Disclaimer: I still do not own Harry Potter.

Thanks so much for all of your wonderful feedback!

Just to let you guys know, this will probably be the last update until Monday because I am spending the weekend hanging out with friends. I just thought I'd let you know in advance.

Please enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 18: S.P.E.W, the Imperius, and More

It was a few days later, and Harry, Ron, Ginny, Fred, and George were all sitting in the Gryffindor common room, along with many other students.

"I can't believe Hermione's in the library again," grumbled Ron. "She spends all her time there these days. And the way she eats, it's incredible."

"Yeah," said Fred, catching on to the conversation. "You'd think it was her last meal or something, that she'd never be given food again."

"She's probably up to something interesting," said Ginny. Ron snickered. He and Harry were in the middle of doing their Divination homework, making up horrible months for themselves. Harry had made up a prediction that he was going to die by the hand of the giant squid, who would toss him into the lake and hold him under until he drowned. Ron said he'd get food poisoning and be sick all week. Fred and George were helping them out, suggesting more doom and gloom for them to add.

Neville came into the common room then, from the dormitory. He walked over to the couch and sat down next to Ron. "I'm really nervous about tomorrow," he admitted to Harry. "Moody's going to be putting the Imperius Curse on each of us, remember?"

"Yeah," said Harry. "I wonder what it'll feel like."

"I don't know if I want to find out," replied Neville.

A few minutes later, Hermione trounced into the common room, holding a basket in her hands and looking extremely pleased with herself. "What's that?" said Ron immediately, looking confusedly at the basket.

"I'm about to explain, if you'd only have patience, Ronald," said Hermione reproachfully. She sat herself on the couch next to Harry and showed him and Ron the basket. Inside were about fifty badges, all with the motto S.P.E.W. on them.

"Spew?" said Ron at once, frowning.

"Not spew, Ron," said Hermione crossly. "S.P.E.W."

"And what on Earth does that stand for? Is this some crazy scheme of yours to get us to study harder or something?"

"No, Ronald, it's not."

"Why do you always call me by my full name when you're annoyed with me?" asked Ron, grinning.

Hermione did not answer his question. Instead she just glared at him and said, "S.P.E.W. stands for the Society for the Protection of Elfish Welfare. All three of us are going to try to make things better for the house-elves, along with anyone else who wants to help. I'm the President of this committee, Ron, you're secretary, and Harry, you're the treasurer."

"Excuse me?" said Ron, gaping like a fish out of water. "Hermione, you're crazy! How many times do I have to tell you? The house-elves LIKE what they do! They don't WANT to be free!" He gave her an exasperated look.

"Oh, Ron!" said Hermione angrily. "We should try to make CHANGES to our world! Don't you understand? This slave labor is BARBARIC! Haven't you ever studied history? In the Muggle world, slavery was outlawed YEARS ago!"

"So that's what you've spent all your time in the library doing?" asked Harry. He didn't want to upset the bushy-haired girl, who'd obviously worked really hard on this, but at the same time, he didn't want to anger the house-elves. He'd heard about how devoted they were to their masters. Dobby had really been the exception to the rule.

"Yes, Harry. Here," snapped Hermione, truly losing patience with Ron. She forced a badge into his hand, and put one in Harry's also. "You are going to wear these badges," she told them, sounding more like Professor McGonnagall than they'd ever heard her sound before. "And you are not going to complain, either of you!"

"Okay," Harry acquiesced, but Ron continued to give her exasperated looks. He however put the badge on, because it looked like Hermione was ready to hex him.

"Is there anybody else who wants to participate?" Hermione called out. Fred and George gave their answer by snickering, but Neville gave her a smile and took a badge from the basket, and she beamed at him. Ginny also took a badge. "This world needs reform," Hermione said formally. "Thank you for agreeing to help. I'm going to bed." With that, she flounced up to her dormitory.

"Insane," muttered Ron. "Completely and utterly insane."

xxx

The next day, Professor Moody's class was ripe with action. Harry watched as the Imperius Curse was cast on his classmates. He tried not to smile as Ron sang the English National Anthem at the top of his lungs. This curse was a serious business, it was really no laughing matter at all. Neville did some extremely interesting acrobatics, and even Hermione was reduced to someone who danced the Macarena. Ron leaned over and whispered in Harry's ear, "Moody should have made her proclaim to the whole world that all books are stupid."

When it was Harry's turn, he made his way nervously to the front of the room. "Now, Potter," Moody growled, "as you have witnessed me doing this with the other students, you should know what is about to happen. Are you ready, boy?"

"Yes, sir," muttered Harry. He was always intimidated by this man.

"Very well," said Moody. Pointing his wand at the black-haired youth, he intoned, "Imperio."

A light, floaty feeling swept over Harry. He suddenly felt so unbelievably happy, like absolutely nothing in the world could ever bother him again. All thoughts and nervousness left his head, and he felt the incredible compulsion to do whatever he was asked to doo.

"Jump onto the desk," said a sudden voice in his head. "You know you want to, jump onto the desk."

Harry was about to jump, but suddenly, another little voice spoke. "Why should I?" it said. "It's a stupid thing to do, really."

"Do as you're told, boy," the other voice drawled. "Jump onto the desk."

"No, I don't think I will, thank you," argued the other voice.

Suddenly, the light, floaty feeling disappeared, and Harry felt pain lance through his legs. He realized this was because he'd tried to jump and not to jump at the same time.

"Very good, very good," growled Moody. "That's it, Potter! You see, class? He was fighting it! Potter was fighting it! You're so much like your father, boy. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named tried to cast Imperius on him once. Tried to get him to kill your mother. Didn't work. Lily was able to get him back to his senses. They'd be proud of you, boy."

A flush of embarrassment came over Harry's cheeks. He went back to his seat, and Ron gave him an impressed smile. Hermione was also looking happy that Harry had fought it, but upset that she hadn't been able to do it herself.

After the lesson was over, the trio went to dinner and talked with Ginny. After they had eaten, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione told Harry they had homework to do. Hermione had gotten some extra from Professor Vector, and Ron had some Divination he had not finished. Ginny had an essay on Defense to do for Moody. So that left Harry free. He told them he'd go back to the common room, that he'd meet them when they came back from the library. So they went their separate ways.

As Harry was heading back to Gryffindor Tower, he saw Cedric Diggory and Cho Chang coming from the other direction. With embarrassment, Harry remembered the slight crush he'd had on Cho the year before, and was glad that he was able to talk to her freely now without feeling totally out of his league. He wanted to become friendly with her, to not just think of her as someone who was pretty.

"Hey, Harry. What's up, mate?" Cedric asked.

"Hi, Harry, how are you?" Cho asked, smiling at the raven-haired boy. "Why are you all alone? Where are your friends?"

"They had homework to do," said Harry. "I finished all mine, so I'm free."

"Well, in that case," said Cedric, "how would you like to come and hang out with us? I just invited Cho to the Hufflepuff common room. I was wondering if you wanted to come too."

"Is that allowed?" asked Harry. "People are allowed to socialize with different houses if they want?"

"Yeah, they can," Cedric smiled. "They don't do it that often, but it's allowed. I asked Professor Sprout if it was all right to bring Cho. I'm sure she won't mind if you come as well."

A smile broke out on Harry's face. "Sure, why not?"

"That's great!" Cho said. As they walked through the halls, Harry wondered where the Hufflepuff common room was. When they got there, he realized it was near the kitchens.

Cedric gave the password to a portrait of a middle-aged man. "Episky," he said.

"What does that mean?" asked Harry curiously, as they walked inside.

"That's a healing spell that you'll learn in a couple of years," Cho answered.

Cedric told them that he was going to go ask Professor Sprout about Harry hanging out there. He came back a minute later, grinning, giving him a thumbs-up. So the Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw pupil sat down on one of the couches. Cedric and Cho sat next to each other, with Harry sitting next to Cedric.

The common room looked similar to the Gryffindor one, but there were also posters on the walls. One of them said, MORE THAN WE SEEM: WE ARE NOT DUFFERS! Harry remembered what Hagrid had told him when he was eleven and in Diagon Alley with him, that many people thought people in Hufflepuff were dumb with no brains. He also remembered with clarity exactly what Ron thought of Cedric.

"Hello, Harry, Cho! Nice to see you two here!" said Hannah Abbott, coming over and shaking Harry and Cho's hands. "I'm glad you two are Cedric's friends. How's your year going?"

"It's really good so far," said Cho happily. "We're learning so much!"

"Yeah," agreed Harry. "Isn't Moody something else?"

"Yeah, he is," Cedric said. "Has he put the Imperius Curse on any of you yet?"

"He did that to me this afternoon," said Harry. His cheeks flushed with embarrassment as he continued, "He said I was the only one in the class who was able to fight it."

"Wow, you did?" exclaimed Cedric, pride showing on his face. "That's amazing! I couldn't even do it!"

"I don't know how I could," said Harry.

"Well, you must be made out of really strong stuff," Cedric said.

Harry blushed again. "Thanks," he mumbled.

"So what did you think of the World Cup, Harry, Hannah?" asked Cho, changing the subject. She obviously knew what Cedric had thought of it already.

"Ron was really mad Bulgaria won," said Harry. "But he did give it to Krum, though. He's one amazing player."

"Yeah, he is, isn't he?" Cho beamed.

"Aw, have you got a crush, Cho?" Cedric teased.

"Oh, stop it! I do not have a crush on Viktor Krum, Cedric Amos Diggory!" Cho scowled good-naturedly.

Cedric laughed. "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes, sir," Cho giggled.

"I wasn't able to watch the World Cup," said Hannah. "Mum and Dad took me on holiday to Australia. My parents are both Muggles, and Mum's got relatives there."

"That's cool you went there, but too bad about the Cup," said Cedric. "It was really cool."

"Yeah," Harry agreed. "I've got Omnioculars with the game still on them, though. So I could always lend them to you sometime if you want to see it."

Hannah looked surprised. "Wow, thanks, Harry," she said. She didn't understand why Harry was even bothering to be nice to her. Two years ago, she was one of the people who had suspected that he was attacking and petrifying people.

The four students continued to talk for a while, and some other Hufflepuffs came over, including Ernie McMillan, Justin Finch-Fletchley, and Susan Bones. Some of Cedric's mates also stopped by to talk. Their names were Malcolm, Stanley, and Jeff. The four of them shared a dormitory.

One of the topics of conversation was the Triwizard Tournament. "Are you going for it, Cedric?" Harry asked. "I know you'll be seventeen soon."

"Yeah, tomorrow, as a matter of fact," Cedric grinned.

"Well, happy birthday!"

"Thanks, mate. As far as the Triwizard goes, yeah, I reckon I'll go for it."

"Be careful, Cedric!" said Cho in concern. "It sounds like it's really dangerous! I don't want you getting hurt!"

"Don't worry, Cho," said Cedric, his expression soft as he looked at her. "Remember, Dumbledore's taken plenty of precautions. It doesn't sound like anything bad's going to happen this time. Plus, there's definitely no guarantee that I'll even get chosen. I'm sure plenty of people will put their names in."

"I bet you'll get it, though," said Harry.

"I agree, Ced," said Hannah. "You're one of the nicest and smartest people I know."

"Aw, thanks," said Cedric. "Well, how I think is, what's the use in being nasty to anybody? I try to live by the Golden Rule: do unto others as you would like them to do to you."

"I like that rule," Cho said. "It's a great way to live."

The night went on, and eventually Harry found himself getting tired. He seemed to pass it on to Cho, because she started yawning. Cedric laughed and asked them whether they wanted to go to bed. They both agreed and thanked him profusely for letting them come. They said goodbye to Cedric's mates and the Hufflepuffs from Harry's year.

"You can come any time," Cedric smiled. "We'll be happy to have you, right, mates?"

"Right on, Ced," said Malcolm, pounding Cedric on the back. Cho gave Cedric a quick hug, and Harry shook his hand. They headed out of the common room, and then Harry and Cho said goodbye, heading back to their separate towers. As Harry walked along, he knew that it wouldn't matter to him what Ron said about Cedric being a duffer. In Harry's mind, Cedric was one of the politest people he knew; he wasn't just some dumb pretty boy who strutted around, showing off his good looks and popularity. He was honored to be one of his friends, and he'd just have to try to get Ron to accept that.

xxx

The next few days passed by uneventfully. Snape was still his usual nasty self, docking points from Gryffindor for the smallest of things. Hermione did her best to try to help Neville so that he didn't melt another cauldron. As far as Hagrid's class went, he was going so far as to make everyone take the Blast-Ended Skrewts for a walk.

"And why would we want to do THAT?" sneered Draco Malfoy.

"Because I told yeh ter, Malfoy," growled Hagrid in a voice that brooked no argument.

Harry also often saw Cedric and Cho walking together in the halls. They were becoming closer, and sometimes he would look out his window and see them flying together on the Quidditch pitch. With both of them being Seekers, it wasn't surprising that they shared that love of flying. Harry knew exactly how they felt.

Soon, the day came for his second therapy session with Remus. Sirius had begged to come again this time, so Harry sat in the Room of Requirement with both of them once again sitting on either side of him. He again took a calming potion and then waited for Remus's first question.

"Today," Remus said gently, "we should start talking about your childhood with the Dursleys. I am interested to know what your schooling was like. Did you have any friends in your Muggle school? What did you do when you got home?"

Harry didn't like to relive this, but found that talking about this was better than talking about the abuse. "Well," he started hesitantly, "I really didn't have any friends at Muggle school. Dudley always scared them away. He always told everyone that I was strange and freaky, so everyone just stayed away from me."

Sirius couldn't help making a growling sound deep within his throat which eerily sounded like an angry dog. Remus gave him a warning look. "You had no friends at all?" he asked, appalled.

"No," said Harry, "everyone just left me alone. If anyone tried to talk to me, Dudley'd beat them up. I didn't want anyone getting beat up, so I just stayed away from people."

"How awful," said Sirius. "You do know that was wrong, don't you?"

"Dudley was just a kid," Harry protested. "It was Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon who probably told him that other children couldn't hang around me. When I got home from school, and also on the weekends, they'd have me do chores."

"What kind of chores?" Remus asked, dreading the answer. "Did Dudley have to do any?"

"No," Harry answered, squirming uncomfortably. "He was allowed to watch television or play on his computer or do whatever he wanted. I had to mow the lawn, cook the meals, load and unload the dishwasher, make the beds. Pretty much everything."

Sirius and Remus were even more appalled. They spent the rest of the session trying to convince Harry that his relatives had been extremely cruel to do that to him. True, doing housework wasn't a bad thing, but to make him do it all and Dudley not do any? And to make a five-year-old boy cook breakfast and risk getting burned? Sirius once again wished he could go to the Dursleys' house and change them all into toads forever.

His two guardians' reassuring words always had an effect on Harry. People speaking in that gentle, loving tone always caused his emotions to churn inside of him. It was as if there was a dam that had built up over the years, which held an endless amount of tears. It seemed like he was crying all the time at the moment. And no matter what the two wizards said, it was difficult not to feel ashamed for doing so. But he did always feel better after being held in their arms, and they once again vowed that they wouldn't ever subject him to treatment like the Dursleys had bestowed upon him.

Harry bid them goodbye at the end of the session, and once again walked back to Gryffindor Tower. As he meandered along, he thought about the week he'd just had. It seemed like this year was his busiest year yet. He had some new friendships like Ginny, Cedric, and Cho, and he was learning some new magic. He smiled as he approached the portrait of the Fat Lady and gave her the password. He was happy he had the rest of the weekend just to chill out and relax, and promised himself he would do just that.