A/N: I swear, I don't mean for the squished-up words to keep happening. I know for a fact that it doesn't happen at all in this chapter, at least not when I last edited it, so if it does show up again, let me know, and I'll write a strongly worded e-mail to the people who need to hear it. (By the way, we're getting near to the end! Just five more chapters to go!)

Umbridge Disclaimer: "So then, I shall have to put you down for a reprimand. One does not expect a writer such as myself to take undue credit, does one? In this instance, I shall have to make you my special assistant." (Evil toad-like grin)

Chapter Thirty-five –

Hogsmeade

Two weeks later, Hogsmeade was open for business once more.

Technically, the town had been back up and running since February, but most people were a little afraid to go back until Hogwarts had given the okay for their students. Witches and Wizards trusted Dumbledore's opinion to a certain extent, and if he thought the town would be safe by May, then it was. It was highly unlikely that any attack would happen now, what with regular patrols by the aurors, teachers, and Order members. There were almost constant noises of rebuilding and the Death-Eaters couldn't have done a lot to compete with the racket.

The first Hogsmeade trip since the one before Christmas was on a sunny Saturday in April when Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville just happened to have some time off. Luna and Ginny had some major studying to do, as their OWLs were approaching very quickly, so they were left behind in the Library to keep company with with three huge stacks of books.

The four who went to Hogsmeade were a little nervous to be going into the the town based solely on what had happened the last time they'd been there, but they were determined to see what the town now looked like.

"I wish we could use the passage into Honeyduke's." Ron sighed wistfully. "I don't see how we could now with Dumbledore and Filch on our tails." He and Hermione seemed to be attached at the hands, and had been ever since two weeks ago. Hermione's memories of the words Thaddeus Platt had spoken to her the past summer, along with the fact that Voldemort was now targeting muggleborn families, had made her feel a little vulnerable, and Ron had somehow stepped in to fill the role of protector and counceller.

Harry knew from late night chats with Ron, that they hadn't even talked about it, and just allowed the physical connection because it felt natural and comfortable. They seemed to have an unspoken agreement between them. They could express their very real affection by holding hands and acting worried about each other, but they couldn't mention it or become intimate in any way. That line would only be crossed when Hermione was happily back to her properly nagging self.

"What about one of the other passages?" Neville asked, lagging behind the group a bit.

"There aren't any that Filch doesn't know about, and the last one's collapsed remember?" Harry reminded him.

"It's probably for the best, anyhow." Hermione said. "We don't want anyone to go and find any way in that Dumbledore hasn't charmed shut."

And so they strolled into Hogsmeade aboveground, and in the open air, where as many as seven people pulled Harry aside on the road, and thanked him yet again, and wanted to make small talk on how the rebuilding of the town was progressing.

"I should have brought my invisibility cloak." Harry grumbled.

"Oh, Harry. It's not so bad." Hermione chided.

"Yes it is." He argued, and suddenly winced. "Guys, we've got to stop for a second. I need to check something." The slightly scared tone of his voice, and the way he had stopped so abruptly made them realize that something important was happening.

Harry gingerly pressed his hand to his scar, and swept his eyes over the street. A few students milled along the road around them, but other than that, no one was near. He moved off the road behind a stand of trees beside a hedge, and the others followed.

The entire time, Harry's mind couldn't help thinking. Not again, not again, not again. Not now, not now, not here. Not again.

He calmed his emotions out of pure desperation, and began to meditate.


"Every five years? Are you certain about that? Where did you acquire this information?"

He was in a long dark hallway that was very richly furnished. It was not as safe as headquarters, but the feel of dark magic was everywhere around him. It permeated the carpets, the rich tapestry, and the air he drew into his lungs.

A faintly lisping voice answered from his right, and he turned to pay closer attention to the man's expression. "I heard that it was a myth, but my son has been able to verify this. He has seen it himself, and wishes to show us. He has come home for the weekend, so you may speak with him directly if you wish."

"Does he wish to be initiated into our circle? I can see potential in that boy."

"It is his goal to serve you as I have, my lord. I am pleased that you see his strength."

"You are now my most trusted advisor Lucius. I will accept your son into our circle when he feels ready. I do not wish to rush things, and I want to train him properly myself."

"Thank you. I will ask him if he is prepared. You will have his answer within a week."


Harry opened his eyes, and sighed with semi-relief. He sent an invisible breeze blowing across the street with the excess magic.

He smiled. He was getting better at this.

"So?" Ron asked impatiently. "What happened? Is he somewhere nearby?"

Three sets of concerned eyes were locked on him, and Harry made to reassure them. "No, he's somewhere else. I just felt that he was pleased, and I wanted to check it out."

"What was he pleased about?" Hermione asked.

"It seems that our wonderful friend Draco Malfoy is going to be inducted into the Death-Eater circle." Harry said wryly. "We knew something like this would happen sooner or later. I guess now is the time. He's given Voldemort some information that he wanted."

"Well, that explains the whole thing with Malfoy being so sick a while ago. I'll bet he knew what was coming." Hermione interjected thoughtfully.

"I'm not sure Malfoy would balk at an opportunity like this." Ron said, shaking his head emphatically. "He would be absolutely ecstatic about it. It's just what he's always's wanted!"

Neville shuddered a little. "But with Malfoy as a Death-Eater, won't that put the school in danger? I mean, what happens if Malfoy just goes and opens the gates for them or something?"

"From what I've just heard, Voldemort's making some sort of deal with Malfoy's dad that will give Malfoy some time for specific training. I don't think he'll just be a Death-Eater right away." Harry looked around to make sure they were still alone. "It's sort of like the deal that Dumbledore made with us, even though he tells us we're full members, we know we're missing some things, and that we aren't allowed to fight. Voldemort might do something similar. Just keep him out of everything until he's needed."

Ron nodded in agreement. "Right. That makes sense. I guess nobody wants to have a student fighting when you know that they could be so much better after some proper training. It's a pretty intelligent scheme, and Voldemort has lost quite a few of his followers recently. It only makes sense that he would train new ones to replace them. I guess he doesn't have the same sort of age limit issues as Dumbledore."

They walked out from behind the outcropping of trees, and continued moving down the lane.

"We have to tell Dumbledore about this." Hermione said. "If there are going to be Death-Eaters in his school, he has the right to know."

Harry nodded. "We'll do it as soon as we get back. For now, this doesn't sound desperate. His dad said he would have the answer for him within a week."

Hermione eyed him haughtily. "Everything in this war is desperate." She scolded.

Ron rolled his eyes, but said nothing.

"Er…" said Neville, and stopped, his eyes bulging out of his face at a sign on a nearby building which had distracted him.

"What?" Harry asked, then caught sight of the same thing Neville had just seen. He smiled, and turned to Ron, who had the same dazed look in his eyes as Neville. None of them had realized that they were already in town, since the landscape had changed so drastically.

"Well, you wanted recognition." Harry reminded them.

Hermione caught sight of the sign too, and started to snicker, leaning a bit on Ron's shoulder. Ron blushed crimson, and tried to avert his eyes from both Hermione, and the sign. He ended up focusing on his shoes.

At the edge of Hogsmeade, where the Three Broomsticks pub had once stood, sat a flashy new pub with an incredibly well drawn painting over the door. The sign that had caught everyone's attention was tall, red and very modern looking. Harry could see that it was charmed to light up in the dark.

The sign read: 'The Fox and the Pug'.

The painting, which was moving, depicted a very realistic looking fox and pug, who circled each other and played back and forth, snapping at each other's heels.

It didn't look much like Ron or Neville in their animagus forms, but that was probably only because Harry had seen them both up close, and had nearly memorized their features. The people who had commissioned the painting likely had only a split second to analyze the famous creatures.

"Shall we?" asked Harry, gesturing towards the pub.

Ron shrugged. "Maybe we should go inside in our animal forms. We might get more attention than you!"

Hermioine was vigorously shaking her head, and frowning. "No way! Ron, you can't do that!"

"Why not?" Neville asked, sounding as if he really wanted to try.

"What do you think people would do if they saw the fox and the pug that saved them all from that attack?"

Neville shrugged. "I don't know. Wave?"

"They would try to catch them! And you would be stuck in a cage and gawked at, and analyzed, and poked and prodded, and made into celebrity animals. Then they would somehow discover that you're really animagi, then you'd get into trouble! You could be charged for illegal shapeshifting! You don't want that to happen do you?"

"No, not really." Ron promised. "Human it is."

They walked cautiously toward the door, and ducked inside.

The place had a warm and pleasant feel to it, and they trailed along hesitantly toward the bar.

Madam Rosmerta stood behind it, polishing the gleaming counter top, and Hagrid sat on a stool at its edge.

"Hey you lot! Over here!" he called, and waved his dustpan-sized hand in the air to call them over. Harry was incredibly pleased that Hagrid hadn't used his name, but people turned and stared at him nonetheless.

"How are yeh?" Hagrid asked, slugging back the last of his tankard of ale. "Like the name?" he eyed Ron and Neville with laughter twinkling in his eyes.

"Oh sure. It's great." Neville answered, pretending to analyze the specials menu. His face went very red at the title on the front, and he quickly put it down.

"Very interesting." Ron smirked.

"Hello Harry!" Madam Rosmerta finally made her way down to the end of the bar, and plunked four bottles of butterbeer down in front of Harry and his friends. "On the house!" she told them, and Harry wasn't about to argue.

"Thanks." He said, and popped out the cork. He raised his bottle in a toast, and she blushed happily.

"So what do you think of my new place? Ministry gave me a good grant, and the construction ended in March."

"Very catchy name." Harry answered, taking a swig.

"You best be glad I didn't call it 'Potter's Pub' or something like that."

Harry's expression was horrified, and he nearly spat out his mouthful. "Don't even joke about something like that," he spluttered. He could see that Ron and Neville were having a hard enough time keeping their faces glued into contained smiles as it was. They didn't need any more reason to laugh out loud.

She sighed. "I miss the Three Broomsticks, but I have to admit that this place is definitely nicer and roomier."

"It certainly is." Harry said, smiling. "You'll get used to it."

"I hope so." She grabbed a silver tray, and plunked three drinks on it.

"I've got something for you." Hagrid leaned over and muttered to Harry, once Madam Rosmerta had moved off to deliver her goods. The rest of the pack had gathered themselves together over the menu Neville was holding, laughing and pointing at something inside.

"What have you got?" Harry whispered back to Hagrid.

Hagrid felt around in three or four pockets, before he retrieved a scrap of parchment. He slid it secretly across the counter to Harry.

It was an article, but obviously a magically copied one that might be showing up in tomorrow's Prophet. The Order must have taken on someone connected to the Prophet, since they would be the only people with access to the pre-published articles.

Hagrid tapped the page, pointing at the author's name. "She made a copy for us. She's joined up."

Corruption Runs Rampant at Hogsmeade Historical Society

By Angela Downfish

Two Wizards and one Witch were led away in shackles from the Ministry of Magic in London by Aurors yesterday in a frenzy of reporters and onlookers. The most surprising of which was the arrest of 34 year-old Hogsmeade Mayoral assistant Thaddeus Platt, who, along with Jenna Hawkings and Percival Price, have been charged with dark activity in connection with You-Know-Who.

Apparently all three of the accused were members of the Hogsmeade Historical Society, and surprisingly enough, were responsible for informing He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named in regards to the 'Hogsmeade Hunt' of this past December, which utterly destroyed the town. According to Jiggory Poeky, Society President, the HHS was sent an anonymous tip from a Hogsmeade villager, and the Society itself has been running covert investigations into its own members.

Other HHS benefactors Lucius Malfoy and Nicholas Nott have already been found guilty of Dark Activity, but their whereabouts are still unknown after their escape this past August from Azkaban Prision.

The ministry has given permission for the accused to hold trial some time in the next week, and it has been noted that the wizengamot will be using Veritaserum in an enclosed inquiry to determine the possibility of further charges.

"But everyone will know then won't they?" Harry asked Hagrid quietly. "If they use veritaserum, then wouldn't they know that Voldemort sent them all after Hermione and everyone?"

Hagrid winced at the sound of the name, but he shook his head. "We've been able to convince the minister that Kingsley Shacklebolt ought to lead the inquiries, so he'll be able to choose his staff, and… erm… repair… the problems a bit."

Harry nodded, satisfied. He didn't want anyone in the ministry to know that his friends were involved with any of his antics, and he didn't want to embarrass Hermione any more than necessary. Hermione had spoken to Dumbledore about Platt, and hopefully Shacklebolt could find some excuse to charge the man with sexual harassment along with all of the other charges.

"Hagrid, can I keep this?"

Hagrid nodded, patting yet another pocket. "Got a copy here," and Harry stuffed the parchment into his own pocket. He wanted to show it to Ron and Hermione, but he didn't think Neville should be privy to their investigations. He would show it to them when they got back to the castle that afternoon.

Hermione and Ron were certain to be pleased about it, since it meant that Platt was officially out of commission.


"Ouch!"

The three detectives were in the library on a Saturday morning in late May when Harry yelped, dropped his quill, and slapped his hand to his scar.

"Harry? What's happened?" Hermione stopped her quill scratching, and looked up from her work.

Ron rolled his eyes. "Here we go again." Harry could tell that he meant it all very halfheartedly. Ron's face had gone pale and nervous looking.

"It's nothing, I think." Harry said, trying to calm the twinge down to nothing. "He's just feeling frustrated."

"That can't be too bad." Ron shrugged.

Harry nodded. "As long as he's not happy." He winced again, and tried to go back to his homework.

"That's been happening more frequently hasn't it?" Hermione asked, thoughtfully tapping her quill against her cheek.

Harry checked his recent memory. "Come to think of it, the pains are getting rather frustrating again. It stopped for awhile there, when Voldemort was just gathering supporters again, but now he's active again, it's changed. My scar was always hurting a little, but I get heavier twinges of pain four or five times a day now. Sometimes they wake me up in the middle of the night too."

"Do you think you're getting more receptive to him?" Hermione asked.

Ron's head snapped up. "I thought Dumbledore wanted you to stop catching his moods. Haven't you been practicing your occlumency and legilimency?"

Harry shrugged. "I've been practicing the best I can. It doesn't really have any effect on how often the pains come. I can usually dampen the sting once I feel the first hit, but I can't stop it completely. Maybe I am getting more receptive."

"Or… maybe he's getting stronger." Hermione shrewdly pointed out.

Ron narrowed his eyes. "Shouldn't you tell Dumbledore?"

"Yeah, I reckon I should."

Harry didn't move at first, but Hermione closed her books and stood. "Then let's go tell him."

They made their way out of the library, and down the first floor hall to the stairs. The school was reasonably empty, since most students were off in Hogsmeade for the day. Only a few first and second year students milled about, since they were not allowed out of the school.

Harry was the first to turn the corner into the stairwell, so he was the first to notice two taller forms at the top of the first flight. He reeled and pulled his friends back around the corner by their cloaks.

"What?" Ron asked.

"Shhh." Harry shushed him. "It's Snape and Malfoy," he hissed, and peeked cautiously around the corner.

The two were in the middle of having a very serious looking discussion. They were hunched over and talking in low voices so that Harry, Ron and Hermione couldn't hear. Snape had obviously seen or heard some movement when Harry had come around the corner, and he shuffled Malfoy off towards his office.

"That's the third time I've seen them do that." Ron whispered. "Something's going on here they're being far too secretive."

"I've seen it once or twice." Hermione admitted.

"I'd like to know what's happening then." Harry told them, frowning. He hadn't seen it happen at all before, but it was curious now that Ron and Hermione had pointed it out.

Ron shrugged, and got a sly grin on his face. He promptly reached up and knocked his wand on the top of his head, making himself go chameleon. Harry and Hermione nodded, and did the same.

They followed the hallways towards Snape's office where they assumed the professor had taken Malfoy, and very soon they could hear the two faint Slytherin voices up ahead. They arrived at Snape's classroom just in time to see the door shut with both Snape and Malfoy inside.

"I'll listen." Ron's voice broke the silence, and Harry watched the rippling air that was Ron press itself to the door. "They're in his office." He mumbled, sounding disappointed.

"I've got just the thing." Hermione said, tapping Ron's shoulder, and letting him feel something she now held in her hand.

Ron chuckled. "An extendable ear, how useful!"

"Never leave home without it." Hermione answered quietly.

"I've got one too." Harry said, taking his out, and plugging it into his own ear.

Ron sighed dramatically. "I'm a real traitor. My own brothers are the creators, and I can't even bother to honour them enough to regularly carry their merchandise. The last one I had broke."

Harry dropped his invisible coil of string on the floor, and was surprised to see that it was also charmed to go chameleon. They aught to disillusion themselves every time they used these things, that way no one would see the little pink string wriggling its way across a floor somewhere. He felt more than saw the end wriggle its way under the door, and heard it move across to the office. It was only a few seconds before he could clearly hear what was being said.

"Think of things that make you incredibly angry normally, and just let the anger dissappear." Snape was saying. "You are allowed to think and analyze any emotion you might have had, but give me no reason to suspect your feelings on the issue. Keep your emotions away from your brain."

Harry gasped.

He knew what was going on. The next words only confirmed it.

"All right, are you ready?"

"Yes sir."

"You know the shield?"

"Yes sir."

"Right then. Legilimens!"

"Occlumens!"

Harry rushed to retract the invisible string, feeling slightly panicky, and he could feel Hermione doing the same beside him.

"What?" Ron whispered. "What were they doing then?"

Harry shoved the invisible extendable ear into his pocket, and rushed away from the door.

"He's teaching him occlumency." Harry told Ron once they were far enough away. "He's giving him much more information than he ever gave me in my lessons." He added, rapping himself on the head more aggressively than he'd intended.

"Is Malfoy on our side then?" Hermione asked. "I thought he was going to be a Death-Eater?

Harry shrugged. "There's no way to know. Snape might have some other reason to teach him. Maybe Voldemort has asked him to do that in order to fool Dumbledore."

"Malfoy would never be on our side." Ron said vehemently. "Not unless he thought there was something in it for him."

"Then why teach him occlumency?" Hermione argued.

"I think we should really be asking ourselves which side Snape is on." Ron spat, "What does he think he's doing?"

Again, the only response Harry could come up with was a shrug.


A/N: I figured out the paragraph dividing thing all on my own! (For any of you who want to know, it's up at the top where there's a little single black line. If you hold the mouse just over it for a second, it tells you "add ruler". That's what it means! it means that if you want to space out the paragraphs into sections, such as the one just above this Author's Note, then you click on it! Aren't I brilliant! No more zeroes! YAY!