Disclaimers: See Chapter 1 for more info.
The next day, Frodo confided with Aria and Sam over the task Dumbledore wanted him and Harry to complete. He received mixed signals from Aria, who fell silent right after he finished explaining things. Sam, on the other hand, made a suggestion to Frodo.
"Why not talk to Slughorn after class?" Sam asked Frodo. "That way, Mr. Slughorn can tell you what's going on with these Horcruxes."
"Sounds like a good plan." Frodo said, his attention returning to Aria. "Aria, you all right?"
"Do you remember what we talked about when we were twelve?" Aria asked, looking up at him.
"What?" Frodo was stunned. Why would Aria bring up such an old memory? A memory that he didn't remember. "What memory was that?"
"About the toys that talked to me and how you said it was all in my head, that my mind was playing tricks." Aria said, stiffened.
"Was it?" Frodo asked her, confused.
"Frodo, I may be hearing voices and you don't even care. It's not all in my head!" Aria spat, infuriated.
"You better speak to her, Mr. Frodo." Sam whispered in Frodo's ear.
"Sam, Aria's talking nonsense!" Frodo whispered back.
"Maybe she isn't." Sam admitted, aloud. He told Aria, truthful. "There are times when I see shrews wandering down the corridors."
"You're joking." Frodo giggled. "Come on, Sam." His smile went away. "You are serious."
"Yup. Vile little varmints." Sam looked up, taking off down the corridors. "I'll get that shrew yet!"
"That's exactly what I mean." Aria told Frodo. "Toys aren't the only things I've heard that others haven't. Sometimes I see cats. Other times, I see and hear you when you aren't around." She looked up, sheepish. "Do you believe me?"
Frodo was silent. So, toys weren't the only thing Aria was hearing. Then again, he wasn't being very supportive of her. What did he see and hear that others didn't? Thestrals, for one. And he could foretell things? Maybe Aria was going somewhere with this.
"I believe you." Frodo admitted, calming down.
"You do?" Aria's smile brightened the room. "I thought you didn't believe me."
"Aria, I too have visions and I've seen thestrals. You say you have vivid dreams." He approached her.
"Do you think they're all connected?" She asked, curious.
"Who knows?" Frodo chuckled. "Just know that you have someone to talk to, who knows what you're saying."
"Great!" Aria said with a sigh. "Good luck with Slughorn."
"I will. Good luck with your voices." Frodo said in return. Aria kissed him on the cheek, running off a moment later. He smiled. Finally, the truth was out! Now they could all relax. He just hoped that Sam did catch that shrew or whatever he was seeing.
.
Potions' lesson that afternoon proved to be the same as any other lesson. Frodo did his best to stay focused, but some of the Sorcerer's notes were a little hard to read. He couldn't even tell if the Sorcerer wanted him to shove a bezoar down a victim's throat to cure poisons. Harry got that answer right, whereas he fell silent.
That wasn't the least of his problems. When class was over, he hung back with Harry. That surprised Slughorn.
"Harry, Frodo, shouldn't you be off to your next lesson?" Slughorn asked, confused.
"Sir, Frodo and I were wondering what you knew about Horcruxes." Harry asked the professor.
"Dumbledore put you up to this. Didn't he?" Slughorn asked, understanding.
"Well, maybe a little." Frodo insisted.
"Well, you two saw the memory. You know I don't know anything – anything – about Horcruxes. Now be on your way." Slughorn moved Harry and Frodo out of the classroom.
Frodo shook his head. He turned to Harry and said, "This was a bad idea."
"Do you think we'll get the memory out of Slughorn?" Harry asked him.
Naturally, Frodo would have gone for reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince book, but he decided not to. It was better that some events were left to unfold on their own. He chose a different route when answering Harry's question.
"I don't know." Frodo said. "But we better find a way to get him to divulge his true memory."
"We'd better come up with a plan. Dumbledore needs us to get that memory." Harry told him, on the way up the stairs.
"We'll find a way!" Frodo cried. "I know we will."
"How?" Harry asked him. He understood. "I'll try again. Okay? One of us is bound to find the answer."
"Right." Frodo said, watching Harry take off. It was better to let events unfold, but this couldn't just sit and wait. How were they to get Slughorn to reveal his memory? They were making this harder than it looked. He wasn't sure how much time they had before Dumbledore needed that memory. For now, he would just have to go to his next class and hope for the best. Wherever hope came from.
.
Frodo spent the next few days keeping quiet about Horcruxes. In time, Slughorn returned to his affectionate state towards him and Harry. Maybe things weren't so bad. But then, he and Harry did need that memory.
"Well, you're lucky Slughorn's back to normal." Aria told him, as they ate lunch.
"Still, I can't help wondering if Slughorn has the true memory or not." Frodo admitted. He asked, curious. "How's your voices?"
"Well. Still arguing, but they're mostly well." Aria shrugged. "It's hard admitting it. Now that I have, I'm having a hard time adjusting."
Frodo chuckled. "Don't we all?" He asked, curious. "So, when's Apparition?"
"Sometime in February." Aria answered. "Do you think we'll have any luck with it?"
"If we're lucky, we'll pull the exact same trick you pulled." He admitted. "When you used apparition for the first time?"
"That was mere chance that I succeeded at it. I don't know if I'll be lucky again."
"Well, we'll wait and see. Won't we?"
"I guess we will." She said, smiling at him.
There was a brief moment of silence. The silence passed with them eating the rest of their food. Frodo hoped she was right, but then who knew what the Apparition lessons were like. He would just have to wait and see. When the time came, he hoped he was prepared for the lessons. If he was lucky, Apparition wouldn't be too hard a class to take.
.
The snow melted in February, only to be replaced with a cold, dreary wetness. The sixth years' first Apparition lesson was to take place on a Saturday in the Great Hall, instead of the grounds. This was where Frodo met up with Aria, Sam, Harry and Hermione. Ron had come down with Lavender Brown, who he was dating.
There were no tables in the Great Hall. The floor was entirely empty. The Heads of Houses were present – McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout and Snape – as well as a short wizard. The wizard's name was Twycross and he told the students to move five feet away from each other. Frodo did this, and yet he couldn't help hearing Lotho making complaints. He couldn't take it. He followed Harry over to Lotho, Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle, who were in a bit of an argument.
"You know, Lotho. I would try using the coaxing method." Frodo suggested aloud. "It's really useful."
Lotho moved close to the gentle-hobbit. "I'd like to hear you say that again!"
"Well, I'm not asking you to stop. I'm asking what you're doing." Frodo asked, cheekily.
"All right, that's it!" Lotho stuck his index finger at Frodo's face. "I'm warning you."
"Quiet!" one of the Heads of Houses announced.
Frodo hoped to pull a trick on Lotho or punch his lights out. He would have chosen either one, if he didn't have to return to Aria and Sam in low spirits. He found his spot behind Aria, five feet away from her. Twycross waved his wand, causing hoops to appear before the students. So, this was why they needed to stand five feet away from each other.
"Now remember the three D's: Destination, Determination, Deliberation!" Twycross announced for all to hear.
Frodo fixed his gaze on the hoop. However, his mind simply wouldn't stop thinking about Lotho and his need to protect Malfoy. What was he up to? What was he doing? Frodo returned his concentration to the hoop. What were the three D's again?
"—THREE!"
Frodo fell backwards, lost in a haze. He looked around to find people staggering. He did his best to stand up, but nearly lost his balance. Aria and Sam were no better off. Sam staggered and swayed. Aria collapsed on her back. He nearly helped her out, had Twycross decided they needed to try again.
The second attempt was no better than the first. The third was just as bad. By the fourth, Susan Bones wept. Her leg stood five feet away from where she started. She'd been Splinched and needed to be taken to the hospital wing. That ended the lesson, with Twycross waving his wand and making the hoops vanish. There was much talk afterwards over what they all experienced. Frodo returned to Sam and Aria, as they left the Great Hall.
"Oh, that reminds me!" Aria told Frodo. "We're to have our final lesson in March. I trust it will be after Ron's birthday."
"What lesson?" Frodo and Sam asked in confusion.
"Frodo, don't you remember? Our writing lesson, of course!" Aria told him, furious.
"Right." Frodo said, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, I must say it's been a very interesting lesson." Sam admitted. He rushed off to find Rosie. "I'll see you two later!"
"Right." Frodo waved to him. He returned his gaze to his girlfriend. "Lotho's been acting strange. He's sticking with Malfoy more than ever."
"You think that's strange? Sam and shrews are just… does he really see shrews?" Aria asked, concerned.
"He said so himself. I'm not in the Hufflepuff common room to know Sam's business." Frodo admitted. "Maybe he was doing it to give you encouragement. But I have seen thestrals."
"I know. We're practically the same when it comes to things like this." Aria said, nearly walking away. Frodo pulled her back.
"Wait. You haven't seen anyone die. I have!" Frodo retaliated.
"No." Aria said, stunned. "But I'm just saying that you're not the only one who sees things. That's what I meant."
"Right." Frodo said, sighing. "Well, I'm going to find out what Lotho's up to."
"Good luck." Aria said, walking away from him.
"Thanks." Frodo said, wondering if he should find her again and apologize or she him. He wasn't surprised when Aria returned to him, her eyes sorrowful.
"Look, I'm sorry for acting shrewdly. I just hope you don't have an obsession with finding out what Lotho's doing. That's all." Aria said, shrugging her shoulders. "Just be careful."
"I will and thank you. You're forgiven." He told her, running off.
"Good luck. I'll see you back in the common room!" Aria said, waving to him.
"You too!" He waved back to her.
He searched for Lotho within the next few weeks, but he hardly found any trace of him. He even consulted with Harry about the situation. It was time to pull out the Marauder's Map and find out just what Lotho was hiding. It turned out that Lotho and Malfoy were disappearing off the map. Were they leaving the school grounds?
What's more, Malfoy wasn't with Crabbe and Goyle. How could best friends, such as those three, decide to be parted from each other? Frodo understood when he saw Ron and Hermione inches away from each other and not talking. He guessed these things happened when they got older.
.
February moved into March with no change in the weather, other than it was windy and wet. Ron's birthday had come. He was seventeen and given a shower of presents from his friends and family. Aria even thought to give him a box of pumpkin pasties.
"I ordered those pasties especially for you, Ron!" Aria said, delighted.
"Thank you." Ron was smiling.
Frodo laughed. "Well, I think we both pitched in on that one." He added. "While we're on the subject of food, here." He gave to Ron a box of Bertie Botts' Every Flavour Beans.
"Nothing can go wrong. Can it? What's the harm in a few sweets?" Ron asked, stuffing his face with the pasties.
Aria stifled a laugh. Even Frodo noticed she was unusually happy today. "What is it?"
"Oh nothing." Aria said, still grinning.
Frodo's eyes widened. "You have to keep your secrets."
"Well, just know that today should be quite interesting." Aria said, bursting into laughter.
"Girls." Ron said, shaking his head. "You don't know what's going on in their heads."
Aria couldn't have been more right. Ron ended eating a box of cauldron cakes later that evening, experiencing love potion and poison all in one night. With Harry's luck and a bit of heroics, by shoving a bezoar down Ron's mouth, he saved his best friend from death's grip. Slughorn never should have offered that oak matured mead. Not to Harry and especially not to Ron.
What a night.
Thanks for reading. :)