A/N: Well, this is the fifth chapter of "Shadow of the Past". I'm writing this before posting the fourth chapter, so, if y'all are seeing it, it means I got those five reviews that I needed as confirmation. Anyway, enjoy! Adios!

-CatJetRat

Chapter 5

Back to Sanity

DH

Normal POV

Harry dragged his trunk downstairs after making sure he had everything packed. He set it down and put Hedwig's cage on top of it, then leaned against a wall, waiting for Professor McGonagall to come pick him up.

"When are you leaving?" Harry gave a little jump at the voice, annoyance instantly flashing through his mind at the recognition of the drawling tone, before time caught up with his senses and he remembered that Malfoy was an ally. Harry glanced casually at Malfoy.

"Why?" he asked sardonically. "Got a hot date?"

Malfoy scowled. "No, I was just curious, Potter."

Harry rubbed his neck and sighed. It was incredibly difficult to not pick a fight with Malfoy, as he'd only had one truly civil conversation with Malfoy since their first one in Madam Malkin's before first year, and that one civil conversation had occurred yesterday. "In about fifteen minutes," he finally said, struggling to keep his tone fairly colloquial.

Malfoy nodded, and there was a slightly strained silence before Harry thought of something to say. "Also, Malfoy, you need to promise me you won't tell anyone about the Horcruxes. Not even Professor McGonagall. It's very important. I shouldn't have even told you. Dumbledore asked me to not tell anyone except for Ron and Hermione."

Malfoy smiled slightly. "Why did you tell me, then?"

Harry shrugged. "I'm not quite sure. I guess I just…I just figured that if I told you, even if you did decide to betray us, you wouldn't be able to remember anything you learned here."

Malfoy laughed, and though his laugh was a bit laconic, he didn't seem too insulted. "Thanks for the confidence, Potter."

"So will you not tell anyone?" Harry said.

Malfoy looked at him for a few moments, and then cocked his head to the side. "Harry Potter, I swear to you that I will not tell another soul what you have told me about Horcruxes, and what you plan to do. And I will aid you in whatever way I can to defeat Voldemort." He didn't even tremble at saying the name.

"Thanks." Harry felt relieved, though Malfoy's formal tone made him feel rather odd. "By the way, do you mind if I tell Ron and Hermione about you?"

Malfoy's head snapped up, and he looked startled, then thoughtful. "I'm not sure, Potter. We're trying to keep my continued existence fairly classified information. Do you think Weasley and Granger can keep this secret?"

Harry wasn't quite sure. He felt pretty certain Hermione could, and might be okay with it, but Ron was another story. Ron hated Malfoy with a passion, and had been thrilled when he thought Malfoy was dead. Harry wasn't sure how he'd react if Harry told him otherwise.

"I think Hermione will be okay," Harry muttered. "But we should probably leave Ron out of the loop for a while."

Malfoy's face was inscrutable when he asked, "Why?"

Harry shrugged, feeling rather uncomfortable. "It's—it's not that I don't trust him, it's just—"

"That you don't trust him," Malfoy concluded. Harry fell silent, and didn't know how to dispute this claim. Ron was very hotheaded, and tended to overreact. Harry would trust Ron with his life, but he would not trust him with Malfoy's.

"I'm just worried that he wouldn't be too happy about you being alive," Harry said. "He—well, he didn't seem too distraught when he thought you were dead."

Malfoy snorted. "Yeah, I doubt any of you were."

"I was," Harry said without thinking, and then slammed his mouth shut, feeling suddenly stupid.

Malfoy raised his eyebrows in surprise. "You were," he stated flatly.

Harry raised one shoulder in a half-shrug. "Yeah, I dunno, I guess I thought you were too young to die."

"Oh." Malfoy pursed his lips, eyes locked on Harry's face. "Okay."

At that moment, there was a knock on the door, and Malfoy rushed to open it. "Professor McGonagall," he said courteously.

"Mr. Malfoy," she replied, and looked to Harry. "Mr. Potter, I trust you are ready?"

Harry nodded and picked up his things. He glanced at Malfoy, who gave him a curt nod, which he returned, and then left.

Pre HBP

Mnemosyne carefully walked through the village of Hogsmeade. People bustled about the streets, gossiping and giggling, happy that it was spring. Mnemosyne scowled. Didn't these fools realize that the Dark Lord had risen again? Didn't they care? The idiots should be preparing for the upcoming war, not laughing and playing!

Mnemosyne shook her head and hurried through the streets. It was mid-June, almost at the end of the school year. She had waited until then to speak with Dumbledore, as she wanted to catch him when he was the least busy. She was still very angry with him, but she recognized that she needed to inform him that she was alive before she went away to fully regroup. Then he could have some time to think on what needed to be done.

The wards surrounding Hogwarts wrapped around her, examined her, and let her pass, recognizing her for who she was, despite Dumbledore's spell. She hurried down the path towards the school, and stopped dead at the sight she saw. Three people were headed towards the Forbidden Forest, two of them students, walking ahead of a squat something holding a wand on them. This was worth investigating. She wrapped herself in a spell of invisibility and followed them.

Her heart gave a jolt when she saw that it was Harry and Hermione. She didn't recognize the woman, though Mnemosyne doubted that the woman would be any friend of hers. Mnemosyne wavered in indecision. If she attacked the woman and freed Harry and Hermione, there would be questions, far, far too many questions, questions she couldn't answer right then. Mnemosyne decided to follow them to make sure Harry and Hermione would be all right.

What followed was a most bizarre turn of events. Weapon? Hidden in the Forbidden Forest? Half-breeds? Mnemosyne's sense of uneasiness increased as she followed them, and began to wonder just how much she had missed over the past year, and whether she ought not to have asked Sirius and Remus when she had the chance what exactly was going on at Hogwarts.

Mnemosyne almost revealed herself when the centaurs attacked, but stopped herself just in time as a strange giant came along, and seemed to think that Hermione's name was "Hermy". She watched apprehensively as the centaurs fired arrows at the giant, who eventually chased them off. She looked towards Harry and Hermione, who were now alone.

"Smart plan," Harry spat at Hermione. Mnemosyne frowned. "Really smart plan. Where do we go from here?"

"We need to get back up to the castle," Hermione said faintly.

"By the time we've done that, Sirius'll probably be dead!" Harry snarled, and kicked a tree.

Mnemosyne's eyes widened, and she was about to ask what he meant when Ron, Ginny, Neville, and an odd girl with protuberant eyes who looked to be about Ginny's age appeared. Mnemosyne looked back and forth between all of them as the launched into a conversation. She wasn't quite sure what was going on. When she'd left, Harry and Ron hadn't been speaking to each other and Neville and Ginny had been dating! But a lot could change in the course of a year, she mused, and watched contemplatively as they mounted thestrals and left for London. She considered following them, but decided that she really needed to speak to Dumbledore.

Mnemosyne hurried up the path to the school and slipped inside the door. She could hear people finishing up dinner in the next hall over. She shook her head, resisting the urge to look in on them, and rushed up the hall to Dumbledore's office. She took one look at it and saw that it was warded all over, to prevent anyone but Dumbledore entering the office. Her frown deepened. What was going on? She laid a hand against the gargoyle, murmuring a secret password Dumbledore had given her years before, in case of emergency.

"Onion rings," she whispered, and the gargoyle sprang to life and stood aside. She hurried up the revolving staircase, glad that the gargoyle had the sense to close quickly, and she knocked twice on Dumbledore's office before entering. There was no one there.

"What the hell!" she shouted, yanking at her hair helplessly. She turned to the portraits, who were watching her in some surprise.

"Are you a ghost?" one of them asked.

"You remember me?" she breathed, walking over to the wall. They all nodded.

"Dumbledore may have great power, but the founders made sure that the portraits in Hogwarts couldn't be affected by magic," said Phineas Nigellus.

Mnemosyne shook her head. "Was he here when he did it?"

The portraits nodded gravely. Armando Dippet sighed, and spoke. "Madam, you must understand that he was trying to protect Harry."

"I'm sure," she muttered coldly. "What happened?"

Dippet shrugged uncomfortably. "Harry Potter came in with Dumbledore, and Sirius Black was there. Potter was shaking uncontrollably, and whispering your name over and over again. Dumbledore stood up and asked to speak with Black. He then proceeded to tell Black that the best thing to do would be to erase Potter's memory of you, as well as everyone else. He said it would make it easier. He told Sirius that he could keep his memory, but everyone else would forget you. Then he cast the spell, and Potter became immediately less distraught. Then he told the tale of what happened in the graveyard, but he told it as if you never existed."

By the time Dippet finished, Mnemosyne was shaking with rage and confusion. "I don't get it," she hissed. "What good would erasing me do?"

The portraits shrugged. Mnemosyne shook her head. "Fine. Whatever. Can you all tell me what's happened this year? Obviously I missed a lot."

The portraits launched into an explanation, eager to talk about something else. She only stopped them a few times, and, when they finished, she was laughing. "Merlin, the Ministry is filled with such fools," she said, wiping a tear of mirth away. "Do you know where Dumbledore is now?"

They all shook their heads, and she shrugged. "Well, Dumbledore will come back eventually." She glanced out the window. It was now quite late. "I suppose I should—"

There was a crackle of energy in the air, and Mnemosyne knew that someone was about to appear from the use of a portkey. "Say nothing," she hissed at the portraits, before concealing herself again. The portraits immediately began to feign sleep.

Harry appeared in the office, looking much the worse for wear. Dumbledore appeared a few moments later, and she curled up on the floor, watching them speak, feeling an odd ache in her chest as she watched Harry begin to shout and scream in awful pain, destroying Dumbledore's belongings. Her heart gave a jolt when he said that Sirius was dead. She closed her eyes, and merely listened as Dumbledore finally revealed one of the prophecies to Harry. Harry eventually left, and she stood up, her legs shaking.

She walked silently over to stand in front of Dumbledore, who appeared entirely unaware of her presence. She removed her concealment charms, and watched as Dumbledore opened his eyes.

"What the—" Dumbledore jerked up, pulling out his wand, and she just watched him. "No," he whispered. "But—you're dead."

"Not quite as such," she said softly.

"How?" he asked weakly, sinking back into his chair. She shrugged.

"I'm not really sure. Voldemort's Avada Kedavra hit me dead on. I barely survived, but I did survive. It took me months to gain my powers back." She touched the crystal around her neck. "This helped, but still…" She shook her head. "I'm not the same as I was. I was damaged, when the curse hit me. I'm more violent, angrier now. I went through the first of the trials, and…and I broke. When I found out you erased me…I was ready to kill you." Her voice shook. "I want so badly to be as I was, but I need time. I need a great deal of time to recover."

Dumbledore stood up. "You need to go," he said gently. "I—I am truly sorry for what has happened to you, but you should go. This is not the place for you right now."

She straightened, and gazed out the window, tears brimming her tired eyes. "Why did you do it, Dumbledore?" He did not ask what she meant.

"Because…I was weak. It was the same reason I did not tell Harry of the prophecy. Because I cared so much for his happiness."

"And what of my happiness?" Her voice was sharp, the weariness vanished from her face. "Has my happiness ever meant anything to you?"

"You were dead," Dumbledore snapped. "I didn't think you'd care."

"Did you ever think of what I would care about? Ever since Harry came to Hogwarts, you've done all you could to protect him and ensure he kept his innocence. Why did you never do the same with me?" she said angrily.

"Because you do not need to be innocent!" he shouted, leaning across his desk. "Indeed, I did all I could to make sure you would not be innocent. Your innocence could be your death sentence. Besides, you could never be truly innocent."

She recoiled as if Dumbledore had slapped her. "And why is that?" she whispered.

Dumbledore closed his eyes. "Because you are a part of him." His eyes opened.

"I'm not him, Dumbledore!" she cried in anguish. "Why could you never see that?"

Dumbledore's blue eyes met her green ones. They did not twinkle in the way they did when he looked upon Harry. They never had. "Because I can see him in you."

"And can you not see her in me?" Her eyes began to drip with tears, but she made no sound. Dumbledore looked away, as if the sight of her tears was indecent.

"I never tried," he said softly. "You were born out of pain, and though she loved you, I could almost never bring myself to try and see her in you."

"You'd rather see a mass murderer," she said bitterly.

He looked back up at her, and pursed his lips. "I never could see anything else. You were a reminder of my mistakes. And you still are. It was nearly impossible for me to see a combination of that which I loved and that which I hated, morphed into one. You are…nothing I can understand. You have qualities of them both, but you are completely different. You are Light and Dark in one being. I just don't know you. So all I can see is him."

Mnemosyne laughed, an unpleasant laugh, the laugh of tainted innocence. "You chose a hell of a time to be honest with me," she said, her voice oddly disillusioned.

She turned from him and walked towards the door, her cloak of invisibility beginning to wrap her in shadows. She paused before the door, and did not turn to look at him when she spoke. "Perhaps one day you will see that I am not my father." With that, she disappeared down the stairs, leaving no trace of her presence.

DH

"Potter, I want you to tell me what it is you and Professor Dumbledore were doing the night he died."

Harry started, and stared at Professor McGonagall. They were stuck in traffic, and Harry had almost dozed off when she spoke.

"No," he said firmly.

"Potter," Professor McGonagall spoke in a tone of exasperation. "Professor Dumbledore is dead. I'm sure he would want you to tell me."

"I can't do that, Headmistress. Professor Dumbledore didn't want me to tell anyone except Ron and Hermione," Harry said, annoyed.

"And you haven't told anyone else?" Professor McGonagall's voice was sharp, and he felt a slight sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach. He didn't know how she could know, but Harry didn't feel much like lying to McGonagall.

"I-I told Draco Malfoy."

"WHAT?!" Professor McGonagall swerved and nearly drove the car off the road. She quickly straightened and parked in front of King's Cross Station. "You told Draco Malfoy, former Death Eater and son of Lucius Malfoy, You-Know-Who's right-hand man, but you won't tell me?"

Harry paused, brow furrowed. "Yes, well, Malfoy swore an oath of loyalty to the Order, and he also promised me he wouldn't tell anyone else. So I trust him."

"And you don't trust me?" Professor McGonagall looked insulted. "I've worked against You-Know-Who practically my entire life. Draco Malfoy just recently came to our side. You trust him more than me?"

"It's not that," Harry said softly. "But you see, Professor, Draco Malfoy says Voldemort's name."

With that, he got out of the car, dragging his trunk with him, leaving Professor McGonagall speechless behind him.

Harry cast a spell nonverbally, aiming his wand underneath his robes, and his trunk instantly became light as a feather. Harry pulled it along effortlessly, and moved towards to barrier separating Platforms 9 and 10. Harry began to walk quickly towards it, and was struck by the realization that this was the last time he would ever walk through it as a student. He closed his eyes briefly, and opened them just in time to see the wall approach. And then it was over and he was through and he was seeing the scarlet steam engine. He automatically looked around for Ron and Hermione before remembering that they would be in the Prefect's cabin. Hermione had been made Head Girl, so she'd definitely be there, and she'd probably be forcing Ron to go as well. Harry sighed slightly and boarded the train. He walked down the corridor until he found a compartment that housed Neville and Luna.

"Mind if I sit here?" Harry asked.

"Oh, sure, Harry," Neville said, smiling at him. Harry smiled back, and Luna greeted him dreamily.

Just as he had gotten settled, the compartment door slid open again. Harry looked up, almost expecting to see Malfoy, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle, ready to insult him, despite what he knew to be true. But it was just Ginny. "Hey, Harry," she said, smiling at him. He returned the smile, but couldn't help feeling a tad uncomfortable when she sat really close to him. Harry glanced up, looking for something else to focus on, and his eyes landed on Neville. What he saw made him feel rather strange. Neville was looking at Ginny with an odd, unfocused look on his face. With a jolt, Harry realized that Neville was looking at Ginny in the exact way Harry had looked at Ginny just a few months ago. A small smile curved his face, and he found that, for some reason he couldn't understand, he wanted Ginny to like Neville back.

"Um, Ginny, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to stretch out," Harry said, improvising.

"Oh, okay," she said, looking a little bit disappointed. She went over to sit next to Neville, who practically glowed. Harry suppressed a grin and lifted his legs out on the seat.

"So, Harry," Ginny began, not one to be daunted. "What did Professor McGonagall want to talk to you about?"

"I can't say," he said, shrugging

"Come on, Harry," Ginny said. "We're all allies here."

Harry frowned, feeling annoyance flickering in his chest. "I'm not going to tell you," he said emphatically.

"Why not?" she asked sullenly.

"Because it's none of your business!" Harry burst out. Ginny froze, staring at him. Neville looked angry, and Luna looked mildly surprised.

"I see," Ginny said icily.

"I'll go," he muttered, and grabbed his trunk. He left the compartment, feeling more cross with Ginny than with himself. He walked down the corridor, pausing when he saw a compartment that contained Seamus and Dean. He slid the door open.

"Hey, you mind if I sit here?" he said.

"Yeah, all right, Harry," Seamus said cheerfully. Dean gave him an awkward smile. Harry's return smile was only slightly less discomfited. They hadn't spoken since Harry started going out with Ginny, and Harry had always been under the impression that Dean thought Harry had stolen Ginny from him.

"So how was your summer, Harry?" Seamus asked him, giving a slight smile, as if he could sense the tension and was trying to ease it.

"It was okay, I guess," Harry said uncertainly. "Kind of weird. I almost didn't come back."

"Why?" Seamus said.

Harry, realizing his slip, scrambled to cover it. "Oh, you know, it just won't be the same without Dumbledore."

"I know what you mean," Seamus said. "Me mum didn't want me to come back even more this year, but I'm of age, so she couldn't really stop me."

"What about your parents, Dean?" Harry said to him, hoping to dissolve the tension between them with a good solvent. Dean shrugged.

"They noticed that some weird stuff's been going on, but they don't know about You-Know-Who, and I haven't told them. I'll just let them believe what they will. I mean, what they don't know can't hurt them, right?"

Harry nodded, and though he wasn't quite convinced that this was true, he didn't want to argue with Dean about it. His gaze landed on Seamus, whose sandy blond hair was streaked with highlights. Seamus' teeth were almost a blinding white when he grinned at Harry. "What's up, Harry?"

"Nothing," Harry said distantly as he noticed a peculiar feeling in his chest, like his heart skipped a beat. Harry stared at Seamus for a few more seconds, and then a curious look crossed his face, as if he was seeing Harry for the first time. Dean looked back and forth between them, and his eyes widened, but Harry barely noticed this, for a very unexpected sensation was roaming through his body as he looked into Seamus' blue eyes. His chest tightened, and he realized that he was holding his breath.

"Harry," Seamus said softly. "Are you—"

Then the compartment door flew open, and Ron and Hermione were there, Ron demanding to know what Harry had done to make Ginny cry, and Hermione was restraining him, but barely. Harry gave a fleeting look back to Seamus, who had a contemplative expression on his face. His gaze flicked to Dean, who looked vaguely disturbed, Ron, who he knew was distinctly unhappy with him, and Hermione, who was exasperated. A small smile stole over his face.

It was going to be a very interesting year.

A/N: I'm trying to keep little bits of information about the girl coming, just enough to satisfy my audience of three. Lol. Thanks to a (rather threatening) review from caz-felton-malfoy, I am continuing this story, despite lack of reviews. Anyway, hope y'all like it! Adios!

-CatJetRat