A/N – I know it took me some time to finish this chapter and I'm terribly sorry for the delay. I know, it's more like a filler-chapter and I also apologize for that. I hope I'll have more time for writing in the next few weeks.

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3. Animosity

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Many times I've been a traveller
I looked for something new
In days of old when nights were cold
I wandered without you

But those days I thought my eyes
Had seen you standing near
Though blindness is confusing
It shows that you're not here…

"Soldier Of Fortune" by Deep Purple

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Two weeks had passed since Harry, Ron and Hermione had visited the concert. The next day they had to leave the headquarters for reasons neither one of them understood. They were sent to the Burrow, along with Mrs. Weasley who had obviously been glad to be home again. She was in a much better mood and Hermione suggested it was because now she only had to worry about the three of them and not about the members of a whole organization. Occasionally Fred and George would stop by for a visit or Mrs. Weasley would take them to Diagon Alley to go shopping.

Nothing extraordinary had happened and in a way Harry was glad that their holidays would be over soon. Although it was nice to have a peaceful time he was starting to get bored. Ron felt the same way, only Hermione didn't seem to mind that they had to spend their time in isolation, for she could use the time to read and study for the finals at the end of the school year.

There was only one thing that disturbed Harry besides the growing boredom. He didn't dream of Voldemort as much as he used to but now his dreams were filled with something – or rather someone – else; the blond singer of the band Hermione was obsessing about, Selene. He wasn't sure of it was her real name, but it suited her.

Usually that fact would not be surprising – he was a seventeen year old healthy male after all. What unsettled him was that almost every single one of those dreams ended in a nightmare, with Selene dying in front of his eyes and he wasn't able to do anything to prevent it.

Harry hadn't told anyone of this new kind of dreams, not even Ron or Hermione. Maybe all those years in which he had been confronted with the hardships of war and his rather sad childhood had finally taken their toll on him.

Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted by Hermione, who was running into the direction where he and Ron were lying in the soft grass of Mrs. Weasley's garden. She was shouting something he couldn't understand. Ron had noticed their friend's appearance as well and groaned.

"Merlin, I swear if she complains about our lazy attitude one more time I'll kill her."

Harry laughed but his thoughts were similar to Ron's. There was no way he would spend one more day studying when the sun was shining outside and he hypothetically didn't have to learn. This girl could be a bully when it came to studying!

"I don't think that would stop her from trying. She would come back to haunt us even after death."

"Hermione as a ghost?" He shuddered. "No, I wouldn't want to do that to the world."

Before Harry could reply said girl had reached them and plopped down next to them. She was trying to catch her breath but that didn't prevent them from seeing the anger in her eyes. Obviously she was pissed about something – and for once Harry was sure that he and Ron were not the reason for her agitation. They had been playing Quidditch all day and there was no way they could have done something to offend her.

"What is wrong?" Harry asked after her breathing was becoming more regular.

"Everything!" Hermione snapped. Harry realized she was clutching a parchment with one fist that carried the official seal of Dumbledore.

"Has something bad happened?" Ron tried again to get her to tell them hat was the matter.

"I have to share my room with some other girl!" she explained, shoving the paper into Ron's hands. "This has never happened in Hogwart's history! I'm the Head Girl, I'm entitled to have my own quarters. I need the quiet environment to prepare for the finals. How could I possibly do that with an exchange student around?"

Ron, who had finished reading Dumbledore's letter, met Hermione's angry gaze. "What's so bad about that? I have to share my room with three other people, just like everyone else. I'd be glad of I had only one person to share a room with."

"I know, but you don't try to study seriously. Besides, I don't know anything of this person. She could be annoying or stupid or…"

"She could be hot," Ron commented with a wide grin on his face. "New girls are always hot and mysterious."

Now it was Hermione's turn to groan. Spending two whole weeks with two guys was not exactly what she considered a perfect holiday, best friends or not.

"The only thing Dumbledore tells us about her is her age and her name. He doesn't even say where she's from or why he had accepted an exchange student in the seventh year." Harry had also finished reading the short note. "'Candice Armstrong, 18 years old'. That makes her one year older than us."

Hermione buried her head into her hands. "I don't want to share my quarters."

"You don't have any siblings so you're not used to share things," Ron joked and winced, when her elbow collided with his ribcage. "Ouch!"

"That's not funny. I really hope Candice Armstrong is a nice person."

"I'm sure it won't be a problem," Harry tried to soothe her. "If she doesn't behave we will be there to listen to your complains and have a word with her when things gets worse."

"Yeah, don't worry about it. It will be alright," Ron added through gritted teeth while he was still rubbing his chest. This girl did have sharp elbows!

"Thank you, but I think I can deal with her on my own. I'm Head Girl after all and it is my duty to take care of her. I guess that's why Dumbledore wants her to move into my quarters."

"That sounds more like you, Hermione," Harry commented and was rewarded with a small smile. Maybe it was a good thing that they would return to Hogwarts tomorrow. Hermione's mood would improve once she'd discover that her new roommate wasn't that bad. Harry was sure, that she could deal with any situation, no matter how difficult. And a new girl their age at Hogwarts was bound to be an exciting event.

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Candice had retired early for the night, stating she wanted to pack her belongings for her journey to Hogwarts the next day. No one had questioned her motives except for Sirius, who shot her an inquiring look when she left the room. He probably knew too much about her sleeping habits to believe she was tired. But since none of the other members had made any objections he had obviously decided to let her go.

A smile spread on her face when she thought about Sirius, who had taught her everything she needed to know in the past two weeks. He had patiently answered her questions about the wizard world and filled her in on the most important facts of their history so she could understand the present situation along with the duty of the Order members. Although she couldn't comprehend everything she was able to get the most important facts and that was enough for her to decide that the Dark Lord was an evil being that needed to be destroyed.

Sirius had also introduced her to the subjects that were taught at Hogwarts. Since Candice had always felt a close connection to nature she had no difficulties with Herbology and Potions. At the beginning of their lessons Sirius had told her that it was impossible to learn everything that was taught in six school years within two weeks but she was learning fast and could master any assigned spell or task at once.

It was strange to use a wand again. She was so used to perform wandless magic just by using the power of her fea that the piece of wood in her hand felt alien to her. Even now, two weeks after they had bought it, she still felt strange using it. But then she remembered how she got it and laughed quietly.

On the second day, after Sirius had explained her the basic things about the wizard world, they went to Diagon Alley to buy everything Candice would need for her year at Hogwarts. Her first impression of the city had been that it was much too crowded and there were many things she had never seen before. She was so overwhelmed at first that he had felt obliged to ease her nervousness by making jokes and telling her tales of his youth and how he and his friends had always loved to annoy other people. When they had first met she had already suspected that it would be fun to spend time with Sirius and her intuition hadn't failed her. He was easy company and had a crude sense of humour which was rather entertaining.

But even though she liked him she couldn't ignore the fact that he kept looking at her strangely sometimes when he thought she wasn't paying attention. Maybe she was just being paranoid because of her unknown stalker – whose present she hadn't felt the last few days – but Candice could tell that he was behaving oddly. Although she had to give him some credit because he didn't show it as much as most of the other Order members. She always felt their eyes on her, watching every movement, evaluating every comment she made like they were afraid she would say or do something wrong. It was driving her insane and she was glad to leave this place in the morning.

With a sigh Candice sat down on her bed. Some books were scattered on the blanket; she had made it a habit to do the theoretical work at night when everyone was asleep and train her practical skills with Sirius in the morning. There was no need for her to sleep – her body didn't need it. She only had to meditate every now and then when she felt tired. It had always been like this and until the day she ran away from her old home in Ireland she hadn't thought it was that extraordinary. Only when Leila, her Muggle friend had commented on her strange sleeping habits she pretended to sleep every night for at least two hours.

In the past two weeks Candice had been glad she didn't need to rest regularly. It gave her more time to learn everything she could about this strange new world she had entered. In a way she anticipated what would happen tomorrow. She missed her old friends terribly, and although she had called them almost every day, she wanted to be around people her age. Hopefully the students at Hogwarts were nice and she wouldn't have problems making friends. Yesterday Albus Dumbledore had informed her that she would have to share a room with another girl. He didn't tell Candice much about her, only her name and age.

Hermione Granger, the Head Girl, 17 years old.

These facts only allowed little speculations. She had asked Sirius about the girl, but the man had only smiled and told her "'Mione is a nice girl". That wasn't exactly helpful as well. "Nice" left much room for interpretations.

Candice sighed and closed her eyes. They would leave Grimmauld Place in less than four hours. She was told they would use brooms to get to Hogwarts. That was another thing she didn't want to think about right now. It had been more than ten years ago when she had last used a broom for something else than cleaning. Candice was nervous, because she had also been told it would take them hours to reach Hogwarts. Sirius had suggested she could ride with him and she seriously contemplated to accept his offer. Just the thought of flying through the air made her uncomfortable.

But she still had some time left to get used to the idea. Four hours until she would leave to start her new life at a wizard school. With mixed feelings she turned over on the mattress and buried her head in the soft pillow.

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The green fire in his hearth appeared quickly – and quite unexpectedly – and Albus Dumbledore was, for the first time in decades, so startled, that he dropped the glass of lemonade he'd been holding in his hand. It fell to the wooden floor and burst into a million pieces. But fortunately he caught his composure just before the face of a woman appeared in the flames. She would only laugh at him for lacking the self-control he knew she possessed and he could do very well without her constant teasing.

"Mae govannen, hiril nin," he greeted the Lady, knowing she preferred to be acknowledged in the Old Language.

"Mae govannen," she replied and a smile appeared on her face. "So you haven't forgotten everything you were taught, caladir." At first he was surprised that she used the old title he had been given many decades ago. Considering the present circumstances he wasn't sure he deserved it. But obviously she wanted to reassure him, tell him in her own way that she was not angry with him. "No, my Lady, I haven't."

She laughed and the melodious sound made a chill run down his spine. Albus noticed that even through the flickering fire her ageless face was still as beautiful as it had been almost two centuries ago when they had first met.

"You don't have to be so formal, my dear friend. Call me Gwyneth."

"As you wish."

Then the face in the flames turned serious. "I have contacted you to ask if everything is alright."

She didn't need to explain what she meant – he knew what she wanted to hear. Gwyneth's instructions had been clear but not exactly easy to follow. "There are some difficulties."

"Is something wrong with her?"

Albus shook his head. "No, she is alright. Actually I'm surprised how well she is coping with the situation. She is interested in learning everything about the wizard world and is getting along with the assigned teacher better than I thought." His eyes were twinkling when he thought about the way Candice and Sirius had become close friends over the last two weeks, despite the fact that they were complete opposites. But then again, it was hard not to like the young woman once one got to know her better. She was not only beautiful and charming but also a caring, sociable person. There was something about her cheerful but also surprisingly calm demeanour that fascinated not only him but everyone else as well.

"I knew she was ready. That's why I sent her to you." The slightly condescending tone in her voice told him Gwyneth thought his comment superfluous. Quickly he remembered the reason of her visit and supplied her with the information she needed. "The problem lies within the Order. The other members are still wary of her. It's not because of her personality but because of her heritage. They are afraid that she might remember her past and we cannot estimate what will happen afterwards."
There was a silence between them. Some moments passed before the woman spoke again. "It's hope for the best and fear the worst. That is all I have to say."

Albus sighed. "I will try to reassure them. It will be much easier after she disappeared from their sight."

"Keep an eye on her, caladir. And when the time has come, guide her to the place where she needs to be. I trust you."

After sending him a sad smile, her face disappeared from the flames and their colour changed back into the usual deep red. Albus Dumbledore was once again left alone in his office as he thought about the unexpected visit. Memories of a long lost past found their way into his thoughts but he shoved them aside and tried to concentrate on the presence. Soon he would have enough time to dwell in the past. There were too many things he had to take care of, too many people who depended on him.

Caladir, he thought with a hint of irony. He wasn't entirely convinced that he had the right to call himself a man of light any longer.

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The next morning passed by in a blur of chaos, frantic last-minute-packing and desperate searching of urgently needed things for their trip to Hogwarts. While the last two points mainly concerned Harry and Ron, Hermione was just as anxious, always talking about how she should have used the holidays to study more. Without realizing it she was driving everyone insane. Even Mrs. Weasley, who usually stayed calm and ordered people around when there was a crisis, started to shoot them angry looks and finally retreated into the kitchen to prepare breakfast. "One could think that it's getting worse every year. How lucky that this is their last one", she muttered as she slammed the kitchen door shut and decided to ignore the fact, that Ginny would attend Hogwarts for another year.

Harry fled into the twin's room when he was sure he had packed everything he needed. He could still hear Ron running up and down the corridor outside, but he didn't care. Tiredly he sat down on one of the beds and buried his head in his hands. For some reason he hadn't been able to rest peacefully this night. A strange feeling of anxiety had overcome him every time he closed his eyes. Harry couldn't explain it logically. There had been no nightmares or other unsettling dreams, just a distinct nervousness when he thought about his return to Hogwarts.

Something was about to happen in his final year at school, something that would change his life. It was not just the danger of Voldemort's resurrection and the thought of the battles he would have to face sooner or later. There was more to it than he could comprehend now but now matter how hard he thought about it, he didn't come to a conclusion.

However, Harry's thoughts were interrupted when the door opened and a familiar redhead poked her head in the room. A smile appeared on his face when he recognized the girl and quickly he stood up to greet the youngest member of the Weasley family. "Ginny! It's nice to see you again."

Ginny grinned and stepped into the room. "I've been looking for you, you know? Why are you hiding in the twin's room?"

Harry shrugged. "Well, I've finished packing so I thought it was better not to get into the way."

Her grin grew larger. "You mean you didn't want to get into Hermione's way?"

He laughed at her comment and embraced her. "How long have you been here? I didn't hear you coming."

Ginny had spend the holidays at a friend's house, since Mrs. Weasley had originally intended to stay at the Order's headquarter. She had stated it was better not to have too many people around so her youngest daughter had volunteered to stay with her friend in Ireland.

"I've been here for half an hour. Fortunately I packed the things I'd need for school before so I don't have to worry about it now."

Harry smiled at that. It was hard to believe a well-organized girl like her belonged to such a chaotic family. "How was your trip?" he asked and immediately her eyes lit up. The grin almost split her face in two halves.

"It was amazing!" she gushed. "I never knew Ireland was such a beautiful country. The landscape is so romantic, although it's raining a lot. We visited a lot of mystical places and I could almost feel the ancient power of the land." Her eyes glazed over as she got lost in her memories. "I also learned a lot about music. Sarah – my friend – taught me how to play the guitar. She says I have a well-developed ear to understand music and a harmonious voice. I didn't know I had a talent for anything and now she wants to convince me I can sing and play instruments!"

Ginny's laughter was contagious and Harry couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm. In a way, he had discovered his passion for music as well, although it had more to do with a certain blond singer.

"We even went to some concerts. Mostly local bands that played traditional songs. We met some real minstrels and talked to them after their show. They told us many tales of the past, about spirits and medieval witches and one woman even knew some elvish stories."

"I hope you didn't take it too seriously," he said with a frown on his face. "They are paid for telling people what they want to hear."

"I know," the redhead admitted, but she didn't let his comment darken her mood. "But they were great story tellers." Since he obviously wasn't impressed with her report, Ginny didn't volunteer any more information. "Oh, by the way, I'm not the only one who's looking for you. Ron has finished packing and Mom wants everyone to come down for breakfast."

Harry nodded and started to follow the youngest Weasley out of the twin's room. As much as he loved the Weasley family all he really wanted to do was hide in a quiet corner and try to relax for a while or maybe even force himself to sleep for more than four hours. Harry knew he had been too rude with Ginny but right now he didn't have the heart to listen to her stories. It was hard enough for him to keep his eyes open and focus on what was happening around him.

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During the last two weeks breakfast had always been a stiff and unpleasant experience. The five people who were occupying the seats around the huge table where at least fifteen people could sit down if needed, were eying Candice suspiciously as they continued to eat. On her first days it had unsettled her to know that most of the wizards she met didn't like her for some reason. Now she was not upset any longer but rather annoyed with their attitude. It was like they feared she might kill them all if they weren't careful. So instead of trying to break the silence she ignored the nasty looks that were thrown at her.

Sirius was sitting next to her but he didn't seem to be very talkative as well this morning. He was so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't even greeted her before sitting down on his chair. Something was obviously troubling him but she didn't dare to ask.

The hostile atmosphere made her lose all interest in the food on her plate. Her stomach clenched and suddenly Candice thought that she couldn't wait to leave this place. The open animosity against her was unbearable.

Albus Dumbledore was the one who saved her from the embarrassing situation by entering the room and greeting everyone with a bright smile on his face. As usually the animosity on the faces of the other Order members disappeared as soon as the old man was in sight.

"Good morning, Candice," he greeted her.

"Good morning, sir," she answered and watched as he sat down opposite from her. His eyes were twinkling as he looked at the untouched food on her plate.

"Are you not hungry? You should be. Once you are up in the air you won't get anything to eat for some hours."

"I'm fine," Candice said and managed a small smile.

"You look pale. Maybe you should try to get more sleep at night."

She suppressed a sigh at his comment. There was no way she was going to discuss her unusual – or rather non-existent – sleeping habits right now. The Order members already thought her to be weird and she wouldn't make the bad situation worse.

"When am I leaving?" Candice finally asked.

"As soon as you are ready."

"I am ready." She would never be more ready to leave this place.

"Very well. Then you should wait until your escort is ready." He nodded at the two wizards who were sitting next to Sirius. Just as the dark-haired man they were still eating their breakfast.

Some minutes passed in silence. Candice watched the tight faces of the two wizards who would accompany her and her stomach turned. She would definitely ride on a broom with Sirius so she could use him as a shield to hide from the suspicious glances. Her heart clenched painfully at the thought of spending any more time with people who obviously disliked her.

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Mae Govannen – (a formal greeting)

hiril nin – my Lady

caladir – man of light