Disclaimer: All characters, settings, etc., etc. belong to J.K.Rowling

Chapter Five -

It was two o'clock on a Tuesday morning. Hermione was fast asleep in a chair in a far corner of the common room, but Harry was still pouring over some of Tonks's Defense books. He was beginning to think that he and Hermione shouldn't have performed their best during their first private lesson with Tonks. She was really laying the work on them. His assignment for tonight was to make a complete list of curses that had been admitted into fair dueling in the past century. Tonks must have known that Hogwarts did not have the complete list written out in one place.

Harry was surprised to hear the portrait creak and a figure slip in through the portrait hole. It was Ginny, sneaking in at two in the morning. She didn't seem to notice Harry tucked behind his stacks of parchments and books, and she made her way to the girls' staircase. Harry cleared his throat. Ginny jumped.

"Harry! You scared me!" she whispered loudly.

Harry shushed her and pointed to a slumbering Hermione in the corner.

"Why are you coming in so late?" he asked, moving out from behind his work table.

"Is that really any of your business?" Ginny positioned her hands on her hips.

"Oh, well...not really...I just thought I'd check," Harry mumbled. He felt a little silly for trying to interrogate her.

Ginny sighed, "Don't worry about it, Harry. I just lost time patrolling."

"Lost time patrolling? How can you -- sorry, it shouldn't matter. I'm just going to go to bed now," Harry made his way to the boys' staircase.

"Wait," Ginny said in a small voice, "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Harry paused at the foot of the stairs. Why not, he was too tired to resist, "Sure."

He and Ginny took a seat on one of the sofas facing the fireplace.

"Harry, I don't know if I can handle it," Ginny rested her head against her knees.

"Handle what?" Harry asked, confused.

"Dumbledore asked to see me tonight while I was patrolling. He asked if I would mind er...spending time with Malfoy during prefect duties," Ginny winced.

"Why?"

"He didn't say much. All he said was that Malfoy needed my influence or something like that. What could I say? I agreed, but he wants us to patrol three nights a week - which is a lot. I don't want to spend that much time with Malfoy," Ginny said.

"I understand. I think I'd have to influence Dumbledore with a spell if he asked me to spend three nights of my week with Malfoy," Harry replied.

"What should I do?" Ginny asked, looking hopefully at Harry.

"I don't know, Gin," Harry mumbled, smothering a yawn with the back of his hand.

Harry caught Ginny looking at him strangely, but it went away.

"I just can't go to Dumbledore and tell him no. I can't," Ginny gazed forlornly into the fire.

"Look, just do your best to put up with Malfoy. Maybe you won't even have to interact with each other much, after all."

Ginny nodded heavily.

"But listen to me, if Malfoy does anything to you or makes you the slightest bit angry, come to me and I'll curse him to dust, got it?"

Ginny giggled, "Yeah, okay. I'll keep you informed. Now," she stood up and yawned, "I'm going to go get some sleep. Want me to take Hermione?"

Harry checked the corner and saw that Hermione was still sleeping.

"No, just leave her. She'll be fine. I'll put a book in her lap and turn it to the last page so that when she wakes up she'll at least feel she accomplished something tonight -- instead of sleeping through our homework," Harry added in mock bitterness.

"You two," Ginny muttered, disappearing up the spiral staircase.


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"How did you sleep last night?" Harry asked Hermione as she ran into the potions room a moment before the bell.

"How come you let me fall asleep in that chair! I wanted to help with our assignment for Tonks! And I know good and well I did not read that book. How can I be so lethargic?" Hermione despaired while neatly organizing her potions workstation.

"You missed the Ginny drama," Harry updated her.

"What happened?"

"Dumbledore's making her patrol with Malfoy."

Hermione remained stooped over the floor, forgetting to set down the solid pewter cauldron she was holding, "Why?"

"We don't know. Something about how Malfoy needs her influence," Harry rolled his eyes and examined the Slytherin half of the room. Malfoy was in their number, guffawing over some crude Slytherin joke.

"Oh, well that makes sense," Hermione positioned the cauldron.

"Makes sense? How so? Why should Ginny have to suffer through that twisted -- ."

"Dumbledore's just trying to change Malfoy. He's not punishing Ginny. He obviously thinks that someone like Ginny will be a good influence on Malfoy, make Malfoy consider the dark choices he must be faced with."

"You're too sensible. Why can't you just be mad?" Harry said, exasperated.

"I've no reason to be," Hermione poked her nose in the air.

Harry could feel Snape enter the room and became silent.

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Harry ran into Lupin on his way to Tonks's third year Defense class.

"You still here?" Harry asked.

"Glad to see me, eh?" Lupin smiled.

"I didn't mean it like that," Harry apologized.

"I know. I leave to tonight, but Tonks asked me to teach the boggart lesson before I go," Lupin explained, holding the door open for Harry.

"Two of my favorite guys!" Harry and Lupin heard Tonks call, but she wasn't in sight.

"Tonks, where are you?" Lupin asked, examining the Defense room.

"Hey, what's this?" Harry asked, picking up a jar of what looked like peanut butter.

"No, Harry! Don't pick that up!"

"Tonks - there she is," Lupin pointed to a ceiling beam over which Tonks was sprawled, hiding her face.

"What are you doing up there?" Harry inquired, carefully placing the strange jar back on its desk. "Protecting myself."

"From what, pray tell?" Lupin said in a voice of mocked concern.

The jar on the table beside Harry trembled. Tonks squealed and nearly fell off her beam.

"The boggart got out of its cupboard," she wailed through her hands, "and I...ended up here."

Harry and Lupin leaned over the jar in inspection.

"You're afraid of peanut butter?" Lupin concluded.

Tonks hugged the ceiling beam tightly, "There's a story -- I promise. You see -- ."

Harry didn't get to hear Tonks's story because Lupin collapsed into a desk, clutching his aching side from waves of laughter, "Peanut butter! You're an auror for crying -- ."

"Just shut-up and put it back in the cupboard!" Tonks yelled angrily.

Harry took the shaking jar and placed it in the cupboard tucked behind Tonks's desk.

"All's clear," Harry called.

Tonks levitated down from the ceiling beam, and brushed off her robes. Lupin's gales of laughter were still ringing against the walls.

"You wanna join the boggart!" Tonks whipped her wand from her robes and pointed it at Lupin's heart.

Lupin tried to repress his laughter -- to no avail. Sparks were emitted from the tip of Tonks's wand.

"I don't think killing Remus is the answer, Tonks," Harry, trying his best to maintain a straight face, suggested.

"No - ," Lupin was tearing, "but perhaps a self-help group --."

Tonks burned with embarrassment and prodded her wand deeper into Lupin's robes. A high pitched shriek was heard from the doorway. Harry turned to see a horrified third year gasp and run from the room, screaming, "Teacher fight! Teacher fight!"

Lupin swallowed another round of laughter.

"You see" -- Tonks slapped Remus on the shoulder with her wand -- "what you did, you" -- smack -- "big, guffawing" -- smack -- "IDIOT!"

Tonks then ran after the child.

Remus and Harry remained still then looked at each other, submitting to laughter.

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"Excellent work!" Lupin cried into the circle of third years.

Tonks's boggart had been removed from its cupboard for the lesson, and the students had been trying to banish the creature for ten solid minutes. Harry was starting to think it a lost cause.

"Riddikulus!" a round-faced boy screeched, pointing his wand at a bloody limb.

The boggart transformed into a slimy lizard.

"Think you'd be okay if it transformed into a dementor?" Lupin whispered to Harry.

"Oh, sure," Harry assured him, stepping into the circle.

"Riddikulus!" Harry sighed quietly, drawing a happy memory to mind.

The lizard cracked, but instead of a dementor, the boggart transformed into a burgundy curtain, flapping threateningly as if stuck in a wind storm. No one moved. No one tried to change the boggart. Each person was entranced by the flapping curtain, Harry Potter's great fear.

Lupin banished the boggart.

"You're afraid of the Gryffindor shower curtains!" one boy roared.

Harry swallowed hard and forced himself to smile serenely at the boy, "Well...you never know what's on the other side."

Tonks and Lupin looked at each other darkly.

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Professor McGonagall cornered Harry on his way to the library that evening. She brusquely handed him a sealed envelope, patted him on the back, and rushed away. Harry opened the envelope which read: Congratulations Mr. Potter. You have been selected for the position of captain on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team. It is advisable that you begin replacing graduated members of your team. Have a good evening! Sincerely, Prof. Minerva McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor House.

A/N: I know it's a short chapter, but that's where I wanted to end it. Thanks for reading! Please Review! God bless.