Chapter 41–The Search For Friends

Hermione stood silently for a moment once the door slammed behind Ron. Harry noticed that she was using her thumb to crack the knuckle of her index finger in a way to calm herself down before going after Ron herself. Harry watched as Hermione pulled the door open with much more strength than what was needed before exiting the chambers, allowing the door to close on its own. Harry looked down at the list and record files that were left behind by the two. Picking up the list of the girls' names, he noticed another familiar name. Putting the lists in his bag and picking up the record files, Harry made his way to his Professor who was still in his private potion lab.

"Sir?" Harry announced himself.

Severus looked up from the potion he was working on to see that Harry was standing just outside the door. Grabbing one of the rags by the side of the cauldron, he cleaned off his hands as he waited for the child to speak.

Harry slowly made his way into the lab, his eyes quickly going to the bloodstain that was now soaked into the stone floor from his suicide attempt. Taking in a deep breath to steady his nerves, Harry looked back up and handed the file over to his Professor. "I think we are done with this, for now. Could…could I go out for a little while?" Harry asked hesitantly.

Severus looked surprised by the request but still gave the child a small nod of approval. "I expect you back here before dinner," Severus ordered.

Harry nodded to show that he understood before he headed out the door and to his room to grab his invisibility cloak. He was not ready yet to be seen by everyone, not yet. Draping the cloak over himself, he left the safety of the chambers and started to wander the halls of Hogwarts. As Harry made his way past the Slytherin common room, he eavesdropped on conversations from unsuspecting Slytherins until he heard what he was looking for: where Draco had gone. After hearing that Draco was out in the Quidditch pitch along with the rest of the Slytherin team for afternoon practice, he made his way up the stairs and towards the Quidditch pitch.

Harry stayed under his cloak the entire time, watching as Urqhart ran different plays with his team until he deemed them good enough to leave for the day. Harry stayed in the background, watching as everyone packed up and started to make their way to the changing rooms. As Draco passed him, he reached out a hand and placed it on the blond boy's shoulder.

Draco quickly turned himself around, seeing nothing. Shrugging it off as just a strange feeling, he continued to make his way to the changing room until he felt something touch his shoulder once again. He whirled himself around with his wand held high. "Who's there?" Draco's voice quivered a little as he asked the question.

"Put your wand down, Malfoy!" Harry ordered as he revealed himself.

Draco flicked up a brow as Harry partly appeared before his eyes. "Potter!" He spat as he lowered his wand a little. "Spying on us to see if we have any new tricks for our game, are you?"

"Lockhart," Harry muttered quietly.

It was a silent unspoken agreement between the two of them: the name meant something serious and that they needed to talk. When either of them spoke the name it meant they had to put aside their differences, no matter what grudges they may be holding against one another. This would be the only thing they would not fight over.

"Follow me," Draco said as he made his way to a secluded space under the stands, also known as a secret make out spot students would use during Quidditch games instead of watching. Draco had also even found himself under here with Pansy a couple of times.

Once under the cover of the stands, Harry took the cloak off and set it aside. "Alright, I'm listening," Draco said once he was able to see Harry.

"I was able to find the names of the students who had detention with Lockhart," Harry explained. "Astoria Greengrass is one of them."

"So?" Draco stood a little straighter, acting tough.

Harry rolled his eyes, seeing right through Draco act as he saw Draco eyes quickly widen for a moment before he had recovered. "Draco, the whole school knows you like her. It's either her or Pansy, but she isn't on the list." Draco glared at Harry for a moment before he glanced to the ground. Harry leaned in a little closer as he started to dig through his pocket. "Honestly, I think Astoria would be better for you. Pansy is…shallow. You aren't the only rich boy she fawns over and you know it." Harry said as he pulled out a folded piece of parchment and handed it to Draco. "These are all the Slytherin names that had detention with Lockhart. I would like you to talk to them, see if they are able to remember anything. If not, then leave it be. We don't want to trigger any memories," Harry explained.

Draco stared down at the parchment for a moment before grabbing it and stuffing it into his bag. "Thanks for that, Potter," Draco muttered.

Harry just gave a small nod before grabbing his cloak and started to leave until he heard Draco again.

"No…seriously, thanks" Draco added in a lower voice.

"Let me know if you find out anything," Harry said before placing the cloak back over himself and disappearing.

Down in the Great Hall, yelling could be heard. Harry carefully made his way through the crowd until he was able to enter through the giant doors to find Ginny on the ground, her hands pressed tightly against her temples as tears streamed down her face. Hermione was knelt down next to her as Fred and George were having a yelling match with Ron.

Harry could tell what had happened and his heart broke for Ginny. She didn't deserve this. As Harry watched Ginny get her memories back in the same way he did his anger rose. He wanted to kill Lockhart. He wanted to destroy the man who did this to her.

Without thinking twice about it, he took off his cloak and made his way over to Ginny and knelt down in front of her, noticing that her eyes were currently glazed over Harry could imagine the horrors that were playing within her mind.

"Ginny?" Harry spoke softly as he reached up and moved her hair that was draped across her face but a cold shiver ran down his spine when he got no response, not even a flinch from the girl that he loved.

"I got her," Harry said to Hermione as he took Ginny by the arms and stood her up. He debated on whether or not he should take her to the hospital wing or to Snape, but seeing Ginny's condition, he decided on the Hospital Wing since it was the closest to them.

Carefully, he guided her out of the Great Hall and to the Hospital Wing, keeping his arm tightly around her. Just before he left the Great Hall though, he shot a death glare at Ron. He didn't know what went down but he knew the reason Ginny was getting her memories back was because of him. He had told Ron not to; that it might cause her to gain them back and now she had to relive the pain of what happened to her three years ago, something that should have never had happened.