blackness.
Harry found himself on an empty Platform nine and three quarters complete with the Hogwarts express, although it was not puffing out smoke in fact it was obvious that the memory was in some sort of still as a puff of smoke was hovering over the engine's smokestack as if it had just come out and was beginning to dissipate. Hermione appeared on the platform a few seconds after he did followed by Seamus and finally Ron. They all looked at each other surprised.
"That was amazing." Hermione said. "Nothing like what I imagined from reading about it." Harry knew she was talking about the trip into the memory, he didn't care all that much he was more curious as to why they were at a frozen platform nine and three quarters.
As if to answer his question the memory started moving. Ron was startled as people started entering the platform form the wall between platforms nine and ten. "You can't talk to them." Hermione said, "They are simply memories." She then moved to the corner of the platform and motioned them over. Harry knew what she was doing. They could see better from there.
Harry wondered what they were here for more until he saw a very young boy. He looked about the age of eight and yet he was lugging around a full trunk as if he were going to Hogwarts as a first year. Harry wasn't sure whether this was of any importance at all, but it was the only thing that stood out to him about the memory and so he decided to watch and see what happened. He glanced at his friends and they seemed to be watching the same boy. He quickly returned his gaze to the boy not wanting to miss anything.
Harry wasn't sure why but the boy seemed familiar to him. He had shiny jet black hair and bright blue eyes that seemed to sparkle. His hair was cut short except for his bangs which hung almost over his eyes. He had a toned build for an eight year old and he seemed to be having more trouble with the awkwardness of the sheer size of the trunk rather than the weight as he wasn't panting or showing any signs of being tired simply shifting around a lot, it looked like he was trying to get a better grip.
That was when an older looking boy walked up to him. He looked about ten or eleven the more expected age for a Hogwarts student. He had black hair much like the younger boy and had dark eyes. His hair was short and he had a slightly hooked nose. It looked to Harry like a younger version of Snape but he couldn't believe that because the boy seemed very happy completely devoid of the scowl that now more than anything else defined his professor.
"You look a bit young to be here?" The older looking boy said to the younger looking boy. It wasn't in a mean spirited tone simply a curious one.
"I get that a lot." Was all the boy said. He seemed rather timid, but his voice had a soothing tone to it that made Harry wonder if this was in fact the man whose memory he was in. It seemed so odd though. The boy had a completely different demeanor then the man sitting on the floor in the room with the pensieve. The man was strong and the boy was not. Also the fact that the boy could see and the man couldn't also dawned on him.
"Oh ok, obviously you are going to school so I suppose it doesn't really matter how old you are." The older boy then turned towards the younger one. "Need help with that?" He asked sincerely. He was lugging around a much smaller trunk that was obviously enlarged inside as it could not possibly hold all the things a first year would need. That would imply that he was from a wizarding family and a rather prominent one at that considering the quality of his clothing and the trunk itself.
"Thanks." The younger boy said timidly yet politely. He seemed intimidated by the older and bigger boy. Harry wasn't at all surprised by this, even though the older boy was hardly intimidating.
"You're welcome, I'm Severus." The older boy said and held his hand out towards the younger one.
"Leon." The younger boy said and then smiled. The picture then stopped with them shaking hands.
Harry was totally stunned and it seemed like he was not the only one. "That's Snape and Saren?" Harry exclaimed just then remembering that Saren's first name was Leon.
"It appears so." Hermione said with a very intrigued look on her face.
"It can't be…" Ron said, "The Snape we know would never act so happy nor offer his help to someone without an ultimatum or at least a sneer." Harry had to agree. The only thing about the boy that was remotely Snape like was his hooked shaped nose.
Seamus didn't say anything but he looked just as confused as everyone else.
"Shh!" Hermione shushed Harry and Ron. Harry was about to protest not being finished with his thoughts on Snape when he realized why she had stopped them. The memory had started again.
Severus and Leon carried Leon's Trunk onto the train. Then the scene changed and Harry felt the icy blackness again. They were on a car on the Hogwarts express and Severus and Leon were carrying Leon's trunk obviously looking for a place to sit. Another very familiar boy's voice was heard from a nearby compartment as it opened. "Hey! You a first year too?" The voice asked Severus.
"Yeah." Severus responded while Leon remained silent.
"And whose that your little brother? Helping you carry on your stuff?" Another familiar voice with a much more dangerous gleam to it came from the same compartment.
"No actually he's a first year too. I wouldn't have believed it myself had I not seen him come onto the platform himself holding this." Severus motioned towards the trunk.
"Ok so you're like some eight year old prodigy or something?" The dangerous voice said in an amused tone.
"No, I'm eleven I just look really young for my age." Leon was still a bit timid but it looked like Severus was having a bolstering effect on him. Harry thought that odd although that would explain why his two professors knew each other and why Snape actually bothered not only talking to him but being civil with him at that.
"Hmm, interesting any reason why?" A third familiar boy's voice which sounded a bit more mature and thoughtful than the other two came out of the room. It also sounded slightly sickly or at the very least tired. Harry was not sure at all but the names attached to these voices were just outside the reaches of his mind. That and if these were people he knew they would be a lot older now.
"I don't know I just do I always have." Leon was obviously trying to sound a lot cooler about the situation then he actually was. No one that Harry could see seemed to notice.
"Well what are you waiting there for? There is plenty of room in here for two more." The first voice said and then a very familiar head poked its way out into the corridor and into the hall. Harry heard three other gasps and then a noise of recognition from Hermione. The boy looked almost exactly like Harry had looked like at that age except for a lack of a lightning scar and blue instead of green eyes.
Harry was stunned. If in fact this was Severus Snape and that was in fact his father James. And he could see not other two people that they could be, especially considering the name's given so far. Then why did they become enemies? Harry walked over and looked into the compartment only to be confused more. There was almost no mistake. He was looking at the eleven year old forms of the marauders. The boy and obvious owner of the mature tired voice was the splitting image of the man he would become, simply with less facial hair and more baby fat. But all the other features were the same. Hair color, eye color, facial structure…It was almost like looking at a miniaturized version of the man and not simply a younger one. Sirius Black was also there the owner of the more dangerous sounding voice. He still had the same hair and the same mischievous smile. But he looked much healthier not having had his stay at Azkaban yet. He also looked a lot meaner than the man he knew. He felt a slight bit of anger at this but he realized that the boy didn't make him as angry as the man. All his memories of the boy were of a chauvinistic bastard. He almost didn't see how the boy could become the man he had grown to love. Then again this whole memory was painting a very different picture of his father's youth than he had originally thought.
"I'm James." The boy said confirming what Harry already knew.
"Severus," Severus said extending a hand.
"I'm Remus." The younger Lupin said a tired, wary but at the same time happy smile plastered on his face.
"Sirius…" The boy with the dangerous voice said. And there it was the marauders were confirmed.
"What about you kid?" Sirius asked.
"I'm Leon." The boy said and then the five of them started chatting away. Harry couldn't tell what about because the scene began fast forwarding like a movie in a muggle VCR might.
"Snape met the Marauders on the train and they were friendly to each other?" Ron was totally perplexed at this. Seamus looked totally lost. Not that Harry would expect him to know anything about them.
"Let's just watch." Hermione said while intently watching the speeding memories. "It's not finished yet and we won't know what this is really about until it's done." Harry decided that Hermione was correct. This was only part of a much bigger picture. That was plainly obvious.
The scene slowed down near the end of the trip. "So, friends then?" Severus asked the others happily.
"I don't see why not? After all it seems like we will all be placed in the same house." Remus said.
"And if were not?" Leon spoke up timidly.
"Doesn't matter really does it?" Sirius said. "As long as were not in Slytherin. My cousin Lucius is in Slytherin and he is a real git." He then smiled and looked at the remaining people in the car before saying. "Not to mention the very likely rumor that You Know Who was in that house."
Severus looked rather spooked at this as did Leon. Harry wasn't sure but he thought they had known that they would likely be sorted into Slytherin before they had even started school. They were both obviously from wizarding families. They knew too much about what was going on to not be. Harry remembered his time on the train he hadn't even understood what the houses were let alone who was in them.
James then said something that Harry knew was going to be their downfall eh just knew it. "Let us pledge then to give the Slytherins as much hell as we can. In the name of all that is good and mighty!" It sounded all nice and childish but Harry knew exactly where this was leading. A dark thought began to form, if this was at all accurate than the rivalry between Severus and James was not a rivalry at all but a betrayal.
The five of them put their hands in the circle, Leon, Severus and surprisingly Remus looked nervous at the idea. After that the memory ended and the icy blackness passed again depositing them in the great hall which looked pretty much the same as it always did. The Slytherin colors lined the hall and a much younger looking Minerva McGonagall was leading the new students into the room with a hop to her step that made Harry realize just how old she must be. Hagrid looked pretty much exactly the same as did the stool and the hat that McGonagall put in the middle of the stage.
The scene didn't start at normal speed until she started reading off names. "Black, Sirius" was the first name the memory showed. The hat took a long while deciding and Harry noticed a nervous tinge in the boy's body. In the end it yelled out "GRYFFINDOR!" as he knew it would.
Fast forwarding to another name Harry did not expect where it landed. "Evans, Lily," she unlike the others was almost instantaneously put in her house with a resounding "GRYFFINDOR!" Harry wasn't sure what relevance this had but he was too busy trying to pay attention to what was going on to really notice. It didn't seem nearly as relevant to the scene as the sorting of his father and his friends.
The scene fast forwarded again skipping names until it stopped and McGonagall said, "Lupin, Remus." Remus walked up to the chair more tired than anything else. The moon must have been almost full that night. Harry thought as he remembered how his instructor had gotten as the full moon neared. This time the hat took a lot less time but it wasn't instantaneous before it also yelled out. "GRYFFINDOR!" This time he looked towards the rest of the first years. He noticed immediately that both Leon and Severus were looking agitated as their fiends were being put into the most anti-Slytherin of houses. It was ever more apparent that they were expecting to be put into the house that they themselves had just sworn to help destroy. Not exactly the smartest idea but he probably would have done the same thing in their place.
The scene then raced slightly forward to the next important sorting. "Potter, James." McGonagall's voice seemed louder and more accusatory to Harry then the others had. He thought that was part of his imagination. The hat took almost as long as it had with Sirius before yelling "GRYFFINDOR!" as Harry knew it would. James looked totally spooked after that. Harry guessed that he had been highly considered for Slytherin just like he had been and he would guess Sirius had been as well. Harry noticed that a small round student who looked quite a bit like Peter Pettigrew. Of course he wouldn't be relevant to Saren's story though simply to Harry's.
"Saren, Leon." McGonagall's voice snapped Harry out of his thoughts as he watched the sorting of his future professor. It took a long time to sort the boy but in the end the hat yelled "SLYTHERIN!" Harry immediately looked at the Gryffindor table. James and Sirius had angry looks on their faces. Leon walked over to the Slytherin table quite timidly. Harry noticed a boy who looked quite a lot like Draco but with much longer hair sitting among the older students. Harry wanted to kill him right there so he couldn't do the things he did. But he could not affect the memory in any way and so just stood there watching and seething in his anger at the events he was witnessing but could do nothing about.
Severus was sorted immediately after Leon was so there was no speeding of the memory. "Snape, Severus," was followed by a long period of time and a yelled "SLYTHERIN!" Harry stared at his father and his friends. Remus looked forlorn but Sirius and James looked even more pissed than they looked before.
Harry was not sure who he was mad at right now. He knew what he was seeing had to be real. But it made him wonder who to really be angry with. He felt the scene switch again and the icy blackness actually calmed his nerves. Apparently there was more.
The next scene was incredibly different then the last. It was Leon walking through the courtyard reading a book of some sort. Harry wasn't sure what importance this had but it was obvious and apparent in a few seconds. A spell flew out of a side hallway to the courtyard and hit Leon smack in the chest. He began laughing incredibly hard and that was when Harry recognized the curse as the tickling curse. Then Sirius and James ran out of the side door laughing at the laughing boy and saying things to him that made no sense to Harry.
"You think we wouldn't find out? That you are a twilight walker? A blood taster?" Sirius said as he circled the still laughing Leon. Harry notices Leon was trying to say something but he couldn't speak through the laughing. Harry then noticed that Leon was wheezing thought the laugh. Harry didn't know what the long term effects of the curse were. Malfoy had been freed from it too quickly for him to know. It became painfully obvious to Harry that the long term effects were exactly what the effects of actually laughing that long, death by asphyxiation.
Harry watched as James and Sirius watched Leon literally choke on his own laughter. Suddenly he heard Severus voice say "finite incantatem!" Before the boy ran out and stood between Sirius and Leon who was now panting for the air he had lost in his curse induced laughing fit.
Harry noticed out of the corner of his eye Lily Evans who quickly ran off down the hall. But he wanted to see where this was leading. His mother was obviously apart of this but if he had learned anything from his previous experiences with pensieves it was that the memory leads the watcher not the other way around. If she was that important to the events she would have been there. He was happy that she did not take part in this though. And it looked from the expression on her face that she was appalled at this. Obviously she had reasons to dislike James. Harry still did not understand why they had gotten together. Although he supposed that part of him should be thankful they did or he himself would not exist.
The day ended without a duel or anything when Lily returned with Professor McGonagall who shoed off the students besides Leon whom she quickly took to the infirmary.
The scene then fast forwarded through Severus doing lots of library research. Harry couldn't see what the books were but it was obviously important. He noticed Hermione's mind racing. No doubt she knew exactly what he was doing.
The icy feeling returned as blackness engulfed them and Harry instantly recognized the room they were in. It was the room that Saren's psionics class was in. It looked exactly the same as it did in his time with the exception of Saren's colored pillows right down to the tapestry on the wall. Harry was startled by the entry of Sirius, Severus, James, and a person who Harry barely recognized as the younger version of the Death eater Avery.
Harry watched as James and Severus stared each other down before bringing their wands to the ready. "They are going to duel." Harry heard Ron and Seamus say at the same time under their breaths. No one noticed this as they were too engulfed by the scene.
Harry was lost he couldn't feel anything he was really confused as to what he felt at the moment. He knew he felt something and that it was rather strong but he had no idea what that emotion actually was.
Sirius and Avery, obviously James and Severus' seconds got their wands ready too. What happened next was a complete surprise. Severus and James struck at the same time, with exactly the same curse. A curse designed to blind their opponent. Harry watched as the scene almost played out in slow motion. Leon jumped out of a shadow where he had previously been completely hidden and jumped between the two a split second before the curses hit. He took a direct hit from both curses simultaneously and then the entire memory disappeared. It hadn't gone black or dark as Harry had expected it simply had no sight at all. It was an experience that he doubted he would ever experience again nor be able to explain after he was done. He simply could not see. He heard what was going on though quite vividly.
"Look what you made me do! Now Dumbledore is going to kill us." James voice was agitated.
"God is that all you can think about there is a person here that we just blinded!" Severus sounded more worried about Leon than anything else.
"Oh cut the fuss he's a Dhampyr anyway! It's not like he really needs to see the smell of blood is all he cares about anyway." Harry heard a gasp from somewhere that was obviously not part of the memory and Hermione let out a faint "duh."
"What is going…OH MY GOD!"
"Lily wait!" James was heard yelling after her. He swore signaling to Harry that he had not succeeded.
"Right so when a teacher comes we'll just say we were practicing right?"
"I guess that will make it easier wont it." An agitated Sirius said to the group.
"Yeah I agree." Severus was obviously too scared of getting caught to consider the ethics of it.
Leon responded with a "No I will not lie! You were here to duel and you could have gotten yourself killed!" He yelled at them, apparently somewhere between this scene and the last he had gotten more of a backbone.
Sirius voice scared Harry to the bone. "No one would miss you so I suggest you agree stay quiet." He sounded like a death eater to Harry. Sirius really had been a different person back then.
James voice was totally shocked. "Sirius you want to get us expelled!?" Harry couldn't see what was likely an unsaid response. He had no idea what Severus was doing at the moment.
"We're screwed now anyway." A fourth voice that had to be Avery's tuned in. "Dueling is an expellable offense and certainly threatening a fellow student is as well. And I don't think that Dumbledore would see your point about him being half Vampire." HALF VAMPIRE!?
"Ok ok…I know!" James said and then. "obl'v'ate" he heard his father botch the memory charm in his haste and then the memory ended and he felt himself being lifted out of the pensieve back to the real world.
The last thing he noticed before the wave of sheer anger hit him was Hermione trying to calm down Ron and Seamus who were leveling their wands towards Saren. Then all he could sense was his own anger. He felt the pent up rage he had been keeping down for the entire summer surface instantly and it was nothing like what had happened before in the common room. He simply exploded in a rage forgetting his wand entirely before rushing towards Saren fists first. It's his fault all of this is his fault! It would never have happened had he not agreed to lie that day! Was his last thought before he felt his mind fall away. Then every pleasant memory he had ever had surfaced into his thoughts. He was totally unaware what was going on as his mind was in turmoil, a storm of random positive and negative feelings that led to nothing but confusion. The last thing he remembered before the blackness of unconsciousness was his own voice asking. "Father…Sirius…why…"
A/N-Seamus (Ignore if you don't have a problem with the canon of this decision): Before people start saying things about canon and the Harry Potter Lexicon, I read the books specifically looking for what characters had what sexual orientations (I'm not stupid enough to assign it to random characters I wanted someone who it could benefit the plot from, meaning someone who could be conflicted by it and not just an excuse to have it in the story). But more importantly the Harry Potter Lexicon is WRONG when it says that Seamus thinks that Parvati and Padma are the best looking girls I their year. It was Dean who said that. And it even notes that in his entry there it says that while not mentioning anywhere in Seamus' that he feels the same way. This is also quite a mute point because no where in the books does it say this and those are the real thing when we talk about what is canon and what is not. And in them there is no real evidence of any orientation. And not dating Lavender does not count because there is not mention of him really feeling anything for her and it is common for gay guys to date girls to not stand out at dances. I have done my best to include this in as non problematic way as possible. In fact the coming out scene was one of the hardest for me to write. Not because of any emotional involvement. But because I wanted to keep it in character and in feel as much as I could. I may rewrite the scenes later to make it fit more. I don't' know. That is all, thank you for those of you that are still reading this.
