From Paris With Love

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discord. gg / r3ujM4t8JA alltheblankcanvas. comFrom Paris with Love

Sunlight poured in through browning willow leaves. The breeze plucked a few and scattered them across the river surface. They drifted downstream, bumped by the sleek noses of curious fish, then washed ashore on the white pebbles at the river bend.

Fleur draped herself along the length of the branch, their branch, and spun the acorn pendant of her necklace round her finger on its chain. Merde. She ripped this morning's copy of the Daily Prophet out from under her arm. A younger Harry stared back at her.

Fleur studied the hollow glint in his eyes and traced a finger down his cheek, then dragged her gaze across to the title. "Boy-who-lied attempts to curse fellow pupil over quidditch accident."

Vraiment? Harry wouldn't curse someone over something like that.

She skimmed the text. "Sixth year student Katie Bell…" Heat bubbled in her bones and feathers thrust through her skin. The bones of her face shifted and heat curled "round her palms. " Katie Bell! "

Fleur took a deep breath. There'll be a good explanation.

She glanced at the paper, then flicked through the pages to the next article. Katie Bell's messy brown hair, eyes, and bright grin beamed off the page at her. "Merde. Merde. Pourquoi s'est-il mis en colère contre pour pétasse? Il l'aime toujours?"

Fleur's face flooded with liquid heat. A curved beak thrust from her nose and chin. The paper burst into flames. She watched the ashes float down from the branch, then drift away into the river on the breeze.

Harry's coming soon. She smothered the heat back down until her face shifted and the feathers of her arms slipped back beneath her skin. He better have a really good explanation for getting so angry over that girl.

Fleur stifled another rush of heat before she changed again. "And if you don't, mon Cœur. I will kill you, and then we will have a very long

talk."

A very very long talk. She lay back on the branch, closed her eyes, and let the sound of the willow leaves rustling in the breeze drown out her thoughts.

A soft snap echoed beneath the branches.

Fleur snapped her eyes open and leapt down onto the pebbles. Heat trickled through her bones. "Bonjour, mon Cœur." Small white feather tips slid out from under her skin as she stepped close to him. "Que voulais-tu?"

Harry winced. "You're angry," he murmured.

She glimpsed herself in his eyes. Her irises gleamed black as night.

"Of course I'm angry."

"I sort of knew you would be," he whispered. "I hoped you'd understand."

"Understand?" Fleur threw her hands up in the air. "You impaled this Malfoy with four inch spikes of ice! Et pourquoi? Katie Bell! "

Harry shook his head. "I would've done it if it'd been anyone, Fleur. I promise."

"You promise." The heat spilt into her eyes from the bones beneath her face. Fleur's lip trembled. "How do I know?! I am here. You and her are over there. Together! "

Harry grimaced. "Fleur…"

"Non." She pressed her finger to her lips. "If it were me who got hurt, what would you have done, Harry? And don't lie."

He studied the sky. "I didn't mean to hurt him, you know, just shut him up and get him out of the way. I was angry and that messed with my water-conjuring spell." Harry's eyes met hers. They turned cold and hard as agate. "If it'd been you, I would've killed him." A gleam of worry hovered in his eyes. "I know that might not be what you want to hear, but I'm not some jack-in-the-box hero who comes out to save the day, then gets packed away until next time."

Fleur's heart squirmed. "And I'm not just a pretty face, mon Cœur. I face my own dragons."

Harry's lips twisted. "So? You're not angry?"

"Not anymore." Fleur grabbed him by his robes. "But if you give me a reason to think you're running around with Katie Bell behind my back…" She traced her fingertips along his jaw, smiling when he shivered. "I do not like how fiercely you defended that girl. You're mine. "

"Katie's just a friend," Harry said. "I-"

"I'm not going to abandon you, mon Cœur. Not now, not ever."

"Not even if I told you what I've done?"

Unease tangled itself in Fleur's abdomen. "As long as you're my Harry, I won't care."

He pulled her close and pressed his lips to her forehead. "Definitely yours, ma princesse."

"Vraiment?" Fleur's voice shook. She huffed at his small smile and stamped on his toes. "Vraiment?"

"Vraiment," he echoed. "I got myself trapped in other people's unfair and selfish expectations not so long ago. Now, I'm free of that. There're billions of individuals trying to get what they want, and I'm just one of them." He slipped a finger under her chin and tilted her face up toward his. "And you're what I want."

Her heart fluttered. "And what would you do to get that, mon Cœur?"

The corner of Harry's lips twitched. "Anything I had to." He rested his forehead on hers. "You're the one perfect wish that came true. Nothing else is worth a fraction of you."

Perfect. As always. Warmth flooded through Fleur's chest.

"Then you'll be more careful next time you want to curse someone, won't you? You can't come visit me if they lock you up in Azkaban, Harry."

He pressed his lips to hers, slipping a hand onto the back of her neck to keep her against him. "I was afraid that you wouldn't understand," he murmured.

"Do you think I'm so different?" She cupped his face between her palms. "Gabby is the one who believes in things like this. I gave up a long time ago. Until you." Fleur pouted. "And now look at me, planning the rest of my life with some English boy."

"Isn't it a little early to say things like that?" A teasing glint hovered in his eyes. "We've only been together for a few months."

"Are we going too fast for you, Harry?" She leant in close, brushing the tip of her nose against his. "I suppose I should stop-"

Harry caught her lips with his, pressing her back into the warm willow's trunk. His hands tangled in her hair, drifted to her hips, and cupped her waist. Her breasts crushed against his chest and fire seared through her veins.

He pulled back. "Still want to stop?"

A soft moan escaped Fleur's lips. She flushed.

He laughed, but heat smouldered in his eyes. "That was a very sexy moan. Are you sure this spot's too uncomfortable?"

She dragged his mouth back down onto hers for a soft kiss, then let the fire fade from her blood. "Yes." Fleur rested her arms over his shoulders. "Now, I want to see what you can do. The Daily Prophet spent so much time talking about this dark curse you used, I want to see it for myself."

Harry smirked. "I have a better idea. You know how to duel, don't you?"

Fleur sniffed. "Of course. I am the school champion."

He laughed. "Of course you are. Want to try me?"

"You will lose. I am a good duelist."

"I need practice." Harry wagged his finger at her. "But you should know better than to tell me you'll beat me. You said you'd win the Triwizard Tournament, too."

"I would've done it if Voldemort's follower hadn't interfered." She grabbed his arm and apparated them back to the chateau. "You will see."

They arrived amongst Gabby's shoes.

"Are your parents home?" Harry asked.

"Not today, not until late. There's an event in Paris they're attending together." She took his hand and led him around the main staircase to the smaller second set of steps and down towards the basement. "Do you have a dungeon?" Harry grinned. "Please tell me you do."

"No, but we have a basement that is partly a wine-cellar and partly empty. Maman used to brew potions down there, but when they enlarged the shop in Carcassonne she no longer needed to. Gabby and I use it occasionally, normally for practicing magic since it's well warded."

"What're the rules?"

"Normal dueling rules," Fleur said.

Harry raised an eyebrow.

He doesn't know the rules?

"Nothing more dangerous than a stunner, no stepping out of the ring, and no speaking except for spell incantations. I want to see the curse you used on Malfoy first, though."

She tugged him down the steps and out under the high, vaulted cellar ceiling. An earthy, musty scent reached Fleur's nose. Racks of wine bottles lined the walls.

"What about the wine?" Harry asked.

"We are going in there." Fleur pointed at the small door at the far end.

Otherwise very expensive vintages of wine get ruined and papa gets angry. Fleur swung the door shut. Very angry.

"Show me," she demanded. "You wouldn't show me the fire one, so you have to show me this one."

Harry drew himself up, adopted a serious, focused expression, and slid his wand from his sleeve.

Fleur laughed. "I hope that is not your dueling face, mon Cœur."

Harry shot her a grin, twirling his wand like a conductor's stick. "Aguamenti!"

A small stream of water burst from the tip of his wand and spattered on the floor.

Fleur pulled her wand. "Show me, or I'll curse you."

"That's the spell I used. I promise."

She pouted. "Then stop being difficult and show me what you did to

it."

"What will you do if I don't?" Harry teased.

"I'll tell Gabby about the photos in the Room of Requirement," Fleur promised. "She will pester you about it every time you see her until the end of time."

Harry paled a fraction. "That seems a little harsh." He closed his eyes for a moment and turned away from her. Ice crept back into his expression. "Aguamenti," he hissed.

Water sprayed across the room against the wall, sharp chunks of ice smashed against the sandstone and shattered like glass.

Fleur stared at the shards of ice upon the floor. "How did you do that? That's a simple conjuring spell, not a curse."

"I told you. I was angry."

She walked over to the pile of jagged fragments and poked it with her toe. Thick, sharp-edged pieces the width and length of her palm covered the cellar floor. "I've never seen anything quite like it." "You haven't?" A frown creased his brow.

"It's brilliant. Dangerous, but brilliant." She poked the pieces of ice with her toe. "I don't know why your emotions have so much more influence over your magic, but I'm not dueling you very seriously until you can control that. It's not safe."

Harry's wand disappeared into his sleeve. "Then we'd best not duel." "When does it happen?" Fleur murmured.

"When I'm angry," Harry said. "I don't know why it happens. It doesn't happen much. Just a couple of times." He folded his arms. "We're not dueling until I'm sure it won't happen."

He's as bad as papa.

"Let's go somewhere," Fleur said. "Somewhere nice."

"Where?"

"I know a place in Paris," Fleur said. "But we need to go kidnap Gabby first."

"We do?" A smile crept back onto Harry's face.

Oh, smile because Gabby's going to come and help you tease me. A slight pout curved Fleur's lips. A good thing I met you when I did, or Gabby might've really stolen you first.

"I promised her that we'd go there with her," she said. "It's our favourite place and she's been lonely at Beauxbatons with me always coming to see you. I made her promise to be good, or as good as she can be, at least."

Harry chuckled. "How are we going to kidnap her?"

Fleur pulled the portkey she'd made for herself out of her robes and waved it at him. "Madame Maxime lets me do what I want, within reason. She might chide me for stealing my little sister away, but only because I forgot to ask first."

"Doesn't Beauxbatons have anti-portkey wards?" Harry asked.

"Of course it does." Fleur smirked. "Only someone keyed into the wards can create a portkey to the school."

Harry raised an eyebrow and nodded.

Fleur huffed. "Aren't you going to ask me how I did it?"

A broad grin stretched across Harry's face. "How did you achieve this most brilliant and noteworthy accomplishment, ma princess?"

"I created my own ward key from scratch." Fleur turned her nose up. "It's the sort of thing that gets you into a lot of trouble, then gets you a very well-paid job in a very particular part of the government."

Harry pulled his necklace out of his robes. "A shame this one's wasted on me, then. I portkey to and from outside them anyway."

"Fortunately, my enchantment hasn't been wasted on you. I can't create a key for Hogwarts wards without spending a lot of time there figuring them out." Fleur extended her arm. "Let's go."

Harry linked his arm with hers.

"Argent," Fleur murmured.

They stepped into a small room ringed in shelves of books and covered in a familiar hoard of small, glittering trinkets. Silver and blue blankets draped over the bed and a mountain of bright-hued pillows.

Harry smiled and pointed at the photo on her bedside table. "I remember that picture."

Gabby waved at Harry from within the frame. He waved back. Fleur's image stared at Harry with a wrinkled brow and a strange half-smile.

"Where's your sister?" Harry's smile lit up her room like the sun. "Do we have to sneak through Beauxbatons?"

"Well, if we were anyone else we could just walk and nobody would think twice, but since you're famous and I am who I am, it'd be best to disillusion ourselves."

Harry chuckled. "Will she scream if we grab her while we're invisible?"

"Not anymore. She's used to it. If she knows I'm coming, she'll feel for my magic and grab me instead."

"Does she know we're coming?"

"Not this time. Follow me."

She took Harry's hand and led him out of her room, pausing only to disillusion them both, then down the corridor in the direction of Gabrielle's favourite spot.

"I prefer Hogwarts," Harry whispered. "Beauxbatons is beautiful, but it doesn't quite seem as magical."

"You are a biased, tasteless English boy, though. Beauxbatons is far more elegant and just as magical," Fleur murmured. "Hogwarts is grey, draughty, and has that horrible forest."

Harry squeezed her hand with a quiet laugh. "You haven't seen half of the horrors of that forest."

The burnt skeleton amidst the pine trunks and needles hovered briefly before Fleur's mind's eye. I've seen enough.

She pointed their joined hands at the door toward the far end of the corridor. "Gabby's out there. The door leads out over the buttress to a small balcony, nobody else ever goes there."

Fleur eased the handle open and pushed the door. It let out a loud creak.

Gabby's head snapped round in a swirl of silver hair. She closed her eyes. "Fleur! And you brought Harry." Gabby peered around. "I can only see where Fleur is."

"Hello, little chick." Fleur let her magic dissipate and swept Gabby into a hug.

Harry faded back into sight and shot Fleur's sister a smile. "Gabby."

Gabby pouted. "You were right next to Fleur. Why couldn't I see you?"

"The disillusionment charm works better for me."

"Our magic battles with the intent of the charm," Fleur said. "The allure requires us to be seen to work best, so it draws attention to us."

"Why are you here?" Gabby chirped. "Am I being kidnapped again?" "This is a regular thing?" Harry asked.

"Beauxbatons is boring." Gabby bounced on her feet. "I always get Fleur to come and rescue me and take me somewhere more fun. Normally we go to Carcassonne or Paris."

"Paris." Fleur mussed Gabby's hair. "We're going to your favourite place in all of France."

Her eyes lit up and she seized Fleur's hand in one of hers and

Harry's in the other. Let's go! I've been craving meringues all day."

Fleur retrieved Harry from her sister's grip, linking arms with him. "Do you remember your promise?" she murmured in her sister's ear.

Gabby sulked. "Of course I do. No trying to charm Fleur's boyfriend, she gets overly tetchy about it." Mischief gleamed in her blue eyes. "You never made me promise not to tell what you said about him."

"I made you promise to be good," Fleur muttered. "If one word of the things I said about Harry comes out of you, I'm going to burn every pair of shoes you own."

"Are we going?" Harry asked.

"We're going." Fleur side-long apparated them onto the cobbles of Paris opposite a quaint little restaurant.

"Welcome to Madam Antoinette's." Gabby grinned. "It's got the best desserts in all of Paris and most of France. We've checked."

A small, stout man wearing a chocolate-stained chef's coat glanced up at them as they entered. A hint of glaze crept into his eyes. "Mademoiselles Delacour. Bienvenue. Your usual table is free."

Gabby beamed and darted to a table at the back.

"I thought this was Madam Antoinette's?" Harry took a seat opposite Gabby and accepted the menu she thrust at him.

"It's a very bad joke," Fleur said. "The owner is muggle-born and doesn't realize that most wizards won't understand, of course he does make wonderful food, so we have forgiven him."

Gabby huffed. "They're out of meringues. I shall have to have Clafoutis instead."

Fleur rolled her eyes. "How terrible for you, Gabby. Stuck eating your favourite cherry dessert."

"I wanted meringues today, they're sweeter."

Harry raised an eyebrow.

Fleur smiled. "It's not a veela thing, just a Delacour one." She turned a pointed look on her baby sister. "Gabby is the worst of all of us."

"I am not," she said. "Everyone knows Fleur is the worst. She once ate a whole box of icing sugar in the middle of the night."

"I remember having a significant amount of help eating that," Fleur murmured.

Gabby flushed. "You have honey for breakfast."

"Lots of people eat honey for breakfast," Harry said.

"Fleur eats it out of the jar," Gabby crowed. "With a tablespoon."

"That is unusual." He grinned. "I think Gabby might be right."

Fleur shrugged. "You should be grateful for my love of sweet things,

Harry. If I did not love dessert wine so much, our evening at the Yule Ball might've ended very differently."

Harry flushed. "True," he muttered.

Gabby squeaked and turned crimson behind her menu. "Fleur?! You

didn't?! "

"Didn't what?" Fleur asked.

Gabby shifted in her seat and glanced at Harry. "You know…" Her eyes flashed with mischief and the flush rose further up her face. "No!" Harry flared bright red. "She kissed me under the mistletoe, then she ran away."

"I did not run away."

Gabby giggled. "Did she avoid you and pretend nothing was happening?"

Harry grinned. "Definitely. Has she done that before?"

"Not with a boy." Gabby snatched her feet back just in time to avoid Fleur's stomp. "But whenever she was in trouble when we were younger, she'd always run off and then pretend she'd done nothing wrong."

"Better than giving maman the big eyes and blaming me, little chick." Fleur shot Gabby a half-hearted glare. "I got blamed for everything by this tiny harpy. Don't trust her, Harry. She's a greedy little bird."

Gabby tried to pout, but ended up giggling too much to manage it. "Fleur's only being mean because I told her if she didn't want you, I'd have you. I think she's worried I was being serious."

Harry laughed and winked at her. "Well, if you change your mind and decide you are serious, Gabby, you just let me know."

Fleur huffed and crossed her arms. "We both know I am perfect for you, Harry. You'd never leave me for another girl." She gave him a sweet smile. "And if you did, especially for my little sister, I would burn you to ashes."

Gabby sighed. "Just like in maman's books about Aimé."

The chef strode over, a small book in his hand. "Mademoiselles? Monsieur?"

"Clafoutis," Fleur said. "Trois, s'il vous plaît." She shared a smile with

Gabby. "We need to teach you some good taste, Harry. I've eaten English food and all the good bits were stolen from other countries. Clafoutis is a good place to start."

"If Gabby will share it, that is," Harry quipped.

"Gabby doesn't share cherries," Gabby said. "But Fleur made me promise to be good, so this one time I'll make an exception."

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Dumbledore's Army

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine; everything is J K Rowling's. Still.

AN: The Discord server's still up, running, and steadily growing. Do come join us!

You can find the links to the audiobooks hosted on Spotify and Apple Podcasts via my website or my discord! Early access chapters are all on my website, but, of course, require a detour through the-sitethat-must-not-be-named. discord. gg / r3ujM4t8JA alltheblankcanvas. com

Dumbledore's Army

Stained tables and battered chairs spread beneath a dirt-smudged, cobweb-strewn ceiling. A lopsided, stuffed boar's head hung above the fire. Harry studied the dust and spiders clustered above their heads, then balanced a coaster over the top of his drink.

"Good idea." Katie mimicked him and waved a hand at Hermione, Ron, Dean and Nev. "Which is more than can be said for their club plans."

Harry sipped his butterbeer and replaced the coaster. "Why are we here again?"

"I wanted to get out of Hogwarts and go walking around Hogsmeade for a bit." Katie took a long drink. Foam lingered on her upper lip.

"I mean right here, as in the Hog's Head." Harry waved a hand at their grime-coated surroundings. "We already went walking up to the Shrieking Shack earlier."

"Oh." Katie licked the foam of her upper lip and batted her eyelashes. "Don't you know?"

"Obviously if I knew, I wouldn't be asking."

"Don't be grumpy." She patted him on the cheek with her cold, damp hand.

Harry wiped the condensation of his cheek and gave her a flat look. "And?"

"Hermione, Ron, and Dean have been offering to form a group for Neville to teach."

"But you've already done your OWLs and I'm the one who taught Neville…"

"I thought it might be fun, so did a few other older students." She beamed. "And I really don't have anything to do today but drag you around Hogsmeade like a reluctant boyfriend."

"It's going to be quite a small group." Harry glanced round at the empty tables. "I'm teaching him, they're already learning from him, and you're only here to have a laugh and hex me."

"Everyone's supposed to coming in about five minutes."

"Ah, so it won't just be us."

"No, though I have no idea how many people will actually be coming." She scrunched up her face. "Maybe ten or fifteen."

"They might be disappointed." Harry finished his drink and nodded at the quartet. "Neville might not ever agree to teach them. He doesn't seem impressed Hermione set all this up without asking him first. "

"Can't say I blame him. Hermione can be a bit rude sometimes." Katie eyed the bushy back of Hermione's head, then turned back to Harry with a grin. "You'll have to teach us instead."

Harry laughed. "Dark ice curses for beginners."

She punched him on the shoulder. "Don't joke. Impaling other students with icicles isn't funny."

"Not even when I did it for you, dearest dark mistress?" Harry leant in to her ear. "You didn't object to me defending you, you offered to let me check your-"

"Harry." Hermione's voice cut through his whisper. "Tell Neville he has to teach us."

"Why?" He shrugged. "He can make his own decisions, Hermione. He's his own person. If you want to, or think you should, then by all means teach, Nev, but don't let them force you into something." "Umbridge isn't going to teach us," Ron said.

"Yeah, and Neville helped us already with his shield charm," Dean said. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind helping you, or anyone else, if he'd only get over his fear of speaking to people he doesn't really know."

"I know I should teach," Neville muttered. "But nobody'd listen to me, they'll never think that I know what I'm talking about."

"Show them they're wrong," Harry said. "When they see you're better than them they'll have to swallow their pride and ask for help. It will be fun. If they're anything like Hermione, it may literally cause them physical pain."

Hermione shot him a glare. Katie drowned a giggle in her butterbeer next to him, spattering foam over her mouth.

"Very attractive," Harry said.

Katie flushed. "Hush you."

"Everyone will be here soon." Hermione chewed at her lip. "I already promised them it would happen if they wanted."

Harry rolled his eyes. "You should've thought about that before leaving it to the last minute to ask Nev."

"I assumed he'd want to help his friends," Hermione said.

"Maybe he already is helping all his friends," he replied.

Neville glanced between them. "I'll teach, but Harry will be my assistant."

Ron and Dean winced. Hermione's face brightened.

"That's good." Katie pointed through the window. "Because everyone's arriving now."

Neville gulped, then straightened up and fixed a determined expression on his face. Small clusters of people flooded in until there were no empty chairs and no standing space round the dirt-stained walls.

"There're a few more than ten," Harry remarked.

Katie giggled. "I underestimated Neville's appeal."

"That or nobody has managed to teach themselves how to do a shield charm."

She sighed. "A shame you'll be too busy scrubbing cauldrons with Snape for icing Malfoy to teach us all. I've always had a little fantasy about being kept behind by the handsome professor." Katie offered Harry a coy smile. "I'll do anything to make my grade up, professor."

He laughed. "I don't think getting yourself immolated by an angry veela is going to help your grades, Miss Bell."

Katie pouted. "Why did Dumbledore even give you the detentions?"

So he can get Snape to keep an eye on me, probably. Harry shrugged at her.

"I guess we should start, then." Hermione stepped in front of the fire and raised her voice. " Professor Umbridge doesn't want to teach us any real magic, so we'll have to learn it and practice ourselves. Neville has already helped us from time to time and he's agreed, with a few stipulations, to help teach a larger group."

"Longbottom?" Zacharias Smith ran a hand through his blond hair and laughed. "He doesn't even know which end of the wand to hold."

Neville flinched.

Hermione huffed. "I-"

"Let's see your shield charm, Smith," Nev ordered. "Come on."

Smith flushed and sat down.

"Protego," Neville said.

A bright wall of silver light hovered around Nev. Murmurs rippled through the pub.

Harry studied the trembling that shivered through it every few seconds with a critical eye. A loss of focus? He's got the power and intent right.

"So now it's obvious that Neville can help, we want to know if you're interested in being part of the group," Hermione said.

"How will it be run?" One of the other Hufflepuffs asked.

"And what were Neville's stipulations?" A Ravenclaw asked.

"I had three," Neville said. "They aren't negotiable, if you want to be helped, you'll have to accept them. Firstly, nobody tells Umbridge anything, none of us want to spend any time in her office doing lines. Secondly, the locations and dates of meetings will be conveyed secretly and are to be kept a secret, along with the group's name

and the names of the other members. Lastly, Harry Potter will be assisting me."

"I'm not letting him use dark magic on me," Smith shouted. "I read about what he did to Malfoy."

"Malfoy pretty much deserved it," Ron snapped. "I was there and so were Angelina, Ginny, Katie, and my brothers. He thought it was funny to gloat over having deliberately hurt Katie and get in the way of getting her to the hospital wing."

"Look on the bright side," Katie piped up. "You'll get very good at defending against the Dark Arts if Harry's helping."

"Thanks, Katie." Harry let the sarcasm pour off his tongue.

"You're welcome." She gave him an innocent stare look and finished her drink.

"What's wrong with just learning from Neville?" Terry Boot demanded.

"Harry's the one who taught Neville," Hermione replied. "You're learning from him indirectly anyway."

"Fine." Smith sneered. "But don't expect us to like it. I don't trust him."

"It'll give you a good motive to work on your shield charm, Smith," Neville said.

"So how're we doing this?" Terry Boot asked.

"Everyone who wants to join signs their name on this list." Hermione waved an inauspicious piece of parchment in the air. "Anyone else might as well leave now."

Cho and a couple of students from Ravenclaw left. Everyone else clumped round the table by the fire and added their names.

Harry paused over the list. The blue flames of the goblet of fire flickered through his thoughts. Best to check I'm not signing up to anything inconvenient. He ran his forefinger down the list of names and checked for enchantments with his wand in his sleeve. A soft, righteous anger saturated the magic the parchment was steeped in. Betrayal its focus. Hermione's not showing any mercy to anyone who talks, but compared to Fleur's work, this is crayon art. It only punishes direct betrayal.

"Done." Harry signed his name with a flourish and re-joined Katie in the middle of the group.

"So how do we know when to meet and where?" Someone asked.

"That's easy." Hermione glowed. "You all get one of these." She held out a box of familiar badges.

Neville paled.

S.P.E.W. Again. Harry grimaced. Really not the best acronym.

"Since I'd nothing to do with them, I've enchanted them with the Protean Charm. When Neville changes the numbers on the back of all the badges it will change on all the others. The number will give you the time and date of the next meeting."

"Do we have to, like, wear them?" Lavender muttered.

Ron sniggered.

"No." Hermione sighed. "But do try to be more careful about losing them this year than you were last year."

"That's very clever," Boot said. "But it doesn't tell us where to meet."

Hermione's done well. The Protean Charm's a NEWT level spell and actually quite a versatile spell. Maybe I'll have to learn it after all.

Nev nodded. "All our meetings will be held in the same place, you'll know where to come from the second time, but for the first you should meet next to Hogwarts" worst tapestry on the seventh floor."

"We need a name for the group," the nearest Weasley twin suggested.

"Ronniekins Rangers." The other twin grinned. "Or Hermione's Heroes."

"How about something vaguely appropriate?" Angelina interrupted.

"And something that doesn't encourage your obsession with

alliteration."

"The Defense Club," Smith said.

"Well it's a bit boring, isn't it," one of the twins muttered.

"Obvious, too," the other said. "If someone gets overheard, Umbridge'll be straight onto us."

Which could be all she needs to oust Dumbledore and stop him watching over me all the time. Harry's mind raced. If he was strongly implicated in the group somehow. He smiled up at the ceiling. And Umbridge needs to go, too. Wouldn't it be perfect to get rid of them both using the same piece of parchment?

"They should call it Dumbledore's Army." Harry made sure his joke carried further than just Katie. "That's what the Ministry seems to think we're being turned into."

Katie laughed and raised her hand. "All in favour?"

Hermione smiled and stuck her hand in the air. "Anyone else?"

Harry stuck his hand up in the midst of the crowd. Partway there. Just need a good way to let Umbridge know and some way off getting rid of here afterward.

"Dumbledore's Army it is." Hermione wrote the name in elegant, neat letters across the top of the list.

"You should tell them about the list, Hermione," Ron said. "Just in case."

She frowned. "Yes. Right, I've placed a few enchantments on the paper, they took me quite some time to look up and create. When you signed your names, you entered into a magical contract with the group. If you knowingly betray the rules you agreed to by staying, there'll be unpleasant consequences."

Smith scowled. "What kind of consequences?"

"Let's just say everyone will know who it was who betrayed us," Nev replied. "You don't want to be that person."

The box of badges began its rounds.

"I thought I'd escaped these last year." Harry chose one for himself and passed another to Katie.

"It suits you," she replied. "The green brings out your eyes."

"Thank you." Harry grinned at her. "I shall wear it always."

"So what're we going to be learning?" Terry Boot asked. "Nobody actually specified."

"I can help you learn everything that you'll find on the OWL exam." Nev shot Harry a glance. "For those who want to be able to do a bit more, then Harry has taught me some very useful spells and knows a lot more."

"Like what?" Smith balled his fists on the table. "I'm not learning anything dark."

Harry rolled his eyes.

"Dark ice curses." Katie beamed. "Great for creating beautiful icicles and impaling vulnerable first years who stray too far from their common rooms."

So much for that not being funny.

"The blasting curse," Neville said. "The stunning spell. And a good few more, nothing remotely dark."

There is no light and dark. Salazar's words echoed in Harry's head. Only power and the intent that guides it.

"The Patronus Charm," Hermione said. "Harry can cast a corporeal patronus."

Harry frowned, recalling the sluggish pool of mist he'd managed in the maze. "I can teach you the steps to cast it, but the form of your patronus is quite personal, so I'd rather not display mine." "Then how do we know you can cast it?" Terry Boot asked.

"Only light wizards can cast a patronus," Smith muttered.

Harry leant across. "Sorry, Katie," he whispered. "I think it's too late for you."

She giggled. "Oh well. Being evil's much more fun."

"I've seen it," Hermione snapped. "We all have in third year!"

"The first meeting will be in a week, the same time as today," Neville said. "If you can't make it, keep an eye on your badges for the next one and follow other members to our location." He pressed the tip of his wand to the badge, screwing his face up, and the numbers on the back of the badge blurred and changed.

A week to think of a way to get hold of that list. Harry allowed himself a small smile. Fleur can teach me anything I might need to know for the next step.

The students drifted out in small groups, chattering amongst themselves.

"What now?" Katie asked. "Want to stay, or head back?"

"I don't have much of a choice. I've got that detention with Snape in his office today for an hour, and again every week for the foreseeable future whenever he can organise it."

"I guess we should head back, then." Katie stood up and stumbled over her chair.

"Too much to drink?" Harry quipped.

Katie scowled. "No. I'm more careful now, after… well, you know when."

"Yeah," Harry murmured. "I know."

"Harry, wait!" Hermione scooped her things into her bag, wincing at the sound of crumpling parchment, and jogged to catch them before they left.

"What?"

Hermione chewed at her lip. "I spoke to Cedric about the third task. He says he remembers hearing the whistle and starting to run into the maze, then nothing until seeing you stun him."

"That's unfortunate," Harry said. "He's the only other one who was there and conscious."

"He does remember being told he was found unconscious next to Viktor and that his wand had been broken." Hermione crossed her arms. "It doesn't add up." "Someone interfered."

"It doesn't make sense. His wand was snapped deliberately, but for no obvious reason."

She's not going to let this go until Cedric is forced to remember what really happened, and I can't even dissuade her, because it will make me look suspicious.

"I only know what I saw," Harry said.

"I know." She sighed. "I'm sorry to bring it up after everything that happened, but I need to know what happened to Viktor."

"Most people who go digging don't find gold, Hermione," Katie said.

Hermione glared and stalked off.

"Is that actually a saying?" Harry asked.

"I made it up," Katie replied. "I thought it sounded good."

"I've heard worse."

She swept her hair off her face and fixed him with a searching look. "What actually happened in the maze? You were answering her questions very carefully."

"If you're worried I was responsible, don't be," Harry said. "I know exactly what happened, but I took a risk to protect someone. Her digging's going to undo that and it's not going to benefit anyone. They'll get hurt and nobody else will really be affected."

"Cedric… You snapped his wand so nobody could see the spells it cast and stunned him." She scrunched her face up. "Why're you helping him if he killed someone? What don't I know?"

No accusations… He swallowed a small lump of emotion. I guess she really meant her promise, then.

"Cedric didn't do anything consciously. I obliviated him to spare him a lot of guilt."

"That was noble of you, Harry," she teased. "Still a Gryffindor at heart. I won't tell anyone, either, of course."

"As brainless and reckless as they come." Harry gave her a warm, half-smile. "And thank you, Katie. I appreciate it."

She beamed and turned a little red. "So how come you're only teaching Neville and not me?"

He led her back toward the castle. "There'd be an outcry from the lower years if anyone caught wind of me teaching you anything. "You've terrified them all already, imagine how they'd react if they thought I'd been teaching you dark ice curses, too."

"Angelina said you used the water conjuring spell," Katie murmured. "I can't really remember, though."

"I did." Harry grinned. "But didn't you read what Rita Skeeter said? It was clearly a very dark curse, so I must have tricked her."

Katie pouted. "You aren't going to tell me, are you?"

"It was an accident," Harry said. "I wanted to drench him in water, but I was angry and I think I did some transfiguration by accident."

"You must've been very angry about me being hurt to do accidental magic at fifteen, Harry." Katie batted her eyelashes and leant into his side. "Is there something you need to tell Frenchie?"

"Only that she should feel free to throw fire at you."

"No seashell bra photos for you, then." Katie turned towards the

Owlery. "I need to send a letter, have fun scrubbing things for Snape."

"I'm sure I will."

Harry sighed and drifted through the corridors toward the dungeons. What a waste of time. I didn't even intend to hurt Malfoy, just shut him up and get him out the way.

"You're late, Potter," Snape drawled from within his office.

"I got held up because of Professor Umbridge." Harry glanced round the walls of the office. Gleaming jars of potions" ingredients lined the black-painted walls from floor to ceiling.

Ashwinder eggs… Dragon's blood… Dangerous stuff. Is Snape actually allowed to keep those here? Some first year could wander in and drink them.

"The headmaster is concerned by your recent spate of behaviour." Snape's expression remained neutral. "He believes there is a connection between you and the Dark Lord, and that his emotions are influencing you through it."

A connection? Harry felt a little ice trickle through his veins. Are you sure he didn't mention anything about a piece of his soul being inside me?

"He has decided it would be prudent for me to teach you the mind arts and show you how to block out the Dark Lord's influence." Snape fixed him with a piercing stare.

Nice try. Harry avoided eye contact.

Snape's lips curled into the slightest of smiles. "He mentioned that you had something of an interest in them, though I'm skeptical you've the emotional discipline required."

Wait… Chill fingers groped their way down Harry's spine and into his gut. If he's teaching me, will he have the chance to see my thoughts and memories? I've come a long way, but my new technique hasn't been tested by anyone.

"How will you be teaching me?" he asked.

"I will attempt to breach your mind and you will try and keep me out." Snape sneered. "It will doubtless be an unpleasant experience for both of us."

Merde. Nobody must know about Fleur or what I know. Harry reached down inside, past the heat and bliss of blue eyes and silver hair, through cold, clear, frozen rage, to the void beneath. Now you can have me, emptiness. Swallow me whole, so there's nothing to feel or see.

Snape drew his wand. "Clear your mind, Potter. However you can."

Harry let the abyss claw away everything. A distant, dazed, emptiness flooded him, as if he drowned in the shadows between the stars. Endless solitary moments trickled into it like spilt ink down parchment.

"Legilimens," Snape hissed.

A stabbing pain erupted in Harry's temples. It's a long way away. Just pain. He fed it into the void with everything else. No more real than I am.

Snape flinched and gritted his teeth. A handful of images welled to the surface of the abyss: a flash of red light amidst tombstones, blood on the kitchen knife clutched in Harry's small hand, a glimmer of silver in the window of the Great Hall. The emptiness swallowed them back in with a vengeance.

"Bloody hell." Snape broke the link and sagged over his desk.

"Sir?" Harry watched him release a long breath and draw himself up. "Did something go wrong?"

"That was not proper occlumency, Potter," he spat. "I've never met a wizard who defends his mind by creating such an unbearable feeling in which to trap their opponent." His lips curled up again into that faint smile. "It is quite unorthodox."

"Thank you, sir," Harry replied.

"How long have you been practising the mind arts, Potter?" Snape asked.

"A little over a year," Harry said. "Once I understood the importance of focus and intent, I learnt some mental exercises in the muggle world, then continued learning more once I discovered occlumency." "Then you've come a very long way in a very short time."

"It seems to come to me naturally." Harry shrugged. "Maybe I inherited a knack for it from my parents."

I inherited it from somewhere.

Snape's upper lip curled. "If you have, it wasn't from your father. James Potter didn't have the discipline or the subtlety that the mind arts require."

"My mother, then," Harry said. "Or maybe it just skipped a generation."

"You should be thankful you appear to be more like your mother than anyone realized," Snape murmured. "She was an excellent witch."

Did he know her? Harry studied the soft gleam in Snape's eyes.

They're about the same age, so they'd have been at Hogwarts together.

Snape drew himself up and pulled an even expression across his face. "I was supposed to teach you how to occlude your mind from the influence of the Dark Lord, but it seems you're already completely capable so long as you know to do it and he is not standing before you." Snape steepled his fingers. "Unfortunately, the headmaster has insisted I keep you in detention for at least an hour every week until Christmas to help avoid external repercussions for your actions. We shall continue to practice your occlumency. It is of the utmost importance you're able to resist the Dark Lord."

"Thank you, sir," Harry muttered.

Snape's lips twitched. "You can go for today, Potter."

As long as I keep this up, he won't learn anything I don't want him to. Harry stepped into the corridor. And I might be able to learn something about what Dumbledore's up to from-

"Potter." Snape's face tightened and his lips paled. "It's reassuring to see that you have not wasted as many years here as I thought, your mother would be proud of your recent improvements. Don't slide back into acting like your contemptible father."

So he did know her. A few questions hovered on the tip of his tongue, then a bright flash of green light flickered through his thoughts. It doesn't matter. They're dead. And it's time to push things on. Voldemort and Dumbledore aren't waiting for me.

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