Disclaimer: I do not own a thing in the Harry Potter universe, that said, all those little bits you don't recognize are all mine ; )

Part 5

Friday dawned in brilliant sunlight. Harry, being Harry, couldn't be like every other kid on the planet who absolutely loved Fridays. No, today he had Double DADA with a former Death Eater, or at least Harry thought he was a former Death Eater. Then he had Double Potions with another former Death Eater, again, at least Harry thought he was a former Death Eater. Add to this a detention in the evening and somehow ticking off his girlfriend…

Harry was dreading this day.

His mental shields were still in place, they looked almost undisturbed. The only difference from the night before was that they were a slight shade off in color. Harry tried to get the color right warily, but they would not revert to normal. He shrugged this off and continued about his day.

As he left the tower he did note that he was one of the few awake. He had left Ron and Neville sleeping in the dormitory. Absently he did notice that Jenks was not present. His thoughts were clouded though as he made his way to the Great Hall for breakfast. For the life of him he did not know where he went wrong yesterday with Luna.

When he entered the only people he recognized were Sira and Jenks at the Gryffindor table. Each was hunched over their plates whispering to each other. With a sigh Harry joined them.

"Good morning Harry," Sira said as he sat.

"Morning," Harry nodded to the twins. "So, what are you two on about?"

"Oh, nothing," Jenks said with a glint in his eye.

"Nothing at all," Sira added, "care for some pancakes?" She asked holding the plate.

Harry nodded and relieved the girl of the plate. He started to eat as the hall began to fill. Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville soon sat with Harry. Even with all his friends present Harry felt a pang in his stomach as Luna walked in and headed to the Ravenclaw table. His mood did lighten somewhat with a commotion from the far table that was the Slytherin's.

Laughter rippled from a central spot of the Slytherin table. Harry couldn't see what was so humorous but he was looking. Most of his friend's were too. The only two people that seemed truly nonplussed about the ordeal were Sira and Jenks. Those two just kept eating without a care in the world. Harry was about to ponder what that was all about when some of the students shifted and Harry saw the object of everyone's humor.

Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zambini, Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, Bulstrode, and Pansy Parkinson were standing in a line. Their black robes had turned red; each head of hair was a matching gold. When Draco tried to speak Harry could barely hear a roar issuing from his mouth. His pale cheeks tinged pink. Blaise turned to Draco with his wand; he roared something and butterflies began to flutter about Malfoy's head. Crabbe and Goyle started to try and swat the butterflies away to find paws instead of hands. The new cumbersome additions swayed wildly, hitting Malfoy more than once. Then, all seven Slytherins froze, a glassy look entering their eyes.

Then Malfoy stepped forward. In a very girly voice he began to sing.

"My name is Draco, I'm a lonely boy

Nightly I play with my wand, it's my only toy"

At this point the other six started to shuffle their hands and feet in sync with each other and began to sing back up. Draco continued.

"I polish and shine it, it must gleam

But now I must live my dream, my dream to sing!"

Draco then twirled, his robes stretched out in a circle as he began to dance. The laughter in the Great Hall was almost deafening.

"Oh Gryffindor, you are my king

For you, I'd do anything

Oh Gryffindor, you rock my world

I wish I was a Gryffindor girl!"

At this moment Malfoy's slicked back golden hair erupted into very big teased hair. Harry thought his face was going to split as the plain red robes transformed into a scarlet dress.

"But I'm a Slytherin, envious and green

Here is my truth: I want to be a Gryffindor queen!"

Malfoy then fell to his knees. The six backup singers started to clap for their comrade who had just given his all to the song. Snape rose from the teacher's table and after some hurried waves of his wand the seven Slytherins were back to normal. Very confused, but normal.

"Whoever is responsible for this is going to pay," Snape said in his iciest of voice. The hall effectively died of all laughter. Snape gave a hard glare at Harry who just couldn't wipe the mirth from his face.

"That was absolbloodybrilliant!" Ron said, tears of amusement leaking from his eyes. "That's all we need," he continued, still trying to catch his breath, "another song!"

Hermione being Hermione was trying not to laugh, but her shaking shoulders gave her away. Ginny's face was lined with the humor, obviously she was impressed. Neville had his head down from laughing so hard. Harry was amazed though, Sira and Jenks were still calmly eating their breakfast.

"So you two have something against the Slytherins too?" Harry asked so only they could hear.

"While tragic they should have to suffer this early morning," Jenks said.

"They should know better than to try and pick unknown enemies," Sira finished.

Harry nodded in understanding. Of coarse the Slytherins, mainly Malfoy and those who had been pranked this morning, would try and pick on the two newest Gryffindors. Harry shook his head as Malfoy led his six friends from the hall. A death glare in his general direction meant this was just the beginning.

Harry noticed he had a little time to kill before class; he looked to the Ravenclaw table. He thought it would be a good time to try and fix whatever he messed up yesterday. To his surprise, Luna was no where to be seen. Feeling the beginning of his bad mood returning he stayed with his friends as they discussed the brilliance of what had happened a few minutes ago.

That oily voice, it reached into your head and stayed there. Snape was stalking up and down the potions lab. Harry tried to concentrate on the potion he and Hermione were working on. On person had to put in the ingredients and stir while the other did the spell work required for this particular concoction bubbling away. It was currently blue; part of the assignment was to figure out what they were making before the class ended. They had thirty minutes left.

Harry added three drops of Thestral blood. The very thought of Thestrals made him shiver slightly. The red blood hit the blue potion, as Harry swirled the liquid three times anti-clockwise. The liquid turned green as he lowered the heat. Hermione said the next incantation and something clicked in Harry's brain.

On the parchment to the side of him he wrote 'Floo Powder'. Hermione looked to where he was writing and her eyes grew round.

"How did you figure it out?" she asked astonished.

"Thestral blood, a mobility charm, and the potion turned green. It wasn't that hard Hermione."

She still gave him an appraising stare. Harry, getting a little irked by this turned to her and said, "We might want to finish it though, we can still cock it up you know."

Hermione blushed and went back to working on the potion. Harry's job was finished for the moment so he relaxed slightly. This is when Professor Snape slipped beside the young man.

"Potter, I know you had something to do with this morning. If it wasn't you it was one of your silly little friends. I'd watch my step if I were you, your arrogance will lead you nowhere…pleasant."

Harry quietly seethed as the Potions Master stalked away. He was outright tired of being blamed for everything. What didn't help were Malfoy and Zambini discussing something in hushed voices over their caldron. Ever so often one would glance at Harry.

"By now you should know what you are brewing," Snape said quietly at the front of the class. No matter how low he said it, everyone heard his oily voice. "Who can tell me what it is?"

Few hands went up; among them were Harry's and Hermione's.

"Mr. Malfoy?"

"Sir, I believe we are brewing Locating Gel." Malfoy said with an air of superiority.

"That is…incorrect Mr. Malfoy. Five points for participation all the same."

Malfoy looked somewhat shocked.

"Anyone know the correct answer?" Harry again raised his hand in response to Snape.

"Ok, Potter, let's see how badly you don't know this," Snape said with a smirk. Malfoy laughed at Harry's reddening face.

"Floo Powder…sir."

"Correct…one point to Gryffindor, and five away for your lack of respect."

Harry gritted his teeth in response. Snape getting a rise out of him would do nothing but make him lose more points.

"He's still a git," Harry mumbled while leaving potions.

"Yes Harry, but you did well in not letting him bait you," Hermione responded.

"I'd still like to knock him about with my caldron."

Hermione gave him a disappointed look as they sat down for lunch.

"What are you two on about then?" Ron asked as he sat across from them.

"Harry's going on about how Snape is still a pillock," Hermione answered.

"Shock! Horror!"

"Shut up," Harry said to his amused friend.

"Oh come on, some things never change. Besides, you'd die of shock if Snape came in one day and treated you fairly."

"Yeah, maybe, then again I'd go for the coronary over being treated like total shite," Harry answered.

"Harry! Language!" Hermione admonished.

Ron laughed at his friend. Harry grinned, but it faded as Luna sat at the Ravenclaw table again. With a sigh he rose from his seat. When he sat down Luna gave him a hard stare with her pale blue eyes.

"Can you tell me what is wrong today?" he asked his girlfriend with all the patience he could muster.

"Nothing is wrong today," she replied.

"Ok…can you tell me what was wrong yesterday?"

"I don't know what was wrong yesterday. Maybe you can tell me," she said in an almost airy voice.

"What do you mean? After I got out of the hospital wing…"

"And why were you in the hospital wing? What did you do to land yourself there this time?" she asked calmly, but Harry say the struggle in her eyes. She had been worried, he hadn't told her what had happened, and then it just kind of spiraled.

"Hermione had read where some people could do multiple Occlumency shields. I put two in place, you know since Voldemort is a pretty strong Legilimens, I tried for a third but it hurt my head. That's what happened yesterday morning," he said, an edge creeping into his voice.

Pale blue eyes went from torn, to sympathy, to hurt in a flash. "I'm sorry Harry," he had to strain to hear her low voice, "I'm sorry."

With those words Luna kissed his cheek and quickly left the Great Hall.

"I'll never understand," Harry grumbled to himself.

"You're not supposed to," Padma winked at him.

"Please pass your homework forward," Karkaroff said in his pompous tone. After all the parchment had been sent forward he asked one of their homework questions. "How can you defend yourself against the killing curse?"

Few hands rose, Harry was shocked to see the Haszel twins among them.

"Yes, Haszel?" the professor asked.

Jenks replied, "Which one of us?"

Karkaroff's face darkened as he stated, "You will be fine."

"The killing curse can be avoided by ducking, running, or all together avoiding it."

Karkaroff nodded before asking, "Anyone else know any other ways?"

Fewer hands rose.

"Yes, the other Haszel."

"Any solid object can stop the curse," Sira answered, "so taking cover, or conjuring something to block you will save you."

Karkaroff nodded again. "Is there any other way to stop a killing curse?"

No one raised their hand, so Harry did, much to Hermione's chagrin.

"Yes, Potter?"

"If the two duelers have brother wands any spell can stop the Avada Kedavra."

"Very good," Karkaroff said while twisting his goatee between his fingers. "Today we will be discussing another Unforgivable spell, the Cruciatus Curse."

Harry's stomach gave a twinge. His mind racing back to when he tried to perform the spell. Also in his mind was every time he had been hit by the horrid spell. He looked over, Neville also had gone pale.

"Once you have been hit by this curse, how can you free yourself?" Karkaroff asked the class.

Everyone froze. Harry had never heard of a defense against Crucio. Apparently from the silence of his classmates, neither had they.

"No one?" the professor asked, "fine, homework is two feet of parchment on how to escape the Cruciatus Curse."

The rest of the lesson continued on their shield work. Harry noticed that the people either had perfect shields or none at all. Every DA member present had perfect shields. Harry started to make a mental list of SOUL nominees.

After class everyone headed to dinner. Harry noticed Luna once again at the Gryffindor table. She smiled as he sat next to her.

"Have a good day?" she asked passing him a dinner roll.

"Better than I thought it would be," he replied giving her a grateful smile. "How was yours?"

"I've had better. It's week one and I'm already behind on homework," she said while starting in on her plate.

"I might as well warn you, it just gets worse from here," Harry said, he noticed that the air was a little stiff from some left over tension.

She playfully slapped him on his arm. "So, what do you want to do tonight? If I remember correctly you don't have an extra lesson."

Harry's face fell a little, "I have a detention tonight."

"Oh…whatever for?" she asked, disappointment in her eyes.

"Sira Haszel was showing me a charm I was having problems with. Madam Pince didn't find our library books fighting as amusing as we did."

"Oh…oh well. I guess another time then. Though I don't know when we'll ever begin," she sang in a low voice.

Damn, Harry thought, he messed up again somehow. To confirm this Luna got up and left the Great Hall.

"I'm not sure how well this can work out," Harry mumbled.

"Harry," Hermione said in that voice she used when she was trying to point something obvious out to him, "she wants to spend time with you. But when you get a detention, with another girl I might add, it doesn't bode well. She sees her time with you slipping away, and it's because of you."

"I didn't want to get in trouble," Harry said shortly, "and what does it matter if I got a detention with another girl? It's not like we were snogging or anything."

"Luna wants to be the only girl you are with really. She may even have a problem with me or Ginny, but I doubt it. Remember Cho?"

"All fur coat and no knickers that one," Ron added to the conversation.

"Be that as it may…" but Hermione was cut off.

"What does that mean?" Harry asked.

"She was superficial, you know, all flash on the outside with nothing underneath."

"Oh, yeah. Wait, are you trying to say Luna is superficial like Cho?" Harry asked his two best friends.

"No," Hermione answered, "I was saying every girl is like that in a way. They want the man in their life all to themselves. You getting in trouble with Sira, who Luna doesn't even know, makes things worse. I don't know what Ron was trying to say."

"Hey, I was just making an observation!"

"It would do you and this conversation well if you would observe the present instead of the past," Hermione gave her retort.

And they're off, Harry grinned at his friends as they began to argue. Some things just wouldn't change.

For detention Madam Pince split Harry and Sira up. Sira was in charge of making sure every book was in its proper place. Harry, much to his disappointment was left to clean the tables of any graffiti AND scrubbing the floor. This would have been cake, if only they were allowed to use magic. Add to this Mr. Filch was watching over them to make sure they didn't talk or have any fun whatsoever it was turning into a rather long night.

Harry collapsed into bed after a shower and a change into night clothes.

"Well, I'm shattered," he said dully.

"As a prefect I'm supposed to say 'serves you right'," Ron said with a silly grin on his face.

"Watch it Potter, I don't want to hear about you being tired after a night out with my sister," Jenks said from his bed.

"Piss off Haszel, she shouldn't had gotten me in trouble."

"Oh, that's it," Jenks said as he got out of bed and jumped on Harry's, pinning Harry down. Ron was laughing until something went wrong.

In a flash Jenks was against the far wall panting for breath. The thud Ron had heard must have been him. Harry was on his feet, crouched on his bed, a look in his eye that Ron couldn't place. Then it hit him, it was fear, Harry looked like a caged animal. The look faded away as Harry stared at Jenks.

"Oh hell, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that," Harry said in an exasperated tone.

"S'alright," Jenks answered still trying to gather his breath, "didn't know you would react that way, my fault really."

"Sorry, I just don't like to feel trapped," Harry said meekly.

Jenks nodded then asked, "Could you hand me the silver case that's on my nightstand?"

Harry got up and found the little silver case. He walked over and handed it to Jenks. The boy opened the case and plucked a familiar looking cigarette into his mouth. He then withdrew another little metal case and flicked it open. He spun a little dial with his thumb and a small fire erupted from it. He lit the cigarette.

The boy inhaled green smoke, and exhaled purple.

"Ah, do you have to do that in here?" Ron asked with a sour look on his face.

"Sorry, I have Shanker's disease."

Fanastygirl721: Well, here is part five, only two to go, next part the DA returns.The SOUL is coming very soon. And the OCs are worming their way in more and more. Hope you like it! I can't wait to read your Knockturn Tale (which is up now, come on, I know you all want to read it). I'll try and keep these updates on schedule.

Zozia: Thanks for the review! I tried to add some more of the British slang in this one, let me know if it worked for better or worse. Yes, Luna has her part to play, even if it is for the 'weirder'.

OrganiclyMe: I'm just going to accept that I have drawn a quiet crowd. Thank you for the review and compliment. Even if I know people are reading it's great to hear from them.

Hope to see ya next time!