A/N It has been too long, hasn't it? I'm sorry, guys, I really am. This past month-and-a-half has flown with the last stretch of my entrance examinations coming up. I know I have been using the same excuse since day one but the sad thing is this has been happening for the past two years, so...

In terms of updating and storyline, I am right on track, though, as per the preliminary plans, I had hoped to be nearly completing this year by now. And yes, this story will have sequels as there is no way our main trio can do everything they have to this year.

I also checked my previous ANs and I know I have been teasing the horcrux arc for too long now but this chapter was supposed to be the one. But... I had to divide it into two because it was so goddamn huge. Not to toot my own horn, but I am really proud of this chapter and I finally feel that the flow of the story has begun. With nearly all the subplots introduced (or teased!), it would be extremely fun to watch it all come together.

I will write quite erratically for now (at least, I am being upfront about it this time xD)and expect the next update around the first week of October after which my exams are over, and we are in for a ride.

It's a bit disappointing that I got only a couple of reviews for the Dumbledore chapter because it was really interesting to write (plus it gave a lot of sub-plots for the future too). Again, a reminder, I am not abandoning anything. Please understand, I am a committed man :)

Enjoy and Review!

Chapter 12: Crying near Christmas: Enter stage left

As Harry grumpily trampled back towards the castle, he glared at the crow on the birch tree towards his right, almost as if it was the crow's fault what happened.

The raven croaked as if saying, "Who, me?" and flew off towards the setting sun. Harry huffed loudly and continued walking, hoping to hell that no one caught him, especially Snape.

Snape was an enigma of a man. Any goodwill that Harry had carried for Snape from the previous timeline was quickly evaporating because he was being reminded of how horrible he was.

'And for no reason to me...Ron, I can understand of course, smarmy git…" Harry muttered as he pulled the invisibility cloak onto him and used the secret entrance beneath Ravenclaw tower to enter the castle.

What else could Ron have expected? Flowers and cake? There was more chance of Snape wearing a tiara and doing an irish jig. Snape ignored Ron almost as if he wasn't there except to make abominably rude comments about 'reckless gryffindors' or 'idiotic redheads' whenever he passed their table.

But with Harry, Snape continued, making comments about his lack of potion skills and complimenting Malfoy for correctly making a befuddlement potion. It would have been genuine and well earned had Malfoy done anything till that point. 'I mean boiling water and stirring and you get 25 points. Blatant favoritism.'

House points didn't matter to him. And he knew he wasn't particularly brilliant in potion, courtesy of the potions master.. And yet, it was almost as if the roles were reversed. Ron calmly ignored everything while Harry let Malfoy get under his skin.

To be precise, it wasn't even an exact reversal. At least Harry had visibly tried to control his anger and irritation but Ron looked as if he wasn't even listening to Malfoy.

And that was it, wasn't it, the root of the problem? How Ron was behaving right now. He understood the outbursts and….

'It is just...resentment', Harry huffed as he decided to go to the owlery instead of the common room or his dormitory. 'Resentment that he was easily being so calm while Harry's nerves were feeling frayed. It was a lot but… someone had to do it. He couldn't just sit there and watch others getting bullied or slurs thrown at them. If he interfered sneakily, without revealing himself, how much of a change would it be?' The other two, apparently, didn't agree.

He reached the owlery and called Hedwig down. After checking the coast, he started talking to Hedwig.

'It's nice to see you... I missed you' The snowy owl affectionately nipped his fingers as he stroked her white plumage. 'Plus it's easier to talk to you than Ron now. Idiot. Did you know he nearly wrecked our meeting with Sirius? He startled him and reminded him of Pettigrew and then Sirius went...crazy. I was so close to deciding with him when the next meeting will happen. Don't give me that look! I'm not overreacting. I hate him for being this calm and composed and for ruining everything, it's getting on my nerves. Everything's working for him, isn't it? He doesn't get bullied much by the twins anymore and he is talking to Ginny more..,and... He has Hermione' His voice tapered at the end as he finally reached the crux of his irritation.

'He has someone. And it's bloody perfect. But for me? Nothing. I can't even talk to Ginny properly because I'm scared that I will change things too much with her and us will never happen. I don't want her to be stuck on stargazing at me or downright not liking me in that way but it's difficult to just let go and spend all my time with her, because I know that there are always chances that we may not get that time ever, even this time.'

'Why does it always happen to me, Hedwig? Why me?' Harry asked as he looked at the night sky and wished that things were better and easier. Hedwig hooted at him as if to tell him that everything was going to be alright.


"But where do you think he is?" said Hermione. "Good gracious, Ron, you don't think he is still outside the grounds , is he? He needs to come back before curfew !"

"I daresay that is his — er — eventual plan," said Ron evasively. "But I hope he is not pissed off enough to not wear his cloak."

Hermione glared at him and opened her mouth to possibly start a long tirade but Ron wasn't in the mood. He had already heard Harry get angry after the Sirius fiasco a few hours ago.

It wasn't even his fault! Harry had been happy to be reunited with Sirius and Sirius was obviously more happy to find his godson loving him and not blaming him for anything but...telling him about time-travel and the future when the guy is still confused about how Harry knows about Peter being the secret keeper and how he and Ron found out where Sirius was hiding was just plain idiotic. Even thinking about it was confusing, let alone explaining it.

The Sirius Harry knew for the most time was the one who had actually recuperated after his Azkaban stint. This Sirius, on the other hand, was still on the after effects of Dementor shocks would not have been able to understand and follow Harry at all.

Harry, due to his giddiness, was ignoring the signs and Ron couldn't blame him for that. But he did blame him for getting so angry when Ron tried to steer the conversation off to different topics, namely, Pettigrew and he hoped that would make Sirius trust them and meet Professor Lupin.

It didn't, instead it made him momentarily unhinged, but it was worth a try.

'Not according to Harry, ' Ron thought and snorted. But this was the wrong thing to do because Hermione had just started speaking.

And she would think that he had snorted at her! 'Brilliant, today is the one for the history book...how the fuck can a day go so so wrong?'

Then as Hermione started speaking in clipped tones, Ron allowed his thoughts to wander and came to the realization that Hermione, taking her character as a whole, was not, remotely, of the artistic genre. She had none of the infinite patience and delicate imaginativeness of the true artist.

But the fact remained that today, of all days, she was impelled by some inner prompting to speak in such a clipped and verbose manner, that it looked more like a roasting poem than a lecture.

Ron tried hard to not snort and focused back on Hermione who had not noticed his inner thoughts and continued her tirade on 'decency and politeness to listen to other people' which in Ron's opinion was ironic since she herself was not following her maxim.

He considered kissing her to shut her off which had been his go-to plan for a chunk of his adult life but he immediately ruled it out because it was an idiotic idea to begin with in these 'troubled times'. Plus, being with a younger version of your wife was a pathos which he wanted to avoid for as long as possible.

What more to do? He felt his temper flare at Harry again. The idiot could be harping about the 'plan' all day and night long but now with just a couple of days left and he starts a freakin' temper tantrum. Which, indirectly led to all this.

And now Hermione. He loved her but the thirteen year old had still not learned that people didn't like getting lectured at, particularly not after a trying day and in the middle of the common room. He knew his reputation would survive, only the git Mclaggen was sniggering while most of them paid no attention to them.

His attention was peeked to the 'their' seat near the fireplace where Seamus, Dean and Neville were sitting besides a couple of first-years playing gobstones while Colin Creevey lounged near the window, trying to balance his history of magic textbook on his index finger.

Colin had as much chances of success as Hermione had of stopping and he left them both to their own devices. He started nodding and pretending to listen as he had done for years with his mother while he leaned against the wall. He kept an eye on Hermione, because she was looking adorable getting red-faced, and tuned his ear to Seamus's voice because, as evident from the rapt attention from the other two and the sneaking glances from the rest, he was talking about something interesting.

"-different from everybody else in the world," stammered Seamus ecstatically. "You simply couldn't describe her. No one could!"

Neville continued to nod along with rapt interest as Dean covered his mouth to prevent snorting at Seamus's proclamation and made no comment.

Only Colin, having given up on the balancing book act, showed verbal interest. "How's she different from anyone else?" he asked. "Is she blind or lame or something'?"

Seamus turned on him with exasperation. "Oh, go and play with your camera!" he said. Turning to the other two first years, who were snorting like Dean was, "And you two! Fuck off"

They packed up their gobstones and ran with what looked like shaking fear but was probably a result of holding their laughter for too long. Colin retired with dignity to the window and listened, with interest unabated, to the rest of the conversation.

And Seamus's cursing had got Hermione's attention, which was exceptionally lucky for Ron, as it meant her forgetting about his own faults. As she warned Seamus to stop cursing, Ron winked at Dean and Neville, who were still laughing, and turned Hermione to the unoccupied table and asked her help for his DADA homework.

He made sure to remember to ask the others later in the dormitory and instinctively turned beside him to grin at Harry, only to be reminded that was not there.

He had still not returned.


'What is the use of being here, Dumbledore?"

Harry ducked behind a wall hanging in the owlery as he heard voices coming his way. He pulled the invisibility cloak out and draped it over himself.

"Severus, I prefer the open as a place for discussing things. It's much better than being cooped up inside all day long in my office. And in your case, the dungeons. A breath of fresh air will do both of us some good."

Dumbledore and Snape! Just his misfortune...or luck, Harry thought as he sat in the corner, besides the cages, with a clear view of the parapet. He settled just as the white cloak of Dumbledore came into view, followed by the swishing black one of Snape.

"I don't need fresh air. What I need is for you to take me seriously and...wait!" Snape paused as he swished his wand in the air.

Harry was expecting this and, hence, prepared. After the war, they had finally realized, after much research and experimentation, that Dumbledore's perceived omniscience in the matter of finding out about Harry's whereabouts despite the cloak was courtesy of a simple Homenum Revelio.

With the help of Hermione's capability of research and spell-making and Ron's newfound interest & proficiency in charms, they had managed to adapt the shield charm to prevent them being revealed due to the Revelio.

Of course, with everything that Hermione did and said, it was difficult to perform correctly and he had had to practice a lot before she 'allowed' him to use it. He was lucky, though. Hermione was so paranoid about Ron's safety, on the other hand, that she made him practice for months, before 'allowing' him to use it.

So, when Snape performed his charm, Harry twirled his wand and slashed a cross in the air in front of him murmuring, ' Detegam Protegens' in perfect synchronization.

Nevertheless, he held his breath until Snape looked satisfied and tucked his wand inside his robe before swishing about and facing Dumbledore.

Dumbledore for his part merely looked amused at Snape's paranoia. He said, 'well?"

"I had to check" Snape remarked as he glared at him. "Back to it, though. Surely, you must find this suspicious?"

"Suspicious ? no. Amusing ? yes" Dumbledore said as he grinned and walked over to the railing. "I must confess, I prefer the Astronomy tower over this place. Owls never did sit well with me."

"Listen to me. This...this was something else, it wasn't just his usual brashness and impudence. There was something about Weasley-"

"You never have been perfectly rational about Harry and his friends, Severus. Surely, this is all just a misunderstanding-"

"No!" Snape glared and Harry could see the anger in his cold black eyes.

Dumbledore's smile dimmed as he turned and stood before Snape with his robes whipping around him, his face illuminated from the moonlight from the clear night sky. " I can see the lack of lucidity from here. Here-"He jabbed his wand in a graceful triangle and a yellow light beamed out over Snape-"mitescere"

"What did you do to me?" Snape said though he looked more calm.

"Merely a watered down version of the cheering charm. Your anger took control over you. I reiterate it again: I take you very seriously, Severus. If you have something to say, proceed but do so with calmness."

Snape nodded as Dumbledore again turned his back to him and looked over the grounds. Snape walked over next to him.

"Weasley's angry tirades are just one of the long line of curious incidents that have involved them both" Snape looked sideways at Dumbledore's crooked-nosed profile. "There's something different about him...and Potter"

"Harry" Dumbledore said and for a moment, Harry was scared that he somehow knew about his presence but it turned out he was simply correcting Snape.

"Potter" Snape went on, ignoring Dumbledore's interjection, "Potter and Weasley have marked changes. Changes that weren't there some time ago. Their improvement in Potions-"

"No doubt due to your teachings, Severus" said Dumbledore and even from his hiding spot, Harry could hear the mirth in his voice.

"Don't mock me! Potter is incapable of learning. He is as arrogant as his father, a determined rule-breaker, delighted to find himself famous, attention-seeking and impertinent-"

"Severus, enough. Your bias against him is clear as day"

"And your bias for him is equally clear" Snape continued venom in his voice. "You fail to bring him down from his high horse, the same as you did with his father and his friends when they were engaged in-"

"Bullying?" said Dumbledore coldly. "I may be older than you, Severus but my memory is still as sharp as ever. James may have had a knack for pranks but he was never a bully. His only altercations were with you and your friends and they were rarely unprompted. James was wrong, Severus, but it would be a folly to think that you were an innocent bystander. And I did give him detentions and advised him to grow up and be better. And he did-" He placed his arm slowly on Snape's wrist and his voice went softer"- and so did you, Severus."

" No, I didn't, Albus. I am still the same person as I ever was. It was only my choice-"

"Our choices are what decides our destiny. It is our choices, Severus, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. And whatever you may have done, it does not bring down the nobility of your actions."

"Don't call it nobility" He jerked his hand away from Dumbledore's. " I only did it to save her and I failed" His voice broke. " "Gone . . . dead . . . I wish I was-"

"And I told you this before, what use would that be? Stop living in the past, Severus."

"And forget her?"

"No. Remember that it is her son whom you hate so much"

"What I do remember is that he is his son. I cannot change, Albus, and I do not want to. I can't. None of us can. Don't you see? Most of my school mates are either dead, incapacitated or in prison. This war and the Dark Lord…"

"Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light"

"Sometimes...sometimes there is no light to be found, Albus. And if your instincts are correct, then it may turn darker soon."

"He will return, Severus, and soon. After Quirrell and the unicorn blood, he is close to rejuvenation-"

"Then stop him before he returns. Before another generation is plagued by war."

" How can I, Severus, when I am not even sure how he still survives. Where is he ? If I leave to find him, If I take my ear off the ground, I risk leaving our wizarding world in the hands of corrupt people, people funded by families like the Malfoys"

"This is more important."

"It's a matter of perspective, Severus. I can't be everywhere. I am only a man after all. "

" A man who can defeat him-"

"Is it fear?" Dumbledore inquired quizzically at Snape's incessant demands. "Is it fear of him or of fear of what he will start?"

"The latter. I do not fear him"

"Yes, yes... you are a braver man by far . You know, I sometimes think we Sort too soon. . . ." said Dumbledore with a far-away look in his eyes.

"We do." Snape said and Harry had never seen him look so vulnerable in person. "All I ever wanted was to fit in, to belong and in that I forgot my humanity... and morality and joined them...You know what I hate the most, now ? After seeing what has happened and what can. I- I hate that if the prophecy would have never been said, I would have still been there... Happy and content in killing and destroying lives. That's not all, though. I hate myself more for wishing that it was true because I simply do not live anymore, Dumbledore. "

Snape turned towards Dumbledore " I merely exist."


As Harry walked towards the common room, his mind was full. Full of all the things he had heard . All the things he had seen. He remembered the first time Dumbledore had introduced him to the Pensieve, it felt like a lifetime ago.

What had he said ? "I sometimes find, and I am sure you know the feeling, that I simply have too many thoughts and memories crammed into my mind."

At that time Harry couldn't truthfully say that he had ever felt anything of the sort. That wasn't the case at the moment.

His head felt as if it might burst, as the past and future collided. The dementors! How he hated them!

It was all their bloody fault. He was sure it was the dementor's presence which had caused their memory dampening charm to weaken and caused all those horrible memories to return with a bang!

And even more horrible was the grim realization that the darkest of those had not yet been brought forward, almost as if the dementors were saving it for desert.

As he neared the Fat Lady's portrait, his steps seemed to slow. It was a weird feeling, an inexplicable emotion, something which was tough for him to understand himself, let alone explaining to anyone else.

He wanted to be left alone and yet he didn't want to be lonely. He was so bloody tired of being made to feel pathetic and worthless. The more people elevated Harry-bloody-Potter, the more his sense of worth fell. He wasn't as great or strong as he was meant to be. He was the literal definition of unexpected disappointment.

He had thought he had his feelings under control, but the dementor shock was getting to him. It was dredging up every old wound, every scar-both mental and physical-to ache.

'I have to stop going out of the grounds then', thought Harry. 'Staying in the castle would be much safer and better.'

He whispered the password to an already drowsy portrait and shuffled inside, quiet as a shadow but the common room was not unoccupied. He heard laughter as he discreetly observed the scene.

There was a small chink of glass on wood as Hermione set down her glass of butterbeer on the table. "You know, Ron, if you don't want to miss the last day of classes before term ends, you better head back up to your bed"

"Here I thought, we could finish off some homework first" Ron quipped as he chugged down his glass too and vanished their glasses.

"Okay, so we have…" Hermione placed a teetering stack of books on the table in front of Ron. " Herbology, Potions and DADA. So where do you want to start?"

Ron muttered something sneakily resembling quidditch as Hermione huffed and opened her DADA textbook but Harry wasn't listening.

A cold drop of poison was working its way through his heart as he watched them working together and it hurt. His feeling of loneliness intensified and he had never felt so lost before. All alone, with no one-

"Anyway, I really don't want to study. I am waiting for Harry."

Hermione smiled, "So was I but I thought you were angry with him?"

He raised his eyebrows, "So?"

"Well-"

"I may be pissed off at him but I won't just go to sleep when Merlin knows where he is" Ron exclaimed as he hummed a tune, rather than reading the text Hermione had underlined for him.

Harry's heart swelled with happiness and relief, and he felt like joining in with Ron's tuning as all his earlier thoughts evaporated. It wasn't just the silly old tune that Mrs. Weasley hummed around the house when she did the cooking and washing. It was the sign of the good ol' days.

He started humming in return as he grinned at Ron, who jumped in surprise, and said, "Sorry". Ron merely waved his hand off and asked him where he was all this time. As Harry told the both of them about his travels of the day, Hermione tutted all the time as she furiously worked her quill on her essay.

Harry wasn't sure whether she was tutting at him or the bloke responsible for the 1618 wizarding virility epidemic. He really hoped for the latter.

Ron watched Harry nervously all through his recounting of his experience, trying not to interrupt. As Harry finished and stretched to remove the kink in his back, Ron stood up and walked around the table towards Harry, forming a rough triangle between the three of them.

"You said you were 'just behind me'. I assumed that meant a few minutes or at most an hour." Ron folded his arms and maintained the icy stare, his battle stance. "Not five fucking hours!" He said furiously.

It was difficult to give a sarcastic retort or snappy remark in response because Harry was still high on happiness. It was difficult to be angry with Ron when the care and concern shone through his words.

He apologized and grinned at Ron and Hermione, who thawed and smirked back too. It felt good to be wanted, he thought, as they led through the motions. Hermione brought out the notes she made in the library but Harry was in no mood to discuss that.

He simply wanted to enjoy the present, he thought, as they decided to meet early morning the next day and review her notes. He wanted to savor the moment because who knew how long it would last, he thought as they bid each other goodnight and went up to their dormitories.

And as Ron told him about Seamus and Colin's verbal exchange with great amusement and snickering, and as they changed and got into their respective beds, Harry felt the happiest he had been in a long time.

Well, no. Happiness wasn't the right word. He was content. Content to be Harry, with Ron, just two kids snickering over someone's sordid love affair.

Ah, childhood, indeed!


The last week of term had brought in an unexpected increase in snowfall. So much so that the schedules were changed to have a couple of classes with the Hogwarts Express running after lunch to take the students back towards their families, for the joyous occasion known as Christmas.

To him and the other two, it was the date of action. Their opening move in the battle against Riddle. Sure, he was benched for the game but that did not mean he was not feeling the jitters. He had woken up at 3 am, barely getting some meagre hours of sleep, too sprung up to properly rest. He hated being out of the task. While all of them were attending the classes (horcrux or no horcrux, no one was going to get Hermione to miss classes), Harry was going to leave with the rest of the students, though he hadn't exactly broadcasted it. Remus had talked to Dumbledore a couple of days ago and had got permission for Ron and Hermione to stay until Christmas evening and then they could floo to their respective houses.

The three days had initially been two but Hermione had relentlessly argued that even if the task itself wouldn't take much time, they had to sneak under Dumbledore's nose to the room of requirement. It would all depend on their luck. The other two had agreed.

Another complication had been their destinations. Ron had written to his mother and told her about the extra work for DADA and how he would floo over on Christmas evening and between that discussion over when Harry would arrive, Hermione had asked about plans for her.

"Well, you would go your own home" Ron had stated and had his tact not increased since the past 6 months, he would have been confused with the abrupt hurt expression that was on Hermione's face for a split second. "See, it's not like I don't want you there, why wouldn't I?"

As he shifted in to face her, he continued, " I really do want you there but you rarely spend time with your parents, Hermione, and...you did...admit that you regretted not spending more time with them, Well….the future you did. I don't want you to regret this time." His expression had grown sheepish and Hermione had gone all mushy and happy about his concern and Harry had felt nauseous.

He had mimed gagging when Ginny had walked by and she had snorted which had greatly improved his mood. And then she had plunked herself down beside a fellow second-year boy and his great mood had diminished.

As a rule, he made sure to hide his expressions around Ron on this matter because unlike his previous iteration, this Ron found Harry's reactions amusing. "She is just a 12 year old, mate. Nothing will happen. Jeez, you are crying over milk which hasn't even been milked yet."

Perhaps hilarious would have been a more apt description.

Their early morning discussion had to be cancelled as soon as he had fell asleep, barely minutes after the plan had been conceived, as Hermione had woken Ron up and told him about Fred and George's planned prank to set off half a dozen Dungbombs at dawn in a fit of end-of-term high spirits. Her information came from an inside source (Ginny) and was corroborated by Ron's simple identification that it fit their Modus Operandi.

Ron, being a good friend, had chosen not to wait until morning to tell Harry and had instead roused him from deep sleep. Harry had expressed his sincere gratitude by smacking one on the back of his head.

And now as he had no interest in smelling dungbombs, he had quietly sat upright and used the Lumos charm to inspect his bedside cabinet.

He pushed his books aside and quickly found what he was looking for — the leather-bound photo album Hagrid had given him two years ago, which was full of wizard pictures of his mother and father. It had been his most treasured possession...until it had burnt along with the...he tried to stamp that thoughts out of his head as he started turning the pages, searching, until . . . He stopped on a picture of his parents' wedding day.

There was his father waving up at him, beaming, the untidy black hair Harry had inherited standing up in all directions. It hadn't been just him who had had that same look. The pictures of James Potter Senior were the only medium in which Harry could imagine his son...his dead son, James Sirius Potter could have grown to look like.

It was a bittersweet moment, as it always was watching his parents. There was his mother, alight with happiness, arm in arm with his dad. And there was Sirius. His face wasn't sunken and waxy, but handsome, full of laughter. A faint shadow of the man he was right now and would always be. It wasn't fair at all. It wasn't fair that he had spent more time in Azkaban than he had with his best friends. None of it was fair.

He looked back towards his parents. His happy and overjoyed parents. Parents who were jubilant on starting this new phase of their lives, to live happily ever after. Till death do us part.

He slammed the album shut, reached over and stuffed it back into his cabinet, took off his glasses and laid down, making sure the hangings were hiding him from view.

He closed his eyes but he could still see his parents beaming up at him from the page, unaware that their lives were nearly over, that this phase was going to end as soon as it had begun.

That James Potter and Lily Potter would stay together till death. Only then would they part.


After a night of fitful sleep, he had woken up to Ron eyeing him strangely from the bed. When he gave Ron an enquiring look, Ron had simply shrugged and said that it seemed like Harry was having nightmares again.

Harry thought it was probably the dementors that were responsible for this new predicament but didn't say anything to Ron. He had a tendency of thinking and hyping himself too much before any big task and they couldn't afford jitters before this one.

They quickly got ready for the day and walked out of their dormitory, relatively early, as the other three were still sleeping.

"Harry, you — you look terrible."

"Why the tone of surprise ?" Ron snickered as Harry simply shrugged. Somewhere on the back of the mind, he was reminded of perusing the notes of the book they had found but he had no intention of starting that now. He felt too restless for it.

Harry wanted to slump into a chair next to the fire. Snow was still falling outside the windows. Crookshanks was spread out in front of the fire like a large, ginger rug. It would have been heavenly to just laze around. But...no, they had to have potions today! There were better ways to finish the term.

"You really don't look well, you know," Hermione said, peering anxiously into his face.

"I'm fine," said Harry.

"Mate, listen," said Ron, exchanging a look with Hermione, "I know you don't like being aside and left out when something like this is going on but...the thing is, you mustn't go doing anything stupid." Harry snorted as Ron continued hastily, "Just don't brood till you come to the burrow, alright? It's a week and-"

"Where are you going?" A voice piped up and Harry turned in surprise to see Ginny Weasley, who had somehow snuck up on them.

Ron and Hermione were hardly good at making up lies on the spot, so it fell to Harry to talk his way out of this mess...but...why not simply tell her?

He told her about how he was going to London till new year's eve and will depart with everyone else. Ginny seemed surprised that Harry actually told her because Harry thought that she was pretty sure she would be told to 'bugger off'.

"You really didn't need to tell her" Ron said as they walked towards potions. Hermione nodded as Ron continued, "It's not-"

"No. I needed to. It's not easy for me to just sit away from her and pretend we are kids, Ron. We have a history. Hell, we have a future. It's not fair at all-"

"Not fair?"

"Yes, not fair. You have Hermione, who do I have?" Harry said roughly and, for once, Ron didn't shy away from the topic.

"You know, this whole whining is getting on my nerves-"

"Ron!" Hermione shrilly intervened.

"Stay out of it, please, Hermione," said Ron with a forced but polite smile. "Harry, all of us have suffered, alright? It's not a competition. And I know you want to talk to Ginny and, believe me, I want you to too but...don't jeopardise what we are trying to do here-"

"You think she is not trustworthy" Harry retorted angrily. "You think your own sister is not-"

"Merlin, mate, use your head. There is no point in telling anyone because anyone who knows is a loose end. What advantage do we get by telling this to anyone, huh? Why would you bring her in all of this, if we want her to be safe?" Ron said as he walked off and started talking to Neville a few steps ahead.

Harry grimaced as Hermione opened her mouth but she thought better of it and closed it. They walked their way to the dungeon in silence.

Potions lessons, as always, took place in one of the large dungeons. The morning's lesson proceeded in the usual way. Twenty cauldrons stood steaming between the wooden desks, on which stood brass scales and jars of ingredients. Snape prowled through the fumes, making waspish remarks about the Gryffindors' work while the Slytherins sniggered appreciatively.

"Now, now, Potter and...Weasley, what do we have here? ," Snape asked rhetorically, which could have been construed as a polite enquiry had Snape been able to suppress a thin lipped smile. " It always astounds me, Potter, that something as simple as a befuddlement draught cannot be brewed by our most famous celebrity. I daresay I can blame that on you and your thick-headed partner, can't I?"

Snape smirked as he swept off around the dungeon, fortunately not spotting Ron, who flipped him behind his back. Malfoy noticed and, for a moment, looked as if he was going to tell on them but he instead chose the more noble route.

He started taunting the both of them from two seats across where he sat, with a very bored Blaise Zabini who immediately perked up.

"So, Weasel, still in the class, then? I thought you would be booted out of here after that shoddy display of your temper"

"Blind, are you? I have been here for the past three classes, blondie. Plus, thinking doesn't suit you, how about whining?"

"I'm quite surprised that you haven't packed your bags by now," Malfoy went on. "Bet you five Galleons that you won't last another term. Pity it wasn't earlier, it could have saved your parents money —"

"Maybe if you shut up, you could save your parent's reputation," Harry interrupted. "Not that they have much to begin with."

"Don't you dare insult my parents, Potter."

"Keep your fat mouth shut, then," said Harry, turning away. But apparently Malfoy wanted a good fight before the term break and went on.

"Speaking of parents-"

""Get stuffed, Malfoy," said Ron as he pushed Harry with him to Snape's desk, taking the flagon of their potion for him to mark.

"-What would you know about them?"

Ron felt Harry bristle and he gave the flagon to Harry, so that his hands were occupied and not free to bring up his wand, and faced Malfoy.

"You know your mother, Malfoy?" said Ron — now fully conscious that nearly the whole back of the class were watching him and Hermione had grabbed the back of Harry's robes to stop him from launching himself at Malfoy — "that expression she's got, like she's got dung under her nose? Has she always looked like that, or was it just because you were with her?"

Malfoy's pale face went slightly pink and he took out his wand but Ron merely snickered. "Why is it so easy to rile you up, Malfoy? Why do you dish out taunts if you don't have the skin to handle them yourself?"

WHOOSH!

Several people gasped — Ron saw something reddish coming towards him and dodged the stinging hex, which ricocheted off the dungeon floor— he plunged his hand into his robes for his wand, and disarmed Malfoy who looked very pink.

Harry took Ron's arm and tugged him out of the class, their potion forgotten as they hurried off before Snape could somehow punish them.


As Harry and Ron walked towards the DADA classroom, to presumably talk to Lupin or, at least, to not get caught skiving off potions, all Ron could think of was the upcoming 'mission', the altercation with Malfoy, all but forgotten.

Finally, a horcrux that they could retrieve. What Ron was uneasy about was that they weren't going to destroy it yet, they were only safely keeping it. And all that reminded him of was the locket.

He was confident that he could resist the horcrux now, plus, he wasn't planning to wear it or keep it upon himself at all. That was a last ditch measure if things were to go south.

He had to keep calm and just...go through. Just ignore anything it says and keep it inside the safe box Hermione ordered, which incidentally had still not arrived. Plan B had been keeping it in the bedside cabinet in his dorm or his rucksack under his bed, both of them options that he was not too cheery about.

He was glad that Harry was giving him the space because he was pretty sure that he knew he was mentally bracing himself.

He could not make the same mistakes again. And yet, the whole plan seemed like a bad idea. Grown Wizards and Witches could not fight the effects of a horcrux, let alone that of the vilest wizard of the century. As they entered Lupin's office, Hermione ran up to catch up with them and looked quite put out. It took him a moment to register why but he rectified the situation by inviting her over for new year's at the burrow, something which he was planning to do as a surprise later on anyway.

As Harry and Lupin talked and finalized the intricacies of meeting with Sirius and, eventually, dealing with wormtail, all Ron could think about was the horcrux.

Even though he knew that it was the last thing he should do at the time, or for that matter, at any time!

The more he thought of the things that he had repressed, through his own volitions or through magic, the more they would rise. The worse they are, the quicker they rise. The bigger they are, the harder they hurt.

"You can't stop me, Ronald Weasley, and you never will" **


Draco laughed as Crabbe slapped Goyle on the side of his head for eating all his sweets, as they walked to the DADA class, the final class of the term before he could go back to the manor and enjoy the holidays with his parents. Maybe, even a couple of dinner parties...but he didn't think they would agree now.

In the brief fortnight, when Greengrass and Davis had become his friends, he had invited them to the manor and they had accepted; Daphne a bit reluctantly. He had tried to hide it for he had been overjoyed, but now he knew that...they won't come. They had been ignoring him for months now.

But wouldn't it be prudent to confirm? Maybe he could make them understand his stance. Maybe…

There they were, ahead of Nott and Zabini. He couldn't talk to them in front of Nott. What to do now?

His luck may have been working just right as the both of the boys took a right, probably a detour through their dormitories. He ran up to the both of them and fell in one step behind them, waiting for the opportunity to make his presence known.

He needn't have, the moment he had arrived, Greengrass had stopped talking and abruptly stopped. She turned to face him and said, "What?!" with such a ferocious glare that any confidence which he had built up quickly dissipated.

"I was just wondering whether you would-"

"No! Don't you get it, Malfoy? " Ouch, they were back to Malfoy again. "This isn't some petty fight. You choose them. You choose to be with Nott and believe in everything that he says, all that blood-"

"Don't you?" Malfoy asked with an enquiring glance at Tracy. "You think it doesn't matter from where we are, who our family is? It doesn't matter what our forefathers have done for this world?"

"Not enough to make your own actions inconsequential?" Greengrass said with gritted teeth and Draco was reminded, again, of his own doubts, that had been plaguing him for weeks.

"Draco, how could you be friends with him, after what he has done...or nearly done?" Davis asked softly.

"How could you defend Potter and his pals, after what he had done-"

"Who is defending him, here? Certainly, not me" Greengrass said with a sneer. "I hate Granger, Malfoy, because she is a frigid bitch, not because she is a 'mudblood'. Her actions matter more than her ancestry...And for that matter, so does yours. People like you are the reason why Slytherins are shunned. It isn't the view on blood purity, Malfoy, it is what your friends did, like I said. Even my parents agree with the value of blood, yet I do not go around ridiculing Muggle-borns and Blood-traitors. Why do you? How long will you hide behind your name?"

"You have to think for yourself, Draco," said Tracy, though with sympathy

"I am not hiding behind my father-" Malfoy stammered. I agree with him. The thought struck him suddenly. "And, besides, no one rises to the top with being good in this world." How could she not understand? How could she forget that it is their culture that is being eroded by bringing in all these muggle spawns. That mudbloods like Granger pollute the wizarding pool.

"I can't believe my sister thought you were a good person. I can't believe I thought you were not such a...Don't talk to us. We are done, Malfoy."

Draco stammered as he looked from one to the other, but both of them stood resolutely. He raised his hand to stop them as they started walking towards the classroom but they ignored them, even Davis glared at him.

"I don't want to be associated with the likes of you" , Greengrass's words were still ringing in his ears as he followed them into the class. It was as if his mind was slushing, thoughts forming much slower. He saw Lupin say something about Boggarts and then...Potter. He was whispering something in Lupin's ear. Here it was, getting the star treatment again and because of what exactly? Goyle sat beside him as he scratched his nose, a thin scar still visible where Weasley had punched him and jinxed him. Greengrass and Davis sat together, closer to the Gryffindors.

He didn't care now. They could go to hell. He couldn't just sit here and see purebloods being fine with giving up their world. To just let their world be infected with...muggles and their muggle culture.

Nott was right. His father was right. The Dark Lord was right.

He was all in.


Ron tuned Lupin's voice out as he explained about boggarts and how even though they aren't that much a part of the syllabus he felt that they were more in line with the fundamentals of the subject as they lie in the confluence of 'being dangerous' and 'being common'.

"Now, we have dealt with them before, so we know that the thing that really finishes a boggart is laughter. What you need to do is force it to assume a shape that you find amusing. And that would be the case for most of them. Yet, some boggarts who after living in a place for months, grow more and more powerful. Add in lack of light-" Lupin flicked his wand to allow only a sliver of sunlight to go through the thick black curtains, "-and a small space-" He flicked it again as the room got divided by a black wall with an aged wooden door, the boggart, with the cupboard, cut off from view, "-and only one individual facing it, and you have a much stronger and dangerous boggart, capable of complex thinking and partial...sentience. In a nutshell, they seem more real and can somewhat communicate."

The class gasped and, even Ron, in his distracted state, felt a shiver run down his back. Harry looked at him from the side of his eye and Ron shrugged. Who cared about a bloody boggart, right?

"As today is the last day of term, all of you won't be facing it. It is going to be a random selection of students." Lupin finished as students groaned, many of them desperately wishing that they would be the ones that would be selected. Ron was not one of them. He didn't think that facing his worst fear would be a good thing at the moment.

Harry was of the similar mindset. When Remus had first told him at the start of the class, he had told him to make sure that no one could see their fears. He should have added not to pick Ron, for now, he was nervous about the boggart as well.

"Before we start, can anyone tell me about such Boggarts in history, who had occupied a space for a long time?"

Hermione put up her hand as Harry wondered, he was sure he had read it about it in his Auror training courses under 'dark creatures' but trying to answer a question with Hermione next to him, bobbing up and down on the balls of her feet with her hand in the air, was very off-putting. Ron glared at Parkinson, who was miming Hermione raising her hand like a maniac but, luckily, Hermione didn't seem to notice.

Lupin smiled and called her and Hermione started spewing down the answer, "Most Muggle Victorian England legends does feature Boggarts. Some include the Old Boggle of Canterbury who was believed to be a mad hermit that lived in a cave but in reality a particularly small Boggart that had learnt how to make the most of echoes. Another would be the Bludgeoning Boggart of Old London Town and the Screaming Bogey of Strathtully-"

"Shut up, Mudblood, let the professor say something for a change" Zabini drawled loudly and Hermione abruptly stopped, very pink and a little angry. The rest of the class gasped while Ron tried to get up but Harry applied a sticking charm to his seat and shook his head as Ron retreated to comfort Hermione.

" Mr. Zabini ,such language would not be tolerated in my class. 50 points from Slytherin and a week's worth of detention when the term begins." Lupin said with a flat face as the rest of the Slytherins groaned. Zabini started protesting but Lupin ignored him and turned to Hermione, who looked somewhat pacified.

"Like Ms. Granger was saying, the boggart she mentioned was a Scottish Boggart that had fed on the fears of local Muggles to the point that it had become an elephantine black shadow with glowing white eyes, but which my father, Lyall Lupin, of the Ministry of Magic eventually trapped in a matchbox." Lupin said with a weary smile. "10 points to Gryffindor for that answer, Hermione"

Lupin took out a piece of parchment and started selecting students. He chose three: Megan Jones, Eleanor Selwyn and...Ronald Weasley.

Ron groaned when his name was selected, a pit forming in his stomach. Megan went first and Lupin allowed one person to be present as an observer besides him. Megan chose Lily Moon as they both went inside the room, charmed to be impervious to noise from inside as well as outside. The rest of them were left to complete their essay on Boggarts and the class progressed as normal.

Not for Ron, though, as his nervousness increased, what would his fear be? Could it be something much more real than the one he had seen in his first class? And what of the diadem. He couldn't mess up, it was a significant milestone for action and if he failed, it could irreparably destroy their plans.

Harry had chosen himself as Ron's partner for the project and, for once, Hermione had not said anything. She looked nervous too, probably, because she had an idea about the horrors that Ron had faced in the future.

Whatever it was, it was tough as Professor Lupin sent both Megan and Lily to their dormitories and, fifteen minutes later, did the same to Pansy and a very shaken Eleanor. From the whispers she could hear, apparently they hadn't even opened the wardrobe door fully.

Ron' name came up and Harry went alongside him and Hermione again felt the familiar spark of jealousy. She knew Ron would not mind her knowing and Harry acting as his overprotective brother was grating her nerves.

She looked around-no one was noticing her, why would they?- and, then, surreptitiously took out Harry's cloak from his bag. She, then, walked out of the class, placed the cloak around her, and sent a stinging hex to Malfoy for good measure. He yelped and started firing off jinxes at the other side of the class, which caused Professor Lupin to come out with an angry glare.

Her plan succeeded, Hermione entered the chamber and flattened herself against the wall, as Ron flicked his wand and the wardrobe door opened.


To say that Harry was just a little nervous would be equivalent to saying that Harry detested Umbridge- A gross underestimation and embellishment of the truth.

On one hand, it was laughable that they were cowering before boggarts, having faced dangers worse than it. Plus, he knew that at some point, they may have to face them in much more threatening situations.

On the other hand, however, they really should stay away from such dark creatures, for interacting with them substantially increases the chances that their repressed memories may surface, which would wreck someone's psyche on a normal day but Ron was going to retrieve a horcrux in the coming week. It couldn't be worse timing. He couldn't even warn Ron about his worries because doing so right now would be to confirm his insecurities that Ron wouldn't be able to handle it without Harry-which was anything but the truth.

He remembered Remus's words when they had started practicing the patronus charm.

"You are not weak, Harry. The Dementors affect you more because there are true horrors in your past, horrors your classmates can scarcely imagine. You have nothing to be ashamed of."

"I'm scared, Professor."

"Well, I'd consider you a fool if you weren't."

He had thought of letting Hermione join in as well, but he knew Ron and he knew he wouldn't want her to see the horrors of their future. And at the moment, he didn't care whether it was right or wrong, he would follow it.

What was weird was Remus, who was conferring with Ron whether to continue or not-Maybe he did understand the risks-but Ron stubbornly continued and, sadly, Harry could understand it. It was to prove to oneself as well that you could face the stuff of your nightmares. He wouldn't have chosen anything else, if he had been in Ron's shoes.

A loud bang came in from the door and Ron gave a slight jump. As Remus went outside with an angry glare, Harry gave Ron a solemn nod, an unspoken hand of support. Ron's skin regains its color as he brandished his wand, with renewed confidence. Remus returned and gave his wand a final swirl and the door closed.

"On the count of three, then, Ron," said Remus, with a final look, who was pointing his wand at the handle of the wardrobe. "One — two — three — now!"

A jet of sparks shot from the end of Lupin's wand and hit the doorknob. The wardrobe burst open and immediately the hair on Harry's neck raised-something was wrong.

Unlike with the other two, Remus had opened the door fully and no had gone out running- which led to the startling development that there were more than one boggart in the wardrobe.

There were at least three, swirling around like a black typhoon. The smallest wove its way through to Ron and transformed into...Ron?

It was a young version of Ron, around seven or eight years old, resembling the photos he had seen in Mrs. Weasley's album but this Ron wasn't dressed in second-hand clothes...nor was he sporting his bright orange hair but he had brown hair...Harry gasped and instinctively stepped back.

This was Hugo Granger-Weasley, Ron's unborn son. He stifled a curse behind his hand as he looked at Ron who was torn between moving away and touching his...son.

"Miss me?" The boggarts spoke and Ron yelped and moved backwards, the boggart no longer resembling his young boy but rather a dead toddler.

Harry looked at Remus who looked shocked and much older. When their eyes met, Harry knew that they agreed: they must force the boggarts back but suddenly the boggart changed to an adult Ginny who started begging Ron to save her child and only Remus's sticking spell kept him in place. Through his haze of grief he realized that if had gone to Ron's side now, the boggart would have sucked him in too, showing his greatest fears.

The other boggart got in motion too as it started changing into different family members and friends- Fred, Colin, Tonks, Lavender and on and one.

And, yet; Harry had never been more in awe of and proud of Ron before, as he shot the boggart-repelling spell again and again until the two small swirls had gone back inside the wardrobe.

The biggest one began to transform and Harry looked at Lupin again, torn between helping Ron or letting him confront his demons. He shook his head at Remus, the most difficult thing he had to do in the room today, as he waited for the big bad to appear.

" You were supposed to protect me," someone whispered as a bloody and gravely injured Hermione stumbled towards Ron, who for the first time in his life, didn't run towards her but looked at her, speechless and in shock, his wand slipping from his fingers and rolling away. "Where were you?"

She swayed, moaning and screaming , before Ron, who looked horrified yet transfixed, still as a statue. "Where were you when they killed our family and tortured me? ANSWER ME!"

On the ground in front of her , Ron's face filled with anguish and it was difficult to guess who had been through a near-death experience between the both of them.

"Don't listen to it!" Harry said harshly. "It's not real!" He had to make Ron understand. He couldn't let a bloody boggart destroy him.

"Real…" the boggart swirled and now all of Harry's instincts were screaming at him to run out, to take Ron and haul ass.

When the final transformation was complete, Harry could hear Ron's heart breaking, his will crumbling as the boggart-Rose Granger-Weasley looked at Ron with sad eyes, her face morose as if Ron had not given her the chocolate frog she had asked for. "Rose.." Ron whispered as if the simple act of saying her name had taken all his will to live, to join her across the chasm.

He heard a gasp close to him and he shuffled his hand in the supposedly empty air beside him to hear a loud 'OOF' as his hand smacked into someone's head. He could identify her hair as Harry glared at the still invisible Hermione before making a judgement call and turning back to Ron who was approaching Rose and crying out loud, a full high pitched crying Harry had heard only once before, during Rose's funeral.

"Why didn't you keep me safe, daddy?" The boggart whispered and Harry had to grudgingly admit that the boggart was the most calculating and dangerous one he had ever seen. Bringing Hugo was painful but he had existed in the mortal world; he hadn't been born.

But Rose? That was a masterclass. Harry could see Lupin apprehensive, unsure whether to intervene or not. They couldn't do it right now, Ron would kill them. But if they don't , they would, knowingly, kill Ron. He had sunk to his knees, his head in his arms.

" I don't want to die, Daddy" Ron collapsed, still crawling towards Rose, as if by simply touching her, he could get her to stay, to exist.

" I don't want to die. Why can't you save me, Daddy? Don't you love me?" The boggart moved back a little and Ron groaned, frantically trying to catch her.

"I love you, Rosie...," he croaked, the sheer effort evident in forming these simple words. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you. Don't g-go...Plea-se…"

"Riddikulus" Hermione whispered from Harry's side as the boggart disappeared with a pop, the wardrobe door closing, and there was a long, drawn-out scream as if she had banished part of Ron's soul as well.

Harry moved towards Ron, who was shaking and pale, when he suddenly got up and ran towards the wardrobe. Only Lupin's shield charm prevented him from opening the door again.

Ron glared at Lupin and then at Harry, and then everywhere else in the room, his eyes bloodshot and wet, the pupils dilated and pain evident in the lens.

He blasted the room's door open, an uncontrollable piece of wandless magic, and ran out, running away from them as Harry watched helplessly.


A/N I hope you liked this chapter. The double star marked quote was loosely from CW's Flash Season 5, an iconic line spoken by the reverse flash. This site, for some godforsaken reason, does not allow me to paste links here, so simply searching it on YouTube would show you the scene. I really recommend just watching the scene, because jeez, it is really cool. The whole series is actually, pretty awesome and I really like using it's iconic lines (after repurposing, of course)

The whole boggart scene was really angsty, I hope lol. Also, guys share this fic on hpfanfiction on reddit, will you? I want more reviews please. I really look forward to your reviews: your thoughts, your questions, your criticisms, or just someone being a dick and saying I have horrid grammar. It makes my day:)

See ya in October!

Reviews

ihatesandhmm I know right, the names just roll off the tongue. Thank you so much! Coming up with some chapter names was my favorite pastime at the start of the coronavirus break. I hope you spread this across the ocean. (and by this I mean the story, not the coronavirus). Keep reviewing.

Sparkling Ramtemis Jeez, I love your reviews. Considering I know how likely it is to like a story and yet not review it, you are a gem. I always wanted to write a different take on the Ginny/Ron/Hermione debacle. Also, I just realized that that chapter has a paragraph missing, which would have made it more even like, rather than outright defending Hermione. I will add it with the next update. What's TTS? I enjoy writing different POVs too as it makes the story flow, though I prefer Ron and Harry' POV. Yes, exactly, you have hit the nail right on the head. I really wanted to write an original canon Dumbledore without either bashing him or making him look too good and regal. It's difficult but I have you guys to keep me on track. Yes, to the second part as well. The only contention I have with Time travel stories is how quickly they do everything whereas I think the ripples will take time to solidify into something wildly different, though we have already had major difference (HG's abduction being one of them). Thank you (as always) for reviewing.

HPboy me too, son, me too.

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Some lines are taken from Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire and Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows.