I'm Back!

Disclaimer: I own nothing in the Potter wizarding world

Shoutout: thanks to Wolf's Scream for proofreading! Thank you, you amazing hero!

Request: Read and review, if you would be so kind.


Chapter 5

Potions Labs, Dungeons, Hogwarts Castle, Scottish Highlands

Harry nervously opened the door, leading Neville and Ginny inside, his wand still in hand. Snape had asked earlier in a passed-on note during the DA if they could meet up a bit earlier than the others for their first meeting so they could go through some of Snape's methods and instructions together.

They were wary initially, and Ron had often protested them doing so during dinner. Slytherins in general were even worse now during the war than in Harry's time. Malfoy, his cronies, and the Quidditch team would insult you or on occasion hex you if you were alone and insulted them. In this time, it was outright dangerous to walk the corridors alone, as quite a few children of Death Eaters were in Slytherin, and they had no compunction against practicing their parents' spells on others if they were not observed by staff. If a teacher or non-Slytherin prefect walked the hall they would stay their hand, but otherwise there was a big chance you could be attacked. Hell, Mary Macdonald had already been put in the hospital wing twice (once with antlers growing out of her head with heavy weights hanging from them, the other with a severe cut on her arm that wouldn't stop bleeding and she had been holding her stomach in pain), and Harry had only managed to avoid it this time by travelling with either the Marauders, his fellow 'travellers', or sticking to the others of his year.

That was what Ron was afraid of: that Snape was leading them into some kind of ambush, and that the next time Harry saw him it would be in the hospital wing. But Harry knew he wouldn't end up there. Snape really wanted that recommendation into the Potion Masters Guild, and they both knew he wouldn't get it if he cursed those he taught. No, aside from an odd potions incident, Harry wasn't likely to end up in the Hospital Wing on Snape's watch.

Fortunately, the lab was empty, save for Snape, eight cauldrons, and the piles of ingredients he'd put ready beside them, spread over two tables close by one another. Snape himself was already busy brewing at one of them, quietly stirring, observing the results and writing notes down in a book beside him.

"One moment," Snape said, raising a finger and making them wait before they could say a word. Once Snape was done writing down his observations, he put his cauldron under a charm they hadn't seen before. The cauldron, the contents, and the fire were covered in a blue-tinted see-through bubble, and all motion in it seemed to stop. A bubble in it stopped bursting mid-event. Snape put down the quill and holstered his wand in a holster on his arm. Harry and the others did likewise: it was clear now they would likely only be interrupted by Lily, Hermione, Ron, and Luna later.

"All right," Snape said. "We're going to practice brewing the Draught of Living Death, as while it is a NEWT-level potion, it is one with the simplest of instructions. Simply start working on your own, and I will watch and observe what you do, and correct you if you do something wrong. Understand?"

Harry nodded, and Snape pointed at the table he'd been working on. "Good. I was working on the same potion myself, and you will be able to see what it should look like in about," Snape rolled up his right sleeve and glanced at a wrist watch, " ten minutes from now." Snape undid the bubble charm, which allowed the potion to continue to brew.

Harry nodded, and immediately got to work. He read through the instructions in his own copy of the Potions textbook. It was indeed not that difficult at first glance: cut and prepare the ingredients properly, add them to the water, and start stirring. That was it, nothing to be added halfway, nothing that had to settle for weeks, nowhere they had to adjust the flame of the potion. Indeed, for a NEWT-level potion it was one of the simplest Harry had seen in his life.

"I see where you usually go wrong, Beckett," Snape said, and Harry looked up to see him standing with Ginny. "Your ingredients aren't cut properly. I know it's difficult with a slippery ingredient like a Sopophorous bean, but you must always cut ingredients as precisely as instructed."

"N- not to be witty," Neville stammered nervously. "But you don't f-follow the instructions to the letter either."

Snape let out a sigh of irritation, but nodded. "True. But I know what I'm doing when I divert. Let me give you an example." He paused. "On second thought, also take this as a new instruction on how to prepare a Draught of Living Death."

Harry and Neville nodded and gave Snape their undivided attention for the first time, as the boy stood with Ginny and picked up her knife and bean. Ginny was also watching Snape's instructions closely as he performed them.

"It's easier to crush the bean under the flat side of your knife," he explained. "If you cut up an ingredient to add it, I recommend you follow instruction and cut it exactly as described: not a millimetre more or less. But for instances as this, where you cut up an ingredient to get the juices inside, it's easier to crush it. It gets a lot more of the juices out." He followed his own instructions, and pressed the flat side of the knife down on the bean. As the bean was flattened a lot of the juices spelled out of the cracks and holes that formed in the bean − a lot more than Harry expected.

"And what if we need something inside, for example moon seeds?" Ginny asked.

"You still crush them," Snape answered. "But you watch more closely and press down a lot more carefully, or you might crush the seed you're trying to get. But gentle pressure on the shell should allow you to get the moon seed inside."

Harry nodded, and decided to follow the man's instructions for his own potion, as he prepared the ingredients the way Snape recommended. As he'd expected, he got a lot more juice from the ten beans or so he'd been given, and the potion turned out exactly as the book described — something that had only happened once before, earlier this week when he and Neville sat near Lily. In the past it had always been slightly off-colour. He was glad he could finally do it according to instruction, something that had been drilled into him at the Dursleys.

"Good; you've all added the ingredients," Snape noted. "Now, the instructions say to keep stirring until the potion turns as clear as water-" he paused and looked up. Harry and the others did too, and found themselves staring at the door. A second later it opened, and Lily, Hermione, Ron, and Luna walked in, heading for the other table.

"Hi, Lily," Snape greeted her, his tone suddenly a lot more lively than before. "I've prepared for the Draught of Living Death and Stoppered Speed. Give them our set of instructions. They seem to catch on with my group."

"Got it," Lily agreed, and helped them set everything up before she began instructing. Snape returned his attention to their group as Harry gave a thumb's up at Ron and Hermione, who sagged their shoulders in relief.

"Now, as I was saying," Snape resumed his instructions. "The normal instructions tell you to keep stirring until it becomes as clear as water, but Lily and I found adding a counter-clockwise stir after every seventh stir prevents the potion from settling too much, and allows the ingredients to mix completely."

Harry nodded, and set to work. He faintly heard Ginny tell Snape she got it from here, that it was always in the ingredient stage she mucked it up. Snape let her work, and briefly inspected Harry's work before turning to help Neville, who seemingly stirred too fast. Harry found himself actually starting to enjoy Potions. Under the older Snape it had been hell. He rarely explained anything properly to them, and only berated the Gryffindors and deducted points instead of telling them how to do it right. But the younger Snape, while still a bit blunt and forward, was actually quite helpful, and didn't immediately start glaring down at them as they worked.

"Impressive," Snape said from behind him. "I honestly expected work similar to your brother's. For once I am glad to be wrong about a Potter."

"Happy to disappoint you on that one," Harry replied, as he looked a bit closer at his potion. It seemed to be as clear as Snape had instructed. "Is this how it's supposed to look?" He asked.

Snape looked down into the cauldron, and nodded. "You can compare it to my potion if you'd like. But yes, it seems to be perfect. Only way to be sure would be to taste it, but I've got the wrong Potter in the classroom for that."

"What a shame," Harry replied without thinking. "You surely would want him to take a sip, wouldn't you?"

"I would," Snape responded in kind. "But we have no counter potion on hand, and I would be implicated in the poisoning."

"Fair enough," Harry admitted. He smiled as he scooped up a vial of his Draught and set it beside the cauldron before turning to Snape for instructions. Snape was busy gathering vials from Neville and Ginny's potions. He then turned and with a silent wave of his wand vanished the contents of all four cauldrons on the tables. Harry rose his eyebrows, impressed at the feat. Vanishing was only taught later in the year, and that Snape could already do it — nonverbally — was a testament to his skill.

"I'll go and help Lily's group, so we can all work on Stoppered Speed together. You can do what you want until I come back," Snape told them before walking over to Lily's table, where they only now had started to add the ingredients. He paused midway and turned his head. "Aside from brewing an Exploding Potion. It's quite volatile, and I still need the ingredients and cauldrons."

"Good to know you're concerned for our well-being," Harry muttered.

"As if," Snape called back as he arrived at Ron's potion and started helping out. Harry silently cursed himself: he hadn't meant for Snape to hear that. In his own time he would have gotten detention for a week for that. But this Snape, instead of getting angry, actually had humour and responded in kind. It was actually- almost refreshing, to have a Potions teacher with such a sense of humour.

Ginny was writing down the tips and tricks Snape had taught her in her own Potions textbook, and Neville was staring dumbly at his own work, in shock. Snape had graded his work to be perfect. That left Harry on his own with little to do.

Oh, well. If they were going to start brewing again in fifteen minutes, he might as well take the time to prepare the ingredients. He looked back at the index at the end of the book, and looked up Stoppered Speed, before turning the book to the right page. He found that all the remaining ingredients were already with him on the table. As a matter of fact, he found he had an extra ingredient, some moon seed, as Ginny had mentioned.

The rest of the tutoring session, once they had all caught up around where they should be, went very well: as with the Draught of Living Death, the Stoppered Speed was created perfectly under his mother and Snape's oversight. Only Ron made a mistake once, actually stirring a time too much, but Lily took the opportunity to teach them how to correct such mistakes in potions. And here they all gave her their undivided attention, after Snape put the same odd bubbles around their potions. This was something the Snape of their time had never taught them. She taught them how the properties of one ingredient had the potential to counteract others and could revert the potion back to a certain state from which they could start over, which was the reason Slughorn assigned them essays on ingredients in the first place. It was a very enlightening lesson, and Harry thought that if this was how Potions had always been taught to him he might not have alienated himself from the subject too much. The older Snape had left too bitter a taste and reminder for him to really enjoy the subject, but with instructions like this it was tolerable, and time went by much faster.

Of course, the fact he, Snape, and his mother all had the same sense of humour went a long way as well, to the exasperation of Hermione and the snickers of the others.

The lessons themselves had quite a bit of practical use as well: aside from poisons or other dangerous things like the Draught they'd just brewed, Snape allowed them to keep all of the potion, and Harry would later that evening leave the lab with a dozen vials of Stoppered Speed in his bag.

"That lesson actually went well," Snape complimented them at the end. "When you told me how you were instructed I feared the worst. But it seems you're actually competent."

"Quite a shock after lessons with my brother, I'm sure," Harry said.

"Quite," Snape agreed. "If this keeps up I might end up not hating all the Potters."

"You forget," Ron pointed out in Harry's defence. "His uncle Fleamont actually created the Sleekeazy Potion. He's quite the competent potioneer."

Snape's face cleared in surprise. "I had actually forgotten that," He smirked. "Makes me wonder why you don't use it more often yourself, Potter."

"He happens to like it this way," Luna answered before Ron's temper could get the better of him. "Makes him more receptive to Magicking Morphs. They could nest in that."

"A lot more can nest in that than just a Magicing Morph," Neville snickered. Harry took on a mock-indignant look.

"Hey! This is Potter hair. You don't mess with that," he pouted.

Snape sighed dramatically. "And here I had hope you were different from your brother. Such a shame."

"No worries," Harry reassured. "You can go back to hating all the Potters in peace."

"Yippie," Snape said sarcastically, before looking at his watch again. He blanched. "Curfew's almost here. I suggest you get back to your dorms. I'll tell Slughorn what we used."

They all nodded in agreement. "See you in next class," Hermione said as a goodbye. Snape nodded and strode to his own common room.

The seven Gryffindors all practically ran for it, as curfew was in three minutes, and from this far down in the dungeons it was almost fifteen to Gryffindor tower's entrance. They didn't make it in time, and had to make a large detour when they caught sight of Peeves patrolling ahead of them, but they had the luck of not running into professors or other prefects. As they finally made it to the Common Room, it actually occurred to Harry that he'd enjoyed these Potions lessons, and that Snape had been a lot friendlier and less insulting than usual.

He hoped he and Snape could do the same with the future lessons.


Black Ancestral Manor, Black lands, Border between Ireland and Northern Ireland

This is a mistake. Bellatrix kept repeating in her head, as she walked into the lobby. A great and terrible mistake.

And yet you're both still doing it. A voice said in her head. A voice that annoyingly sounded like her older sister Andi.

I was forced to come here. Bella reminded herself. If I wouldn't, Granddad would use the Black Family magic to force me to come here anyway, or use a form of Blood Magic.

And yet you ensured he wouldn't.

I'd rather come of my own volition than under a glorified Imperius Curse.

So you do want to come here? The other voice asked smugly. Bella had no response to that, so she did the same thing she did whenever the voice had a good point. She ignored it for the remainder of the day.

She shared a hesitant look with her other sister, Cissy, as they reached the door to the living room. Neither of them had a clue about why they'd been summoned here. They'd been under the impression that as her father had signed off on her marriage contract to the Lestranges, people who were known Blood Purists despite old Reginald's love for Randolph, that her grandfather approved of their allegiance to the Dark Lord. Hell, Bella had believed Granddad even supported him, given how little the contact between them was and how little he acted against the man despite his power. So why did he want to speak so urgently about the Dark Lord, and even going so far as subtly threatening them with family magic to get them to come?

Bella let out a sigh. The only way she'd find out was by going into the room. Resigning herself to her fate, she opened the door.

She was surprised by the lively demeanour of her grandfather, as she and Cissy strode into the living room. Last she'd seen him he'd been a surly old man, grumbling about the 'glorious' old days, always sitting in his luxurious chair staring at the fire, letting his children and grandchildren do as they please.

Now, however, he stood tall and proud, as he was casting various spells at a dark object, with two men observing. One she immediately recognised as a Potter, though she couldn't distinguish whether it was the Baron her grandfather was such good friends with, or the brother who usually lived somewhere overseas. The other was definitely a Croft, though Bella also didn't know his first name. She never bothered remembering the names of her grandfather's old friends, especially after her father chastised her for her curiosity about the Great Alliance and had her focus her attention on the Dark Lord and his Death Eater Movement.

Her grandfather finally turned to her, and she saw he hadn't aged well since the last time she'd seen him three years ago at her Hogwarts graduation. While he still had his good-looking aristocratic features and intriguing grey eyes, his grey hair had lost nearly all of its black colour, and he now sported a short, finely trimmed beard and moustache that covered his chin, jawline, lower cheeks, and the area above and below his mouth. He also wielded a cane, though Bella knew that was misleading. Lord 'funnybeard' Greengrass also sometimes used a cane, yet Bella knew his could be extended to become a battle staff. And the Malfoy family, the vain gits, had a tradition of hiding their wands in the heads of their own canes, and had them carved with Runes and enchanted so they could act as improvised shields against spells.

But when he stopped casting at the object and turned to look at his grandchildren, he shocked them and had a small, hopeful smile. Bella saw Cissy actually take a small step back in shock. Arcturus Black never smiled.

"Bella, Cissy, thank you for coming," he said happily. He walked over to them, leaning on his cane as he supported his weight on it. "My apologies; I invited your sister, too. But she was forced to reschedule, citing her troubled relationship with her sisters that would disrupt the atmosphere here."

Bella winced, something her sister managed to resist. While they hadn't been hostile to her sister for running away with her muggleborn friend to elope, they hadn't exactly been friendly either. Their last meeting, in fact barely a month ago, had ended rather heatedly; only the arrival of that bitch Walburga and her family preventing the elder two sisters from drawing wands on one another. And Walburga's outrage at Andi had run her off before Bella and Cissy could apologise and make things up properly.

Not with her tail between her legs, though (Andi was still a Black in blood after all, regardless of Walburga blasting her off the family tree), but with a well-cast spell taught to her by a younger housemate, that left Walburga disarmed and dangling in the air by her ankles. The situation had been too tense at the time to laugh, but Bella had been deeply impressed and amused by her older sister. It took Great Aunt Cassie, a prominent enchanter, charms mistress, and Knockturn Alley's most notorious Information Broker, hours to get her down from there.

Cissy helped their grandfather to one of the chairs and lowered him into it. Bella got a look from her sister that insisted that she do something too. Bella rolled her eyes and moved to the decanter on the side table, and got it and five glasses to the table in front of her Grandfather

"Thank you," he said, as he poured himself, his granddaughters, and his two guests a bit of muggle scotch. "How are my granddaughters doing these days?" He asked, taking a sip of the stuff himself as the sisters lowered themselves in the sofa in front of him. The Potter and Croft took seats in the chairs next to Grandfather and the sofa, completing a staggered circle, of sorts.

Bella shared a frown with Cissy. Her grandfather had never showed interest or concern about his descendants in the last ten years, and ignored most of what went on inside the family. He ignored it when his heir ran away from the Grimmauld Townhouse in the early summer of 1975, as well as when Sirius and his brother Regulus were repeatedly kept under the Cruciatus curse before that. He ignored it when her father and mother signed all of their children into marriage contracts just to fatten his own Gringott vaults, and he ignored it when the oldest ran away and got herself blasted off the family line to be with a muggleborn. Blast, he even ignored the weddings of the remaining two daughters, as well as when Bella's husband coerced her into taking the Dark Mark, threatening the boy she'd been falling for if she didn't take it, as well as her own slow descent into the madness of the Death Eaters. Why let them into his private Manor and seek out contact now?

"We're doing fairly well, all things considered," Cissy said neutrally. "Our family is prospering, and my husband and his father have made quite a few prominent business deals, of which I managed to siphon a percentage of the profits into the Black Family vaults. I don't recall the exact amount, but I believe they've made our family roughly one and a half million galleons richer."

"Fairly good," Grandfather nodded in appreciation. "I see you've managed to keep busy. And how about you, Bella? All is well in your life?"

Bella took a few moments to compose her answer. Most of the time since her grandfather last saw her she'd mostly spent serving the Dark Lord, which mostly consisted of aiding several attacks, torturing Muggleborns, hunting blood traitors, and training herself to be a better duelist. Not knowing her grandfather's current stance on the matter, she decided to predominantly focus on the latter.

"I can't complain, Grandfather," she replied, which was true in a way: her husband and his morons of a brother and father rarely tolerated complaints from anyone, and the Dark Lord tortured you if you did. "I'm training to become an expert duelist, and I believe I'm coming along fairly well. I think I'll be ready to compete in the European circuit by this time next year."

"Good," her grandfather commented. "Taking after your family's ancestors. A worthy goal if there ever was one, in my opinion." He then leaned forward, the cane forgotten beside him as it leaned against the chair. "And what of your husbands?" Her grandfather asked. "And their… Employer? A Dark Lord, he called himself."

Oh boy. Bella let out an internal sigh. Judging from the tone alone he did not approve of what the Dark Lord was doing. They were in for it, Bella especially when he found out she'd been Marked.

"They are doing well," Cissy answered, her hesitant tone conveying her own unease with her grandfather's question. "Lucius has recently been admitted audience, and he and Rudolphus' father both have his ear when it comes to their financial matters," Cissy risked a glance at Bella, but she chose to remain silent. She didn't trust herself to not make a fool of herself and say too much if she did.

"Lucius and Randolph have his ear," Grandfather mused, before glancing at the Potter. "Fleamont, do you think he would hide one of those things with the Malfoys or Lestranges? You're one of the experts after all."

The foreign Potter then, Bella surmised. She knew the other was called Charlus, so that ruled out the Baron at any rate. Potter nodded. "There's no way to be sure. He trusts absolutely no one, owing to his troubled childhood and abandonment. And that would go double for Lestrange: if he double-crossed once, what's to say he won't do it again? But if they both are currently favoured advisers of his, there's a good chance they'd hide the Diary with either of them."

Bella lost them for a moment. Childhood? Diary? Why were they so interested in the Dark Lord's past?

"And you, Bella?" Her grandfather asked. "Your husband is doing well?"

"Let's just say most of the news outlets have the right of it," Bella said delicately. Clearly, she wasn't getting the easy way out. She decided to tell the truth, knowing the punishment for lying was severe in her grandfather's house. "He and his brother and father are very involved in the field jobs, and have had his counsel for a while, though that was lost with that botch job at the Ministry."

"Oh?" Her grandfather asked, sounding mildly surprised. "From what I understand they took a large number of ministry employees out of commission, and ended the ministry's role in the war for the foreseeable future."

"True, but it cost us half of the human Pureblood followers in the process," Bella answered, taking a sip of that horrible scotch so she didn't seem rude by not drinking. "His followers since then mostly consists of Werewolves, Vampires, Giants, and whatever rogue elements and factions he and others managed to scrape from the gutter. Far from the Pureblood paradise he'd hoped for." Bella smiled wickedly at the image of the destruction popped into her head. "Something I presume we have you to thank for."

Her grandfather shocked her a second time and made an actual chuckle. Cissy practically choked in her drink when it happened. "Yes, I did happen to throw a flask of potent Exploding Potion," Her grandfather admitted. "It was quite a large explosion that followed, mind you. I-"

"Why are we here, grandfather?" Cissy interrupted. "You've never shown an interest in our lives before this, and Pollux had to practically drag you to our graduation ceremonies at Hogwarts. So why change now?"

Her grandfather gave a brief, chastising glare for interrupting, but sighed and leaned back. "And here I was hoping to work you up to it. Alright, I admit I've done a piss-poor job of managing our family the last two decades. Not raising your father the right way, letting Pollux run amok with the Dark Lord, letting Walburga alienate my Heir from the family, letting both you and your sister be put in marriage contracts, forcing Andi to run away to be with the one she loves…"

Her grandfather paused and sighed at his list of failures, and Bella saw a softer side of him. The one she only now realised he'd been showing them since they'd arrived, instead of the strict, harsh, surly man she'd known most of her life. Now, she saw the man who cared about his family, and wanted the world for them. The side she suspected he'd only showed to his friends in the Great Alliance in the past. Bella wondered why he didn't show it to his family earlier, but felt it was rude to ask.

"I recently had my large failures pointed out to me," Her grandfather continued. "What would happen if I let you all stay on this course." He paused and looked them all directly in the eye in turn, starting with Bella. "You, turned to insanity because you couldn't keep your conscience intact with what the Dark Lord made you do. Thrown in prison for torturing families to the point they can't even recognise their own blasted child they are so traumatised and insane."

Bellatrix winced again. That had happened in the past, that she'd held the Cruciatus curse too long and her victims had turned mad. But she always mercy-killed them afterwards. Even if they were Bloodtraitors, Mudbloods, Muggles and squibs, no one deserves to live like that. No one!

Her grandfather turned to Cissy. "You, reduced to a trophy wife for Lucius Malfoy and kept from raising your son properly, only allowed to socialise and mix with other Pureblood trophy wives instead of pursuing the same career as your aunt Cassie. Your dream career, I remember you calling it when you last met."

Cissy drew a face, making her opinion of that outcome very clear.

"I want the best in the world for all of my children and grandchildren," Her grandfather continued, after taking another sip of his scotch. "For a long time, I thought I could get that for you by letting you make your own choices, even if they were wrong and mistaken at the time. But I've learned things in the last few months that showed me I should have kept a tighter hold of the reins," He paused, before summoning the head Black Elf, Kreacher, and getting a quill, ink, and parchment. "Tell me, what do you want the most? You can name anything."

Bella paused skeptically. "Anything?"

"Anything," Her grandfather confirmed. "You want a career as an enchanter? I'll get Cassie to offer you an apprenticeship in the Enchanting Guild. Want to become the best duelist in the world? I'll train you myself until you can stand up to the likes of Voldemort and Dumbledore themselves," He paused, before adding. "You want out of your marriage contracts? It'll take years of work, but I can manage that. Name it, and I'll do my best to help you get it."

Bella took in a sharp breath. A way out of her cursed marriage to Rudolphus Lestrange? This was real? She evaluated her grandfather, and saw nothing but honesty and hopefulness in his eyes, and she knew he was sincere with this offer.

"And what if we are employed by the Dark Lord?" Cissy asked uncertainly.

"That's up to you," Her grandfather answered in a new tone, and Bella realised that for some reason this was where he'd wanted the conversation to go. "If you want out, to have the mark removed, I'll do my best to have you out of there as soon as possible, and I'll pay Gringotts Cursebreakers to have that mark removed from your body, if you ever took it. If you want to stay in his service, I'll even send you back to him with a sack filled with galleons," He paused. "But if you do want that, you need to know something."

Croft walked towards them, and put a pair of thick books on the table in front of them. Bella saw they were the same books: Secrets of the Darkest Arts by Owle Bullock. Croft waved his wand, and both books opened and started going through their pages, before finally resting somewhere in the middle of the book. Bellatrix looked down and read the chapter title.

"Horcruxes?" Bella asked, confused. She'd never heard of those things. Arcturus nodded. "This Dark Lord of yours made several already, and is planning to make six in total. Keep that in mind as you read the chapter."

Bellatrix nodded, as she picked up the book and started reading.

As discussed earlier, there are many forms of Soul Magic, Light and Dark in Nature. A few examples are Soul Exorcising, which is literally ripping a Soul from one's body, or Soul Corruption, which is tainting the soul with so much dark magic and bad emotions it ensures the Soul no longer suits the body, which drives the victim insane. Both are arts the Dementors are absolute masters at, and one should seriously consider having them teach these to you should you control the creatures.

But Horcrux magic… Oh, that is the darkest form of Magic one can consider. I will warn you right now, creating one Horcrux is often enough to drive you insane, to the point of irrationality. Creating several is downright foolish, and only those very desperate not to die will consider something that irresponsible.

That being said, Horcruxes are a form of immortality, if a dangerous one. A Horcrux is created when one commits murder and cannibalism, the worst sins one can commit, in the ritual described below, in order to split their soul in half. One piece will return to the body, leaving a man with an unstable soul behind, with Soul Corruption being one of the worst consequences, though that can be masked by one cunning enough to master Occlumency. The remaining piece is put in a near-indestructible magical container. This way, should one be killed, their soul cannot pass on to the afterlife due to those anchors. Simply put, so long as the container remains one cannot die.

It is strongly recommended to seek out other means of immortality, such as the Elixir of Life, for example. Creating a Horcrux, as stated a few times before, is bound to drive one insane. But aside from that, if left on its own long enough, the piece tends to develop a mind and will of its own, to the point it actually thinks it is the creator, and will seek to regain a body. It also permanently puts those in direct physical contact in a foul mood, and can leech the very life from those exposed to it for prolonged periods of time to power itself.

Bella started to grow sick the longer she read on, as the book described in detail what could happen if one created a Horcrux. Insanity, a drain of one's magical energy to power the creation of the Horcrux, Soul Corruption… This is what the Dark Lord had done? Multiple times?! She risked a glance at her sister, and saw a matching look of revulsion mirrored on her face. That was, until Cissy looked away and vomited over the side of the sofa. Bella had better control of her stomach than that for the moment; she wasn't that weak of heart, but she did understand where her sister was coming from with this. A soul was holy in the magical community. One didn't mess with it, unless it was to initiate a soul bond or examine a taint of dark magic in one's body, and even then things were done with extreme care. One never did something as careless, as stupid… as this.

Her grandfather sat in front of her, a grim look on his face. "That was my initial reaction, too," as he Vanished the mess by the sofa.

"You're sure he wants to make more?" Cissy asked.

"We have obtained a memory that showed him having particular interest in the number seven when he discussed Horcruxes," Potter confirmed. "Since he was a talented Arithmancer, he would know the magical power of the number seven, which makes us believe he wants to make six: his own soul, and six anchors that spread out from it like a web."

"Three is also an Important magical number." Bella pointed out. She'd followed Arithmancy as well, back when she was at Hogwarts, and did know a lot about it. In fact, she'd tutored a number of lower years in it, like Severus Snape, Cyrus Greengrass, Norman Farley, and others.

"We have evidence he created at least four." Potter dismissed her point. "And since he values magical numbers, we believe he's going for seven. Besides, one can only split their soul so many times before there's too little left to split, so we believe seven's the only remaining viable option."

"Fortunately we already destroyed one, and we think we have identified another as well, even if we don't know where it is yet," Croft told them. "But as for the others, we are unfortunately clueless at the moment."

"The Diary," Bella realised. Her grandfather nodded, impressed.

"Yes. We know he had a diary in Hogwarts that he enchanted as a hobby and an extra credit project for school, so it would write back and respond the same way he would. And if he infused it with a piece of his soul, it could develop a mind of its own."

Bella looked down at her left forearm with a new look of revulsion. And she'd let that… that beast mark her like cattle? She felt the growing desire to simply cut her own arm off and have it regrow, the pain be damned.

"This leads to what I wanted to discuss," her grandfather said with a tone of resignation. "Judging from your looks and tones when speaking of this, I don't think you still want to continue serving him, or to be married to people that do. But I have a big favour to ask of you. And before you ask, no is a perfectly acceptable answer. I won't blame you for wanting to be rid of anything involving him forever, but-"

"You want us to continue serving him?!" Bella asked as she realised this. Was her grandfather bloody mad?! He expected her to go back to that bastard's home after showing her all this?!

"I don't want this," Her grandfather defended himself. "By Salazar, if it were up to me you would be hidden on the other end of the world if it meant he would never find you again. But we need to know what the other Horcruxes are and where he has hidden them, or the bases and homes of all of his followers if nothing else. This bastard and his movement need to be eliminated, and at the moment we simply lack the information to do so entirely. We need inside help, and like it or not you are the best chance we've got."

Bella made note her grandfather had used the word we as she considered this. As much as she hated to admit it, her grandfather had a good point. They could fight him for the rest of their lives, but as long as his Horcruxes remained the dark- no, Voldemort would not be defeated. She saw the obvious need to find out as much as possible about them and where they were, and that this was done the best way by someone on the inside. But one look at her sister, and Bella knew Cissy couldn't do it. Her sister was never that good at Occlumency, or hiding her true emotions and thoughts about things, and right now she wouldn't last an hour if she were to return. If anyone had to do it, it certainly couldn't be Cissy.

As much as she hated to admit it, this left only her as a plausible option. With a resigned tone, she accepted.

"I'll do it. Merlin curse me for this, but I'll do it."

Her grandfather nodded, and let out a sigh of his own. "Thank you, Bell-"

"I have terms," Bella interrupted, silencing her grandfather. "I want a Portkey out in case it gets too much for me to handle, and a reservation to have the Dark Mark removed and my marriage to Rudolphus annulled as soon as I do. Also, Cissy's marriage to Malfoy gets annulled with it, Andi gets restored to the family tapestry, and Aunt Walburga gets cast out in her place. Cousins Sirius and Regulus get to stay, as well as Uncle Orion. Lastly, my sisters, cousins, and I get the freedom to marry whomever the bloody hell we want. Mud- Muggleborn, Muggle, squib, Halfblood, Pureblood… No one in the family gets to contract us out and decide for us who we are to spend the rest of our lives with."

These demands would be quite high, Bella knew. Despite her moments of cruelty, sadism, and insanity, Walburga was quite the socialite and was good at mingling with people of upper classes and getting the House of Black valuable sources and contacts. And Walburga would vehemently oppose Andi, Bella's own sister, being restored to the family line. And since the Blacks had a history of signing their offspring off in marriage contracts and honouring them until the death of either spouse… With her demands, Bellatrix was going against a large number of Black traditions.

But this was something she had to do. The war and the divide between houses had torn their family apart for the last time, and no one would be caught in that disgusting monster's grip when Grandfather took him down. And the Black sisters and brothers had been very close for a long time. In fact, it wasn't until Pollux started pressuring her and her sisters into joining Voldemort's ranks, and Walburga doing the same with her less than receptive cousins that the friendship really deteriorated, something that wasn't aided by the fact Sirius was sorted into Gryffindor.

Then again, with no Black being sorted in another house for at least five generations, it might do the family some good to have more variety.

Her grandfather, fortunately, nodded with each of the requests, and even wrote them down on the parchment. "Deal. I'll even throw in the same marriage terms for any of your children, grandchildren, and other descendants, signing it with Blood magic so it cannot be reversed. Will that suffice?"

Bella nodded, letting out a sigh of relief. Her future in the Black family was secured, as was her freedom from this point on. She and Cissy could get the lives they wanted, and Andi would be welcomed back with open arms. Well, open arms by the people that mattered. It even gave her a chance to restore her troubled friendship with Siri and Reg.

"Show Regulus the book, too," Cissy spoke softly. "I can guide him away from joining Voldemort with his classmates, but that could take years before he'd make the actual decision. Showing him the truth like this would definitely speed it up."

Grandfather nodded. "I'll show him during the Christmas holidays. Cissy, do you have other places to stay when you leave the Malfoy's?"

Cissy nodded. "I own an apartment in Diagon Alley Lucius and Abraxus don't know about, directly opposite Ollivander's. I'll gather my belongings and head there."

Grandfather shook his head. "Too risky. You're still pretty close to Wizarding hotspots then, and still at risk in case of an attack on the Alley. Wait there, and I'll arrange for a Portkey to the Delacour summer house, or the cottage near Durmstrang if you prefer."

"Make it a trip to the Potter Holdings in the USA, in that case," Cissy said. "Easier access for when Cassie wants to come for that apprenticeship, and I can also pursue my other dream of a Potions Mastery. That is, if you'll have me," She directed that last bit at the Potter, who Bella had forgotten was also in the room.

Potter smiled. "I'll have to give you a test to see what you can and cannot do, but it won't be that much of a problem. I'll even help you pick out a new home."

Grandfather nodded and nimbly rose, and Bella saw he did this without the aid of a cane. Only now did she realise he didn't need it at all; it was just an act to seem older and more harmless than he actually was.

A cunning deception worthy of Slytherin.

"Thank you for meeting me," Her grandfather said, handing her his medallion, a replica of accurate drawings of Slytherin's locket, and casting Portus at it, and afterwards putting it around her neck. "Say 'Bloodhound' when you think it's too much for you to handle, and the Portkey will take you straight back here," her grandfather instructed. "But you can leave as soon as you know the location of all the Horcruxes he's made."

Bella nodded, and hid the necklace beneath her inner robes, the collar of which extended to just underneath her collarbone. "If they're out there, I'll find them, Grandfather. Toujours Pur."

"Toujours Pur," Grandfather said in agreement. Now a bit more hopeful of their futures, the two sisters walked out.


Fifth year Boys' dormitory, Gryffindor tower, Hogwarts Castle, Scottish Highlands.

Harry waited until the three were gone until opening his eyes and getting up. This was it. Tonight was the first full moon of their time at Hogwarts. And it was also the first time Harry could join them. During summer break the Marauders, Charlus, and Fleamont had wandered to the edge of the property and accompanied Remus in their Animagus forms, far away from the rest of the household. But now, Harry had finally managed his Animagus form, and he could join his father and his friends.

And the best thing was, none of the Marauders knew they'd already managed it. It would be a welcome surprise for them.

Harry and the other 'travellers' had gotten together, wanting to give Remus a pleasant surprise considering his first full moons had been missed, and they all belatedly realised they didn't know the boy's birthday. So Luna, in her blunt and honest way, simply suggested they practice and master their Animagus forms together, and surprise Remus all at once on the first full moon they could manage. And with luck and determination, they'd each finally managed it, Hermione being the last one to fully manage hers. True, none of them had mastered it enough that they could do it instantaneously like James, Sirius, and Peter, but they could all hold it indefinitely if they needed it. And given they would all be entertaining a Werewolf tonight, they likely would.

The homework Remus would be too tired to finish would be covered as well. The other dorm mates on the boys' end were in the know on the furry problem, and while not as dedicated as the Marauders, they did cover for Remus whenever they could, and each of them took a subject for which they would do Remus's homework assignments whenever the moon hit and he was too sick to make it. Harry covered DADA (he spoke the words and his father wrote them down, considering his own handwriting and forgery skills were questionable at best); Ron, Astronomy; Neville ensured Herbology was covered; James, Transfiguration; Sirius did Charms; Peter handled Care of Magical Creatures; Vinnie, Potions; Joshua held down Arithmancy; and Moliere did Runes. History (despite Ron and Sirius protesting they didn't need to with Binns) was rotated among them all.

Ron and Neville also got up as soon as they realised Harry was moving to get his clothes on, and hurried to do the same. Harry ensured they also had a spare change of clothes for Remus for when he changed back, having overheard that the Marauders sometimes forgot it. After ensuring they all had what they needed, including the spare clothes for Remus after the full moon, they headed down the stairs.

Hermione and the other two girls were already waiting in the empty common room. Judging by the fact Hermione was still wearing the same Hogwarts uniform from earlier today and Luna's hair was still as dirty as ever Harry wasn't sure whether they'd gone to bed earlier and come down later, or they'd just waited somewhere out of sight until the Marauders walked past on their way to the Shack.

"Alright, how do we do this?" Neville asked. "That cloak isn't gonna cover all of us."

"You and Ron are the largest and worst at Disillusionment, so you two use the cloak," Hermione answered immediately, resorting to her usual bossy tone. "Luna and I will cover the rest of us with Disillusionment charms, so we can still walk through the school relatively undetected. Harry, could you do us a favour, and silence all of our footsteps?"

Harry nodded, and applied the necessary charms. It wasn't that hard to do them, especially since the Horcrux removal and the night he'd reached his magical maturity. It had been very interesting, to say the least. He didn't feel any different, but he'd received an automatic notification the Trace on his wand had been dropped, and any form of magic he mastered from now on, outside of those outlawed in general of course, were legal unless in violation of the Statute of Secrecy. Ron had been mighty jealous that evening, especially since his own magical maturity would still be nearly two years away. But he'd learned to see the good in it: that Harry could do all sorts of good things for them without getting in trouble.

It came in handy a lot these days, as he could cast most of his spells silently. That helped a lot during their sneaking around this evening. They had a run in with Mrs. Peterson (the predecessor of Mrs. Norris) as well, but Ron's Animagus form managed to scare her off, and by the time Filch came to inspect the commotion they were long gone. They also had a run in with Peeves, but Neville, inspired by Harry's solution from their first year, imitated the voice from the Bloody Baron exceptionally well, and got him diverted to cause havoc near the entrance of the Great Hall.

Aside from that, they ran into none of the Prefect patrols this evening, and got near the Whomping a Willow without further trouble. Harry sent a glare at it, reminded that the tree had destroyed his broom and given him a wallop he'd never forget in the same year far in the future (damn that was an odd sentence Harry wasnt used to), but since it was still frozen from when the Marauders passed through he managed to get beneath it.

He waited a bit further back in the tunnel so the others all had space to enter as well. He actually bumped into Ginny doing so, and they both stumbled over one of the Willow's roots, him falling on top of her.

"Awww, he's literally falling for you," Luna whispered with amusement in her voice, and Harry and Ginny scrambled to get up, realising their rather compromising position. The others were all standing there, looking at them in amusement.

"Shall we?" Harry asked before they could make any more inappropriate jokes or remarks as they all ended the charms and gave the cloak to Harry for safekeeping. Ron put Remus's spare clothes down near the hatch as they approached, and Neville lifted it up. They all carefully hauled themselves into the shack, before quietly closing the hatch and looking for the Marauders. It wasn't long before Harry found them in one of the upstairs bedrooms.

As predicted, all four heads immediately turned in alarm as they entered, and Remus's eyes widened in concern the most. "What the hell are you guys doing here?!" He almost yelled. "It's too dangerous for you to be near me."

"Remus, you fold your socks," Neville said with amusement. "That doesn't scream 'scary and dangerous' to me."

"I can hurt you, Neville," Remus said, before turning with pleading eyes to Hermione. "Make them see reason, Hermione. You're the most sensible of the lot, you can stop them."

Hermione looked at him with pity, and moved to sit by him and the Marauders on the bed. "Remus, were doing this to help you. Can't you see that?" At his look, a mix of confusion and shock, she rolled her eyes. "Remus, we're your friends. Friends help each other out, no matter their quirks. And honestly, I have no problem with this."

"This is what I've been telling you all along," Sirius said as if he'd made this point many times to his stubborn friend. "They all want to help you, Remus. All you've got to do is let them in."

"But unless you've got Animagus forms, you…" He trailed off, and his eyes widened in realisation the same time the Marauders did.

"You managed it already, didn't you?" James asked in wonder.

"We wanted to surprise you," Harry admitted, looking at Remus. "Originally for your birthday, but we realised we didn't know it, and it felt too obvious too ask, and we didn't want to wait if it ended up being in May or something, so we decided to come the first full moon when all of us managed it."

Remus simply stammered, slightly overwhelmed by the commitment to their friendship the teenagers were showing him when he'd only properly known them for barely three or four months. Harry knew that feeling, as he felt it himself every time the Weasleys (or anyone really) showed him any form of kindness or helped him at cost or risk of themselves. Part of him wouldn't want them to do this, as Harry felt he didn't deserve it, and they needed to take care of themselves with it, while part of him was elated people cared so much about him. Remus showed the exact same signs.

"Can you show us?" Peter asked, anxious to see what they all turned out to be like.

They all obliged and took the space they would need to change, as some of their forms would take up quite a bit of space. They went in order of how they'd managed to learn it, first to last.

Luna's form was the smallest, and she changed the easiest and fastest of them all. As they had predicted early on, her Animagus form was the same as her Patronus: a small, white hare that was just as small and quick on its feet as in the DA. It even already had dirty patches around her head to mimic her dirty-looking hair as a human. Luna immediately ran forward, until she was at the feet of the bed, before she stood on her hind legs and looked up at them all.

Ron and Neville, since they incidentally managed it at the same time, changed next. Ron took a bit longer than Luna, but changed into a small dog, a Jack Russell Terrier to be precise. It seemed Luna had set a trend, for Ron's fur was mostly pale white, except for a generous bit of russet that covered most of the head, except for the black snout. He immediately looked around himself uncertainly, checking to see if he'd missed changing anything, before immediately barking in excitement. Neville, meanwhile, took as long as Ron before managing to change into a wolf. He also inspected himself for patches he might have missed, but Harry was sure there weren't any. He patted the wolf reassuringly on the head, and Neville shot him a look of gratitude.

As her form was one of the largest, Ginny took the longest of them all in changing, nearly a full minute. But when she managed, a beautiful red-maned horse stood in her place. Unlike her brother, she didn't bother with the inspection, and instead strode forwards until she was at the edge of the bed like Luna, and let the others pet her. Except for Sirius, whom she bristled at, and when he still stepped closer, stepped on his toes with her hoof.

"OOOW!" He yelped, clutching his toe. "Be more careful, will yah?"

Ginny ignored him and looked away, as the warning had gotten through and Sirius stepped back. Harry snorted and changed himself, as he'd managed second-last. He likely could have managed faster, but he was so determined to help the others with their own transformation he would have forgotten about his own training had Hermione not reminded him about it. He was the first that broke the rule that a Patronus and Animagus always matched, for after forty-nine seconds of morphing he finally stood there in his Thestral form.

"So this is one of the things that a pulls the carriages?" Hermione asked. Harry simply nodded, and briefly widened his wings so he could look them over. He had to admit he looked pretty awesome like this, and wondered why he hadn't pressed the Sirius of his own time to teach him this sooner.

Hermione took a breath, and was the last one to change. But she changed second fastest, almost as fast as Luna. But unlike Luna she jumped in the air, and brought her knees to her chest. Then she herself changed, and changed into a bird. Like Harry, her Patronus and Animagus didn't match. So when the new Phoenix among them swooped around the room before landing next to an astonished Remus, Harry felt glad she had this form, it being more useful than an Otter. As far as he knew he and Hermione didn't share the magical properties of their respective creatures, as he was still visible to the Marauders as a Thestral, and he was quite sure at least his father and Peter hadn't seen death yet. And Hermione couldn't burst into flames and use Phoenix travel, or had a burning day, either.

Before any of them could comment in praise or wonder, though, Remus groaned and fell over.

"Don't change back," James immediately ordered, and soon in the places of the Marauders stood a Stag, a large black dog resembling a Grim, and a small grey Rat, which skirted off to join Luna.

Harry stepped back, giving Remus some space as he changed into a Werewolf. It was harrowing to watch, as Remus' body contorted in pain with the changes. His back arched as his skin slowly gave way to fur, and his body slowly transitioned from a human to a Werewolf. The look in Remus's eyes all but radiated pain, as the pupils changed from their natural brown to the lupine yellow.

The next moment, before Harry knew it, the wolf stood before them, as he had at the end of his third year when Sirius almost got Wormtail. The wolf eyed his usual pack members playfully, but stiffened upon realising that there were even more members in the room than usual. Warily, he slowly stalked up to Neville, who happened to be standing the closest to him. Padfoot and Prongs tensed, ready to intervene should Moony try anything, but the Werewolf merely sniffed at the normal wolf, who looked quite nervous but still stood tall, ready to defend himself should he need to.

To Harry's relief, Moony seemed to nod in approval, or at least calmly accepted Neville at any rate, and turned to inspect the others. And one by one Moony gave them all a nod or similar sign of approval, which Harry took as a sign Remus was still in there trying to influence the wolf. When arriving at Hermione's Phoenix form Harry could even swear he saw a smile cross the Werewolf's face.

Then he came at last to Harry, who immediately bent his legs, so he stood ready to either attack, defend, or play, depending on Moony's reaction. Moony sniffed for a moment, wary like he'd been with all of the others at the start. But like with Hermione and the others, Remus rubbed his head against Harry's leg in approval. Padfoot let out a bark of joy, and immediately jumped forth to play, distracting the Werewolf from whatever he might plan to do. After a moment, Neville joined in with Ron, and Luna and Peter ran around and between Moony's legs in their own forms, hyping the Werewolf up and distracting him even further. Harry, Ginny, and Prongs stood ready to interfere should things get rough, and Hermione watched from the top of a book cabinet.

And apparently that was something the wolf didn't like, for he jumped up to climb on the cabinet and tried to reach her. Hermione briefly flapped her wings in surprise and brief panic, before Harry saw a determination set in and she flew over him, briefly raking the Werewolf's neck with one of her claws. This agitated him even more, and Moony tried to chase her around. But Ginny decided it was her turn, and bumped into him at a slight trot, knocking the Werewolf over.

Recognising the room was starting to get too small for this kind of playing, Harry briefly walked out and downstairs, a bit wobbly on the stairs since he was still getting a bit used to the new form, and used one of his wings to press down and unlock the handle and open the door.

Prongs and Wormtail poked their heads out, trying to figure out where Harry was going. Harry simply gestured with his head to the open door, and outside. The two Marauders immediately nodded their heads in understanding, and Prongs headed back in while Wormtail ran down the stairs, climbed up Harry's legs, and nestled himself between the joints connecting the back and the wings.

A loud mass of thumps sounded from above, and Harry looked up. He immediately had to step aside, as a whole mess of Animagi, with Moony in the middle, stampeded their way to the door and ran outside. Luna briefly stopped to look at Harry and Peter, before flopping her ears in greeting and following the others. Harry rolled his eyes in amusement and made his own way out.

The herd outside was in a bit of a chaos. Ron was in a tug of war with the Werewolf over a stick he'd picked up moments earlier, and Padfoot and Luna were running around and causing general confusion among them. Everyone else simply stood guard in a ring around them, ready to jump in should they need it.

Ginny, on the other hand, was a bit restless. She was constantly stomping on the spot, pacing between two places multiple times, and looking from one place to another like she was about to be attacked. She needed to let off some steam of her own. Prongs thought the same thing, apparently, for he immediately pranced forwards and started to herd Moony around, trying to provoke him into a game of chase. It started to work, for Moony immediately began to run ahead. The others simply went with it: Ron, Neville, Padfoot, and Ginny ran after them, and Hermione swooped down to pick up Luna so she could keep up. Harry shrugged and checked if Peter was still safely tucked in on his back. Meeting the rat's gleaming enthusiastic eyes, Harry nodded and broke out into a run.

Feeling a bit daring, he spread his wings and tried to flap them in a way he'd seen the Thestrals do that night before the Ministry and in the books he'd studied on his form. He was surprised by how quickly he rose up in the air, and he felt Peter's hold on him tighten a bit as they rose above the nearby tree line and the rooftops of the nearby Hogsmeade village. He needed a few moments to adjust, and soon found himself steady in the air.

Harry let out a sound of joy, even though he didn't recognise it was his Animagus form rather than his usual yells. Man this felt amazing! This felt so much better than a broom! A broom was still restricted by its own response time and it needed to be held onto tightly. But to be in the air with nothing but his own wings to support him, limited only by what he himself could do? If he wasn't unregistered and didn't enjoy brooms so much as well he'd consider giving up on brooms altogether.

Grinning, he flattened his wings onto himself, being sure to cover Peter so he didn't fall off, he made a steep dive from high in the air until he was almost crashing into the ground. Then, at the last second, he spread his wings again and levelled out, barely skirting the ground with the tips of his front hoofs. He rose a bit so he wouldn't ram one of the others as he turned around and flew back, but he then kept around that altitude, occasionally swooping over the Werewolf to distract him once again.

It did look amazing from above. The large group of various animals running through the forest, Moony playfully trying to swipe at one of the others while the others ran with him as they herded him around the forest, away from Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. Hermione swooped over a few times as well, Luna no longer in her claws. After one flyover Harry had found her again, though, sitting safe and sound between Prongs' antlers. Harry took a brief look back to check if Peter was still sitting safely between his wings, and when he saw the rat was actually standing on his front legs, almost basking in the wind, Harry smiled in contentment as well.

Harry landed in a run and joined the others, coming up beside Ron and Padfoot, who were running ahead of Moony, Neville, and Prongs, and Ginny just to the side running alongside Hermione's flight path. Ron glared at him in jealousy of the ability to fly, but the playfulness in his eyes and the happy bark he gave when Harry finally settled beside them told Harry he either didn't mean it or got over it quite quickly.

They ran around like that for most of the night, mostly just running around and having fun in their animal forms while ensuring Moony didn't do anything stupid. It lasted well until the early morning, close enough that when they finally managed to return to the shack with Moony, dawn was only an hour away. They quickly got him back inside and on the bed, and watched when he slowly changed back.

It lasted for an agonising fifteen minutes, but finally the Werewolf that could have harmed or killed them during the night had finally returned to being the fifteen-year-old boy Harry knew so well. Padfoot changed back the quickest, and after Harry pointed them out near the hatch with his wing, immediately summoned the spare clothes for Remus that Harry had brought. Then, slowly, the others all changed back. James and Peter did so as well, and helped the others with tips that might help them turn back quicker. They didn't intervene themselves, though, stating an Animagus had to manage it under their own strength.

In the end, there were ten exhausted teenagers sitting or laying in the bedroom of the shack, as they all rested from the wild night they'd had. Harry actually briefly closed his eyes to catch a bit of rest. But rest wouldn't come as the others all kept moving around for their own bits of sleep they needed to catch up. When Harry briefly opened his eyes, he even caught Remus's hand uncharacteristically hanging outside the bed and resting on Hermione's hair as she lay on the floor beside the bed, and Sirius lay with the back of his head on-

Harry quickly turned his head and looked away. He definitely didn't need to see on which part of his father Sirius' head lay.

He felt a slight nudge beside him and Harry looked down. Peter was curled up against him, with a slight blanket covering most of him. Harry shifted uneasily, as he didn't exactly feel comfortable to have someone curled up against him like this. True, they were all fully clothed and most of them were still asleep, but this was rather… Too intimate to Harry's liking.

"That was awesome," Peter mumbled. "The flying, I mean."

"Thanks," Harry said, a bit uncomfortable. While he'd learned to look past the sins the boy had yet to commit and be his friend, he had actually never had a moment where he and Peter were on their own entirely. There had always been Ron, Hermione, one of the Marauders, or someone else from their year with him. Knowing what the boy would do, it was simply too odd for Harry.

"I know, you have trouble seeing past the other me," Peter said, sitting up and fortunately no longer using Harry as a pillow. "The one Imperiused to betray the others and you. But still…thanks for… being there… As a friend," Peter stammered, before looking down and shaking his head. "I'm rambling, aren't I?"

Harry nodded. "Yep. But that's alright. As you said, we're friends. And if there's one thing I do for my friends it's sticking by them no matter what. Even if it is… difficult, for me to look past something."

"You will?" Peter asked hopefully.

"Marauder's promise," Harry swore. "I might not know you as long as they have, but I've seen you around them. You're a good friend. Loyal, supportive, good sense of humour… Peter, I can go on for hours if I'm to list all the things the Marauders value about the inclusion of you in their ranks. They see you as their best friend too. And James and Sirius aren't the type to abandon their friends in times of need. Even beyond Hogwarts, they'll be there for you."

Peter nodded, seeming more sure of himself the more Harry went on. Finally, he gave a huge, genuine smile at Harry. "Thanks."

"Any time," Harry answered with a smile of his own.

"Sun's coming up," Peter noted. "Madam Pomfrey will be here soon to pick up Remus. We'd better get going."

Harry nodded, and the boys got up. And Harry promptly had to cast a silencing charm on himself to cover his own laughter. At his hysteric movements Peter's eyebrows furrowed, and Harry pointed at the source of his amusement. And Peter had to fight to keep himself silent as well.

Hermione's hand had, in her sleep, moved up to grasp Remus', and they both actually smiled as they slept.

Finally trusting himself to keep silent enough not to wake the others, he turned to Peter. "They're adorable, aren't they?"

Peter nodded, a large smirk covering his own face. "Yeah. But they fit together really well. Studious, smart, accepting of others… It's like a match made in heaven for them."

Harry nodded, and both boys lapsed into a momentary silence. One that lasted for only five seconds. "You still brought the camera, right?" Harry asked. "We can't miss using this against them."

"It's like you said with the cloak and map," Peter smirked, retrieving a Wizarding camera from an enchanted pocket of his jacket. "You never know when an opportunity can come along."

Harry smirked, and silenced and covered the flash of the camera as it went off, so it wouldn't wake the others. They quickly hid their evidence of the moment, Peter ensuring the photo would be developed later, and quickly woke the others with a whisper, a shake of their shoulder, or in James and Sirius' case tickling their noses with enchanted feathers so it tickled twice as much. Harry smirked from the sidelines, as James and Sirius got up and chased Peter angrily, while the Marauder laughingly ran around and between them, often using his Animagus form to slip from their grasp in the nick of the moment.

Since Harry's brief conversation with Peter, he'd noted the boy seemed a lot more confident than usual in himself and his own abilities, as well as seemingmore sure of his faith and friendship with the others. Harry wondered if, with this conversation alone, he'd prevented the path Peter would follow later in his life from ever forming.


Great Hall, Hogwarts Castle, Scottish Highlands

Ron let out the largest yawn of his life as he stumbled into the Great Hall for breakfast at seven thirty. Man, the first full moon had been tiring. But it had been awesome as well, to manage to become an Animagus and run with a Werewolf. And he saw most of the others were just as tired yet exhilarated about it as he was.

He collapsed onto the nearest open space at the table he could find, and Harry and Hermione joined him. Neville and the Marauders moved further along to sit with Frank, while Ginny and Luna sat down near Lily, who immediately started asking them questions on where they'd been. Evidently their nightly escapade had been noticed.

"Well, that was fun, wasn't it?" Hermione asked of them. Ron nodded automatically, as he started loading food onto his plate. Harry did so as well, though he had at least enough energy to respond verbally.

"Yeah. It makes me wonder why we never tried it in third year, when we first learned of it," Harry answered, as he grabbed some fried eggs that were served on the table. Hermione slapped him on the arm.

"Harry!" She harshly whispered. "It's illegal to become one without ministry guidance. Not to mention you could get sent to Azkaban if you're not registered. Do you know how much trouble we could've gotten into?"

"We'd be in trouble with that lot anyway," Ron pointed out sourly. Despite the awesome summer and incredible year so far, the terrible year with the pink toad was still fresh in his memory. "I mean, with Umbridge making Harry use that blasted Quill as often as she did it's a wonder Harry didn't get more extensive scarring than he did. Not to mention all the privileges she took away without good reason."

"It's still wrong to do so though," Hermione persisted. "If we'd had a Werewolf as a classmate then, I wouldn't complain. But to do so for the sake of it…"

"And yet you still did it now," Ron pointed out with a frown. "You could've just sat back and let us get in trouble, or merely covered us by doing some of Remus' homework or giving us an alibi. Yet you still did learn it alongside us, and even joined us on the full moon. Why?"

"As I said," Hermione said, looking down and letting her bushy hair cover most of her face from view. "We now have a Werewolf friend our own age who needs help."

"Something tells me you both want to be more than friends," Harry said, his lips twitching into a smirk. Hermione looked at him scandalised and swatted his arm to shut him up, but Ron just stared at them.

Hermione and Remus? He had to admit they fit well together. They were both obsessed with books a lot, at Potter Manor as well as in Hogwarts the three weeks they'd been here. They also cared about most of the same things like Elves' rights (though Hermione was a lot more passionate about it), had exactly the same subjects, and even had their own troublemakers to look after with exasperation.

In the past Ron knew he would've been jealous about it. Hell, he still felt the pang of it come up now that he focused on the prospect of them together. He'd had a crush on her in fourth year, as well as in most of his fifth year. He'd even ruined the Yule Ball for them that evening because of the fact she'd gone with Viktor Krum.

But after his father had nearly lost his life shortly before Christmas that year he'd sat down and started thinking. The fact he'd almost lost a member of his family had shook him awake, and made him evaluate what he really wanted in life. One of the things he seriously considered was what he wanted with Hermione. And after considering not only all they've gone through and what they've done, but also how they interacted with one another on a daily basis, he was forced to admit they wouldn't fit well together. Sure, as friends they worked out just fine, as long as Harry was there as a buffer for their more serious arguments. But for an actual relationship they argued way too much for it to work out. And if they did break off because of an argument, he'd also lose his friendship with her along with it. And that was something he didn't want.

Emotional range of a teaspoon? He thought this amount of thinking was worthy of a tablespoon, at least.

"Well, go for it," Ron told Hermione, shocking both of them. He decided to elaborate. "You both fit well together, you like the same stuff… I don't see why not."

"He has a point," Harry admitted after a few moments. "Besides, you even did an illegal thing for him. That has to count for something right?"

Ron looked at them, and Ron saw she was blushing quite a bit. She was saved from answering, however, when the head girl, Amelia Bones, sat down with them.

"Everything alright?" She asked them, her gaze resting on Harry a few instants longer than either Ron or Hermione. "You guys look awfully tired."

"Long night, Amelia," Harry answered. Ron rose his eyebrows in surprise, and he saw Hermione do so, too. They didn't know Harry and Bones were on first-name basis with one another. They only really did things together in the DA, though they did partner up together often. Ron wondered what else he'd missed.

"Yeah, OWL year can be quite draining, especially with homework," Bones knowingly answered. "Need any help?"

"Thanks, but we managed to finish it last night," Harry answered. "If I have trouble with a particular subject, though, I'll come to you."

To Ron's surprise, Bones smiled when she heard that. "Good. I'm good at most of my subjects, except for Transfiguration. I'm a real failure at that subject, Vanishing things especially."

"Need any help? It isn't my best subject, but I'm no slouch at it, and my brother's a prodigy at it so I picked up a number of tricks from him," Harry offered, surprising Ron once again. When did Harry and Bones get so friendly together? Judging by the look of Hermione, she was also startled by how well they seemed to be getting on.

"I'd love that," Bones said. "You free on Saturday?"

"Quidditch practice for most of the morning, but I'm free in the afternoon," Harry answered. "Meet you in the library then?"

"Sure," Bones said. "I'll be there." She suddenly looked up, staring at someone at the Hufflepuff table behind Harry before returning to look at him. "Got to go. Amos is trying to draw my attention. See you at the next DA session?"

"Sure," Harry said. "See you on Friday, then?"

Bones nodded happily. "Bye."

Harry nodded, and Bones strode back towards the Hufflepuff table. As soon as she was out of earshot, Hermione leaned forward, and Ron moved a bit closer to listen in too.

"Harry, I didn't know you were friends with Madam Bones." She asked.

Harry snorted. "She's hardly old enough to be called 'Madam.' And we got to talking during the DA. She's nice."

"Uh-huh," Ron answered skeptically. "And there's nothing else going on there?"

To his slight satisfaction, Harry blushed. "I'll let you know when I've figured that out myself."

Now Hermione frowned. "Why? From the looks of it you two get on well together."

"Yes, but all of that is mostly banter and chatter during the DA, and now homework together as well," Harry said. "I don't know if we'd fit that well together if we became more serious."

"Only one way to find out. For both of you," Ron added when Hermione started to smirk too much. "Ask Bones and Remus for dates to Hogsmeade."

Harry visibly paled until he almost looked like a vampire, and Hermione blushed so much she could've sat next to the other Weasleys and not stand out. But Ron smiled when they didn't dismiss it out of hand. They were clearly interested in their respective new friends. But still, from the looks of it neither actually planned on asking. When both of them still refused to answer, Ron let out a loud sigh.

"Tell you what, if one of you ends up in a date to Hogsmeade, either because you're asked or you asked it yourself, the other must ask their date as well. Deal?"

Hermione nodded, and Harry let out a sigh as well. "Deal," They both said, shaking hands.

Ron nodded, glad that was sorted. Now he could finally eat in peace. He totally missed the glare Lily sent Bones, or thesomber look Ginny wore since Bones had talked with Harry as happily as she did.


Library Wing, Hogwarts Castle, Scottish Highlands

She sighed in contentment, reading up on another work for her Arithmancy project that she shared with Remus. That was always a constant comfort for Hermione. Whenever she wanted peace and quiet, one could simply go to the library and work there. She was hesitant to say study, considering what she saw some of her year mates do at the moment. Luna was working at another table on another work of art of some ludicrous creature no one had ever heard of, and Vinnie was surrounded by Chemistry and Potions books. And considering the large amount of accidents he had had the month since she arrived, she doubted he was working on an extra credit potions project.

Then again, there were those that appreciated the library for what it had been intended: Lily, Mary, and Remus were working with her on Arithmancy, despite the fact the project had been assigned to pairs, and at the table behind them Harry was intensely reading a thick old tome Hermione hadn't seen before.

"Oh, for bloody Merlin's sake just ask him, Lily," Mary finally sighed in exasperation as she put the assigned text down. Hermione looked up in surprise, as did Remus.

"Ask who what?" Lily asked, trying to look innocent. But Hermione saw the telltale hints of a blush creeping up her cheeks.

"Don't play dumb with me, Lily," Mary warned with a predatory smile. "You've snuck glances at Harry more often than I can count this last hour alone, last weekend was the first time you actually attended tryouts for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, even if you didn't play, and you've suddenly become a lot more tolerant of James since he got here. Not to mention you freeze up whenever Harry accidentally touched you or brushed your skin. Admit it: You're in luuvvvv."

"I am not!" Lily vehemently denied, starting an argument with her friend. Hermione took that argument as a moment to analyse those signs. Now that Mary had pointed them out, Lily had indeed been staring at Harry quite often the last two weeks since their arrival. As a matter of fact, the way she sat now offered Lily the perfect view of Harry as he read while she could hide herself behind her own work should he glance their way. And it had indeed been odd that Lily had shown up for the tryouts, when Marlene and Audrey had mentioned quite often in the dorm that Lily despised Quidditch (or more precisely, had come to despise it because of James Potter and how popular he was because of it).

And Lily had smiled very brightly and made a beeline for him when Harry had made the team alongside Ginny, completely ignoring the fact James and Marlene as the other Chasers, Sirius and Oliver Wood's future uncle Atticus as Beaters, and Frank as a Keeper.

"Oh, God. You really are smitten with him," Hermione realised.

"For the last bloody time, I am not in love with Harry," Lily angrily denied, and Hermione belatedly realised she'd said that out loud. Remus leaned back in his chair, just as shocked as Hermione herself was.

"Denial," Mary said immediately. "Clue number one: you are blushing," Mary grinned as Lily's mouth opened in shock. "Clue number two: you promised you'd come to watch his Quidditch matches, despite the fact you never show up when Marlene comes to play, or when James invites you. Clue number three: you fuss just as much about him as about James, despite the fact they're complete opposites personality wise."

"Not to mention you seemed awfully disappointed when Harry wasn't in our group for the remedial potions lessons," Hermione pointed out. As awkward as it was to admit, Harry's mother was having a crush on him. Oh, how would she explain this?

She glanced at Remus for help, but he just shrugged, as clueless as she was about how to go about this. Harry wasn't insane enough to go and have a fling with his own mother, which Hermione knew would break the latter's heart. Yet the only way Hermione saw Lily backing off without her heart being broken was by telling her the full truth why they couldn't be together, time travel and all. And that was a whole mess of its own to explain. Hello, I'm your future son accidentally brought back to the past because Voldemort thought it a good idea to lure me in a trap with false visions. Yeah, that would go well. Especially if their deal came through and he went on a date with Amelia Bones.

A black figure strode past with billowing robes, and Hermione allowed herself to be distracted enough to look back. Snape was walking towards Harry, briefly joining him at the table. Harry immediately closed the tome and reached into his bag before handing Snape three rolls of parchment. The Potions homework Snape had assigned, Hermione presumed, as Snape started to read it through intently. Ever since they'd started to catch up in proper Potions education, they'd been assigned homework essays in the place of Professor Slughorn's to make, which Snape or Lily would correct and send through to Slughorn as a status report. He frowned at certain places, and corrected with his own quill as Harry nervously watched on. To Hermione's surprise Snape nodded and said something too soft for Hermione to hear. Whatever was said made Harry smile and they talked for a few more minutes, before Snape rose again and departed.

He paused halfway between the two tables, and looked back at Harry. "As much as I hate to admit it, you're much more tolerable than your brother, Potter. In fact, this might redeem the bad image I've always had of your family,"

"Can't have that, can we," Hermione heard Harry cheekily return. "My brother might get the wrong ideas. He might think you'd even come to family dinners!"

"You know, I just might, if only so I could see him suffer a heart attack," Snape smirked. "Good day… Harrison," With those departing words Snape turned again and left, his robes billowing as much as they did in Hermione's time.

"Alright, I admit he's attractive," Lily murmured, having observed the exchange as well. "He's smart, quite powerful, much more of a gentleman than his brother, and kind of sweet. Not to mention he's much more modest and likeable. But I'm not in love with him!"

"Keep telling yourself that, sweetie," Mary returned, her smile growing at the admission. "One day, you might-"

Oh god, Mary is worse than Lavender Brown. Who cares about a love-live? True, Harry's is slightly more important to me than others, but we're here to study!

Yet, the girl chattered and argued on about how and why Lily was in love with Harry (the latter girl still denying it) and that Lily should just ask him out for a Hogsmeade weekend. Hermione sighed. With this much background noise there was no way she could properly study. Sending an apologetic smile at Remus, she gathered her things and got up to sit with Harry.

Whatever he was reading had to be interesting, for he didn't even look up as she sat down and started in her part of the Arithmancy project. Nor did he after ten more minutes of working. Wondering how long she could go on until he noticed she was there she continued to work silently.

It took another fifteen minutes before he noticed her. And when he did she had to stifle a laugh. He shot up from his chair, nearly upending it as he was startled from his work. "Bloody hell! Don't sneak up on people."

"Language," Hermione corrected automatically. "And I've been sitting here for almost half an hour. What are you studying?"

Harry frowned, contemplating something for a moment, before nodding. "Place your index finger here," He pointed to a circle on the front page of the book. Hermione nodded, and hissed as it stung her somehow and took a drop of her blood. Harry then turned he book around, and Hermione began to read.

Dear reader, I present you with a great problem many magical communities face these days: So many Wizards and Witches take magic for granted. It is so often displayed and brandished by Magical folk, for many it becomes a normality. We become used to magic. But I still wondered, as did Antioch and Cadmus. We wondered how magic worked, what we were doing when we cast spells. Where does magic come from? What happens when we cast a spell? What does a spell, or magic, even consist of? And can that substance be manipulated or controlled in other ways?

My brothers and I found out some of those answers, and we have written them down in this book: our life's work; our journal. My granddaughter will also continue this research, and she will add her own notes where she pleases: either to complement my work, or contradict it when new facts present themselves and prove my work false. Our work on the Hallows is based on this research. While you, dear reader, will have to read the entire tome in order to truly understand what is about to be explained, I can promise you this.

Should you understand and master even a handful of the concepts described in this book, you could end up becoming one of the most powerful wizards in the world. Even the master of our Hallows would not be your match. But beware: the power this can bring could become your own downfall should you attempt too much too soon. And power like this is to be used responsibly.

Note of Iolanthe: my grandfather is not exaggerating. Knowledge like this is very dangerous, and should never fall into the wrong hands. I will continue his research as I swore on his deathbed, but as soon as I die, I will have Hardwin hide this in Hogwarts' Room of Requirement. By their arrogant nature, Dark Lords will not find it there: I will ensure it can only be retrieved from the room if someone wants a trump card to defeat a Dark Lord, and I will place charms on the book so only those of Peverell blood, as well as those bearing their mark of approval, can read the contents.

I know that if you are reading this you will be considered worthy enough by the book to receive this knowledge. For that, I will grand you a brief summary only a Ravenclaw could divine from my grandfather and great uncles' ramblings: Every spell, charm, curse, ward, and hex consists of a basic form of magical energy. It is generated in each wizard in their magical core by biological means beyond my family's understanding.

Such energy can be controlled, as most wizards do, through spell work and wand-waving. But true masters, masters like the Brothers that defied Death, can bend it to their very will. They become 'Spell-Benders', if you will. They could tame Fiendfyre with a wave of their hand, alter the course of Avada Kedavra, stop Cruciatus in mid-air, or even change Imperius into a harmless Lumos. Magic itself would be tamed by them, harnessed into doing the caster's bidding. There are a number of ways to achieve this mastery, each more difficult and dangerous than the last, and lethal if you aren't powerful in your own right. But if you can master even one such way, you would become an expert on magic itself, and a force to be reckoned with for any foe.

But heed my grandfather's words: try to master too much too soon, and you will suffer. For dealing with raw magical energy in such a way tempts Death itself. And Death does not take such temptations lightly. Great Uncle Antioch's death was proof of that.

Hermione read on as studiously as Harry had only moments ago. Both Ignotus and Iolanthe went on to describe their theory that magic consisted of a form of raw energy, that spells were merely 'preprogrammed' forms of control, and very limited ones at that, and that those with absolute control of their magic and indomitable wills could bend it beyond a control not even spells could match. Hermione made a quick look through the various pages, and wasn't surprised to find dozens upon dozens of pages of Arithmantic formulas and graphs depicting how much magic was used to control this raw energy. She looked up in wonder. "How did you get this?"

"In the Room, shortly after the first DA session," Harry answered, sounding a bit excited. "You see the potential in this as well, right? What advantage we could have with this?"

Hermione had to admit, at first glance she could see why Harry thought this was a very good thing. With the kind of advantage the book hinted at, it would be less of a task to overcome the superior experience and vast knowledge Voldemort had over Harry. Most spells the bastard sent at Harry could simply be swept aside or turned back against him. It helped even the odds.

But Hermione had also had a good look at the Arithmantic calculations described in the book. And the Peverell brothers and Iolanthe were far better than the average Arithmancers. As good as Hermione was in the subject, three quarters of the stuff she saw went way over her head, using formulas hidden within formulas in obscure languages she'd never seen before. She hated to say it, but it would certainly be way too difficult for Harry to learn within even twenty years, much less in the three she expected it would take him at most to run into Voldemort. His track record since coming to Hogwarts wasn't that good in that regard.

"Harry, I admit this looks good," she hesitantly said, "and if you did manage it would certainly give you a good advantage. But…"

"But what?" Harry asked, sounding quite concerned.

"But look at this," Hermione finally decided to explain her point by giving an example. She picked a particularly large formula in the book and pointed it out to him. "Do you understand this?"

"No," Harry admitted after a particularly large pause. "I'm still only halfway through the book,"

Rolling her eyes, Hermione skipped back until she was nearly at the beginning, and pointed at the large graphic chart depicted below another long formula. "How about this one?"

Harry frowned as he inspected it, squinting his eyes for a moment as he mulled it over. "It says at the top of the page it relays how much power one must use for redirecting a spell, but…" Harry trailed off, and Hermione saw in his eyes the problem with his idea was starting to dawn on him.

"It's a good idea to master this, Harry," she consoled. "But it'll take decades to even begin unraveling the various formulas depicted in the book, much less practising it in general. You'd be Dumbledore's age by the time you truly mastered it, and that's not something you have the time for."

"I suppose not," Harry sadly admitted, before his eyes briefly lit up again. "But doesn't this describe another method? The table of contents in the beginning said it was one of the few methods to learn it not including the heavy use of Arithmancy." He took the book from her, scrolled ahead until he was again somewhere else in the middle of the book. Hermione took it from him and read the chapter.

Entry 69: Willpower. (For the stubborn ones)

Following the laws of nature, we learn that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. (Hardwin described it as Karma, something I agree with.) So too does this go with Spell-Bending. Every curse or piece of magic you manipulate will take up an equal amount of energy from your own magical core. (regardless of whether this is donewandlessly or traditionally)

Most of the methods my brothers and I devised earlier make heavy use of often obscure Arithmantic equations and arcane wand waving to do this, and examples are given as to how this was accomplished. For example; the (Tune out this bit, unless you wish to waste a few hours. It mostly describes a number of self-invented spells so absurd and difficult no one else can possibly replicate them, that they used to enchant the Stone, made the Cloak everlasting, and infused Great Uncle Antioch's wand with so much power.)

But there is another way to Spell-Bend. It requires great Magical Power to even contemplate doing this (I later learned one has to be at least Powerful, according to the Wizarding Power Level Measuring System)*, not to mention in possession of an indomitable will, and no small amount of proficiency at Wandless and Non-Verbal magic, as there are no known incantations or absolute wand movements one can follow. (I discovered Occlumency will be a great aid in this, too.) But it can be done by sufficiently powerful wizards.

In spell casting in general it often comes down to five parts: Incantation, Wand Motion, Magical Power, Focus, and Intent. This method will use the last three predominantly, Intent most of all. Though all of us have yet to properly control it, or in Antioch's case even do it intentionally, it is theoretically possible for someone quite literally to WILL the spells to do as the caster wishes. It requires a great amount of focus and concentration to control the magical energy without Circe's Arithmancy laws, or a wand to guide and focus the magic. (The Occlumency comes in here, as it helps you to multitask. Not only will it help you focus on the task, but it will aid you to divert you attention to other matters, so if caught doing this in a battle you will be able to dodge an attack and focus on Spell-Bending at the same time) Hence, why it is recommended to at least stretch your hand in the general direction of the magic you want to bend, acting as an improvised focus instead of a wand, though Cadmus and I can toss balls of magic to one another without moving our arms doing it. (When great uncle Antioch tried that he learned the hard way my grandfather and great uncle liked him in the colour pink.)

Although possible, it is not advised to do this in battle often, for the amount of focus it requires would leave one so exposed it is practically suicide unless in one-on-one duels with a severely weakened opponent. I doubt even masters at this, something my brothers and I most certainly are not, could think of doing this in a battle unless as an instinctive reaction to divert a Killing Curse away from themselves. The amount of focus it requires, actually, would make the skill almost worthless in a battle.

(That being said, it is not impossible if one puts their mind to it. Hardwin, my aunt-in-law Anastasia, and I have learned to master it this way with help from my grandfather's notes. It indeed very difficult to master, to the point one almost has to relearn their entire magical education all over in order to convert energy from the makeup of one spell to another, for each spell in existence. Not to mention, if one is not used to Spell-Bending in such a way, it can often tire one out after only one spell. But once one has mastered it this way, it is possibly the easiest way to do it. Most others require a wand to at least guide the magic and allow it to flow more easily. But this form of spell-bending allows one to do it wandlessly with merely a thought. True, it still requires the same amount of energy to cast a spell wandlessly as to bend it, and twice as much if one changes a spell in the middle of being cast at someone. But it doesn't require hours of mathematical calculations beforehand or ridiculous wand waving that doesn't make sense to most people. It is the hardest to learn of all, but once mastered the easiest to use.)

Hermione had to admit, this method would be ideally suited for Harry, and she saw the instructions outlined by Iolanthe and Ignotus after the introduction wouldn't be all that different from hers and Harry's initial Occlumency training under Lady Dorea Potter. She looked back at the register for other methods of Spell-Bending, but the few other methods attributed to it, which were few and far between (as the Book (though Hermione thought it was more in the style of a journal) was dedicated to the entire theory of magical energy, not just spell-bending), all involved professional level Arithmancy in one form or another, and always way too far above Harry's abilities at the subject. In fact the only downside she saw to Harry doing this was that he needed someone on hand while he practiced so they could ensure he didn't magically exhaust himself.

"I admit it does have merit," she conceded, to Harry's obvious joy. "But you shouldn't practice this alone, Harry. We all know the dangers of magical exhaustion, and if you're caught magically exhausted on your own…." She didn't finish that. She'd learned the hard way that Slytherins were way more violent in this time, and much more sneaky about the way they hexed others.

"I won't." Harry said. "I intend to let at least Neville learn this as well, as he's the only other one of us six magically powerful enough to master this. And the rest of you and the Marauders can come and watch, to make sure the two of us don't overexert ourselves."

Hermione let out a sigh of relief. Harry was thinking this through for once, and wasn't rushing off to do something… something…

Something Ron would do.

"Hermione?" a voice asked, and she and Harry turned around. Remus walked over from his original seat to their table, coming to a stop at between her and Harry at the side of the table. His cheeks were quite red, and he looked nervous.

"Yes?" Hermione queried, trying to appear as friendly as possible.

"I have a question," he started. "You see, the first Hogsmeade weekend is in three weeks… and, you know, I was wondering…" Remus trailed off, his cheeks going so red he almost matched Ron's hair.

"Wondering what, Remus?" Hermione asked, not sure where he was going with this.

"WillyougotoHogsmeadewithme?" he mumbled. Harry's eyes grew wide, and Hermione's mouth opened and closed multiple times as she processed what he just asked. Did he really?

"Come again?" Hermione asked, still in shock.

Remus' blush grew to new intensity as it now covered his entire face and most of his neck and ears, but he spoke up. "I asked you if you wanted to go to Hogsmeade with me."

Hermione actually slouched in her chair in shock, her brain for the first time not there as she tried to work out what she'd just heard. Ever since she'd been allowed to go to the village no one had asked her out for Hogsmeade before. Most dismissed her as a mere bookworm who tried to impress every teacher she encountered, or didn't dare approach her because she was always in Ron and Harry's company. This was a first for her. The first time someone actually wanted to go out with her.

Before either she or Remus could do anything, Harry recovered and started writing on one of his loose pieces of Parchment lying around. He then enlarged it so it was three quarters as wide as his shoulders.

SAY YES OR I'LL SET SIRIUS ON YOU!

That was enough to jolt her out of her shock, and Hermione sent him a glare. He missed it, innocently looking back in the Peverell book as Remus stared at her expectantly. Hermione turned to her new friend, and gave a genuine smile.

"Of course, Remus. I'd love to."

Remus gave a huge sigh of relief, and Lily and Mary did a brief jig and cheer respectively. Even Luna gave a smile from where she sat with her drawings.

"Congratulations." Harry said, who was suddenly staring at a point between her and Remus. "Now you can happily enjoy the village in private."

Before either of them could guess what Harry meant by that, Harry performed an Accio, pointing his wand at the point between them he'd been staring at. The next she knew, a piece of silvery fabric appeared from nowhere and flew into Harry's hand, which he instantly hid underneath his sweater in a swift, clearly well-practised movement.

And standing where they'd been hidden by an Invisibility cloak moments ago were James and Sirius, with Peter in his Animagus form on Sirius' shoulder. Each of them looked like a stag caught in the headlights.

The three of them stared openmouthed at the Marauders, who each smiled sheepishly.

"Oh." Sirius said.

"Potter!" Lily snarled as she got up. Both James and Harry turned to look.

"Yes?" They both asked, both sounding a bit apprehensive.

"Not you, Harry." Lily dismissed, raising her wand at James. "Do you remember what happened the last time you invaded the privacy of one of my friends like that?"

"Vividly," James said, sounding genuinely terrified as he put his hands between his legs and covered his private parts. Peter took the apparent cue and climbed down Sirius' shoulder, rushing down to disappear in the stack next to them to hide between the books.

"And yet you're doing it again," she growled, taking a step closer. Hermione got up as well and raised her own wand. Sirius had been a nuisance the last few weeks when he'd badgered her about her studying habits. He deserved a good hexing, and Lily was handing her the perfect excuse on a silver platter. She'd tried not to the entire time, but sneaking up on them and spying as she was asked out by Remus, their friend? That crossed the line with her.

"Now look, Lily-" Sirius started, but Hermione didn't even give him a chance: she sent the fastest Stinging hex she'd ever managed in her life at him. Her aim was slightly off, though in this case it was for the better: she'd aimed for his chest and head.

She'd hit him in his genitals. His eyes immediately went wide, and he reached down beneath his legs as he slowly crumbled to the ground.

Lily matched her action precisely, though James had at least the sensibilities to dodge. The others nearby, Remus and Harry included, were too busy smirking or laughing to help either the girls or the boys.

The fun ended when Madam Pince swooped down on them, emerging from between a pair of stacks where no one had seen her.

"Duelling in the library?!" she asked, sounding outraged. "Don't you know that is forbidden?!"

"It is," Harry cheekily returned. "But this wasn't a duel. For that, the opponent has to curse back."

Hermione covered her mouth in shock at Harry's cheek, the nerve of him! Remus, James, and even Lily had smirks on their face at Harry's answer, however, and Sirius was too indisposed because of his pain.

Madam Pince was not amused. "Out!" she said, raising her voice angrily as she pointing at the entire gathering, even including Luna and Vinnie, who were sitting quite distantly. "I'm ashamed of all of you! Duelling in the Library, and none of you stopped it. And a Prefect participating, no less!"

"Ssssh." James whispered. "We can't raise our voices in the library."

"OUT!" she all but roared, and they all wasted no time in packing up their belongings and hurrying out of the library, James scooping up Peter's rat form with one hand, as his other arm supported a limping Sirius as he still recovered from that hex. Harry smirked at Hermione and Lily on his right as they got out.

"Well, she's pissed," he stage-whispered. "Reckon it's her time of the month?"

Hermione rolled her eyes upwards in exasperation, missing the happy look Remus wore as he passed her with the remaining Marauders in tow. Wondering not for the first time how she managed to put up with Ron and Harry, she turned to Lily. "See what I have had to put up with all these years?" Hermione asked.

"And you see what toe-rag I had to put up with for four years." Lily sighed, gesturing at James further down the hallway. "It's a miracle we lasted this long."

"Now I'm hurt." Harry mock-pouted. "Truly, a strike across my heart!"

Hermione swatted him across the back of thehead, and vowed that, despite the fact they were his father and friends, he would spend much less time around the last month he was becoming far too much like them. She briefly contemplated reminding him of theirdeal, but thought better of it. Not right now, when Lily was walking right next to them. She liked the girl too much to break her heart herself.


Quidditch Pitch, Hogwarts Grounds, Scottish Highlands.

Harry smiled as he strode onto the pitch. It was the first Quidditch match of the season — predictably, against Slytherin so the finals wouldn't be as violent. And he had to say, he'd missed it. True, at Potter Manor he got to play a few pick-up games with the others, but nothing beat two full teams playing on an actual pitch. Ginny and James smiled as they walked behind him, and Frank waved at the crowd as they entered the field.

Harry quickly spotted where most of the others sat, though it wasn't a challenge: Luna had the quaint qualification of creating quality hats. Her distinctive Lion hat was easily spotted in the crowd, and everyone at Hogwarts he was friends with was sitting close by, except for Remus who would be commentating for the matches.

"And now, entering the field: The Gryffindor Quidditch Team!" the Werewolf called out. "Led by the incredibly skilled keeper Frank Longbottom! Followed by the Chasers: the lovely Marlene McKinnon," said girl in front of Harry blushed but still raised her hand in salute of the crowd. "The obnoxious James Potter," everyone (except James, who looked indignant) laughed loudly at this. "And the new blood, who's also quite the looker I might add."

"Lupin!" Professor McGonagall called out, making Harry chuckle. Oh, how this reminded Harry of his matches with Lee Jordan commentating…

"I'm not lying, am I professor? Anyway, let me introduce Ginny Beckett!" Remus resumed, to great applause. "And our beaters, whom I shall not praise for fear of their egos growing too big-"

"Lupin!" Harry's head of house called again, to the extreme laughter of everyone present, including said beaters.

"The Beaters Atticus Wood and Sirius Black!" Remus called out as if the professor next to him hadn't interrupted, resulting in many cheers, most of which sounded suspiciously feminine. "And last but I can speak from experience certainly not least, the new Seeker Harryyyyy Potter!" The last one wasn't met by as many cheers as most of the players, but that was to be expected. Most of them hadn't seen Harry play yet, and the few that had come to the Seeker tryouts to watch hadn't been allowed to speak a lot about Harry. For once the rumour mill had actually acted in his favour and kept quiet about his skills (no doubt threatened so by the Marauders). Harry knew that would change after this match, though.

"And now, entering the field: The Slytherin Team!" Lupin called out, and across the pitch Harry could see seven green and silver clad players stride towards them, heads held high in haughty, proud sneers. "Introducing the Chasers, team Captain Graham Mulciber and his teammates Cyrus Greengrass and Blake Avery. Following them are the Beaters Norbert Jugson" Harry snorted, reminded of Hagrid's pet dragon in first year by both the name and ugly looks of the Slytherin fourth year. "And Stephen Davis. Then come the Keeper Roxanne Sterling, and Seeker Regulus Black."

Harry looked the team over in surprise. Back in his time, as least as far as Harry could remember, no girl had played in the Slytherin Quidditch Team. In that regard house Slytherin was still quite sexist, even at the time Harry was supposed to attend Hogwarts. For them to allow Roxanne to play, she must be an exceptional keeper. And Regulus was indeed among them, and quickly spotted. Harry had to admit, he looked quite like Sirius, only he'd tied his hair back, his facial features had a slight aristocratic edge to them that Sirius lacked, and his eyes were dark brown instead of grey.

Madam Hooch, looking quite a bit younger than when Harry had last seen her, strode up to the teams as they came to a stop in front of one another, the box with the bludgers, quaffle, and Snitch in her hand.

"Captains, shake hands," she ordered, and Frank walked up and shook the hand of the smaller Mulciber. Afterward, both captains walked back to their teams. At Madam Hooch's signal, both teams mounted their brooms. Harry's Thunderbird broom, easily the best broom on the pitch right now, felt comfortable and familiar, though that was probably because the future Firebolt would be modelled after this one. And while the Thunderbird wasn't nearly as fast, it was still the fastest out there at the moment − and twice as manoeuvrable as the Firebolt, too. Harry would be able to turn around and reverse his momentum in the blink of an eye with this broom, something his Firebolt had trouble accomplishing.

Madam Hooch then put the box with the balls on the ground, and kicked it, catching the quaffle as it flew up in the air while the bludgers and Snitch zoomed across the field, the latter out of sight. Next, Madam Hooch blew her whistle, and all players took off in the air and moved to their positions, while the quaffle was then tossed high into the air by Hooch.

Unfortunately, Mulciber caught it, and he, Greengrass, and Avery immediately sped towards the Gryffindor goal posts. Harry and the Chasers immediately sped to intercept, even as Harry kept an eye open for the Snitch. Unlike Oliver Wood, who had Harry high and dry in the air and completely focused on the Snitch, Frank had a different strategy in mind for the seeker. He wanted Harry involved as a fourth Chaser, multi-tasking between keeping an eye out for the Snitch and immediately chasing it if spotted, and helping Gryffindor get up in the lead against Slytherin.

And Harry had to admit it helped so far, not the least of which because the Slytherins had adopted the same tactic. Mulciber tossed the quaffle to Regulus, who caught it and tried to toss it into the goal post from afar. It was saved, in an admittedly impressive manner, by Sirius, who sent a Bludger directly at it. It worked, and the quaffle ultimately went wide, where James caught it. The Gryffindor didn't stop, but instead used his momentum to fly along the stands, giving his trademark smirks at the occasional person in the stands. Harry himself also sped towards the goal posts across the middle of the field, ready to catch it should James try and pass it to him. Beneath him he saw Marlene do likewise, so James had multiple options should he be blocked.

It worked, as halfway there James suddenly threw it in Harry's direction, and he caught it with his fingertips, straining them in the process by the force of the catch. He made for the goals, where Roxanne was waiting. He raised his arm, made the motion to apparently throw for the farthest hoop… And dropping it into Marlene's hands at the last second as Roxanne sped that way. The chaser who had shadowed him immediately threw it in the middle hoop and scored ten points.

Unfortunately, the Slytherins immediately went on the offensive: Jugson and Davis had gained control of both bludgers, and Regulus of the Quaffle, and the former two were seemingly playing tennis with the bludgers, Regulus following at a short yet safe distance behind them. None of the Gryffindors dared try and steal it, as the bludgers were far too close, and could easily be sent to anyone at the last second. Harry saw why the two Slytherins were so bulky, if that was their preferred tactic.

But Harry wouldn't be Harry if he didn't do something risky. He sped towards the bludgers, trusting his new broom to help manoeuvre between them. He made a slight jump over the first, ducked underneath the second, was forced to swing his legs up as the first was batted back at him, and came close to Regulus. He tried to pry it out of his hands… And cursed as he failed and Regulus sped past. None of the Chasers and Beaters were close enough yet to help, and Frank was distracted as the remaining Bludger was batted towards him, so Regulus, with a skilled feint, made an easy goal.

It went like that for most of the game, James, Ginny, Marlene, and Harry (and surprisingly Sirius, through his technique of batting the Bludger at a Quaffle in mid-air and blocking that way) working together superbly to score against Slytherin, while the storm-waltz, as Sirius had called it during a timeout when Ginny had been hit by a Bludger and needed her ankle numbed, ensured Slytherin also scored points. Before too long, though, Gryffindor was in the lead by 90-50.

Harry was just heading for the quaffle, which Regulus had in hand as he tried to score once again, when light reflected onto his glasses. He risked a look, and saw it: the Snitch, hovering just over the professors' stand on the other side of the field. Harry sped towards it, hoping to catch it before Regulus could. Harry had to admit the Blacks had skill, for Regulus saw Harry speed away immediately, and skilfully passed the Quaffle to Cyrus before following, hot on Harry's heels. Seeming to sense it had been spotted, the Snitch sped off, up into the air, and Harry turned to follow, closing in inch by inch. Regulus, though, didn't let up, and actually gained a few inches, until they were flying side by side. Each gave the other a determined, yet non-hostile glance, before both of them reached out, as they were both almost close enough to grasp it.

The Snitch shot downwards again before either of them could grab it, heading for the stands. Harry immediately and sharply turned around and headed down, while Regulus, who only flew a Cleansweep, was forced to make a wide arc around in order to maintain his momentum. Harry followed it closely, even as it dove into the structural supports underneath the higher stands. Regulus was forced to pull up as he came upon them, being too big and his broom too hard to manoeuvre to catch it there. He still kept pace just outside, though, hoping to catch it if it shot out of there.

It didn't, though, and Harry kept following it. He ducked underneath one support beam, skidded around a column, hot on the trail of the Snitch as it seemed go around the circumference of the pitch. Then, though, came the bigger problem. It headed for the support of the professors' stand, specifically for the area between two narrow support columns that Harry himself was too wide to fly through while riding a broom. Harry looked around and ahead, trying to see where the Snitch would go if it went there. He gulped: most of that was blocked off, and the only other way out was back into the open through a gap in the cloth hiding those supports… Right into Regulus's hands. Harry had no choice: either crash into the supports and hope he could catch it before it dove in there and headed right back into the open as he did, or let Regulus catch it and let Slytherin win the match. And considering Gryffindor was on a three year winning streak it would be humiliating if they lost the match now.

Harry got an idea, something he'd seen tourists do before in tropical regions. It was risky, and if he failed he would crash spectacularly. Not to mention he would break at least a dozen bones and risk his very life. The only pay-off was that he might win the match.

Naturally, he did it: sneaking his wand into his hand as he sped towards the Snitch, which was almost at the columns, he put two sticking charms on the soles of his boots before putting it away again. Then, he moved so he stood on top of the broom, one foot in front of the other as if he were in Hawaii, and let go of the broom with his hands. Putting one arm and hip before the other and hoping he was now thin enough, he sped after the Snitch as it zipped between the columns.

His fingertips grazed the side of the column, but he managed to squeeze through. He reached out with his front-most hand, he tried to grasp the Snitch. He missed, and it headed out, Harry speeding after it. It shot out in the open, and Harry followed suit… Dodging around Regulus, who was so shocked by Harry's sudden appearance he missed the Snitch. Like using a skateboard he rolled around Regulus, who upon missing the Snitch and being outmanoeuvred suddenly was wide and away from the Snitch, speeding away from it. Harry sped towards it, leaning forwards while using his feet to steer the broom.

He leaned forward a bit more... and smiled as his fingers clasped around the Snitch.

"And Potter has caught the Snitch!" Lupin cried out, making nearly the entire pitch cheer for Harry. "Harry has caught the Snitch! I don't know if he was taught on the Continent or in Hawaii, as that is definitely the trademark of a surfer, but Harry has actually caught the Snitch!"

Harry smirked, the sticking charms fading away as he slowly steered to the ground, where most of the people were heading for him to congratulate him for his win. All the rest were bested, however, by the Gryffindor team members, who all landed beside him. He was immediately caught into a hug by James.

"Bloody hell, don't scare me like that again!" he laughed, before looking down. Harry did so too, and laughed. While it was now touching the ground, he still stood on the broom. Harry smirked, and actually let the broom rise a bit so people could see he was still doing it this way.

"And here I thought James was exaggerating when he recommended you!" came the heavy yet happy voice of Atticus. "Damn, that is impressive."

Harry smirked as he looked at his brother. "It's all in the Potter genes," Harry answered, and James and Ginny, who had also managed to land, laughed out loud.

The others were stopped from answering by the arriving crowd, and Harry moved his broom so he could get closer, before finally jumping off and grabbing it with his right hand, his left still holding the Snitch. He was immediately beset upon by Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Peter, with Audrey, Luna, Lily, Sweet, Moliere, and Vinnie close behind them. Mary was a bit further back, talking to one of the Ravenclaws she was talking with at breakfast.

Hermione wasted no time in berating him, even punching him in the arm. "Harry Potter, don't you dare scare me like that again! Don't you know how terrified we were of you flying like that?!"

"Scared?" Ron countered, a smile rivalling that of the Cheshire Cat plastered on his face. "Mate, that was bloody awesome! Why didn't you do this with my brothers present?! Charlie'd go mad with jealousy that he couldn't pull that off!"

"That was impressive!" Audrey complimented. "If you wanted to you could play for Puddlemere United!"

Harry smiled, even as he shook his head. "Thanks, but I have other aspirations in life at the moment."

Audrey and the others looked like they were about to question why, but he was spared when someone firmly grabbed his shoulder from behind. Startled, he looked around, and was pleasantly surprised to see Amelia standing behind him, a large smile on her face.

"Well, you'll certainly give my brother a run for his money," she admitted. "If us Puffs don't win the cup this year, I won't mind if you Gryffindors do so in our stead."

"Glad you approve," He said, smiling at the Head Girl. He was pulled back to reality and out of the moment by Moliere tugging his arm. "I gotta go, or they might start flinging dirt-"

"That's Sacrilege!" Moliere interrupted indignantly.

"-at me," Harry finished. "Talk later at supper?"

"Sure," Amelia said, staring bitterly at Moliere for interrupting the moment. "Can I ask you something later? In private?"

"Sure," Harry said hesitantly, not sure what to say more with the growing crowd around him.

"Great!" Amelia stated cheerfully. "See you then!" With that she walked off, and the gap was immediately closed by more celebrating Gryffindor students, Lily among them. Harry returned to celebrating his great victory against Slytherin, and put Amelia from his mind for the moment. Especially when the Marauders announced there would be a house party after supper.

As he promised, after retelling how he did it at the end of the match and stood on his broomstick at least two dozen times to those that asked, he managed to reach a secluded spot at the Gryffindor table around dinner time, quite close to the professors' table where, for some reason, aside from the first years very few wanted to sit.

Fortunately, Amelia chose that moment to join him there, sitting down in front of him and helping herself to a bowl of stew and a plate of fish and chips. Evidently, she was hungry.

"This private enough, Amelia?" he asked in concern as she started eating. "Or do you want to sit some place else?"

"What, no 'hello, Amelia, how was your day'?" she teased. "And here I thought that unlike your brother and Black, you had manners."

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said, his tone a mix of sarcasm and mock-exasperation before it took on an exaggerated chivalrous note. "Hello, Amelia. How lovely to see you! How has your day been so far, Dear?"

"Much better," Amelia said sarcastically, her tone the same mixture of sarcasm and exasperation. "And for the record, this is private enough. It's not something grave or anything, but it isn't something you ask in front of the Marauders, either."

Harry nodded, realising it was something sensitive. He made a brief check of everyone he knew, and was satisfied to see that aside from Luna, the closest people that knew him were at least a quarter of the table away, and Luna could keep a secret.

"Shoot," he said, his wand in hand under the table casting a privacy charm just in case.

"I'm warning you right now, Harry: I'm nervous, so I'm likely to prattle on. If word of this conversation ever reaches anyone else before the Hogsmeade weekend, I'll hex out your intestines, knot them into a noose, and hang you from them from the Astronomy Tower."

Harry nodded, her fierce tone and threatening look reminding him more of the DMLE head of his own time, the one he'd only briefly seen at his trial and still knew to deeply fear. "I believe you."

"Good," Amelia said, her stern gaze replaced by a nervous look as she put some loose strands of hair back behind her ear. "I like you, Harry. We get along very well during the DA meetings, as well as outside it. But I don't know much about you, which is surprising considering we're almost two months at school already. I mean, I don't know when you were sent abroad, who taught you, where you've actually been most of he time, and…" She trailed off, shaking her head nervously again.

Harry took the brief moment he had to take a good look at her, something he hadn't had the time for before. Most of their conversations had been brief, and in the DA he was too busy instructing or duelling and practising to give the girl a good look over. The only things he knew for sure was that she was athletic, she had shoulder length red hair and one eye a bit worse than the other, for which she wore a monocle whenever she needed to read.

But as he now looked at her, he also noticed a few other things. For one, she had a fine figure, almost hourglass-like even if her chest wasn't as prominent as a few others he'd seen. She was also keen, despite her nervousness still often glancing around and taking in her surroundings, keeping an eye on the Slytherin table as a precaution. Not that anyone would dare do something with all the professors sitting so close, but Harry admitted it was a good habit to get into. Snape and Roxanne and those of the DA seemed more the exception than the rule.

But he was digressing. She also had nice dimples whenever she smiled, something he found quite attractive in her. And not to forget she had hazel eyes that just seemed to entrance him whenever he stared, and he felt a slight stirring in his stomach whenever their eyes met. In short, Harry found her quite attractive and good to look at. And adding her skill in duelling and their matching traits into the mix, he found he actually liked her liked her.

"I want to get to know you better, Harry." Amelia finally started over again, getting over her nerves. "And since a Hogsmeade weekend isn't that far away, I was wondering if… You know… We…"

"If we could go to Hogsmeade together," Harry smiled nervously. He'd never been asked out by a girl before, and his date with Cho Chang hadn't exactly gone wonderfully. He really didn't want to add Amelia to the mix of girls whose dates with him went disastrously. But he found himself actually looking forward to this. Amelia really was good company, and she wouldn't blame him if things went badly. At least, he hoped.

"As friends," she said quickly, though her blush and nervousness showed him she wouldn't mind otherwise. "It would be pretty fast, going from just meeting and partnering up in the DA to going on dates like boyfriends and girlfriends while we barely know one another. I'd like to simply use this weekend to get to know you better. And if it goes well… Well, we'll see how it goes from there, right?"

Harry nodded. That seemed like a good idea at least. It would also help bridge the age gap of two years a bit, and ensure they'd actually have a good foundation of trust before they did anything rash.

"Sure," he answered, smiling at her as she sagged her shoulders in relief. "I'd like that."

Amelia visibly glowed at the news, and he found he actually enjoyed this smile even more. "I'd love that too."

"Good," Harry said awkwardly, before movement caught his attention. He saw James standing there with a pout. He turned apologetically to Amelia. "I'd better go. The Marauders are holding a party to celebrate our win, and-"

"And it would be foolhardy to keep them waiting, especially if they have access to Vin Santorini's 'fireworks' for the night," she said understandingly. "Meet you at the carriages at ten then? Most of the weeks and weekend between then will be filled with homework and studying for my NEWTs, and we'll be too busy at the DA to talk properly."

Harry nodded, and got up. "See you at the carriages!" He said enthusiastically, smiling even more when he saw her blush at his enthusiasm. He was sure the grin was practically splitting his face apart by now.

"Have fun!" Amelia called as she got up, and Harry ended the privacy charm. She walked over to a bulky redhead sitting at the Hufflepuff. Her brother Edgar, he saw when he got a glimpse of his face. Harry gave a final smile, before he schooled his face a bit and turned to his brother.

"What was that all about?" James asked, as Harry joined him and the two walked to Gryffindor tower.

"Just some private stuff," Harry dismissed. "Something 'you don't ask in front of the Marauders.' Her words, not mine."

James' eyes widened a bit, and Harry thought he detected a hint of a smirk, but he relented and stayed silent on the matter. Instead, he directed the conversation elsewhere. "You looking forward to the party?"

"It's just a Gryffindor house party, right?" Harry asked.

James laughed outright, throwing his head back as he answered. "Harry, there is one thing you will learn here: no party is 'just' a party where the Marauders are involved."

It turned out, his father wasn't exaggerating. If anything, he was understating it. When Harry and James arrived at the portrait hole after supper and the Fat Lady let them inside, most of their house had preceded them and the party was already mostly underway, with only a few stragglers missing. Someone had transfigured the usual study tables and large comfy chairs into a bar with bar stools, and tables more suited for a low-level muggle cafe than a common room. Someone (likely Peter and/or Sirius, as their Animagus forms were more inconspicuous) had made a trip to Hogsmeade and brought numerous kegs of Butterbeer that reached up to Harry's hips, as well as three crates with twenty four bottles of Firewhisky each. Beside it stood a table with various snacks, where Ron and Neville were deep in conversation about something. Each of the three piles had a couple of chatting seventh years standing beside it to stand guard to ensure no one underage tried to sneak and steal any and that those of age didn't take more than their fair share. Someone had also placed a music booth, and put Remus at the helm, who took at it with surprisingly great enthusiasm. It had multiple Wizarding Wireless installations playing with seventies Wizarding dance music, which wasn't any different at all from Wizarding wireless music in his own time, Harry realised.

And then there were the students themselves. A couple of burly seventh years were having an arm wrestling contest with numerous people around them betting on the outcome, cheering their respective party on. In a secluded corner Harry saw a group of Muggleborns from various years play Poker in the background, likely covered by a silencing charm, and Lily and Hermione were both sitting in that corner reading and enjoying the silence. Evidently the party was a bit too much for them. In other various study corners he saw quite a few people snogging, including Audrey and Joshua. The centre of the Common Room had been cleared, and most people were dancing in the centre, Marlene and Sirius taking the spotlight with Ginny and Luna dancing close by while Moliere, Vinnie, and Peter cheered them on. There was no sign of Mary at first glance, but when Harry took a quick look around again he saw her snogging a seventh year in one of the study corners, half hidden by the curtains of a nearby window. But what shocked Harry the most was the house itself: even though no one wore uniforms he recognised numerous people from other houses also on the floor, and he saw nearly two times as many students in the magically expanded Common Room as there should be in the entirety of Gryffindor house. He even recognised Cyrus Greengrass and Roxanne Sterling sitting cozily together at the bar, toasting at something before drinking together.

"This is normal around here?" Harry asked in shock as he turned to his brother. No one, not even Fred and George, had managed to pull off a party of this size in the common room in Harry's time. The only large celebration Harry had witnessed were the school championships themselves and the World Cup. And even those Harry had failed to attend entirely, occupied by his godfather's antics after his escape and the fight between Ron and Hermione about Crookshanks and Scabbers, and the Death Eater raid respectively.

"Only if we win either the Gryffindor-Slytherin match or the Quidditch Championship," James assured him. "We have other parties, but those are admittedly less impressive in size than this."

"And McGonagall lets us do this?" Harry asked, not believing that. There was no way the stern head of house and deputy headmistress would stand for this.

"No, but that's the beauty of it," James said before gesturing around. "The Common Room is magically expanded to fit everyone, and the entire tower is under a silencing ward cast by seventh years, so no teacher will hear us as long as the portrait doesn't open. We've silenced and covered the portraits with blankets and curtains, so they can't tell tales either. The house elves agreed to not mention anything as long as we clear out most of the Butterbeer and Firewhisky ourselves. And last but not least: we've bribed Peeves to cause trouble down in the potions labs, which will take hours for the professors to clean up. And even if we're caught, what will they do? Every house has at least twenty students here. They can hardly assign us all detention and take points."

"They could take away Hogsmeade privileges, or call our parents," Harry pointed out, though by now he was grinning almost as much as James. So far the party seemed quite enjoyable, and even Lily and Hermione, the ones Harry expected to object the most, were not only in the room but actively enjoying themselves, even if it was only by reading or striking up conversation with the others enjoying the quiet. That alone was an indicator of success, as both were quite rule-abiding.

"True," James admitted. "But we know of a secret passage near the kitchens that leads to a small shed two hundred meters from the Three Broomsticks. If any of those are taken we'll spread word around about that one, and the rest of us will take the one leading to Honeydukes." He finally looked concerned. "You're right, though: Dad usually takes this kind of thing pretty well, but Mum will send a Howler if we're caught."

Harry nodded. He was in fact planning on using that route himself if he was caught and his privileges taken away. In any case, he wouldn't be the only one caught if McGonagall decided to check up on them. And as for Dorea and Charlus… better to ask for forgiveness than permission, he figured. James seemed to go by the same line of thinking anyway.

Oh, what the hell. He needed to loosen up anyway, with everything that's going on. Knowing his luck he might be kidnapped by Voldemort himself the first step he took out of the castle. He might as well enjoy the opportunity while it lasted.

He smirked, and led James to the Butterbeer table to get some liquid courage, and headed for the dance section afterwards. His mouth dropped open in astonishment when he caught Luna snogging Sirius full on the mouth in the middle of it, Sirius leaning on her arm as Luna had unbalanced him with her enthusiasm, cheered on by Ginny and everyone else. His mouth dropped an inch more when Sirius started to lean into it as he steadied himself.

Harry and James turned to one another in astonishment. "What the hell did we miss while being late?" Harry asked. He'd had no idea Luna would go that far so soon already with her attraction to Sirius. Or that Sirius would take it that well. Then again, Butterbeer and Firewhisky tend to loosen people up and make them forget their inhibitions.

"I don't know James answered, smirking as he saw Peter get out his camera again. "But this one is going into the scrapbook."

Harry smirked, agreeing with James that a younger Sirius and Luna together brought up quite the memorable image. Harry stopped the train of thought there and decided to enjoy the party himself. He didn't need to envision what an older Sirius and Luna together would be like.


Entrance gates, Hogwarts Castle, Scottish Highlands

Luna smirked happily, as she hopped onto the carriage with Neville, Sirius, Peter, Marlene, and Ginny. Seconds before the door closed, Harry hopped in, though, followed closely by Amelia Bones. Through the window in the door she saw James, Remus, Hermione, Ron, Audrey, Vinnie, Mary, and Lily enter the one next to theirs. The door closed and locked, and the Thestrals started pulling them toward Hogsmeade.

Bones was good for Harry, Luna had noticed in the DA. She made him smile, something he didn't do often. At the very least, she'd make a very good friend for him. She didn't expect it to last if their friendship got more serious, though. In that regard they did not go together well enough. Amelia was kind, but too dedicated to the law and her family, and wouldn't give Harry the attention he deserved.

Ginny might do, Luna supposed. True, at the moment the shadow of Harry's Boy-Who-Lived moniker still terrified Luna's friend too much to really talk with him properly. But she was warm, friendly, they knew one another fairly well already, and had a number of common interests. If Ginny could overcome her crush on the image of the Boy-Who-Lived, and start to get to know the real Harry, she might achieve her childhood dream of marrying him.

Then again, Luna herself had her own love life to work on. Ever since the kiss at the party two weeks ago Sirius had promptly clammed up whenever she approached, too nervous or unsettled to really talk with her. A shame, really, since she had started to like Sirius very much. Well, Stubby Bordman, really. You never knew if he took Polyjuice frequently. If he did, Luna would still like him.

She didn't know why though, and that bothered her, which unsettled her even more. Not that she didn't know, though. She was used to not knowing things for certain, like whether the Crumple-Horned Snorkack was real or not, or whether Magicing Morphs really liked to nestle in messy hair. No, what unsettled her was that she was bothered by not knowing. She was usually never bothered by such things. Not even when Hermione doubted the existence of another of the many unknown creatures she informed people about.

Well, she might find out why by taking a closer look at herself and Sirius, so she might know. Then the bothering would stop, and she would be at peace again. There was Sirius: handsome, a bit above average height, a dramatic streak, had a sense of humour that would have Luna in tears of laughter every time were it not for her mother's instilled Occlumency before that accident. He also had a rather nice other form, a dog that she rather liked. She saw it often in her second year, and often gave it some of the biscuits she saved for an afternoon snack for herself. It had looked hungry back then.

Then there was Luna herself. Admittedly eccentric, odd, and with peculiar beliefs that had no physical proof. And yet, before the party and that rather nice kiss, she often saw Sirius glancing at her sometimes when she sat with the people of her year. True, that was mostly the extent of what he did, but Luna liked to think there was more to it. Like there was with Hermione and Remus Lupin.

Now there was a match made to last, possibly even one to be recommended for a soul bond. They were practically perfect for one another: same interests, same morals, same friends that got them in trouble. Yet they differed enough that it wouldn't be too close a match: some of their bad habits were countered by the good ones of the other. An example of this was how Remus's mischievous streak that ensured he fit in so well with the Marauders kept Hermione more social, less tense, and easier to be around. Likewise, Hermione's own fierce willingness to stand up for her beliefs helped keep Remus out of his depressing belief that as a Werewolf he didn't deserve happiness. Really, they worked rather well.

She'd only hoped she and Sirius worked out that well, but her bluntness at the party and the kiss she'd given him had scared him off. Perhaps some of Ginny's advice was right: she was rather forward, admittedly to the point she could scare people off with it.

Hmmmm. Hermione had advised Ginny in early fifth year in their own time that Ginny should date other people so she could talk more easily with Harry. Perhaps Luna could join them on these dates, and see how Ginny acted. It might help her see how she should interact with Sirius.

She tapped Ginny's shoulder. "Ginny?"

"What is it, Luna?" Ginny asked, looking up from the broom magazine she and Marlene had been perusing.

"If you go on a date with someone, can I come with you? I need some more experience myself," she answered, managing to suppress a smirk as everyone, even Sirius, blushed at her openness. True, she was of a healthy enough state of mind to know those type of things could be embarrassing to ask, especially so in the open. But oh how she enjoyed the reactions it got out of people. It also told you a lot about who they really were. For example, if they didn't react, the-

Something hit the carriage, and there was a bright orange flash. Next thing she knew she was flying around as the carriage rolled off the main road, the tracers with the Thestral severed by whatever had attacked them. The door flew open as they tumbled, the locks evidently also damaged by the attack. She was flung from her seat and out the door by a particularly hard bounce, and she landed in the grass, rolling around until coming to a stop next to the stump of a tree.

Shaking, Luna got to her feet. She immediately took in her surroundings: one advantage of Mum's spell was that the Occlumency immediately cleared her head of any confusion or dizziness whenever it hit her. She saw the trail they'd tracked through the land, which led up back to the main road to Hogsmeade. It was two hundred, maybe three hundred meters away, at the top of a hill they'd been traversing on the way to the village. The attack had been well planned: if they were quick, the attackers could get anyone out long before help could arrive.

She turned around and inspected the carriage. It was laying on its side and on fire, a small one on the underside not large enough to really endanger the occupants yet, and one of the wheels had broken off. She wasn't the only one who had been flung out, though, as she saw Ginny's red hair a bit beside it, and Neville was laying in the doorway.

And a group of masked Death Eaters were already at the carriage, with two even heading inside already. Luna ran ahead, drawing her wand. She silenced her footsteps and herself as she ran to them, attempting to sneak up. One of her talents according to the Gringotts test was a very strong affinity for nonverbal magic, which was in turn amplified to very powerful levels by her father's own talent at it. She made the most use of it, and stunned the nearest one as soon as she got in range. They couldn't hurt Harry and Ginny, her first real friends.

The DA had helped, fortunately, as she hit her target immediately upon casting. It alerted the others to her presence, though, and they all turned around. She immediately dove into the long grass of the hill. The Death Eaters wouldn't hesitate to cast a killing curse, and she couldn't dodge that many at once. Maybe stunning one of them so early hadn't been such a good idea, after all.

"Behind us," one of them said. "They got Alecto."

"Leave her, Pyrites," someone inside the carriage said said. "Intel was spot on: all three in one carriage."

"Look out: the Potter's a fighter!" a third called.

Luna raised her head a bit so she could look, and saw an unconscious Amelia Bones being dragged out of the carriage by one of the Death Eaters, with a second grabbing Neville's shoulder. Spells flew out of the carriage, and she heard a distinct thud, even from this distance, which meant one of them had been slammed into a wall violently.

Harry jumped out of the carriage, tackling the Death Eater dragging Amelia.

Then Luna felt a spell hit her from behind from the direction of the road, and she only knew blackness from then on.


Harry shook his head to clear the dizziness. What the hell had hit them? One moment he'd been talking with Amelia on where they would go, the next…

The dizziness cleared, and he looked around. He was still in the carriage, though it was tilted at an angle so the roof was diagonally to the ground, and most of the walls were slightly sagged in. The door was open, torn off its hinges during the fall, and Ginny and Luna were nowhere to be seen. He immediately stood up in alarm, grabbing his wand.

He heard voices outside, and for a moment hoped a teacher had been right behind their carriage and had found them, or that a villager had been on his way to Hogwarts and been there when they'd crashed. He should've known his luck wouldn't last that long, though, for he next heard a recognisable voice belonging to Antonin Dolohov give out orders.

"Search the carriage. No unnecessary killing: He wants you to be able to traverse our world in the open, and you're useless to the Dark Lord if you gain yourself Undesirable status for no reason. I speak from experience he doesn't like that."

Harry tightened the grip on his wand. He was surrounded; everyone else was unconscious or missing. And even if they were awake most of them were crap at duelling anyway, like Marlene and Peter.

One Death Eater appeared in the doorway, blocking out the light. Harry immediately cast a stunner at her, but she dodged aside. She was suddenly felled from behind by a curse as she jumped out of Harry's easy range of hexing, and Harry held out hope they'd been found. That hope was crushed when three more appeared in the doorway to take her place, and shouts came from outside.

"Leave her, Pyrites," Dolohov called back, as he entered the doorway as well, and all four effectively blocked Harry's exit. Harry snarled and blocked out Dolohov's further reply, as he started hexing and cursing and shielding. One hex fortunately rebounded against his shield and hit the rightmost Death Eater in the shoulder, blasting her backwards into the wall of the carriage.

Harry tried to curse a few more, but Dolohov grabbed Amelia's shoulder and started dragging her out, while another, likely this Pyrites, grabbed Neville's shoulder. Harry swore, and bumped the final one standing in the doorway aside and tackled Dolohov, consequences be damned. He understood why they were after him but there was no way they were taking Amelia.

He and Dolohov crashed into the ground. Harry immediately got up as Dolohov let go of Amelia during his fall, and tried to hex him again. Behind the Death Eater he saw a number of other students heading towards them to help, escorted by Professor Clarke, who ran forwards and tossed a potion at the nearest Death Eater, which exploded in his face. The Death Eater landed hard, but was still conscious and Portkeyed away. Another tried to duel Clarke, but he still was unprepared for the Professor's apt use of potions. A blinding potion was thrown in front of the Death Eater, and in his moment of confusion Clarke swiftly stunned him. Harry had to admit he saw the merit of what Clarke had been trying to teach them.

His moment of distraction cost him, though. Dolohov tossed something against his head, and he stumbled, falling over Amelia and landing with his feet on top of her. Next, he felt a dizzying sensation as something hooked behind his navel and he was suddenly speeding forwards in a howl of wind and swirling colours. The very next moment he felt himself and Amelia slam into the ground somewhere, and he winced in pain at a bad landing.

He'd been hit with a Portkey, he realised immediately. The question was where he was at the moment.

"Surprise!" a smooth voice called behind him as he rose to his knee, and he turned around. Only to be hit by a mild blasting curse to the chest. It wasn't a hard or strong one: all it did was throw him backwards a few meters to slam hard onto his back. But it had the desired effect: he was in so much pain and so dizzy at the moment he wouldn't be able to put up a fight. He also thought he'd broken a rib, judging by his difficulty breathing.

"K-Karkaroff," He managed as he recognised the voice of Durmstrang's future headmaster, shakingly raising his wand to point at the Death Eater as he stepped over the unconscious Amelia to get at him. Karkaroff was quicker, casting a quick and silent Expelliarmus.

"Oh no, you don't!" he said with a heavily accented voice as he caught Harry's wand. Harry managed to get himself to his hands and knees, and tried to rise. But someone very strong slammed his fists into his back, bringing him back down to the ground. Someone else kicked his hand out from under him as he caught his own fall, and he still managed to land face-first into the floor, his glasses cracking as they were smashed against the stone. He was hauled upwards by two very strong pairs of arms, and saw Karkaroff looking down at him.

"Lights out!" Karkaroff said enthusiastically, and he gave Harry a hard kick to the face. Then Harry knew no more as he slipped into unconsciousness himself.


* = See Author's Note at end of Chapter 2


Cliffhanger, people. Sorry, but I couldn't resist. Up next: Potter's fate, reactions to the attack from Hogwarts and Dumbledore, Neville gains an ally he's wary of, and the (unfortunately inevitable) rescue.

Bomb voyage!

Lucian