Disclaimer I do not own Harry Potter or anything related

"Hey, did you know that-"

"Half the cells in Azkaban are filled thanks to our new professor? Yes, Ron, you've told us that four times now. If your crush on him is that large, just ask him out already." Hermione continued flipping through the Potions textbook, ignoring her friend's sputtering.

"She's got a point, you know." Harry moved his rook six squares ahead, and watched as his last pawn was pummeled to death. "And besides, why are you so interested in him? And Merlin's beard, how the hell are you so good at chess?"

Ron shifted, eyeing the chessboard. "Queen to D3. And I am not infatuated with him! I mean, have you even looked at him? I just think it's pretty cool that we're being taught Defence from someone who's actually been out there, you know?"

"Yeah, suppose so. Oh, bollocks! Rook to E7. Check." He glanced over at Hermione. "Why're you looking at the textbook? Potions is canceled till next week."

"Oh, there's a potion that I heard about and I wanted to see if we'd be using any of its ingredients this year," she said, just as Ron shouted "Knight to B2, and Checkmate!" Some first years looked towards them, but the rest of the House had gotten used to the Trio's chess. "You've got to remember the other side of the king, mate. This is the fifth time it's happened."

Harry shrugged. "Yeah, well, that's what I've got you for. In a real fight we won't be on opposing sides. And what potion were you thinking of, 'mione?"

"Mmm, secret for now. On a different note-" Hermione closed her book and took out her wand. "Muffliato. Do you know of Ernie Macmillan? Hufflepuff student, originally thought you were the Heir of Slytherin, Harry?" She waited for both of them to nod, and continued on. "Well, he came to me earlier and he said something I thought you two should know."

"Hold on," Ron interrupted. "How do you know that what he said was true? And why in the world would he come to you of all people? No offence, Hermione, but we're not exactly popular with the rest of the school."

"You haven't even heard what he said yet, Ron! And for your information, he felt like he had to apologize for thinking Harry had opened the Chamber. And telling us something that concerned us apparently ended his debt. Some old pureblood tradition, I don't know."

"Well," Harry said. "Are you going to tell us, or are you just going to let us sit here, melting in anticipation?"

"No one likes a sarcastic smartass, Harry. Wipe that grin off your face. Anyways, he was invited to tea with Mad-Eye after the Imperius Curse was cast on him. And Mad-Eye kept going on about pureblood traditions, which Ernie felt was strange, given that he, as you've told us so many times, Ron, was responsible for many of the Death Eaters rotting in Azkaban. And then - and this is the interesting part, listen - Mad-Eye's face started bubbling! Ernie was shooed out, but he glanced back and saw him drinking from his flask, and the face was no longer bubbling!"

Harry sat up straight. "Are you saying that our professor isn't actually Mad-Eye?" He nudged Ron. "You hear that, Ron? You've been sending goo-goo eyes at the wrong guy!"

"For the last time," Ron shouted, drawing some looks. "I do not have a crush on Mad-Eye! Krum is much better looking, and he's not actually the same age as my dad!"

Harry snorted. "Mate, you said that loud enough so the Muffliato Charm couldn't cancel it. I think Krum's going to be finding out about your feelings soon enough."

"Could both of you be a bit more serious? Taking on the appearance of another and then pretending to actually be them is highly illegal."

"Yeah, and that didn't stop us from doing it in second year. And maybe Dumbledore knows. Maybe the real Mad-Eye knows. What's your point?" Harry stood up. "Listen, I'll catch you later. I've been wanting to visit the pitch, and the rain's finally let up."

Ron waited for the portrait door to close behind Harry before leaning close to Hermione. "Call me paranoid, but I don't think Not Mad-Eye has the permission of Dumbledore or Moody. And I don't think he's harboring good feelings towards Harry either."

Hermione nodded. "Walk me to the library? I need to return some books." She slung her bookbag over her shoulder. "Do you know what's with Harry? Usually he's the one who sees too far into everything. Why's he refusing to accept that we may actually be in danger?"

"Eh, I think he's just hoping for a normal year, you know? First year was the stone, and then second year we had to destroy the basilisk. And last year there was that whole business with Black refusing to acknowledge him as his godson. It'd be nice to relax and watch someone else try not to get killed, you know? But I can talk to him, get him to see reason."

Harry hadn't visited the quidditch pitch since the beginning of second year, but no one needed to know that. There was no need to worry Ron and Hermione, when they spent ninety percent of their time thinking about him.

Right now, though, he was concerned about a certain set of twins.

"George, Fred." He nodded at each of them, and they paused in their searching of Filch's office. "There's something I need to talk to you about."

They looked at each other and grinned. "Forge," one of them said. "What could an ickle little snake want to talk to us about?"

"Hmm, I'm not sure," the other replied. "Perhaps, and this is just a theory, Gred, but perhaps he needs help shedding his skin?"

"Oh, shut it. Listen, Ron hasn't been telling me or Hermione anything of what happened last summer. So then, start talking."

Their grins fell a slight bit, and they once again glanced at each other. "Er, we went to see the 422nd Quidditch World Cup. You must have heard about that one - there was a Death Eater attack, and the Dark Mark appeared."

Harry had heard about that one - Hermione had ranted about the uselessness of the Ministry all the way from King's Cross to Hogsmeade. "Yeah, so? What about Ron?"

"Ah, yeah. He went with us, of course. It's just, when we were - keep in mind that it was chaos and people were everywhere. It wasn't necessarily our fault. When we were running from the Death Eaters, we got to the Portkey and were transported back to the Burrow. But, well, we didn't realize until a little later that Ron wasn't with us."

"You left him? In a Death Eater attack?" Harry drew out his wand. "What were you thinking? And no one noticed?"

They watched Harry's hands, but neither of them drew out their own wand. "We were rushed and the Death Eaters were everywhere, and, ah."

Their defence sounded like a question, and with a small grimace, Harry cast the Silencing Charm on them. Slytherins might have been known for self preservation, but then, Harry had never fit completely in.

He protected his own, and Ron and Hermione belonged to him, as he belonged to them.