Chapter Fifteen

Dinner that evening was not a pleasant experience. Harry had no objection to the fish pie, which was one of his favourites, but the constant whispers around him he would have rather done without.

His yelling at Professor Umbridge had spread around the school faster than even the normal speed of which rumours spread. On top of this, no one seemed to care any more that Harry could hear them.

Slytherin table rarely said anything against its own house if the other houses were involved but the other three houses seemed to have no issue with talking loudly whenever Harry was near.

"He says he saw Cedric die."

"He says it was You-Know-Who."

"He says he duelled with him."

"As if."

Harry ignored them, "I… I just wish people had had more time at school before Dumbledore had to send everyone home for their heads to be filled with the crap the Daily Prophet is putting out."

Daphne nodded, "That would have been useful for sure. Unfortunately things like the Daily Prophet will always exist and always cater to the lowest common denominator."

Gemini glared at him down the table.

"What does she want?" Pansy hissed.

Gemini was sitting, picking at her food with a brother either side of her and a gaggle of friends. They were all talking, laughing loudly. Rodolphus was clearly the one currently holding court, even if Gemini was in the middle.

"I mean the Potter boy, look at him!" Rodolphus laughed, "You might as well have said Corvus here beat You-Know-Who!"

Gemini glared at her brother, "I think, we should turn to more pleasant topics, brother. Enough of the Potter boy. I will say though, if Potter beat the Dark Lord, it was no more than luck. Now, someone who's had a Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson tell me what Umbridge is like, are the rumours true?"

Millicent was more than happy to shuffle closer to Rodolphus and relay the whole story of how Harry had a melt down in the middle of class.

Harry felt his blood boil, he was about to shout something when Daphne put a comforting hand on his, "Harry calm down." she whispered, "You know they're not worth it."

Harry nodded, he did know that, of course he knew that but it was still there, like it was something more than he could control. He shook his head and focused on finishing his dinner as soon as he could so he could get going on his homework.

Severus rose from the teachers table and walked quickly over, "Mr Potter, your potion was most unsatisfactory. Please see me in my office after dinner." He didn't say anything else before leaving the room quickly.

Harry sighed, "It wasn't that bad."

"Yes it was, Harry." Draco said, giving him a kick under the table.

Harry's brain caught up, "Well, I didn't say it was great."

He finished his food quickly, skipping pudding and heading down to Severus's office. He knocked once and the door swung open. Severus was sitting behind a large pile of marking, his quill scratching away.

"Come in, Mr Potter."

Harry went through the door and shut it firmly behind him, "It sounds so weird when you say that."

Severus smiled, "You're telling me? I'm sorry for the formality, Harry. Professor Umbridge made a point of telling me how hard it must be to have a step son that goes to school where I work and to keep appropriate boundaries."

Harry took a step forward and sat down on the other side of the desk, "I assume you heard what your 'step son' did in her class today?"

"Harry I have viewed you as my son since you were a baby and I still do, she… Professor Umbridge seeks to divide us, anyone who stands against the Ministry cannot be allied." Severus assured him, "But yes, I did hear what happened and I must say, challenging her like that was not the smartest of moves."

Harry looked down to his fingers, "Yeah I know. She was calling me a liar, saying I made it all up."

Severus nodded, "I know. We know the truth, however, and that is all that matters."

Harry nodded, "I know. I will try harder in future."

"Good." Severus said, "I would say your potion was actually very good, although you forgot to add the hellebore."

Harry grinned, "Yeah I remembered too late. Pansy suggested that adding it in late might not be the best idea in the world."

Severus rolled his eyes, "Well at least your friends have some sense; you would have had a far worse potion had you not listened to them. When is your detention?"

"Tomorrow evening, five o'clock." Harry said.

Severus nodded and stood up to move round the desk, "Just try and keep your head down. I've heard the rumours that Umbridge is not having any practical magic in her class."

Harry nodded, "Yes. At least that's what she's saying at the moment."

"Yes I thought that might be the case, well 'feared' might be a better word that thought." Severus said, "If you need any help, put a little star on the corner of your potion label and I will call you, and your friends back to my office."

"Thank you Dad." Harry said, giving him a half smile.

Severus wrapped him in a hug. Harry realised there was only half a dozen inches or so between their heights now he'd grown so much over the summer.

"Right." Severus said after a moment, "I don't think it would be worth the risk of you staying too long currently. There are many people watching us at the moment."

Harry nodded, "Yeah, you're right. It's good to know you have my back though."

Severus smiled, "Harry, I will always have your back."

Harry wondered through the corridor alone. He knew his friends would be waiting for him, tucked by the fire working on their already large piles of homework, but it was strange to be walking the corridor alone.

"Harry!" Ron called, "What are you doing down here?"

"I'm on the way to the common room, I was called into see Professor Snape about my potion." Harry said, slowing down, it's not like there was anywhere he could hide down here, "What about you?"

"Same, well about the potion bit." Ron said, shrugging, "I think I messed mine up a bit."

Harry remembered the bright green sparks and foul smell that Ron's potion created, "Yeah it was a tricky one."

Ron looked awkwardly at Harry, "Seamus doesn't believe you; his Mum didn't want to let him come back this year because of the things the Daily Prophet is saying about you, and Dumbledore."

Harry nodded, "Good to know. I think, unfortunately, a lot of people believe that crap."

Ron nodded, still looking awkward and very serious, "Yeah… yeah… there's no truth in it, is there? I mean, I know Mum and Dad and everyone in the Order think that You-Know-Who is back but… well, it's just a really dramatic story, you know?"

Harry took several deep breaths, wishing he'd just kept walking and ignored Ron calling him, "Bit of a difficult one to make up, really. Look, everything I've said is true, OK?"

Ron nodded, "Yeah, I mean I believed you, it's just-"

"You wanted to check?" Harry sighed, "Yeah well, I guess I can't really blame you there."

Ron looked rather guilty, "Sorry."

Harry shrugged, "You'd better get to Da… Professor Snape, he doesn't like to be kept waiting."

"Oh yeah. See you around Harry." Ron said, waving goodbye.

Harry was glad he was alone then. He was fed up of people doubting him, of acting like he was insane or some kind of nut case who loved attention so much he was willing to make up the most ridiculous of stories.

There was a part of Harry that wished he hadn't been allowed to go back to school; it would of saved him from having to deal with stupid people and their stupid closed mindedness. He would be home, having read to Danica before she went to bed, sitting with hot chocolate, maybe playing exploding snap with Sirius and Nikka.

Harry shook his head. He couldn't think like that; for all that would be easier, it wasn't what was right. Harry needed to be at school, surrounded by people so he could show them that they were wrong.

He sighed and wandered to the common room, the need for hot chocolate and card games could be sorted at least. Harry grinned as he saw his friends, as predicted, huddled around a table near the fire, working on their homework.

"Hi Harry." Draco called, shuffling over to make room for Harry.

Harry smiled and sat down, digging his homework out of his bag. Daphne handed over her notes from Divination.

"These should help with you dream journal." Daphne said, "According to that awful book, these are the details you need."

"Well I know I'm making it all up." Pansy said, "I don't want her nosing around my real dreams."

Harry had to agree, he wasn't fond of the idea of anyone messing around with his dreams let alone Ron and Professor Trelawney.

"I fancy hot chocolate." he sighed, looking at the pile of homework he had after just one day.

"I'm on it." Daphne grinned.

She returned a few minutes later with a tray of steaming mugs, topped with whipped cream. Harry took a deep sip, feeling himself relax.

"So, what did Professor Snape need to talk to you about?" Pansy asked, looking around to make sure they weren't over heard.

Harry shrugged, he didn't feel like he could really talk about it here, "Just wanted to say he thought my potion wasn't up to what he expected from an O.W.L student." he said, writing down quickly what actually happened and passing it around.

"We can go over some Potion basics tomorrow if you'd like." Daphne offered, "Down by the lake."

Harry smiled and nodded, "Yeah, maybe get Hermione and Neville to give us a hand. I mean, the more studying the better this year."

Draco nodded in agreement, "Yep. Sounds like a plan."

Harry turned back to his homework, between them they were managing to make a fairly good dent in the pile.

He looked over to the window. Gemini was sitting on the higher level of the common room, next to the only window above the level of the lake, pretending to read, looking up and the sky every so often.

"Stop looking." Rodolphus said, in a bored voice, "We'll get news when they've got some free time."

Gemini glared at him, "Where is Corvus?"

Rodolphus shrugged, "How should I know?"

Gemini clenched her fists to stop herself from smacking him one, "You… we agreed we should keep a better eye on him, under the circumstances."

Rodolphus rolled his eyes, "Please. What on earth could he possibly do? He's just a kid."

Gemini snapped her book shut, "We are all being watched right now." she hissed, "Our family is at the centre of something that is going to change the world, we cannot have that pathetic little… he is family, therefore, if he is judged and found wanting, so are the rest of us."

Rodolphus shook his head, "You're so bloody dramatic. I'll go look for him later."

"I'll go now. I would prefer this done correctly." Gemini sniffed, leaving the common room.

Corvus was sitting in the library, working on his homework with Thomas. They were lay outs for greenhouses with a set list of plants that they had to arrange in the best layout to insure optimum growth.

"Is this right?" Thomas asked him.

Corvus looked over it and smirked, "Not even close. You'll just end up with a lot of shrivelled seedlings if you do that."

Thomas dramatically flopped his head onto the table, "You'd think I'd get at least a little bit of my brother's ability for Herbology."

Corvus smiled, "It's fine. Look, Borage prefers to be in average fertilised soil, dragon dug is too strong for it. It's also a good idea to plant it around strawberries or something else that will attract bees, so I'd stick it next to… Gem… what, what are you doing here?" the smiled slid from Corvus's face as he saw his sister, glaring at him.

"I could as you the same thing, dear brother. Who's this? He's not a Slytherin." Gemini hissed.

Thomas coughed awkwardly, "I'm Thomas, Thomas Longbottom."

Gemini let out a nasty laugh, "Well at least it's only a blood traitor, not a mud blood or something worse." she muttered under her breath, "You're a Gryffindor aren't you? All the Longbottoms are in that house."

Thomas nodded, "Yeah. What's it to you?"

Gemini glared at him, "Come along Corvus." she said, slamming his books shut before shoving them, roughly into his bag and holding it out for him, "I'll help you with your homework, in our common room."

"Actually I was just-" Corvus said quietly.

"Now." Gemini snapped.

Corvus stood up, slamming his hands on the table, earning him an angry look from Madam Pince. He said goodbye to Thomas before leaving the library.

"I'm allowed to have friends." he hissed at her.

Gemini grabbed his arm, digging her nails into his skin, "I'm going to talk to Mater and Sir about you not coming back to school next year, it has been a terrible effect on you."

"Why?" Corvus asked, yanking his arm free, "Because I'm talking to people who aren't you?"

Gemini took several deep breaths and leaned in closer, making sure that there was no one else around, "Listen to me. You have no 'right' to friends, or anybody else. None of us do. You know what is happening right now, how important our family is. Are you trying to bring that down?"

Corvus lowered his head, "No."

"If you are seen wanting, we all are. This year, this time is too important. You must understand that or are you really that stupid?" Gemini demanded.

Corvus shook his head, "No. I'm sorry."

Gemini stood up straight again, "Good. So you should be. Now come along."

Corvus followed her without a word, staring at his feet.