Author's Notes: You all had some pretty good questions, so I will answer a few.
Paul visiting Hogwarts: What an idea.
Does the Ministry know: Dumbledore has not told anyone outside the Order.
Can we trust Joe/Paul: No comment.
Ultimate weapon to defeat Voldemort: Not telling.
Draco practicing Hermione's writing: He doesn't. She had written out a schedule. I had thought that was clear, but it must not be. I'll go back and fix it later.
Snape: Has his own motivations. That's all I'm telling you.
Art class: It's supposed to be fun. Harry draws what he wants and his teacher is not complaining in the slightest. Use your imagination. What would you draw if you could?
Vernon and I talked while Harry and Dudley were napping today. We talked about how to keep Harry safe from the magical world. I've told him about my sister and how she and her husband died (Dumbledore left us that much). I don't want the same thing to happen to Lily's son. I can see her in his eyes and it makes me think that Lily is watching me.
Vernon thinks that if we raise him without a hint of magic around him, he will turn out to be a normal little boy. No talking about magic, no stories with magic in them, nothing to do with the "m" word. I can only wonder if this will work. Will it be possible to keep magic from coming out in him? Will he be just a normal little boy?
Dumbledore wrote that Harry will be famous when he "returns" to the wizarding world, when it is time for him to attend Hogwarts. How can an eleven year old child handle fame? That MAN spoke of my nephew having fans. I asked about protection for him, and he said that my home was protection enough. Huh. What am I supposed to do if a bunch of wizards show up on my doorstep looking for him? Tell them to leave?
Vernon thinks that if we are strict with Harry, he will turn out normal. I can only hope he is right. Dudley is so very normal and I wish Harry will be as well. My husband, bless him, has said that we will need to act accordingly to show Harry what is normal and acceptable, and what is not. Once he has passed the age at which Dumbledore will find him completely normal and leave him with his family, we can then start to show appreciation for Harry's talents and accomplishments. Can I really wait ten long years before I show that I care about Harry's schoolwork, his personality, or his well-being? Can I stay strong enough to protect my nephew, now second son?
If God is listening, may He grant me the strength I need to see this through to the end.
Harry handed the journal over to Paul and Joe and drew his legs up to his chest. Petunia sat across from him. He put his head down on his knees and proceeded to ignore everyone in the room. Why did Paul want him to do this? He had only a year left until he could leave the Dursleys. Why would he want a relationship with any of them now? It was too late. He just wanted to be left alone.
Paul closed the journal and looked at Harry in his usual "Please Ignore the Human Ball" pose. "Harry, please un-ball." Harry looked up and lowered his legs. "His" pillow immediately appeared in his arms. Paul let it go. It was an accomplishment that Harry was willing to try a joint therapy session with his aunt. Hugging a pillow would not make a huge impact here. "Why don't we start with questions you might have about what your aunt wrote in the journal you just showed us?" Paul asked, pulling his chair closer to Harry. Harry's eyes widened and he froze. Huh. Deer in headlights. "You must have at least one question." Harry released his pillow and rubbed his hands on his pants legs, displaying his nerves for the other two participants.
"Why?" His eyes dropped to the floor and he refused to look up at his aunt. Paul motioned that it was Petunia's responsibility to answer.
"Many reasons." She hedged. Joe nudged her to continue. "To keep you safe from the magical world, for one." Harry's head jerked up and he stared at Petunia in terror.
"He knows?" Harry demanded, pointing at Joe. "You told him?"
"Yes, I know all about it. Well, what your aunt has told me, at any rate." Joe answered for Petunia. Harry buried his face in his hands and groaned. He sat for a few seconds before leaping up from the couch and heading for the window. He skirted around Petunia and Joe as though they were Death Eaters and stopped before the window.
"Here come the owls." Harry muttered to himself, eyes scanning the sky for his expected deluge of avian postmasters.
"No owls have shown up at the house, in case you are wondering. I have a feeling that that Ministry does not monitor normal folks' conversations." Petunia told him. Harry ran his hands through his already messy hair (he had not bothered trying to comb it today. His aunt never thought he did anyway.) and sighed.
"Harry, please come back and sit down." Paul asked. "If the Ministry does show up, I'll educate them on patient/doctor confidentiality laws and how their precious little secrets will not leave our respective offices." Harry turned to Paul with an eyebrow raised.
"Nice sarcasm." He commented. He looked to the window again, shook his head, as though to dismiss the thoughts of owls, and returned to the couch.
"Thank you, Harry. Now, back to your question." Harry picked up his pillow again and sighed.
"You were trying to protect me?" He asked, the disbelief evident in his voice. Petunia looked a little lost for a second before appearing to have rallied herself in her head before answering.
"I didn't do a very good job of it, did I?" She asked, allowing a small smile to show. "I did not want you in the magical world. I still don't, but if you insist on going back there after you leave here, I'll wish you the best of luck and happiness." Harry nodded and looked at her for the rest of her explanation. "Your headmaster came to use several times after his first letter to tell us of what to expect when you grew older. You were going to be famous. How was I supposed to prepare you for that?" She asked.
"Vernon and I decided to raise you as if we had never heard of the word 'magic'. We were trying to make you normal." She shrugged, a little helplessly, and looked at Joe. "It didn't work." Paul motioned for everyone to take a breath while Petunia pulled herself together.
"Any other questions?" Paul asked Harry. Harry shook his head. All of the mistreatment, the yelling, the 'no questions' policy, the degradation was done to protect him? It almost made sense if he used Dursley logic.
"Petunia, do you have a question for Harry?" Joe asked. Harry quickly thought of the ground rules. No shouting. Listen to what the other has to say. If you cannot answer a question or address a topic now, tell us and we will approach it at another time. Understand that patience is necessary. Tell us if you need to stop. She could not force him to tell her anything he didn't want to tell her. Good.
"Is there anything you like about the nor- um, Muggle, world?" She asked. Harry stopped to think about it. What did he like about the Muggle world?
"I like movies." He told her. He paused. There were other things he liked, right? "Karate lessons. Drawing?" Her smile encouraged him to go on. "Theater. I got a part in the school play here. I like that."
"A part in the school play?" She asked. Harry nodded and Paul sat back as Harry dropped the pillow and opened up a bit about what was quickly becoming his obsession.
"Yeah, I get to play Edmund from King Lear." He explained. "Joe's been helping me with my lines." Harry stopped there. No need to tell her more than she wanted to know. Petunia blinked and relaxed a bit.
"Do you like your part?" She asked. Harry nodded and pulled his school bag closer. The battered copy of King Lear appeared in his hand.
"He's so 'out of my way, world!'." Harry explained. "He doesn't let anything stop him to get what he wants." Harry paged open his book to his favorite soliloquy. He paused and looked at Petunia to see if she wanted him to continue. She looked down at the book. "This line here 'Wherefore should I/Stand in the plague of custom, and permit/The curiosity of nations to deprive me/For that I am some twelve or fourteen moonshines/Lag of a brother?' It's like he's saying he doesn't care about the rest of the world." Harry's eyes took on their particular bright light he usually had when he talked about his character. "He's so brilliant." Petunia gave him a smile and nodded. "I can't wait until I act him out on stage." He said that last part to himself than to her.
"When will that be?" She asked. Harry looked up at her, startled and seeming unsure of what to say.
"Beginning of November." Paul answered.
Petunia sat back and eyed Paul. "Is this only for students, or are parents allowed as well?" She asked.
Harry stared at her for a few seconds before asking a whispered question. "You want to come?" Harry asked.
Petunia turned back to him and eyed him. She nodded and gave a small smile. "I would like to, if you don't mind. I happen to be very fond of theater." She explained. "It was one of the few things I enjoyed about school."
"Will Uncle Vernon want to come?" Harry asked, unconsciously edging closer to Paul. He could handle Aunt Petunia watching him, but he didn't think Vernon would be very respectful of the theater.
"I fear he would run everyone out of the theater with his snores. He can't stand it, so I always go alone." Petunia told him as she settled back in her chair.
"Paul, it's not too late to get her a ticket, is it?" Harry asked.
"Not at all." Paul told him as he sat up to put his notebook on the desk.
"Can she sit next to Hermione?" Harry had abandoned his pillow long ago and could barely sit still with excitement.
"I'm sure we can arrange something." Paul assured him. He watched as Harry turned back to discussion with his aunt about Shakespeare. Joe raised an eyebrow and Paul nodded back to him. They would talk after Harry went to his next activity. A buzzer sounded from the corner. Harry looked at the buzzer with a fierce glare before standing. "Have fun at art, Harry." Paul said.
"I will. Bye, Aunt Petunia. Bye, Joe." Zen hissed a good-bye, which Harry answered with a wave. No need to scare Joe out of his wits.
"See you next week, Harry." Harry disappeared out of the door and down the hallway.
"That seemed to go well." Petunia said as Paul poured out a glass of water for her.
"No, it didn't." Paul explained as he handed out refreshments. "That was one of Harry's fast ones." He offered Joe the biscuits and ignored the caffeinated beverages in his mini-fridge. They would have to wait.
"Fast ones?" Petunia questioned. "What do you mean?"
"Harry was in survival mode." Paul explained. "I've seen more of his survival mode than I have of the real Harry." He motioned to Joe.
"The same with me. He opens up a little before he changes the topic, and he does it in such a way you never notice until after he's off doing something else." Joe told Petunia.
Petunia's face fell. "I thought we were doing so well." She told the two therapists. "I thought he actually understood."
"Oh, he might." Paul interrupted. "Remember, he was in survival mode." Paul took a sip of his own drink and relaxed his shoulders. "He gathers information, hordes it, and then goes over it in his head before asking a few questions to come to his answers and understanding. Give him a few days. I'll phone you if he asks me questions I'll need you to answer." Petunia nodded her understanding. "Oh, Joe. Nice bluff."
Joe smiled and stretched. "Oh, I loved your little warning. 'By the way, Joe, Harry has these cool magic powers.' Very nice. I could barely cover my shock." Joe's dry comment cut through Paul.
"I can have Harry come back in here and talk to Zen for you , if you like. Zen will probably request a mouse." Paul said in his most serious tone.
Joe's face changed from smugness to trepidation. "You are serious?" He asked. Petunia nodded.
"My nephew is magical." She told him as she finished her water. She handed the glass back to Paul. "Of the flying broomstick, magic wand, variety." Petunia smiled at Joe while he processed the thought.
"Magic is real?" he asked, as thought he was almost afraid to hear the answer.
"Yes, it is real." Petunia told him.
"Bloody hell." Paul smiled as Joe voiced his thoughts. He had felt the same way when Harry had told him about it. "Bloody hell." Joe would be fine.
Harry left art class and started to head back to his room. His art teacher had begged for one of his drawings to be displayed andHarry had given in. After all, he thought he did a pretty good job of showing what a Hungarian Horntail looked like in real life. That is what he liked about art class. He could draw whatever he wanted, and no one looked at him strangely for it, whether it was a kitchen table or Voldemort himself. He was often praised for his imagination. He didn't want to hurt his art teacher by telling him it was real. He looked up when he felt eyes on him.
"Come." Sensei said with a small jerk of the head to indicate direction. That was what Harry liked about Sensei. He never led anywhere, but walked with you to the destination. Harry fell in step with Sensei and smiled when he realized that they were headed outside. He didn't need to explain his pause just inside the doorway. Sensei understood his need for caution. Sensei led Harry over the walkways to the little wooded part in which he had attacked Harry with golf balls. Harry hoped that it wouldn't happen again. He hadn't done too well the last time. "Sit." Sensei gestured to the ground under the tress. Harry sank to the ground and got himself comfortable. "Now, meditate." Harry closed his eyes and walked through the steps Paul had taught him. "Breathe." Oh, right.
Harry jumped when a hand fell on his shoulder. "Breathe." It was Sensei. Harry felt Sensei move his thumb back and forth on his collar bone. That was…soothing. Harry had a feeling that if Sensei demanded for him to move, Harry would be unable to follow the order. "Relax." Already there, Sensei. Harry couldn't find the energy to tell the man verbally. Harry's head fell down on his chest. This wasn't supposed to happen, was it? Was this still meditation? "Don't panic. Breathe slowly." What was going on? "Focus on this." What had Sensei done to him? "Just on this movement." Harry found that he could not focus on anything else. It felt like all that was left of him was that spot Sensei was running his thumb over. He was vaguely aware of Sensei rearranging his body to lie down, but he couldn't figure out whether his back had been lowered first or his legs stretched out. "Just this." Harry wondered if Lockhart had taught Sensei the spell to make bones disappear, because he felt like his whole body had lost its bones. "Focus on this." Sensei continued talking to Harry, but Harry couldn't make it out. Something was happening in his head, but he wasn't sure what it was. He wanted to panic and fight his way back to coherency, but he was too relaxed to manage it. Wait a moment. He knew this. He was inside his head. He had cleared his mind!
Severus reared back from the dinner table, causing the entire staff of Hogwarts and a fair number of the students to stare at him. He quietly excused himself from the meal and the presence of his fellow teachers and left the Great Hall at a brisk walk. Once he passed the doors, he rushed to the dungeons at a near run. He slammed into his quarters and added so many wards to the door and walls that he doubted even Albus would be able to break through. He doused his fire and covered all the portraits. He wanted absolutely no one to find out what he was about to do. He discarded his heavy outer robe and folded his long frame into his favorite chair. He leaned his head back, closed his eyes, and settled his breathing. He felt the spell he had set up long ago enact and a "room" sprung up around him. He could see Potter ahead of him and looking around his room. Snape stood from his sitting position and moved forward to confront the boy.
"Well done, Potter." He said in his most menacing voice. "It's about time." Potter whirled and his wand appeared in his hand.
"Snape." Professor Snape nodded and faced Harry. The boy was eyeing him with some kind of emotion in his eyes. Snape could not name what it was and Potter was not giving him any further clues. "Are you real?" Harry asked. Snape snorted at the question. "What I meant was are you a figment of my imagination, or are you really in my head?"
Snape wondered what had caused the question. Could Potter really have experienced such a thing? "If you have daydreams of me in any fashion, Potter, I'm going to be greatly disturbed." Snape's comment earned a disgusted face from the boy. "I'm sure we're both relieved that that is not the case."
"Alright. You're completely real." Harry stopped and looked at the man. "Before you say anything else about why you're in my head, sir, I wanted to apologize for looking into your memories. It was extremely disrespectful on my part, especially since you were willing to teach me." Harry paused. "I questioned Remus and Sirius about it. I didn't tell anyone else." Snape raised an eyebrow. "Sirius wasn't too happy, but I got my point across." He held himself ready to deal with a verbal lashing, but only a whispered question came.
"And what was your point?" Severus stared the boy down. He knew a few things about this mental room thing that Potter did not and he planned to use them.
"That the way my father and Sirius treated you was no better than how my cousin and his gang treated me when I was younger." Harry said, watching Snape as he answered. "That age had nothing to do with decency."
Severus folded his arms and sighed. "I accept your apology." Harry relaxed at his statement. "I know for a fact that you are not lying."
"How?" Harry asked. Snape waved his wand and conjured two chairs and motioned for Harry to take one. Harry stared at the chair.
"It won't bite you, Potter." Snape told him as he sat in his own. "Sit down." Harry backed up a step.
"Forgive me if I'm wrong, sir, but could you tell me what you said to me at the beginning of my second year?" Harry asked, wand still at the ready. Snape gave him a look as though asking about Harry's sanity. "Please, Professor. Just humor me."
"I said that if I had been in charge of your punishment, you and Weasley would have been expelled for flying that car to school." Harry dropped into the chair happily and relaxed. Snape eyed the boy. "May I ask where that came from?" Snape asked.
"My own mind hasn't been exactly reliable lately." Harry told him. "I just needed to make sure you are who you say you are." Harry pulled his legs up and sighed.
"The Dark Lord?" Snape asked. Harry shrugged. Snape decided to teach what he came here to teach and then leave as quickly as possible. "This, Potter, is your 'mental room'. Here, you are in control of everything."
Harry turned and looked at Snape. "How did you get here, sir?" Harry asked. Snape was a bit annoyed at being interrupted, but the explanation was a valid request.
"I made a pathway in your mind during one of our meetings. I knew I was failing right before we stopped. I figured I could use the pathway if you ever cleared your mind successfully." Snape waited for the outburst he felt sure was coming.
"I don't know whether I should be upset or grateful." Harry told him. "Please continue, Professor." Harry waited for more explanation. Could this be the answer to his prayers about learning and mastering Occlumency?
"This is the state you should be able to reach at a moment's notice. I'm sure you've noticed by now that you don't have random thoughts floating around in that head?" Snape had brought up a good point. There were no random thoughts. Harry was concentrating on only one thing at a time. This was great! "To practice this, make it a habit to clear your mind every other doorway, every five breaths, or something similar, so long as it is comfortable to you. Continue that exercise until clearing your mind becomes second nature to you. This should be like breathing to you, Potter."
"Yes, sir." Anything to keep Voldemort out of his head. He decided that every five breaths would be a good thing to use, because he could practice everywhere. Snape seemed satisfied.
"Now, Occlumency is very hard to define, but it is a selective method." Severus paused. Potter did not look like he understood what he had meant. "It is letting your attacker see what he wants to see without giving any information away. Do you understand?" Potter's face screwed up in concentration.
"I understand the concept. It's like a slide show." Whatever that may be. "Pictures on a screen, right?" Snape could not believe that the Gryffindor actually put it all together like that.
"That's it exactly. Can you do it?" Snape asked and was disappointed to find Potter shaking his head a few seconds later.
"I understand the what, but not the how." Harry explained.
Snape stood and banished the chair away. He motioned for Potter to stand and banished his chair as well. "I suppose the easiest way to help you learn this is to show you what I mean." Snape walked a bit away from Potter and faced him. "Wand out, Potter." Harry held up his wand. "Now, I want you to think of a topic, anything really, and concentrate solely on that. It helps if you close your eyes while you think of it." Harry's eyes fell shut and he tried to think of one that would not offend Snape. Wait a minute? What did this mean?
"I don't want to invade your mind, sir." Harry said as he opened his eyes.
"I'll trust you to be discreet about what you see, Potter." Wow. Professor Snape trusted him that much? "Of course, I'll be controlling what you see. Remember that. You can see nothing I don't want you to see." Harry nodded. "Now, close your eyes and focus." What did Harry want to see? "Do you have your topic?" Harry nodded. He knew exactly what he wanted to see. "Open your eyes, make eye contact, and say 'Legillimens'."
Harry raised his wand and focused on what he wanted to see. "Legillimens." He was surprised at the lack of resistance he faced. Images started to appear in front of his eyes. A little red-haired girl with bright green eyes popped into his mind. She was dressed in robes, obviously on the Hogwart's express and was smiling. She was in the Herbology greenhouses. She was working in the Potions classroom with wisps of smoke curling around her. She was twirling by herself in the hallways. She cheered on a Quidditch match. She studied in the library, her hair pushed back from her face as she leaned over a rather large book that would have made Hermione proud. She punched his father in the face. She accepted a flower from someone and smiled. He watched his mother grow up before his eyes. The last memory was a little surprising, but it was nice to see. He blinked and the contact was broken. "Thank you, sir." Snape only nodded. The last memory caught up to Harry. "You kissed my mum." Snape snorted.
"She kissed me, Potter." He eyed Harry. "I assume you're about to ask why." Snape said when he saw Harry's face.
"I was trying hard not to, but if you're offering an explanation…" Harry tried not to look too hopeful.
"That was our seventh year. She knew about my family forcing me to accept the Dark Mark. She convinced me to go to Dumbledore. She went with me for what she called 'moral support'. At the time, she was the only one who knew, besides the headmaster, of course, what side I was really on. She kissed me after the meeting and said thank you." Severus paused. "She was to me what Miss Granger is to you, after I stopped being what she called a 'pompous brat'." Ask nothing further Potter. I have nothing left to say. The gods had to be with him that evening, for Potter only nodded.
"Thank you for showing me, sir. It's nice to see her from a different perspective." Snape inclined his head in a short nod.
"Have any idea how to do it?" Harry focused his attention and nodded. He could do this. "Then do it." Harry took a deep breath and waited. Severus made eye contact and said the spell. Harry felt his professor enter his mind, but it didn't hurt this time. He smiled to himself as Snape started looking for one thing. Harry brought up harmless images of he and his friends being out during curfew, using swear words, and ordering banned joke items. "Well done, Potter. It looks like you've finally gotten the hang of this." He wanted to add thank God but felt that the comment would undo the work he had done.
"Thank goodness." Never mind, Potter beat him to it.
"I'm leaving now. The pathway will close behind me. Now that you've managed it once, you'll be capable of it from here on out, so long as you practice. Do you think that you can manage that?" Snape raised an eyebrow.
"Anything to keep Voldemort out of my head. He's been such a nuisance." Harry told him with a smirk. Snape snorted and shook his head.
"Only you can refer to the Dark Lord as a nuisance. Have you forgotten that he wants to kill you?" Snape turned serious. This kind of flippant attitude could easily kill the boy.
"No, sir. It's kind of hard to forget something like that. He'll have to find me first." Harry told Snape. Snape raised an eyebrow and stalked forward to Harry. He reached out and plucked at the shirt Harry wore.
"A Muggle school, Potter?" Harry realized that Snape could easily tell Dumbledore where he was.
"Not my idea, sir." Harry refrained from begging the man to keep his secret. It was tempting, though. "Are you going to tell Dumbledore?" He asked. He could at least pack if Dumbledore was coming. Snape gave him a look that clearly asked if Harry was crazy.
"And risk telling him exactly how I found you? He would know that I had failed in teaching you Occlumency. How would I look then?" Harry's face broke out into a wide smile. Easy there, Severus. You're comforting Gryffindors. That's dangerous ground there. "Did you want me to tell him?" Snape asked, just to cover all his bases.
"Not really." Harry answered. Snape growled that it was a yes or no question. "No, then. I don't want you to tell him." Snape gave a short nod and faded away.
Harry saw nothing but a white room surrounding him. Snape had said that he was in control of everything? This was going to be fun. He closed his eyes and waved his wand, much like Voldemort had done on several occasions. He opened them again to find a rather cozy room with a roaring fireplace. He wandered over to it and imagined a rather large and familiar looking pillow. It popped into view. He settled down onto it and stared into the flames for a few minutes. He had a rather intriguing idea and he couldn't wait to see if it would work. He just needed to find the perfect time to do it.
Snape opened his eyes, surprised to see that he had been "gone" for almost three hours. He smiled to himself, snorted, and fought down the mirth that threatened to ruin his reputation. He snorted again, unable to keep it back. He threw himself backwards in the chair and laughed. Oh, the irony of it all! Potter, Gryffindor's Golden Boy, wanted to attend a Muggle school! Snape indulged himself in laughter for a long while. When he trickled down to chuckles, he could hear several people on the other side of his door, asking if he was alright. He locked away the chuckles and cleared his mind as he went to the door. He opened it to find Minerva, Albus, and Mad-Eye on the other side.
"My dear boy, are you alright?" Snape struck his most intimidating pose and sneered.
"Is a grown man not allowed some time alone?" he asked, feeling the laughter just below the surface. Potter didn't want to come back to Hogwarts!
"Your actions at dinner frightened us. We thought something was wrong." McGonagall explained. Severus rolled his eyes.
"I'm not a first year, Minerva." He snapped, feeling just the slightest bit of irritation. Oh, wait. Potter was one of her students, and Snape knew that one of her students didn't want to come back to Hogwarts.
"That's what Potter used to say." Mad-Eye commented. Snape snorted at the name. McGonagall bristled at what she thought was an insult to one of her students. A sixteen year old was managing to hide from an entire adult Order of wizards, and no one knew where he was. Except Snape. There was justice in the world. Mad-eye's magical eye rolled over to stare at Severus. Snape glared at him.
"Well, you and Harry are both fiercely independent." Dumbledore said, trying to peer around him into Snape's rooms. Snape let out a short bark of laughter before resuming his normal façade of irascible Potions Master. "Are you feeling alright, Severus?"
"Yes, of course, Headmaster." Snape answered. The headmaster thought that Potter was trying to return to Hogwarts! Severus started laughing and would have fallen if he had not grabbed the doorjamb on his way down.
"Albus, he's ill! He needs to go to the Hospital Wing!" McGonagall's wand appeared in her hand, only to be stopped by Mad-Eye's comment.
"He's lost it." Moody said, sounding as though he was an authority on the subject. Dumbledore shook his head.
"He's happy, so lets leave him to it." Dumbledore shooed both teachers away before turning back to Severus. "Come and see me in my office tomorrow morning, Severus."
"Certainly, Headmaster." He said in a serious voice before descending into laughter again. Dumbledore smiled, wondering why Severus was so happy. That needed to happen again. Severus did not have enough joy in his life, although that had gotten better since Draco had become a permanent part of his life. Whatever had happened to put the man in such a good mood needed to happen more often.
Hermione hummed to herself as she went down the stairs towards the library. Remus Lupin had come through in several ways and had recommended a few good books to Hermione for independent study, which Hermione then ordered from Mr. Arcane in Diagon Alley. She had copied the books and sent them to Harry via her parents. Everything was working out the way she had hoped. Harry was getting better, slowly, but he was getting there. Remus was her confidant about studies, and Ron was leaving her alone after she had snapped at him about how some things, like homework, were more important than listening to the various school rules over and over again in case of an attack.
She couldn't understand Ron. Sure, he was something none of his brother's had managed, but why did he have to turn so, well, annoying about it? She avoided him now by hiding out in the library and joining any group of people that happened to be near her should he appear. He loved his new power and she often found him scaring the first years with stories (some of them exaggerated, some of them not) about Death Eaters and Voldemort and the horrors they did to small children. Ron had had only one encounter with them and he had turned it into a dozen…for the good of the school. If Hermione heard that phrase cross his lips one more time today, she was going to hex him into next week! "It's for the good of the school, Hermione. They need to be prepared!" Ron had told her last time she had scolded him for frightening the first years. He hadn't been the one to stay up with Sophie Matthews, trying to get her calmed down enough to sleep, and the nightmares afterwards! Hermione was so lost in her thoughts that she did not see the other two people in the hallway until they had grabbed her and pulled her into an empty classroom.
Wards and locking charms immediately went up while Hermione found her balance again. She whirled to face her attackers, hexes springing to mind (several of which Harry had taught her) when she realized who had pushed her into the room. "Neville?" Neville gave her a sheepish smile and nodded. "What is this about?" Luna finished her charm work and came over to Hermione with a small smile.
"Sorry about that, Hermione. This is about…" Luna held up a hand, waved her wand, and then returned her attention to Hermione. "Sorry. I didn't want anyone else listening in. We want to know how Harry is doing." Hermione raised an eyebrow and started to prepare her "I miss him so much!" phrases. "We already know that you know where he is, and that you are in daily communication with him." Hermione stared at Luna.
"How?" Hermione asked. This issue needed to be addressed immediately. She would need to be more careful in the future, especially if Luna noticed.
"You carry a Mini-Messenger. My father invented them two years ago for our reporters to use to send stories back no matter how far away they were. Mini-Messengers always do better in pairs. You write in it everyday. No one writes to their parents that much, and your parents don't have a wand, which they need to work one, at least the first time around." Luna explained in her dreamy voice. Hermione stared at her. Who knew that Luna could be that observant?
"You seem to know something everyone else doesn't, but you hide it well." Neville told Hermione as she sank into a seat. "We don't want to know where he is. I guessed that if he felt he needed to be somewhere else that was his right to do so. Just, how is he?" Hermione considered actually telling them. Luna and Neville were two of the Protectors, that was true, but they were also original members of the D.A.
"I don't know if I can trust you." Hermione told them. Neville sat in a seat next to her and sighed.
"Did you know every Protector takes a vow when they become a Protector?" Neville asked. Hermione shook her head. No, she hadn't known that. "They do. Ours was a little different. We swore to help protect Harry Potter. He was named. If he is safe where he is and wants to stay there, I would be breaking my vow to protect him." Hermione looked between the two of them for a few seconds. She bit her bottom lip and shook her head.
"Hang on." She went on the other side of the room and whispered the password for her Mini-Messenger.
Skywalker, you there?
I'm here. What's up?
Neville and Luna just cornered me. Luna's father invented the Mini-Messengers and she put two and two together to come up with Harry Potter's spy in Hogwarts. Amazing, huh?
I am deeply impressed. Now what?
They, she and Neville, said that they don't want to know where you are, but how you are. Can I tell them that?
I won't mind if you say how I am. Just no real details, please. Me being in a Muggle school is one thing, but a Muggle mental institution?
I know, you're the Boy-Who-Lived. Blah, blah, blah. When are you going to stop thinking of yourself that way?
Who says I do? It's everyone else in the wizarding world, aside from most of my friends, that is. Go ahead and tell them how I am. Could you tell them that I say "hi"?
Sure thing, Skywalker.
Hermione closed the book and faced Neville and Luna again. "Harry says hi. He also said that he is fine and that he is safe." Neville stood from the desk.
"That's all we wanted to know. Thanks, Hermione." Luna pulled Neville towards the door. Hermione cleared her throat.
"Could you not tell anyone that I'm in contact with him?" She asked.
"In contact with who?" Luna asked. Neville smiled at Hermione as the pair disappeared out the door. Hermione stared after them for a few seconds before pulling herself together and leaving the room. She still had to visit the library. She went around the corner to find Ron talking to a bunch of first years about the dangers of Death Eaters. This was a perfect way to blow off steam.
"Ronald Weasley! I warned you!" She was happy to note that Ron actually looked frightened as she descended on him.
Author's Note: Okay, this chapter is the last one for the next two weeks (I'm back in school now.) I'll see you all then! Thanks for reading, as always.