For the disclaimer see previous chapters

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Defense Against the Dark Arts was a typical first class. Lupin again went over the whole work hard speech before reviewing the things that they had worked on up until then. He once again had a bogart and everyone took turns with it. They had pretty much mastered that spell and Professor Lupin went on to tell them what they would be studying this term. "This term we will be studying some more jinxes and curses that may be thrown at you and the countercurses and ways to avoid those. Good first class. I'm glad to see that you haven't forgotten everything that I've taught you. Before next class, I want everyone to study the book 'Jinxes, Curses, and other Nasty Things' chapter 1. There will be an oral quiz. That's all."

As Harry made his way to Dumbledore's office, he pondered what exactly Dumbledore would be teaching him. Neither Dumbledore nor his father had ever said exactly what it was that they would cover. He wondered if there was really anything that could prepare him for the upcoming fight with Voldemort. As he approached the entrance full of apprehension he said the password that Dumbledore had set up especially for these lessons and went in. He found Dumbledore sitting behind his desk waiting for him.

"Ah Harry. There you are. Before I begin teaching you there are some things that I need to tell you. What I am going to be teaching you is very hard. It's next to impossible. There are only a few wizards in the world who can accomplish what I intend for you to use against Voldemort. That's why these curses are not talked about much. These curses can only be used with the purest of intentions. There can be no malice or hatred behind these. These curses look into your heart and see your motives. You cannot hide from this. Since there is no way to really practice these curses, I'm only going to be teaching you the technique. I sincerely believe from my heart that you can defeat Voldemort with these. Do you understand this?"

"Yes, sir. Can you tell me more about some of these curses?"

"The one that you would actually kill with is called 'bonita conficio.' There are several powerful blocking curses that if done right would even block 'avada kedvra' because it puts up a shield of love around you. Of course like I said, these are extremely hard and must be done with the utmost precision and purest motives. Now, we won't be starting these until tomorrow. I suggest that you go back to your room. I hear that you have a detention tonight," said Professor Dumbledore with a twinkle in his eye. "You might need to get your homework done early."

"Yes, sir."

The evening passed rather quickly with Harry trying to go ahead and finish his homework because of the detention tonight and the coming quidditch practice tomorrow, which Harry had remembered to tell everyone about at supper. At last, it was time for Harry to go to detention. He had to laugh at himself, as he had never actually looked forward to detention before. As Harry approached the dungeons, he saw that Malfoy was once again in the classroom with Professor Snape. 'What does he do in there all time? Why is he always in there?' Harry thought angrily.

"Ah, Mr. Potter. On time tonight I see. Lucky you." He said with a sneer. He looked like he was in a particularly bad mood today. Harry wondered why. "You will be cleaning my classroom today. Every inch, every corner. And there will be NO magic used. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir!" Harry said still somewhat puzzled at the way his father was treating him.

As Harry got down to clean the floor, he started with the furthest corner away from Malfoy and Professor Snape. Malfoy was strangely quiet during this time looking only at the floor and not saying anything. As the detention went on, he could see that Snape was giving Malfoy private potions lessons. 'I can't believe it.' Harry thought. 'Snape would NEVER do that. Lucius must be putting pressure on him as a fellow deatheater. No wonder Snape was in such a foul mood. I can't believe that I have to spend all this time down on the floor and no time with Snape.' As the night got later and later and Malfoy continued to have problems with whatever potion he was trying to brew, Harry got more and more annoyed and down right angry. Finally he was finished. It was about 11:00 and he was exhausted.

"I've finished. May I go now, sir." Harry said maliciously.

"Yes, Potter. You may leave and I advise you not to speak a word about Malfoy being here tonight or there will be severe consequences."

Harry ran from the room and went straight to his bedroom and to bed. Harry cried himself to sleep wondering at how he could have gotten so attached to Professor Snape in such a short time.

When morning came around, Harry awoke especially groggy and then remembered what happened last night. 'Should I go to him this morning or should I just give him the silent treatment?' he thought. Finally Harry decided that he would feel much better if he got this off his chest and went to see Professor Snape once again in the dungeons. He ran into Snape on the way there.

"Mr. Potter. What are you thinking? You can't keep coming down to see me. Someone will begin to suspect something. In fact Malfoy is being to get suspicious about us anyway. Now, turn around and march back into the great hall! Now, Potter."

"I just wanted to ask you about last night sir. Why are you being so mean to me? Did I do something wrong? Why is Malfoy spending so much time with you? Is this war with Voldemort ever going to be over? I want to spend time with you out in the open. I want everyone to be able to see my as I am. I want to be your son." Said Harry emotionally.

Professor Snape pulled Harry into his quarters. He embraced him in awkward hug. Harry knew that this was not comfortable for him, but appreciated the gesture and started to calm down.

"Malfoy is horrible at potions. However, his father is quite persuasive and influential and he somehow passed his owls with an O. He then managed to convince me to tutor his son saying it was essential to the cause. I cannot very well turn him down or he will believe that I am not loyal. I was in an extra foul mood yesterday because of this. That is no excuse however and I could have handled the situation better. For that I apologize. You have got to concentrate on what Dumbledore is teaching you and your classes. It is imperative that you defeat the Dark Lord. After that, I promise that you and I can spend as much time together as you would like. I will show you the family home and introduce you to our house-elf. There are many things I would like to tell you and show you. For now, you must keep up this charade. I do feel quite strongly for you. Always keep that in mind. Now, go to the great hall before you get us in even more trouble."

Harry went feeling somewhat calmer but still wishing that things were different.

This day passed much the same as the last few days for Harry with one exception. Harry was looking so forward to the one bit of normalcy in his life right now – Quidditch practice. Tonight was the first practice and Harry couldn't wait. He had gone over and over in his mind exactly what they would practice (admittedly during class; several times one of the Professors had to scold him for not paying attention.)

Finally, it was time to go down to the Quidditch pitch. Harry grabbed his new broom and ran as fast as he could to the field. When he got down there, he saw that no one else was there and took a few minutes to acquaint himself with his broom. The field was the one place where nothing else existed. He had to concentrate so hard that there was no room for Voldemort or Snape or classes. This was he so enjoyed this game. Just about everyone had arrived so Harry started.

"I'm sure you are all wondering what position I'm going to be playing, and who the second and third chasers are. Ginny will be playing as the second chaser. I am taking back my position as seeker and the third chaser will be… Hermione Granger." Said Harry as she walked toward them. "I know that this is a shock to you all, and you are probably wondering why we didn't have try-outs. Hermione is our secret weapon. No one will suspect that she would be good at quidditch. But I have seen her play as chaser. She will do great. Also Ginny will be like a second seeker and assist me in finding the snitch as that is what really wins the game. I intend to try things this year that have never been tried. I intend to stretch you all beyond your limits! We have won the Quidditch cup ever since I've been here. I do not plan on losing it this year. Tonight I want us to practice in different positions. I want each and every person to become familiar with each and every position. Ginny and I will be the beaters. Ron will be the seeker. Kirke, Sloper, and Hermione will be the chasers (as Hermione hasn't had any practice in that position.) Katie will be the keeper. Let's fly." Said Harry as they started the mock game.

Ron slowly circled the pitch looking for the snitch while simultaneously keeping an eye on the action. Harry and Ginny were unsuccessfully trying to keep Kirke, Sloper, and Hermione from scoring but were not having any luck. They couldn't seem to get the bludgers to go anywhere near their target. The three chasers on the other hand, were being tremendously successful at getting past the keeper – Katie. Everyone was enormously surprised at how good Hermione was on her broom. While she had little experience and wasn't getting many goals, they could tell after a few more practices that she would be scoring the most out of everyone. Practice was grueling, but fun and ended sooner than most of them expected.

"Good first practice. We will be meeting every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights unless you are told otherwise. I believe that we have the makings of a good team. Our first game is in a little under a month and I expect us all to be ready. Good job, guys!"

As Harry, Ron and Hermione all walked back to the Gryffindor common room, they discussed the practice and the upcoming games.

"I can't believe that you didn't even tell me that Hermione was going to be in the game!" whined Ron.

"Well, I wasn't really sure myself until recently and I wanted to tell everyone at the same time."

"I didn't expect Quidditch to be that much fun. I really enjoyed that. Now I see why you two are so obsessed with it." Said Hermione.

"We are not obsessed," said Ron indignantly.

"I think that we will win the Quidditch cup easily this year as long as we keep practing." Said Harry.

"Now, Harry, don't get ahead of yourself. We all need more experience together." Said Hermione – always the voice of reason. "But," she added, "I do believe that we will come together."

"Good job, Hermione! I never thought that you would be good at Quidditch." Said Ron with a look that almost seemed like adoration to Harry. 'Weird,' he thought. 'I wonder what's going on with them.'

"Well, goodnight guys! I'm bushed," said Harry as they had finally reached the Gryffindor tower.

"Oh, well, I'm going to stay up a little while longer. I haven't quite finished my work." Said Ron.

"Me too! I need to get in some more studying as NEWTS are coming up." Said Ron.

"Suit yourself," said Harry giving them a strange look. "I'll see you guys in the morning."