"It's my fault," Harry said. "The whole reason I was there was to protect him, and I let my guard down."

Ron didn't say anything. He just looked at the floor.

Harry hadn't seen Hermione yet; Ron had been there when she'd gotten the news. Harry couldn't imagine what it would be like; she'd been so close to him that they'd actually been the same person for a short period.

It was hard enough for Harry to process, and he hadn't worn the same skin as Steven or known what he thought. He hadn't spent a quarter of the time with him that Hermione had.

Ron hadn't told him how she'd reacted, but from the way he was avoiding looking at Harry, it couldn't have been good. Ron hadn't said much, which was unusual for him; he still looked a little shocked. Harry imagined that he probably looked the same way.

Harry wished he could have stayed at St. Mungo's, but the risk of more assassins coming had been too great. Moody had told him that his presence was going to put Steven in even more danger.

So now he sat waiting with Ron in the Great Hall. They were there because it was the only place they wouldn't run into other students, not at this hour. Going back to the common area was out of the question; his classmates were sure to have questions the moment they saw his face.

The library was out, and the Room of Requirement was known by anyone in the Defense Association.

"Wait till his aunts here about it," Ron said finally. "After the way Hermione reacted, I wouldn't want to be the person who told them."

The gems hadn't even occurred to Harry. Now that Ron mentioned it, he felt his guilt growing even more intense. The gems were Steven's family, far more than the Dursleys had ever been for Harry. The thought of the look in their eyes was even more painful than the thought of what they might do, and that was bad enough.

He heard the rustling of robes, and he looked up.

Snape had managed to get within a few feet of him without Harry even noticing. It only highlighted how foolish he'd been to think he could bodyguard anyone, much less Steven.

"How is he?" Harry asked. He felt himself tensing as he waited for Snape's answer.

Snape was silent for a moment before saying, "He's alive; any normal Wizard would have expired hours ago from the wound alone, much less the poison on the blade."

Apparently the bit about the unknown poison was actually true, although the assassin had wounded herself superficially her wound wasn't poisoned, and so far neither prisoner had been willing to talk. Under Veritaserum they'd admitted that they didn't know what the poison was; they couldn't reveal what they didn't know.

Someone had supplied them with the poison, and Sirius and Lupin were out searching for the ones who had done it, even though the Ministry was actively looking for Sirius.

Snape had been helping the Mediwitches at St. Mungos. He had more knowledge of gem physiology than anyone outside of the Ministry, and they, for some reason were not releasing records.

Harry thought it was because he wasn't human and they didn't care what happened to him. It was typical Ministry shortsightedness.

Frank Longbottom wasn't the only Auror permanently disabled. If Steven could recover even a portion of them, he'd do a huge service to their families and to the Ministry itself.

"There are going to be questions," Snape said. "The Daily Prophet is already preparing an article questioning why you were placed at risk."

"I don't care about that," Harry said. "Is Steven going to be O.K?"

"No one knows," Snape said. He scowled. "We won't know more until his "aunts" get back from their trip with Dumbledore."

Harry nodded. He supposed the gems would know more about Steven's physiology than any human. Snape had only been studying Steven casually for a few years. The gems had known him for his entire life.

It was the waiting that was going to be the hardest.

"If you can't do it at a time like this, there is no way you'll be able to stop Voldemort from breaking into your mind to get at our deepest secrets." Sirius said quietly.

Sirius had summoned him to the temple, which made Harry a little nervous. He didn't particularly want to be here when the gems returned, especially if they hadn't yet heard what had happened. Sirius didn't seem worried, though.

"Shouldn't you be out looking for the source of the poison that they used on Steven?" Harry asked.

"We got him," Sirius said. "He's a minor death eater, an apothecary who specializes in poisons. He may have immunized himself against veritaserum and some of the other methods, but Snape is trying Legilimancy now."

"I thought Snape was better at Occlumency," Harry said.

"He is, but out of the three of us he's the best Legilmens," Sirius said. "Remus is helping him. In a group like that three is too many."

"So this is just a way to keep me busy?" Harry asked.

Sirius shook his head. "There are likely secrets that need to be revealed, and soon. Given what's happened, I'd imagine that things are likely to get ugly."

Harry nodded, slowly. From what Steven had told him, the gems had sworn to protect humanity. However, that was in another universe, and that was a humanity that hadn't killed or almost killed the child they loved.

It was possible that they'd go after Voldemort before they were ready, and that would lead only to disaster.

"Fine," Harry said. "We've been at this for months."

"You almost had it last time," Sirius said.

Hermione had mastered it almost a month ago. They no longer took lessons together. After this, harry wondered if they would again.

"Legilmens," Sirius said, letting him know they were beginning.

"You've done it," Sirius said. "and just in time."

The familiar popping sound of apparition told him that someone was in the part of the cave not covered by the Hogwart's wards.

Now that Harry thought about it, apparating to the Chamber of Secrets then sneaking into Hogwarts would be one way to get around the wards; he'd have to mention it to Dumbledore the next time he spoke to him.

It was the gems, and Dumbledore and Hermione were with them. Although she looked pale, she didn't look devastated, In point of fact, she looked much calmer than he would have expected, especially given what happened to Steven.

Sapphire seemed as calm as always, although Harry hadn't really seen her that often. Pearl on the other hand looked distraught. He hands were trembling, and she was biting her lip. Peridot, for all she normally seemed unconcerned with human emotions looked worried.

Amethyst simply looked murderous.

Harry found himself taking a step back despite himself. He'd seen the damage Amethyst could do on multiple occasions, and the last place he wanted to be was on the receiving end of her anger.

"So there are paths where he will be all right, and paths where he won't," Hermione was saying to Sapphire. "What do we have to do?"

"I can show you," Sapphire was saying. "Some of it depends on Steven and the choices he makes."

Harry stepped out into the light, and Hermione stopped. Her expression tightened as she caught sight of him, but she didn't say anything.

She'd warned them, but they hadn't listened, and now Steven felt guilty.

"He's ready," Sirius said.

Sapphire stared at them both for a long moment before finally nodding.

"There's a secret," Sirius said to Harry. "The deepest secret held by the entire Order. We've been waiting to tell you until we knew you were ready."

"Until you knew I wouldn't accidentally betray you to Voldemort," Harry said, scowling. "What is it?"

The gems glanced at each other, their faces expressionless.

Hermione glanced back at them, then she said, "Sapphire's a seer."

"Like Trelawny?" Harry asked. He wasn't quite sure why having the ability to make a vaguely accurate prediction once or twice in a lifetime was such a big deal, but Hermione seemed to be impressed.

"Nothing like her," Hermione said. "She can see the future perfectly."

Harry stared at her. It would explain how they'd been able to divert attention from the Defense meetings when more than a tenth of the school was going to them. It would also explain Hermione's smug confidence throughout the year.

"Why didn't she see this, then?" Harry asked angrily. "You used it to keep me out of trouble all year, but you couldn't use it to keep Steven from getting hurt?"

He couldn't help the anger in his voice. He'd gone over what had happened in his mind a thousand times, thinking about the things he might have done differently. He could have reacted a little faster, or he could have made Steven be a little more cautious.

If he'd only been watching, been more alert, more constantly vigilant.

He'd wished he'd had a time turner, although they couldn't actually change what had already happened, which made them seem useless to Harry.

Dumbledore gestured, and a large table and numerous chairs shimmered into existence. He hadn't even used his wand.

He sat down heavily. Whatever they had been doing had taken a toll on him; he was visibly exhausted. He gestured for Harry to sit, and after a moment he did.

"Her visions of the future are accurate, but they are only visions of possible futures," Dumbledore said. "Imagine you are following a river. Sometimes it will split and branch off, and you have a choice about which branch to follow."

Harry frowned. "I don't understand."

Hermione took a seat. "Every time you make a decision the future changes. Maybe you turn right instead of left, or you decide to practice Quidditch instead of studying for your test. Most of the time it doesn't make much of a difference, but sometimes..."

She looked down at her hands. "Sometimes it can be the difference between life or death."

"Travel too far down one path in the river and you don't have time to investigate the others," Dumbledore said. "Often it is better to investigate many pathways nearby than one further down the line."

Sapphire floated toward the table. "When I was younger, my people had little free will. They performed as they were designed, and so I believed there was a single,immutable future. It wasn't until I came to Earth that I realized that the future was not set in stone."

"Yeah," Amethyst muttered. "Humans are crazy unpredictable."

"So you were busy looking into...whatever you were looking into and didn't notice what was going to happen to Steven until it was too late," Harry said.

Dumbledore nodded. He looked down at his right hand and subconsciously rubbed his ring finger. "It's important work, and it's already saved lives."

"What about Steven's life?" Harry asked. He looked at Sapphire. "Is he going to be O.K.?"

She glanced back in the direction from which they'd came.

The sound of someone apparating was followed by rushed footsteps. Lupin staggered into the room; he was clearly out of breath.

"We managed to learn what kind of poison they used, and Snape got Steven the antidote," he said.

Harry felt a sudden feeling of relief.

"But the Ministry arrested Snape and took Steven into protective custody, even though the mediwitches warned that he was still too injured to be moved."

Harry stared at him; he could understand Snape; it was known that he was a former Death Eater and considering that he was also one of Dumbledore's supporters, it made sense that he would be arrested. He didn't understand why they would have taken Steven, who hadn't done anything.

"The Ministry just passed a law saying that half-humans have no more rights than non-humans, and they've reclassified beings as beasts."

This was going to mean war; not just with the goblins, but with the giants and vampires and werewolves and centaurs.