When Daphne awoke on Monday morning, she felt very strange, almost detached from herself. The previous evening she had spent alone with Harry and it had been one of the most romantic nights they had shared yet. The two had stolen away to the Astronomy tower and spent a few hours talking. He had held her tightly under the stars, keeping her warm by wrapping her in his cloak. They had shared many passionate kisses, and Daphne had begun to realize just how much she truly cared for the green-eyed boy.

But for some reason, as she climbed out of bed, the mere thought of Harry troubled her. This perplexed her, as she usually loved waking up, still thinking of her amazing boyfriend.

"Great. I'm probably getting my…"

"You were out late." Tracey smirked as she came out of the girls bathroom, her hair wrapped in a towel. "Harry behave himself?"

"Yeah." Daphne shrugged.

"Something wrong?" Tracey asked, noticing Daphne's lack of smile at the mention of her boyfriend.

"No. Maybe. I don't know." Daphne responded lamely. "I think I might be getting sick, or something."

"Well, we can go by the hospital wing and you can get a dose of pepper up potion. Hustle up Greengrass, I'm hungry." Tracey grinned smacking Daphne's butt to get the girl moving.

Daphne followed her best friend's advice and reported to Madam Pomfrey before they met with their friends in the Great Hall. Daphne sat next to Harry, kissing him softly as she usually did, but she felt like she was forcing herself. In fact, for some reason she felt irritated, though she could not figure out why.

Her irritation grew as the day went on. Every time she saw Harry, or was anywhere near him, she felt angry and annoyed. In fact, as the week progressed, so did her growing annoyance. By Friday, she was actively avoiding her boyfriend, and everyone had noticed.

"Daphne?"

Draco Malfoy smiled as he sat down next to her in the Slytherin Common Room. Daphne let out a sigh of annoyance. Draco made sure there was plenty of space between himself and the girl, and he kept his tone friendly as he spoke.

"What do you want, Draco?" She said, not bothering to hide her disgust.

"I'm concerned. Look, I know that I can be a right ass at times, but I just have high standards that I hold people to. It's how I was brought up. But I'm not here to talk about me. I've noticed you avoiding Potter. Is everything alright?"

Daphne looked into Draco's cold grey eyes. "Why are you asking about it?" She asked angrily. Even Harry's name seem to be irksome. It probably didn't help that it was Draco talking to her.

"I just wondered if he did something to you? Forget the fact I don't like the guy. You're my housemate, and …"

"Draco, Let's get something clear, here and now. I don't like you, and I never have. Pretending to be a concerned friend after everything I've seen you do, is not going to suddenly endear you to me. You're a vile, disgusting shell of a person, and I…"

"Calm down." Draco smiled in what he felt was his most charming way. "I just thought you could use an objective ear, that's all. Tracey is too close to Potter now to really listen to any issues you might have without a little bias towards your boyfriend."

"And you hate him, so why would I ever talk to you?"

"Because I'm likely the only person in this school who doesn't see Potter through rose colored glasses. I never said that I wouldn't be judgmental. Like you said, Potter and I don't see eye to eye. But unlike many people, I can suspend my feelings to listen without damning the guy, if only so you can vent your feelings."

Daphne stood up, clutching the book she'd been reading to her chest She stared hard at Draco, and when she spoke, Draco could swear he saw the words come out of her mouth, her tone was so cold.

"Malfoy, I don't know what you think you're going to accomplish with this act of yours, but I can assure you that you would be the last person I would ever consider speaking to about anything other that to tell you to get your pointed nose out of my business."

Daphne spun on her heel and stormed off to her dorm room. Draco simply stared after her, a cold smile on his face. It was actually working. His plan was going so smoothly, it was hard to believe. Still, he needed to practice more patience. Daphne wasn't quite ready to welcome him into her life just yet. However, she had not hexed his bits off, so progress was being made.

The best part was that Potter was becoming more and more confused by his girlfriend's apparent distance. Draco had to be careful now. It would be easy to speed up the process, but if Daphne's personality switched to quickly, his plan would unravel quickly. Worse, he might be caught, and Draco didn't want to risk the consequences.

"Patience Draco." He told himself. Everything was going fine. He simply needed to keep at it, and he was sure that by Christmas, potter would be a blubbering mess while He would be making time in a broom closet with Daphne Greengrass.

Astoria had been doing her very best to keep from interfering in her older sister's life. She'd even limited herself to two Harry visit's a week, and refrained herself from asking how things were going between the two of them.

Astoria really liked Harry. He was fun, especially when he was confused. But more than that, he was a good person at his heart and soul. She could see it in how he interacted with people. To Astoria, it was evident how much Daphne truly felt for her boyfriend, though she knew, neither of them had spoken of their feelings yet. Still, it was Astoria's deepest hope that one day in the future she would be able to welcome Harry into her family. She'd always wanted a brother, after all.

But this week, Daphne had been so strange. Astoria had first noticed it on Tuesday night when Daphne and Tracey were doing their homework. Tracey had wondered aloud how Harry was coping with his fresh round of detentions with Umbridge. Daphne had let out this really long sigh. It was the same sigh Daphne gave at home when Astoria had really been bugging her, and she was trying to keep from losing her temper.

At first Astoria thought that her sister was angry at Umbridge. But as she overheard the conversation, she noticed the way Daphne said Harry's name, as if it tasted foul on her tongue or something. Astoria thought that maybe the two had an argument or something. Struggling not to bug her older sister and try and help resolve the issue, Astoria let the matter slide.

On Thursday, she had seen Daphne and Harry talking, and there was confusion on both faces. Harry had been trying to find out what was bothering his girlfriend, who was adamant that nothing was wrong, and was growing more and more irritated by Harry's constant hounding.

This was had been what clued Astoria that something was wrong. No one knew Daphne better than her younger sister, despite what others believed. One thing that Astoria knew for certain was that Daphne hated when something bothered her. If she and Harry were having problems, she would have faced them. She would have tried to resolve the problem right away. It was one of her stronger traits, and one that Astoria envied at times.

But seeing Malfoy sitting next to her sister, trying to become a friend to Daphne, that had been the thing that made it clear that something wasn't right. And Astoria was nearly positive that Malfoy was behind it all.

This also presented a problem. Who did she tell? And what exactly would she say? Astoria admitted to herself that it did sound crazy, and she had nothing solid to base her suspicions on, save for the fact that she knew Daphne well. She needed to watch Draco more carefully, and find proof fast before something happened that ruined Daphne's life. Or worse, Daphne ruined it herself.

Harry sat alone in the Quidditch stands, staring at the empty field. He felt so lost at that moment. He felt like his world was falling apart all around him. First he'd been given a lifetime ban from Quidditch, and on top of that, Umbridge had confiscated his Firebolt.

McGonagall had promised to work to get the Gryffindor team reinstated, going right to Dumbledore. Apparently, the High Inquisitor had been granted more power, because Dumbledore was unable to overturn the decision thanks in large part to Educational Decree number…whatever they were up to now.

Morale in Gryffindor Tower had fallen severely since McGonagall had come to tell them that Gryffindor would not be allowed to compete any further that year, and it was hard to find any Gryffindor student who could manage a smile, although, Slytherins seemed to be in very high spirits these days.

Umbridge had lengthened his detentions, forcing him to cut into his hand longer every night. When he'd left her office near midnight the previous evening, Harry's hand was dripping blood all the way back to the common room where Hermione, Neville and Ron were waiting for him with a bowl of Murtlap for him.

The worst part was Daphne's attitude this week. She seem to be so easily irritated this week, and he couldn't figure out why. He was sure he'd done nothing wrong, and yet, Daphne had snapped at him almost every time he opened his mouth. Each time she had reacted so bitterly towards him, she had looked extremely upset. He had tried several times to solve the problem, but she refused to discuss it. Even Hermione had tried to get to the heart of the matter, and Daphne had brushed it off as being none of the nosy bookworm's business.

Harry had also had to miss his lesson with Snape on Thursday evening. Snape had simply told Harry that they would have to do it on Saturday night instead, and urged Harry to keep up with the exercises he'd been given.

Harry was supposed to practice clearing his mind, while doing a breathing exercise each night before he went to sleep. However, Harry had been unable to clear his head. He knew he was going to pay for it, but he didn't care.

"Hey."

Harry looked to se that Ron was sitting down next to him.

"Thought I might find you out here." Ron said softly.

"It's quiet. I just needed to get out of the castle for a bit." Harry said glumly. Ron nodded and the two boys sat quietly for a few moments.

"I hate seeing you so miserable, mate." Ron sighed, rubbing his hands together, trying to warm them in the biting wind.

"Not really anything you can do about it." Harry shrugged. "Maybe it's my fate to be miserable."

"Don't say that." Ron looked annoyed.

"Why not? It's true." Harry said bitterly.

"I don't think so, mate. I think you're being tested. It's like fate has something in mind for you, and everything you've gone through is preparing you for it. Maybe that's why you and Daphne got together. Maybe she wasn't supposed to be in your life until now."

"Why do you think that?" Harry asked puzzled, wondering just how strange it was for the redhead to be so insightful.

"When you got to Grimmauld Place, I've never known you to be so angry. No matter what we said, you would just explode. If she hadn't come into your life, I think things might be worse for you somehow."

"I thought you hated her." Harry smirked. Ron could only shrug.

"I did. Things change."

Harry chuckled at Ron's admission. The redhead gave a low laugh as well.

"Having Daphne and Tracey around have changed a lot of things for all of us, and I don't think it's all bad." Ron said looking out across the Quidditch pitch.

""Well, I don't know if she's going to be around much longer." Harry said sadly. "She won't even talk to me right now."

"You gotta have a little faith, Harry. Whatever's happening, you two will figure it out."

"Thanks Ron." Harry sighed.

Ron shrugged again. "Suppose with Quidditch gone, you'll have more time to work on planning lessons for the defense club."

"We've been thinking about that as well."

Hermione and Neville had just appeared in the stands, both wearing heavy cloaks.

"I think as soon as your finished with Detentions, we shouldn't wait any longer. We have a place to practice, and I've worked up a way for us to communicate without actually drawing attention to ourselves."

"How's that?" Ron asked.

Hermione reached into her pocket and pulled out to gold coins. "These are fake galleons." She smiled. "One the side is the serial number of the coin. Harry can set the date of each meeting on his coin, and the rest of us can find out by looking at our coin. It's grow warm in your pocket, so you'll know when it's been changed."

"A Protean charm?" Ron looked incredibly surprised. "That's like, NEWT level spell work."

"My girl's a genius." Neville grinned, kissing his girlfriend's cheek, causing the bookworm to blush slightly, and lean into his shoulder.

"It was nothing." Hermione waved off the compliment.

"It's not nothing." Harry said, taking one of the galleons. "It's brilliant. Can we pass these out to everyone now? We can't start until next week when my detentions are done."

"Already started." Neville smiled. "We gave most of them out today."

"I haven't seen a few people yet, but most everyone has them now." Hermione nodded.

"Let's go in. It's cold, and it should be time for dinner." Ron said, hugging himself against the cold. The other's all stood and began heading towards the castle.

"Have you talked to Daphne today?" Hermione asked. Harry shook his head sadly.

"I just wish I could figure out what was going on. She won't talk to me, and she's been getting more and more defensive. I don't know what to do."

"I tried to talk to her yesterday, and she basically blew me off." Hermione sighed. "Don't worry, Harry. Everything will work out. Just be patient and give her a bit of space."

Harry wanted to believe his best friend, but things had gotten so strange between him and his girlfriend. If she didn't want to be with him anymore, he wished she'd just tell him. He hated the idea of losing her, but he wasn't going to force her to stay with him if she didn't want to be. At the same time, he cared for Daphne very deeply, and would hate himself if he didn't try to fight to save what he felt was the single greatest thing in his life. Daphne was incredibly special. She had taught him so much in such a short period of time, and whenever he was around her, he felt …like he was whole, as strange as it was to say.

The question was, what was he supposed to do?

"I thought I told you to practice emptying you mind!" Snape snarled as he watched Harry picking himself up off the floor. "Can't you even do one simple task."

"I've had a rather difficult week." Harry snapped.

"I do not wish to hear your excuses, Potter." Snape pointed a long sallow finger to his pupil. "I want you to do as you're told."

"You know, it might help if you gave me a damn clue as to what I was supposed to do instead of just attacking my mind."

Snape's lip curled as he faced the young man. His eyebrow cocked, Snape stepped closer, a smug look on his face.

"Would you like it if I fed you? Need me to tuck you in at night Potter?"

Harry looked confused, and slightly creeped out as Snape bent forward, his nose nearly touching Harry's.

"It is time for you to grow up Potter, and learn to do things on your own. There is no set way for one to defend their mind. It is up to the individual to find a way to protect their thoughts. No two minds work the same, Potter. If they did, Occlumency would be completely useless!"

Harry thought about what his professor said, and began to understand. If everyone had the same defense for their mind, it would be so much easier to break into everyone's mind. Once you broke into one person's mind, you could use the same method to break into everyone else's mind. The key was to find what worked for him.

"We shall try again." Snape said backing away.

Harry took a deep breath and prepared himself for the attack.

"Legillemens!"

Harry ignored the flashes of memory, searching for the foreign presence in his mind. He knew it would be subtle, but he needed to find it and push it out. And then he realized that more than searching for Snape, he needed something to distract the potions master. He needed to be proactive, instead of reactive.

Harry wondered what he could use that would capture the slimy git's attentions, and then he realized that Snape loved to torture Harry, so maybe he'd enjoy watching Harry be tortured. He immediately called up his latest memory from his detentions. Harry worked hard to control his mind, focusing his energies into making that the most prominent memory.

Slowly the other memories faded and Harry could see the blood quill in his hand, and feel the pain in his hand as he wrote the line over and over again. He could see Umbridge's patronizing smile, and the glint in her eye that always made Harry cringe.

The memory seemed to solidify, and Harry could feel the probing presence of Snape. Instantly, Harry pounced on the presence and pushed against it. The aura fought back, but Harry saw himself fighting a blurry shadow. He imagined firing a bludgeoning hex and followed it up with a handful of stunning spells.

Harry fell to the his knees, panting heavily.

"Much better, Potter, though you still let me get in too far." Snape sneered. Harry noticed that Snape was rubbing his wrists, and leaning against his desk. He also seemed to be breathing a little heavier, and Harry wondered if he'd actually done more than Snape was letting on.

"I think I'm finally understanding." Harry gasped. "I need to build a defense. Something to distract my enemy until I can find their presence."

"That is usually what most effective, but it would be better if you did not need to distract your enemy. You need to be able to know at once if someone is trying to gain access to your thoughts."

"I know. But I have to start somewhere." Harry quipped. Snape shook his head.

"If you could clear your mind, you would have no difficulty in this, Potter. You need to be able to lock away your thoughts at once, making them impossible for an enemy to see."

"I'm trying!" Harry snapped, his frustration coming to the fore. Harry got to his feet, still struggling to catch his breath.

"We are finished for tonight. We will continue next Saturday evening. Clear your mind and work on your breathing exercises. I want to se a marked improvement by next week Potter, or I shall have to give you detentions." Snape said pointedly at the tired looking teen before him. "Back to your common room."

Harry walked back to Gryffindor tower feeling extremely drained. He felt tired after his other Occlumency lessons, but this was the worst he'd ever felt. Harry figured it was due to everything he'd had to go through that week.

Harry entered the common room, finding it bustling with activity, as was usual for a Saturday night. Hermione and Neville were tucked away in a corner, Hermione resting against Neville, quietly talking.

Harry saw the twins holding court with a large croup of kids. He guessed they were trying out new products, or taking orders, or some combination of the two.

Ron, surprisingly was sitting on a couch with Lavender Brown, of all people. Harry was wondering exactly what the two were talking about, but felt it would be wrong to intrude. Besides he was incredibly tired.

He slipped through the Common room and was about to head up the stairs when he nearly collided with Parvati Patil.

"Harry." She said with a soft smile. "Do you have a minute?"

"Sure." He said politely.

"I've been wanting to talk to you for a while now, but you're hardly ever alone. I just wanted to tell you that I'm not mad or anything. I know Lavender's given you a lot of grief about you and me being together, but I could see that your heart belonged to someone else, even on the first day of term." Parvati smiled softly.

"You did?"

"Yeah. It was kind of obvious. Although, I thought for sure it was Hermione." Parvati chuckled. "I was a little shocked when you started seeing Greengrass."

"To be honest, I was surprised too." Harry admitted.

"She's good for you. I can't remember seeing you smile so much. For the past four years, you've always had this dark cloud hanging over you. But not this year. You've changed, and it's a nice change. Everyone's noticed."

Harry felt himself blushing, and tried to look away. Parvati couldn't help but give the tiniest of giggles at Harry's discomfort and gave his arm a comforting squeeze.

"Don't be embarrassed, Harry, it's not a bad thing. Maybe if you'd always been like this, more people would be supportive of you, because you would have been easier to get to know. You haven't been the easiest person to approach, you know. But now, well…" Parvati shrugged.

"I…" Harry tried to think of something to say, but a million things were going through his head, and he couldn't even form a coherent thought. Parvati simply smiled at him.

"Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that I didn't fancy you like Lavender believes I do. But I do hope that you would consider me a friend."

"I do." Harry said, happy that his mouth still functioned. "And I am truly sorry for how I treated you last year."

"Think nothing of it. It's all in the past, and I think you learned a good lesson on how to properly treat a girl."

Harry had to smile at that, and ran his hand through his messy black hair.

"Thanks Parvati."

"I'll se you, Harry."

Harry watched the Indian girl mingle with other Gryffindors in the common room before finally making it up the stairs and into his dorm. He wondered why Parvati had felt the need to tell him she wasn't interested in him that way, but felt glad that she had. He felt almost as if there had been a weight lifted off him he hadn't realized he was carrying.

Harry changed into pajamas and finally crawled into bed, wanting nothing more than to sleep for a week. Before he allowed himself to sleep, he made an effort to empty his mind, envisioning the grounds of Hogwarts covered in fresh snow. He focused on breathing, keeping the image of the snow covered castle in his mind's eye.

He kept thinking about what Snape had said about locking away his thoughts. For some reason, all Harry could think of was the vaults at Gringotts, and all the enchantments put on them to keep theives from gaining access. Harry wondered if he could try and build some sort of mental vault.

However, before he could think to long on the idea, he was overcome by sleep. Apparently he was far more tired than he'd realized.

"Why have you not retrieved it yet?" Asked the high cold sinister voice. A man bowed before him, eyes focus on the floor, not even daring to look up. The room was very dark, and Harry knew he was sitting in a raised chair from the angle at which he was staring at the quivering man who was kneeling on the cold stone floor.

A very large serpent was circling at his feet, and Harry could hear the snake begging to be allowed to kill the man and devour him.

"Dumbledore has placed a guard outside. They have wards placed to alert them if we try, milord." the man said, his voice shaking.

"We shall have to eliminate this guard then." the high voice said with disdain. "And what of our other plans?"

"The fortress is ready to fall at your command." the man said, his voice holding a bit more confidence. "Our spy has given us everything we need. And even suggested the perfect time to strike."

"Have they?" The sinister voice inquired with a hint of malicious joy. "Very well, I wish for you to learn all you can about Dumbledore's guard. I want to know exactly how many guards he has posted, and when they change. I want to know exactly who they are as well. You have one week. Do as I command."

The man crawled backwards out of the room, keeping his eyes low. The serpent followed until it was called back.

"I am sorry, Nagini, but I still have need for him. Do not worry, for your master will soon provide you a feast, you must be patient, my sweet. Soon, we shall both have what we crave."