It seemed like school had barely restarted when Hermione, Harry, Draco and their friends boarded the train for the Christmas holidays. The time since the first of September had flown over, although there had been some surprises over the course of the first term. Especially concerning the students and their reactions to Hermione and Harry.

The pair had returned to Hogwarts, fully intending to have everyone but the Slytherins against them, however things hadn't worked out that way. Instead, apart from Ron, they'd had no major resentment aimed their way. Although, that wasn't to say the pair were buying that everyone was unaffected by who they truly were. In fact, both Harry and Hermione believed the majority of the students of Hogwarts were just playing a cautious game. They were convinced that if things escalated, and sides had to be picked, the vast majority of the school would fight against Hermione, Harry and their family. But for now, people were happy to remain neutral, meaning things had been easier than expected for Hermione and Harry.

Although, one thing that hadn't taken them by surprise was Ron. He'd reacted just as they'd expected, and after three months in his company they were becoming used to his daily outbursts. It seemed as though with every passing day, he was getting more and more frustrated at the lack of support he was receiving from the other students and his attitude was suffering. Hermione and Harry had worried briefly when Ron had apologised to Neville, however he didn't make any attempts to get the other wizard on board as they'd feared. Instead, he'd made one apology and then pretty much ignored Neville. Instead his anger was aimed at Harry, Hermione, and his sister, Ginny.

Harry especially was loving the fact that there was such tension between the two Weasley siblings. Even though he didn't believe Ginny was as calm about things as she claimed to be, he was more than happy to pretend everything was fine and let her distance herself from her brother. Of course it helped that Ginny had been a great addition to the quidditch team, and when they'd won their first match of the season, Harry had made sure to publically praise Ginny for her scoring ability right where he knew Ron could hear. The end result was the two siblings arguing yet again, and for the last few weeks of term, Harry had barely seen them acknowledge one another.

Although not everything had been about people's reactions to Hermione and Harry's secret identities. A great deal of their time had been spent on their love lives. Since their first date in Hogsmeade, Harry and Daphne had been practically inseparable. Harry had arranged for them to have dates in and around Hogwarts, including stargazing in the astronomy tower, picnics in the grounds and even a few evenings in the magical room that turned into whatever they wanted. The pair were now very much a couple, and they were looking forward to spending some time together over the Christmas holidays.

As for Draco and Hermione, their romance was going from strength to strength. They'd had a few more therapy sessions in the Prefects bathroom, and Hermione was now more than comfortable in the water as long as Draco was with her. They also spent a lot of time in the magical room, and they'd actually stayed overnight in the room on several occasions. Luckily, no-one had told on them as Draco's friends wouldn't betray him in that way and Hermione's room-mates were likely too scared to tell tales on The Dark Lord's daughter.

Aside from romance and people's surprising reactions to Hermione and Harry, the only other notable events were the staffing changes. Severus had slipped into the job of Headmaster effortlessly and Dumbledore certainly wasn't missed by many students. As for the new History of Magic Professor, he'd actually managed to get people interested in the lesson. Students were actually interested in learning about wizarding history again, and his classes were some of the best in the school. Of course not everyone appreciated the new Professor and his lessons as it meant History of Magic was no longer the easy ride it had once been. There was now a Professor in place who actually cared about the subject, and that meant he also cared about the work people were doing and their homework assignments.

As for Beth, she was proving one of the most popular Professors Hogwarts had ever had. Students raved about her classes and her teaching method, which was very different to Severus's hard line approach. Not that Beth was someone to be messed with, and she was strict if people stepped out of line, but she was great at encouraging people to fulfill their potential. Even Ron struggled to find anything bad to say about her, although considering who she was married to, he downright refused to admit she was a good Professor.

Lucius on the other hand was a bit like Severus - an acquired taste. Students either loved him or loathed him. He didn't blatantly favour the Slytherins, but as with all the heads of houses it was obvious which house he was a former member of. Like Severus he was a strict Professor, and he didn't suffer fools. He could be quite scathing when people messed up, and more than a few inept students had found themselves on the end of his brutal tongue. However, if a student excelled, no matter what their house, he was the first one in line to praise them. Like Beth he believed in encouraging the students, and he was very good at finding something people excelled at and building up their skills around it.

Of course there had been a few nervous students when the classes had been switched to Dark Arts, but so far things seemed to be pretty much the same. The only real difference was that they were learning more about the dark curses and magic before learning how to overcome them. Although, the trio had noticed that in practical lessons certain people never cast the dark curses. Lucius was very crafty in making sure that anyone he considered to be a potential threat, like Ron, didn't get first hand experience in casting dark curses. There was no point handing the enemy advantages, and Ron and the others hadn't seemed to notice that they was missing out on learning certain spells.

On the journey back home, Hermione spent most of the trip sitting beside Draco, gazing out of the window and thinking about the previous three months. Of course as she was doing so, she was aware of Pansy Parkinson trying to wheedle her way into the boys' affections. All term, Pansy had been sharing her attention between Draco, Harry and Theo. At least she had been trying to flirt with Draco, until Hermione had pulled her to one side the previous week and told the witch that if she caught her flirting with her boyfriend again, she'd make sure that no-one ever looked at Pansy again as she'd hex her so badly she'd be scarred for life. Pansy had gotten the message, and backed off from Draco, but she was obviously still after snagging either Harry or Theo. Seemingly, Pansy hadn't gotten the message that Harry was with Daphne. Although, if she hadn't she had to be blind as the pair were sitting snuggled up together, totally oblivious to Pansy's little games.

Sadly for Theo, that meant Pansy was focusing most of her attention on him. Unfortunately for Pansy, Theo wasn't interested as he knew she was only cosying up to him because he was the Minister's son. Theo was smart enough to know that if Pansy thought she had a shot with either Harry or Draco, she would drop him like a hot potato, and he wasn't interested in that. Instead he was resisting her advances and he would find himself a girl who liked him for who he was, not because of the power his father had in the wizarding world.

By the end of the train journey, Pansy had gone flouncing off as she'd gotten nowhere with any of the boys. But at least that meant the group were free from Pansy as they disembarked from the train and made plans to try and meet up before Christmas. Saying goodbye to their friends, Harry, Hermione and Draco looked around for their parents, but the only person they could see was Narcissa.

"You're all coming back with me," Narcissa explained when Hermione and Harry asked where Beth or Voldemort was.

"Is everything okay?" Hermione asked nervously.

"It's fine," Narcissa reassured the teenager. "Beth and Lucius are still up at school with Severus, and The Dark Lord has a business meeting. We're all going to have dinner at the manor. And of course I want to hear everything. I want to know just what sort of a Professor Lucius is."

"Why? So we can fuel your depraved fantasies about him?" Draco muttered. He knew his parents too well and he would bet anything that they'd used his father's new position to indulge in a bit of role-playing fun.

Narcissa merely shook her head at her son as she checked everyone had everything. She then whisked the three teenagers off to Malfoy Manor, where she persuaded Harry and Hermione to fill her in on all the gossip before dinner.


C.O.T.D.


While the dark trio were settling down for dinner at Malfoy Manor, Ron and Ginny found themselves being taken to Grimmauld Place. When they got there, they found a decent portion of the Order was in residence, including the majority of their family. After greeting their family, Ron and Ginny found themselves alone in the library with Sirius and Remus while Molly made a start on dinner.

"How are things going with Neville?" Sirius asked. He hadn't wanted to bring the subject up around Molly as he knew she was still smarting over Augusta Longbottom telling her to get lost and leave her grandson alone.

"Slowly," Ginny admitted. "But we'll get there."

"What do you mean, slowly?" Sirius frowned. "How hard is it to get one boy on your side?"

"Quite hard when he's still friends with Harry and Hermione," Ron grumbled.

"What? He's still friends with them? Even after everything that happened last year?" Sirius questioned in amazement.

"Yep," Ron answered with a disgusted grimace. "He's decided that they haven't done anything to him, so he's staying neutral."

"Maybe he isn't the boy we want then," Sirius mused. "How is he supposed to be our champion when he's friends with the enemy?"

"Just give me some time," Ginny pleaded with the two adults. "Neville may be neutral, but I think I can get him on our side. I just need to take things slowly. If I rush him, we may lose him for good."

"There's no rush at the moment," Remus remarked. "Even if he was on our side now, we're still not ready to face You-Know-Who."

"Are you not having any luck with the Horcruxes?" Ron asked. "Was none of that stuff from the Riddle place useful?"

"We think we've got one from there," Remus replied. "And we've got a lead on another one."

"Yeah, we think it could be in the house somewhere," Sirius supplied as he briefly filled Ron and Ginny in on the situation with the locket.

"Wow," Ginny breathed. "So there's possibly been one under our noses all this time."

"Possibly," Sirius replied. "Not that we're having much luck finding it. Maybe you two could help us over the holidays."

"We'd love to," Ron answered. "Should we get going now?"

"Let's wait until after dinner," Remus said. "I don't think Molly would be impressed if we turned up for dinner covered in dust."

"Probably not," Ron agreed.

"Now, tell me about school," Sirius urged the two teenagers. "What have things been like? I hope those two liars are firmly out in the cold."

"We should be so lucky," Ron snorted as he settled down to tell Sirius all about the injustices at Hogwarts and how Harry and Hermione were walking around as though nothing had happened.

Sirius and Remus were both appalled by what the two Weasleys were telling them, but they were pleased to hear that Ginny thought most people were putting on a front in order to stay safe. They were even more impressed to hear the pair wanted to start their own mini Order in Hogwarts, and they actively encouraged the pair to get it set up as soon as they returned to school.

"The more people you have on our side the better," Remus said. "Just don't get caught."

"That could be our problem," Ginny admitted. "I figure if we're going to work this, we're going to need to have meetings. But where can we meet where we won't risk being caught? We can't just use the common room as Harry and Hermione are still around."

"You could use the shrieking shack," Remus suggested. "The tunnel under the Whomping Willow will get you there, and you're not likely to be disturbed."

"Getting a lot of people through that tunnel might catch someone's attention," Ron pointed out.

"I think I might know somewhere," Sirius said. "Back in school we used to call it the Room of Requirement. It's a magical room that's hidden and it turns into whatever you need from it."

"I'd forgotten about that place," Remus said. "But that could work."

"Where is this room and how do we get into it?" Ron asked eagerly.

Sirius and Remus explained all about the room, including giving the two Weasleys instructions on how to enter the room. However, what they didn't realise was that the room was already been regularly used by Harry and Daphne and Hermione and Draco. It was only a matter of time before their paths now crossed, and when they did, it would not be good for Ginny and Ron. After all, they really were no match for the dark trio of Hermione, Harry and Draco.