Chapter Twelve
Dobby's Warning
Ally watched her brother's retreating back and frowned, detangling herself from Nick. Her friend in question stepped back rather quickly and started muttering an apology to which Ally only shushed him, her eyes narrowing in the direction of her brother. Mickey seemed to note Ally's reactions, even if Nick wasn't quite there yet and followed her gaze.
"Maybe you should go talk to him," she suggested, waving Ally in the direction Harry had taken, "You two haven't talked much lately, have you?"
Ally looked up at her friend in genuine surprise and blushed. It was true, though Harry acted towards her quite affectionately, the two had not had a real conversation since his arrival. In truth, Ally was scared of going deeper into her relationship with Harry for fear of being seen as someone besides his little sister. She liked Harry, she had since she had first met him on the Dursley's lawn and she had acted towards him like she thought a kid sister would act, but…
He seemed worried about something.
"I'll meet you guys back in the Common Room," she said and broke into a jog after her brother.
It didn't take long to catch up with him, though he was decidedly quick despite the fact that he was walking. She rushed up and caught him by the hand, causing him to stop and turn to her in surprise.
"Ally?" he questioned, turning to her, "Is something-?"
"My line," she interrupted seriously, flipping an errant strand of her red hair, "Is something wrong, Harry?"
Harry frowned and bent a little to reach her level, Ally was grateful for the fact as he was at least a head taller than her. She looked into his startling green eyes, so like their mother's, and took courage in the fact. Harry suddenly shook his head and smiled, straightening a little.
"Nothing," he said, perhaps a little too smoothly, "Come on, I'll walk you back to the Common Room."
He took a firmer grip on her hand and Ally noticed it was to quell his own shaking. She bit down on her lower lip and looked up at him as they started walking. His face was set and stern as though in deep thought. She had seen the look before, on their father's face when he was working on a case he was really worried about. She wondered if Harry knew he had inherited this trait from their father, but stopped as worry over took her musings. He hadn't been very open with her, she hadn't any idea what his life before all this was like, hadn't even tried to ask him, but she had the feeling that Harry was the kind of person to keep his problems to himself.
Maybe, and this thought startled her more than she expected it to, maybe he just didn't know how to rely on other people.
"Harry," she began, deciding to take a more unorthodox approach then asking him straight out, "Can I tell you something?"
"Of course," his voice was a little distant as though he was only half listening.
"Well…you see I…" she trailed for a moment, "You're going to stick around, right?"
Harry blinked and looked round at her in surprise, she had clearly pushed away his previous thoughts quite quickly with that statement; his eyes were confused.
"Of course I am," he said firmly and smiled, "I'm your brother."
Ally looked at him sadly and nodded.
"Yeah," she said softly, "Harry I-"
"What's wrong Al?" Harry was looking concerned now, his own troubles seeming to have momentarily taken a back seat, "Why would you ask me that?"
"Its-" she paused, trying to search for the right words, "I used to hate you."
Harry stopped in his tracks and looked at her in horror. Ally nearly flinched, this wasn't exactly something she had ever intended telling her brother. But somehow, it seemed like he needed to know something secret about her feelings, then maybe he'd tell her something about him.
"What?" he whispered, his green eyes wide, Ally felt immediately guilty, it looked like she had just knocked the wind out of him.
"I used to hate you," she repeated, "Your birthday and especially Halloween were horrible. Mum and Dad would get really sad and sometimes mum would cry. Dad would go out for hours, not coming home until dawn, when I was younger it got so bad Uncle Sirius or Uncle Remus would come pick me up for the day. It got easier over time, but I still…I still hated you for doing that to my parents…to our parents."
She cast a hazardous look at her brother and felt awful for bringing it up, but she carried on in any case.
He had to understand.
"But then," said Ally, "I started noticing Mum always praying, not just for you, but for me too. She was always scared she'd lose me like she did you, always so afraid. Dad's always been really protective over me, like he was trying to make up for something…It was a couple of years ago, I was in London with Mum and we saw this beggar boy on the streets. He looked so sad and hurt. For the rest of the day, all I could think about was you, how we never knew what happened to you. I always imagined you had found a new family and were happy, but when I saw that boy…I-I couldn't get it out of my mind."
She took a shaky breath, feeling Harry watching her in shock.
"I realised," she said softly, "That there was only a fifty-fifty chance you were happy and it made my heart ache. I realised that-that you might be out there, alone and lost, just like we were without you and I stopped hating you and all I wanted to do was find you and make sure you were okay. I just wanted you to be safe, I didn't want you to be sad or hurt or alone. I-I-"
She trailed off, tears started running down her cheeks and she cried. Harry put an awkward arm around her and let her cry into his robes. Ally suddenly felt like an idiot, surely all she was doing was making him feel more burdened.
"It's okay," he said soothingly, "I'm right here now."
"I know," she sniffed and drew back, wiping away her tears on the back of her sleeve, "And I'm really happy you are, but I'm also scared you'll go away again."
"Never," Harry said forcefully and she was surprised when he knelt down and looked at her quite seriously, "Ally, I promise, I wont leave."
She looked up at him, her sight a little blurred from the involuntary tears that had sprung up and she nodded a little.
"Thanks Harry," she whispered and swallowed hard, "You-you know Mum and Dad, they've always just wanted you to be happy, right? They never cared about you accepting them back as parents, they just wanted to know you were okay."
"Where are you going with this Ally?" Harry gave a long suffering sigh, as he hugged her again. She pushed back and took a step away from him, knowing that she had to get this out now.
"Its just…" she took a deep breath, if there was ever a chance for her to show some Gryffindor courage, then it was now, "You seem troubled by something and I-I don't know how to help you."
Harry's gaze softened as he looked at her.
"I'm not troubled-" he started.
But Ally was having none of it, she knew Harry was troubled by something, she knew he was hiding something, she just didn't know what.
"I'm your sister," she said, "I know I'm younger and I don't know if you think I can understand whatever it is you're going through. But I want you to start treating me like family, the same with Mum and Dad. You just promised me that you weren't going anywhere, so I can promise you the same thing. We're not going anywhere Harry, this family thing, its for keeps."
She extended her hand to her brother, her little finger out in the habitual method of making everlasting promises. She watched nervously as the tirade of emotions crossed his face; apprehension, surprise, warmth and finally, a soft, affectionate smile. She was both relieved and happy when he intertwined his pinkie with hers and shook.
"For keeps," he promised.
Ally grinned up at him, let go of his hand and flung herself into him, hugging him tight. She was glad when he returned the hug and felt instantly better.
"Come on," he said, letting her go and recapturing her smaller hand in his larger and rougher one, "Lets head to the Common Room."
Ally nodded happily and let her brother lead her down the corridor, after a moment she could hardly contain it anymore and chirped up;
"So what is bothering you so much?"
"Ally," Harry whined, he didn't seem annoyed though, only amused.
"I'm your little sister," she said calmly and winked, "I'm supposed to be nosy."
Harry shook his head and sighed, looking straight again, for a few minutes he didn't say anything and Ally thought he wasn't going to answer.
"Have you ever seen or…experienced something that you thought wasn't real and then found out that it was?" the question came out softly, almost hesitantly. She looked up in surprise, her eyes widening a little both from the fact that he had spoken to her and also the line of his questioning confused her.
"No," she said slowly, mulling over the question, "I don't think I have…"
"Guess it's a little hard to explain," he muttered softly, probably thinking she wouldn't hear.
"Harry?" she said softly, her eyes gazing at him inquisitively as they walked, "Is it a bad thing, this thing you thought wasn't real?"
He remained silent, clearly thinking it over carefully.
"I'm not sure," he said finally, "In some ways, yes. But in others…its just confusing."
Ally didn't understand. Was it the fact that he was suddenly magical? No, that couldn't be it, he'd known that for months.
"How is it confusing?" she asked, curious now.
Her brother only smiled at her and shook his head.
"You know what," he said, "When I figure it out, you'll be the first to know."
Ally frowned, she didn't like mysteries. Harry seemed to sense her disgruntlement and chuckled a little, causing her to look at him questioningly.
"Its nothing," his eyes were laughing now, "Its just; I know that look."
"What look?" she asked innocently.
"Hey," he grinned, "I was eleven too you know. I know what its like when someone older than you doesn't tell you everything. Its frustrating and just makes you wonder more, but Al, I got to ask you to leave this mystery alone."
"Why?" she asked.
"Cause I need to solve it first," he gave a long suffering sigh and squeezed her hand, "Lets get a move on Squirt, I think I need a long nap after today."
That last statement took a moment to sink in, then Ally realised just what her brother had called her and bristled a little, her face heating up.
"Who're you calling 'Squirt'?" she demanded.
Harry just laughed.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
Hermione Granger was not having a good day.
In fact, it had started out pretty rotten. Firstly, she hadn't slept well last night, having gone to bed late helping Harry study and then not being able to fall asleep for ages afterwards. Not that she minded helping Harry, goodness knows she counted him as one of her best friends by now, but she really could have done with the sleep. She had been a little late to breakfast and had had to down a piece of toast and some orange juice as quickly as possible in order to make it to her first lesson on time. She had been a little late for that too, docking her house by five points, certainly not an auspicious start.
The rest of the day had gone as normal, mostly, she had pointedly ignored Ron as Lavender hung herself all over him during Transfiguration, though she had noted with something of a satisfied smirk that Ron didn't seem to like the girl draping herself across him so much either. At lunch she had snuck a small nap, waking up in time to make it to her next class.
Now of course, she was facing a small group of particularly nasty Ravenclaws with Luna Lovegood at her side. She had been a target ever since her Second Year when she had defended Luna from her fellow First Years. Needless to say, it hadn't made her very popular.
They were usually reluctant to face her like this though, preferring to pull childish pranks instead, they knew Hermione was excellent in every kind of spell work imaginable. Plus, being a prefect did help.
"If you don't want detention Lynch," Hermione said testily to the leader, "I suggest you hightail it out of here and leave Luna alone."
Cassandra Lynch wasn't what one would call the typical bully, in fact, she reminded Hermione of Penelope Clearwater who had graduated two years prior. She was the exact same pretty blonde type with big blue eyes and a vapid smile to match.
"Perfect little prefect Granger," she taunted with a smirk, "Got a taste for famous boys I hear."
"What are you talking about?" Hermione snapped, her eyes narrowing dangerously.
"First Victor Krum and now Harry Potter," Lynch shook her head, her cronies laughing with her, "My, my, you do get around. Forgot your homework lately, have you Granger?"
Hermione turned pink and gritted her teeth.
"Playing your old tricks again Lynch?" she said smoothly, "Goodness, I thought you were fifteen, not five."
Cassandra Lynch, to her credit, didn't blush, what she did do was contort her face in a most unseemly manner that made her appear as though she were sucking on a lemon. Luna was looking between Cassandra and Hermione with a dreamy fascination that was certainly typical of the young Ravenclaw. She gave Lynch a dreamy smile, but her voice punctuated through quite clearly.
"Oh no Hermione," she said, still looking at Lynch, "I'm sure Cassandra knows she's fifteen, but I don't think she's quite grown into it yet."
Hermione couldn't help but smile, immediately feeling better and thought not for the first time that it was a shame Luna had not been sorted into Gryffindor. Then at least she wouldn't have to deal with cows like Lynch.
"Why you little weirdo-" Lynch began furiously, raising her wand.
Hermione's wand was out in an instant with a counter charm ready on her lips, but someone else beat her to it. Lynch was knocked back and a tirade of bat bogeys expelled themselves from her nose, proceeding to attack her. She gave a frustrated scream as she attempted to frantically knock the small intruders away, her arms flaying out around her. Hermione looked around in confusion, but her expression melted in relief when she saw Ginny Weasley coming out of seemingly nowhere, her wand aimed at Lynch's lackeys.
"Ginny!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Sorry, ran into someone," the red head cast her glare on Lynch, "Get away Lynch, we warned you about picking on Luna."
"I'll get you for this Weasley!" the Ravenclaw hissed as she batted away another bogey, "Just you wait! You and your little weirdo! You cant hide behind your Gryffindor friends forever Loopy!"
With a frustrated scream and, receiving no help from her so called friends, she and the latter mentioned lackeys, scurried away. Hermione lowered her wand and let out a breath she hadn't even realised she'd been holding.
"I'm so glad the Hat didn't sort me into Ravenclaw," she muttered.
Ginny walked towards her friends with a small smile of agreement, those Ravenclaws could be worse than the Slytherins and that was saying something.
She flipped the Galleon between her fingers.
"Well at least we know these coins still work," she looked at Hermione appraisingly, "Have I ever mentioned that you are the smartest witch I've ever met?"
Hermione chuckled.
She didn't have many friends in her year and the first two years of Hogwarts had been torture. The girls in her year seemed to be interested in one thing, whilst she remained so with something else. It had turned out Ginny and Luna didn't have many friends either upon entering Hogwarts, Luna because of her eccentricity and Ginny because of the whole Chamber incident.
Needless to say it hadn't been much of a surprise when the three misfits had become friends.
"I just saw Harry," Ginny said, "He's finished the last of his tests now."
"Oh thank goodness," Hermione gave a breath of relief, "I think I'm more glad its over than Harry."
"I'm sure," the youngest Weasley suppressed a laughed and turned to her Ravenclaw friend, "Luna, you know you're supposed to call us when they start forgetting not to be bratty."
"I thought that was a permanent condition," Luna looked genuinely worried all of a sudden, "What with the Nargles that are always hanging around them. You don't think they've been relapsing by any chance, do you? It would be a shame for the Nargles to no longer have a home."
Ginny laughed, Hermione rolled her eyes and Luna carried on looking concerned for the welfare of the Nargles that apparently inhabited the Ravenclaw's heads. Just another day at Hogwarts.
Ron Weasley was fed up.
Transfiguration that day had been the absolutely final straw, it was just getting too much for him to handle. The kissy faces, the constant snogging, the irritating names, the clinging and the possessiveness. It was enough to turn any sane man insane. He wasn't so sure he even liked her anymore, if he had at all in the first place. Their mixed up courtship had begun at the end of the previous year. He had played as reserve Keeper for the team and had managed to somehow stop more goals than the other side could. At the celebrations that evening Lavender had flat out kissed him and from there…well everything had gone down hill.
If he and Hermione had had any semblance of a friendship before, it had been shattered with his going out with Lavender. The girl took up most of his time and stalked him when he was with his friends. Ron was quite sure that there was a point when you just got too clingy.
Fred and George, surprisingly, had been his saving grace. The two had sent him an advanced Christmas present. A book on how to deal with woman and Merlin, did Ron ever need it. Well, in essence he only needed the last chapter, but after reading it, he knew exactly what to do.
He remembered two nights previous when he had had no idea what to do.
Flashback
Ron and Harry were sitting in their dorm, both on their respective beds. Harry as sitting crossed legs and was practicing turning a tea cup into a turtle. He had the hang of it, but was going over the spell on Hermione's instructions.
Ron who, surprisingly, had his nose buried in a book Fred and George had sent him, Twelve Fail Safe Ways to Charm Witches, looked up momentarily to face the confused look of his friend.
"I thought you already had a girlfriend?" Harry asked with a smirk.
Ron felt his cheeks heating up and shot Harry a glare.
"I-I do," he stuttered, "B-but, well…"
"Well?"
"She's driving me crazy Harry!" the red head cried suddenly, almost making Harry topple from his bed, "I can't take it anymore, I need to get rid of her!"
Harry raised an eyebrow.
"You two were snogging pretty passionately this afternoon," he pointed out.
"She sucks off your face before you can get two words in," Ron protested, "I just don't know how to break up with her!"
"Have you tried talking to her?"
"Yes," Ron said, "She just starts sucking face again."
"Oh."
"What do I do?"
"Ron mate," said Harry, "I'll be quite serious with you, my knowledge of dating and girls is next to zero, in other words, I can't help. Why don't you ask Hermione? She's a girl, she'll know to how let Lavender down easy."
Ron went as pale as a sheet and swallowed hard an mumbled something incoherent. Harry clearly resisted the urge to smile.
"What was that?"
"Nothing!" Ron said quickly, turning back to his book with a sigh, "It was nothing."
Ask Hermione though? Oh, he could see how that would go; first off there would be the told you so look, the deep sigh of annoyance and if he was lucky jut a condescending smirk at being asked. If he was very lucky he may well get help, but most likely she'd tell him to sort it out himself.
Which he'd have to do in any case to get Lavender off his back permanently.
Harry laughed suddenly and Ron cast a irritable look at his friend. He tossed a pillow at his head which Harry dodged quickly, obviously the Quidditch practice was paying off. Ron narrowed his eyes at his friend, it wasn't like he was the only one holding things back after all.
"Speaking of telling people things," he said, "Have you told anyone besides me and Hermione about that dream?"
Harry's face went ashen and he shook his head.
Ron took pity on his friend, after a couple months of knowing Harry he realised that the eldest Potter wasn't used to relying on others too much to help him and was still not quite used to having friends to share secrets with.
"Its still bothering you, huh?"
After the dream about Greyback, Ron was still a little irked by it, Harry had revealed to his friends that he had had several dreams of the same type previously. Though they both tried to convince him to tell one of the adults, Harry remained pretty adamant that they were no more than dreams. Ron wasn't one to go tell other people's secrets and he urged Hermione to do the same, though he was a little worried. He doubted Harry was any kind of Seer, but you never knew.
"I know we've said it a hundred times," he carried on, "But if it happens again, tell your parents, or Professor Lupin or someone. And I can still write Bill if you want me to."
"Oh come on Ron," Harry put on a shaky smile, "They're just a bunch of weird dreams-"
Ron just looked at Harry, until he sighed and pointed his wand at the turtle, turning it back into a tea cup with a mutter and a flick.
"Alright," he said, "I will, I promise."
Satisfied, Ron returned to his book, his eyes widening at the title of the thirteenth and final chapter;
The Fail Safe Method to Charm your Witch Away.
Bingo.
End Flashback
So here Ron was, fed up enough to use the final chapter and almost angry enough not to care. Almost.
Lavender was next to him right now, chatting on endlessly about how she should do her hair and nails for the next Hogsmeade trip, it was at this point that Ron saw fit to interrupt her.
"Lavender," he said firmly, "I told you, I'm going to Hogsmeade with Harry and Hermione after the match."
She put on her best pout.
"But Ronnikins!" she whined, "It'll be your first official match! Don't you want to celebrate later with your girlfriend?"
"Sorry Lavender," Ron said, "I already promised Harry and Hermione-"
"Her again?" the brunette's eyes narrowed, "All you ever do is hang around with Miss Know-it-all Granger, I'm beginning to wonder if you are truly committed to this relationship Won-Won."
Ron gave no protest, only stared at his girlfriend…well, maybe he glared more like. It was hard to discern exactly what he was feeling at that moment in time, the only thing Ron knew was that he was about to put his foot in his mouth. This was generally a common enough occurrence for the young Weasley, but for some reason, today of all days, Ron Weasley was quite alright with it.
"Well maybe it wouldn't be so hard if you stopped calling me Won-Won," he spoke softly, but he knew his words had hit their mark, "Its embarrassing for both of us."
Lavender's face went the most spectacular shade of red, indeed, if Ron didn't know any better, he could have sworn it was as close to a Weasley blush as any. She looked at him sharply and Ron wondered if now wasn't the perfect time to attempt what he had read in the book.
"If you're embarrassed by me-" she began, but Ron cut her off.
"I'm not," he lied, "I just think you're right, maybe I'm not ready for a committed relationship yet. I'm sorry Lavender, I don't think this is working."
Had he actually said that?
Had he, Ron Weasley, actually dealt with his girlfriend like that?
"Not working?" she repeated, it came out a squeak though.
Ron tried to remember the first break up technique in the book; make it seem like its all your fault and encourage them to seek love elsewhere.
"Right," Ron carried on, taking a deep breath, "Its not you though, its me. You-you should try to find someone more worthy."
More worthy? Ron internally groaned, he was starting to sound like ruddy Gilderoy Lockhart.
But if it worked…
Sound as sad and sincere as possible, nothing makes a witch's heart ache like a regretful man. Give her a little hope, but not too much so that when its squashed it won't hurt her too much.
"Maybe in another year I'll be ready," Ron gave what he hoped sounded like a regretful sigh, "But right now, I just don't think I'm mature enough. I am truly sorry Lavender, I just can't do this anymore."
Lavender looked at him, her eyes wide and filling with tears. Ron ran through his mind, trying very, very hard not to put his foot in his mouth right now or else he might never be rid of her. As he struggled to keep silent, his mind started circling to new thoughts and they all included a certain bushy haired individual.
What would she think about this?
Would she be happy at all, or would she be completely indifferent?
Did she even care?
"You want to break up?" Lavender sniffed, "Oh Won-Won, if you're not ready then I understand completely!"
"Really?" Ron was genuinely surprised, she actually believed him.
"Of course!" Lavender nodded, her face took on a determined expression, "Professor Trelawney always says that when love is written in the stars it will surely come to pass. We're destiny Won-Won and someday, we'll be together."
She gave him a sad look and then smiled, reaching over to kiss him on the cheek.
"Until destiny brings us together Won-Won," she sighed rather dramatically and Ron had the sneaking suspicion that she had been spending far too much time with the crazy divination professor previously mentioned, "This is farewell."
She then got up and left, turning once to look back at him and give him a tearful smile. Ron, unsure how to react just smiled back and when she had left gave the biggest sigh of relief he had ever made in his life.
"Bloody hell," he muttered, "That was weird."
When Harry finally made it back to the Common Room with Ally, he was immediately bombarded with a cheery faced Ron. The red head gave a great whoop and grabbed Harry by the shoulders.
"I did it mate!" he said excitedly, "I did it!"
"Did what?" Harry asked, Ally as laughing behind her hand at the two.
"I broke up with Lavender!" Ron grabbed Harry and steered him back towards the entrance, "Come on! Lets go celebrate!"
Before Harry knew it, he was back through the portal and standing outside the Common Room again, the Fat Lady gave a great humph and started muttering about people making up their minds. Ally followed them out, a little curious over the matter.
"Can I come?" she asked.
"Um," Ron looked at Harry pleadingly.
Taking the hint that there was probably something Ron wanted to tell him without the presence of a younger sister, he turned to Ally with an apologetic look on his face.
"Sorry Al," he said, "Not this time. We'll talk later, okay?"
Allison Potter pouted quite splendidly, but nodded all the same. Turning her back on her older brother and his friend, she sauntered back into the Common Room much to the disgruntlement of the Fat Lady.
Harry shook his head and followed Ron, they travelled downstairs for a while before coming to a painting of a fruit basket. Harry only had a moment to look confused before Ron reached out and tickled a painted pear with his finger, the portrait swung open and Harry was lead into probably the largest kitchen he had ever seen in his life.
That wasn't the strange thing though; what was strange was what were working in the kitchen. Or who? Harry wasn't so sure.
Small creatures with leathery skin and large floppy looking ears scuffled about the huge kitchen, all of them dressed in anything from pillow cases to tea cosies. As soon as he and Ron entered, many of them suddenly turned their heads to look at the visitors and almost immediately they were bombarded with cheerful cries as several rushed forward.
"Welcome misters!"
"Does sirs want some food?"
"What can we do for sirs?"
Ron immediately took charge, smiling at the strange looking creatures and asked them if they could sit somewhere and enjoy a couple bottles of their Butter beer. The creatures immediately directed Ron and Harry to a small table in the corner and two bottles of Butter beer appeared so fast, Harry was hazarding a guess that they knew a really good summoning charm.
"Thanks," Ron said cheerfully, much to the simpering of the creatures.
"If you is needing anything else sirs," one said, it sounded female and wore a bright pink tea cosy, "You be letting us know."
"Will do," said Ron, "Thanks again."
It or she bowed and left, as did the other small creatures, Harry watched them with rapt fascination.
"What are they?" he asked in wonder.
Ron looked confused for a second, and then apprehension seemed to dawn on his face.
"Oh right," he exclaimed, "Sorry Harry, we're in the Hogwarts kitchen and they're-"
"We is house elves sir."
Harry looked round in surprise to see a big pair of eyes looking at him curiously, the creature or house elf, was a lot like the rest except that his pillow case was dirtier and he looked a little thinner than the others.
"I've never seen a house elf before," Harry said to him kindly, "Could you tell me a little about yourselves."
"We does serve wizards sirs," the house elf said, "It is a house elf's duty."
"Dobby!"
Harry, Ron and the house elf all looked round to see the female that had seated them earlier appear, her hands were on her hips and she was glaring at the house elf she had just called Dobby. Dobby looked decidedly bashful and his ears lowered a little as he gave her an apologetic smile.
"Sorry Tilly," Dobby said, shifting on his feet a little.
"You should be getting back to yours master now," Tilly said shrilly.
"Dobby will go when young master is done with message for master," he countered indignantly, "Young master has not called yet, so Dobby will stay."
Tilly continued to glare at Dobby before turning to Harry and Ron, an apologetic look on her face.
"Tilly is sorry for Dobby disturbing misters," she said sweetly, "Dobby is not a Hogwarts elf he isn't. Waiting to be summoned he is, Tilly sure he won't cause anymore problems for sirs."
"He wasn't any trouble," Harry said quickly, "He was just telling me about house elves, I've never seen one until today you see…"
"You is not knowing about house elves sir?" she looked quite surprised, "Well then we must make a very good impression on sir, I hope we will."
She seemed to signal something to the other house elves because immediately Harry was surrounded by house elves carrying trays of sweet foods and treats. His eyes went wide and he looked at Tilly.
"Um…you're making a really great impression," he said a little meekly as the house elves tried to push their foods towards him, "But I'm not really hungry right now, maybe later?"
"Tilly is very happy you think so," she said and clapped her hands, causing the other house elves to disperse, "Mister Ronny hasn't brought you around before. It is nice meeting you mister…?"
"Eh…Harry, Harry Potter," he said quickly, looking to Ron for help. His friend had something of a knowing smile on his face as he watched the scene in amusement.
"Mister Potter sir," Tilly suddenly shrilled in delight, "You is Mister Jamie's son, you is?"
"Yeah," Harry looked confused, "You know my dad?"
"He and Mister Sirius and Mister Remmy and Mister Peter come to kitchens all the time when they was school boys," she looked almost fond, "Very funny boys them, Mister Jamie always had a Butter beer and a piece of chocolate cake."
Harry frowned.
Mister Peter?
Tilly's eyes suddenly went wide and she smiled happily.
"I make special chocolate cake for Mister Harry right now!" she exclaimed and turned her back on them, skipping away as she did.
"You don't have to-" Harry started, but she was already gone.
Ron chortled.
"Looks like you're popular," he grinned.
"Or rather, my dad is," Harry countered, shaking his head, "You're helping me with that cake you know."
"Of course."
Harry was about to ask Ron about Lavender when he noticed Dobby was still there and looking at him oddly. His big eyes were glued to Harry and as he turned, they went right up to the scar on Harry's forehead. He seemed to notice Harry's enquiring gaze though because he immediately leapt to attention.
"Dobby should be going now Mister Harry Potter sir," he looked at Harry in complete admiration, "Young master is calling."
He disappeared with a loud pop, leaving Harry a little flabbergasted.
"How did he do that?" he asked incuriously.
"House elves have their own magic," Ron shrugged and took a sip of his Butter beer, "Beats me how they actually do it. Oh and try to avoid ever coming down here with Hermione."
"Why?"
"She'll just go on and on about SPEW."
"Spew?"
"Trust me, you don't want to know."
"Right…So what's this about you and Lavender breaking up?" Harry asked.
Ron launched into his tale of how he had somehow managed to break up with Lavender Brown. Harry's lips twitched in amusement and by the end of it he was laughing.
"That actually worked?" Harry clutched his side, "You spoke like some soppy prat and she agreed that you two needed to separate? You actually pulled that off?"
"No need to sound so surprised," Ron said indignantly, but he was grinning, "I can be suave when I want to be."
"Right," Harry chortled, "Seriously, I do applaud you, even I didn't think you'd manage to pull it off quite so…delicately."
"Ha ha," the red headed prefect rolled his eyes, "So how was transfiguration?"
"Pretty good I think," Harry grinned, "The examiner said I shouldn't worry too much."
"Brilliant," his friend took another sip of Butter beer, "You're only taking the core subjects, right?"
"Yeah, everything I need to be an Auror, hopefully."
"Oh right," Ron nodded, "You mentioned before. Mind if I ask why? I mean, is there no other wizarding job that strikes your fancy? I know I'm not one to talk, but an Auror's path seems pretty tough."
Ron and Harry ad realised a long time ago that both had the same ambition in life; to become Aurors, but Harry had never asked Ron why he would decide to be that.
"Then how come you decided on it?" Harry countered and then shrugged, "For me, I decided as soon as I heard it was the equivalent of a muggle policeman."
"Policie-whats-it?" Ron looked confused.
"A policeman," Harry repeated slowly with a small chuckle, "They're the same as Aurors, you know, catch the bad guy, keep the peace."
"You wanted to be one of those policemen?"
"Yeah," he nodded, "Eventually, it was just something I've wanted to be since I was a kid. Silly right?"
It was true though. Harry had hoped to finish his O Levels, then his A levels and hopefully either somehow get into university first or enrol into the police force directly. As a child he had always looked up to the policemen for some reason, maybe it was because they could help others and do things that he couldn't. Or maybe it was because no one picked on them and everyone respected them; to Harry's mind as a child it looked like an escape route to the life in the orphanage and even after he had left and come to terms with his life there, becoming a police officer had just felt like the right thing to do.
"No," Ron shook his head, "Its good to have a dream."
"Yeah," Harry gave a small smile as he sipped his Butter beer, "And you?"
"Bit different for me," the red head looked a little perplexed, as though unsure how to explain his reasoning, "I…don't want to be helpless again."
"Again?" Harry frowned, more than a little surprised by Ron's answer, "What do you mean?"
"Don't suppose you've heard what happened at Hogwarts during our second year?" Ron sounded hopeful, as though he didn't want to explain it and he gave a heavy sigh when Harry shook his head, "No, I didn't think you did, nasty business that."
Internally Harry was being forcefully reminded of what the headmaster had said earlier, about a monster attacking the school four years past. It couldn't possibly be-?
"A monster attacked the school," Ron continued bitterly and Harry gave a start, his friend misread the reaction though because he carried on hurriedly, "No one was seriously hurt though and it was stopped."
"W-what happened?" Harry asked shakily, more so than he realised. He knew he had so many puzzle pieces already, but none of them fit in, maybe if he knew everything then-
Life would start to make sense again.
"It was petrifying the students," the youngest male Weasley looked a little troubled, "First it was Filch's cat, then Colin Creevy and that Justin kid from Hufflepuff, Penelope Clearwater and…Hermione."
"Hermione?" Harry was genuinely surprised, "How long were they petrified for?"
"Depended when it happened," Ron shrugged, "Hermione was one of the last, so she was only out a couple of months before they got the cure done."
Harry pursed his lips a little, this was starting to sound pretty serious; how in the world had a monster been unleashed in Hogwarts and no one knew where it was for months? And if this was indeed the monster he was thinking of, the great bloody snake that tried to kill him, then how the hell had he gotten to Hogwarts and back to his bed in the shelter in the space of one night? With all the methods of wizarding travel he had heard about over the past few months, he wondered if he had somehow Apparated himself there or maybe someone had slipped him a portkey without him realising it…
"How did a monster get into Hogwarts?" he wondered aloud.
"It was already here," Ron said softly.
Harry looked at Ron sharply.
"It was already here?" he repeated in disbelief.
"Hermione could probably explain this better," his best friend gave a weary sigh, he obviously didn't like recapping what had happened, "You know the whole Founders story right? Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw all got together and founded a magical school, blah, blah, blah…"
"Yeah," Harry said slowly, purposely ignoring his friend's antics, "So?"
"After a while they started fighting with each other," Ron continued, "Slytherin, the ruddy blood purist that he was, wanted to expel all the muggle-borns from the castle. Well, the other three were having none of that. Legend says Gryffindor and Slytherin had one almighty blow out over it and Slytherin left the school, but he left something dangerous in the school to take care of all those pesky muggle-borns he had a problem with."
"The monster?"
"Yep," Ron looked a little angry, "He had a chamber built, the Chamber of Secrets and vowed that only his heir would be able to open it and unleash the horror within, in order to purge the school of those he thought were unworthy. See, except for the cat, everyone that got petrified was-"
"Muggle-born," Harry finished.
"Right," he nodded, "For the entirety of that year people were running around trying to figure out who the heir to Slytherin was."
It was him, Harry thought, the boy from the tunnels…from that place…Riddle.
He felt a cold shiver run up his spine as he remembered the dream, or what he had thought to be the dream. The cold voice, laced with some sick amusement as it told him to call the person it belonged to; Riddle. Come to think of it, Harry realised, Riddle had said some things that night, it was like he knew who Harry really was, like he was the one that had brought Harry there. If he could just remember everything he'd said…
"Right towards the end," Ron chocked a little as he continued, "Ginny got taken."
Harry snapped back from his thoughts at that statement, his eyes growing ever wider from beneath his glasses.
"Ginny?" this time it was his turn to choke a little, "T-taken where? By who?"
"Whoever was controlling the monster," when Ron spoke it was like he was holding something back, he looked at Harry long and hard, "Can you keep a secret mate?"
"Of course," Harry responded.
"Ginny was the one who opened the Chamber," Ron said it so softly Harry was certain he had misheard.
"What?" he exclaimed.
"Shush!" Ron hissed and hurried onto explain, "It wasn't her fault, okay? She somehow got hold of a dark object and it possessed her and then made her open the Chamber. Ruddy thing tried to kill her afterwards and would have succeeded too if it-"
"If it?" Harry questioned, "What happened Ron?"
"Someone saved her," Ron continued, "Someone somehow got into the Chamber and saved her from the monster and from the dark object. And then-and then he just disappeared!"
"Disappeared?"
"Yeah," Ron took a long swig of his drink, "Strangest thing. I reckon it was one of Gryffindors charms comeback to bite Slytherin in the arse, but Ginny is pretty adamant that it was a kid around her own age. Weird, huh?"
"Yeah," Harry could feel his stomach dropping several inches, "Pretty weird."
"I mean," and here Ron let out a chuckle, "Can you imagine a kid, eleven or twelve years old, slaying a monster and then just mysteriously disappearing."
"It does sound quite far fetched," Harry agreed whole heartedly, though he could still feel his stomach gradually sinking lower and lower still.
"And she's still looking for him," Ron sighed, looking down at his bottle of butter beer, "Anyway, back on our original topic, the reason I want to become an Auror. Well, when Hermione was petrified and then Ginny got taken into the Chamber, there was nothing I could do. It was a miracle she was saved, but it shouldn't have been like that. She'd been acting oddly all year, if I'd just been a better brother and noticed then maybe…"
He trailed off and shook his head.
"What I mean is; I don't want another family to go through what mine went through just because some wizard decided it would be fun to create something that can possess eleven year old girls," he let out a breath, "I want to help stop that, pretty pathetic, right?"
"No," Harry shook his head, "Its admirable.
Ron blushed a little, his ears going a faint shade of red and shrugged with something of a grin.
"Yeah, well," he cleared his throat and raised his bottle, "To the would be Aurors."
"To the would be Aurors," Harry repeated with a laugh, clinking his bottle with Ron's and then joining him in chugging down the last few sips, "Hey Ron?"
"Yeah?"
"It's just-um-well I-you see I think I'm-" he stopped himself, he had no proof so why would Ron believe that it was him who saved Ginny Weasley and if he told Ron… He was already treated like some kind of hero for an event he could barely remember, would Ron treat him differently if he thought Harry had saved his little sister?
"What is it Harry?"
"Nothing," Harry said quickly, "I just-I just wanted to say that I hope we'll get to be in the same unit when we join up."
"Me too mate," Ron grinned, "Me too."
Harry felt momentarily relieved.
Only momentarily.
"Wait," he remembered something Ron had said, "What do you mean Ginny is still looking for him?"
Severus Snape thought, and not for the first time, that it was a very good thing he had been trained in Occlumency.
Otherwise he'd probably be dead right now.
I can't believe he's back, he thought as he hurried through the grave yard where he had been summoned to meet the Dark Lord, the events of the entire afternoon replaying themselves over and over again in his head.
He had arrived in the centre of the graveyard, surrounded by masked figures, all of them Death Eaters and smiling at him had been the Dark Lord himself.
"Severus," the voice was cold, just as evil and terrifying as Severus remembered it being, "It has been a while. But I must wonder, do you still follow me?"
"Of course my Lord," he said immediately, falling to his knees before Voldemort.
It was there that he had felt the pressure in his mind, the unwelcome, iron finger of Voldemort's probing as he read Severus' mind. The old instincts came back quite quickly and Severus was able to hide all memories pertaining to his true purpose during the previous war. Voldemort was relentless though and just when Severus thought he would surely break, the probing stopped.
"Well done Severus," the Dark Lord smiled at him, "You still have the old fools trust I see, but whether you have mine, is the question."
What followed was perhaps the most gruelling interrogation of Severus' life and it was only due to pure will power that he was able to keep a straight face through all of it. It was painful and emotionally draining in a lot of ways as Voldemort had brought up several terrifying and shaming memories, but when it was over Severus knew that he had won back the trust of the world's most feared dark wizard. Voldemort would never admit to it, he would continue to treat Severus like dirt as he did all the Death Eaters, but Severus knew he had the man's complete trust.
Now all he needed to do was to secure it.
Which meant organization, Voldemort wouldn't tell Severus his plans, not yet, but if Severus played his cards right then it wasn't too far off either. There was a reason the Dark Lord had waited so long to bring Severus into the light about his return, he was being tested. Voldemort was being even more careful than he had been the last time about who he trusted.
That didn't bode well for their side.
He noticed Peter Pettigrew had been there, right at his master's side. The small man was noticeable despite the Death Eater mask he sported, only this time he also possessed a silver hand. Obviously something the Dark Lord had given him, there was no way Pettigrew could have obtained it somewhere else, but why? How had he earned it? And where had the little snitch been hiding all these years?
Severus knew that while he had told Voldemort about the prophecy, it was Pettigrew that had revealed the location of Lily's family.
And for that, he would not be forgiven.
Many things wound themselves in Severus' head that afternoon; what Voldemort was planning, how he had risen seemingly from the dead and what he was going to do about it?
One thing was for certain though.
It was time for the Order of the Phoenix to be recalled to action.
He only hoped it wouldn't be too late before the Dark Lord made his first move.
Nick and Mickey walked towards the Common Room together after Ally had run off after Harry. Nick had since reverted back to his old lime green hair style and his grey eyes were concentrated on the ground in deep thought. Mickey looked over to him once or twice and pursed her lips.
"We could play Exploding Snap, if you're not busy," she said, trying to make conversation.
"You'll just beat me in any case," Nick said and they reverted back to silence.
Finally, it was all Mickey could take.
"Alright," she said, "Out with it, what's bothering you so much?"
"Bothering me?" he shook his head and tried to smile, "Nothing's bothering me Mickey."
"You've been rather quiet all day," she pointed out, "And you are not a quiet person Nicodemus Malfoy."
Nick cringed at the use of his full name and glared at her.
"What is it with you and using my full name?" he asked a little angrily, "You sound like my mother!"
"It annoys you," she smirked, "Hence its use."
"You're insane Michaela Hollow," he retorted, "You're the one whose been spending so much time in the library lately and what was that last week when you were begging Professor McGonagall if you could have permission to get into the restricted section? What are you up to?"
Mickey looked a little surprised by that and stared at Nick wide eyed.
"Ally's been wondering too, you know," Nick continued, "You're worrying us a little."
She blinked.
"You could just ask then," she said calmly, causing Nick to groan.
"You are the most complacent person I know," he gave a huge sigh, "Fine. What are you researching in the library every free moment you have?"
"Well that's easy," she said with a small smile, "I'm trying to find my Dad."
Of all the answers Nick had been expecting, it obviously hadn't been this of all things. He looked genuinely surprised and tilted his head in confusion.
"Hogwarts has one of the most extensive libraries in existence," Mickey continued, flicking a curl of blonde hair from her face, "I thought that maybe-maybe there might be a clue somewhere as to what happened to him."
"Well what did happen to him?" Nick asked, clearly confused.
"I'm not too sure," she said slowly, "It happened a little before I was born, he and my uncle were doing something."
"But you don't know what?"
"Nope," she shrugged, "Anyway, whatever happened that night, my Dad disappeared and all they found of my uncle were some charred remains. Took forever for them to identify him too, and since there's no proof that my Dad is dead and-and especially after Harry came back after being gone so long, I hoped-"
"Something like what happened to Ally might happen to you," Nick finished sadly, "Sorry Mickey."
"Whatever for?" she shrugged, perfectly calmly as she spoke again, "If he does, he does and if he doesn't, he doesn't. I never knew the man so it wouldn't really matter, but I would like to know for sure someday…"
She smiled at Nick.
"I was practically raised by my aunt you know," she said finally, "And I don't regret my childhood, not one bit, but I'd still like to know."
There was almost a wistfulness in her expression which caused Nick to sigh again, he grabbed her by the arm and grinned.
"Come on," he said, "Lets hurry so you can beat me at Exploding Snap…again."
"Mister Harry can't go yet!" Tilly protested, carrying a tray that sported a truly spectacular looking chocolate cake. Really the thing had to be four tiers high, not that you could see under all the icing, "Tilly has just finished the cake. It just like the cake she used to make for Mister Jamie!"
Harry wondered how his father had ever gotten his broom off the ground.
"Sorry Tilly, maybe ne-" he stopped, the house elf was looking up at him with a rather hurt expression, Harry sighed, "I mean-uh-could you wrap it up for me to go instead? It looks really good."
This brought the smile back to the house elf's face and Harry almost sighed with relief when she darted off to get a package to put the cake in. Ron laughed at Harry's face.
"Oh shut up Ron," he said.
His mind was filled with a lot of things. Apparently, there had been a monster that had attacked the school, apparently Ginny Weasley was the girl taken down there and nearly killed and apparently, though he hadn't told anyone this yet, he had miraculously appeared out of nowhere, slain the creature and disappeared again. Oh, and Ginny Weasley knew what he looked like and had been looking for him ever since.
Brilliant, just bloody brilliant.
But she couldn't possibly know it was him, right? She would have said something by now if she did…wouldn't she?
"Here is Mister Harry's cake!" Tilly came back a moment later with the cake in a rather large tin. She handed it to Harry and smiled brightly, "Yous leave the empty tin in the Gryffindor Common Room and Tilly will fetch it later. Bye bye Mister Harry and Mister Ronny, yous come see Tilly again soon."
She was about to turn away, but Harry stopped her.
"Uh Tilly?" he wanted to asked her something that had been on his mind for a while now, "Who is Mister Peter?"
Tilly looked surprised.
"Yous not knowing Mister Peter?" she blinked, "He's was Mister Jamie and Mister Sirius and Mister Remmy's friend. They was always together those four."
Maybe its Wormtail, Harry thought, remembering the fourth name on the Marauder's Map
"Do you know what his last name was?" Harry asked curiously.
"Pettigrew," said Tilly after a moments thought, "His names Peter Pettigrew."
"Thanks Tilly," Ron and Harry said their goodbyes and left the kitchen. Harry shifted the weight of the cake in his arms and sighed a little. What was he going to do with this?
"Why did you ask about Peter?" Ron asked curiously.
"Just a hunch," Harry said, "I think he's Wormtail on the Map, but Sirius has never mentioned him."
Ron shrugged.
"Maybe he died in the last war," he suggested, "Or they haven't been in touch since school."
"Maybe," Harry said wonderingly, "Now what are we going to do about this cake?"
"Eat it?"
"Obviously," Harry rolled his eyes, then he had an idea, "Hey, what time is it?"
"Nearly four," said Ron, glancing at his wristwatch.
"Why don't we head down to Hagrid's?" Harry suggested, "You go fetch Hermione and I'll find Professor Lupin and see if he wants to come, meet you there in twenty minutes?"
"Okay," Ron said, "Why Professor Lupin though?"
"This is a chocolate cake Ron," Harry said with a grin, "After living with our Defence Professor for a month there is one thing I learned well; Remus Lupin loves chocolate. He wouldn't forgive me if I didn't invite him."
"Fair enough," the red head laughed, "I'll see you in twenty."
"Right!"
Harry watched as Ron disappeared up the stair case and started to walk towards Lupin's office, or at least he tried before hearing a rather loud crack.
"Dobby?" he questioned as said house elf appeared before him.
Dobby's eyes were wide and he was shifting uncomfortably as he hurried to explain.
"Dobby hasn't much time!" the house elf looked terrified, "Dobby has come to warn Mister Harry Potter sir, you is in great danger sir!"
"What are you talking about?"
"Dobby cannot say," he said quickly, looking around as though thinking there were eavesdroppers around, "Mister Harry Potter is a great wizard, Dobby has heard this many times, but now you are in grave danger!"
"What danger?" Harry asked, wondering what the house elf was so worked up about.
"Dobby cannot say!" the house elf looked pained, like he truly regretted not being able to tell Harry anything, "Dobby will have to iron his hands for disobeying master's orders, but Dobby doesn't care. Mister Harry Potter must stay in Hogwarts! He must not leave! He will get Mister Harry Potter if he leaves!"
"Who Dobby?" Harry tried to push, "Who will get me?"
Dobby bit down on his lower lip, tugging on his ears and looked frantically around before running over to the wall and proceeding to bang his head quite forcefully against it. Harry gaped at him for a moment before placing the heavy cake tin on the ground and rushing over to Dobby, trying desperately to pull him away.
"Alright, alright," he yelled, "I get it, you can't tell me! I wont ask any more questions, just-just tell me what you can!"
Dobby stopped and nodded.
"Thank you sir," he said meaningfully, "Sir must not leave Hogwarts, there is danger, an old danger. It is coming very, very soon, but Dobby cannot say more! Please Mister Harry Potter sir, please you must keep safe, you must not leave. Hogwarts is still safe, not for long, but for now is safest place to be."
"Dobby," Harry began, "I can't just-"
"Please sir!" Dobby begged, "Dobby must go now, masters is calling. Please stay in Hogwarts Mister Harry Potter sir, the danger is coming soon."
With that, Dobby disappeared in another crack, leaving Harry kneeling on the floor in disbelief.
"This just keeps getting stranger and stranger," he said as he got up to retrieve his cake.
Fantastic, now he had a ruddy mysterious warning from some house elf to worry about as well, wasn't there some way his life could get more uncomplicated? First off there were the dreams, then the shock that what he'd dreamed when he was twelve was quite highly possibly real and now finally he had some unknown and unnamed danger to worry about.
What was he supposed to do now?
"You are certain?" Dumbledore asked again, it was unlike him to seek repetition, but this was a grave matter indeed.
Severus Snape nodded, his black eyes still and ready.
"I saw him myself," he said, "The body he has assumed is a little different, but its him. I would know his voice anywhere. He is back."
Dumbledore seemed to consider this.
"If he used some sort of dark ritual," the headmaster said thoughtfully, "Then blood would have been involved…hmmm…I think we now know why there were Dementors in Little Whinging."
"Sir?"
"Do you have his trust Severus?" Dumbledore asked, his blue eyes boring into Snape's black ones.
"Nearly," Snape nodded, "I think he's going to test my loyalty first. He's being a lot more careful this time, I think he's going to make one large entrance soon, one he didn't want anyone suspecting."
"You must gain his trust at all cost then," Dumbledore said firmly, "You are the best hope we have if this turns into a war Severus, our only link to what he is planning. I will take the blame for anything you have to do until you have it."
Snape nodded.
"What about Potter's son?" he asked, "The prophecy-"
"I know," Dumbledore interrupted, "I had hoped Harry would be a man before we had to tell him of it, if at all. Wishful thinking on my part I suppose. I will discuss with Lily and James the best way to do so, but for now, let him enjoy himself, let all the students; I fear troubling times are ahead for everyone."
Snape nodded, there was no twinkle left in Dumbledore's blue eyes.
"It is time to gather the old crowd once more."