A/N: Hey all!

I graduated today! WAHOO! I'm gonna be a highschool freshman this June (that's the month that school starts here). Since it's already summer break, I'll be able to post more. No more deadlines, homework, and all that jazz for me until June.

This chapter is about stars, and partly about religion and politics. Malfoy-lovers will find this chapter a tad bit offensive, but making Malfoy a good person would not fit in the plot. Sorry.

I promise to post more often if you guys click that review button down there and type some mambo jambo about the fic.

Thanks,

Kristie.

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Chapter 13 – Stargazers

After a few hours of sleep after the feast, Harry woke abruptly. He had not a nightmare, nor did was he awakened by any noise that was likely to interrupt a peaceful sleep. He woke, simply because he felt like waking. He lay on his bed for a few moments, not wanting to be the cause of his dorm mates' waking. After realizing that they were not likely to wake because of the full days and full meals they had, he walked silently to the window, his bare feet making minimal sound on the cold linoleum floor.

He looked up into the sky and saw the sky, pitch black, with many stars. He could not remember the names of these many stars – perhaps he was not paying much attention in his Astronomy class – but he knew they were beautiful. There was a full moon, but the stars' light did not pale against the brighter light. Harry wondered if Professor Lupin took his potion. Also unseen in the sky were clouds that usually obstructed the stars.

The light reflected on Harry's glasses. Each star was shimmering brightly, that it was as if he could hear them speak. He knew not why he felt more peaceful that he had in days. The stars were entrancing. If they were within his reach, he would be touching each one; the stars would be pulling him towards them.

As he looked at the stars, he seemed to hear Sophie's voice, singing.

Ride with me upon a shining star

Above the moonlit sky

We'll find Elysium.

Was there really a Heaven beyond all those stars, a paradise where no one felt sad, or scared, confused, or depressed? Or were those stars the Heaven that all people desired? Though these questions remained unanswered, Harry felt no loss of peace, for the stars continued to entrance him.

"Harry, what on earth are you doing?" asked a voice he knew only too well.

Ron had wakened, most probably about to take a drink of water. He looked at Harry with puzzled eyes.

"I was, er, about to, er, take a bit of water, mate," was Harry's lame excuse.

"Okay. Make it quick, though, I want to drink myself."

Harry went to the water jug and filled the glass only a quarter of the way up. He drank it in one gulp and returned to his bed as quietly as he had emerged from the covers a few minutes ago. He lay in his bed for a few moments and he was asleep, the peace inside of him when he looked at the stars glistening in the sky not quite leaving him yet.

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The next day at breakfast, a barn owl carrying the Daily Prophet – which Hermione did not stop subscribing to – flew into the Great Hall, nearly knocking over a goblet of pumpkin juice. After it had been given a few bronze Knuts, it left, not missing the goblet this time, spilling pumpkin juice all over Neville. Hermione had relieved Neville of his "Why me?" speech by muttering "Scourgify."

On the front page of the Daily Prophet was an extremely shocking bit of news. A picture of Cornelius Fudge and another of Amelia Bones were beneath the headline.

CORNELIUS FUDGE SACKED DUE TO THE ESCAPE OF DEATH EATERS

AMELIA SUSAN BONES APPOINTED AS THE NEW MINISTER OF MAGIC

"Fudge has been sacked?" said Hermione, looking worried.

"Death Eaters escaped from Azkaban?" said Ron, shocked.

"What's going on?" asked Sophie, who noticed that they were suddenly looking at the paper with interest.

"Fudge's been sacked and Death Eaters escaped," said Harry darkly. Sophie got the paper from the table, skimmed through it, then began to read aloud, inviting Ginny, Neville, and all the other Gryffindors to hear.

"Due to a mass breakout from Azkaban, which has been the second in less than a year, Cornelius Fudge, ex-Minister of Magic, has been forced to step down by the Wizengamot, and other Ministry officials.

"'We are afraid that we feel Cornelius Fudge has become incapable of running the Ministry,' said Tiberius Ogden, one of the Wizengamot elders who had insisted on Fudge's removal from office. 'Many people are starting to disapprove of the way he is running our country. He has neglected to mention things that are crucial to the welfare of Magicfolk in the country.'

"Some of these things that the ex-Minister had neglected to mention include the return of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, the revolt of the Dementors in Azkaban, and the very recent mass breakout from Azkaban. The Death Eaters that escaped include Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange, Vincent Crabbe, Sr., Jugson Goyle, Antonin Dolohov, Walter Mulciber, Lucius Malfoy, Augustus Rookwood, Theodore Nott, Sr., Judas Magnair and Robin Avery.

"These people are very dangerous and have committed several murders during He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's reign fifteen years ago. Sirius Black , the man believed to be He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's right hand man, had been cleared last summer. Peter Pettigrew, a man believed to be dead until last summer, is also on the run.

"Another element in He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's growing reign is a new breed of species, the product of breeding a Dementor and a Lethifold. These creatures suck out souls and devour living flesh. These creatures are very lethal, and deaths are incredibly hard to trace, due to the fact that these creatures leave nothing to suggest that there was a killing. The only way to repel these hybrids is by using the Patronus charm, which is the weakness of both Dementors and Lethifolds. A safety guide and a step-by-step manual on how to conjure your own Patronus has been included in this issue of the Daily Prophet.

"At her speech last night, the new Minister of Magic, Amelia Susan Bones called for vigilance and unprejudiced treatment towards half-breeds and other creatures capable of human speech. 'Everyone must be vigilant due to the rise of these abominable creatures. The Lethifolds, the Dementors and their hybrids have joined Lord Voldemort's reign – "

"She said You-Know-Who's name!" exclaimed Ginny.

"'– and so have the Quintapeds (also known as the Hairy MacBoon) and most of the giants. The Dark Lord may, at any time, create a new species, more lethal than before. Therefore, I call for an unprejudiced look at half-breeds and other creatures that have the capacity to speak and think like human beings. To preserve the harmony of the good side, we all must rid ourselves of the bias and stereotyping that we have had for generations. This is what I believe my predecessor had failed to do. We cannot allow ourselves to be the cause of the conversion of creatures that are essential to the Dark Lord's growing reign of terror.'

"Albus Dumbledore, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, which is the body that voted for Fudge's removal at office, was unavailable for comment. Rumors persist that the current Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was called to be the new Minister, but has politely refused the offer.

"'Dumbledore must have had his reasons,' said Arthur Weasley, the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister. 'However, we are proud to have Madam Bones as the new Minister of Magic, and we can predict good changes in our government.'

"Cornelius Fudge was also unavailable for comment last night."

"I told you that you couldn't keep my father in prison for long. The Dementors have joined the Dark Lord's side," said a cold, drawling voice that belonged to the one, the only, Draco Malfoy. (Sorry to those who like Malfoy, but his conversion to the good side would be unbelievable and hard to include in the plot.)

Harry stood, and so did Hermione. Ron was silently searching his pockets for his wand, while Ginny already had her fist clenched in her pocket, obviously gripping on her wand. Sophie, however, surveyed them with mild interest. She rested her head on her hand, and watched silently as Harry and Draco glared at each other, as if their glares would melt each other.

"Go away, ferret boy," said Ron, getting to his feet. When Ron said this, Sophie laughed.

"Ferret boy? Ron, how on earth did you come up with an insult like that?" she said, gasping for air.

"Mad-eye Moody's impostor turned him into a ferret in the fourth year," said Hermione. Sophie laughed harder.

"Too bad I was studying art in Muggle London in the fourth year! That must've been hilarious!"

"Studying art in Muggle London? Who are you?" said Draco, looking at Sophie with a mixture of disgust, bewilderment and contempt.

"I'm Sophia Volkova. You haven't heard of me, but boy, have I heard of you."

"Sophia, is it?"

"Yes, though I do prefer being called Sophie."

"Sophia, do you know what happens to people who liaise with Muggles during the Dark Lord's reign?"

"No, I'm afraid I don't," said Sophie coolly. "What does happen to people who liaise with decent Muggles during the reign of Tom Marvolo Riddle, a.k.a. Lord Voldemort?"

Malfoy flinched slightly at the name. He, however, looked at her, and felt that it was rather odd that he had not intimidated her.

"Well, I'm telling you that insolent, Muggle-loving fools get killed by people like my father."

"Insolent, hmmm? That's a very big word for a little boy like you. And do you know what happens to little boys like you that show no respect to people who do magic at N.E.W.T. level, Mister Malfoy? This." She waved her wand, and it was the same scenario in their fourth year. Malfoy had been transfigured into a bouncing ferret yet again.

"Let's spell insolent, shall we?"

"I," she bounced him on the floor.

"N," she banged him against one of the house tables.

"S," she bounced him on the wall.

"O," she made him go through the Bloody Baron.

"L," she spun him around until he hit the leg of the Gryffindor table.

"E," she made him skid on the Slytherin table and he fell off the table with a small thud.

"N," she let go of her wand, but stepped on his tail.

"T," she set him on Crabbe, who panicked and ran around the Great Hall.

"What are you doing, Miss Volkova?" shrieked Professor McGonagall.

"Giving Mister Malfoy a spelling lesson, Professor."

"SOPHIA VOLKOVA, TRANSFIGURE HIM BACK INTO HIS ORIGINAL STATE OR I WILL HAVE TO GIVE YOU FIVE WEEKS OF DETENTION!"

Sophie looked at the ferret, which was now under the Ravenclaw table, and waved her wand. In an instant, Draco Malfoy was on his bottom, his usually pale face extremely red.

"What is going on here?" asked a familiar voice.

"Headmaster, Miss Volkova transfigured Mr. Malfoy into a ferret and bounced him off the walls and furniture!"

"Is this true, Sophie?"

"Yes, Professor."

"Well, Professor McGonagall, please escort young Mr. Malfoy to the Hospital Wing. As for you, Sophie, I will have to take a point away from your house." When Dumbledore said this, Malfoy was enraged.

"One point, Professor? She assaults me and you take away one point?"

"Hush, Mr. Malfoy. Now, let me take you to the Hospital Wing," said Professor McGonagall.

"Sophie, you do know that I was quite unfair," said Dumbledore to Sophie.

"Yes, Professor."

"The next time there is an occurrence like this, I will have to leave the punishment up to Professor McGonagall."

"Yes, Professor."

"Alright, then. Now I will instruct Professor Vector to hand out your schedules in Professor McGonagall's absence. Good day to all of you," he said, addressing Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Sophie.

"Sophie, that was bloody brilliant!" said Ron.

"I swear, you have given me something to smile about for the next three months!" said Ginny.

"And you got away with it! Dumbledore took only one point away from Gryffindor!" said Harry, looking at Sophie, very impressed.

Sophie smiled widely, but didn't react. She began to resume eating breakfast. She seemed extremely hungry, seeing as her plate had three pancakes, bacon, two fried eggs, a hashbrown, a few sausages and toast. The only person who ate more than her was Ron, who had the exact same thing, except he had a bowl of porridge along with it.

Harry continued to eat and was grateful that that episode took the others' minds off the article that they had read in the Daily Prophet. That way, he was left to bear the weight of all that he had to do in order to prevent Voldemort's reign of terror.

"We have Firenze tonight," squealed Parvati Patil. She was looking at the timetable that Professor Vector just handed out. "He's our teacher in N.E.W.T. astronomy!"

"Why do centaurs fascinate you all of a sudden, Parvati?" asked Sophie.

"Wow. You spoke," said Parvati, looking wide-eyed at Sophie.

"Yes. Yes, I did. I can speak, although I haven't spoken to you since day one."

"You haven't spoken to anyone," said Lavender.

"I have. Trust me, I have. Anyway, back to my question: why do centaurs fascinate you all of a sudden?"

"It's isn't his being a centaur that fascinates us," said Parvati, a giddy smile on her face.

"It's his astonishing good looks that do," giggled Lavender.

"Good looks? By Jove, he's got four legs!" said Ginny, a look of incredulity playing on her face.

Sophie looked at the three, then turned to Harry, leaving the other girls to bicker.

"So, what's it like to have a centaur teaching you?"

"A bit odd, really," said Harry. "I dunno how he'll do at Astronomy, but he was pointless in Divination. Well, the whole subject's pointless, to tell you the truth. I got a T in my O.W.L."

Sophie laughed. "I thought T's were just a myth?"

"They must've had to make a whole new letter grade because of my abysmal performance in that ruddy subject."

They both laughed.

"Well, I'm looking forward to our Astronomy class. I've always wanted to have a centaur teach me."

"I remember Hagrid saying that centaurs were 'ruddy stargazers' back in our first year. Firenze and other centaurs kept on saying that some planet was oddly bright."

"Hmmm. Well, I think I'm almost as excited as Parvati and Lavender for Astronomy tonight."

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Pretty soon, it was night. The sixth-year Gryffindors made their way to the Astronomy classroom on the first floor, which replaced the tower, seeing as Firenze couldn't climb the stairs. Harry, Ron and Hermione were all together, talking about how much Hagrid had improved in his lessons.

"The mooncalves were so pretty. When I looked at our timetables, I wondered why Hagrid was having his class at night. I thought he was going to show us Lupin while he was transforming, or something," said Hermione.

"I'm rather glad we didn't have Defense Against the Dark Arts today. Imagine if," Ron said, then looked around to see if someone was behind them, "imagine if Snape was our teacher! It would've been bloody hell for us!"

When they got to the Astronomy classroom, there was only one person there. Sophie was lying on the grass, looking at the sky. The classroom setting was pretty much like the one in Divination the previous year.

"Hi, Sophie," said Harry.

"Hey, Harry. Ron, Hermione," she said.

"What're you doing here?" asked Ron.

"Well, I quit Muggle Studies, so I have one free period. Firenze allowed me to stay here and stargaze until the rest of the class gets here."

"Why did you quit Muggle Studies?" asked Hermione.

"I found it had no relevance to my career choice."

"Which would be…?"

"An Auror."

"Oh…"

"I also quit History of Magic, but the first period is tomorrow, so I didn't have any other free periods."

"Well, since you're planning to become an Auror, will you be quitting Arithmancy as well?"

"Nope. I retained Arithmancy because I like numbers, but that might not have been very sensible, seeing as the subject will have no bearing on the career I will be taking."

"Well, I guess I'll be seeing you in class, then."

"Yeah. I suppose so."

Students began arriving at the Astronomy classroom, and soon, Firenze did as well. He walked to the front of the classroom and greeted the class. Parvati and Lavender exchanged sighs.

"Good evening, class. Today, we will be looking at the brightness of the different planets. Everyone, please lie down on the ground and look at the sky."

Except for the fact that there were no telescopes involved, and that they were on the ground, it was like a regular Astronomy class. They plotted on some parchment the locations of different planets and stars. Firenze taught them to see the brightness of the planets, and the told them to list the planets which were brightest that night. Only Sophie was able to understand what Firenze was telling them to do, and fortunately, she allowed everyone else to copy from her.

"I love stars," she told them. "They give off some sort of enchanting, peaceful feeling."

Pretty soon, the Astronomy class was over. Everyone began to pack up. Ron and Hermione were on their way out, when Harry noticed that Sophie had not moved at all. She lay on the ground, looking at the beautiful celestial bodies.

"Hey…. Why aren't you preparing to leave yet?" asked Harry.

"I just want to look at the stars for a little while longer," Sophie replied. She patted the ground next to her, an invitation for Harry to look at the heavens along with her. Harry put his backpack down and lay next to her, looking at the sky.

"My mum said that she used to look at the stars when she was pregnant with me. When I was an infant, she used to take me out and look at the stars. Even as I grew, we would look at the stars together. She hated rainy days, because there would be no way to look at the stars. Before she died, she raised her eyes to the heavens. If you listen closely, you can hear a song. Mum taught me to hear the song of the stars."

Harry kept quiet. He listened intently, and somehow, he could make out a chiming sound. It sounded beautiful, but he yearned to know what it meant. He closed his eyes and concentrated, listening to what the song meant. He could make out a few words…Make peace…Heal…Rest…Trust… He opened his eyes and looked at Sophie beside him. He saw a tear roll down her face.

"They're only stars," he told her gently.

"I know."

They lay there for some time, just looking at the sky, giving each other silent company. After a while, Harry broke the silence.

"Do you believe in heaven, Sophie?"

Sophie sat up and looked at him. "How do you mean?"

"Last night, I was looking at the stars from the dormitory window. I was so entranced by them; I thought I was going to levitate towards them. I then wondered if there really was a heaven beyond those stars, or if those stars were heaven itself."

"Do you believe that there is a god, Harry?"

"What? I dunno. The Dursleys are Anglican. I believed in God when I thought I was a Muggle, but for the past six years, I think I've forgotten all about religion."

"I believe in God, Harry. I am a Christian. I read the Bible every night. Back in our fourth year, I didn't want to return to Hogwarts, because I was beginning to feel that magic was betrayal towards God. But then, I thought about Dumbledore… he is a good man. He's a person that I can see God in, and he's a wizard. I suppose… well, I don't know how to feel about it, but I do believe and love God. Now, I will answer the question you ask me. Do I believe in a heaven? My answer is yes, I do, Harry. I cannot believe in God without knowing of a heaven."

Harry kept silent. He knew not how to react to what Sophie just told him. Sophie lay back down on the grass, and they were silent for a few moments more.

"Did I scare you, with what I revealed about myself, Harry?"

"Erm, a little bit."

"I'm sorry. I've got this habit of revealing much too much. I've never developed a friendship with someone before you. I don't know how to keep mum about things when I now have someone to confide in."

"It's alright, really. I don't mind it at all."

"Thanks, Harry."

"No problem."

They lay on the grass a few more moments until it was five minutes to nine o'clock. They got up and went to the Gryffindor tower, giving each other silent, yet comfortable, company.