Harry Potter and the Power of Time

by RossWrock

Now AU, 6th Year, following OoTP. Tired of the way Dumbledore and the Order treat him, and ready to face his destiny, Harry dedicates long hours to muggle and magical training to take the fight to Voldemort for a change. Slight HPGW, not shippy though.

27. Interactions

Author Notes: Two short notes to clear up any confusion.

First is about my last chapter. The ending paragraph where Harry and Neville arrived on platform 9 ¾ was purely a twisted joke on my part. It was explained in my author notes, countless reviews, and in my Yahoo! Group, but I'm afraid many of you did not bother to read that far. So if you're scared about what I wrote; relax, it was only a joke. As far as I'm concerned it never even happened, and the story will pick up right after the two arrive to meet the train. I'm not opposed to homosexual relationships; I'm just not one to write them. For some reason though I was in a wicked mood when I posted the last chapter, and the result was the joke I played on everyone. So if you want a good laugh, read all the chapter reviews if you haven't yet. Some of them are quite funny! Again, I repeat: Harry and Neville did not kiss!

Second is about my fic's deletion, and then its reposting. Someone reported it for abuse, and PoT got taken down by the Administration for "explicit adult content." I felt that was impossible, since my story is a mild PG-13 one at that, and does not contain anything that could be construed as explicit. So I wrote to , asked members on my Yahoo! Group to do the same, and less than 5 hours later my fic was back up in its entirety. So while they made the initial mistake (I did get a nice apology from Xing himself), I want to thank for their quick response in fixing an obvious mistake. I know other authors have had problems with 's policies in the past, but I was very pleased in my own case. The only thing they haven't changed is my publication date. Many of you have pointed out the 12/31/69 date, and there is a reason why that is (something about computers started to keep time on 1/1/70, and since computers are in LA; not Eastern Time Zone; their records show up a few hours earlier, hence the full day). I have asked to change it back to my real pub. date of 12/27/03, but so far they haven't. I don't mind much, as I think it's funny. A fan even suggested that I now have the right to sue JKR for copyright infringement over anything Harry Potter, and I think that's a riot. Won't happen though, trust me. I don't think I would win. There's also been much rage over the person who falsely reported me (he was stupid enough to write a gloating email, and forgot to hide his name as the "sender"). Please don't write him anymore, as he's already received too much recognition and hate mail for his childish behavior. I've even banned further discussion in my Yahoo! Group, although if you really want to know, feel free to join and peruse the archives. That's about it, now on with the story!

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Harry Potter and the Power of Time

Chapter 27 – Interactions

Unlike when he'd boarded the train right away back in September, once Harry arrived on platform nine and three quarters with Neville thanks to Hedwig's phoenix abilities, he immediately looked around for familiar faces; eager to find his friends. The red sea of Weasleys weren't in view yet (no doubt running late), but Harry easily spotted Hermione and her parents, and he and Neville headed over to say hi.

Along the way Harry was greeted by some other friendly faces; mostly members of the D.A. and fellow Gryffindors; and they thanked him for their Christmas gifts. Harry had purchased a proper wand holster for each of the members, and although it had cost him a shiny sickle for the almost one hundred members, Harry thought the cost was well worth it. Even though they were only made of leather (not dragon hide like his own), the wand holsters would prove invaluable if any of the D.A. were to get in a spot of trouble.

"Hi Harry, Neville," Hermione greeted each of them with a hug and small kiss on the check. "Did you enjoy the rest of you vacation?"

"It was great," Harry answered. "I'll tell you more on the train when we're all together."

"Harry got a motorcycle," Neville blurted out, not able to contain himself.

"A motorcycle, eh?" Mr. Granger asked. "Aren't you a little young to be driving? What type of motorbike did you get?"

Harry was pleased at Mr. Granger's apparent interest. "It's an Indian Chief, and the only reason why I can drive it is because it's magical, so it's much safer than a real bike. Besides, it's not like any wizards even have things like licenses or permits. Hermione could, I suppose, because there's record of her in the muggle word, but the rest of us don't have proper ID or anything. I still don't know how the Dursleys got me into school and stuff. Must have forged some documents or something."

Hermione and her mother said something that sounded intelligent about birth records and school vaccination reports, but all Harry heard was Mr. Granger say, "An Indian Chief! Tell me all about it!" Obviously, he was a fan, and for the next ten minutes Harry, Neville, and Hermione's father were in their own world talking shop about horsepower, torque, and air intake valves. Hermione just shook her head, but listened in after awhile as even she was a little curious about Harry's new toy. It wasn't until Ginny made her way over casually, with Raul's cage in her hands, that the others even notice the Weasleys had arrived, and stopped talking about the motorbike.

"Aww, I wanted to hear more about revolutions per minute. Sounds fascinating," Luna said. Harry didn't even see her join their discussion, although it sounded like she heard a great deal of it.

"Luna, I didn't see you there. How was your holiday?" He asked. Of his closest friends, Luna was the only one who hadn't visited over the vacation. Harry had offered, but was informed that ever since her mother died, she and her father spent Christmas time together alone; just the two of them. This year, Luna said they'd visit Sicily, where an underwater tribe of merefolk gave tours of a sunken ancient city to tourists. Hermione said that was absolute rubbish when she heard about it, but at least she had the decency to wait until Luna left the room before she had said so.

"It was very nice, Harry," Luna said, "although the merefolk we visited refused to admit they were giving tours of Atlantis. Said instead that it was just some city that got flooded when Mt. Etna erupted. Dad and I got some good pictures though, and I can't wait to develop them. Thank you for your gifts by the way. The vault and holster were very thoughtful, but my Dad absolutely adores the butterbeer jewelry you made."

"You're welcome," Harry said with a blush, under the scrutinizing gaze of both Ginny and Hermione. With all the butterbeer he and his double had been drinking, Harry started to save the bottle caps around Halloween, and crafted them into earrings, a bracelet, and a hair barrette. Harry knew that Luna always wore her original butterbeer necklace, and thought the others would go nicely together in the same theme. He didn't think it would be inappropriate either. After all, it wasn't like it was real jewelry!

"Thank you for your gift as well," he said. Luna had gotten him a lion hat that matched her own, that she suggested he should wear when he played Quidditch. Harry wasn't sure it was such a good idea to wear while flying through the air, but supposed it was the thought that counted.

The group traded some more small talk for another few minutes, politely saying goodbye to the adults, when Harry noticed they were missing someone.

"Ginny, where's Ron off at? I haven't seen him around yet."

Ginny turned when Harry called her name, but looked a little green once she understood his question.

"He's a…he's gone to get a compartment on the train," she said, with not a little discomfort. "He didn't get much sleep last night, and we woke up early today, so I suppose he's tired."

Hermione raised her eyebrow suspiciously at Ginny's odd behavior, but said nothing. Harry noticed it too, and wanted nothing more than to get on the train, and get on underway. After Ron's own odd behavior when they'd last seen each other on Boxing Day, Harry wanted to make sure his friend was alright, and that the jealousy he'd felt when they were all trading gifts had died down like it normally did. If anyone besides himself could hold a grudge, it was Ron, and Harry wanted to make sure things were alright with his best mate.

After that, the group made their way aboard (Harry only suffered from one Weasley hug this time), but didn't find Ron in their normal compartment. Neville and Hermione entered though, and Ginny followed, leaving Harry in the corridor outside. If Ron was already onboard, wouldn't he already have saved some seats, and shouldn't they try to find him?

"Harry," Ginny said, coming back out in the corridor. "Why don't you settle down, and I'll go fetch Ron. Dunderhead probably went to find the snack lady early or something. Watch out for Raul will you, and I'll be right back? He doesn't like to be in his cage."

Harry again noticed Ginny was acting strangely, but agreed and stepped inside. Hermione and Neville sat on one side talking about all the defense work he'd done with Harry over the holidays, so Harry took a seat on the other side next to the window, which he looked out. Most parents had already left the platform, but there were a few still milling about that were waving last goodbyes to their children. None of them were familiar to Harry except a long-haired blonde man, who stood out in the crowd like he didn't belong. 'He doesn't belong,' Harry realized. Lucius Malfoy had no right to mingle with normal, law abiding citizens.

As if he knew he was being thought about, Malfoy turned his head from the front of the train right to Harry's window, and sneered at what he saw. Unlike their last meeting at the Quidditch game; when so many spectators made it impossible for him to be anything but semi-polite; now Malfoy had no qualms about mouthing a death threat to Harry.

"I'll be seeing you real soon, Potter," Harry vaguely made out.

It was supposed to be a threat, he knew, but somehow Harry wasn't intimidated. On the contrary, he reveled in the knowledge that it was true. 'Sooner than you think,' Harry added in his own thoughts. Now that his holidays were over with, his Death Eater hunting would be starting again, and Malfoy was at the top of Harry's list.

The two could have gone on staring at each other until the train pulled out of the station, but thankfully Ginny entered the compartment at that moment, and captured Harry's attention.

"Ron's sitting with Dean and Seamus this time," she said, as if nothing was wrong. "He said he'll see us all at dinner tonight."

"He could have at least said hello," Hermione muttered. Although Ron did sometimes get on her nerves, it was only polite to greet your best friends after being apart for so long. Hermione wasn't the only one who thought so either.

"What compartment is he in, Gin," Harry asked. "I think I'll go stop by to say hi."

"Why don't you just wait until dinner, Harry?" Ginny said nervously. She was hiding something, and it was apparent to everyone in the compartment.

"I've got time now," he said. "Besides, I can say hi to Dean and Seamus too."

"Ahhh," Ginny yelled frustrated. She flopped down in the seat next to Harry, and studied her hands intensely while she gathered her courage. Then she turned to look right at Harry, and blurted out. "He doesn't want to see you!"

It took a second for Harry to comprehend, but even then, he didn't. "What?"

"He doesn't want to see you, Harry," she repeated, this time with more compassion. "Look, he's just being silly. Ever since we were over to visit, he got jealous that you were giving out such great gifts, and you know how he gets. He just needed some time to cool down, but Mum and Dad made the mistake of thinking that they should tell him the truth just then, and told Ron about the money you gave us back in July. Well, they should have let Ron calm down some before they did that, because he got even angrier. Started to go on about how all the new textbooks and robes me and him had this year were thanks to you, and he didn't even know it. Then Dad let slip that me, Fred, and George already did know because we went with Mum to Gringotts when he was grounded, and that made him even angrier. Now he thinks there's some sort of conspiracy against him or something, and he's being stupid. I just went and begged him to at least come by and say hi, but he's refusing. Just give it until dinner please, Harry, and I'm sure Ron will calm down by then. You know how he gets when there's food on the table. All you have to do is offer him the last chicken drumstick, and he'll be fine. Please!"

Whoa! Harry didn't know what to think, except that he should rush right up to his "best mate" and beat some sense into him. Didn't Ron know by now that Harry didn't care about his money, or anything else Ron normally got hung up about?

"It's not just that," Ginny answered when Harry asked about it. "There's more I'm afraid. He's also feeling jealous about Neville, because you two have gotten a lot closer lately. And then me and you spend so much time together because of Quidditch, and you and Hermione spend time together when you tutor me and Luna, that I think he's just feeling left out."

"What did I do?" Neville wanted to know.

"Shush Neville, you didn't do anything," Hermione told him. "Ron's just feeling insecure."

"That's not even the worst of it," Ginny went on.

"You mean there's more," Harry couldn't believe it.

She just nodded. "When we got back from your place that night Harry, Mum and Dad found Percy asleep in his old room, crying into his pillow. Apparently he felt bad that Mum sent him a jumper for Christmas, and he didn't get them anything in return. And of course that just made him feel worse for returning the one he got sent last year. He really has been trying to apologize for being such a prat, according to Bill, Charlie, and Dad, and he decided to stop by to finally apologize to the whole family. Well, when he saw that none of us were home; even after he waited hours for us; I guess he just finally broke down. Thought we all went on vacation without him or something. When he woke up, and saw Mum, they both just started to cry. Ever since then Percy's been living back at home, and Ron's the only one who still thinks he should suffer for how he treated us last year. Mum and Dad have already forgiven him, as have Bill and Charlie I think. Me and the twins made him agree to be a guinea pig for some new Wheezes, but after that we were fine with him being around too. Ron's the only one holding a grudge for some reason, and I think it's on your behalf, even though he's angry with you too. It doesn't make any sense, and now Ron won't listen to any of us. It's not just you he's avoiding; he practically locked himself in his room this entire past week."

"Well, I should go and talk to him then, right; to make sure he doesn't get any worse?" Harry questioned.

"No," Hermione informed him with what she thought was the obvious answer. "Harry, you should know by now that if you try to tell Ron he's being silly, it will only make things worse. Just let him calm down, and I'll talk to him at dinner. Maybe then he'll see reason and stop being such a git."

"So I'm just supposed to do nothing and pretend like everything is ok?" Harry didn't know if he could do that. He was a man of action; especially in the last year; and asking Harry Potter to do nothing was like asking Draco Malfoy to catch a snitch in a Quidditch match.

"I think Hermione's right, Harry," Neville said. "Ron's always in a better mood when he's eating, so I'd wait until later. I'd go and talk to him myself, but if what Ginny says is true, I don't know if that's such a good idea."

"Yeah," Ginny agreed, "that wouldn't be a great idea Neville. Ron's feeling threatened I think, and I don't know if he'd take kindly to you telling him to lighten up."

Harry couldn't believe that Ron would actually think he should be threatened by Neville, and said as much. 'Neville is just another friend,' he thought, 'and Ron can't possibly think I'm trying to replace him as my best mate.' The girls however explained how silly and stupid boys were when it came to emotions and feelings, and eventually convinced Harry not to go after Ron. Dinner was only a few short hours away, and after such a long break, ultimately he decided he could wait that much longer.

The rest of the train ride passed uneventfully after that, although Harry found it difficult to concentrate on much other than Ron. Hermione used that too her advantage too, when they played a chess game with Harry's muggle chess set. Neville caught up on some homework reading while they played, and Ginny tried to watch, but soon dozed off leaning against Harry's shoulder. When that happened, Raul said something funny from the luggage rack that made Harry blush, and after Hermione and Neville had a good laugh at his expense, they each returned to their previous activities.

When the chess game ended (with Harry's distracted mind, it didn't take long for Hermione to decimate him), the three of them awake talked some about the upcoming D.A. meetings, and Harry explained which spells he was thinking of teaching. Some of the D.A. stopped in to say hi as well, but didn't stay long because they noticed Ginny sleeping. Luna stopped in for a longer time, and actually woke Ginny up about an hour away from Hogwarts with some unpleasant news.

"You're drooling on Harry, Ginny," Luna informed her as if it were the most natural news for the sleepy girl to hear. "My father says consecrating another with bodily fluids is good luck and powerful magic in some cultures, but I don't think drool is what he was talking about."

That time, Harry got to join in Hermione and Neville's laughing, although when Ginny turned beat red and started to hit them all, Harry made everyone stop. His shoulder couldn't take much more abuse.

The only surprising thing about the entire train ride (other than Ron's absence), at least as far as Harry was concerned, was that Draco Malfoy hadn't made one attempt to enter, or even find their compartment. Either he was learning not to upset Harry, or he was up to something devious. Harry didn't know which, and didn't much care. If Draco was up to something funny, Harry would find out soon enough.

At long last the Hogwart's Express pulled into Hogsmeade Station, and the train ride was over. School carriages pulled by dark winged horses were once more in sight, and because Ron and Luna were both off with other friends, Harry, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville all caught a ride in the same carriage. It was the first time Ron had ever ridden apart from Harry, a fact which quieted him the entire journey, despite the cheerful attempts of the girls to engage him in conversation.

Compared to September's feast, the dinner that night wasn't nearly as lavish, but still it was more than the normal fare the students got during school weekends. Roast chicken, pork tenderloin, huge casseroles; all the favorites were on the tables. That, plus the fact that the snack lady on the train had run out of sweets halfway down the train's length, ensured that every student was eating all they could get their hands on.

Harry wasn't much hungry though. Ron was sitting away from his normal spot with Dean and Seamus, and although he was the only one whose appetite suffered from it, Harry wasn't the only one to notice. Almost every Gryffindor gave speculative looks out the corners of their eyes at Harry and Ron, and even some of the other tables shared inquisitive whispers. At the staff table, Professor Dumbledore looked concerned, Professor McGonagall looked upset, and Snape for the first time in Harry's memory looked almost gleeful.

Humorously enough, the only person not reacting in any way to their separation was Ron himself. He chose not to even make eye contact with Harry or any of their other close friends, and instead merrily ate his fill as Dean explained the intricacies of muggle football. He'd said it all before of course, but never before had Ron paid much attention. The fact that he was forcing himself to listen, just to please his new mate, hurt Harry all the more.

Dinner came and went. So did pudding and dessert. It was only when all the plates and dishes cleared themselves did Harry perk up to listen to any important announcements. Most were just repeats of school warnings and a summary of house point standings, although Harry was tickled to hear that two more of Fred and George's products were added to Filch's list of contraband items. Harry laughed aloud like many of the other Gryffindors, and turned his head to share a smile with Ron, only to find Ron not there. As the announcements continued on, Harry found himself just wanting to get back to the dorm rooms.

"And lastly," Dumbledore intoned, with much cheer and mischief in his voice, "I find that I must apologize to the school's population; especially the females; for my oversight of an announcement this past term. It seems that two school years ago during the Triwizard Tournament, when we hosted visitors from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, many of our own young ladies became enamored with the Yule Ball, and expected something of its sort to become a yearly activity. It has never been a school function before though, and last year no such dance was announced. Imagine my surprise when over this past summer I found myself bombarded with owls left and right requesting that I rectify that situation this upcoming year, and that the Heads of House also agreed it would be a good idea; to set aside house rivalries for a night if you will."

As the Headmaster continued on, two unique and separate whispers rushed through the crowd. All the girls were giggling and already planning outfits to wear, while the boys couldn't believe their dismay, and were complaining that no dance was mentioned in their school letters. For a dance is surely what Dumbledore was getting too; everyone knew that. It was just his dottiness and penchant for long-winded speeches that made him continue as if he were telling the school a huge secret.

"So with their encouragement," he continued, "I planned for a Yule Ball and even booked The Weird Sisters to once again delight us with their enchanting melodies. It is to my embarrassment, and with apologies, that I forgot to include that information in your school letters. The lack of dress robes on many of your parts, as well as me forgetting the engagement until some of our more vocal females accosted me as the end of year approached, made the dance an impossibility. Therefore their will be no Yule Ball this year, and for that I am sorry."

"Yes!" A Ravenclaw boy shouted, pumping his fist. Many other boys laughed at that, and most all were as equally relieved as Harry that they hadn't been subjected to another school formal. Especially with the strange way Cho had been acting in December, the thought of having to ask her or another female to a dance made him shudder in fear. The first time had been horrifying enough, and even to this day, although it was somewhat of a joke in Gryffindor tower how Harry had completely ignored his date Parvati, the two of them still skirted the issue.

"Not so fast, Mr. Gunther, "Dumbledore replied, smiling. This caused all the girls who had been moaning and complaining to look up on tenterhooks, hoping there was a catch.

"To rectify my mistake, I've decided that this year Hogwarts will host its first ever annual Valentine's Day Dance, the Saturday night after the holiday."

This time the girls cheered, as Mr. Gunther of Ravenclaw, all his friends, and in fact every boy in school without a girlfriend all complained and sat down in shock.

"The dance will be open to third years and up, and first and second years will have separate activities planned that night as a special treat." Nobody heard him, because the girls (even Hermione, Harry was surprised to see) were still cheering and giggling uncontrollably.

This time Dumbledore waited for the crowd to die down before he continued. "The first Hogsmeade weekend has been scheduled the first weekend in February to accommodate anyone needing appropriate attire, and Gladrags in town has been warned to expect increased business. Letters will also be sent to your parents, to inform them of the dance in case you don't have enough current funds for dress robes. Although The Weird Sisters are otherwise engaged, I have arranged for another popular band to play for the evening, although you must forgive me for wanting to keep that surprise to myself for the time being. That is all for now, and I encourage all of you to not wait to find a dance partner, as the dance will fast approach sooner than you think. Enjoy the rest of your evening, and you all are dismissed to your common rooms."

Angrily, all the boys got up from the benches; only a few looking pleased or even content. Even the first and second year boys, who weren't allowed attendance to the dance and therefore didn't have to worry about finding a date, looked upset on their sex's behalf. Conversely, all the girls were excited and talking madly. Make-up parties were being formed, beauty spells were being traded, and school gossips like Parvati and Pansy were already taking polls of which boys would ask which girls as their dates. It wasn't until Harry got to the huge double door (he had pushed ahead and was one of the first), that Dumbledore called out to them all with a small addendum.

"Silly me," he chuckled, but his voice was still loud enough to call everyone's attention back to the front of the room. "I almost forgot the most important part. In honor of Sadie Hawkins; a wizard who was the unfortunate victim of a gender bending spell and preferred to live the rest of his life in the muggle world; and the muggle tradition he began, this dance will be girl's choice. For those of you not familiar with muggle culture, that means that the girls must ask the boys out for the night, and that the traditional roles are reversed. That is all, and have a pleasant night."

Boys and girls were equally quiet; most confused at the news. Harry, Hermione, and a few others knew what it meant, and soon word spread throughout the school just what a Sadie Hawkins dance was. Then they all erupted. This time, the girls were complaining things were unfair, while the boys all had a good laugh. The next two months would be very interesting.

---

Harry wasn't sure how long it had taken him or the rest of the male Gryffindors to get back to their common room, but all he was sure of was that it was a dead race to get away from all the screaming, complaining females. The purebloods were complaining that such barbaric muggles traditions were beneath them and not fitting for their societal stature, while the muggleborn and mixed blood girls were just in general distress. To an outsider who hadn't heard Dumbledore's announcement, one would assume that Voldemort himself had stormed the castle by all the commotion that was caused, but to a bunch of teenage girls, that might very well have been preferable.

"So girls really have to ask us to the dance?" Neville still couldn't believe it. As Harry had learned, Neville grew up very sheltered even for a wizard, and he'd probably never even heard of such a thing.

"I think it's about high time myself," Dean answered. All the sixth year boys were sitting by the fire, talking about the dance. Only the younger girls had returned from the Great Hall, and most of them had retreated up to their dorms. As it was, the common room was currently a bit of a boys' club.

"Muggle culture has become much more progressive in the past few decades," Dean continued, "and girls ask blokes out on dates almost as much as guys do birds. Why shouldn't they? It's cool that Dumbledore at least tries to include some muggle culture. Outside of muggle studies class, you don't hardly ever see it. There's just as many of us with mixed backgrounds as there are purebloods after all."

Seamus nodded in agreement, and Neville was just looking more confused and worried than ever. Harry didn't know why. In was the other sixth year boy that Harry's attention was on though. Ron had been with Dean and Seamus during the whole walk back to the seventh floor, and the one time when Harry went to talk to him, Ron simply ignored his friend, increased his pace, and left Harry behind. Even now when all the dorm mates were sitting together in the same group of chairs, Ron was as far away from Harry as physically possible, and hadn't looked his way once.

Philip and Frank came over to talk to Neville at that point (the team's beaters got on very well together from all the time they spent in the weight room), and discussion turned to which girls would ask out which boys. The conversation was entirely too much like the gossiping the boys always accused Parvati and Lavender of for Harry's taste, but even he had to admit it was interesting to think about who would show up with who. That is, of course, until Dean pointed out the obvious.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Of course, Harry here's going to have his first pick of the litter, so I guess the rest of us are just sloppy seconds. Just promise not to take more than one girl to the dance, huh Harry, and leave us some of the fit ones."

"Wha?" It took Harry a moment to digest what Dean had said, but as all the rest of them (save one; guess who it was) snickered at the look on Harry face, he put it all together.

"Oh holly hell!" Ever since his condemnation of Fudge, the papers had been showing him in a good light again. Not only that, but he was back towards the top of Witch Weekly's most eligible bachelor list, and he was sure there were plenty of other periodicals that wrote scandalous articles as well. With all their circulation, Harry knew from the eyes he sometimes caught even from perfect strangers, the girls in the school could very well all have their sights set on him.

"Yeah," Seamus mocked, "real shame. If I was chased by nearly every single skirt in the school, and even some who aren't single, I'd be real scared too. What could possibly be worse?"

Some of the others snickered at Seamus's joke, but not two. Harry of course didn't, because all he ever wanted was to be treated normally, and his celebrity status, no matter what the benefits were, never let that happen.

And Ron didn't laugh either. Harry could almost curse Seamus for further inciting him. Ron's face became flustered, and Harry knew his friend was reaching a breaking point.

"Yeah," Ron finally yelled. "It must be so horrible to be famous, and popular, and rich, and talented; to be the first pick of every girl in school. Oh Harry, I feel for you!" Ron's sarcasm wasn't lost on the group.

"Come on Ron," Neville piped in, hoping to calm things down. "You know more than anybody how much Harry dislikes all that."

"I used to know more than anybody!" He retorted. "Now it looks like your better friends than I am! So sorry Ron, you're too emotional. Hey, but here's a load of galleons to take your mind off things. Go buy yourself something nice. Yeah, thanks Harry!"

"I never said anything like that!" Harry yelled back. "I gave everyone a vault of galleons; even Luna! Sirius' will told me to spread the wealth around, and that's what I was doing!"

"Did his will tell you to do that last summer, when Mum took Ginny and the twins to Gringotts?" Harry flinched as he realized what Ron was getting at, and Ron caught the look with a smug smile. "Thought not. So don't use convenient excuses just when they suit you. You've become too good at lying and manipulating people this year Harry. It won't work on me though! I see you for what you really are!"

Dean stepped up to Ron (who was standing now) and put his hand on the agitated boy's shoulder, who only got slapped away for his trouble. Still, Dean persisted, and quietly let them all know, "Ron, Harry; the whole room is watching you."

"I don't care," Harry screamed. "Let them watch. Merlin knows they bloody well watch everything else I do with my life. Why should now be any different?"

"You really do like it all, don't you?" Ron said. "I always thought Snape was mental when he called you attention seeking, but I can see I might finally agree with him after all."

Without another word, Ron turned his back on Harry and left the room, climbing the stairs to his dorm.

The common room was shrouded in silence for the next moments, as everyone watched a range of emotions come over Harry's face. Anger, pity, remorse, frustration; and underlying them all, sadness. He could not for the life of him figure out how Ron had become so difficult and jealous during the break. Hell, the two had hardly seen each other in all that time. And on the ride to London back in December, they had both been the best of friends. What had gone wrong?

"It was probably too early, Harry," Neville tried to comfort his friend. "Ron just needs to cool down, and apparently he needs more time than Ginny thought. Give it a week perhaps? When Quidditch practice starts up again, I'm sure Ron will come around."

Harry thought about the advice, and decided it was wrong. Ron wasn't the kind of person who blew his top and apologized; he was the kind of person who stewed, and only got angrier. And if Harry let things alone for a whole week, Ron and Harry might very well find themselves at the end of each others' wands. A situation Harry had feared ever since his fourth year when Ron had gone on his first jealous tirade.

"I think you're wrong, Neville," Harry explained. "It's best I deal with this now, before it gets any worse. I should have approached him on the train even. He's probably more pissed that I didn't try to come find him earlier." Facing the staircase but speaking to his dorm mates, Harry asked them, "Give us awhile, would you?"

Neville, Dean, and Seamus all nodded their heads. None of them wanted to interrupt Harry and Ron, knowing how explosive things might get. Instead, Seamus whispered to Dean it might be a good idea to get Madame Pomfrey on standby.

With a deep breath, Harry walked up the stairs for what turned out to be one of the worst conversations of his life.

---

The next morning at breakfast, Harry sat with the Quidditch team as normal, except he sat on one side, and Ron the complete other. Ginny, the other chasers, Frank and Neville, and even Dennis Creevey sat between them, and by the look in their co-captain's eyes, they knew the new seating arrangements were permanent.

Class schedules were redistributed as one of the Professors had to change his meeting times, but Harry's few classes weren't affected, and he slipped the paper into his pocket without even looking at it.

All throughout the dining room people were staring at Harry, because word had leaked out earlier that morning of his and Ron's fall out. Apparently arguing with a room full of witnesses and spectators wasn't such a good idea, and word had spread fast. Lavender and Parvati might not have been present, but if there was one fault common among all Gryffindors; even the boys; it was that they often jumped to conclusion, and were hard pressed to keep a secret. So naturally, as Dumbledore would say, the whole school knew about Harry's fight with Ron, almost verbatim.

Even the teachers knew, and Snape once again had that satisfied snarky smile on his face, matched only by Draco's trademark smirk. Professor McGonagall looked like she wanted to drag the two fighting friends off to her office to beat some sense in them, but a warning glance from Dumbledore reminded her to stay seated. It was a long running disagreement between them, but Dumbledore was of the lassie-fair philosophy that left personal problems alone. He felt that when friendships were strained, they either broke as was meant to be, or were forged even stronger in their turmoil. Only if school rules were broken, or class performance suffered, did he occasionally let his Heads of House take a more active role; but that too depended on who the students were.

Minerva McGonagall on the other hand felt differently about her students. With no other adult presence around (parents could hardly offer advice in their letters, assuming they were even informed by their children in the first place), she felt she had a duty to smooth out petty grievances that sometimes got out of hand. Especially when the fighting students were Harry Potter and Ron Weasley; two of her more prominent students, and who were both very important to the Order of the Phoenix; she wanted to first off know what they were fighting about, and then wanted to tell them they were both being silly, and show them the error of their ways.

Ultimately though, she did nothing, and breakfast passed for all of Hogwarts in one of its most quiet meals of all time. Most of Gryffindor were subdued because of the obvious tension, and the other houses shared quiet whispers with each other, wondering what happened with Harry and Ron rather than trading vacation stories as they might have done otherwise.

It was the longest day of Harry's life; that day after breakfast when classes resumed. As luck would have it, the first day back to school was Thursday, and that meant Harry's first class was DADA; the only class he shared with Ron.

Hermione tried to get Harry alone in the hallway before the final bell rang, but he didn't have much to say. She wanted to know what he and Ron had said to each other, and apparently she tried talking to Ron earlier. Ron hadn't said a word, and Harry planned to follow suit. Hermione's interfering over the years was sometimes unwanted, sometimes gratefully appreciated, but this was one of the times that Harry knew no matter how much she nagged, or how often she whined, she wouldn't get any answers out of him.

Ron had been seated already when the two friends entered (between Dean and Seasmus), so Harry was grateful for at least avoiding that awkward situation. Ron's normal seat was right next to Harry, and thankfully he had taken it upon himself to move. So Harry sat at his regular desk, but Hermione didn't follow behind him. She was angry that Harry refused to tell her about his fight with Ron, so she sat with Terry Boot, a Ravenclaw, who'd been her Arithmancy partner for the past three years.

That left Harry sitting alone; an ugly remembrance of his primary school days, until the last student entered the room as the bell rang. Neville; stumbling over his untied shoe with a bag full of books; saw that Harry was alone, and moved to sit besides him. His intentions were good, and Harry appreciated that he supposed, but he swore under his breath all the same. Neville sitting next to him was the last thing he needed. Neville had been a major issue in Ron's recent bout of jealousy, and a quick look over to the fuming redhead (pretending not to notice Harry's new neighbor) confirmed his worry. Things were not going well.

Luckily the class ended after an eventless lecture on the advantages of self transfiguration in retaliation to elemental attacks. Harry missed most of it he was so lost in his own thoughts, and almost ran from the room when the bell rang. He had a free period before lunch, and desperately needed some advice. Remus's office was his destination, but a sign said Remus was away for the week (probably still on assignment for Dumbledore). Harry, discouraged and just plain tired, made his way back to Gryffindor Tower after that. Not knowing where else to go, or what else to do, the solitary confinement of his trunk had become very appealing.

The rest of the week passed much the same way for Harry. Quidditch practice hadn't restarted, his double was missing as Harry obviously hadn't resumed traveling to the past again, and not knowing what else to do, Harry spent most of his time outside of class in his trunk, either dictating long lost spells and potion ingredients with Seth, or working on his anti-Dementor Arithmancy project which had lately hit a brick wall. Not even during mealtime, or his reinitialized Occlumency practice, did Harry's mood improve. In fact, he even skived off of his Transfiguration and Arithmancy classes, he was so down. Ginny and Hermione told both teachers he simply wasn't feeling well, and luckily because of his progress, were told that as long as Harry turned in the assigned homework, they'd let him miss the one class without further discipline.

The fact was, most of the school was so caught up in news of the upcoming dance, that most people avoided Harry's dour mood in favor of more pleasant conversations. And Harry had to admit, he didn't mind in the least that no "fangirls" had come up to him yet, asking him out as he feared. Hopefully, they'd all get dates before he calmed down, and he could go to the dance stag, or maybe not at all. Not having to lead a dance this year, Harry saw no reason why he wouldn't be allowed to skip it. Maybe the first and second years could use a volunteer chaperon?

It was the looks on Harry's friends' faces that caused him the most pain. Just because he was at odds with Ron, didn't mean he had to be snappy to Hermione, Ginny, and Neville. Luna he wasn't worried about, as nothing seemed to bother her. It was frustrating though, because he was constantly in such a bad mood. At least his friends seemed to understand. They knew Harry just needed to get used to the new relationship, and he'd soon calm down. As such, Neville spent most of his free time with Frank and Phillip, and Ginny made off with Luna whenever she got the chance. Hermione, not wantingto take sides between Harry and Ron, was possibly in the worst position of anyone, and she wasn't about to spend time with her dingbat roommates. Unsurprisingly, Hermione put more time in at the library that first week back then ever before.

They gave Ron space too, although the space he needed was a little different. Where Harry was moody and brooding to himself the whole week, Ron was continuing on like normal, acting as if nothing was the matter. He ate with gusto at mealtimes, played chess and Exploding Snap in the evenings, and even pestered Hermione for homework help after he procrastinated his assignments for too long. The only thing that changed was where Harry had previously been his best friend, now Dean and Seamus filled that slot. He was still on friendly terms with Hermione and the others (not so much with Neville though), but since they felt awkward being near him and not being allowed to include or even mention Harry, Ron spent most of his time with his new mates.

Finally the weekend arrived, and Harry for the first time since his fight with Ron was looking forward to some free time. Now that the new term had started, Harry needed to do a few things to catch up with his study schedule. He had to set new goals, perhaps enlist some help in his Arithmancy project that had suffered a recent setback, write lesson plans for the D.A., and Harry still had to fully interrogate his last batch of captured Death Eaters. The Lestrange brothers especially would have much information on Voldemort and his actions, and Harry knew he couldn't put them off any longer.

---

"Neville," Harry called out across the noisy common room. "You got a minute?" The whole house had just returned from lunch Saturday afternoon, and Harry had decided that he wanted to spend the time until dinner in his trunk with the Lestranges. The other three he'd interrogated that mornings, but besides some useless speculation on their part and the names of a few more new recruits, they didn't know much of anything. Christopher Parkinson had been interesting to question because of his personal knowledge of events through Pansy, but even he was more bark than bite. Rudolphus Lestrange had clearly been the brains of the operation though, and Harry decided he might like some back up for the arduous task.

"Sure Harry," Neville cheerfully answered. He'd been talking with Ginny and Frank, possibly trying to arrange a pick-up game of Quidditch, but left them to join Harry in a corner normally reserved for the first years.

Since Ron was still not talking to Harry (though he did stop making faces at him), Harry had been careful to only sit in his customary place by the fire when he knew Ron was in class or otherwise occupied. After that first horrific day, as per their agreement Ron and Harry had stopped being nasty to each other, but were a long ways away from being friends again. In fact, the most friendly thing that had happened so far, was that the day before, when Ron entered the sixth year's dorm bathroom to brush his teeth, Harry had silently passed Ron his toothpaste, and Ron had thanked him.

"Neville," Harry explained when the two were alone and he verified that no one was close enough to overhear him. "I'm going to spend the afternoon in my trunk, talking to the Lestranges; finding out what they might know about Voldemort and other Death Eaters. I was wondering, hoping really, that you might want to join me. I know that you and the Lestranges have some personal issues, and I thought I'd give you the chance to confront them if you want. I'd also really appreciate the help. An extra mind when questioning them might help me loads. Sometimes I'm so focused on something one of these scum say, I completely miss something else important."

Neville looked pleased to be asked, but was very nervous as well. Not only was the interrogation illegal, but these were the people who had tortured his parents into insanity so many years ago. Could he be impartial enough to divine useful information, let alone pay attention enough to even gleam what they were saying?

"I don't know if I'd be any good Harry," Neville stammered, "but I'd be happy to try. I don't know for sure if I'll be able to stay the whole time though. Depending on what they say, I'm not sure if I could take them gloating about what they did to my Mum and Dad."

"They won't gloat Neville," Harry assured him, "I promise you that. Under the influence of Veritaserum, not only are you required to tell the whole truth, but you're also unable to gloat or brag or basically say anything that's not an answer to a question. You don't even have to be in the same room if you don't want to Nev. You can stay outside the cell and just watch through the transparent door if you want."

"No, I want to be there." Neville sounded quite sure of himself. "I want them to see me, and I want them to know the son of people they tortured helped capture them." There was a small quiver in Neville's voice, but Harry didn't think badly of him for it. In fact, all things considered, Harry realized how incredibly brave Neville sitting in on the Lestranges' interrogation would be.

In was less than a half hour later that both boys found themselves in the seventh compartment of Harry's trunk. Ron was in the room as both entered, causing a few awkward moments and looks from all parties, but once they approached the cells, all thoughts of Ron were forgotten.

Casting the spell to make the solid oak doors transparent from the outside only, Harry took the opportunity to make sure all his fifteen prisoners were present and accounted for, and not up to anything suspicious. Sean Hazelton and all his other fellow new recruits were more or less broken, and when not crying, quietly spent the day sleeping or reading the few books Harry supplied them. Interestingly enough, Crabbe and Goyle seniors were acting much the same way. They'd never cried, but both men had given up hope of rescue, and spent their days quietly doing nothing. Either they were biding their time, or were just unsure what to do without instruction; Harry wasn't sure. The Death Eater couple the Parkers had tried the longest of any of them to escape and cause commotion, but now over a month after their capture, had finally settled down. And of course Avery, Harry's previous favorite captive, was as surly as ever. Winky especially did not like going near the man, as whenever she emptied his waste bucket, or brought him his daily meals, he often snapped at her and screamed, even though he couldn't see through his cell's door.

But it wasn't any of them that Harry was interested in. No, it was his newest two captures, the Lestranges, that were his destination. Only being a little over a week since their imprisonment, Harry wondered for the first time what the brothers thought was happening to them. Did they think they were being detained by the Ministry? Did they think their imprisonment was some form of punishment in the afterlife? There were so many possibilities, and because they hadn't seen a single living being since their capture, Harry couldn't imagine what he'd think in their place.

Choosing Rodolphus to interrogate first, as he was the one that Harry had dueled, and therefore had more of a relationship with, Harry animated the cell's shackles to grab hold of their prisoner, and chain him to the wall. Without any warning on Lestrange's part, they accomplished their task quickly, and only when Harry was convinced the Death Eater was secured with only a minimal amount of free movement, did he bother to unlock and unward the door.

"Potter," Lestrange hissed as soon as Harry peeked his head through. Harry simply nodded, and motioned behind him for Neville to follow.

Upon seeing the second boy, Lestrange's eyes grew even more guarded. "And Longbottom. What is the meaning of this? Has the Ministry sunk so low as to allow mere teenagers the chance to come and triumph. Have no fear, my master will see to my release soon, and then I'll be the one gloating over your dead bodies!"

"What Ministry?" Harry asked. "I only see the three of us here."

"The Ministry aurors and guards of course! No doubt they allowed your visit to rattle me. Well, it won't work. They will get nothing from me."

Neville in the background gave a small nervous laugh, but silenced himself when it echoed off the naked stone walls. Trying to intimidate Lestrange further, Harry conjured up two comfortable chairs for he and Neville to sit in (a safe distance away of course), and brought out two warm butterbears from his pockets. Handing one to Neville and gesturing him to sit, Harry took a long pull from his drink before returning his attention to Lestrange once again.

"Ministry, huh," he taunted. "Sorry to burst your bubble their Rudy, but the Ministry is the least of your problems. As far as they know, you portkeyed out of St. Mungo's along with the rest of your team when you failed your mission. In fact, besides the two of us, there's only one other person who knows you're even here, and I'm confident that that person won't be helping you anytime soon. Welcome to my personal prison." Harry relished the shock, and even small fright he caught in Lestrange's eyes aided by the small amount of Legilimency he knew.

"We haven't come to gloat," Neville spoke up for the first time, "although we'd have the right too. Instead we've come to see what you know about other Death Eaters, and Vo-Voldemort." Harry whipped his head around to stare at Neville, surprised and very pleased he used Voldemort's real name for once, even if it was with a small hesitation. Lestrange was equally stunned, but after a moment of silence, laughed at the two of them.

"Do you mean to tell me that the two of you are holding me at an unsecure location without any type of backup, and without even informing the Ministry of my capture?" He was laughing again, but silently so was Harry on the inside. Rodolphus just hadn't realized his situation yet. "You two are idiots. I'll never tell you anything you want to know, and I'll be out of here before either of you grow your first pub!"

'Too late for that,' Harry thought off handedly, disgusted at the Death Eater's choice of words. Neville clearly didn't know what to say next, so Harry begin in with the plan he had come up with, to maximize Lestrange's uneasiness before proceeding with his questions.

"I'm afraid you don't quite understand your situation here Rudy," Harry was pleased to see his nickname wasn't liked. "Laugh all you want, but you happen to be in a very secure location, and will not be escaping anytime soon. I've confiscated your wand as I'm sure you've realized by now, as well as the emergency portkey and vial of poison you'd had hidden in your robes. And if you don't believe I'm capable of holding you here, why not just ask your fellow inmates." Brandishing his wand with ease, Harry turned the cell's walls transparent, so now Lestrange too could see out into the larger room, and see into the other occupied cells. Harry didn't leave him much time to get a good look at everyone, but in the two seconds before Harry turned the walls back, Harry was sure Rodolphus had at least seen his brother in the next cell, as well as the sheer number of people he was holding.

"Wha…what is this place? Why haven't we been turned into the Minsitry!" Lestrange shouted. "We have legal rights you know, and I demand to be turned over to the proper authorities!"

This time, it was Harry's turn to laugh. "What's wrong Rudy, concerned for yourself? And you expect me to be worried about your legal rights? That's rich, coming from you. I'm not daft! Right now, the Ministry's so incompetent and unprepared, they couldn't hold you for any amount of time without risking your escape. That's why you're here, and why you'll stay here until Azkaban can be secured again. Now, just like everyone else here has, tell me all you know bout Voldemort and his future plans."

"You're mad!" Lestrange shouted. "You're even madder than Bella! There's not a chance in hell that I'd tell you anything, nor would anyone else. You're bluffing."

Grinning at the man's discomfort, Harry produced a small vial of clear liquid and held it delicately between his thumb and fingers. It was the first time Neville showed any emotion too, for he also had a greedy look in his eyes. For minutes he'd worried that Lestrange would not answer their questions, or not truthfully at least. Now, he had no need to doubt.

"You can't!" Clearly, Lestrange knew what was in the vial. "That's against the law. You'll be thrown in Azkaban Potter, if you use it against me. The distribution of Veritaserum is strictly monitored, and can only be used when a subject is willing. I'm not willing!"

"You still seem to think you're being held by the Ministry, Rudy. You're not. You're in my world now, and I'm not asking whether you're willing. Stubefy!"

Not having even seen Harry's wand, Lestrange slumped forward in his chains while Harry got up and administered three drops of the truth serum. Harry could have forced it down his throat to further intimidate the man, but thought that might go beyond the realms of good taste. Harry had to admit he was finding pleasure in scaring the man, partly on Neville's behalf in retribution for his parents, but knew that couldn't be helped. After so long in a position of power, and with such blatant disregard for laws and people's lives, Harry couldn't help but feel that Lestrange's fall from glory was fitting.

"Are you sure about this Harry?" Neville asked. "He's right you know. What we're doing is illegal, and we could get into a lot of trouble for this. Eventually you'll have to turn the Lestranages over to the Minstry, and they'll find out at some point. I'm not sure this is such a good idea anymore."

"Don't worry Neville. I've done a lot more to get in trouble about, and I'm not that worried about it. It will be a problem, sure, when I turn myself in. But let me worry about that when the time comes. And since I'm the one doing this, you can't get in any trouble. I take full responsibility for all this. In the meantime though, at least I'm sure I've got dangerous Death Eaters off the street, and that they can't escape and rejoin Voldemort."

"Do you need to be so cruel though?" Neville wondered out loud. "I mean, I have no love for him, but he does have rights. Morally at least, if not legally."

Harry just shrugged. "I can't deny that I'm enjoying this Neville, but I'm not being that way on purpose. I've never actually done this before. Usually I just stun the person before I enter the cell, and then dose them up without explaining anything. I just wanted to try some intimidation, you know? Good cop, bad cop and all that. At least now we can get to some answers."

Neville was satisfied with Harry's answer, and let him get back to work. Lestrange could have been revived right then, but Harry wanted to test out another theory he had. It was no accident that he used his personal stunner to knock out Lestrange. He was still experimenting with the spell, and had a few more ideas. So appeasing to Neville's curiosity, Harry handed over his wand, and waited to see if Neville could revive Lestrange with it. Harry wasn't sure if the spell was limited to his own magic use, or just that of a specific wand. He had a theory, and hoped that he was right.

And he was. Even after three separate attempts, once after a full minute of concentration, Neville was unable to revive Lestrange. Taking his own wand back, Harry was able to in less than a second. That confirmed his theory, and quite eased his mind. When Harry had had the thought that someone else might be able to use his own wand to revive a stunned person, not only was that a less than satisfactory thought (it wasn't in the spell building he's planned on), but the thought occurred to him that other wands might be able to do the same. More specifically, brother wands.

If Voldemort was able to counter Harry's modified spell, simply because their two wands shared a brother core, then a lot of the planning and work that Harry had done would have gone to waste. Luckily, Neville proved the wand wasn't the personal signature that was needed, but the person himself. Happy with the finding, Harry was sure Voldemort's wand wouldn't be an issue.

Getting back to Lestrange though, Harry let Neville ask some of the initial, obvious questions. Things like which other Death Eaters he knew by name, what attacks he had participated in, if there were any new Death Eater hide outs that had formed recently, and what some of Voldemort's future plans were. Neville wasn't surprised by any of the answers (they didn't mean a lot to him as this was his first session), but Harry was pleased with the number of answers delivered up to him.

Not only did Lestrange name at least four other high ranking Death Eaters he hadn't known about previously (and their locations), but he also confirmed the location of one of Voldemort's bases of operation. There were only two. On top of that, Harry found out where some of the Dementors under Voldemort's control were being held, and cross referencing that with the location of some of the major muggle attacks in recent weeks, Harry thought he might be able to thin the Dementor population once again. That led to random thoughts about his related Arithmancy project, and the released souls still in hiding at the Shrieking Shack, but Harry shook those thoughts from his mind to concentrate more clearly on Lestrange's answers.

When Harry took over questioning, he was able to finesse more detailed and crucial answers from Lestrange. He'd already found out about the Death Eater's financial status, but now Harry also added to his list the place where Lestrange had been staying, and who else resided there. With him and his brother no longer in circulation, only Bellatrix his wife, and two others were left to defend the house on the outskirts of Bristol. Harry was also pleased to hear that in a secret vault room in the house's basement, Voldemort had ordered a small supply of galleons, illegal and dangerous potions, and Dark Art artifacts and books stored there in case one of his other bases should unlikely be discovered. The information wasn't damaging to Voldemort directly, but by taking out the house, capturing any Death Eaters inside (hopefully he's complete the Lestrange set), and confiscating all the hidden contraband, Harry hoped he could deal Voldemort another substantial financial blow, and a blow to the morals of his troops.

After more than two hours Harry was done with his questions, and the Veritaserum had started to wear off anyway. It was only because he made the polite gesture to Neville asking him if he had any remaining questions, that Neville actually spoke up. He must have been debating with himself for the full two hours whether he wanted to ask the question, because Harry could tell Neville was nervous. Once Neville spoke though, Harry knew it was more likely that Neville had struggled with the question more like his entire life.

"Why did you attack and torture my parents?"

Enough of the Veritaserum had worn off by then to allow Lestrange some emotion back in his responses, and he sneered at the question.

"Because they were there," he answered. "Because they were there, and they were easy targets. My Lord has just been defeated, nobody knew why or how, and I was angry. You're parents just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Young Bartemius was especially angry about our Master's rumored death, as he had just joined our fold only weeks previous. Your parents gave him the opportunity to vent his frustration."

Harry was sickened by how callous the man sounded, even while under the truth serum's influence. Lestrange really was evil.

"So there was no reason?" Neville asked. "It wasn't a planned attack, or to gather information about what had happened to Vo-Voldemort? It was just an accident?" Harry couldn't tell whether Neville was angry or relieved.

"It was no accident," Lestrange yelled. "Your parents were aurors, and known members who sided with Dumbledore against my Lord. They were always on the list to die! They will still die, once my Master releases me and takes his rightful place as the ruler of the magical world! The timing of coming across them was the only unplanned event."

That was enough for Harry, and by seeing how much Neville was shaking, he figured both of them had had enough. Stunning Lestrange once more, Harry removed the man from his bonds, and vanquished the two conjured chairs he had previously conjured. Then making sure everything was secure, and nothing had fallen out of his or Neville's pockets that Lestrange might be able to use, Harry locked and rewarded the door.

Not knowing what to say or how to act, Harry just remained silent as Neville sat down in the large room just outside row of cells, and thought to himself. He still had Rabastan to interrogate, and not much time before dinner to do it. If Neville wasn't up to it, he understood of course, but couldn't spend the whole afternoon making sure Neville was alright. Luckily after about three minutes, Neville rose from his seat with a more hardened look in his eyes, and said he was ready for the next Lestrange brother. Harry didn't know if it was wise or not, but Harry wasn't about to suggest that to his friend.

Rabastan Lestrange's interrogation didn't take nearly as long. Most of what he knew Rodolphus had already spilt, and even then he didn't know as much as his older brother. By asking questions, Harry found out that the two often worked as a team, but Rodolphus was the real leader in the family. Not only was he more magically powerful, but he was more intelligent too, actually being one of the few Death Eaters to come not from Slytherin house, but Ravenclaw instead. Rabastan was little more than a thug, who over the years was elevated to a more perceived threat due to his name's infamy. Therefore there wasn't much he could add to the information that Harry already had. His session was only used to confirm previous answers offered by other captives, and to fill in any blank holes that Harry had unforeseen.

One blank hole, which Neville had caught and Harry had almost hit himself for forgetting to ask about, was how the operation at St. Mungos' had been planned so carefully. Harry had heard bits from Rodolphus during their duel that Draco had provided information to his father which had then been passed on, and forgotten to follow up on it. Ideally, Harry was already wondering if he could catch Malfoy alone, maybe during one of his prefect patrols, and interrogate the boy himself. After he was done a mild memory charm would prevent him from knowing that he'd even seen Harry that night, let alone that he'd spilled his guts to him. Harry was getting quite good at memory charms now, with the fifteen Death Eaters to practice on. It wasn't part of his training regimen per say, but whenever he got bored or had some free time, he snuck into his trunk's seventh compartment to practice. The memory charms he'd given all five of his newly captured prisoners just the week before was proof of that. That's why neither Lestrange reacted to Harry's admission that they had no rights, and were surprised and worried when he produced the vial of Veritaserum. After Harry had used it the first time to get all their financial information, Harry obliviated them all to forget the entire session.

Back to Neville's question though, it seems the whole operation had been planned by Rodolphus around Draco's information. He'd been able to find out that Neville was staying with Harry during the holidays, and that Neville never failed to miss visiting his parents in the mental ward on Christmas day. Taking into consideration that Harry was at odds with Dumbledore at the time, and would most likely be unprotected, the opportunity was too good to pass up. The only incorrect information they'd received, which led to much of the plan's disastrous result, was that Draco had boasted with conviction that Neville was nothing more than a slightly talented squib, and wouldn't be of any help in a fight. Apparently, he was either denying Neville's recent change in attitude and abilities, or was genuinely convinced it was nothing more than rumor and a recent lucky streak. Draco was convinced that Harry would be the only obstacle, and even then his arrogance refused to admit that he had a talent for defense.

The interrogation finished quickly after that, and both satisfied with a day's work, Harry and Neville exited the trunk and had a chance to shower before dinner. Neither really needed it, as they'd not done much other than sit in a chair for the past five hours. But after talking to two of the evilest men in England for the past half day, both boys felt as if they should wash.

---

Dinner passed quickly and uneventfully. Ron must have mentioned to someone that he'd seen Harry and Neville disappear into the trunk right after lunch, because Ginny and Frank inquired what they'd been doing for so long. Not wanting to lie, but not able to tell the truth either, Harry just made up a story about practicing dueling in the trunk's dueling chamber, as the two had done often enough during the holidays. It was no secret that Harry had offered to help Neville in defense, and was believable enough. After that, talk turned to Quidditch and the upcoming resumed practices, and even Ron joined in one point. He never talked directly to Harry, but the fact that he didn't yell or scream was pleasant enough all things considered. Harry just hoped that once back on the field, their strain wouldn't affect eithers' ability to play. Neither seeker nor keeper required much team work, but their attitude if left unchecked could still affect the team's overall performance. Harry vowed not to let that happen.

It wasn't till after dinner, when Harry was walking with his friends and planning on a relaxing night of playing chess and some light reading, that he was interrupted by McGonagall and asked to stay behind. He signaled to Neville and Ginny to go ahead, not knowing how long he'd be, and only after the Great Hall had cleared out did Harry's Head of House speak again.

"Mr. Potter, the staff can't help but notice your recent spilt from your friend Mr. Weasley. Against the Headmaster's orders I would love nothing more than to throttle you both on the heads with your broomsticks until you resolved whatever issues have recently come between you. However I will not, as the Headmaster has asked me not to. He however has not prevented me from speaking to a student if they come to me voluntarily for advice, so I would like to remind you that part of my duties as your Head of House is as counselor as one might need. Please feel free to come to me at any time to discuss whatever may be troubling you. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am," Harry nodded. He felt a little touched actually, even though he had no intention of speaking his problems out with her in length. Still, especially because only weeks ago he's been forced to raise his wand against the woman, Harry felt he owed her more than that.

"It's complicated Professor," Harry began to explain. "But at the heart of the matter is Ron's being jealous again, like he did in my fourth year when I got selected to be a Triwizard Champion. He didn't believe me then that I didn't enter myself, and we didn't talk for more than a month. Later he realized I was telling the truth, and I forgave him. This time, it's something similar. I haven't been as open with Ron as I normally am, or any of my friends for that matter, and I don't think he's taking it well. And on top of that, his parents and Percy have given him some news which he's not happy about, that relate to me in a way. I honestly don't think I've done anything wrong, and I just have to wait until Ron sees he's being a prat. Hopefully then, things can get back to normal. I just don't know how long that will take."

"I see," McGonagall said as she pursed her lips further. "I've seen no shortage of fights between friends in my time here at Hogwarts Mr. Potter, but I am surprised you've allowed the situation to escalate when the two of your have always been so close. I suggest you do whatever is in your power to resolve your friendship with Mr. Weasely as quickly as possible, to avoid any further complications. May I remind you that because of your unique status, not only the two of you, but all of Gryffindor is suffering slightly from this development."

"Well I never asked for my unique status," Harry said, not without a little anger in his voice.

"Nevertheless you have it!" McGonagall curtly replied. Then more calmly she added, "It is unfortunate that you've been forced into an adult role Harry, but now that you have, you must act accordingly. You are not able to be an adult only when it suits you, and then regress to a child when it doesn't. You were perfectly comfortable acting as an adult this past summer, when I and the rest of the Order were only doing our best to protect you. Now that you've made the transition into adulthood, you no longer get to hide behind the rest of us. Have you even thought about how the others have suffered because of your fight? Hermione looks lost in class, and I've noticed her attention start to slip. And her recent devotion to the library hasn't gone unnoticed either. All I ask is that you do what you can. Think about others as well as yourself, and if it takes a bit a groveling to make peace with Ronald, even if you're convinced you're in the right, then that is just the price you have to pay for his friendship. We are near war with You-Know-Who Harry, and there are more pressing matters to worry about!'

Properly chastised, Harry could only lower his head and agree. "Yes Professor, I'll do my best."

"Very good Mr. Potter, that is all that I ask."

"Is that all Professor?" Harry wondered.

"No," she answered, "that was actually not the reason I asked you to remain behind. I just felt the need to offer my advice. No, the Headmaster would like to see you before you retire for the evening. The password to his office is 'humbug' and he will meet you there."

Wondering what Dumbledore wanted to speak with him about, Harry made his leave and followed the familiar path to the gargoyle at the bass of the Headmaster's office's staircase.

"Humbug."

Upon arriving at the door Harry knocked to be polite, but already knew that Dumbledore wasn't in. Using his lens' x-ray vision, Harry had recently been taking to looking around every corner, and into every room before entering it. It was purely subconscious at this point. A few times he'd caught Draco and other Slytherins snooping around, and wanted to be aware of in whose presence he was talking about certain subjects.

With the office empty, but with instructions to be there, Harry felt no shame in letting himself in and making himself comfortable. Looking around, the office looked the same as always. Even Fawkes was present, perhaps a week away from his next burning. And as if she knew Harry was thinking about Fawkes, Hedwig appeared out of thin air to join her companion on his grand perch. The two had been spending a lot of time together lately, possibly even more than Harry was aware of. Apparently the two phoenixes were either unaware or unconcerned with his and Dumbledore's strained relationship, because the two got along splendidly. And with the two phoenixes engaging themselves, Harry's eyes wondered along the walls.

Most of the portraits of previous Headmasters and Headmistresses were asleep or pretending to be so, and the few that were awake weren't known to Harry, and therefore he had nothing to say to them. Phineas Nigellus was present as always, but since Harry refused to remove his other portrait from the spare bathroom where Harry was storing it in his home, the surly man had refused to talk with Harry.

At the point of almost twiddling his thumbs now, Harry was getting impatient, and left his seat to wonder around the office. Although he'd been in there plenty times before, never had he been allowed time to relax, and Harry took the time to explore. The multitude of silver instruments he'd destroyed but never understood were interesting, but Harry couldn't figure most of them out. Dumbledore's private library was more recognizable, and Harry was actually impressed with the volumes and rare texts he found. Browsing through them, only picking up and flipping through a few, Harry saw a few texts he himself owned, not to mention copies of others from the school's main library. But there were also books about the properties of magic he'd never even heard about before, as well as many foreign titles that Harry couldn't read, much less understand.

Halfway through looking at the shelves, Harry did notice one other thing out of place, but only because it had gotten him into trouble before. In the cabinets behind Dumbeldore's desk, one of the doors was slightly ajar, and a soft shimmering light was emanating though it. Harry knew right away Dumbledore's pensieve was inside, and briefly wondered in the old man had set up him being alone in his office just to test Harry's curiosity. Well of course he was curious, but Harry had learned that lesson already. After first snooping in Dumbeldore's memories, and then just last year in Snape's, Harry wasn't about to repeat either mistake. Instead Harry forced himself to turn away from the open cabinet, and finish looking at the many books. It wasn't too long after that that Dumbledore appeared at his office door.

"Ah, Harry. My apologies for keeping you waiting, but Mr. Filch had some questions that couldn't be avoided, which I'm afraid were rather more involved than I thought. I trust you kept yourself occupied?"

"Yes sir," Harry answered as he closed the book he was reading, and put in back on the shelf. "I was just looking through some of the books and instruments you have. It occurred to me that as often as I've visited your office, I've never really paid much attention before to anything other than yourself, Fawkes, or the portraits. You've quite the collection. I hope you don't mind that I was looking."

"Not at all Harry," Dumbledore smiled as he took his seat and popped a lemon sherbert into his mouth. "What you see before you is the culmination I've spent most of my life collecting. With the exception of a few rare finds which I feel the need to safeguard even further than in my office here, these are some of the world's most prized and informative books."

"So I've seen. Most don't mean much to me of course, but I recognize their value. I'm sure Hermione would kill to have just an hour in this room, with free rein over these books. I might be interested too if the opportunity presented itself."

Dumbledore laughed. "I'm sure you're right about Mrs. Granger, of course. She does have the mind of a Ravenclaw. It is unfortunate for them that her heart is pure Gryffindor however. Maybe one day I could arrange the two of you some time here with me. I don't mind students and staff members browsing as you did, but in-depth reaserch I'm afraid I must oversee myself, which is the reason most of these texts aren't in regular circulation."

"Of course Professor," Harry nodded. He couldn't help but feel that he and Dumbledore were playing a game with each other. "With great power comes great responsibility."

Dumbledore's eyes lit up with excitement. "Why yes, it does, doesn't it? I've never heard it so succinctly put Harry. Do you mind if I use that from now on?'

Harry had to laugh. "Feel free professor. I'm not the one who said it. It's from a muggle comic book."

"Really? Well, how ingenious nonetheless. Quite amazing, muggles are, and how even without magic they are sometimes so similar to us. Anyway, we're getting away from ourselves."

"Yes," Harry agreed, "Professor McGonagall said you wanted to see me, and I doubt it's to discuss children's comics."

"Quite right you are, Harry." Then, turning in his chair, Dumbledore opened the cabinet behind him fully and pulled out his pensieve. Without another word, he placed it on his desk and cleared some paperwork into a drawer.

"I didn't look, Professor," was all Harry could think to say. "I did notice that your cabinet was slightly open, and I could see the light from your pensieve, but I swear I didn't look. I learned my lesson the last time."

"Professor Snape would disagree with you Harry." Dumbledore was neither accusing nor forgiving in his statement, and Harry realized it was not meant to barb him, but only said as an observation.

"Professor Snape would disagree with a lot of things I have to say, Professor." Harry tried to keep the disdain out of his voice, but wasn't completely successful. "That's the last time I was referring to. And might I add, he wasn't completely innocent in that encounter either."

"What do you mean by that Harry?" Dumbledore asked. "From what I've been told, Professor Snape left you in his office momentarily, and while he was gone you invaded his privacy by looking into some of his most embarrassing memories."

'So he told you?"

"Yes, he did," Dumbledore said.

"Then you should know," Harry answered, "he left those memories there, and me alone with them, to provoke me. He wanted me to witness them. Probably just for the chance to punish me, but also so I'd feel bad about what my father had done. As you may know Professor, I have a pensieve of my own now, and have learned to use one properly. Depositing a memory into a penseive doesn't remove the memory from one's mind. It only allow for you to go over the memory in more detail; greater detail than you could previously recall unaided. Snape said he was removing memories so that I wouldn't chance to see them. I know now he was lying. Clearly he was counting on me snooping when I had the chance. Frankly, I'm proud that I lasted so long. He must have used your pensieve over a dozen times before I finally succumbed to looking in it."

Dumbeldore didn't respond, but had a small smile on his face. Finally, he clasped his hands and said, "Well, I was not aware you were so proficient in the use of a pensieve Harry, and no doubt neither is Professor Snape. I suggest you not confront him about it, by the way. But that is not the reason I brought you here. I believe you that you did not 'snoop' in my memories, Harry. Rather, I am merely inviting you to. I have a few memories which I'd like you to view. Call it a belated Christmas present, if you will."

"So you want me to look in your pensieve?" Harry asked, astonished.

"Yes. Don't worry though, I've been sure to remove any extraneous memories that I don't wish you to see. Oddly enough, I haven't had my head this full in a long while. Enough talk though. Since you've experience, I trust you'll be able to extract yourself when you're done, and I won't have to fetch you as I did the last time?"

"Er," Harry was caught of guard, "no sir. I'm able to leave just fine."

"Well then, please proceed. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes, and I'll be here waiting when you return."

Unsure about the invitation, but curious as hell, Harry simply leaned forward and reached for the stone basin. For a moment Harry was worried that Dumbledore was using the pensieve as a distraction to use Legilimency on him, and made sure to bring his mental shields to full alert before he dipped his finger inside the shimmering liquid. Hopefully once inside, he'd still be able to detect Dumbledore's invasion if that were the case.

Once his finger touched the silver strands though, Harry felt himself toppling head over heels as he somersaulted into Dumbledore's memories. And as if that weren't disorientating enough, when he landed, it appeared to be in the exact same spot he had left. He was still in Dumbledore's office.

But the moment he saw what he was witnessing, Harry knew Dumbledore's offer was a genuine gift, and not some distraction. There were only two people in room besides himself. Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk as normal, with a cheerful laugh bellowing with his voice, and McGonagall was sitting opposite him, with the world's worst pucker on her face. She had just eaten a Warhead!

Now Harry remembered! Months ago when he'd given Dumbledore a package of the sour sweet, he requested to view any memories of either Professor McGonagall or Snape if they had the opportunity to try one. What he was witnessing now was just the end result. Harry had no idea how the Headmaster had gotten McGonagall to eat the treat (the memory didn't extend that far back), but just watching McGonagall's expression as she refused to spit the candy out was priceless enough.

When the memory ended, Harry fully expected the show to be over, so imagine his surprise when a similar scene played out, only this time with Professor Flitwick as the intended victim. He seemed to enjoy himself more than McGonagall had, and his tiny squeaks were interrupted by his well-known laughter.

After that, Harry watched as the complete Hogwarts staff were all subjected to the intensely sour lemon candies. Madam Pomfrey had perhaps the most surprised reaction, and only Professor Sprout spit the sweet out into her hand, but warily licked it until the sour layer was dispersed. Hagrid didn't even notice the sour taste (must be something about giant taste buds), and Filch outright spat the candy onto the floor, and not even Mrs. Norris would approach it then.

The best reaction though, the one that Harry had never in a million years expected to see, was when Snape was offered the candy, and begrudgingly indulged the Headmaster by eating it. Then when the flavor hit, Harry could tell the man wanted nothing more than to spit out the candy like those before him had, but his pride wouldn't allow him. Never one to admit defeat, and always one to think himself better than others, Snape continued to suck the candy until it was gone, and tried the whole time not to show any reaction whatsoever. He failed miserably of course (they really were sour), but his facial expressions as he failed to hide his reaction were so entertaining, even Dumbledore in the memory nearly bent over in jest.

With the full staff put through their paces, Harry made ready to leave the pensieve, when another memory started playing. It was Diagon Alley as Harry recognized, and thinking that the Headmaster wouldn't have included it unless he meant for Harry to view it, Harry made himself comfortable as he took a better look around. Christmas decorations were still displayed, but some were being taken down, so Harry guessed it was a recent memory; one that happened after Christmas day. And in attendance besides the crowds, were of course Professor Dumbledore, and none other than once again, Snape.

"Really Albus," Snape was saying as they passed Gringotts and continued down the street, "I am, perfectly capable of watching after myself, and do not need your constant supervision. I wish you'd just return to Hogwarts and leave me be!"

"Now Severus," Dumbledore chided him. "As much respect as I hold for your abilities, they are nonetheless unavailable to you at the moment without a working wand. It is unfortunate that your previous one was broken, as it matched you so well, but in a few short minutes we'll find you a replacement, and you won't require my services any longer. Until that time though, you remain in danger from retaliation from Voldemort, and I am not willing to risk your safety by allowing you to wonder the streets unprotected, no matter your pride."

Snape had a few choice words to say after that, mostly about how his wand was broken and blaming Harry for the entire thing, but Harry wasn't paying much attention to the rantings he was all too familiar with. Instead, Harry looked around and realized this must have happened just a day or two after Harry had snapped his old wand. Harry didn't bother to pay attention again until they approached Ollivander's shop, and stepped inside.

"Ah, Albus, how are you? How unexpected to see you here! And Severus Snape, I remember you as a boy of course, so eager to get your first wand. What brings you two to my shop?"

"Hello Octavius," Dumbledore greeted him. "It has been some time, yes. I see you still carry the same wands in your display window however, so much must not have changed. We are here to provide Severus with a replacement wand. His old one broke, you see, and currently he is quite unarmed."

"More has changed than you know, Albus. I've recently come into a cache of wand cores I was previously unable to obtain, and they have been very interesting to work with. So far I've mostly experimented, but I have managed to produce five new wands with very powerful cores. I only hope that I shall see them selected by a wizard within my lifetime. Being so rare, I hardly know what to expect. It isn't often that that happens to me, you know. So Mr. Snape, need a replacement wand, do you? I trust you have the broken pieces and a certificate from the Ministry?"

Wordlessly, Snape extracted both from his voluminous robes, and placed them down on the counter. Then must to his indignation, he has to stand still as Ollivander proceeded to prod his wand arm for accurate measurements. Watching Snape stand there like a schoolboy was highly amusing to Harry.

As the man worked, he continued to converse with mostly Dumbledore, although he was forced to ask Snape a few clarifying questions. Apparently his old wand was twelve and a quarter inches long, and made of birch with a dragon heartstring core. Snape wanted his new wand as close to his old one as possible, he said, so it wouldn't be common knowledge that he had broken his old one. In the wizarding world, especially among purebloods like his Slytherin house, having your wand broken, for whatever reason, was a bit of an embarrassment.

"I'll try, of course, but I can't guarantee anything. It's the wand that chooses the wizard, after all, I always say." Dumbledore was smiling as Ollivander disappeared to the back of his shop for some candidates, and Snape merely rolled his eyes.

The next half hour passed rather uneventfully in Harry opinion. None of the wands Ollivander presented to Snape worked all that well, but at least none of them blew up parts of the shop. Snape was skilled enough with a wand to not cause destruction, even with the worst matched wand, unlike Harry so many years ago. Eventually he got impatient though, and Snape demanded that Ollivader hurry up.

"Choosing a wand is no business to rush though just for the sake of saving time," Ollivander looked most displeased. "I've already tested you with all the birch and dragon heartstring wands I've available, and none come close to fitting you. A most difficult case to be sure, but I've not failed yet. Maybe a wand made of pussywillow..."

"I will not be outfitted with a wand made of pussywillow," Snape snapped, outraged at such a suggestion. "You will find me a more suitable wand befitting my stature. What of those new wand cores you spoke of? I'd be interested to have a wand unlike anyone else, if what you claim is true."

Dumbledore was quietly chuckling in the background (as was Harry), but Ollivander was looking more than a little annoyed. "Sir, I do not presume to instruct you how to make a proper potion, so kindly return the favor and do not instruct me on how to perform my profession."

"My apologies," Snape barely got out, "I am merely in a foul mood from having my wand broken. Still, if the new wands are as unique as you say, then surely they haven't been tested with that many people yet. I see no harm in trying them myself, to see if they're suitable."

"I don't think they'd match properly with you," Ollivander considered, "but I suppose there's no harm in trying. Please excuse me for a moment; the wands I speak of are still in my workshop."

Ollivander left through a back door, and Snape and Dumbeldore traded small talk while they waited. Harry in the mean time was nervous, as he knew perfectly well what new wand cores Ollivander was talking about. If Snape, or worse yet Dumbledore, matched the Basilisk fangs to Harry being down in the Chamber of Secrets, Harry had no idea how they'd respond.

"Here they are," Ollivander called out on his return, with a velvet lined wood case in hand. Opening them up, Harry saw most of the case was empty, as there were only five wands displayed. And those five wands looked no different than any other wand he'd ever seen. Somehow, Harry expected wands made from basilisk fangs to appear black, or evil somehow.

Snape seemed unimpressed until he lifted one, and green flames erupted out the end. Catching at least three shelves on fire, Snape dropped the wand in shock, as Dumbledore calmly extinguished the blaze.

"My word, they are powerful, aren't they?" Even Ollivander looked surprised. "I don't think I've elicited such a response from an unmatched wand and wizard over the age of twenty in a very long time.

Regaining his control, Snape had to agree. "What type of wand core did you say these had again?"

"I didn't say," Ollivander answered. "But if you'd like to know, they have the wand core from basilisk fangs. As you well know, basilisks were extremely rare even hundreds of years ago, and even then my ancestors never used them as wand cores because they were too dangerous to harvest. Why, I don't think a basilisk has been spotted in almost a quarter of a century. It was pure luck I happened to come into contact with someone who would not only be able to provide me with such materials, but was willing to part with them as well."

"Basilisk fangs!" Snape looked almost giddy, but Harry caught the pensive look in Dumbledoor's eye. Snape was too excited to think clearly, but Harry knew that Dumbledore at least knew the truth behind the wand cores' appearance.

Still, he kept his mouth shut, and Snape nearly assaulted the old wandmaker to allow him to try the rest. "One of these must match with me. Is one of these five perhaps in birch?"

"Not birch no," Ollivander lamented, "but this one is similar." Ollivander presented another wand to Snape, but drew it back at the last possible moment before Snape was able to grab it. "I must insist you be careful though, as I really do believe your temperament is not suited to basilisk fangs."

"Nonsense man," Snape explained. "I am a former practitioner of the dark arts, a lover of snakes and potion ingredients, and Head of Slytherin House. I doubt there is a man alive, save few, who are more worthy of such a wand. I'm sure one of the remaining ones will match me."

Ollivander handed him the wand, but shared a look with Dumbledore.

Needless to say, not a single one of the basilisk fang core wands even came close to matching to Snape. Three more shot flames he was unable to control, and the last burnt his hand so bad that Dumbledore had to apply a temporary cooling charm on his hand to relieve the pain.

After Ollivander put the special case away (and Snape grumbled some more about incompetent wandmakers), the three returned to the arduous task of finding Snape a proper wand. It was another twenty minutes, and almost a hundred wands layer, when Ollivander finally took a strange pause and his eyes locked in on a specific box on a shelf close by.

"I wonder," he muttered to himself, before approaching the box without informing the others what he was thinking. A moment later he came back with a box in hand, and a look Harry recognized in his eyes. Ollivander was almost sure he'd finally found a match.

"Please try this wand Mr. Snape. I believe you will be happy with the results."

With at least one of them being somewhat confident, Snape was willing to try anything at that point, and took the offered wand in hand. Almost immediately, a cool breeze blew through the musty room, and Snape's eyes widened as he felt the power rush through his being. "This is the one," he said.

"Ah, I thought so," Ollivander said, with a smug look on his face. "You have been a difficult customer for sure Severus Snape, but I've not yet failed to match a wand to a wizard. Curious though…very curious."

Harry almost did a double take when Ollivander said that; it was so similar to his own wand choosing experience. 'What was curious,' Harry wondered. 'What was curious?'

"What is curious," Snape asked. Harry laughed at the irony.

"I have been making wands in this very shop for over a hundred years, Mr. Snape, and have never forgotten a single customer I've ever had. What is so curious, I find, is that the wand you've chosen has a wand core made from unicorn hair, who gave just a single other hair. Just one, which is most unusual for unicorns as you must know."

"My wand has a unicorn hair core?" Snape asked with distaste. "That is unusual. Normally I'd refuse such a wand, except that I've tried nearly every other wand in your shop, and I cannot deny the wand feels more closely matched than even my original did."

"That is very possibly Mr. Snape, as the wand was only crafted about eighteen years ago. It would make sense that since it was not in existence when you originally visited my wand, it could be better suited to you than your original. No, what I think curious, is that not a few moths ago, your wand's brother wand was also sold in my shop, and that in and of itself is strange..

"Really," Snape asked. "He must be a powerful wizard then."

"Indeed he is sir. It was also the gentleman's second wand, and I daresay his reaction was even more encouraging than your own. Not only is he powerful in his own right, but his previous wand was so ill-match, it forced him to channel more magic into his spells than should be necessary. Now with his new wand, I believe we can expect great things from this wizard."

"And what was that wizard's name, Octavius?" Dumbledore asked. He'd been silent for quite some time, but the twinkling in his eye led Harry to believe he suspected the same person Harry himself did.

"Why, I believe you both know him, of course. Professor Snape, you share brother wands with Neville Longbottom."

---

Harry was still laughing his head off as he exited the pensieve, and unable to control himself, Dumbledore joined him.

"Snape and Neville share wand cores!" Harry belted out. He was almost hyperventilating he was laughing so hard. "I can't wait to tell Neville!"

"Oh my," Dumbeldore staged ignorance. "I must have left an extra memory in there after all. I had not meant for you to see that. Please do keep that last view to yourself Harry, besides Neville of course. I don't expect you to keep such relevant information from your friend, but should the information get out, well, you can imagine how unhappy Professor Snape would be."

"Sure," Harry agreed, still laughing. "Don't tell anyone other than Neville. No problem." Harry suffered though another bout of giggles. "How did Snape react after Mr. Ollivander told him that?"

Dumbledore smiled. "Well, as you can imagine, he was most displeased. He demanded to be matched with another wand, but after another half hour, resigned to the fact that there was simply no better matched wand for him to have. That still didn't prevent him from sharing with us a few choice words I'd rather not repeat. It will be interesting to see Professor Snape's reaction when he speaks with Neville for the first time. I've been watching all week, but so far they've stayed apart."

"Now that he's not taking Potions, Neville's got no reason to be anywhere near Snape. I don't think it'll happen anytime soon." Harry guessed.

"I think you'd be surprised, Harry. Professor Snape is not the type of man to ignore a coincidence of this magnitude. Out of pure curiosity, I expect him to somehow instigate a situation where he'll be forced to cross wands with your friend Neville. I showed you this memory, in part so you can tell Neville, and both be warned of the possibility. I've also showed you it so that you know, that I know, that such a thing can happen. I promise to keep Professor Snap in line, and after your past encounter with him, I hope that you'll also be willing to be on your beast behavior. An incident like what happened at Grimmauld Place need not happen again."

"I never go to Snape looking for trouble sir," Harry made clear. "If he leaves me alone, and treats my friends fairly, then I have no reason to fight with him."

"Very well Harry. That is all that I ask." Dumbledore gave Harry a look though, that clearly informed him he knew about Harry being in the Chamber of Secrets. The warning to be careful with future similar activities didn't need to be vocalized. "Finish enjoying your weekend Harry, and I'll see you soon."

Leaving Dumbledore to return the memories to his head, Harry practically ran to Gryffindor Tower, looking for Neville. Neville'd been in a surprisingly good mood during dinner; pleased with himself for the questions he'd asked the Lestranges. Harry only wondered how the new news would affect his mood.

Ron was playing chess with Ginny, and Dean and Seamus weren't around, so Harry had no problem approaching Neville and waiving him over to an abandoned corner like he'd done earlier that day. Neville wondered what was up, and put down the book he'd been reading to meet Harry.

"What's up, Harry? Where you been?"

"I've been to meet with Dumbledore," Harry told him, "and I found out some interesting news while I was there. You remember how I said I snapped Snape's wand the day I met with him at Grimmauld Place?"

"Yeah," Neville said with a smile. "You didn't get in trouble for that, did you?"

"No," Harry grinned. "I just found out about his replacement wand. It's birch, with a unicorn hair. But he's also got a brother wand, like I've got with Voldemort. And guess what Neville. The other wand belongs to you!"

Neville looked confused for a moment, then his eyes popped open in recognition. Then both boys burst out laughing, startling the whole common room. Ron looked none to happy about it, but Harry was beyond caring. The situation was so funny, neither were able to control themselves, and it was a full three hours later as the sixth year boys turned in to bed that Harry and Neville were still snickering to themselves, not believing the news. Only by practicing his Occlumency was Harry able calm down, as he planned out his activities for the next day.

He'd been meaning to do something for a long time now, and considering recent events, thought it was about time. Harry also considered Neville's success with confronting the Lestranges, and how after facing his fears, he seemed more confident and able. Harry wondered if others might react the same way, and though he'd invite a friend along with him tomorrow, if she were interested.

---

Author Notes:

So yeah, Snape huh? I've seen fics where Neville has the same wand core as Bellatrix, but I thought it'd be funnier to bash Snape a little more. Sorry, I just can't resist. Them sharing wand cores won't factor much into the rest of my story, but I'm sure we'll be seeing the brother wand effect at some point, so don't worry there. I almost considered leaving the news as a cliffhanger, but thought that after being away so long, most of you would kill me if I did.

I also want to apologize about how long it's been since my last update. As members of my Yahoo! Group know, I've had to deal with some RL issues, and I got a late start anyway on getting to work after Thanksgiving because of my foul mood from having my fic deleted. I'm back in the saddle though, and I hope to have another chapter within two weeks, to make up for my truancy.

The Sadie Hawkins dance scene was released in my Yahoo! Group as a cookie a few weeks ago, so that shouldn't come as a surprise. I just needed to do something fun, and I think it'll be a riot turning the tables on the girls for once. None of my schools ever had such a dance, and I always hated that us guys had to ask the girls. Not that I had any problems of course.

The only other thing I can think about to discuss is that you're all probably wondering what the hell is going on with Ron, and why I left out that "worst conversation ever." Well, I can't tell you yet (that would be spoiling), but I can promise you this. Ron's jealous rant will end two chapters from now, and one of those chapters contains a flashback scene, so you'll get to see the conversation first hand. I always said I'm not a huge fan of Ron, so I therefore beat up on him a little. I do realize however that he'd Harry's friend, and I promise that they'll be best mates by the time my fic ends. Like Dumbledore said, friendships which suffer are forged stronger than ever before.

I'll be having a chat soon to discuss my fic and to let everyone yell at me for keeping the waiting so long, so please check out my Yahoo! Group for news about times and dates. I'll also update BoBS soon, and updated my ULIMATE HP FANFICTION GUIDE recently, so please check those out as well. You can find out more info on my webpage, which provides links to all my HP related sites. That's it for now, and once again, I'm sorry for taking so long.

Ross

P.S. Oh yeah. The "with great power comes great responsibility" line comes from Spiderman, which some of you may not know. So shouts out to Stand Lee. I'm not a huge fan (never read a comic in my life), but I love Kevin Smith, and god knows he talks about it enough.