Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

By: Fred and George Weasley are MY kings

Disclaimer: I own nothing… well, nothing that you recognize.

Firstly Reviews:

Shywriter89: Ahh, yes… Dumbledore. Well, I can't really answer what will happen to him right now… you'll just have to wait and see. Thanks so much for the review!

Nandhp: Thanks! I updated super slow this time though. Happy reading!

Chocolate Frog Cards: Firstly, thanks for the review. About writing more and updating fast, I'll try my best but I can't promise anything. I am flattered that you want to read it so badly though, and let me tell you it means a lot to me. I am glad you think Colin Creevey works too.

Bewiched: Thanks for the reviews! They really gave me a boost. Enjoy Chapter 24!

Vertigo4ever: So glad you liked it – I feed off of your appraisal! I almost laughed myself silly when I wrote the part about them fighting over the wand. Reminded me a lot of some backyard football games that I've played before, hehe.

MrmistoffeleesGlad my points make sense to somebody – I was sort of afraid that everyone was going to think I was off my rocker. Thanks a ton for the review. Hope you like Chapter 24!

Robbiesmanda: Congratulations on the baby! I certainly don't hate you for not reading the books in a long time… In fact, I haven't read them for ages, at least not the entire thing. Thanks so much for the review, and I really am happy to hear that you like how the story is going. And no worries – Malfoy will be punished, although slightly indirectly I suppose. I'll make him pay, hehe. Giving him to Filch? Now, there's an idea! Thanks again for the review!

skiier15: Thank you so much! I am so glad that you're enjoying the story. Hope you like this chapter!

Bakura2000: Well thanks for the review. I am afraid I can't just come out and tell you. Keep reading, and you'll find out!

A/N: All right well I am afraid that this update was just as slow as the last… I am sorry, but I had final exams to study for, and I was just uber busy. (The studying paid off too!)On another note, Track season is now finished, with my relay team qualifying at Sectionals! Go us! I'll have a lot more time to write now, with athletics out of the way, and summer finally here. Lets get to the chapter, then, shall we?

Chapter 24: Lupin's Summoning
"…So you see, Colin is the Half-Blood Prince that Voldemort has been searching for. That's why your family was killed, Luna. He was looking for the half-blood prince."

Harry noticed Luna's eyes widen with fear as he finished his explanation; thankfully the doubt that she seemed to have been harboring previously had now left her. Now the two were on their way, speed walking (running, although extremely necessary in such a situation like that of what they were in, would cause far too much attention) while Harry filled Luna in, towards the Gryffindor Tower, hoping with all of their might that Colin was there, safe and sound.

They climbed the staircase leading to the tower two at a time, all the while hoping, and all the while thinking.

However, they hoped in vain. Harry found the common room deserted, which wasn't exactly surprising, seeing as everyone was busy pretending to study for upcoming exams outside, near the lake enjoying the warm May afternoon.

"Do you have any idea where he is? Do you think he's outside with the others? Maybe if we can find Elizabeth Conners…" Luna questioned as they made their way down the stairs again, quickly after Harry had reemerged from the common room, shaking his head in defeat.

Harry turned to her and answered, still bounding down the staircase. "We'll have to split up… he's still got to be around here somewhere."

"Why exactly do we have to find him this instant Harry? Really we've got the rest of the term to tell him about it. He's safe here, so you don't have to worry about you-know – I mean, anyone, finding him."

Harry only nodded in response, as they came to the foot of the staircase, the corridor in front of them leading to the Great Hall. Although his mind did agree with what Luna had so logically pointed out, he couldn't shake the feeling that something very well could happen to Colin… the vision about Voldemort attacking Hogwarts certainly didn't help matters.

Nonetheless, Harry kept going towards the exit, in search of Colin, with a flustered looking Luna by his side.

"Right well, I'll take the grounds… can you check the Great Hall and sort of ask around?"

Luna gave a curt nod and turned off in the opposite direction. Harry proceeded, making his way onto the grounds. It was a picturesque May afternoon; the warm sun, high above beaming down from a cloudless sky, with a slight breeze carrying the fragrances of summer.

The lake was littered with Hogwarts students, all enjoying themselves before the exams were due to start. Harry spotted Hermione and Ron under a nearby beech tree; books under their noses while Ron's face bore a thoroughly disgruntled expression. Harry scanned the other groups of students, coming up with absolutely no sign of Colin. As he trudged back inside, he hoped that Luna had had better luck with her search. As he entered the school, fast footsteps were heard hurrying along in his direction, and before Harry could react to them, Remus Lupin rounded the corner. He looked disheveled, with worn-looking robes and askew hair. His face was grim, with an odd glint in his eye that Harry couldn't quite place. The shock of seeing him was rather overbearing, and it took Harry quite a while to come to himself. When he did, his greetings and questions as to why Lupin was at Hogwarts flowed freely.

"Lupin!" Harry roared loudly engulfing the man with a hug. Then pulling away he questioned, "What is it? What's going on? You'll never believe – we know who the Half-Blood Prince is, Lupin. We have to find him now…"

"Harry, you have to calm down and listen to me. There is no time to talk about this, although I am mildly interested to know how you became aware of the existence of the half-blood prince."

The gleam in Lupin's eyes as he spoke was becoming more and more dominant. It was then that Harry understood; it was fear, fear of something, fear of loosing control. For some unspeakable reason, it scared him.

"But all that matters now is that I get you out of here, now." Lupin concluded, his voice shaky, fear still gleaming in his eyes.

"What? Why?"

"Voldemort's attacking Hogwarts, Harry. I am on Order business to get you out safely. We have to leave quickly, we don't have much time at all. There's an emergency porkety on grounds that Dumbledore set up – its how I got here. We have to get there as soon as possible." Lupin said, with a strained voice.

"But… he can't attack Hogwarts. Dumbledore's here. Dumbledore told me --"

"He can and he has. Snape informed the Order of Voldemort's plans so Dumbledore and the other staff members have already left to fight him off, and unfortunately he and his followers are gaining territory. It's only a matter of time before they enter the grounds..."

Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing. Hogwarts was safe. Every instinct had told him that for as long as he could remember. But he felt the presence of Voldemort close to him, and his scar was threatening to split with pain.

"We've got to announce it, we have to tell everyone. No one can be left behind." Harry demanded.

"Harry as much as I agree there is simply no time, we need to get you out of here, the sooner the better. Flitwick will move the other students to a secure location once Dumbledore gives the word."

"I am not leaving with Ron, Luna, and Hermione," Harry said stubbornly, while shaking his head. "I can't do that."

As if on cue, Ron and Hermione appeared at the door, finished with their studying, and chatting, which immediately ceased as they caught sight of the spectacle before them.

"Lupin!" Ron bellowed and smiled brightly. Lupin returned it weakly.

Hermione, the cleverer of the two, seemed to have noticed immediately that something was a bit off in both Harry and Remus's manners. "Is everything alright?"

"No, Hermione, it isn't. Voldemort's attacking Hogwarts and I am on direct orders to bring Harry back to Headquarters. He's being a bit stubborn and frankly there is no time to spare. It wont be long until Voldemort arrives here on the grounds of the school," Lupin said, his shaky voice betraying his calm appearance. The color drained from Ron and Hermione's faces.

"There is simply no more time to stand about," Lupin said firmly. "You two report to the Great Hall, since Flitwick is bound to be calling all of you there any minute."

"I am not leaving without them," Harry said with determination.

Lupin looked as though he was considering it. "Very well then, but we have to leave now."

"We still need to find Colin and Luna." Harry said.

Lupin then turned to Hermione. "Can you go fetch those two then? We'll wait for you all by the porkety. I am afraid that I have to transport Harry there immediately, but I can wait a bit for you and the others to arrive. You have to be quick and be careful. If Voldemort is advancing on grounds, don't come out to the porkety no matter what."

Hermione nodded, looking rather fearful of the whole situation. Nonetheless she responded confidently, "I'll find them." With that she left, bounding toward the Great Hall.

"Right," Lupin said, "Now to get to the porkety. Voldemort hasn't reached the grounds so we should have a bit of cover, which is extremely lucky for us. We've got to move fast. Once there, we should be safe for a bit if I can manage to reinforce the wards around the porkety. Ready?"

Harry and Ron both nodded. Lupin led the way, walking quickly past the other students by the lake. None of them bothered to notice the three speed walking past. Guilt rose in Harry's stomach. "Lupin, shouldn't we, erm, tell them to go inside?"

"That's not my decision Harry." Lupin frowned. "Dumbledore will give Flitwick the orders when he feels the students should be secured inside the wards. Until then, the students will remain clueless. But I am sure they will all be safe once inside the school. Dumbledore just doesn't want to take any chances with you."

Harry understood well enough. Ron gave a him a sympathetic look as they crossed the grounds, passing the quidditch stadium. Large rocks loomed ahead, and Lupin gestured to them, making Harry and Ron immediately assume that one of these was the porkety.

"We'll wait a bit for the others," Lupin said, "I've got to strengthen the wards quick, you two come in here."

Ron and Harry did as they were told, and moved closer to the rocks. They directed their attention to the school, which now stood a good distance away from them. Harry still couldn't believe what was going on. Hogwarts under attack? He had foreseen it, he supposed, but it all seemed too incredulous to believe. He and Ron soon saw Hermione's figure, along with quite a large band of others approaching them rather quickly. They were running, and Hermione was trying shout something, but at such a distance it was impossible to hear her correctly. Lupin didn't seem too happy about it. He turned to Harry and Ron, a sour expression on his face. Without warning, Lupin disarmed the two boys in one crude motion. "Sorry, boys, but your little friend is much too smart for her own good," he said, his voice sounding unnatural.

Ron and Harry exchanged horrified glances as they realized that Lupin was turning on them. He was stunned – not Lupin; he was the one Harry could trust before anyone else. Harry felt as though someone had just delivered him a strong blow to the gut; it simply could not be happening – not Lupin. But it was happening.

He had trusted Lupin and he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Lupin was looking at them, the deranged glint in his eyes still present. Harry doubted now that the glint was fear… it was insanity. But before Harry or Ron could even react to Lupin's statement, Lupin pressed upon them with great speed, grabbing their arms and dragging them forward. It was not an easy task for Lupin, seeing as both were healthy and strong sixteen year olds who were rather upset with him at the moment. They struck against him, kicking with all their might. Harry knew it was their only chance—who knew where Lupin was taking them? Probably right into Voldemort's hands. Unfortunately for the boys, the porkety only needed to be activated by their touch, and that was not difficult for Lupin to manage. Flinging them both forcefully so that they landed on the rock, Lupin dove on top of it as well and watched the world disappear. Harry had never particularly like traveling by porkety… now he felt quite certain that he detested it.

Within a matter of seconds, the three were transported to a large clearing. Lupin was immediately on his feet, while Harry and Ron weren't quite as quick. "Up," Lupin demanded, his wand pointed directly at Ron's neck.

"You try anything Potter, and Weasley's dead. Now get up."

Harry had no choice but to obey. He felt his scar give a surge of pain as he stood – Voldemort must be delirious with joy.

"Good, Potter, Weasley, now walk."

Ron was looking furious as Lupin probed him forward with his wand. "I think you owe us a bit of an explanation you filthy traitor."

"Insulting your kidnapper will not do you any good, Mr. Weasley. Now walk." Ron gave a helpless shrug to Harry, knowing that it would be useless to push Lupin any further. So they walked, Harry leading (with Lupin shouting out occasional directions) Ron in the middle followed closely by Lupin, who had an aim at Ron's back the whole duration of the journey.

The clearing was seemingly endless. The long grass danced as the gentle breeze blew. Harry felt a sickening sensation of déjà vu; he had been here before, in this field of long grass, in his dreams. None of that mattered now. All that Harry could think of was about getting Ron and himself out of here, somehow with their wands. Unfortunately, his chances of doing that seemed slim to none.

Harry had no idea how long they had been walking, but he saw now that dusk was beginning to claim the landscape – surely not a good sign. He looked behind him to see Ron, looking absolutely helpless. Harry had never felt so guilty in his life – he had managed to endanger his friend's life again, even though Lupin had only wanted him. Why had he demanded that they be allowed to come along? Harry now saw that it had all been a set up. Hogwarts was still safe... Harry wasn't sure where Dumbledore and all of the other Order members were, only that Voldemort had successfully lured them out of the school. He now understood... his dream about Voldemort taking over Hogwarts had been forced by Voldemort, which explained why it was so different from the other visions that Harry had had.It had just gotten the idea in Harry's head, and allowed him to believe its possibility.

Harry still couldn't believe it was Lupin. How could it be? It didn't make any sense. In his dream, Harry had heard a woman's voice, and he was certain that Voldemort had not created that vision to mislead him like he had with the dream about attacking Hogwarts. Harry was completely lost; none of this made sense.

One thing that still gave Harry some hope was the fact that Hermione and the others seemed to have known what was going on. Hermione must've known somehow that something in Lupin's story of an attack on Hogwarts didn't line up; He knew that Hermione would stop at nothing to get her friends help. Harry just hoped it would come in time. There was no way that Hermione could have any idea where Lupin had taken them, unless the porkety had worked for her as well, which Harry doubted. Yet another thing that worried him was Colin. Where was he? Safe at Hogwarts? Harry could only hope. He didn't want to think about what would happen if Lupin had somehow managed to get Colin here earlier.

Harry had been so emerged in his thoughts that he did not even notice the large figure looming before him, until Lupin instructed him to stand near it. Harry knew this was not good. He and Ron had to get out of there. As Harry neared the large figure, he now saw that it was a large rock, in the middle of the field with encryptions carved into its depths. Out of nowhere, a stunner shot out from behind the large rock. Harry dropped to the ground, as did Ron and Lupin. Lupin, however, was not quick enough, and the spell successfully managed to disarm him.

"Snape, I really should've guessed." Lupin said haughtily. Harry had never been so happy to see his Potions master, as heappearedfrom behind the rock, his wand aimed forward, as he caught Lupin's wandin his outstretched hand. However, Snape was not alone…A man appeared at his side. Harry's mouth dropped open, as he and Ron exchanged confused glances. It was Lupin.What the hell was going on? There were two of them?

Lupin (the one beside Snape, wearing Order-issued robes) spoke. "Tonks, you know you don't want this. Let them go."

"How would you know what I want? You have no idea. These boys are my key to my revenge and if you think I'll give that up, you are sorely mistaken." The other Lupin answered. Then it dawned on Harry.

"Tonks?" he questioned, looking at the Lupin fake. A cynical smile broke through on the face, and suddenly it distorted, the characteristics changing rapidly back and forth. Within a matter of seconds, the other Lupin disappeared and Tonks stood before them, bubblegum pink hair and all. Suddenly the dream made sense... Tonk was the traitor, it had been her voice. Allalong, she had been trusted by everyone... that was what Voldemort had meant when he said that trust was Dumbledores weakness. That was how Voldemort had remained one step ahead at all time... Tonks had always known what was going on.However, the question of why still lurked in his mind.

"I didn't want to give away my identity just yet, but it appears I have no choice," she said, casting a spiteful glance in Snape and Lupin's direction. "But it doesn't matter. You're too late. The Dark Lord has him! You lost. And even if Potter gets out alive, his defeat is certain. The Half-Blood Prince is ours!"

Harry felt his worse fear be confirmed. Who knew what Colin was going through at this very moment. Harry only felt pity; Colin didn't even know who he was.

Snape didn't need any more prompting. He delivered a quick spell in Tonk's direction, rendering the insane woman unconscious. He quickly bound her tightly, while the real Lupin made his way over to Harry and Ron.

"You two alright?"

"Yeah," Harry answered, as Ron nodded his response, both still shocked at the turn of events. Harry was stumped. "But… why?"

"It's quite a long story, actually…" Lupin started.

"And we don't have time to discuss it, Potter," Snape interrupted, as he threw Harry and Ron their wands. "Especially when a large fleet of Death Eaters is heading this way."

A/N: Poor Lupin, getting all the heat like that. But no worries, I love Lupin way too much for him to be evil…

Why Tonks?

I've personally always found her fishy with her metamorphmagus talents… I mean why doesn't that Order use that to their advantage and have her spy for them? (She'd be a pretty good spy, since her appearance is so easy to change). Therefore if the order isn't having her spy for them, I feel certain that someone else is. Also, I think that JKR tries way too hard to make her appealing and lovable to the reader, what with her being a clumsy goofball. I don't know about you, but whenever a person is described as clumsy, and acts in a sort of comical manner, I tend to immediately drop them out of any suspicions to which I normally regard any other character with. I think that the fact that JKR tries so hard to make Tonks lovable is because she wants to suddenly shock us with the realization that Tonks is not what she seems.

Well that chapter was a bit short and it took FOREVER (Sorry!) but I am getting right on top of things now that school is done for the summer (thank goodness!). I hope to finish this story up by the end of June, just in time for the real HBP. Can't Wait. Well hope you enjoyed! Oh, and if you're a little confused, everything will be explained within the next couple of chapters... like why Tonks is evil and whatnot.

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Chapter 25: Betrayal and Old Debts: Voldemort's Forces close in on the Order, and Harry is successfully taken away to Voldemort's Liar to face his enemy once again. However, some unexpected help and a lot of luck may just get Harry past Voldemort once again.

DON'T FORGET TO REIVEW!