Chapter 37

Talks, Walks and Tin Soldiers

Returning to wizarding classes had been hard. Harry now knew exactly how Ana had felt. Now, with magic and muggle classes, he felt more than a little stressed. The Hogwarts Professors seemed to think that he needed to catch up to his grade so they placed him in NEWT level classes, completely disregarding the fact that he had yet to even pass his OWLS. It came as no surprise to anyone that he struggled horribly with the onslaught of information. He knew that without his previous study of magical theory, he would have had no concept at all as to what he was being taught. Even so, Harry really enjoyed Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid and Ana, and Neville had offered to tutor Harry in Herbology. Remus was teaching him and Ana Defense against the dark Arts, which they both enjoyed immensely, and Sirius was always around to offer his own help. Potions, on the other hand, was hell. Professor Snape seemed to think it was a great personal insult to have to instruct a student NEWT level potions when Harry only had a fourth year education. Therefore, he made sure to drill Harry on anything and everything he could. This, as well as the enormous amount of homework he had from both educations, made Harry very short tempered at times.

Also, his confrontations with Ron and Hermione didn't help matters at all. They both refused to leave him alone as he wished they would, and instead they tried to speak to him whenever they got the chance. Harry had taken to what he called the "Dursley Approach" and just pretended they didn't exist.

There were times, however, when he felt almost sorry for his old friends. It was only sometimes of course. His mutant friends showed them no pity, and tended to be a little cruel to the two whenever they got the chance to. One of those particular moments was the one time Hermione had tried to have a conversation with Ana in the library. Harry smirked as he thought back to that day.

vvv

"What are you writing?"

Harry turned to see who had spoken and was shocked to see Hermione. The girl had never approached the mutants after he was cleared, and only tried to force conversation on him. However, here she was, in the library where they had been working on various things for homework, looking nervous, but trying all the same.

Ana looked up from her notebook, pen stilled, to view the witch with eyes full of suspicion. The mutants had never really forgiven Harry's old friends, and though Ana didn't rant like the others did about the Wizarding World's gall, Harry mused that that didn't mean that her distaste for them wasn't as strong.

After a few seconds of intense staring, Ana turned her attention back to her notebook. "Sure you're not going to try and shove poison down my throat?" She asked evenly. 'Then again, Ana had her own reasons to hate Hermione other than the girl's betrayal'

"O…oh! I nev…I mean I don't, um, I'm so sorry about before. I was so wro-"

"It's just a short story." Ana said flatly cutting off the girl's ramblings.

"Oh. Do…do you write a lot of stories?" Hermione asked, unwilling to end the conversation there.

"No."

"Oh. Um, so…so what made you want to start?"

Ana gave Hermione a calculating look and said, "Inspiration." Before the girl could ask what from, Ana asked, "Would you like to hear it?"

Hermione looked happy for a second before nodding. Ana frowned and looked down at the book and began reading.

"When I was young, I lived on an old street full of old houses. On this street there was a family that was large like my own. They were mostly boys and since I was younger, we did not play much. I used to sit and watch, as they and my brothers would play their games, calling out to them, and have so much fun. Then one day, my mother asked my brothers to take me with them, afraid that I was too lonely. While I was in their company, the youngest of them all showed me his present that he had received for Christmas. It was a toy tin soldier with armor so shiny and a face so brave and true. I immediately ran home to beg my mother for one just like it, but she said that tin soldiers were for little boys. She promised that I could ask for a pretty doll for my birthday though.

A long time passed until I saw that soldier again. My birthday came and went, and the new doll sat neatly on my shelf along with the others. Finally, Christmas was upon us and I had a plan. I would ask Santa for the soldier. I was certain he would not deny me my request since I had been very good all year. I waited and wished, and when Christmas day came, there was no tin soldier under our tree. I searched after all the presents were gone and found myself quite upset.

Hours later, when my brother and I went outside to try out his new sled, I fell on a patch of ice, and there beside me was a pair of tiny feet poking out of the snow. I reached and pulled the thing from its cold prison and found it to be the tin soldier. The soldier was in a sorry state. The boys had mistreated him. They had seen his shiny armor and thought it indestructible. His brave face was chipped, revealing it to be nothing more that a mask. After he no longer held any value to them, they threw him away and left him to his fate.

I hugged the tin man to myself and brought him inside. I fixed his armor and mended his face, but I did not paint a new face upon him. I kept him as my own treasure, safe from those that would destroy him again. The little tin soldier remained with me…

That's as far as I've gotten."

The abrupt change in her tone startled everyone out of the trance that comes to people when a story is being told to them. Hermione looked close to tears, the meaning behind the tin soldier not lost to her. At Ana's accusing glare, she turned and ran out of the library as if Death Eaters were at her heels.

Harry watched as Ana stood up and stretched, placing the notebook on the table. He craned his head to see the contents of the notebook and shook his head. She had gotten number twelve of her math questions wrong.

vvv

Since then, Ron and Hermione had almost taken the hint and left him in peace. Almost being the key word. Others had attempted to speak to him and he was polite about it, firmly informing them that he had no intention of rejoining the Gryffindor House. Malfoy had made a few jibes at him in the hallways every now and then along with various other Slytherin's, but Harry only had to use his powers to cause things to fly about and they would be fleeing in seconds believing one of Harry's mutant friends were close by. After a while though, people stopped pausing in the hall to speak to him and went to just glancing at him and then turning to others to gossip with them. Much to the instructor's satisfaction, mutants no longer seemed to be feared at Hogwarts.

He had also met up with some of the people whom Neville had told him before had believed in his innocence. The one girl, Luna was her name, was a little more odd than the others. She smiled serenely at him when he thanked her and then asked if he had seen any Yuphalls in Azkaban. Apparently, the prison was a perfect breeding ground for the chameleon like creatures and her father, who was the owner of a wizarding magazine, was hoping to do an article on them.

However, Ginny was behaving most strangely. Neville told Harry and his friends how the young Weasley was acting more isolated than usual and spent all of her free time somewhere in the castle. Whenever Harry saw the girl, she would move towards him and then, as if she'd had second thoughts, she would walk away. Harry had tried to talk to her on several occasions, but she would only make some excuse and leave. Because of this strange behavior, it was a surprise when the portrait opened on a Friday afternoon in mid April to reveal Neville with Ginny in tow.

"She said she wanted to see Harry." He explained with a shrug when Lance asked. The mutant wizard in question looked up from the table he was sitting at with Scott. Ginny was standing a little behind Neville, her book bag grasped in her hands as she surveyed the room with a nervous look on her face. Finally, she met Harry's gaze.

"I needed to talk to you." When Harry didn't move, she added, "Alone."

Harry shrugged and mumbled a quick, "Be right back," to Scott. Then he led the girl up to his and Jamie's shared room. Absently, he threw up a shielding charm over himself. It didn't hurt to be cautious… and then he rolled his eyes. 'Or paranoid.' He turned to face the girl, his arms crossed over his chest.

Taking her cue, Ginny began, "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for before. When we talked, I didn't believe you. Well, I wanted to, but…" She stopped and took a deep breath. When she continued, her voice was much more even and controlled. "Everyone I knew and trusted were all telling me that you had killed your relatives. Even Dumbledore believed it after a while. I didn't want to believe it, but all the proof was there and I never got to talk to you. The ministry even cut us off from visiting you in Azkaban. I am so sorry for not having faith in you and for not fighting harder for you." She broke off and looked away from him, her eyes angry and tearful.

"Ginny, I-" He began, but she cut him off.

"After you were taken away, someone from the Order brought your belongings to the headquarters where we were staying. I…" She blushed. "I just wanted to keep some things safe incase you were set free." She bent over and pulled a silvery cloth out as well as a book. She handed the items over and then took a few steps back, distancing herself from him as he stared in awe.

"My Dads cloak! My album! I thought that vandals…"

She shrugged. "I got them out and hid them in my trunk just in time. I-" She let out a startled squeak as Harry took her in his arms and spun her around.

"I can't believe it! I thought they had been destroyed! You have no idea what this means to me!" He gave her a tight hug before finally releasing her, his heart feeling lighter than it had in a while. "You've had them all this time?"

She nodded. "At the time, they said that your trunk was going to be sent to the Ministry for safe keeping, but I took those out just in case… well in case you were ever proven innocent…or you broke out." She watched on as he flipped open the photo album to see the smiling faces of his parents.

He cast her a wry grin. "You thought I might break out?"

She shrugged. "I thought Sirius might have been planning an escape. Well he was, but McGonagall found out about it and after that it was pretty hard for him to leave the headquarters. Him and Professor Lupin refused to believe that you killed your family you know."

"I know." He replied. "Did you say that the Ministry stopped you from visiting me in Azkaban?" She nodded. "You tried to visit me?"

She looked at him surprised. "Of course we did! Mum was shattered when you were taken away and she wanted to speak to you herself, but Fudge had declared that you were to be denied all visitors."

"You're mum believed me as well?" Harry asked hopefully.

"She was like me, she refused to think that you would commit murder, but at the same time…" she looked away from him, "there was so much evidence. It was hard for everyone. Ron and Hermione didn't believe it right away either, but I guess over time… things changed. Everyone changed." She muttered sadly.

He regarded her with a sad look before he remembered something. "Hey, I've been meaning to ask someone something, and I wasn't looking forward to speaking to the professors about it. Do you know where Hedwig is? I thought they might have made her a school owl after I left and so I checked the Owlery, but she wasn't there."

Ginny brightened at his question. "Oh she's at the burrow! We sort of adopted her after you… and she's been our mail owl ever since. Although, I think she used to hide our mail a lot after you were taken away. She wouldn't even go near Ron. He tried to get a letter from her once and she nearly pecked his eyes out!" She exclaimed, not hiding her laughter at the memory. "I forgot about her. I'll write to mum to let her know that Hedwig can come back to you now."

"That would be great, and please tell your mum that I said thanks for taking care of her."

"I will." She looked down at her hands. "I should get going though. Quittich will be starting again soon and I'll have to start practicing. I don't know how I'm going to find the time to get all my homework done. Oh well! It'll all work out somehow. Um…I dunno if anyone told you, but I'm the Gryffindor Seeker now."

"Congratulations." Harry said as she turned to leave. "And thank you again for saving my things." She nodded and went out to the common room leaving Harry alone in the room. He looked down at the photo album in his hands and smiled.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

When the weather was warm enough, Neville informed them that Quittich was going to begin again. Wanting to share one of his favorite parts of the Wizarding World, Harry convinced a large group of mutants to join him to a Quittich game. They had enjoyed it immensely, imagining what it would be like to be zooming around on a broom.

The game came to an abrupt halt however, during the chasing of the Snitch. Ginny and Draco had been in a frantic chase for the elusive ball and the entire school was on the edge of their seats. The Snitch swerved towards the mutants in the stands and !SNAP!

"TOAD!" Shouted the mutants, glaring at the boy for disrupting the game. Harry and a few others were on the ground clutching their sides and laughing hysterically as Todd tried to cough up the fluttering ball. He finally spat it out, and it fell to the wooden floor with a thud, glistening with slime. The boy was still sputtering as he tried to apologize, "Sorry yo. /cough/ I had th-/cough/ the urge!"

Harry was still laughing as he heard the commentator try to explain what had happened. "And a thin green… something snatched the Snitch right from the air. The Slytherin and Gryffindor Seekers are still searching for it…"

Kurt was bent over the Snitch, poking it and trying to get it to start flying again. "It won't work. The goop won't let it fly!"

"Stand back." Ordered Jean as she lifted one hand to her temple. The Snitch twitched and then floated into the air. With a grin, Jean sent the ball flying out to the field, imitating its random movements from before.

Harry soon decided that he much preferred a Snitch when Jean was controlling it. She didn't make it elusive, quite the opposite actually. Malfoy let out a frustrated growl as he swiped at the Snitch that was flying laps around his head. It did a few more laps before swiftly knocking him between the eyes and then shooting off in another direction leaving a dazed Seeker behind. Finally, after a few more antics that had the mutants in stitches, Ginny caught the golden ball and gave a cry of disgust as she felt the slime spread over her fingers.

"Excellent sport!" Kurt laughed later. "I wonder if it's always that exciting?"

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

After what was later referred to the 'Snitch Switch' incident, the floodgates had been opened. It was declared that the Caper Crusade was to be brought back to life. The victims this time: Hogwarts.

Harry was the first to strike. With Jamie crouched under the Invisibility Cloak with him, they sat and waited until most of the wizarding classes were out and the moving staircases were filled with students rushing to and from classes. With a grunt of effort, Harry reached out with his powers and stopped the magic that ran through the stairs. The chaos that followed as the stairs froze in place leaving tons of students stranded and stuck had both boys laughing darkly under the cloak. It was a full week before the professors figured out how to get the stairs working again.

Kitty was next as she waited in the kitchens under the Great Hall. When lunch was well under way, she would phase through the ceiling and peek about. Then, picking a victim, she would reach up and half phase them through the floor. Jamie clones along with a few other new recruits would then run about and tickle their feet. The only thing the people in the Great Hall saw was people falling halfway through the floor with a shriek and then burst into laughter, squirming to get away. Harry watched from the sidelines, chatting happily to Dobby, who was crying with joy at seeing his "Mister Harry Potter" again.

Professor McGonagall found her private rooms filled to the brim with catnip. The Gryffindor's discovered too late that the shower water had been died, leaving them all purple skinned and ticked off that magic didn't seem to have any effect. Chairs were spelled to walk away just as the person was about to sit down on them. Draco Malfoy walked around for half a day before he discovered the sign on his back that proclaimed, "LACE IS FAR MORE PREFERABLE TO BOXERS!"

It continued on for a long time, the mutants never failing to have a new idea. After a while though, things began to calm down, and the pranks became less and less. That is, of course, until a package of pranks arrived from Fred and George.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

"Sirius? Can I talk to you for a moment?"

The ex-convict looked up to see his Godson hovering by the door. He and Remus had finished their lesson for the day, and Harry and Ana had left a while ago.

"Of course." He said without hesitation. Harry shot an uncomfortable look behind him and Sirius turned to see Remus going through books on the desk. Understanding crossed over his features and he cleared his throat. "Why don't we talk on your way back to the tower?"

Relief covered Harry's face as he nodded and followed Sirius out of the room, waving once to Remus. They walked in silence for a while, with Harry trying desperately to figure out how he was going to ask this and Sirius trying to figure out what was bothering his Godson so much. Deciding to try for normal conversation to start with, Sirius covered his features with a wicked grin. "I've heard some strange things have been happening in the school."

Harry only grinned in response.

"You wouldn't have anything to do with it would you?"

"Ummm…"

"I'm sure my own Godson would have told me if he was participating in a pranking extravaganza."

"Well…"

"You know, I have all the pranks the Marauders did recorded in one of my journals."

"Really?"

He nodded, and Harry let his imagination run wild with the thoughts of what could possibly be in the book.

"I'll even lend it to you if you let me know one thing."

"What?"

"Why are you pranking people? Every good pranker needs a noble reason."

Harry frowned. "It's not that noble of a reason."

"Revenge then?"

Harry sighed. "Sirius, how did you forgive Remus?"

"Ah, so that's what this is about." Sirius ran a hand through his long black hair. "It's hard to explain it. I suppose the main reason why is because I betrayed Remus before anyone else. When we first met in the Shrieking Shack Harry, you heard how I had believed Remus had been the traitor. We knew there had been a leak, and that it was one of us, and I not only believed that Moony was the spy, but I also convinced your Mum and Dad of it as well."

Sirius paused as they reached to Mutant Tower and Harry let them in to an empty common room. The others were either still in classes or training outside. Sirius sat down on one of the couches as a dark look crossed his features. "You probably don't understand what it was like back then. No one could be trusted. Friends and families were being torn apart. That's what Voldemort does best. He spreads disorder and mistrust among the side of the light. It was because of this distrust that caused your parents to die, and he did it again when you were framed."

Harry stared deeply into the fire. Sirius was right, Voldemort had played them all, and everyone had fallen for it. He knew that if Ana hadn't broken him out of that prison cell that he would have died there, and the Wizarding World would have fallen as a result of his death.

"Harry, I know how you're feeling. Trust me, out of all the people in the world, I know best how you feel. Merlin it took me forever to just be able to look Dumbledore in the eyes without having this giant urge to break his nose."

"So how do you get over it?"

"You don't. I don't think I'll ever get over it Harry. I lost twelve years of my life because of their mistakes." Harry looked at his Godfather, and saw how tired he looked. "However, you have to remember one thing. If you don't let go of your anger, you're still letting Voldemort win. I'm not saying to forgive them, and for Merlin's sakes don't ever forget it, but don't forget to live either. I know you and your friends are going to be a big part of this war, and you can't fight if you hate the side you are fighting for." He paused. "What was that saying Moony was talking about?" He tapped his chin while he thought. "Ah yes. Ahem. 'Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something is more important than fear.' Something to that effect anyway. The point is that you need to have the courage to look past what was done to you and see what really matters."

Harry sighed. "I suppose. Thanks."

Sirius smiled and put an arm around his shoulders. "You'll be fine. You have some good friends to back you up this time, and you always had me and Remus on your side."

He got up from the couch and just as Sirius was about to leave, the portrait swung open and Ana dashed in with a shocked look on her face. "What is it?" Harry asked, worriedly looking over her form to see if she was injured.

Her book bag fell to the floor as she started to rub her face, still looking as if she had just seen Voldemort prancing around, dressed in drag. "I just saw…you wouldn't believe… I can't believe… WHAT THE BLOODY HELL!" She shouted, startling the two wizards in the room. Sirius looked like he thought Ana was a few sickles short of a galleon.

"Ana, what happened?" Harry asked, now both worried and perplexed.

She finally seemed to notice them and visibly tried to calm down. "I…I went the library, and I lost track of time. There was this one book, it was so interesting…" Sirius' worried look deepened with the added information that Harry's best friend seemed to be a bookworm and he shuddered. Ana was oblivious to this and continued with her story. "When I realized the time, I tried to take a short cut, but ended up getting more turned around and landed in this old hallway that I'd never seen before. There was…" She stopped suddenly and her eyes went wide.

"What? There was what?" Harry asked franticly, thinking that on some level Ana was just keeping them both in suspense just to be particularly cruel.

She didn't answer, and instead got a dreamy look upon her face. "Nothing. It was nothing."

Sirius snorted. "Harry, I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but your girlfriend is a complete nutter." He said in a deadpan voice.

"She's not my girlfriend." He mumbled back, but secretly agreed on the nutter comment as he watched Ana make her way up to the girl dorms, a strange smile upon her lips.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Reviews:

Menio: Yeah, I know, but really, if I was that picky about that sort of thing, then I wouldn't have a story! The X-men universe takes place in the 2000's and Harry in the 1990's. I realize the song wouldn't have existed yet, but I couldn't not put the story in either, it was a huge inspiration for the start of this fic! Glad you like the story though!

Sahaqiel89: I'm sorry the last chapter didn't really do it for you. Hopefully this one is a bit better.

Jollander: I can understand what you mean, he is pretty understanding, but I blame that totally on my poor writng skills. In my rush to get chapters out I totally missed my plans to help Harry's maturity grow with talks with other mutants and the instructors. Also, I've read a lot of the Harry goes to Azkaban fics and I just wanted something different than Harry hates everything die ron die die die! Lol! Same goes for Ron, although I sort of see him as the same situation as the fourth year. He totally turned on Harry when he thought Harry had put his name in the cup but then when he believed him he was able to put his pride aside and the two made up. I made this the same… only this time it wont be a simple hug and make up! Kurt isn't wearing is image induser as Hogwarts doesn't let electronics work in the school, so Kurt's been trotting around in his full blue glory.

Cole: wait…. WHAT! You… really? ……. Weird.

Mouse: XD! Curious much? I'm not going to answer any of those questions though, its much more fun for you to find out by reading the story!

Nooka: yes, he did take his wand with him. Sorry, bad writing….

Bluefire-elemental/grins/ actually, Welcome to my life and sound the bugle now were the two major influences for this fic!

Meggplant: I would like to thank you! Your review inspired a scene in one of the last chapters! Thank you soooo much!

AND NOW!

This was my absolute favorite review of them all:

The following review has been submitted to: Of Slings and Arrows

Chapter: 37

From: qwertyuiop( )

ew simple plan. you godamned prep.

XD

Yes… I am a prep….. /snort/ right.. on with business

IMPORTANT NEWS!

Alright, I am currently working on the next chapter, and I hope to have it done really soon! I promise to have it out and updated by Wed the 20th at the very latest! After that I will be gone for two weeks as my grandfather is taking across the country to BC/cheers/ totally cant wait! Anyways I'm taking a brand new notebook along to finish the next few chapters so you all should hear from me by the 9th or so.. but I make no promises! That's all! Hope you all are satisfied knowing where Hedwig and dobby are (finally) Please let me know what you thought of this chapter!

Ta!

The Original Pe

PS: heres a clip from the next chapter titled 'Trips Wagers and Death.' (oooooohhhhh)

Silence rang in his ears as he watched the faces of the captured mutants turn from disbelief to anger. Ginny turned her head away, tears of rage pouring down her face. He looked past Kurt who was staring at him with a dark hard look to Ana, who had an unreadable expression on her face. For one precious second, his heart filled with hope, but that was dashed as soon as she spoke, loud and clearly. "You're a disgusting liar."