Christmas day dawned bright. As always, Harry was excited to receive presents, something that had been so unusual in those first eleven years. He was even more overjoyed when he noticed he had received a gift from "Sirius & Remus."

"So I take it your conversation went well?" Harry asked with a smirk.

Remus halfheartedly smacked him over the head, but he had a small smile. "You could say that I suppose," he said. Harry saw Sirius rub his thumb over Remus' hand that he was covertly holding.

"And yours you little sneak?" Sirius said with a pointed look.

"I'm waiting for the day before we leave," Harry insisted. "No need to ruin anyone's Christmas." Sirius eye-balled him with a look that shouted disbelief. "I'm serious!"

"No I'm Sirius," his godfather protested with a smirk.

It was Harry's turn to hit his godfather. He looked at Remus. "You should break up with him for that cheesy joke."

Remus and Sirius both laughed. "He's been making it since first year," Remus admitted. 'That ship has sailed."

"You like my corny jokes," Sirius insisted. "Don't lie."

Remus rolled his eyes while Harry laughed. He was happy they were happy. After breakfast, he and the Weasley's prepared to make another visit to St. Mungo's. He was happy to see Mr. Weasley so energetic, though he wished the older wizard had a bit more sense. Honestly, muggle stiches? He had to practically run from the room so Mrs. Weasley would not see his laughter. He certainly didn't want any of her ire directed at him.

Fred, George, and Bill had already made a break for it, so Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny started off in search for the tea room. On the way, they got sidetracked by a familiar face pressed against the glass. The blonde hair and blue eyes stared back at them in amazement.

"Is that…Lockhart?" Ron asked. They exchanged surprised glances. Hermione opened the door and they walked into the ward.

"Do you want an autograph?" Lockhart asked.

"Hasn't changed much?" Ginny remarked.

Before any of them knew what was going on, a healer had corralled them into Lockhart's room under the false assumption they were visitors. None of them had the heart to refuse on Christmas. It was obvious that this ward was for more permanent residents. It was homier, and each patient had personal affects decorating the room. Lockhart had pictures of himself and letters across his walls. He regaled them all with his many tales from his fans, though he could not recall why he had them. As they were trying to find an excuse to leave, they heard a familiar name called out.

"Leaving so soon Mrs. Longbottom?" the healer asked.

Harry's head swiveled around to see none other than his friend, Neville, and an older woman who was unmistakably Neville's grandmother. He and Neville locked eyes, and in a horrible moment of realization Harry knew who his friend was here to visit. Quickly, Harry turned to try and distract his friends, but it was too late. They too had heard the familiar name and turned to look.

"Neville!" Hermione exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"Did you see that Lockhart's here?" Ron asked. "Who are you visiting?" Ron and the others were trying to peer over to see who was in the beds Neville and his grandmother were walking away from.

"Are these your friends Neville?" Mrs. Longbottom asked. She peered at them from under her vulture adorned hat. "Ah, these two must be Weasleys."

"Yes ma'am," said Ginny.

Mrs. Longbottom peered at Harry. "And I know who you are," she said. "Harry Potter. It is a pleasure. I've heard a lot about you. Was rather hoping you'd rub off on my grandson here."

"I don't think Neville needs to take pointers on anyone," Harry said defensively. "I think he's just fine on his own."

Neville gave him a small grateful smile from behind his grandmother. Mrs. Longbottom huffed. "You're as impertinent as they say. And you child?" she asked looking at Hermione. "Let me see, Neville mentioned a muggleborn with a funny name?"

"Hermione ma'am," Hermione answered.

"That's it." A woman came shuffling from the beds Mrs. Longbottom and Neville had just walked away from. Neville's grandmother turned towards the newcomer. "What is it Alice dear?" Neville's mother held out her hand, and dropped what looked like a candy wrapper into Neville's. "Another one. Yes thank you dear. Now go back to bed." Neville's mother turned and went back to her bed. "Throw it away Neville. You could probably plaster your wall with all the wrappers she's given you." Harry saw Neville tuck the wrapper into his robes.

"Who's that Neville?" Ron asked.

"Who's that?" Mrs. Longbottom asked. She turned to her grandson angrily. "Do your friends not know? Are you ashamed? Your parents made this sacrifice for you."

Neville's face grew red and he turned away. "It never came up."

"Never came up," Mrs. Longbottom repeated forcefully. She turned to the others. "Frank and Alice were attacked not long after You-Know-Who was vanquished. The Lestranges drove them mad." She turned to Neville. "You should be proud boy."

"I am," Neville responded quietly.

"Well, you have a poor way of showing it," she said. She turned back to the others. "Well, it was nice to meet all of you, but we must be off."

"Oh, just a moment Mrs. Longbottom," Harry said quickly. "I wanted a word with Neville."

"Well make it quick," Mrs. Longbottom responded and turned to leave the room.

Harry pulled Neville aside. He could tell the others were trying to listen, but he made sure they were out of range. "If I had had any idea you were here we would never have come," Harry assured his friend. "We weren't even meant to be here. We just happened to see Lockhart while looking for the tea room."

"It's okay," Neville muttered. Harry raised an eyebrow. "Okay, it's not really, but I'll be fine. They would have likely found out eventually." He glanced back towards his parents. "I'm not ashamed. Really I'm not. It's just…my gran's right. They made a big sacrifice for me…and…well…I just don't feel that I deserve it."

Harry grabbed Neville's shoulder. "I know exactly what you mean," Harry said. "But you aren't worthless Neville. Your parents knew that, and so do I." Neville looked up with tears in his eyes. "I should get back, and you should go meet your gran, but if you ever need to talk I'm here."

"Thank you Harry," Neville said quietly. Harry gave his friend a hug before letting him leave. He watched Neville walk out and felt angry at the world for the injustice that had been done to both of them. But now was not the time, so Harry packed away his resentment and turned back towards his friends.

"What was that about?" Ron asked.

"I wanted to speak to Neville in private," Harry said tersely. "Come on. We should head back to your parents."

The group was quiet until they neared Mr. Weasley's room.

"I had no idea about Neville's parents," Hermione said.

"Me either," echoed both Ron and Ginny. The three of them all looked at Harry.

"I did," he admitted.

"Of course you did," Ron muttered.

Harry stopped and turned on Ron. "Do you have a problem with that?" he asked.

"Well, it just seems like there are things you're not telling us," Ron said.

"It wasn't my secret to tell," Harry said. "And it is of no consequence to you at any rate. If Neville had wanted anyone to know he would have told us himself."

"Well if Neville didn't tell you then how did you know?" Ron demanded.

"Ron…" Hermione began.

"Not that it is any of your concern, but I accidently found out about it when I viewed something in Dumbledore's pensive," Harry explained. "He told me what happened, and I swore not to say anything. Neville found out I knew earlier this year, when he attacked Malfoy. He attacked him because Malfoy was making fun of the mentally ill, and as you can see that is a touchy subject for Neville. Good enough for you?"

Ron huffed, and Harry turned and stalked the rest of the way to Mr. Weasley's room. He didn't speak to Ron for the remainder of the day. By the following morning, it seemed as though perhaps Hermione or Ginny had spoken to him, and the two pretended nothing had been amiss. Harry knew speaking to Sirius and Remus would only give him the same advice they already had.

And the farther away from Christmas they went, the gloomier Sirius became. Remus had been spending quite a lot of time at Grimmauld Place, but he had responsibilities for the Order he needed to get back too. Harry and the others would of course be returning to Hogwarts. Much like the summer, Harry felt he'd almost rather stay here with Sirius. But he knew that he couldn't. Plus, Sirius had managed to get himself a boyfriend. Harry still had work to do on that front. Two days before they were set to leave, Harry made sure to spend as much time as possible with his godfather.

"It won't be that bad," Harry said, rather unconvincingly.

"If you had the memories I have from this house," Sirius protested. "Well, I'd almost rather be in Azkaban." He gave Harry a small nudge and smile. "Almost."

"We have the two-way mirrors," Harry reminded him. "I'll try to remember to use it more often."

Sirius looked at Harry. "You should be worried about living your life," he said. "Not mine. I'll be okay."

"I just wish you didn't have to be locked up here," Harry said.

"That makes two of us," Sirius said with a humorless laugh. He clapped Harry on the back. "But I will survive. Besides, I have Remus back now. He'll come visit more often. And, we have the summer to look forward to now!"

"The summer?" Harry asked.

"I promised you that you would never have to go back to the Dursley's and I meant it," Sirius explained. "I don't care what Dumbledore or anyone else says. You'll come back here and stay with me." He raised an eyebrow at his godson. "If that's still what you want?"

"Of course that's what I want!" Harry exclaimed.

Harry's good mood lasted until that evening, when Snape arrived right as they were finishing supper.

"What do you want Sniv…" Sirius began.

"Stop Sirius," Harry interrupted. He gave his godfather a pointed look. "Snape said he might come over during break for a lesson." Harry turned to his professor. "I had assumed by now that you weren't coming."

"I've been busy," Snape said. "And I will continue to be when we return to school. I am free tonight, and I wanted to meet with you. I don't know when we will be able to meet next." Harry nodded. He said his goodnights to the others and led Snape upstairs to his room.

"Shall we begin?" Harry asked.

"Have you been practicing?" Snape asked as he took out his wand.

"I've been clearing my mind every night," Harry said. "I haven't had any visions, dreams, or feelings since the night Mr. Weasley was attacked."

"How do you feel about that?" Snape asked.

"I worked through it with Sirius and Remus," Harry said.

"Good," Snape said. "I was hoping you weren't lingering on it. Get ready." Like usual, Snape did not really give Harry time to get ready. This time, however, Harry had the foresight to begin preparing his mind the moment they entered the room. No doubt, this is what Snape had been trying to get across all along. Damn the cryptic potions master. Couldn't he just say what he wanted?

Snape started flitting through Harry's mind. Harry thought he was doing rather well. Snape was unable to focus on one particular memory. He kept it up for about a minute, before exiting Harry's mind.

"You're improving," he said.

"Thank you," Harry said.

"I noticed you had another box," Snape said.

"Oh yeah," Harry said. "I had forgotten. Hermione suggested I hide my memories of you working for the Order. This way, if Voldemort does get into my head, he won't find out about you."

"Well, Granger certainly has her moments," Snape said. "But it will only work if you can hold it. I'm going to try to break in. Prepare yourself."

Again, Harry had been preparing himself as they talked, so when Snape entered his mind he was not caught off guard. This time, Snape was relentless. He put everything into opening the box. While this was happening, a memory floated past and momentarily distracted Snape. Harry noticed this, and tried to distract Snape some more with other memories. It was working. The last one Harry threw at him was inadvertently Mr. Weasley's attack. As he saw that oh-so familiar corridor, he was met with a sudden realization, but he kept it to himself.

With his own mind distracted, it was no surprise when Snape succeeded in opening the box. When he left Harry's mind, Harry was drenched in sweat. He sat down on his bed to catch his breath. Snape sat down on the other end.

"That was very impressive," Snape said.

"But you got in," Harry protested between breaths.

"Yes, well I am very good," Snape said with a small smile. Harry rolled his eyes. "A lesser legilimens would have given up, especially when you started throwing other memories."

"Voldemort won't stop."

"No," Snape agreed. "He won't. But you had the right idea." Harry looked up at him. "When you started trying to distract me with other memories. I didn't want to tell you this at first. Both because you were not ready and because I wanted to see if you would get there on your own. One of the best ways to beat someone entering your mind, particularly if you know that person is stronger than you, is to distract them. When I look into your mind, if you distract me with unimportant memories, I may not notice that you are trying to hide something."

Harry nodded. "I'll give that a go next time," Harry said. The two were silent for a moment. "I have a question. I don't always have these dreams, but when I do they are at their most potent. What I mean is that I don't normally know what Voldemort is feeling, even if I wanted to, but when he has a particularly powerful moment, that is when I feel it."

"I don't see a question," Snape said.

"Is it bad if I can prevent everything else except for those most powerful moments?" he asked. "If I can stop visions and dreams, but every now and again I see something like what happened to Mr. Weasley? Is that bad?"

"The honest answer is that it depends," Snape said. "So long as Voldemort doesn't know about your connection then none of it matters. What we are doing is a precautionary measure. I would say, that so long as you can prevent visions from being implanted in your head, it is alright. If you truly only get those fleeting glimpses in certain moments, but you can prevent visions from being shown to you, then you should be fine."

Harry nodded. "I'll keep practicing then," he said.

"See that you do," Snape said. With a nod in Harry's direction, he got up and left. Harry listened to Snape walk down the stairs and considered the revelation that had struck him. He couldn't believe it had took so long. The corridor wasn't familiar because he had dreamed about it so much. It was familiar because he had seen it in person.

The corridor Voldemort was fixated on was the Department of Mysteries.

Harry didn't have much time to dwell on his newest revelation because before he knew it, it was the day before they returned to Hogwarts. He knew he needed to speak to Ron, and he couldn't put it off any longer. There was no other way to resolve the ever growing tension between them. Harry waited until after lunch before pulling Ron aside to talk. The two went to Ron's room—the one he should have shared with Harry.

"Is everything alright Harry?" Ron asked. Harry could tell he was nervous. Whether it was because he sensed the conversation that was coming or that he didn't want to be alone with Harry, it was hard to tell.

"Well, that's exactly what I want to try and figure out," Harry said.

"What do you mean?" Ron said while crossing his arms. Harry wasn't sure, but he thought his friend seemed a bit defensive.

"Well…it just seems like things have been rocky between us for a while, and I would like to see if we can resolve it," Harry explained.

"Yeah, well that's what happen when your best friend abandons you for something outside of his control," Ron retorted.

Harry's eyes widened in surprise. He had not expected Ron to be so aggressive so quickly. But two could play that game. "Yes. Yes it is," Harry agreed. "So why did you do that to me last year?"

"What!?" Ron exclaimed. "What in the bloody hell are you on about?"

"You know," Harry said. "Last year, when my name came out of the cup, and you got mad and stopped being my friend. Over something I had no control over." Harry watched as Ron's face got even redder than it already was.

"That's not what I was talking about," Ron said.

"Really?" Harry asked in mock confusion. "That's the only incident I can think of that fits the scenario you described."

"I was talking about when you got angry with Hermione and I over the summer," Ron spat out.

"But you had control over that," Harry insisted. "You chose to do what the adults told you to, but you could have told me what was going on if you had wanted. Last year, I had nothing to do with being entered into the Triwizard Tournament and you abandoned me anyway."

"Well how was I supposed to know you didn't have anything to do with it?!" Ron shouted.

"Because I told you I didn't!" Harry shouted back. "I'm your friend and I told you I didn't put my name in the cup and you still didn't believe me! And that seems to be a pattern!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ron exclaimed.

"Well, just last week you didn't believe me when I told you I wasn't being possessed by Voldemort," Harry explained. "How can I trust a friend who doesn't even trust me?"

"Oh you're one to talk about trust!" said Ron.

"Excuse me?" Harry asked.

"You're keeping secrets!" Ron said. "You didn't tell us about Neville! You're always having private conversations! You don't come to me like you used to!"

"First off, Neville's secret was Neville's," Harry said in defense. "It wasn't my secret to tell. Second, I'm allowed to have conversations with other people. I'm allowed to have other friends, and I don't have to clear everything with you first or tell you word for word what I'm saying when you're not there! Third, how can I come to you when I can't trust you?!"

"It used to be us," Ron said angrily. "Now it's all these other people."

"Yeah that's called growing up!" Harry shouted. "It's called making friends. You're allowed to make friends too Ron. I don't need to ask your permission to be friends with someone, particularly if that person is a better friend than you are!"

"Oh really?" Ron said.

"Well I don't remember Neville having a fit when I told him I was gay!" Harry yelled.

"Well maybe Neville's gay too!" Ron yelled back.

"Are you being serious right now?" Harry asked in disbelief. "Are you trying to say a bloke can't be okay with another bloke being gay unless he is too?"

"Well it's weird!" Ron yelled.

"No it's not," Harry said, trying to blink back his tears. "It's perfectly normal."

"It's not," Ron insisted.

"Well if that's how you feel, then why don't you go find some normal friends to spend your time with," Harry said. He was still fighting the tears. He wasn't going to lose it in front of Ron. Not now.

Ron looked at Harry hard. "Maybe I will," he said.

"Fine."

"Fine."

With that final word, Harry knew his very first friendship was over. He calmly walked out of the room, with his head held high. As soon as the door was shut, he made a run for his own room. The door had barely shut before the tears started to flow. He couldn't quite comprehend what had just happened. Not a moment later, there was a brief knock on the door before it opened.

Harry swung around, but quickly relaxed when he saw it was just Sirius and Remus. His godfather did not hesitate before enveloping Harry in a tight hug. Harry didn't know what he was going to do going forward, but in the moment, having his godfather was exactly what he needed.