When Pansy walked up to Harry as they stood in front of the Potions classroom, he braced for a fight. However, she just looked at him for a moment before saying: "I'm sorry."

Harry looked back, and said: "Why?"

Pansy blinked. "For implying disrespectful things about your family."

Harry wanted to go on. He wanted to examine her reasons and find out if she only apologized because her family finally forced her, or because she actually learned something. He didn't want to let it go just like that. But he remembered what Alduin told him: if she doesn't apologize, you are justified to cut her, but if she does, let it go. He had ignored her for over a year, after all, and it was true that she had not said anything extremely dreadful. She had not used the M word, at least, though implied pretty much the same thing.

"Fine," he said. "I accept."

Pansy looked at him a moment longer, then nodded curtly and walked back to Milicent.

"Well," Daphne muttered, "that was anticlimatic."

"Did you expect fireworks?" Draco asked her.

Harry stepped closer to them. "Do you know what prompted this?" He asked quietly.

"Her family really put pressure on her during the break, from what I know," Daphne replied. "She was mulling it over ever since coming back to school."

"So no sincerity, then. As I thought."

Draco rolled his eyes at him. "Harry, it's basically a miracle she apologized at all. It's progress."

"If you say so."

Theo shifted a little uncomfortably. "I think we all know people," he said, glancing at his fellow Slytherins, "who never would have in such circumstances."

The others nodded grimly.

"Okay then. Baby steps, I guess." Harry shook his head. "Why do people do this, anyway? I mean...your kind of people. Our kind of people. Ancient families. I thought they were all about manners, and suddenly being this rude is normal?"

Draco frowned at him. "Not normal," he said. "Do you see most people acting this way at the parties?"

"No, sorry," Harry conceded. "But still, really common from what you say. Why?"

Theo looked uncomfortable again, as he said: "I think for some people it's like...they really hate the Ministry, and Dumbledore, and saying these rude things aloud is a way for them to demonstrate they're not in line with the official government approach of sensitivity towards the Muggle-Born and such."

"Oh yeah, great. They hate the government, so they take it out on people who have nothing to do with it. How does that even make sense?" Theo opened his mouth, probably to explain further, and Harry sighed and shook his head. He didn't want to think about this stupidity. "Let's talk about something else. Are any of you interested in joining the Herbology Club?" Thanks to Draco, Clement Avery had agreed to oversee the project, and it was to start next month.

"Pansy might be," Daphne said.

"Is that why she apologized right now?" Harry wondered. "Anyway, it's a bit fast, isn't it? I just start talking to her after more than a year, and I should be inviting her to a club my best friend started?"

"It would be a very good way to show that you have truly accepted the apology," Theo pointed out.

Harry frowned. "I'm not sure I have."

Draco made a movement as if to smack him. "Don't say that," he said.

Harry's frown deepened. "Why not?"

"Like I said, it's progress," Draco insisted. "It's probably the first time Pansy apologized, ever. If she sees it leads nowhere..."

"So, what, should I give her points for basic decency?" Harry asked irritably.

"If you want her to continue on that road, then yes," Daphne said plainly.

"That just doesn't seem fair," Harry pointed out. "I mean, if one of you said something like that, I'd definitely expect you to actually mean the apology..."

Draco just shrugged, and Daphne said: "Yeah, but we're your actual friends."

"I'm not sure it's not actually fair, anyway," Theo added. "I mean, you have to take into account her family and stuff. I think it's harder for her than it'd be for, say, Daphne."

Now Harry was completely confused. "What do you mean? I thought it was her family who was forcing her to apologize?"

The Slytherins exchanged looks, as if silently agreeing on who'd field this one. "Um, well, her family's big," Daphne began after a moment, and Harry had to remind himself that yes, most Ancient families weren't like the Traverses, just two generations. "From what I know, her grandmother and father don't really see eye to eye. Pansy takes after her dad, but it was her grandparents and the older generations who pressured her into apologising."

"So...I should give her a break because her dad is a bit of a jerk?" Harry summarised.

Draco cringed. "Don't say things like that aloud," he said, "but yeah, basically."

Fortunately, Snape opened the door to his classroom now, sparing Harry the need to answer. As it was, he was just left thinking about his own father, who, by all accounts, was "a bit of a jerk" too. Would Harry have been a worse person if he'd been raised by his own dad?

He hated that idea with a passion, but it wouldn't leave him alone.

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Alduin was surprised when he received summons into Dumbledore's office a week or so after their last talk. Had Dumbledore found out the number of Horcruxes so quickly?

„I spoke to Horace," the headmaster said after welcoming Alduin. "At first he told me that Tom never mentioned Horcruxes to him, but when I then said than we are probably wrong and it isn't Horcruxes after all, he relented and admitted that he'd asked about them, but he assured me he never gave him any advice. I wasn't entirely convinced by this-" If Dumbledore wasn't reading his mind, Alduin thought, I'll eat my hat, "-and so I asked him for the memory of the encounter, to look for any details or signs, as I said. What he gave me...well, judge for yourself."

Dumbledore gestured to his pensieve, and curious, Alduin stuck his head in.

He was amused by what he saw there: a young Horace Slughorn, much younger than he had ever known him, and an early, less polished version of the Slug Club he knew so well from his school years.

He looked around more carefully, and spotted Riddle soon enough. He looked the same as in the diary memories, though it was interesting to see that Abraxas Malfoy was not present. Many of the children from Ancient families took care not to come to every Slug Club, of course, to avoid being taken for granted by Slughorn, but still, Alduin wondered whether this was accidental or intentional on Riddle's part.

There was pleasant conversation typical for these kinds of meetings, and then suddenly, just as Horace Slughorn was about to utter what was, presumably, some glowing praise of Riddle, a thick fog covered the memory, with Horace's voice booming over it, predicting a terrible end for one Tom Riddle.

Alduin almost laughed. How ridiculous, to wish to hide something so innocent! Especially as the interaction from before made it perfectly clear Slughorn liked Riddle! And really, no wonder he did. As Alduin knew from the diary, Riddle was an exceedingly charming young man when at Hogwarts. He could understand why people followed him then, before it was completely obvious what he was after. He still thought that the fall of this wizard in particular was one of the greatest tragedies to ever befall British magical world, and not only because of the evil he wrought.

The memory went on until finally, all of the other students left and only Riddle remained, making use of Slughorn's tipsiness and good mood to actually ask about Horcruxes. Alduin knew what would happen before it did: Horace's answer to the problem disappeared under the same fog he had seen already, overlaid by some ridiculously righteous exclamation that was completely out of character. The memory ended then.

Well. This was going to be complicated.

"So," he asked after he emerged from the pensieve, "what's the plan now?"

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows at him. "Getting the real memory out of Horace, of course. That will be much easier than trying to restore this one."

Alduin refrained from rolling his eyes. "Yes, of course. What I meant was: any ideas?"

"I do not quite have any way to force him into this," Dumbledore admitted. "That is why I asked you here, to see whether you had any ideas."

Alduin considered it. He considered whom he knew, and whom people he knew knew. "I think I just might have, yes," he said at length.

Dumbledore patiently waited, his eyes never leaving him. Alduin laughed. "I'm not going to tell you," he said. "It's not anything particularly immoral, so don't worry," even though, knowing what he knew, he wasn't sure immorality worried Dumbledore at all, "but it's private."

The Headmaster was clearly dissatisfied with this, but he nodded curtly, and Alduin left shortly afterwards.

It is rather amazing, he thought on the way through the castle and the school grounds, that Horace Slughorn apparently knew about the possibility of Horcruxes all these years and never told Dumbledore, his supposed friend. There was absolutely no chance that he supported Riddle, Alduin knew that perfectly well, so...what was it? Was he afraid of retribution? So afraid, even after Riddle was gone?

Of course, Alduin never believed courage was Horace Slugnorn's strong suit, but still. He had helped the war effort indirectly in the last war, by supplying potions and offering consultations. Why would he not share that knowledge? Unfortunately, there was no way to ask all these questions without being extremely impolite, but still, Alduin very much wanted to know. There must have been something behind it.

Perhaps an argument between friends? Slughorn had avoided picking a clear side in the war. His support was always to the anti-Riddle side, but also always indirect and to different fractions. He assisted the Ministry sometimes, but he also consulted for the Order, from what Alduin knew, and of course he himself and his friends had worked with him in a way, too. Alduin very much wondered what role Slughorn would pick once Riddle returned...

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Gryffindor played Ravenclaw in Quidditch in mid-February, but there was low excitement about the match all around.

"Maybe they'll play better now that they have Nimbuses?" Seamus said hopefully.

Ron shook his head. "The best broom's useless if the player isn't worth a damn," he said.

Harry had to agree. "I feel like Roger is the only decent player on the team," he said.

Ron nodded his assent. "He's the best of them all, for sure. Their captain is really bad, though. It makes me really wonder why he got the position..."

So went the conversation at breakfast before the match, and when Harry was leaving to change, Sophie told him: "Please don't lose...it'd be really embarrassing to lose to them."

"I won't lose," Harry said determinedly, "not unless Dobby comes to visit again."

That was another reason why the excitement was so low – the Gryffindors knew perfectly well that whatever they did, they'd not get the cup this year. Slytherin had flattened Ravenclaw last month, so the only chance there was was them losing to Hufflepuff by a big margin in the next match, and while that was possible, it was extremely unlikely on their Nimbus 2001s. The school cup was just dragging itself to its inevitable conclusion.

Gryffindor did beat Ravenclaw, quite soundly at that, but as low as the excitement for the match had been, so also was the enthusiasm over the victory low. It was mostly taken for granted, and the celebration in the common room was barely worth mentioning.

"Is it just me," Dean asked the next morning at breakfast, "or are Lavender and McLaggen being more gross than usual today?"

"It's the Valentine's," Seamus pointed out rather morosely. "That's probably why."

"Still bitter about that?"

"I'm not bitter," Seamus argued. "I'm just...she's really good-looking, okay?"

Harry supposed it was true enough, but it was a very abstract question for him. He still felt no desire to kiss her, or any other girl, and it seemed strange to him that he should. Ron, it seemed, was more willing to enter into Seamus' feelings on the matter.

"Parvati looks really great too, though," he said.

Sophie next to them huffed. "Whatever happened to never dating?" She asked.

"Hey, I still stand by that," Dean said in solidarity. "It's just that these two idiots are lovesick."

Seamus punched him in the arm, and Ron made a rude gesture. Sophie laughed.

Harry looked curiously across the Great Hall, trying to spot if some of his older friends were also showing signs of Valentine's Day activities. Roger seemed to be sitting with a girl instead of Horatio, but Harry didn't know if that counted. None of the others did anything suspicious, even though there were many clear couples in the Hall. It seemed the dating bug caught different people at very different times.

Ginny plopped down at the table opposite to them, "Hi," she said.

"Hi," Harry returned. "We've just been discussing the Valentine's. Anyone in your year celebrating yet?"

She blushed a little, something that surprised him and reminded him of the Ginny he first met. "Not that I know," she said, "but we're a really small year."

"Maybe Colin would like to date Harry," Ron sniggered, and Harry rolled her eyes at him.

"Not interested?" Ginny asked with a small giggle.

"Er, no. I mean, he's a boy, and a baby."

Ginny looked affronted. "He's not a baby. He' s older than me. And what does him being a boy have to do with it? It's not like you couldn't date him because of that."

Harry was embarrassed. "Sure, no, just-uh. Really not interested. I'm not interested in anyone, to be honest, let alone Colin Creevey."

"It would be a little strange, don't you think, to date someone who's such an enormous fan of yours?" Neville pointed out.

"Well, at least Harry could always be sure of their interest," Seamus muttered.

"Seamus is heart-broken," Sophie stage-whispered to Ginny. Seamus looked just about ready to pour the contents of his goblet on her head.

"Over whom?" Ginny asked curiously.

"Lavender."

"Ah." Ginny scrunched up her forehead. "Really? A girl who dates McLaggen?"

"What does everyone have against him?" Harry wondered. "I mean, I know he almost pushed you down the stairs, Seamus-"

Ginny stared. "What, out of jealousy?"

"No, it was an accident," Seamus muttered embarrassedly.

"-but what do you have against him, Ginny?"

"Well, he does that kind of stuff all the time," she explained in a tone that implied everyone knew that. "He pushes people and orders them out of the best seats in the common room-"

"What, he did that to you?" Ron asked, affronted.

"Well, he tried, at any rate," Ginny said with a bit of an evil smile. "He picks on Colin all the time. I think he sees first years as easy victims."

"He never did anything to us last year," Harry argued.

Ginny looked at him like he was stupid. "Yeah, well, you're Harry bloody Potter. Of course he won't do anything to you."

Harry shifted uncomfortably. She was probably right, and he hated it.

"Do you think he ever did anything to Parvati and Lavender?" Neville asked, sounding a bit worried. "I mean, we know he almost pushed Seamus down the stairs, and the girls spend even less time with us, so..."

"Surely not to Lavender?" Harry said, alarmed at the idea. "I mean, if she's dating him now..."

"Hm, you're right, probably not."

"Maybe we weren't younger by enough years," Harry mused, "so he didn't dare try anything with us. Maybe he's only starting properly now."

"I think he's just ended," Ginny retorted. "I know a few great spells I picked up from Fred and George, and I didn't hesitate to use them on him when he was bothering us. I think he'll keep away."

From Ron's shudder, Harry judged he knew what spells she meant.

He'd probably be wise to treat Ginny really nicely from now on.