Chapter Six - Maturity

The first summer meeting of the Order of the Basilisk was scheduled for 1 July. Harry was chafing at the delay, even though it had only been a week since they had returned from school. A week's worth of training might mean the difference between life and death for his friends. Draco and Theo were able to train with him every day, but he worried constantly about the others.

He rose early and had a quick shower. He liked to linger under the hot spray as much as anyone, but that time was better put to other uses. He hurried back to his room and pulled on clothing suitable for spellcasting. He shoved his feet into his trainers and headed down to the dining room. Sirius, Remus, and Theo were already there.

Harry was hungry but tried not to eat too much at breakfast. Intense training on a full stomach was a bad idea, as he had discovered. It made him feel sluggish, and extended physical activity could cause one to vomit. He was just finishing his glass of milk when the day's post arrived. He had been expecting his Hogwarts letter. He was not expecting the heavy gold badge that was inside.

He stared at it for a moment. "I'm Head Boy," he said, not knowing entirely what he thought about the idea.

Everyone offered congratulations. Sirius was ecstatic.

"Lily and James would be over the moon, Harry. Well done."

As it always did, the reminder of his parents' love hurt just a bit, but knowing they would be proud of him filled him with good feelings.

"Thanks, Sirius."

"It's not like it was going to be anyone else," Theo noted. "The old man knows the power of symbols."

Harry made a rude gesture.

"What?" Theo protested. "Was it going to be Goldstein? Macmillan?" He snorted. "Longbottom?"

"Neville would do just fine as Head Boy," Harry said evenly. "You don't give him enough credit."

"Does it say who the Head Girl is?"

"Padma Patil." Harry made a face. "That won't be awkward at all."

Harry and Padma had dated during fourth year, even going to the Yule Ball together. They'd had an ugly breakup, when she and her twin sister Parvati had forcefully demanded to know how Harry and Draco were spending their time during the summer. Then the newspaper and gossip sheets had started speculating about what had gone on, and her family name had been smeared a bit.

"Maybe she's forgotten about all that," Theo suggested.

"Ravenclaws don't forget things."

"True."

Harry put his new badge aside and opened a fancy envelope to see an invitation penned in impeccable script informing him that Jean-Phillippe and Apolline Delacour and Arthur and Molly Weasley asked for the pleasure of his company at the marriage of their children, William Arthur Weasley and Fleur Isabelle Delacour.

"Interesting," Harry pondered. "A bit unexpected. I've met Bill a few times, and I'm not really friends with Fleur. I mean, I write her a letter once a month to talk about Voldemort stuff, but that's all."

"You were both Triwizard Champions," Theo said. "Perhaps that's the connexion?"

"We'll see if Cedric and Viktor are there."

"Hah!" Theo laughed. "Remember how starstruck Ronald was for Krum? After Bill and Fleur are married, Ronald might try to marry Krum."

Harry snickered. "I think Millie would have something to say about that."

"Probably," Theo agreed.

"I'll need a wedding present. Perhaps I can find something suitable in Diagon Alley," Harry said. "I've got to get some new dress robes plus all of the usual school supplies."

"Yes, a trip to Diagon Alley is in order," Sirius agreed. "I have some business at Gringotts."

"I'll go too," Theo said. "I wouldn't dream of asking you to fetch my things, Harry."

"When?" Harry asked Sirius.

"Saturday?"

"Sounds good to me."

Harry went back upstairs to write his reply to the invitation. He handed the folded parchment to Regal, his eagle owl, who took it in his beak and flapped out the window. He placed his new golden badge on his writing desk and studied it for a moment.

The more he thought about it, the more he realised he shouldn't be surprised. He'd been groomed for this for years. He had won the Triwizard Tournament. Professor Snape had made him a prefect. Professor Umbridge had made him Duelling Captain. He'd been a leader for a long time. He had a solid power base in Slytherin, and he was well-respected in the other houses, even Gryffindor.

Weasley is going to hate it.

Ron Weasley hated everything about Harry on general principle. He no longer tried to start fights with the Slytherins on a routine basis, but he never had any kind words for them. He was loutish, boorish, oafish, and all-around uncouth. Yet he had joined the duelling club and worked tirelessly to better himself. If even a boy such as he could accept Harry's leadership, then Harry would do well as Head Boy.

Now to figure out how to handle Padma.

Ginny was anxious about attending the meeting at Malfoy Manor, but her conversation with Fleur had convinced her to put on a brave face. She could never let them see how much they had hurt her.

She was beyond hating Draco and wanting to do things to him so that even his own mother wouldn't recognise him. She didn't even have the energy to care about hating Draco's father. Though the man had slipped a cursed diary to her, putting her through the worst Hell on Earth she could imagine, she had already lost too much of herself to indulge in petty revenge. There was a war on, and the man was helping to prepare them for the fight.

So Ginny went to the designated Apparition point outside the Burrow and stepped sideways to Malfoy Manor.

She was neither early, nor late, but there was no one waiting for her when she arrived. No one, that is, except the very man she was trying to avoid.

Lucius bowed to her. "Miss Weasley, welcome back to my home."

"Hello, Mister Malfoy. Is everyone in the training room?"

"They are, but I wonder if I might have a word with you first."

What could he possibly want?, she wondered. "Sure."

He motioned for her to follow him. He led the way to the sitting room, just beyond the foyer. There was a pot of tea and two cups. He poured and offered one to her.

"No, thank you."

Her heart leaped into her throat when he drew his wand, but he laid it on the table.

"Miss Weasley, I sincerely and humbly apologise for my actions."

Startled, all she could do was gawp at him. This was not what she had expected.

"Draco told me what happened on the train at Easter," he continued quietly. "I have earned your vengeance. I inflicted a terrible wrong upon you. Nothing I do can ever make amends. If you wish to raise your wand against me, you have every right. I will not stop you or avoid your retribution."

She had no idea what to say.

"Anything you ask of me, I shall grant you. Letters of reference to any apprenticeship, just speak the name. A position in the Ministry, simply tell me the department. Personal instruction in forbidden magicks, with not a word to another soul, at your convenience. A new wand, a new broom, a house of your own, any material thing you need or desire. I could give you all of this, and it will not be enough to express my regret and right the wrong."

At last she found her tongue. "Why did you do it?" Her tone was almost conversational, with no strong emotion behind it. She might have asked why he had planted a certain flower in his garden.

He lowered his eyes. "Because I am a wretched person. I cared nothing for anyone who is not my family. I served under the Dark Mark for so long that it ground away whatever small sense of decency and humanity I might have once possessed. It is only recently that I have come to see that though I no longer shed the blood of innocents, I am as far from a good person as one can be. I repent my ways and now search for any chance to do good things and find any possible peace."

He looked at her. "I am not worthy of your forgiveness. I will not ask it. I only ask that you understand that you have in me an ally. I will support you without question."

Ginny could be forgiven for not having the slightest clue how to respond. "Mister Malfoy-"

"Call me Lucius. You need not address me with respect."

"Mister Malfoy, I don't want anything from you. I just want you to listen. That diary wasn't just cursed. It could have killed me, or worse. It had an evil spirit in it, one that tried to devour my soul." Her voice trembled. "I did terrible things while it possessed me. I petrified multiple people. I caused a girl to die. I still feel dirty and violated. No amount of scrubbing in the bath helps me feel clean. I have frequent nightmares that leave me shaken for days. I need to keep Silencing Charms around my bed so I don't have company when I wake up screaming. It's been four years, and I don't know if it will ever get better. I only hope that once Voldemort is finally destroyed I'll be able to find some peace. It's why I train. It's why I've come to this house, despite you being here."

He accepted her rebuke. "If you do not wish to be under the same roof with me, then I shall remove myself during these meetings. I ask that you stay and work to improve your magic. If you wish a target for your practice, I gladly volunteer."

She shook her head. "I'm beyond wanting to hex you. I doubt I could ever do anything worse than what Voldemort did."

"Righteous anger will not power the Cruciatus Curse. Only absolute hatred, and a love of watching one's victim suffer, let one use that evil spell."

"I don't want to learn Dark magic. I know the toll it takes on one's psyche. I've seen what it's done to my friends." Her eyes narrowed. "But you'll teach me everything else. Any spell I can't get, you'll work with me until I can cast it non-verbally. I'm going to be the strongest witch of the age."

He rose to his feet and bowed to her. "You will. Shall we begin?"

As it turned out, Viktor Krum had indeed been invited to the Weasley wedding. Millie informed them at the meeting.

"He asked me to be his date. It's so rare that we get a chance to actually see each other."

"I'm sure he's just been pining for you." Pansy closed her eyes with a happy little smile.

"He has, so his letters say."

"My invitation seems to have been forgotten," Draco noted.

Pansy rolled her eyes. "The very idea of you going to a Weasley wedding is so absurd as to not even waste breath discussing it."

"So wait a minute," Theo said. "Harry and Millie are both going to the Weasley wedding?"

"That should go over well with Ronald," Draco said with a smirk.

"His head might actually explode." Theo sounded academically intrigued by the possibility.

Pansy harrumphed. "Both of you lay off. I've had quite enough of your immature little quarrel with Ronald. It was amusing when we were younger, but it's gotten tiresome. He's not an especially pleasant person at times, but he saved my life."

This was the first they were hearing about it. There was a cacophony as everyone tried to talk at once.

"What's this then?" Harry wondered.

"During the battle. When you all went up to fight Death Eaters, I went to find Tracy and stop her questioning Holt. We went up together and ran into Ronald and his squad, then some Death Eaters."

Harry didn't like her choice of language. "No, Pansy. You didn't stop Tracy from questioning Holt. You stopped her from torturing Michelle."

Pansy paused and rearranged her thinking. "Right. Of course. I went to stop Davis from torturing Michelle. I healed her quickly, and we went up into the castle looking for Harry, who we knew was alone. We encountered Ronald, Dean Thomas, and Seamus Finnigan and asked for information. While we were talking, Death Eaters found us. Ronald pulled me out of the path of a Killing Curse. Then they dealt with the Death Eaters. He made sure I was unhurt. He may be a prat, but he's not an utter prat. There's hope for him."

Theo smirked. "Sounds like you're quite smitten with him. You'd look cute together."

"I look cute with anyone!" Pansy flared. "And what's wrong with being grateful to someone who saved me?"

"Nothing at all," Theo demurred. "Seriously, Pansy, if you want to date Weasley, or even marry him, I think that's stellar."

"Who are you, and what have you done with Theo Nott?" she demanded suspiciously.

He laughed without humour. "Life is too short to do anything other than search for happiness. Find it with Weasley if you can, and I'll be the first to congratulate you."

She shook her head. "I don't know if I can take the new philosophical you. The old you was so much neater."

"So will we see you at Bill's wedding?" Millie asked.

"I doubt I can get Ronald to ask me on such little notice," Pansy said thoughtfully. "Short of asking him directly whether or not he has a date, I don't know what hint he would comprehend. He might not even get that one. Anyway, he's probably going with Romy Vane if anyone."

"I wonder who Ginny will be there with," Draco said morosely. He still was not over their breakup.

"She may not be with anyone," Harry replied. "I know I don't really feel like asking anyone."

Pansy took his hand. "You've got to stop hexing yourself, Harry. Tracy fooled all of us, even Theo, who is so much smarter than all of us and claimed to know her better than anyone."

"Shut up, Pansy," Theo responded.

"If even the great and powerful Theo couldn't see it, why do you think you should have? You're only human."

Harry sighed. He knew he was being stupid, but he just couldn't seem to stop blaming himself. Ever.

"Pansy, do you want to be my date? You can keep me from wallowing in my self-pity all day."

"I would be delighted, Harry. Thank you."

Theo cackled. "Ronald will now have to deal with three Slytherins at his house."

Daphne frowned. "Isn't it customary for the wedding to be held at the bride's house?"

Pansy blinked. "How did I miss that? You're right, of course. What could be the reason?"

"Maybe they didn't want to ask all the Weasleys to travel to France." Daphne began to giggle wickedly. "It might cause an international incident."

"Maybe they couldn't afford the trip," Millie said.

"Maybe Fleur doesn't like her family," Pansy wondered.

"Maybe there wasn't enough room for everyone at their house," Millie speculated.

"Maybe it's the war."

Daphne laughed harder. "I find it hard to believe that the war effort will be crippled if the Weasley clan takes a weekend off."

"Who cares?" Theo snapped. "Pansy will find out while she's there and report back to us. Let's get back to work."

Pansy glared at him, and Harry didn't care for his tone. "Okay, let's get to work. Theo, you're up against Millie, Draco, and Daphne."

Theo gulped. "Three?" So far, only Harry had taken on three opponents at once, not that he was very good at it.

"Scared, Theodore?" Pansy queried mockingly. "Typical. He talks and talks and talks, but when the time comes to cast the spells, suddenly he loses his voice."

Theo ground his teeth. "Do we have any Polyjuice Potion ready to go? Can you all make yourselves look like Pansy?"

Just then, the door to their training room opened. Ginny and Lucius entered.

"Sorry I'm late, all," she said brightly. "What have I missed?"

"Just catching up on the latest news," Pansy replied. "Draco is heartbroken that you didn't ask him to be your date to the wedding."

"Isn't that a shame?" she said insincerely.

"Draco, you will stop pestering Miss Weasley," Lucius said sternly.

It was one thing for Draco to mope in front of his friends. It was another thing altogether for his father to chastise him about it. "Yes, Father."

"If everyone is ready, we shall begin."

"I was about to start three-on-one combat," Harry reported.

"Excellent. Proceed."

They worked hard for several hours that morning, only taking a break for lunch at 1 PM when they could not ignore their growling stomachs any longer. Theo wolfed down his sliced chicken sandwich and went back to the training room. The others lingered a bit longer, actually taking time to chew their food, before following him. Harry pulled Pansy aside for some private conversation.

"I need to get Bill and Fleur a wedding present. I'm rubbish at this sort of thing."

"That's why you have me." Pansy was his advisor on all social matters. She had yet to steer him wrong. "I suggest a basic dinner service embossed with the Weasley family crest and words."

"I gave the same thing to Percy and Lynn. It's not terribly original." The set he had given had been a fine thing. Their family words, Curiositas parit inventionis, were written in script around the edges of the plates.

"Stop worrying about it," Pansy told him. "It's a perfectly suitable and appropriate gift, especially to a family with multiple sons starting their own households. They will all need their own set of good china. I hope you bought several sets at once and got a discount."

"And which other Weasley weddings am I likely to attend? Frankly, I was shocked to be at one, and stunned to be at two."

"I will be sure to invite you when I marry Ronald."

Harry blanched. "Theo really planted that idea, didn't he?"

She tossed her hair in the negative. "No, it's been percolating ever since my heart rate returned to normal the morning after the battle. He's dating Romy Vane right now, but she's no particular obstacle. I can start working on him at the wedding and he will ask me out by Christmas. A year after that, invitations will be sent."

"Do you really want to be Pansy Weasley?"

She shuddered. "It sounds awful, doesn't it?"

Harry had to agree. "Moderately awful. There's a custom that some Muggle women do if they don't want to give up their name. They put a hyphen between the two names. Imagine 'Pansy Parkinson-Weasley'."

"That sounds entirely pretentious, even for me. No, Pansy Weasley it shall be."

Harry studied her carefully. "Are you set on this?"

She met his gaze without flinching. "Either I make him happy or I find the one who will and march her to the altar at wandpoint."

"How romantic," he quipped.

"You're laughing at me too, aren't you, Harry?"

He sighed. "No, not really. It's just really odd that we used to despise him-"

"Because he hated us first," she interjected.

"You'll never convince me one side is entirely innocent," he retorted. "I've seen how Mister Malfoy acts with Mister Weasley. I'm sure it goes back generations. But then Ron started being somewhat less annoying. When he signed up for the duelling club, I was actually happy, because I know with certainty that he will never go over to Voldemort's side."

Pansy nodded. "He'd rather die."

"So I showed him everything I could, to help him get better. Somewhere along the line he got a new wand. He had to have done so, or he could never be that good."

"I'll find out," she said.

"We started talking normally," Harry continued. "About Quidditch, and girls sometimes. I would never call him a friend, but I'm pretty sure he wouldn't watch me drown. You know he actually released me from Bellatrix's spell? Now I learn he saved the life of one of my best friends. Now she's thinking about him romantically. It's a big change."

"I think it's called growth."

Harry nodded. "He never seemed like he would grow up. Yet he has. And the person he's becoming isn't unbearable."

"I will keep working on him," Pansy promised. "He might even be presentable in public at some point."

"So you believe in miracles?" Harry couldn't help being flippant.

She tossed her hair. "I believe in myself, Harry."

"Does this mean I missed my chance with you?" He hadn't meant to say that. It sort of slipped out.

"Oh, Harry," she sighed. "I know you're only being playful, but we never had a chance, not with the way you felt about Tracy. I had a lot of fun with you, yes, but I could tell your heart was never in it."

"It was fun, wasn't it?" he said quietly.

"Very." She took his hand. "I will always cherish our time together, but I knew it wouldn't last. I was trying to be there for my friend in a way that I thought would help. Once you weren't afraid to try again with Tracy, I knew you would leave me. I was actually happy when you got back together with her because it meant you were starting to feel comfortable in that direction again."

Harry was stricken at her matter-of-fact tone. "Pansy, I'm sorry."

She tilted her head. "For what? For not being in love with me? You're so sweet, Harry. I'm not in love with you either. Should I apologise for that? I won't. We are good friends. I may even be your best girl friend. I am content with that."

"You are," Harry said, and he meant it. "I want you to be happy."

"I am, and I will be. Ronald would be a fool to pass me by. If not him, there is always Neville. If I devoted myself completely to the task, I could make him love me."

"What happened there?" Harry was curious. "For a while you were making eyes at him."

"You happened," she said with a casual shrug.

"You gave up a chance with Neville because you wanted to fool around with me?" He found it hard to believe.

She nodded. "Neville is quite fanciable, but so are you. I knew that we were just having fun. I knew it didn't really mean much. But now that there's no possibility of anything happening with Tracy, I want to know, Harry. Do you want to be with me?"

"Weren't you just talking about marrying Ron?" he deflected.

"Yes, I was, but it doesn't mean I wouldn't drop him in a heartbeat if you asked me to do so. If you said to me, 'Pansy, I want you to be my girlfriend', then I would be your girlfriend. It's a proposition I think you should consider very carefully. Involvement with me has many advantages."

He tried to smile, to make light of the situation, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. "It's too soon. I only ended things with Tracy a couple of weeks ago."

She squeezed his hand. "I understand. I'll give you a month to think about it. Then I'll focus on Ronald."

"I almost think I should let you. It might be fun to watch his head explode."

Harry's conversation with Pansy had brought the events from the end of sixth year sharply back into his mind.

He missed Tracy. She had been a source of strength and comfort to him after Laine died. She always knew what to say to make him smile. She never let him feel sorry for himself. She encouraged him to acknowledge his shortcomings and work to improve himself. She was a great study partner. She was a gifted writer and could improve even his best essays. She was fun to spend time with. She was fun to kiss. He had been hoping to do more than kissing.

Now there would be no more of that. The revelation that her older sister was a Death Eater had poisoned the relationship. He had confronted her, shown her the truth, and walked away, Tracy screaming her innocence as he did so. He wanted more than anything to believe her, but he didn't dare so. He loved her, but he couldn't be with her if he couldn't trust her. She had offered to take Veritaserum, but the Order had spent the better part of a year building up a tolerance and immunity to the truth serum. She had even offered to make an Unbreakable Vow. Harry had been so hurt that he hadn't wanted to listen to anything she said, fearing that if he acted out of emotion he would make the wrong decision or not consider all the possibilities.

He was calm now. He knew that he did still want to be with her. How it could happen, he hadn't the foggiest idea.

As he always did when he had an incomprehensible conundrum, Harry went to find Sirius. It had taken a goodly length of time for him to learn that he could trust his godfather with any and all of his problems, cares, concerns, worries, and questions. Sirius knew a lot about life and would most likely have an answer.

Harry grinned suddenly. Not that it would necessarily be a good answer. Sirius was prone to cracking jokes and he loved to tease his godson. But after the laughter, Sirius would do his best to help. Harry had yet to present him with a situation in which he had no advice.

Sirius was in the library, a stack of parchment in front of him. His face was grim.

"Hey, Sirius. Got a minute?"

Sirius shoved the documents to the side and turned to Harry with a smile.

"Sure. I've got lots of minutes. What's up?"

"What do you know about Unbreakable Vows? I know you made one for my parents, but I was wondering how else they can be used."

Sirius gave him a steady look. "What's the reason for this sudden curiosity?"

Harry sighed. "Tracy swears up and down that she didn't know anything about her sister being a Death Eater. I want to believe her, but I just can't. We've rather neatly countered all the ways we might have been able to make sure she's telling the truth. She can lie under Veritaserum. She's pretty good at Occlumency. I was wondering if an Unbreakable Vow might be the way to go."

Sirius shook his head sadly. "Sorry, kiddo. The Vow applies only to actions one will take. It's a promise to do something, not a promise about something you've already done or something you know. It doesn't apply to things one will say."

"Wouldn't a Vow to tell the truth be a Vow about an action one will take in the future?"

"It doesn't work that way. If it did, we would use them at criminal trials. Nobody innocent would ever be prosecuted again if we could just ask them if they did it. It can't be used for witnesses. Nobody would take an oath to speak the truth on pain of death or loss of magic."

Harry nodded. "That makes sense. Honestly, I wouldn't want to bollocks it up and be responsible for Tracy dying or losing her magic."

"I wish it did work that way," Sirius said sourly. "I would have offered to make one in order to prove my innocence."

Harry blanched. "Sorry. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

"I really don't need any help in that regard. I'm quite capable all on my own."

Harry tried to steer the conversation away from the past. "Can you think of any other way we could prove it?"

Sirius thought for a few moments. He scratched at his chin and stared up at the ceiling. "Veritaserum is the most potent truth potion that we have. If Tracy can beat it, none of the others are going to help. You taught her to shield her thoughts, so Occlumency is out." He fell silent again, deep in thought. "I'm sorry, Harry. I don't know of anything that would work."

"Terrific," Harry rued. "We outsmarted ourselves."

"Too clever for our own good," Sirius agreed.

"It was such a good idea," Harry complained.

"It was. Unfortunately, it backfired."

"I remember when I thought magic could solve any problem."

"Magic is just magic, for the most part," Sirius said. "Except for a couple of really nasty spells, it can all be used for good or evil."

"Just like the Fidelius Charm," Harry realised. "It works great and it's a good thing when we use it. When Voldemort uses it, it's a bad thing."

"Truth."

Harry got to his feet. "Well, I'd better get back to the training room. Thanks, Sirius."

"I wish I could be more helpful."

"You are plenty helpful," Harry retorted, "but if that's how you feel, you could join us."

Sirius also stood up. "A splendid idea. Lead the way."

"What about your papers?"

His godfather's blistering look could have ignited the parchments. "Nothing I want to deal with at the moment."