Disclaimer: this story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Chapter five: Plans Within Plans
After Harry had stowed away his trunk, he went in search of his friends. It wasn't long before he located them in one of the compartments. The moment he stepped inside, he had his arms full of a babbling Hermione, while Theo and Draco were openly snickering at his predicament.
"Oh, Harry, I know I already wrote you about it," Hermione said. "But I am so sorry about Sirius and so glad Professor Snape took you in."
"I'm fine, Hermione, really," Harry said, patting her on the back.
Hermione withdrew from the hug and sat back down next to Theo. Harry greeted both boys now that Hermione had calmed down somewhat and sat down himself. Across from him, Hermione was fairly bouncing in her seat, making Harry grin.
"What is it?" he asked her.
"Oh, I'm just so excited for this year," Hermione gushed.
"Oh, come on," Draco groaned, interrupting her before she could build up to full steam. "The school year hasn't even officially started yet. Can we please talk about something else for now?"
Hermione looked slightly downcast at that, but then Theo asked a question about her holiday in Italy, and she was back to her good mood again.
The conversation during the train ride was diverse and the atmosphere lighthearted as the friends rejoiced in being together once again. Still, Harry found himself keeping a close eye on Draco and Theo. Draco, much to Harry's relief, was moving freely without any sign of pain. Whatever abuse had been heaped on him during the holidays, his body at least had been healed. Harry was more worried about Theo. His quiet friend was pale and had dark smudges under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept in days. But at least he was laughing and joking with the rest of them, so Harry hoped that meant he would be okay.
When the train rolled into Hogsmeade Station, the foursome was quick to exit the train and commandeer a carriage. The ride to the castle was over far too quickly for Harry's liking. He knew once they reached the Great Hall, Hermione would have to go and sit with her housemates, where she didn't have any friends and was mostly shunned for befriending Slytherins. Harry felt guilty sometimes when he thought about her up in Gryffindor tower, all by herself. But then he reminded himself of her pale face as she had lain in the hospital wing, dying because of a war Harry could prevent. But not even that thought cheered Harry up as he watched Hermione linger with the three of them to lessen their time of separation.
Eventually, they had no choice but to go into the Great Hall if they didn't want to be late to the Welcome Feast. Just as they entered the room, Hermione held Harry back and pressed a packet of parchments into his hands. Then she walked toward the Gryffindor table without saying a word. Curious, Harry sat down at the end of the Slytherin table, a bit away from the other students. Draco and Theo slid onto the bench across from him, having waited for him to catch up to them.
"What's that?" Draco asked.
"I don't know," Harry said. "Hermione just gave it to me."
He opened the packet and scanned the first parchment. He was both surprised and not surprised at the same time to find a detailed account of laws that impacted Muggleborns differently than Purebloods. A quick look through the rest of the parchments showed a lot of information about the position of Muggleborns in the Wizarding World.
While Harry read, the new first years were sorted into their houses. Across from him, Draco was trying to take a peek at the papers. Harry wasn't so sure it was a good idea to involve his two friends, so he kept the parchments angled away from Draco's curious gaze. When the meal began, Draco took the opportunity to ask about the parchments again.
"Remember what we talked about before the holidays, on the train ride home?" Harry asked. "We talked about Muggleborn and Pureblood differences."
"Yeah," Draco said, while next to him Theo nodded.
"This is Hermione's research on it," Harry said.
"Really?" Draco said, looking interested. "Can I have a look?"
Harry looked at his Pureblood friends. Both of them looked interested, but Harry hesitated in giving them the parchments.
"I'm not so sure that's a smart idea, guys," he said. "We're planning on trying to change things, and with your parents…"
"We're not our parents," Theo said fiercely, with a dark look on his face.
Harry looked Theo straight in the eyes and saw a determined glint there. With a sigh, he conceded the point and handed over the parchments he'd already read. The rest of the meal was spent reading and discussing the information Hermione had gathered.
At the end of the meal, Harry nodded his thanks to Hermione, who was sitting with her housemates at the other end of the Great Hall. For the first time ever, Harry had the feeling that he could do something about the root of the problem that had caused the war. He knew better than anyone that the divide between Purebloods and Muggleborns was what Voldemort preyed on. If he could do so, then the next Dark Lord wannabee could do so too. Lifting the inequality and integrating Muggleborns into the Wizarding World would all help to build a society that was stable and near impervious to Dark Lord of the caliber of Voldemort. And perhaps it would even prevent Voldemort from gaining new followers when he rose again.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHP
Later that evening, after Severus' traditional welcome speech, Harry's housemates were catching up with all of their friends in the common room. Harry slipped away from the group of second years and entered the dorm room, which was blessedly empty.
After coming back from Diagon Alley, Harry had hidden the diary he'd nicked from in between Ginny's books with the locket, both of them crudely wrapped in his Invisibility Cloak and stashed in his trunk. He hadn't dared to look at it for fear of Severus seeing it. But now, in the empty dorm, Harry took out the diary. He was expecting the familiar tingling feeling touching a Horcrux always gave him, but it was strangely absent. Harry frowned; surely the diary hadn't stopped being a Horcrux just because he'd changed the timeline? The Horcrux had been made decades before he had started messing with the timeline, after all. He didn't know if it was how the diary had felt the first time around, as he'd been a bit too preoccupied with staying alive back then to take note of it.
Wanting to be sure, Harry grabbed a quill and ink. He turned to the first page in the book and wrote 'My name is Harry Potter.' With bated breath he waited, only to let out a relieved sigh as the ink disappeared from the page after a few seconds. Clearly the diary was still a Horcrux, despite the different feel to it. He wondered briefly if the different feel was caused by the fact that it was the very first Horcrux Voldemort had ever made. He'd still been young and relatively innocent in comparison to the person he'd been when he'd made his other Horcruxes. Perhaps that had made a difference?
With a snort of derision at his own train of thought, Harry shook his head. Voldemort might be a lot of things, but even at sixteen he had not been innocent. But whatever the cause was for the different feel of the diary, it didn't matter, because it was safely in his possession. With a snap, Harry closed the diary and put it back in his trunk, slipping it into a pile of books he'd brought from home. A tap of his wand later, and his trunk was locked and warded. The Horcruxes safe, Harry left the dorm and rejoined his yearmates, cheerfully celebrating the start of the new school year with them.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
Harry was bored. It was not a state he was familiar with when it came to classes, because even though he'd followed most of the lessons already, his magic still had to learn everything all over again. Except, it seemed, when it came to Defense Against the Dark Arts. Harry had known that he was fairly proficient when it came to Defense. Learning how to cast a corporal Patronus in his third year had taught him that. But he hadn't thought it would extend to his magic relearning, or in some cases just learning, all of the spells, curses, counter-curses and jinxes they covered in Remus' class so easily that he never needed more than two tries to get it right. One try was usually enough in most cases.
With a sigh, Harry threw another Blasting Curse at one of the large boulders set up specifically for this lesson on the Quidditch pitch. The rock exploded into a shower of tiny fragments. It hadn't taken any effort, and it was the third curse he'd thrown in under a minute. Most of his classmates had to wait for a full five minutes before they had the energy to try again. No one other than him had successfully cast the curse yet. He could see Remus giving him a small nod and a smile from where he was helping another student, but thankfully the man didn't draw attention to Harry — enough people were looking at him because his boulders kept exploding.
"Merlin, how are you doing that?" Draco asked, exasperated.
"I don't know," Harry said with a shrug of his shoulders. "I just do."
He supposed it was a good thing he could so easily pick up Defense Against the Dark Arts. He'd need every bit of it to defeat Voldemort. He just wished sometimes he could be normal. Well, as normal as a time travelling survivor of the Killing Curse that was prophesized to kill a Dark Lord could be, at any rate. Sometimes, Harry really hated his life.
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Just like in their first year, both Slytherin and Gryffindor had Friday afternoon off, a fact that Harry, Hermione, Draco, and Theo made thankful use of. After lunch, they met in the Defense corridor and walked to their secret den. All of them were loaded down with heavy book bags. Hermione had brought her research and the books she'd used for it, Harry had brought all available books on the topic that the Hogwarts library had, and Draco and Theo brought the books their parents had sent them on the subject at their asking.
Once inside the room, Harry locked the door. They didn't normally do that, but he figured this was an occasion that warranted the precaution. It wouldn't do for someone to walk in on them.
"All right," Harry said. "Let's talk. Hermione, why don't you begin."
"Well, you've all read the information I gave you, right?" she asked. The boys nodded. "Good, well, it's very clear that there's a lot of prejudice against Muggleborns. There are so many laws that work against us! It's just so unfair. I propose we do something about it."
"Did you have any ideas about that?" Harry asked.
"No, not yet," Hermione responded.'"But we need to take action against the Pureblood establishment."
"Well, it's not just our fault, you know," Draco said.
"Of course it is," Hermione exclaimed. "It's Purebloods who make the laws, and Purebloods who look down on us. How is it not your fault?"
Harry saw that Hermione was pretty upset. He could understand that; it had to be hard to be faced with the fact that you as a person weren't really welcome in society. But on the other hand, Draco was getting angry, and Harry knew his friend well enough to know that with Draco, angry usually meant trouble.
"All right, just calm down," he said. "Hermione, let Draco have his say. He's not saying Purebloods aren't at fault, just that there are two sides to the story."
"Yeah," Draco said. "I know that a lot of these laws aren't fair to Muggleborns. But a lot of Muggleborns are trying to destroy our way of life! They come into the Wizarding World and think they know better than the people who were raised there. They want to change everything without even asking why we're doing something in a certain way."
Hermione looked highly offended, but Harry didn't give her time to start ranting.
"Theo, didn't you say something about Muggleborns being responsible for the laws against werewolves last year?" Harry asked.
"Yes, they are," Theo said. "Werewolves were known to be dangerous, of course, and they usually locked themselves up — well, the good ones, anyway. And as long as they did that, there was no problem. But then Muggleborns started to come into the Wizarding World with their Christian faith, and they riled everyone up so much that eventually the laws were passed."
"But Purebloods are every bit as much against werewolves as Muggleborns!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Yes, but this was in the Middle Ages," Theo said. "It's just one of the history things every Pureblood learns about."
"And that right there is the main problem," Harry said.
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked in confusion.
"Like Draco said, the Pureblood prejudice stems largely from the fact that Muggleborns don't know how to act as proper wizards," Harry said.
He stood and began to pace, waving his hands in his desire to make his friends understand.
"But Muggleborns aren't helped at all! In fact, we're dumped into a world we know nothing about when we're eleven. And by 'we,' I mean Muggleborns and Muggle-raised. Hell, I didn't even get the introduction booklets. And they aren't nearly enough, by the way. From the moment we learn about magic, we're behind! And we will never completely catch up."
"Yes," Hermione said softly. "I've read so much since I learned about the Wizarding World, but I still don't know even half of what you guys do."
Draco and Theo looked stricken, as if they'd never realized that maybe Muggleborns didn't mean to buck traditions. They simply didn't know about them.
"And there's not a good system in place to help us," Harry continued. "There's Muggle Studies starting in third year, but where's Wizarding Studies? Where are Muggleborns supposed to learn about our world? And don't even get me started on the ridiculousness of only explaining magic to a Muggleborn and their family when they turn eleven! Do you know how old I was when I did my first bit of accidental magic? Three! That's how old! How about you, Hermione?"
"I was five," she said.
"Right," Harry said. "So that's what, an average of seven years of incidents of accidental magic without any explanation. How many Muggle parents are afraid of their magical child because of this? How many children are afraid of their own magic? If a Pureblood child does accidental magic, their parents can easily solve it. Muggle parents don't have any solution! And how many Muggleborns get unjustly punished or even abused because of their magic?"
Harry was so worked up that he was panting. He dropped back down in his seat, feeling miserable. Summing it up like that, it seemed like an impossible task to solve.
"Right," Theo said. "So what we need to do first is educate the Muggleborns who come into our world."
"And start explaining magic to them sooner," Hermione added.
Harry smiled at his friends. Although they were still looking a bit stunned after Harry's outburst, they were rallying around him to help.
"Well, my father's been working on an early intervention law," Draco said. "Basically, he wants magic explained to Muggleborn parents the moment the first accidental magic incident is recorded at the Ministry. And he wants to appoint a magical sponsor, so the child has some exposure to the Wizarding World from an early age."
"Such a law would prevent Muggleborns from being abused because of their magic as well," Theo said. "Since there would be supervision."
"Yeah," Draco said. "But he's tried to get it approved two times already, and each time he's blocked by Dumbledore and his cronies."
"But why?" Hermione asked. "It sounds like a really good idea."
Harry thought he had a pretty good idea. In all likelihood, people on the Light side of the war saw Lucius' name on a law that dealt with Muggleborns and then they stopped reading. Harry had to admit that he was a bit wary of any law Lucius wanted to pass, but this law sounded okay.
"Right, so, plan of action," Harry said. "Draco, can you get a copy of the law from your father? I think it's a good idea if we take a look at it and see if anything needs changing."
It would also make sure Harry knew exactly what he was supporting. He didn't want any nasty surprises.
"Yeah, sure," Draco said.
"I'll look into the process of getting a law approved, and maybe I can find how close your father got to getting it passed," Hermione said.
"I can help you with that," Draco said.
"Good," Harry said. "In the meantime, Theo and I will try to come up with ideas, both on what else we can do to help Muggleborns and on how to get this law passed."
Draco and Theo laughed at that.
"What?" Harry said, a bit offended. "I thought that was a good plan."
"Harry," Theo said, still grinning wide. "We don't have to look at ways to get the law passed. All you need to do is let the Wizarding World know you support the law, and it'll pass easily."
Harry gaped at Theo. Surely he didn't have that much political power? But even Hermione was nodding, so he must have. No wonder Fudge had been so eager to paint him black.
"Yes, well, let's look at the law first," Harry said. "Besides, I want to try and make my support look, eh, accidental, for lack of a better word."
"Rule from the shadows," Draco said softly.
"No," Harry said, shaking his head. "I don't want to rule. I just make life better for a few people. If I step forward as a political something, I'll never get the Wizarding World to leave me alone."
"Well," Hermione said briskly. "We have enough to do, and dinner is in half an hour. I say we get to work."
With that, the foursome left the room and dispersed, each going on about his or her own task. And as Harry and Theo walked towards the Slytherin common room, bouncing some ideas for Muggleborn education off each other, Harry felt optimistic about changing history.
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The wind was cold as it whipped around Harry, but he didn't mind. Hovering high above the ground on Draco's old Nimbus 2000, he searched for the elusive gold ball that would secure him a place on the team as a Seeker. There were two other potential Seekers in the air, and one of them was Draco. The rest of the Slytherin Quidditch team — except for Marcus Flint who was also on his broom to survey the flying capabilities of the prospective Seekers — was sitting in the bleachers, waiting to see who would become their Seeker.
They were also missing a Chaser, and Harry had actually debated with himself about trying out for that position. It didn't feel completely right, trying to take Draco's position on the team. On the other hand, it was a fair competition between the two of them. In the end, Harry had decided to try out for Seeker first, and if that didn't work out, he'd try for the Chaser position. Draco had confided in him that he had the same plan.
Suddenly, Draco jerked into a dive. Harry raced after him, although it took a moment for him to see the gold glint Draco was chasing after. He was gaining ground on the blond wizard, but Vaisey was coming up right next to Harry. Just as the Snitch made a steep curve to the left, a Bludger appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Draco pulled sharp to the left, far sharper than the Snitch had made the curve. Harry dunked his broom down, in what would've been a Wronski Faint if he'd actually done it on purpose. From the sickening crack of bone and the scream of pain that sounded over the otherwise silent Quidditch field, it soon became apparent that Vaisey hadn't been fast enough to avoid the Bludger.
Draco and Harry both regrouped a bit higher in the air. Vaisey was being escorted off the field by one of the Beaters, probably the one who'd sent the Bludger into the game in the first place. The Snitch had disappeared in the time it took Harry and Draco to get back on course after dodging the Bludger, so they resumed their searching pattern in the sky.
Ten minutes later, the Snitch still hadn't shown itself, but rain was softly beginning to fall from the sky. Harry cursed softly, thankful for the fact that he had spelled his glasses waterproof before the try-out. He'd gotten into the habit of spelling his glasses whenever he was flying after Hermione had shown him the charm, because Oliver had always been twice as frantic if he didn't do it before a game. It was a funny feeling that a habit he had formed what felt like a lifetime ago was picked up again so easily.
Then, just behind the far goal post, a hint of gold betrayed the Snitch's position. Draco and Harry started after it at almost the exact same moment, but Harry had been slightly closer. Draco quickly closed the gap, as his Nimbus 2001 was faster than Harry's older edition. Neck on neck they raced after the Snitch, weaving in between the goal posts. It ducked under the stands, and the boys followed it until it came out from under the seats and took to the sky. Harry climbed after it, as did Draco, but the blond was gaining ground on Harry and inching closer to the Snitch. Then, all of a sudden, the Snitch dropped steeply to the ground. Both Harry and Draco dived after it. The ground closed in fast, and from the corner of his eyes, Harry saw Draco pull out of the dive. But he knew that if he didn't catch the Snitch now, he might never get this good of a chance again, so he kept after it.
He heard Draco call out his name, a hint of panic in his friend's voice. But Harry ignored it and inched closer to the Snitch. He reached out for it and felt his hand close around the golden ball, it's wings frantically fluttering in an attempt to wiggle free. Harry pulled up sharply, hoping to avoid a collision with the ground. He heard the tail of the broom scraping against the ground but managed to keep his broom in the air. With a whoop of joy, he waved his hand, holding the Snitch in Flint's direction.
"Bloody hell, Harry, you're insane!" Draco said, pulling up next to him.
But the boy had a big grin on his face, so Harry wasn't too put out by his friend's scolding. He was just glad Draco didn't seem to have any hard feelings about the fact that he had won.
"Good job, Potter," Flint said, having flown up to them. "You've got the Seeker spot."
Harry grinned. He'd missed Quidditch more than he had thought and was thrilled he was once again playing on a house team, even if it was Slytherin instead of Gryffindor.
"Malfoy, you did great as well," Flint said. "We'd like to keep you on as the reserve Seeker."
Harry looked over at Draco, wondering how he would feel at being what amounted to second best. But instead of the angry or insulted look Harry was expecting to see, Draco was looking calculating.
"Fine, I'll be the reserve Seeker," Draco said slowly. "If you give me the Chaser position."
Flint raised his eyebrows but also gave a grudging nod.
"Fine, not like I want to stay out in this weather any longer than I have to anyway," he said. "But you'd better measure up, Malfoy!"
With that, he flew towards the bleachers, probably to tell the team and the hopeful Chasers that all the spots on the team had been filled. Harry turned to Draco.
"Blackmailing your way onto the team?" he said with a grin.
"What?" Draco said, in a mock affronted tone. "It's not like I wouldn't have beaten them anyway."
Harry had to give his friend that. He laughed, happy with being a Seeker, happy that Draco also had a spot on the team, and happy to have once again been up in the air.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHP
The first two months of school flew by. There was no opening of the Chamber of Secrets, no petrified students, no being ostracized because of being a Parselmouth, and no Gilderoy Lockhart, which made for a rather relaxing year in Harry's opinion. Not that it meant he had a lot of spare time. Between the continuation of his extra Potions lessons with Severus, Quidditch training and meetings of the Society for the Integration of Muggleborns, or S.I.M. for short – Hermione's idea for a name for their little revolution – he was actually quite busy.
That's why he found History of Magic so relaxing. While Binns droned on about Goblins, Harry could take a nap, do some homework, or just daydream. Today, it was the latter one Harry was indulging in. Thinking about all the things that were better this time around, Harry couldn't help but shake the darker thoughts that crept up on him. He'd been so busy planning S.I.M.'s first moves, he still hadn't retrieved Ravenclaw's diadem from the Room of Requirement.
There was also the fact that although the diary was safely in his possession, there was still the basilisk. It couldn't get out now, but as long as it was alive, it was a potential weapon Voldemort could use — not to mention how much a dead Basilisk was worth, both in terms of potions ingredients and the possibility of creating armor from its skin, which was highly resistant to magic. The only thing Harry couldn't figure out was how to kill the damn thing without raising suspicion.
Harry spent the rest of the History of Magic class trying to come up with a viable explanation for a dead basilisk, but the closest thing he could think of was to tell Severus about the thing and hope the man didn't press him for answers he couldn't give. But Harry also knew that wasn't really an option. Still, by the end of the lesson, he'd come to the decision that the basilisk had to die. And maybe he could figure out how to harvest the snake later. It would stay fairly fresh for some time, so it wasn't as if he had to figure it out right away.
That evening, after the other boys in the dorm were asleep, Harry quietly put his clothes back on. Before he slipped out the dorm, he wrapped his Invisibility Cloak around him, just in case there was someone still up in the common room. There wasn't, and with a whisper of the password, Harry left the room.
Walking briskly, he made his way out of the dungeons and up to the Entrance Hall. When he reached the entrance of the castle, he hesitated for a moment. He had no idea if it was locked or if opening the door would set of some kind of alarm. He cursed his own stupidity, not having thought about that. Perhaps it had been better if he had done this during the day, but then he'd have to explain his absence to his friends. No, this way was better.
Hoping for the best, Harry pushed the front door open just enough for him to slip through. Once outside, he made his way down to Hagrid's cabin as quickly as he could in the dark. Thankfully, the moon was close to full and provided just enough light that Harry didn't need his wand to light to way.
As he came into view of Hagrid's cabin, he hoped Fang wouldn't start barking. It seemed he was in luck, because Fang stayed quiet as Harry walked past the pumpkin patch to the henhouses where Hagrid kept the chickens and more importantly, the roosters.
Three Stupefying Charms later, Harry had three stunned roosters stuffed into the bag he'd taken with him. With the means to kill the Basilisk now procured, Harry made his way back to the castle. Upon reaching the entrance, Harry opened the door with a thudding heart. Although he was wearing his Invisibility Cloak , if there were teachers waiting for him inside, they would know the instant he came in. Doors didn't open themselves for no reason, after all, not even in the Wizarding World.
But evidently, no alarms were set on the doors, as no one was waiting for Harry when he entered the castle. He was unsure if he should be happy that he wasn't caught or concerned that there wasn't better security on the castle. For now, he decided to go with being happy.
Quickly, Harry made his way to the second floor and Myrtle's bathroom. Cautiously, he entered. Myrtle wasn't there, to Harry's great relief. He'd been prepared to play the Bloody Baron; after all, it had worked on Peeves in his original first year. But it was easier all around that Myrtle wasn't there, since Harry wasn't sure she'd actually be intimidated by the Bloody Baron.
"Open," Harry hissed in Parseltongue.
The tap began to spin, soon followed by the entire sink moving down out of sight, and the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets was revealed. In quick succession, Harry released the roosters from the Stunner one by one and dropped them down the pipe. He cringed a bit at the crude way of getting the animals down there, but there was no way in hell he was going to go down there himself. Once all the roosters were released, Harry listened for a moment until he heard the cry of at least one rooster. Once he knew the roosters had survived their trip down, Harry closed the entrance. The roosters would do their work and kill the Basilisk.
Happy with the way the evening had gone, Harry made his way back to the dungeons. He stepped inside the still empty common room and slipped off his Invisibility Cloak. Moments afterwards, Severus stepped out of the shadows beside the fireplace and whipped his wand around, bathing the room in a soft light.
"Mr. Potter, what a surprise," he said.
"Severus, eh, Professor, I, uh," Harry stammered, his heart in his throat.
"You, Mister Potter, are out of bed," Severus said in a dangerous, silky tone of voice. "One begs the question of why?"
I, ah, uh, prank," Harry squeaked out.
"Really?" Severus said with a raised eyebrow. "What kind of prank would compel you to get out of bed in the middle of the night and walk around the castle for over an hour, with an Invisibility Cloak, no less."
Harry stared at the ground silently. There was no way to answer that question correctly. Either he lied, which Severus would know, or he told the truth, which wasn't exactly an option.
"That's what I thought," Severus said after a lengthy silence. "You will serve detention with me tomorrow evening after dinner, and you've just lost your House twenty points."
"Yes, sir," Harry mumbled.
He briefly wondered why he was getting off fairly lightly, but that passed as soon as Severus held out his hand.
"And I will, of course, be taking that cloak with me," he said.
Harry raised startled eyes up to Severus, his hands clenching the silky material of the cloak. He was panicking, he knew it, but he needed the cloak. He still needed to retrieve Ravenclaw's diadem, and who knew what else he might need his Invisibility Cloak for. Not to mention that he had never been without it since he'd gotten it, either in this timeline or the original one.
"No!" he exclaimed, backing up from Severus.
"Mr. Potter," Severus began, but Harry didn't let him continue.
"No, you can't take it. Please, I need it. You don't understand," Harry said, panic clearly lacing his voice.
"Harry, calm down," Severus said. His frown was replaced with a look of worry. "You'll have it back, I promise. Besides, there is nothing you would need it for right now."
"No," Harry nearly moaned. "You don't understand."
"Then tell me," Severus said. "Make me understand."
"I can't," Harry choked. "I can't."
Severus sighed and in two paces he was in front of Harry. But instead of taking the cloak from Harry's hands, as Harry was expecting, he just drew Harry into his arms.
"It's going to be all right," Severus said. "I promise."
Trembling, Harry hugged back. After a minute or so, he withdrew from the hug and Severus let him go. With trembling hands, Harry gave the cloak to Severus.
"Don't, just, don't tell anyone about it," he asked.
"I won't," Severus said. "I will keep it safe, and you will have it back, I promise. Now, off to bed with you."
Downhearted at the turn this night had taken, Harry did as he was bid, leaving his precious Invisibility Cloak in the hands of his guardian. It took a long time before Harry fell asleep that night, and even then, his dreams were filled with his failures and the deaths that came out of them.
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The next day, Harry was in a gloomy mood. His friends had asked him what was wrong, but all Harry had said was that Severus had caught him out of bed. They commiserated with him about the loss of points and detention, but that wasn't what had Harry so down. Still, he supposed it could be worse. At least he knew the cloak was safe, and perhaps he could persuade Severus to give it back to him during the Christmas holidays.
During dinner, Severus stopped by Harry's seat on his way to the Head Table.
"Bring your homework to detention," he said.
"Yes, sir," Harry answered.
He was rather surprised Severus told him to bring homework. He'd counted on scrubbing cauldrons, or worse, cutting up some of the more disgusting potions ingredients. But he decided not to complain if Severus was willing to be lenient. He briefly wondered if it was the fact that he was a Slytherin that was the cause, or if it was his rather pathetic behavior the night before; but either way, Harry wasn't complaining.
After dinner, Harry makes a beeline for the Slytherin dorms, where he stuffed his Transfiguration homework in his book bag. For good measure, because he was unsure how long he'd be serving detention, he also put his History of Magic homework in his bag. Checking one more time to see if he had everything he needed, he decided that it would be a good idea to take a second book with him for his Transfigurations homework. If his memory served him correctly, McGonagall had said something about using references not found in their textbook.
He threw open his trunk to dig for a book he can use. He quickly thumbed through the stack of books he brought with him, and then pulled one out to take with him. He's already halfway to closing the lid of his trunk when it hits him. The diary wasn't in the stack! Frantically, he threw the lid back open and checked the stack again. Then he checked his entire trunk. But it didn't help; the diary was gone. Thankfully, whoever stole it missed the locket, but that didn't change the facts. Someone out there knew about the diary and had stolen it. All of it, the time travel, the changing of the timeline, all of it had been for nothing. Because now, one of the Horcruxes was gone.